The telling indicator that this has been a really long growing season is my need for a third pair of gloves.

I always start the season with two sets of those gloves that are knit on top and rubberized on the fingers and palms and cost about $3.65. I think they are designed for those in the fishing industry but they have proven valuable to me in the garden. Both pairs are completely destroyed but the gardening is not over. So off I went for more and a pair of those really rubbery orange ones. These are really excellent for gardening in the mud. If you are still planting bulbs, digging potatoes, pulling carrots and beets, make these the gloves of choice. A pair of light weight liners will fit nicely under them and go a long way to keeping your hands warm.

My nongardening spouse, John, has dumped all of the soil in the greenhouse bins and replaced it with fresh compost. The spent soil has manure, grass clippings and garden waste added to it. Then we cover it over with black plastic and let it sit for three years. We have three piles going so one is always ready. It works out quite nicely. A bit labor intensive but it certainly does grow lovely food.

The vegetable garden is not completely shut down. I am still waiting for the artichokes to die back so I can cut them down and mulch, crossing my fingers that they will make it through the winter.

There are several of you out there who are digging up the roots, potting them and storing them over the winter. I know that you are having mixed results but if anyone is interested in trying this, now is the time. I have absolutely nowhere to store anything so my answer is to try to carry them over in situ. They are so easy to start from seed that I do that in February for insurance.

For some reason, my tools (especially the pruner) took a tremendous beating this season. My long-handled tools spend the season outdoors, leaning against the fence. Although it is a handy location, I think they could use some shelter. I have been hinting, slightly, for a tool shed. The problem is that I don’t know where I want it to go. Will it really be just a tool shed or will it become a repository for a every bit of flotsam that is associated with this household? Hmmm. I am experiencing a very ugly vision ... .

But, for now, the tools will live in the greenhouse and when their wooden handles become nice and dry I will sand and oil them. Then I will turn my attention to the metal parts, give the edges a nice sharpening and oil those too. All will be well and my tools will be ready to go come spring. As will the greenhouse.

I did an odd thing this afternoon. I took the time to tie up my “climbing” roses. Roses are not really climbers but those that can be used as such throw rangy canes that you can tie to support. It would have been nice if I had done this two months ago when they (William Baffin) were in full bloom. I look at it this way, I am ahead of myself for next year. But I did not do any pruning. One never knows what will be left behind come spring.

I took down the pea fence that I use to hold the bleeding hearts. Then I took the mostly spent foliage and bent it down over the crowns of the plants. It looks a bit tidier and provides winter protection.

Give your peonies a nice sprinkling of bone meal around the drip line, not directly on the root that is planted only one inch below the surface. Once the foliage dies back, cut it off and burn it. This action will go a long way to controlling disease.

Don’t forget your lilacs. A few handfuls of lime will keep them healthy. But then who doesn’t see the masses of abandoned lilacs that are covered with blooms every year? No one is giving them anything. I have yet to figure out how that works. Go take a look at your lilacs, you will see next year’s buds forming right now. If the moose eat the tips you will lose your blooms. It only takes one moose.

I realize that it snowed this week but my perennial beds don’t look all that ready to call it quits. I will wait a little longer before I bend down the foliage. This is my answer to mulch. Anything that I have used, for instance straw or leaves, tends to blow away when the plants need it the most. By using the plants’ own foliage and just bending it over the root crown, the plants seem to make it through those cold, snowless stretches that happen here at the lower elevations. Those of you at the higher elevations can be grateful for every foot of snow that your garden gets. Snow is nature’s very most efficient mulch.

Don’t be too hasty to clean up your garden beds. Bare soil is just begging to freeze as deep as it possibly can. Come spring you can do all of the cleaning up that you want.

Note: November is looming and December is not far behind. With that in mind, I will resume this column in January. Enjoy the holidays.

Rosemary Fitzpatrick has been gardening with gusto in Homer for 27 years.