The approach of fall presents a wonderful opportunity for us to speak about the outdoors!  I really appreciate the cooler weather and love being able to spend time outside without getting too hot! Also, when August rolls around each year, I cannot help thinking about the harvests that will soon be coming in from the farmer’s markets- and even from my garden!  I am Marla, the Green Home Coach, and today I am excited to bring you another Everyday Green Home Podcast Teach Talk! In this episode, I will be talking about the harvest, the garden and outdoors, maintenance, and what you need to do to get ready for the cooler weather. I will also share some fun ways to get outside and enjoy the milder weather.  Our garden We have the craziest garden, and it is producing right now.  My first harvest Although we are, at best, experimental gardeners, our very first harvest for this year was a massive Armenian cucumber!   Sustainable and chemical-free experimental gardeners Being experimental gardeners, we have been trying out many different things. Everything we do gets done as sustainably and chemical-free as possible.  Farmer’s market We love our farmer’s market! There is a farmer we buy from there who grows the most beautiful chemical-free produce.  Straw bale gardening Last summer, we started gardening with straw bales. We did it because Oklahoma has very clay-ey soil, so it takes a lot of compost and augmentation to prepare the soil for growing vegetables. A raised-bed garden Using straw bales creates a raised-bed garden, which is a lot easier on the back and knees.  How we got our used straw bales I placed a notice on our local neighborhood Facebook group just after Halloween last year and once again after Thanksgiving where I offered to collect the straw bales that people had been using as decorations. By doing that, we managed to acquire fifteen straw bales that people would otherwise have thrown away.  Reusing resources Collecting used straw bales gave us an ideal opportunity to reuse some resources that were already out there. We also saved a lot of money because we did not have to pay for them. Conditioning the straw Before planting, the straw needs to be conditioned to break it down into compost. We left our bales to sit over the winter, and in early spring my husband treated them with natural fertilizer and water for a few weeks.  Fun Straw bale gardening has been lots of fun, and my husband and I have learned a lot from doing it! Seedlings We also grew our own seedlings this year. Unfortunately, the tags I made faded in the sun, so we were not entirely sure what we were planting. Next time, we will find a better way of noting what the different seedlings are. A drip system My husband put in a drip system with a timer to water the garden. That allowed us the freedom to spend some time away from home, and still keep our garden growing. Harvesting Last year, we heard that an ice storm was coming at the end of October, so we went out into our garden with flashlights the night before the storm and harvested everything.  Preparing This year, we plan to be more prepared for the harvest. We also plan to have our garden well-prepared for the winter. Saving seeds We managed to save some of the seeds from what we planted, and what we bought from the farmer’s market, last year. Some of the plants we have this year come from those saved seeds. We dried them and kept them in the refrigerator to preserve them. Keeping notes We plan on keeping notes of the things that work best in our garden. A good time to plant Fall is a good time to plant new trees and shrubs and to seed new lawns or turf. Look for sustainable turf if possible because it requires less water and maintenance.  Outside maintenance For us, outside maintenance includes cleaning up in the garden. I have also been collecting seeds from the wildflowers in our garden.  Inspect your home Inspect the outside of your home to make sure that everything is in order, for the winter. Reme