Green tufts of herbs still wave through the thick straw mulch and the garlic that I planted for spring thinks it’s April. I could have had a heck of a fall garden if I’d known, but who can ever know? We have had a few freezes, but nothing a blanket couldn’t have protected from. No snow yet. It inspires me to have a fall garden next year. It also makes me dream of cold frames. Some girls want diamonds, some want a hoop house.

It’s not too late to plant your garlic and bulbs for next spring! You do not need seed garlic, just a few cloves of organic garlic will do. Break them into individual cloves and plant them three inches apart. Each one will become a full head of garlic! Magic. The garden is magic.

Next year we will add 20×10 more feet of garden. Imagine how much I can grow in 40×10! I will need to build a small fortress around and over it, but I have all winter to figure that out! Autumn is for dreaming. I ordered my seeds yesterday. I ordered everything from Seed Savers, as I want to grow specifically heirlooms and save seeds. Food security and it’s fun!

My wildlife camera is so entertaining. We may not be getting chickens after all! We’ll see. I am enjoying being Snow White over here. Yesterday a tiny young fawn came five feet from me. They love their watering hole. Next year I will put in a small pond.

“Next year” is the dream phrase that we gardeners dwell on all of Autumn. Next year, I will plant this, or next year I will try that. It brings us peace and gives us hope and makes our husbands nervous about what all they will have to build.

Next year I would like to teach more, inspire more, and help others create an oasis of their own. I am so passionate about regenerative gardening. To not use any pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or herbicides, but rather to create a place where nature takes care of itself and I can sit in my garden talking to deer.

Gardeners are nothing if not optimistic. Happy Dreaming!