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Autumn

Goldenrod dot the roadside and the last of summer flowers appear in the garden

As the days cool, pomegranites and pineapple quava ripen.  Blossoms appear on the kumquat trees. Rhubarb is ready to harvest.

Winter crops are planted, stall bedding is spread in the garden and orchard and we are ready for winter.

....A Time of Harvest and Thanksgiving.

Autumn comes slowly to the Back Country.  We wait for rain.  Pastures are dry.  The sun sets lower in the sky and night time temperatures start to cool. Days are bright and sunny, with occasional hot, dry winds blowing out of the desert in the east.

We continue to harvest summer fruit and vegetables: strawberries corn, tomatoes and peppers, and our heirloom apples and guavas begin to ripen.

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Trees on the Mesa and the deciduous fruit trees change colors, leaves drop and the rains begin.  The native bunch grasses regenerate, buckwheat flowers turn to copper and new yucca appear.

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Tips:

September: The First Fall Planting Month

October: The Year's Best Planting Month

November: The First Month of the Rainy Season

- Pat Welsh,  Southern California Gardening

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Fall breeding begins.

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WINTER

Time for Rest, Reflection and Rejuvenation

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As winter progresses, snow falls on the Cuyamacas and dusts the Mesa. Days shorten, temperatures cool, things slow down. 

The rains continue.  In a good year, more than 25 inches will fall, sustaining the oaks, manzanita and other native plants through the summer dry season.

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There is more time to hike in the hills, dig holes, catnap.

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The sheep relish the cool, sunny days and the greening of the fields as they prepare for the birth of their spring lambs.

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Seedlings of winter hardy crops, like peas and brassicas, are started in the greenhouse and later transplanted into the garden.

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Wood from trees killed by the oak borer have been cut and split and now warm the house.

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In late winter, bulbs and native plants such as currant and ceanothus begin to flower.

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Budbreak begins in February.  As flowers appear in the orchard, so do the pollinating bees awakening from their winter rest.

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The early budding trees welcome the continuing rain which seeps deep into the stoney loam soil.  Late frost and snow, can kill the developing  fruit.

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Tips:

December, January, February:

- Prune

- Protect tender plants from frost

- Plant bare root trees and shrubs

- Pat Welsh,  Southern California Gardening

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Spring

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