The pepper plants left in the garden are still ok, since I covered them at the last frost. I just harvested 5 more lemons yesterday. Then I took the plant outside and treated it with pyola to get rid of aphids, and brought back indoors.
It is blooming and the flowers smell so good, it is very cheery. I won't let any fruit set for a while to give it a rest, and make sure that the aphids are gone.
I have continued to forage for ripe persimmons and hickory nuts. There is nothing like a ripe persimmon straight off the tree. You can pick them early, and let them ripen, but the texture is just not the same.
I have been reading The Survival Garden section on saving seeds. It advises to save seeds from a minimum of 5 plants as a rule of thumb to maintain genetic diversity. Some plants such as corn require more than five.
Hope everyone is doing well. Have a great weekend. God Bless.
Pinging the List.
I’m hoping to find time this weekend to do a bit of cleanup in my garden so I can get the garlic planted. Kale, collards, broccoli and the various root crops are loving the rain and cool weather we’ve been having lately. Tomatoes and peppers not so much. I’m pretty sure they’re all dead. lol
My tomatoes were under plastic for about two weeks - I picked the last of them last weekend before the temperature dropped into the twenties - one gorgeous Yellow Brandywine and one Black from Tula for dinner tonight and then we’re done.
There are some itty bitty kales under row cover that probably won’t grow until spring if they survive - should have started them earlier.
Even the farmers from south Jersey were unloading all their tomatoes and other stuff at the farmer’s market before the freeze kill all but the winter crops.
Who knows a good brussels sprout recipe? I got a stalk for a dollar, figured it was worth a try - but really want to avoid that sulfurous cooked cabbage smell.
I just finished raking many, many leaves. I'd like to spread the leaves on my garden as a mulch. Every article that I've read so far says to put raked leaves on a compost pile.
Unfortunately, I don't have room for a compost pile. So it's either spread the leaves on my fenced garden, or set them out for the trash.
I was going to shred the leaves, dump them on the garden, then turn the soil. But I really have no idea if that's a good thing to do. What's your opinion on this?
I have a spot in my backyard where I grow pumpkins each year. It is an elevated location retained by a wall, but the past two years my pumpkins have been rather anemic. I think the soil is becoming leached. Any suggestions on what I can do during the off season to improve growth? I used manure last year, but all it did was grow healthy weeds.
My Chinese kale, collards and beets have all come up (planted Tuesday before last)! They’re teeny tiny right now, but at least they’ve sprouted .... it’s great to see something growing in the garden. I also have figured out a tarp system so I can cover the garden and keep the frost off of them .... VERY excited about this because I can see (in my mind’s eye) a spring ‘greenhouse’, using the same concept, so I can start some plants early! Now I can’t wait for early spring planting season ..... got a few months to go and the weather guys are throwing the “s” word around .... sneux!
Getting ready for a mild freeze Wed night, only about 31, but gunna bring in the containers to the back porch to avoid the frost. So that means this weekend I need to hang the grow light fixtures and their timer, and put up the plastic over the openings to winterize the porch. Actually, I shoulda done that today, but I wanted to play in the shop instead. Bringing the plants in is always a big deal because we have 4 containers 24” with 9 or 10ft tall plants, plus many smaller ones 12”-20” I may buy another heater to put out there with them. We added a new patio area this year, so that means a bunch more plants this time. I suspect I will have to buy another fixture and 2 more plants bulbs and put a number of them in my shop.
Still have one(my only) lemon that doesn’t want to ripen. Ghost Peppers are still covered in peppers. I brought them inside a week ago because I didn’t think they would like mid 40’s nightly.
I have come to realize that my garden has spoiled me. Fresh picked food is just so much tastier, I hate having to eat veggies from the grocery store!
The tomatoes I picked before the first frost here in Connecticut are still ripening. Had a few just rot on me, but most of them did well, especially the cherokee purples and little yellow cherry tomatoes. Still have two brown paper bags with ripening tomatoes. Planning on BLT’s tomorrow for lunch for the family. Hubby bought me a dehydrator and I dried a whole bunch. Oh, are they good!! I also frozen a good number of the heirlooms. I just have to figure out the best way to use them. LOL!
Is it my imagination or do Fall carrots taste better?? I planted some back the end of August and they are just so good!! The ones I pick haven’t all made it back to the house. Radishes seem to taste better too.
Same for for my lettuce, but that’s growing on a small popup green house. I started it in several window boxes late summer-early fall and moved them under cover before the first frost. We had a salad last night that was out of this world. Son #3 stopped by (and this is kid who doesn’t notice anything, especially vegetable things) and even he said that the lettuce looked so bright and fresh.
Tonight I picked a big mess of greens, collards, 3 kinds of kale, beet greens, and few mustard greens, and have them simmering with some smoked turkey legs for dinner. Have corn bread and hot sauce to go with them. Life is good.
After the first frost, my Russian kale turned the most wonderful color of purple. I saved some of the kale for chips and they were so good!! Wish I’d picked more.
They’re predicting snow for next Thursday. Do you think I should cover the kale and collards?