There Is So Little To Do In November

Thumbnail image of Bob Bauer
Bob Bauer
November 18, 2018 (Last Updated: ) | Reading Time: 2 minutes

November 18, 2018

There is so little to do in the November garden that you might as well not have one. I enjoy putting straw mulch around my mounds because it brightens up the dreary landscape. It's also a good time to work on structure. Now that all the summer plants are gone you can see where a mound would look good. Incorporating large rocks can give a woodsy, meadowy look and add interesting focal points. Some gravel or sand in front of perennials gives contrast and highlights them. Leaves on your pathways turns a flat surface into a three dimensional, multi colored invitation to stroll. Old mossy branches add nature's touch, if placed in positions that you don't trip over..

I made a creek bed one November that meandered off behind a canary bush. I loved it. I kept tweaking it with sand and pea gravel all winter. In the summers it would disappear under melon or squash vines, but in the winter time it would make me smile. I learned that in order to make it realistic looking you had to design it as if it were a river. Wide spots and narrow, shallow riffles, and deep pools where the trout can rest. Several 30° to 45° turns keep it interesting..

November 19, 2018

Swiss chard seeds are interesting. They have a knobby, woody outer covering that protects a small cabbage seed sized inner kernel. Why they need so much extra protection is a mystery to me. Melon and squash seeds, being flat and spade shaped, tend to lay parallel to the ground, making their entrance into the world more convenient for them. The root emerges first and after securing purchase and making contact with enough soil, pushes the entire seed up into daylight. The seed protects the already formed leaves as it scrapes through the soil. The leaves start to spread apart, dislodging the shell..

Sometimes you need to help this process along if the shell gets stuck halfway off. Beans also push the whole seed out of the ground. The leaves don't start forming until the plant sees daylight though. Most other seeds seem to just leave their shells behind when they emerge. Corn sends up a spear that looks like it could pierce anything in it's way, but is actually very delicate, tightly bound leaves..

November 20, 2018

I wonder how many ways we interact with our gardens by just being there. I always feel as if I'm adding value just by sitting and viewing. We add carbon dioxide which the plants use to give us back oxygen. Win win. We increase the humidity by our respiration, which most plants prefer. Our heartbeat sends out waves that they might be able to detect..

We move the earth with our heartbeat? The shadows that we cast as we walk about wakes them from their peacefulness as they prepare to get assailed. Even if we don't shade them they can detect the lack of reflected light, and the absence of sky. Our footsteps squeeze the carbon dioxide out of the soil. Our magnetic field is like an aura that announces our presence before we arrive. Garden fragrances are constantly changing, and we suspect that plants can communicate via pheromones, so I wonder if they smell us?..

More from Efundies