First Mandarin!

Today we picked the first (of two) mandarin.  It still had a little green on it, but it felt soft, so we took a chance.  It was pretty good!  We decided to leave the other one on a little longer.

First Broccoli

Today I cut the first broccoli head for our Thanksgiving dinner.  It weighed 1 lb. 10 oz. and was very good.

Gloriosa

Today I turned over the pot that had the two gloriosa lilies in them.  I was happy to find a double bulb in each one.  They broke in half, so next year I should have four plants.  I've put them in the garage for now to dry. 

I also dug up two sweet potato vines.  The tubers aren't very impressive, but I'll try to plant them next spring and see how they do.

The two mandarins look like they are starting to turn orange.  They have a slight yellow tinge.

As for the winter crops, the broccoli and cabbage are doing well.  There are some small heads coming on the broccoli, and the cabbage is ready to cut any time.  The kale could be bigger.  One harvest will pretty much finish them off.  The spinach is still tiny, so next year I need to plant it about a month earlier.  And the last planting of carrots is very small.  Maybe they'll grow in the spring.  The ones I planted on August 15 are a bit small, but useable.

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Aftermath

Here is what the 'wintry mix' delivered.

This is before and after of the liquidambers next door.  Many broken limbs

First Freeze

Last night we had our first freeze.  In anticipation I had brought in my three big succulent plants.  They will live in the dining room for the winter.

I've cut the asparagus to the ground.  As soon as we get a decent day, I will cover it with steer manure.

The forecast for tonight and tomorrow calls for a 'wintry mix.'  Woohoo!

Brassica Spacing

Now that all the winter brassicas are pretty much full size, I've gone out and measured them to determine the ideal spacing for next year.


The 'Hallmark' broccoli is huge, needing 36" spacing.  The cauliflower could also use 36" spacing.

The cabbage should do fine with 24" spacing.  Here they are overwhelmed by the broccoli.

The sprouting broccoli is not quite as wide as the 'Hallmark.'  They could be happy with 30" spacing.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is not to plant them close to the edge of the bed.  Some of the aisles are so narrow that it is almost impossible to get through them with huge plants hanging over.

Cauliflower!!

Today I picked my first cauliflower.  It was one of the 'Snow Crowns.'  Because the bed is planted so densely, and the sun is on the south side, while this plant is on the north, I didn't have to bother to cover it to blanch it.  It was delicious.

More Cleanup

With the rain and cooler weather, the tomatoes were looking sad, so I've pulled them out.  I also pulled the peppers and aubergines.  And the old strawberry bed has also been cleaned out.  I dug in a bag of dry leaves in each one.  Those are the only beds that are empty right now.

The Beckyberries were already becoming too dense, so I trimmed all side shoots up to the where they were tied to the wires.  At some point I'll have to let a few new shoots develop.

We decided that we were not really enjoying the various blackberries out in front, so those have been removed.  The raspberries are still there.

The spinach that I planted a week ago is up.  I hope it has time to grow before it gets really cold.

Garlic Time

Today I planted a row of garlic, after fertilizing the whole bed.  Later there will also be onions and leeks.

I've also planted some Olympia spinach in the old green bean bed.  It's pretty late, but with the weather still being warm (83 today!) I decided to give it a try.

The stink bugs are out in force again.  I've mentioned them to several other gardeners, and I'm beginning to think that they have been drawn to my vegetables. 

Autumnal Equinox

Today is the equinox, and appropriately enough it has turned cool.  We even have a prediction of heavy rain in a couple of days.  So I'm really in a clean up mood.

I trimmed all the strawberry plants on the side of the house and weeded the whole area.  Then David extended the retaining board so I could put in six more strawberry plants.  I took them out of the other bed in the main garden, which is dying rapidly.

Next I cleaned out the bed with the fruit trees and beneficial flowers.  I've decided to widen the path along that area, because the berries are already hanging over and making it hard to walk.  We'll get some more wood chips to put down.

Pepper Harvest

I've picked a lot of peppers, but I hardly made a dent.  Unfortunately, the stink bugs have gotten to a lot of the peppers and really made a mess of them.  Most are still useable, but some are not.  Good thing I planted lots.

This is what the stink bug damage looks like.

Next year I plan to grow fewer peppers and cover them with netting. 

More Winter Stuff

Today I sowed a row of Pac Choi and four rows of mache in the bed where the dry beans had been.  I also sowed some more carrots, romaine lettuce, chard and kale.  The squirrels have been very busy burying nuts in every open spot of soil, so I covered both beds with some bird netting.  Hopefully, it will discourage the squirrels from digging in the nice soft soil.

The brassicas are looking really good.  I've caught a couple of white butterflies inside the netting, so I'll have to watch for caterpillars.

Beginning of the End

The blueberry harvest is officially over.  We picked the last handful yesterday.  The most impressive bush was the Legacy.  It started fairly early, and has been the only one still producing for the last three weeks or so.


I've pulled out the dried bean patch.  I ended up with six pounds of dry beans.  They're pretty, and they'll be great in soup, but probably not worth the water and (tedious) work shelling them.

Onion Harvest

The onions that have been in the garage for several weeks are now nicely dry.  Some of them are gigantic.

The PrimeArk blackberries are still producing, I assume now on this year's canes.

Winter Chard

Even though the chard I planted last spring is still going strong (and looking fantastic, thanks to the netting!), I sowed a little more as insurance.  I'd hate to have the early crop quit and be stuck without any chard.  I planted about ten seeds in the same bed as the early crop, then moved the netting to cover the whole bed.  I may move the seedlings later, but for now they're protected.  The variety I've planted this year is 'Electric Neon Blend' from Territorial.  It really doesn't seem any brighter than the rainbow chard I've always planted.

Dry Beans

Some of the dry beans are getting brittle, so I picked what was ready.  It was mostly Brown Dutch, with some Jacob's Cattle and a few Hidatsa Red Indian.  It was a little less than a pound.  Lots more to come.

Amana Orange Tomato

Today I picked the second Amana Orange tomato.  It tipped the scales at just over a pound.

It fits nicely onto a sandwich thin.

What I didn't use on the sandwich I put on tonight's pizza, along with Cube of Butter squash and yellow bell pepper.  It looks like sunshine.

Winter Carrots and Lettuce

Yesterday I pulled out the second planting of bush beans and planted three rows of Romance carrots and two rows of Gourmet Blend lettuce.  Last night some critter came into the garden and dug several holes in the soil where I had planted the seeds.  Now I'll have to wait to see what comes up and fill in any gaps.

Dehydrated Tomatoes

Today I tried dehydrating some of the Debarao tomatoes.  They came out really well.

I also cut back the berries in the back.  I left just four trimmed canes on each of the Beckyberries and six trimmed canes on the Boysenberry.  I'll be anxious to see how they produce next year.  In the past I've left lots of side branches on the canes and left six canes per plant. 

Potato Harvest

A couple of months ago I transplanted three or four potato volunteers from last year's bed into a big pot on the deck.  I wasn't going to grow any more potatoes after last year's problem.  But I learned it was a calcium deficiency, so I added some bone meal and decided to give it a try.  There was a small sprinkler in the pot, which was hooked into the deck watering system, so it got plenty of regular water.

I was pleased with how many potatoes we got.  None were huge, but that's o.k.  And it sure was easy to harvest them.  We just dumped the pot on a tarp and sifted through the soil with our hands.  And no damaged potatoes from the spading fork.  This is definitely the way I'll grow potatoes next year.

Ratatouille Tonight!

The finished product.  Yum!!

Debarao Tomatoes

Today I picked the first Debarao paste tomatoes.  So far they look good.

Fall Veggies

Today I planted fifteen of the starts of broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage into the bed they were all holding in.  Because it's been in the 90s, I put a temporary shade cloth over the butterfly netting.

The remaining thirty are now holding in the bed with the carrots and beets, covered, of course.  They're waiting for a bed to open up.

Lettuce & Kale

I pulled the first planting of bush beans and planted a couple of short rows of lettuce and a row of Tuscan kale in the space.

The second planting of beans is producing nicely.

Apples & Figs

The Golden Sentinel apples have started to fall.  Almost enough for a pie!


And I picked our first (of two) fig.  We split it.

Onions

The onions have still not started to fall over, but I decided to harvest some to dehydrate.  I pulled a dozen nice big ones.  After first attempting to chop them by hand, I figured I probably would be there for the rest of the day.  So I used my little Cuisinart chopper.  I cut them into smaller pieces, then pulsed them four or five times.  They were not quite as neat as the ones chopped by hand, but they'll do.  I filled all nine trays.

Here's what they looked like after drying, about six hours later.  I have two quart jars full.  I'll do another batch later. 

Boy! Does the garage stink!