The Garden Chronicles - Week 30 - End of Season
Well, it's dry at the moment, but it's been cool and rainy for the better part of the past 2 weeks, and I've had several frosts and one good freeze as well. Thus, my gardening growing season is over for the year, even though the forecast for the coming week says it's going to be beautifully warm and sunny (for November, anyway) for something like 8 days in a row.
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- The first killing frost came the night of Oct 15th -
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After.
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After.
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The Touchon carrots didn't mind the frost, of course.
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Neither did the other ones.
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Nor the lettuce.
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The zucchini, however, couldn't handle it.
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Neither could the peppers.
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The baby beets and spinach held up well.
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So did the kohlrabi and Maestro peas...
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... and the Miragreen peas.
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But like the other peppers, the hot peppers didn't make it.
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- Today, November 1 -
Two weeks since the first frost. I've had a few more since, and there was a freeze a few days ago.
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I also got 6 inches of rain in the past week.
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The Touchon carrots are still there. I harvested beets and turnips before the freeze, though.
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The rest of the winter carrots. They'll just stay there in the ground until I want them.
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Still have lettuce growing, but I don't really want any of it at the moment. I often lose my appetite for salad when the weather turns cool in the fall.
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Dead beans.
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Dead Big Beefs.
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Baby beets still going.
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The Miragreen peas got picked a few days ago.
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More baby beets, but the Spinach and Kohlrabi were picked before the freeze.
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The Maestro peas still need their second picking, but after that they'll be done.
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- Recently picked stuff -
This is what I do with excess zucchini. Sliced, blanched, quick-cooled, frozen overnight in a single layer on cookie sheets, and then bagged once frozen.
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Peppers, Maestro peas, and beans on Oct 14.
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The Maestro peas.
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A frying-size zucchini.
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Rosemary.
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Dried in a dehydrator and crumbled up.
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About 5 gallons of Miragreen peas on Oct 29.
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Shelled.
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Here's what I picked just before the freeze — kohlrabi, a few peppers that were still firm after the frosts, two cucumbers I'd missed before, beets, a few mutant-looking hybrid turnips, and some of both kinds of carrots.
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Chicken and kohlrabi stew, and a few cooked beets.
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A first-time experiment — kohlrabi and carrot 'kohl' slaw. It was pretty darn good. I could hardly tell the difference.
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Fried zucchini.
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Here's one thing you can do with a crisper full of peppers. Take a stuffed pepper recipe, but cut the peppers up and make casseroles instead. You can really use them up in a hurry this way. It's especially useful for smaller, oddly shaped ones.
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- Trail cam shots -
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- Miscellaneous -
A flying squirrel on Halloween.
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While I was waiting for the flying squirrel to pose for me, a little field mouse ran up the tree, climbed inside the suet holder, and started chowing down.
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The woods.
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They're a little hard to see, but the Goldfinches have lost their color for the year.
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A Tufted Titmouse.
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A Cardinal.
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Well, it's November 1st and I still have baby beets and a few peas to pick, but I think this is going to be it for the year, folks. I might add a winter update later on, after it snows, but I have no idea when that will be.
Thanks for following along. I hope everyone got at least a little enjoyment out of this. A little enjoyment was sorely needed this year.
So long for now.
What's the verdict? Would this be worth doing again next year?
Oh, wait, I didn't answer your question.......
Hey Mr.Gardeningman, plant your seeds again
No matter if there's rain
For sure I won't complain
My hunger is a pain
Wait only for my desktop to be turned on.
(With apologies to Dylan's Tambourine Man)
YES, was the best thing on NT,
Yes, please.
Yes, keep it coming. Note: last night we had our first accumulation of snow, as of this post most has already melted and it was 19 degrees Friday morning.
Brrr.
I heard that people as far south as Oklahoma City were having wintry weather last week. An ice storm or something. I'm glad it missed me. I'm not ready for it yet.
Good news now, it looks to be about a week worth of Indian summer for us, possibly getting into the 70's this weekend and first part of next week.
Me too. I think it's going to be in the 70's here until Tuesday. It's great.
If I hadn't had that spell of frost, I might still be picking beans, peppers, and zucchini... in November. That would have been neat.
Yesterday it reached 73 degrees, the next rain and cool down will be next Tuesday, almost thinking I could cut a field of grassy hay down and it would be ready to bale by then, what will hold me back though is harvest of beans and corn and my job, we are quite busy.
Well, you know how it is with spicy hot peppers - they can't take the cold.
But one look at that fried zucchini and I got hunger pangs.
Fried zucchini is yum.
Beautiful! I wish I enjoyed more veges. Peppers give me acid reflux sadly... even just the juices from them. I do love cucumbers, corn, green beans, and carrots though. Oh... and coleslaw is pretty delicious.
Sounds like you could use a little back yard garden next year.
There'll be plenty of know-how and advice available from people here if you decide to give anything a try, even if all you want to do is try a couple of small batches in flower beds or something.
Unfortunately, I'm a TERRIBLE gardener. I kill everything. I have managed to kill a cactus. I also know that my soil is not great for it. Besides, all of my neighbors are retirees and give me tomatoes by the dozens [the husband loves them] and cucumbers; my mother in law gives me carrots. Don't have the room for corn [live in a town]. I'd love to grow some green beans, but we have so many rabbits... I'd have to have an elevated garden.
I hope you continue next year, I've really enjoyed the Chronicles.
Thanks, Pat.
It turned cold here, I have 5 tomato plants planted in the greenhouse and Friday I dug up 4 small volunteers, potted then and will try to grow in the window with a grow light, if the dog doesn't get into them it will be fun to see what happens,
I have a big pile of brush and branches to grind up and then I will till most of the garden
Cool. You might have a Christmas tomato or two, depending on how big they already are. Growing them off-season might force them to set fruit earlier than they normally would, too.
I still have clean up to do, myself, as everyone can see. I'm going to wait until the asparagus growth is dead and dry before I start, though, and do it all at once.
The drought in the late summer this year prevented me from raking up grass clippings for a soil amendment. When I have lots of it after mowing in August and September, I usually like to gather it up, store it somewhere, and then spread it out and till it into the garden sometime in the winter or early spring. I'm going to have to get some extra organic matter from somewhere else this year.
Wow, it looked like everything was still producing.
You definitely have a green thumb.
The fired zucchini looks great. I would eat that over some kind of potato chip any day.
The only thing I noticed missing was my alien friend. Kinda bummed he didn't make an appearance as a so long for the season. Haha
I know. Sorry about that. All of the outside figurines are already boxed up and put away for the winter.
Erm... I mean... There were these weird lights out back a few nights ago, and I haven't seen him since.
Ok, I have tried growing yams and potatoes in pots before and sometimes I run into feral ones in the back yard...
but this is ridiculous...
Those look like they're going to try to take over the planet for their alien masters.
I put them on the front page.
I don't know whether to eat them or store them for next year then divide them?
There were enough small ones left in the ground for next season.
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