The days are speeding by for the garden and all of a sudden I have found myself staring at the mid-October garden thinking about all the things I need to get done.  It won't be very long at all before the weather report becomes downright frosty on a regular basis.  In fact the first frost warnings of the season greeted us yesterday morning on the local news.  That sent me into a garden panic.  I was out saving perennials, gathering vegetables, and covering plants that needed protection.  Maybe, just maybe, I can help them hang on a bit longer.  In a few weeks there won't be anything to worry about of course. The cold mornings will be enjoyed with a hot cup of coffee after walking my daughter to the bus stop.  Saving a bit of basil won't be an issue.  Nor will gathering cuttings of my pineapple sage that is blooming beautifully this fall.  What will matter are my preparations for spring, things like bulb planting and garden planning!

But there is always something to do in the garden!  Over the next couple weeks I'll be putting most of the garden to bed for the winter. Here's a short list of what I will be working on before the end of the growing season:

• Finish gathering tomatoes!  the garden is full of little tomatoes in various stages of ripeness.  Green tomatoes can be fried up for that famous southern delicacy Fried Green Tomatoes or left to ripen in on the counter top.  They may not taste as great as one grown to maturity on the vine but they aren't from a store and I know where they've been!
• Gather my basil for a last minute batch of pesto!
• Clean out the dead stuff.  If it's ugly and serves no purpose like feeding the birds then it needs to go.  I leave anything with a bit of winter interest alone.  Plants like ornamental grasses, deciduous hollies, red twig dogwoods, and many others are great at providing something to enjoy over the winter.  I also leave perennial foliage until spring so that the dead foliage will provide another layer of frost protection for the root crown of the plants. 
• Gather seeds.  All kinds of perennials and annuals are producing seed for next year. If I want to let them self-sow I can leave them be but if I want to control where they go I need to gather seed!
• Dig up tender rooted perennials and bring in the house for winter.  I grow caladiums each year which just won't make it through our winters.  This year I planted them in a planter to transfer into garage when needed.
• Treat the soil of house plants that were outside for buds and bring them indoors. A dish soil mixture poured into the soil of my avocado and ornamental pepper plants should chase away any bugs that may be nesting in the soil.  By flooding the pot with water temporarily the bugs will have nowhere to go but out!

That short list could easily stretch quite a bit longer! Remember, there is always that "One More Thing Syndrome."  I suspect you have had the syndrome too.  If usually occurrs when I'm in the garden and I say "Let me get this one more thing done." That list grows ever longer!