New season

The Summer crops are all done, the Autumn harvest of butternut and other squashes is in, and the Winter crops are still in the ground.   So it's time to think ahead and prepare for next year.  And at the same time, take stock of the storm damage.

The cheap plastic greenhouse is no more; the storm finally did for it, tearing the rip-stop plastic cover into several pieces.  The frame survived; it was tied to iron rebar stakes that got bent, but held.  I might divide it into two climbing frames for roses or something, but I'm not going to try to remake a greenhouse from it.

The area of ground in the second picture is newly cultivated this year.  I put down two tarpaulins to keep the weeds down, and planted the squash into holes in them.   You can see the weed-free areas where they used to be.   For next year, I got a load of horse manure from Joël up the road, spread it out on the ground, soaked it thoroughly with water and covered it with the tarpaulins.  I'll plant squash and melons there next year. 

The bare areas where the tarps were this year, I'm pick-axeing to get the rocks and stones out.   These are being used to build the wall behind the ex-greenhouse.  I have a trailer load of compost from the recycling depot at Chammes that I will put on the area, plus some more manure from Joël, and the plan is for potatoes there next year.