A recent question was raised regarding the best method to gather and store leaves for use in the garden or for making compost. Common, ordinary leaves are a very valuable resource for the home gardener and nature’s way of mining and cycling nutrients from deep underground and delivering them to the soil’s surface.

The first fall frosts are far behind and we’ve experienced many nights of below freezing temperatures, but the past couple of weeks have brought very mild weather with daytime temperatures often reaching close to seventy degrees. Not bad weather for the month of November! As is normally the case, getting the garden through those early season frosts has rewarded fall vegetable gardeners with the bonus of additional weeks of terrific growing conditions.

Following up on a recent theme related to the joys of heirloom apples, I wanted to conclude with a post identifying a few good sources for purchasing antique and heirloom apple trees for planting in the home garden or to start a backyard orchard.

I recently wrote about my experiences at an annual fruit tasting, and posted an article describing the enticing qualities of heirloom apples. Today I wanted to share my impressions on a few specific antique apple varieties that I had an opportunity to sample at the fruit tasting event.