Aftermath

The snow has finally gone so I went out to survey the damage.  Many things are done.  The mizuna, chard, and lettuce that were uncovered did not survive, but the kale looks o.k.

 It looks like the spinach may be o.k, but not the tatsoi.

I think the winter broccoli will make it, as well as the parsnips, although the tops look bad.

The biggest surprise is the bed I covered.  I had expected the mache to survive, but the leaf lettuce looks pretty good, too.

Snow

Today we had about an inch of snow.  But the cover over the lettuce is still standing.  I haven't looked inside yet.  But tonight we're expected to go down to 12 degrees, and 7 tomorrow night, so I'm assuming the lettuce will be mush.

So far the citrus trees have been hanging in there, but I think 12 degrees is too much to ask.  So we moved them into the garage for a while.

We had one of the pipes to the drip system burst.  I'm not sure why, because we did drain the lines (we thought).  Obviously, something went wrong.  Let's hope it's the only one that breaks.

We've had tons of birds, mostly juncos.  I filled the feeder this morning, and it was almost emptied by evening.   They're also out poking around in the yard.

Tiny footprints:

We've had one Anna's hummingbird sitting by the feeder all day.  I'm not sure if she's guarding it or just finding shelter.

Cold Coming

With the forecast of very cold weather in the next few days, I decided I'd better cover the bed of lettuce to see if it will survive.

I also dug another row of carrots and put them in a bucket in the garage, along with a few parsnips.   The carrots are a nice size, the parsnips are huge.

Beets

We have a major storm coming in tonight, followed by very cold temperatures.  So I figured it was time to harvest the beets.  I had just one row, and many of them were very small, but I pulled them all up and I'll can them tomorrow.   I guess next year I'll plant my fall crop a couple of weeks earlier.

I also pulled about half a row of carrots, because they'll be too hard to pull when the soil freezes.  I still have two rows in the ground, but I'm hoping they'll handle the freeze o.k.

Pizza Night

Broccoli, zucchini and pesto.

Silver Falls

Andrew, Janine and Sydney were visiting for Thanksgiving and requested a trip to Silver Falls State Park, so off we went.  It turned out to be a lot colder than any of us expected, probably near freezing, and many parts of the trail were too icy to walk on, so we did a short hike.  But it was beautiful.

Asparagus

The asparagus fronds are all brown, so I decided it was time to cut them off.

Before:

 After:

There were a few weeds among the stalks, but not bad.  All of the roots that I planted came up, but some were a lot heartier than others.  I hope they all make it through the winter.

Big Freeze

We've just entered the first real cold snap of the season.  Tonight the forecast is calling for it to be 19 degrees.  The only things I'm really worried about are my two new citrus trees.  I've wrapped the pots in bubble wrap.  Then I set a tomato cage around each one and covered it with plastic.  I stapled it in place, except for the top, which is just clipped.  I can open it during the day if it's sunny so they don't cook.

The dahlias have finally frozen, as have many of the wildflowers and cosmos which re-seeded themselves.  The broccoli and cauliflower are still fine, and so are the rows of carrots, beets, chard, and kale.   I think the peas are done.

Back Home

We've returned from our Hawaii cruise, and things are still rather fall like.  I had expected to find winter, but the rains were gentle.

The little paper bark maple in front still has some red leaves on it.

The squash is finished, but the peas still look great.

There's a nice big head of broccoli, as well as two large heads of cauliflower and one more small one coming.

The salad greens, chard, and kale are also looking good.

The strawberry keeps trying, but most of the berries get moldy before they're ripe.

I picked a handful of red raspberries, and the Prime Ark blackberry is producing fruit, and it's still blooming.  This is exciting, because it really will stretch the berry season once it's established.

Fall Color

The best fall color in our yard is the blueberry bushes.

By the time we return in three weeks this will all be gone.

Fall Cleanup Part II

Since we're leaving on our cruise in two days, I decided it's time to do some more cleanup.  I removed all the plants from my nice glazed pots.  Some went in the ground, some into plastic pots for now until I decide what to do with them.

It's also time for the tomatoes to go.  I pulled the last ones and added two big bags of leaves to the bed.  (I've collected eight bags in the neighborhood, so I still have plenty.)

I had planned on pulling out the squash plants, too, but they are still looking good and there are lots of squash coming.  So I left them for now.

The weather continues to be beautiful, except for fog on some mornings.  The cosmos that reseeded have started to form flower buds.  I decided not to tell them that winter is coming.  I'll let them enjoy life a little longer.

I found two more nice heads of cauliflower, so I picked them and will freeze them.  There are still several very small heads, which I'll leave and hope they'll be okay when we return.   We're about to O.D. on squash.  Waste not, want not.

Pizza Night

Today I picked my first cauliflower, which was just under a pound.

So tonight's pizza was roasted cauliflower and kalamata olives.

Borscht

This morning I decided to make borscht.  I pulled three beets from the winter planting.  The leaf miners have slowed down, so the leaves looked pretty good.

No I didn't grow the cabbage.  But everything else.

Sweet Potato Harvest

Today I dug up the sweet potatoes.  I had no idea what to expect.  The plants had not bloomed, so my fear was that there wouldn't be any sweet potatoes.  There weren't a lot, but I did find some

The big lunker weighed two pounds eleven ounces.

Fall Cleanup

Today was nice but cool (55) so I decided it was time to start cleaning up the garden.  It's my second favorite thing to do in the garden, after planting.  I love getting everything out and the beds neat and tidy.

I took out all the pepper plants, harvesting the remaining fruit.

I picked a few squash while I was at it.  They're still producing, so they get to stay a little longer.

Next to go was the basil.  It has started dropping leaves, so it's pretty much done.

Then I tackled the tomatoes.  I left the cherry tomato, even though they're pretty tasteless and are cracking with all the rain.  Maybe they'll get better if it dries out.  I also left the Debarao paste tomato.  It still has quite a few green tomatoes and some that are close to ripening.  I really like this tomato.

The winter stuff is really looking good.

Stinkbug Invasion

Yesterday was sunny and 72 degrees.  Perfect conditions for all the stink bugs to come out.  We had hundreds of them on the house and sidewalk.  Everywhere we looked they were flying around, I guess looking for the perfect spot to hide over the winter.

This one is particularly nasty.  It's the brown marmorated stinkbug and has become a major agricultural pest. We did our best to squish as many as we could.  Very satisfying.

Garlic

We've had several nice sunny days, so I was able to plant the garlic.  I put in two rows, each about six feet long.  This really is the last thing to get planted (I think).

The asparagus has gotten really tall, so I've put up some stakes and string to contain it all.

I bought an Owari Satsuma mandarin tree from One Green World.  I've put it in a 7-gallon pot and set it along the south wall of the house, next to the lemon.

The Eureka lemon was about this size last spring.  It has more than doubled in size.

Frost on the Roof

Our low last night was 38.  This morning there is frost on the roof.

David picked a nice handful of raspberries this morning, but the strawberries are a grey, fuzzy mess.  I think once dry weather returns they'll be good again.  We've had an awful lot of rain in the last couple of weeks.