Winter in the Garden

Christmas Dinner

For Christmas dinner with Dave, Dan and Liz, we had a vegetarian feast.  We had acorn squash (from the garden) stuffed with quinoa and lentils, glazed carrots and parsnips (also from the garden) and asparagus (from Peru!!)  Poached pears for dessert.

Merry Christmas!

Survivors

A few hardy vegetables remain, including cabbage and Brussels sprouts.

Raspberries

The raspberries just won't give up.

First Snow

A dusting of snow.

Eastern Grey Squirrel

The garden is very empty right now.  Our squirrel thinks it's wonderful.  He has so many places to dig and explore.

Or just relax.

A Real Freeze

Another frost this morning, this time it was serious.  Some plants have obviously been hit.  And the water in the bird bath was frozen.

Today was sunny, even though it was only in the low 40s.  So we finished putting up the bamboo fence along the back. It looks pretty good.  I don't feel such a need to put in large shrubs back there now.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had our first frost this morning.  It wasn't much, just a little on the deck and roof.

Today is Thanksgiving, and we're spending it alone.  I cooked several things from the garden.  I picked the last petite zucchinis.  They ere tasty, what there was of them.

I made my harvest medley, with squash, sweet potatoes, and apples from the garden.  It looked better in real life than in this photo.

I bought some roasted turkey but cooked everything else from scratch.

The table decoration was from the front yard.

Garlic, Finally

We've had several days of really nasty weather -- lots of rain and wind.  But today there was a brief break, even with some sun, so I got a few things done.

I finally got my garlic planted in one of the raised beds.  It's not the ideal place, but because my new beds are not ready yet I had to put them somewhere.

We also cut a lot of long branches off the cotoneaster in the front yard.  It is so loaded with berries that the branches are all touching the ground, as well as blocking our front window.  So we cut it way back with our amazing little $30 electric chain saw.  It's still hanging in there.

Doing Some Cleanup

Today was overcast but no rain, so I did a few chores outdoors.  I straightened out the raspberries in the front yard and moved a couple of stragglers to fill out the row.  I still need to put compost on them.  Amazingly enough, they are still producing.

Then I removed all the tomato plants and turned the straw under.  There are still some chard plants at one end, and I sowed some mache and arugula there.

I also pulled out the aubergines.  I found lots of lady bugs on them, including this foursome.

I picked the leaf and set it on the ground under the apple tree.

Except for a little loss of privacy, which we'll remedy soon, I'm really happy we decided to remove the larger of the two fir trees.    We now have a nice new view.  We couldn't see the beautiful gingko tree before.

 

Last week, when we walked at Minto Brown park, I found this big-leaf maple leaf.  

Threat of Frost

We've had a threat of frost, but so far everything is still o.k.  The zucchini, especially, the yellow one, continue to produce.

Today I dug up one of the basil plants, trimmed it back (it had lots of dead blossom stalks), and put it in a pot.  I'm not sure where I'll put it, because it probably needs some sun.

Update:  The basil plant did not do well, so it's history.  Maybe I should have dug it up sooner, while it was still healthy.

Winding Down

We just returned from Tucson.  We've been gone for a week and a half, getting our park model ready to sell.

The tomatoes are pretty much done.  The few ripe ones have split from all the rain while we were gone.  There are a couple of green ones, but I'll probably just toss them.  There are a few aubergines, which is good, because I'd really like to make the gratin again.

The zucchinis are still producing.  I even saw a honeybee this afternoon, so I'll let them stay for now, even though the plants look terrible.

The broccoli and cauliflower are finished, so out they came.  But the cabbages and Brussels sprouts are looking great.  There are six really nice heads of cabbage.

The tat soi is looking good, so it may be stir fry time.  The chard looks good but small.  Next year I'll start it a little earlier.

Winter Already?

It really feels like winter today.  It's 47 with a wind chill of 43.  And off and on rain.

Yesterday I picked the last of the cauliflower.  They were a little past their prime, and a little pink, but still very good.  I think I won't grow cauliflower again.  Keeping the bugs off and then blanching them is a real challenge.  Tonight I'm making a cauliflower pizza for supper.  The rest is in the freezer.

This morning I planted the berry starts that I got from One Green World.  I put the two raspberries in the row with the other raspberries, and I set up another row for all the blackberries.  We still need to put in the end posts and put up the wire, but that can wait for a better day.

Pretty Peppers

This morning there is a severe weather warning for all kinds of nasty stuff, including hail, so I decided it was time to harvest all the peppers and freeze them.  I picked 6 lbs. of California Wonder, Gypsy, and Sweet Bananas.

I pulled all the pepper plants and sowed some mache and arugula in the bed.  I also found two green and one yellow zucchinis, which we had for lunch.

Fruit Trees and Vines

Today we got four new bareroot fruit trees for the area where we took out the arbor vitae.  We have two pears, Ubileen and Orcas, a plum, Brooks, and a nectarine, Kreibich.

We also got a Marionberry, a Loganberry, a Prime-Ark blackberry, a Willamette red raspberry and a Meeker red raspberry.  They will all go in the front yard.

Sweet Potatoes

Today I dug the sweet potatoes.  I wasn't sure what I'd find.  I got a modest harvest, including one lunker weighing in at 3 1/2 lbs.  The Beauregards were mostly split, and there weren't very many of them.  There were more of the Georgia Jets, and they're much nicer looking.  The Nancy Halls were all small, long and thin.  I'll keep them in the house for ten days, then store them in the garage.  We'll do a taste test soon.

Squash

This morning David pulled all the butternut and acorn squash.  It's now in the guest bedroom to spend a couple of days curing, then it will go out to the garage.

I still have lots of tomatoes to do something with.  I canned one batch of seven pints yesterday, but it hardly made a dent.

Rain today!

It's the first significant rain we've had since June.  We're expecting several storms to come in in the next few days.  I'm sure glad I got the compost spread.  It would have been a big mess in the driveway.  However, I called One Green World today to order my new bare root fruit trees and they said they couldn't dig them today because they already had a lot of requests.  So, I'll get them next Saturday.  Actually, that's probably better.  Maybe things will dry out a bit by then.

Also, in anticipation of the rain, I picked all the ripe and almost ripe tomatoes.  I got 29 lbs. of Marzano/San Marzanos, 3 lb. 9 oz. of unripe ones, 5 lb. of slicing tomatoes, some ripe and some not, and 7 lb. 5 oz. of Long Keepers.  I'm still not sure what I'll do with them all, but at least I don't have to worry about them cracking with the rain.

I made a yummy eggplant gratin with the last of the big aubergines.  There are still quite a few of the long Asian ones left on the two plants.  I've decided I like the San Marzanos better of the two varieties.  The Marzanos are big and have tended to get blossom end rot and split.

Update:  After canning them, I've changed my mind.  The Marzanos are much meatier and very easy to peel.  The San Marzanos just turn to mush.  I'm planning to save seeds from the Marzanos.

Back Home

We're back from our trip.  The garden looks pretty good, considering it hasn't had any water and it's been warm and dry.

I decided it's time to dig to see if we have any sweet potatoes.  I started to dig and immediately found a big guy.  It weighed in at 1 lb. 8 oz.  We had it for supper. Yumm!

The bell peppers are all turning red.

The banana peppers are orange.

 

There were aphids on one of the cauliflower plants, but otherwise everything looks good.  I haven't seen a cabbage butterfly since we returned, so I took the netting off.

About the only thing that doesn't look good is the rhubarb.  It looks almost dead.  I'm not sure if it's the lack of water or maybe just the time of year.  I plan to move it to the front yard soon.

Since we are expecting rain tomorrow, I spent most of the day spreading two yards of compost into the new fruit tree area.  Then I turned it in, anticipating four new trees on Saturday.

September 23, 2012

Since we're leaving on a trip in two days, I figured I'd better pick any ripe tomatoes I could find.  I got 8 lbs. 9 ozs.  I peeled them, diced them, and canned them.  I got 7 pints.

I also picked the last three apples on the columnar trees -- one Scarlet Sentinel and two Golden Sentinels.

Things are starting to look fall-like in the front yard.

The butternut squash is coloring nicely, and we picked the first fall raspberry.

September 22, 2012

I've finished leveling the new area along the fence for fruit trees.  We had planned to put in a 2x6 retaining edge, but I don't think we need it.  It's pretty level.

I pulled out the Orange King tomato.  We were not eating it.  It's very bland, and we have several tomatoes that taste much better.  I also picked the last muskmelon and pulled the plant. 

September 21, 2012

Today I picked all the ripe paste tomatoes, which amounted to 6 lbs. 7 ozs.  It was mostly the San Marzano, with a few 'Marzanos' thrown in (whatever they are).  I decided to dehydrate them rather than can them.  The interesting thing is that the Marzanos are not only bigger, but they are also much meatier.  The San Marzanos are almost like a pepper inside.  Lots of empty space.  Here's what they looked like on the tray, with the Marzanos on the bottom and the San Marzanos on the top.

They were even more bizarre when dried.  The San Marzanos were just threads.  I really like the Marzanos better, but I'm really not sure what they are.  This is the San Marzano -- a typical Roma-type paste tomato.

And here is the Marzano.

I'm thinking maybe I should save the seeds, but I don't even know if it's a hybrid.  I guess I'll give it a try.

Today I planted some bunching onions in a big pot on the deck.  The peas I planted recently are up.  And the salad greens and spinach are doing really well.  We've been cutting and eating them for about a week now.