Going Slow

 I spent yesterday dumping tomato containers to reclaim the soil, washing containers, pulling hose guides, pulling rerod, cleaning supports, storing everything away.  I always clean and store every little thing so it isn't out in the winter weather,  It makes for a long process.  I used to do everything all at once, and now I take my time.  For one thing, I've got so much more now that doing it all in one day would be a huge undertaking.  And secondly, I have to give fair warning to all of the critters so they can relocate into our natural edges.

This little guy lives under the Parsley

There are always all sorts of critters around the garden.  Toads, frogs, spiders, beetles.  If I pull out one bed they move to another.  Eventually they all hunker down and hibernate in the areas with shrubs and evergreen perennials or nearby naturalized areas and they are all back in droves in the spring.  That is the one thing I like best about the two strips of untouched jumble that flank the garden space.  It provides a winter haven for all of my garden helpers.

 There is another frog living in the Strawberry bed, which has foliage all year.  This little guy will be safe and undisturbed in the Parsley, which winters over.  We have noticed the past two years how many more frogs we have.  We've always had toads and garter snakes, but something about us turning all that lawn into dry creek bed apparently made things more appealing for frogs.