At this time of year, mom has an old poem she likes to recite. It goes somthing like this; the golden rod is yellow, the crabgrass is turning brown. I'm sure you realize I just destroyed that one but at least I'm correct about the crabgrass.

In my yard I am surprised at how much real grass returned. I'm also surprised at the number of bare spots. I still haven't decided what to do. The easiest way to control the crab grass is chemicals next spring when the forsythia as is in bloom.

Since all, or most, control chemicals interfere with germination, I can't both over-seed and spray next spring. My hunch is that over-seeding right now might work. The secret will be to bring the seed into contact with the dirt. That may be difficult given the thick thatch of the crab grass without mechanical methods.

Meanwhile the frost has gotten most of the garden. We had a few red beets last night, which were tough and tasteless enough that I hope we don't get any more. We have some cauliflower tied and still a bit of cabbage and broccoli lingering.

What I'm really watching there are the peas I planted about September 1. My wife keeps reminding me that she suggested, for at least two weeks, that they be planted before I got there.

I know she is right but with pods now over two inches long perhaps the weather will hold off and let both of us be right. They look nice.

Another big project for me this summer came when the neighbor approached and asked if I could use a few loads of dirt. A few turned into 60 plus and of course I leveled and made the yard even bigger. I coated it with grass seed in the final days of the wet spring that overlapped into summer. It came up like a charm but then summer came to suggest that you don't plant grass seed in late June.

That area may be ok but a bit of over seeding would certainly help there, too. Maybe two over-seeding projects will get me into action.

In conclusion, if you do not have a mother that will be 100 in a few short years and can recite most of the poems she learned as a school girl you can find my poem rendered correctly by going to Google and typing in "The golden-rod is yellow." Use the quotations. Sure, Helen Hunt's poem "September" is from a different, slower time, but isn't that what we are trying to rescue every time we lose ourselves in our gardens?