The Marigold Potager – A Zone 3 Prairie Garden

Well, hi there. Happy fall! What has your first fall week been like? Are you still in gardening mode? Or, like us, in full out clean out the garden mode? ‘

We have been busting our butts getting the clean up done as I go in for my new hip tomorrow (if you are the praying kind, I would sure love it if you send up a prayer for a successful surgery tomorrow morning).

The pots are stacked on their shelves in the shed (most with the soil still in them – I will just feed them with fresh compost next year before planting them up again). Stakes, birdbath, bee bath, and all the other garden decor bits have been put away.

As we have been so busy in the yard, I have not had a lot of time to blog. I will be doing catch up after the surgery, as yard work will be out of the question for me, for some time. Stay tuned for a whole lotta blogs coming your way ; )

My garlic and spring flowering bulbs are stuck in transit due to the postal strike. I am gutted! I had hoped to plant them this weekend, before surgery. Worst of all… they are talking about the strike lasting through till the holiday season, so I might not get anything at all this year.

Hubby is making the pasta sauce today, canning up all the paste tomatoes. We ended up with 65 lbs of tomatoes. There are still more out on the

• He washes and cores them outside
• Then brings them inside to simmer for a bit, to help get rid of some of the juices.
• Then he runs them through a passata press (an electric food mill/tomato strainer). We have an electric Cuisinart that has been discontinued but if you make a lot of sauce, grow a lot of tomatoes for canning, getting an electric one is worth every penny.
• The press makes it into tomato puree. You can bottle this up with a bit of salt, if you like, or make it into pasta sauce by adding more goodies to it. We make both.
• We like to can it into the 500 ml jars now that there are just two of us at home. It’s the perfect size for our meals, no waste.

Gardening Tips, Ideas, & Inspo

• 19 fall wildflowers. I love how my gaillardia (above) becomes one of the stars of my new front landscape.
• Why rudbeckias are the quintessential autumn flower and how to grow them | House & Garden
• Coneflower Growing Guide | Garden Gate I love coneflowers but they often seem to be very short lived, some not surviving the winter. Thus far, I have had luck with pink ones, had one red one overwinter several times in my zone 7 (not brave enough to try it here). Will let you know how my white ones do, if they come back in spring.
• How to Overwinter Geraniums: 5 Pro Tips
• 25 Ideas to Perk Up Your Side Yard

• October Garden Chores. I will be posting my list of tips and ideas as soon as I can, but till then… here are some ideas.
• My Fall Bulb Master Guide (for Spring Blooming Flowers)
• These 6 Herbs Won’t Survive a Frost: Pick and Dry Them Now

• How to grow bigger beets. This is a really good article. If you are struggling to grow nice beets, this has the answers for you. I would only do the last step if you have really poor soil and struggle to keep nutrients in your soil. For most of us, this step is not necessary, especially if you do step two once or twice a year.
• 8 Plants You Should Always Grow Next to Beets
• 7 veggies that are better after frost.

• Rethinking Mulch: Why You Shouldn’t (And Don’t Have to) Use Mulch in Your Garden – This article scared me a little bit at first. Thankfully, I kept on reading ; )
• How to deal with a new garden zone after moving. Boy, do I ever know about this, hahaha.
• How to make a diy coldframe. These are cheaper than greenhouses and so helpful. Dare I say that they may be more effective than greenhouses? I need it less in fall than I would use it in spring for hardening off seedlings.
• The ‘New Perennial’ Movement: The Gardening Style You Need To Know – I love this look. If I still lived on the acreage, I would start implementing this in the front yard. I think it only works for larger properties, or certain types of properties.
• One man’s 4-year battle to save sunflowers in his front yard – GardenRant – have you ever heard of anything so silly? I am so lucky to live in a diverse yard neighbourhood. Some have just lawn, some have flower beds, some have more weeds than lawn, one has more chachkas and lights than you have ever seen outside of Christmas time (hahaha), there are two of us with pollinator gardens. They all differ. I think if someone had this sunflower lawn here, my neighbours would love it.

Homey Things

• Work Tables are the New Kitchen Island in 2025 – I LOVE this idea. What do you think? Are you ready to give up the island?
• What the pros do before bringing house plants indoors.

ff you’re like me, you may be cleaning up your pantry(pantries) to make room for your jars of grape jelly, strawberry jam, pickles, pickled beets, jars of pasta sauce, and dried homegrown herbs. Time for a tidy and a refresh.

This stunning, historic Massachusetts house.

Need a new machine washable rug for winter? This one is one sale right now and looks somewhat like the one in the picture above. The price is so great! I think I need it for my sitting room, layered on top of this larger rug..

Insomnia May Speed Up Brain Aging, New Study Shows | SELF – This is kind of scary. Most every woman I know begins getting insomnia during peri-menopause, and it does not go away afterwards either. Add in chronic pain and you have a recipe of poor sleep for the last 3 decades of our lives. I wonder if this is why dementia tends to hit more women than men? (just thinking out loud). Dementia runs in my family so I have reason to worry about this study.

• Apple pecan olive oil cakes. I love olive oil cakes. They are so light, so perfect. Add apples, and well, it just sounds heavenly.
• I was going to pick and choose a few of my apple favourites from this post to share with you, but there are so many that I want to make, so here is the whole thing… The Best Apple Recipes for Fall – Tasty Seasonal Recipe Ideas
• Classic Apple Crisp Recipe for Fall
• Orange spice baked donuts. I found another baked doughnut recipe for you guys. A bit healthier, still yummy, still makes you think fall with all those lovely spices.
• I have mentioned this one before, but I absolutely love, love, love this sourdough rye bread. It is one of my most often made recipes.
• 6 Ways to Make Boxed Cake Mix Taste Like Homemade

• Butternut Squash Pasta Carbonara with Rosemary Bacon.
• Vegan Jalapeño Butternut Squash Queso
• Harvest Bowl Salad With Apple Cider Vinaigrette

From The Lyn-Genet Plan – highly recommend her books if you are constantly bloated, in pain, unable to lose weight, dealing with allergies, etc…

• Beet “ceviche” with fresh herbs from my garden. I just mix lemon juice, evoo, raw red onion, dill, oregano flowers, beets and garlic. It’s great right them or let it marinate for a few days and keep adding lemon juice for a pickled salad.

Betanin, a compound found in beets, shows promise in slowing down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Dill helps to flush toxins from your body and oregano is a powerful immune booster just like garlic and onion!

Happy Sunday ~ Tanja

I will talk to you real soon… just have this pesky little surgery to deal with first ; )