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A Gardener's Notebook: The latest incarnation of my column detailing the trials and tribulations of my garden. Join the list and ask your own questions about gardening Subscribe

 

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Back home in California again, after our whirlwind trip to Ohio. The last few days of our trip brought reunions with more relatives and a look at a few more gardens as well. We drove nearly all the way to the border between Ohio and Pennsylvania, to the historic village of Poland, Ohio. Poland was the first town founded in the Western Reserve and therefore carries the phrase "Town 1, Range 1" on its city letterhead and signs. Gardens are scattered behind historic homes and new subdivisions. Expansive lawns bordered with wood lots are the rule.

No lawn please, we're Californian

As much as I enjoy my lawn-less garden this trip reminded me of the joys of wide, green lawns, often stretching across several properties, where kids and dogs can run, and even fall down, without getting hurt. My son, Joseph, had a ball chasing and being chased by the large dogs kept by his cousins.

Of course, in Ohio, there is little need for watering lawns except in cases of severe drought. I would never try to duplicate anything like this inCalifornia but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good lawn grown in the proper place.

Nature's Bounty

The vegetable garden season is about complete now in Ohio. We all helped my father pull the last few ears of sweet corn off the stalks that will soon be dried and used as Halloween decorations. Joseph dug in the dirt to retrieve the red potatoes his Grandpa turned up underneath the withered foliage. The green & yellow wax beans were still flowering and will probably turn yet another full crop before the frost arrives. Other gardens showed signs of tomatoes and peppers finishing up. We sat down that night and indulged in all the bounty from this harvest and talked about years and gardens past.

The most telling sign of the season, though, was the pumpkin patch behind our cousin's house. Two or three seeds had created a sprawl of vines through probably 200 square feet of their backyard. I saw a few smaller pumpkins, but I was amazed by the largest one, a yellow monster 3-4 feet in diameter. I know they grow much larger pumpkins for competition, but this one seemed quite large for such an unpampered pumpkin patch and the kids were properly proud of it which was fun to see.

Fall Fell

Just as it had in my childhood, Fall seemed to come quickly. On Labor Day we awoke to a good, old-fashioned downpour. The temperature never rose about 65 for the remaining 3 days of our trip. When I was younger I remember thinking that the weather was only mirroring our own foul mood as we returned to school after a fun-filled summer. The one real benefit was that we wouldn't have to swelter in our uncooled classrooms.

A few trees were already beginning to turn along the back country roads we drove. Dark burgundy colors predominated although the sycamores were yellowing and dropping their large leaves onto the lawn.

California has its own seasons, despite what you may have heard, but I think I will have to take a trip up north this Fall just to scratch the "leaf-peeping" itch our trip renewed in me.

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Giant Pumpkin Information

Pumpkinfest International Giant Pumpkin Weigh...

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10 Steps to a Giant Pumpkin - by Don Langevin

 

Leaf Peeper Info

Foliage Central -- Leaf Peeper Dos and Don'ts

ABCNEWS.com : Economy Class: Fall Foliage Tours

 

What was happening a year ago (or more) in my garden? September 12, 1999 Divide and Conquer September, 1996 Fighting The Scorching Sun and Opossom Links