First Frost

Two nights ago we had our first frost, although the temperature only got down to 36. But with the colder temperatures coming, I pulled out most of the summer vegetable garden. 

I sliced and froze all the bell peppers, except for four, which I'll stuff for a couple of dinners. The zucchini had a few small fruits on it, so we'll have those soon. I have several jars of shredded zucchini in the freezer for zucchini bread. I have several aubergines, which I'll probably make into more ratatouille. 

When a substantial rain storm was predicted a couple of weeks ago, I picked all the tomatoes, mostly San Marzanos, which had any color on them. I put them in the guest room to ripen. I now have enough tomato soup for nine lunches, plus two trays of roasted tomatoes, with garlic, basil, and olive oil. I'm planning to use them on pizza, or maybe as a pasta topping. I had also canned 26 pints of cut up tomatoes. 

We still have lots of things in the garden for winter. I have a row of kohlrabi, a row of beets, a row of chard, and two rows of spinach. One bed has cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, several plants of each. I have about twenty bok choy plants, plus a few short rows of mache, arugula, and Ethiopian kale. And I have a row of turnips and rutabagas. There is still some lettuce, but I don't expect that to last much longer. I planted a few snap peas at the end of the strawberry bed. They probably won't produce anything until next spring. And of course, there are still several rows of carrots.

I got just four delicata squash, which was a bit disappointing. Next year I'll grow a vining one instead of the bush variety. I also have three small 'Honey Nut' squash, which may or may not make it. They're still not ready to pick. Again, next year I'll do a full size butternut vine.

Status of Fall Garden

The fall brassicas have been moved into the potato bed, with a net cover over them. They're growing nicely now.

In the box with the leeks I've planted some rainbow chard and sowed some spinach. They're all small, but coming along. 

We've had some really hot weather (and now lots of wildfire smoke!) The tomatoes are happy. I picked 4 1/2 pounds yesterday and canned them today (3 jars plus a smaller one). The melons are getting close. They also love the heat. 

I pulled out all the cranberry beans that were planted among the tomatoes. The other dry beans aren't ready to pull yet. 

More Tomatoes

Today I picked the first Cherokee Purple tomatoes and the first bell pepper. We had one tomato for lunch. Yummy! I picked the second aubergine, with several more smaller ones to be ready soon. The Boothby's Blonde cucumbers have been producing nicely. Two more today.

I've started some pak choi, which is now up, as is the chard. The broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage that I started in the ground had not been doing well, so I moved them into small pots. I think the problem has been the roots of the arbor vitae hedge next door. The ground is almost solid tiny roots. 

I've cut all the growing tips off the melons and pulled off anything smaller than one inch. I'm not sure if the smallest ones will ripen, but we'll find out. 

Getting Ready for Fall

Today I set up a seedling bed under the peach tree. I added some potting soil and compost and sowed a row each of cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. I'm hoping that by the time they're ready to transplant I'll have some place to put them. Right now I'm not so sure.

After the first two cherry tomatoes disappeared(!) I put a ring of 24" hardware cloth around the plant. We now have another tomato almost ready. We'll see if the wire stops any further theft.

Things are still moving slowly with the lack of sun and heat, but it looks like we have a good week ahead of us.

Strawberries!

Today I picked our first Seascape strawberries. They sure are good. Tomorrow we'll have some on our oatmeal.Our first raspberry looked ripe yesterday and today it has disappeared. A bird perhaps? Let's hope they leave some for us. The blueberries are showing some color, so it won't be long before we'll be picking them. I've put netting on both the blueberries and strawberries.

In the last few days I've planted lots of dry beans - cranberry, cannellini and navy beans. I've pulled up the last of the bok choi, as it was bolting. The broccoli was disappointing. I think it didn't like the recent heat. But the cauliflower and cabbage are still looking good. We've started picking snap peas.

The tomatoes all have flower buds except the San Marzanos. And both the zucchini and delicata squash have female flower buds.

Most of the pears on the trees have fallen off, but there are still a few on each one. The mandarin is just finishing blooming. If a tenth of the flowers produce fruit, we'll be inundated.

Uncertain Times

With the unfolding of the coronavirus pandemic, I've decided to plant more vegetables. I went to Wilco today and bought starts of chard, onions, kale, bok choi, cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage. I've planted the chard, bok choi and kale in the bed at the side of the house, in front of the dahlias. The onions went into the center of the onion bed. The brassicas will go into their own bed with an insect barrier over it.

On the positive side, the peach tree is blooming (I'm hand pollinating just in case the bees don't find it) and the pear trees are close. The early blueberries are starting to bloom. I've started more lettuce, bok choi, and kale, including Ethiopian kale. I also sowed a row of carrots. All my earlier starts are doing well under a fluorescent light, except the aubergines, which are not up yet. I think the heat mat was too much for them. I've put some insulation between the six pack and the mat, so it isn't quite so warm. We'll see.

We've had several days of sun and 60s temperatures. Tomorrow it cools off and we have a week of rain coming. I'm happy to have a rest, and the new plants will appreciate the rain.

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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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.

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.

More Carrots

Most of the lettuce has started to bolt, including the romaine, so I pulled it out.  I left the Red Sails and Black-seeded Simpson, which are still good.  In the empty space I planted two four-foot rows of Purple Haze carrots, covered with Reemay.

I transplanted the fall vegetable starts (broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage) to 4" pots.  I also gave them a boost with 1 tsp. fish emulsion in a gallon of water.  And of course, they're under the netting.

I picked another big bowl of bush beans and froze them. 

Fall Crucifers

I've started my fall crucifers in six packs.  I have one pack of Ruby Ball cabbage, one Snow Crown cauliflower, one Purple of Sicily cauliflower, one Hallmark broccoli, and two Harvest Blend sprouting broccoli.   I think by the time they are ready to set out, the bed with garlic and peas will be empty.   Next year I need to think ahead and hold off planting one bed in anticipation of the crucifers.

State of the Garden

We had a (partly) sunny day, so I went out to see what things looked like and do a little more cleanup.

I pulled the remaining broccoli, kale and chard plants.  They were mostly mush, with little chance of recovery.  I left the spinach and some mache and lettuce that's under a cover.

The carrots that I left in the ground had totally frozen on top, but are surprisingly good in the ground.   I pulled some and left the rest for now.  They do better in the ground than out. By the way, the 'Merida' carrots I planted to overwinter came up but never amounted to anything.

I dug up all the remaining parsnips.  The ones from the first planting are huge, much too big to use.  But the second planting are a more reasonable size.  Again, the tops were totally dead, but the roots were fine.

I did a little weeding, mostly among the blueberries, and the garden looks pretty respectable.

My two little citrus trees look pretty bad.  The lemon is almost completely leafless.

The mandarin looks a little better. 

Both of these were protected with plastic down into the 20s, then in the garage below that. The catalog says they're hardy to the mid-20s.  We'll just have to wait to see if they come back.

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.

First Broccoli

Thanks to the big storm we had yesterday, I found our first stalk of broccoli.  The bed had been covered with Remay, but the wind was so strong that I decided to remove it before it got shredded.  Today I went out to see what things looked like and there was a nice big stalk of broccoli.  I also I found two green caterpillars in it.  Sigh.  I think I'll just give up on the cover and patrol every day for insects.

I also found four nice yellow squash and two green ones.  The yellow ones are really pumping them out.  The variety is 'Cube of Butter.'  I think next year I'll just grow that one and maybe a pattypan. 

If it Isn't One Thing It's Another

I've covered all my broccoli plants to keep out the white butterflies, and I've been monitoring them just in case.  However the latest threat is from below.  One of our little subterranean rascals (Mole? Vole?) has chewed the roots off several plants.  I couldn't figure out why they kept wilting, even though I gave them extra water.  Now I know.

The last two melons have been harvested, thank goodness.  They've been very good and we've really enjoyed them.  But enough is enough.  Surely it must be almost grapefruit season.

This morning we walked in Minto Brown Park.  It's starting to feel more and more like fall, although most of the trees still have all their leaves.  I found a mushroom that I can't identify, as well as a wildflower I can't identify.

Winter Greens

Today I planted all my lettuce, mizuna, arugula, and tatsoi starts in Bed 8.  I rigged up a piece of shade cloth, because it's still warm (in the upper 80s).

 At the other end of the bed I put in some rainbow chard starts.

I also planted six 'Rudolf' sprouting broccoli starts in the bean bed, Bed 2.  I pulled out the second planting of bush beans.  I decided I rally didn't need them, and I do need the space.

Today we also put in edging along the bed against the back of the house.  It has a two-by-four edge that just isn't high enough to hold water and soil in.  So we put in a 5" plastic strip, screwed to the board.  I think it will be much better.  Now I can actually add compost to the bed without it spilling out on the walk.

Broccoli and Cauliflower

After cleaning out the onion bed a couple of days ago, I've now planted my broccoli and cauliflower starts in that bed.  I zip-tied two metal hoops together to make larger ones.  Then I covered it with bird netting, hoping to keep out the cabbage butterflies, and then shade cloth.

I also moved all the broccoli that I started from seeds a couple of weeks ago into 4" pots.  I have 24 pots.  About 8 of them are sprouting broccoli.  The rest is a blend of varieties.  I may have overdone it. 


Update:

Yesterday I found a white butterfly inside the netting.  So now it is covered entirely in the shade cloth.

Fall Crops

Yesterday I went to 13th Street Nursery and snagged the last broccoli and the next-to-last cauliflower.  I got a six pack of each.  Also some seeds to start more.  I got 'Broccoli Blend' and 'Rudolph,' a green sprouting broccoli. I started three and two six packs of each, respectively.

I also started two six packs of 'Red Sails' lettuce, and one each of 'Valmaine' romaine, tatsoi, arugula, 'Bright Lights' chard, mizuna, and a pot of 'White Lisbon' scallions.

The 'Red Ace' beets and 'Yaya' and Danvers 126' carrots are up.

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.