I always get a little nervous around this time of year. My garden has dwindled down to a few marigolds and geraniums. I get very fidgety being indoors, so I keep looking for excuses to get myself outside. My excuse this weekend was Fall clean up. We have about thirty-five people coming for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and the gardener in me wanted my guests to say "ooh, aaaaah" at the site of my yard. I started by raking up a good amount of leaves in the front yard. You can do this a few ways, either by raking leaves into piles and stuffing them into huge lawn bags or by using a blower. No matter which method you use, jumping in the pile is mandatory. Not only is it fun, but it gives you a chance to take a well-deserved break. After my break I started on the garden beds, removing any plant life that had died because of the cold weather. I planted some gorgeous ornamental cabbage. I like bright, vibrant displays, so I used a combination of dark purple and white cabbage. I think it ended up looking lovely. During my cabbage planting I ran into a number of tulip bulbs in the ground. I carefully removed the bulb and replanted them after I was finished with the cabbage. Make sure you use a bulb planter to ensure you get the right depth. Also be sure that the points are facing up. I've met quite a few "freshman" bulb planters who just dropped the bulb into the hole with no care as to which way it was facing. If a bulb is facing down, it will grow down, so be careful! Have some beautiful geraniums that you don't want to see die? Cut em! But first go to your garden center and buy some root tone. Cuttings from many outdoor plants can be grown indoors over the winter with very little care. I have some really pretty scarlet geraniums that I took cuttings from. Just cut, dip in root tone and plant in a pot of soil. It's that simply. A sunny window helps, but I use a desk lap as a secondary source of light since the days are getting shorter. The theme of this article is to keep going. If you w ant to garden, don't let a little cold weather stop you. Take this time to start some seeds or plant cutting indoors. This is also a great time to repot and fertilize your indoor plants. Just remember that your pot should not be any more than two inches larger than the pot it is in now. After turkey day I plan on growing some cat grass for my cats, so stay tuned! Have a great Thanksgiving!!!!