It's officially fall, so let's look back at our summer to see what we gained. Look ahead to winter & also make our plans for the coming year.
Here things were quite good this summer. Vegetable crops were bountiful & sales were wonderful. Farmers market is still going strong.
No frost yet, so lots of things still at peak. Picking bell peppers, eggplant, cabbage, muskmelon & assorted other veggies.
Bernie
Fall, a time to reflect
That sounds good. Especially the muskmelons. DH loves cantaloupe but cannot have it anymore because of his kidney issues. I have tried growing melons here but the season is not long enough to ripen them. Do you grow yours in the high tunnels?
I am still picking yellow squash, zukes and sweet peppers. I have small beans on the second planting of filet beans. I hope they have time to mature before frost. They are in the bed with the hoops so I can buy them some extra time with covering them. I have oodles of tomatoes on the volunteer plants I moved into the garden. I actually picked one that was turning pink and it is ripening in the kitchen. If frost threatens to catch them I cannot cover them easily so I will pull the whole plants and hang them upside down in the wash room. They will slowly ripen there. I have never tried that with big tomatoes but it has always worked for cherry tomatoes.
I am working hard to get things ready for the church's Fall Family Festival on Friday. We will have inflatables, games, crafts, food and maybe even pony rides. I am praying it does not rain. We will close it all out with a movie. Looking forward to it. But it is a lot of work. I have to go to town today and get some supplies.
I also have to find time today to peel some more apples. I just found out I could can apples in a water bath so I will do that and I will try my hand at making some Apple butter. We shall see.
Muskmelons are done. I looked around this morning & only found 2 that were possibly good. Decided it wasn't worth it. We had melons on the table at market every time since end of July.
I planted melons twice. May 21 under hoops, & June 11 just on plastic & seeds to finish the plot.
First picture is the hoops. Second one is the later planted plot.
Those look delish. Makes my mouth water.
I got another load of Apple's today. I found out I can process the apples in a water bath so I will be putting some up in jars. I have run out of freezer space. I have a batch in the crock pot right now to make Apple butter.
Apple butter turned out good. I bought more jars last night so I need to cook more apples.
A friend brought me a bag of pawpaws Wednesday night. Mine were all finished so I was glad to get more. I made two loaves of bread with them. I also made two loaves of pumpkin/apple bread. I have one loaf left.
Garden is winding down. I have had to cover it once already to protect it from the frost. I pulled up the eggplant bushes. Trimmed back the squash vines. Still have lots of green tomatoes on the vines and lots of sweet peppers on the bushes. I pulled up the one bell pepper. Feeding lots of Apple's to the horses.
Growing season ended here last night. We had peppers & hot peppers picked & stored away.
Still have tons of cabbage in the field. Plan on storing it for winter sales.
Soybeans are being combined now. A few have done corn, but it is pretty wet yet.
Wish I had photos. Maybe this weekend. All the corn has been cut in this area. I don't grow it.
My small garden is eighty five miles from my primary home. I spend time running back and forth. We are still picking lots of tomatoes but mostly small types as well as pasters and yellows. Okra is slowing though the bottoms are branching and flowering, Lots of lima beans ( actually tons of those), zipper peas and butter peas. I'm growing some exotic beans and doing well. The last of three rounds of cukes are providing plenty for salads and refrigerator dills. Picking young kale (four types), chard and collards and enjoying abundant arugula in salads. The last of spring/summer red and green cabbage will be harvested this week and fall/winter cabbage (savoy and Dutch flatheads) has been moved from seed beds to place. Peppers are pouring in; Marconi, lemon, peperoncini, habenero, jalepeno and cherry belle along with tomatillos. I've been canning tomatillo salsa. I've got beets, carrots and dill looking good but still early. Will plant mustard tomorrow. I keep redirecting a turtle out of the garden but he/she is determined. No matter how far I trot it off it's back there a few days later. Three broccoli plants are gone. Turtle soup recipe? Cauliflower looks good though. Almost best of the list is daikon radish which seems to love heavy Georgia soil. I've grown huge ones in the past and they last for months in the fridge. I'm harvesting one of the two remaining watermelons tomorrow. Thought I was done with winter squash but the butternuts say, "No", and more are coming on the vines. I've got four weeks maybe 'til frost. Will they make it? There are rutabagas and turnips that are a a no brainer here and I seeded radishes last week that are up and running.
I'll overseed every spot of ground not currently growing to crimson clover for winter.
I cannot image the difficulty of driving 85 miles to garden! But it sounds like you are making it work. How big is your garden?
Years back, we had our main garden 8 miles away. It was very stressful trying to get things done on time. We were selling lots of vegetables then, so go pick everything, then haul it home to clean & pack it.
Now we pick & pack as we go. If we are short of something, it only takes minutes to go pick more.
It was necessary for us to have careers and live in the city. Our current city house is on two acres but it's all wooded. Nice for city living though not for vegetable gardening. So, I found an affordable, abandoned foreclosure on a great property in the country and we spent years DIYing. The nomadic nature of the whole thing has a rhythm but with challenges. We raised our kids, have always had animals and still moved back and forth.
I garden on steps with about a half acre under cultivation and sixteen plus other acres in pond, creeks and woods. The garden started as a gravel road that went up to and past the cottage. I built a sifter to remove the gravel and year by year, foot by foot, the space expanded. Twenty five years later there's about 1/3 acre in vegetables, grown in three separate sections, and the rest in herbs, flowers and fruit. The fruit is on two levels below the main vegetable garden. I grow blueberries, muscadines, pears, figs, and peaches. We planted apples two years ago. We harvest many pounds of chanterelles from our woods in spring and fall
Do the mushrooms grow wild? Do you sell your flowers?
The mushrooms are wild and prolific. Fortunately there are no toxic varieties that look similar. We have other edible mushrooms but I am chicken to discern what might be confused and not safe. We go out with baskets and harvest loads. They sell for $30 a pound but we've not tried to sell any. I've posted harvests on the recipe forum and dishes made from them.
The flowers outside the garden are mostly species plants. In the garden we have volunteer zinnias that attract butterflies and birds and are used for cut flowers for us and friends.
I saw a few episodes of a show that featured a couple who went around the country harvesting mushrooms. They would drive into a town, make contact with a local restaurant and get an order for so many pounds of mushrooms and then go out hunting the mushrooms to fill the order. They picked mostly hen of the woods and Chicken. It was very interesting.
There are no poisonous ones that look like morels either. I love morels. Here they are called dry land fish. I so often wish I was still physically able to get out into the woods for that kind of thing. Right now it is sanging time. Many of our friends are combing the hills in search of gensing. How I would love to be with them.
Now that sounds like fun! We grow morels and hen of the woods too. Unfortunately false morels, which are toxic, fruit at the same time. I would like to take a mycology workshop. Unfortunately, it seems every few years I read about a group of foragers, out with supposed experts, has been poisoned.
CountryGardens, how are your fall crops coming? We've had so much rain and a lot of damage to young plants. Unfortunately a small garden suffers and sometimes I get little or nothing of one thing or another. Cabbage, chard and kale looks okay but beets were hit really bad.
Everything is over schedule. Meaning it has lasted longer than expected. Killing frost was October 10. Had all the peppers picked & in the cooler. Cabbage, kale, broccoli, & radishes are still in the garden & doing good. Will watch the weather & when it looks like real cold coming, will cut all the cabbage & store it. The last of the beets were pulled Wednesday. Still have some carrots to be dug.
Onions & sweet potatoes are in storage. Still selling well.
I hope to have things last in storage for selling at the November & December winter markets.
I will be doing fall tillage this week. This soil needs to be plowed in the fall. Don't produce worth a cra* if left until spring. It gets lumpy, & freezing in the winter makes it nice & mellow.
Corn & Soybean crops around here are fabulous. Soybeans mostly harvested, maybe 1/3 of corn is out of the fields.
I pulled all my second planting of beans from my longest bed. It has the hoops and bird netting over it. Only thing left in it is two pepper plants. I am thinking I may plant peas in that bed. They do well in the cold and with the hoops I can cover them if need be.
Still harvesting tomatoes, squash and peppers. I am amazed at how well the one yellow squash plant has done. It has put out new plants along the length of the vine and they are all producing. The zucchini is another story however.
What kind of storage do you have? Can you grow year around in the greenhouses?
I have a walkin cooler & a unheated storage area off my cabinet shop.
Costs to much to heat a greenhouse in winter.
I hear you on greenhouse heating. I also grow orchids and have a greenhouse to heat.
Everything in the garden is done for the year - and just in time for the onset of winter all my vehicles have given-up. Brakes out on the truck, Jeep running like - well better not say - ok - badly is very mild. Clutch gave me problems on the bike (Honda) today. I don't have to be at work until 0600 Thursday, but if I don't get the Jeep running right by noon, I better start walking.
Dyson, did you get your vehicle troubles fixed? I sure hope so. I know how that it. Our van is all but dead and we are having to rely on the old pickup. Sure am glad the price of diesel has dropped a bit.
It was in the forties here today and didn't get out of the fifties all day. No rain but not much Sun either. I just hate cold weather.
I stayed inside today and baked chickens and made broth. I also baked four loaves of bread. I made two strawberry and two apple/pumpkin. The strawberry is by far the best bread I have ever made and I will definitely be making it again.
Today turned out to be much nicer that the weather forecast predicted. No rain, no snow, mild temps and a bit of Sun to boot. I hung some Christmas lights in strategic places today and turned the ponies out in the yard to cut the grass. They did a fine job of it.
We will not be able to make the trip home for thanksgiving but we have been invited to friend's for lunch tomorrow afternoon. I am making jambalaya with elk meat to bring. I am also making ham pinwheels. They are a favorite of my friend's dad and they are a surprise for him. I pray you all have a wonderful day tomorrow. I am anxious to hear all about it.
Anybody here besides me?
Yesterday was quiet had the house to myself. Last evening did the Turkey-Ham-Stuffing-Potatoes-Mac & Cheese-etc thing at the SIL's.
Back to work tomorrow. But at least I am confident that either the truck or the Jeep, whichever I start out in will actually get me there.Going to be too cold for the Honda in the morning.
Care to all.
Long winter so far here. Froze up first week of November. Way early. It has been below zero 2 mornings already.
I did have all my field work done, so that is good. I moldboard plow most of my ground. If you don't plow in the fall, it don't work good in the spring. Freezing the plowed ground makes the soil mellow.
I still have cabbage, sweet potatoes, carrots & onions in storage for our winter markets.
I have been doing some cabinet work. Cutting back from what I have done other years.
We were at daughters yesterday & had a nice dinner.
Good to hear from you both. I was getting lonesome. Dyson, I am glad you got your vehicle or troubles fixed. I would say it will be far too cold for the bike in the morning. That is a warm weather vehicle. I am looking forward to getting my scooter fixed up and riding in the spring. I am so looking forward to the day when I pass a motorcycle and put my hand pit in the universal motorcycle wave. Then I will be a biker. LOL
CG, I could not function in the kind of winter you all have. I can barely stand it here. It does look like winter will be long and hard. I dread it. What is a moldboard plow?
We had lunch with friends from church at three yesterday. I contributed elk jambalaya and ham rolls. There was grouse. I had never eaten it before and it was wonderful. I ate way too much. Then we left there and went to some other friend's for supper at six. I took the rest of the jambalaya and a loaf of pumpkin bread there. Her deserts were awesome. We stayed til nearly eleven last night. Had a great time visiting and laughing. It was a good day in spite of not being with any of our family.
A moldboard plow is what broke up all the ground originally & plowed the land for years until chisel plows came along.
Some farmers are going back to them as the chisel's don't really "plow" the ground. They just cut trenches through it. Then you add the huge tractors & combines & trucks driving over the ground, it is getting packed so hard nothing is going to grow after a while.
I had a guy chisel plow for me a few years ago. We had terrible crops the next year. Ground was so hard, we had a hard time setting transplants.
Looks like everybody must be busy.
I have been sick nearly three weeks with the croup. Lots of folks sick here abouts. Every time I think I am getting better it hits me again. I was weak today but I kept pushing and managed to accomplish a bit. Not nearly all I need to get done.
I am enjoying thumbing through my Baker Creek seed book. I am going to order a few things for my spring garden. I like to try a new thing or two each year.
I have asked Santa to bring me one of those new little dremil saws. I have some plans for for garden if he comes through with it. We shall see.
Merry Christmas to all of you.
Get well soon and I hope Santa brings you the dremil of your dreams. :) My guy got the croupy crud almost a month ago and he still has days where he's back to hacking.
We're in the middle of Hanukkah celebrations. Five days down and three to go. We have a differently themed dinner every night for eight nights. Our grandson is here for five days and that's keeping us hopping as well.
My sister posted a pic of a huge menorah a man was lighting in front of the grocery store where she shops. She said they were singing songs. She is not Jewish so she did not know the songs but a nice man let her look on with him in his book. The songs were also written in English. He let her have the book when they finished so she can practice for next year.
The man belongs to an Orthodox Hasidic group known as Chabad (Ha-bod) Lubivitch. They are the only Jews that do outreach and are all about education, not conversion. They encourage other Jews to be more observant (they are very, very observant) and non-Jews to be "righteous". Sounds like Sis will be ready to go next year. lol Here are photos of a few of our candle lightings and our menorot (plural). There is a candle holder for each light plus one, called the shamus, that lights the other candles. Tonight's lighting ends the holiday celebration.
Bernie, aren't you about to get some major Christmas weather up there? When do you start your greenhouse crops?
Our Christmas weather is nice, 35º & light rain.
It will go below zero on the 27th.
We have a set up in the basement & start there in Feb.
Here it is;
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/371007/
Great set up, Bernie. I have a much smaller version with rubbermaid shelf sections and lights. Fortunately it's in an area of the basement that has a west wall of glass so good sun. The artificial light boosts the natural light before it gets to that side of the house. I start eggplants, peppers & tomatoes indoors. Everything else gets direct sown. I've tried other crops but when the same seeds are direct sown they quickly catch up with ones started a month or earlier indoors.
I only have a little four shelf green house I set up in my living room. I cannot even imagine something on that scale. I am very impressed. Do you wrap the trays in plastic until they sprout?
We just came home from a Christmas party. We will not see any of our family until summer so it is a bit depressing here for the holidays but folks from our church are in lauding us in their families. That can be awkward and we try to avoid it but I am glad we went. It was lots of fun.
I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a blessed and prosperous New year.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
A very merry and peaceful holiday to all.
Laurel
Merry Christmas!
& Happy New Year !
Happy New Year!
And a happy New Year to all from me. My house is momentarily peaceful but we're full to the rafters with company. Thankfully the weather is nice and most have gone off while a few have found quiet activities around the house. Unfortunately none of it involves housework. lol The traditional Southern victuals are burbling away on the stove, in the crockpot and baking in the oven. Must eat these foods for good luck, health and a prosperous New Year.