Gardening: (2016– )

[ElainaA]

It's getting colder here too. We had our first, light frost on Monday night. Average date for first frost here is in late September - this is the warmest fall ever. Still, my garden is just about finished for the season. The basil and zucchini are dead and pulled. The green house tomato plants are still going strong but the fruit is ripening very, very, very slooooooowly. I've pulled and stored all the beets (not a good crop this year), onions (just the opposite - I have some as big as cantaloupes), shallots, carrots and winter squash. The leeks are still in the ground, being harvested as needed in the kitchen. The pepper plants which just sat in the ground without growing until late August, when it finally started to rain a little, now have lots of peppers. I don't see any chance of them ripening to red or yellow before a killing frost so I am using them as green peppers.

Now, it's almost time to plant garlic.

[HungryChris]

One of the hard things about this time of year is saying goodbye to the fresh herbs just steps away from the kitchen. Some will make it through the winter, some will not.

HC

[djyee100]

We've gotten our first real rain today since last April. That's normal for our climate: no rain from April to October, with maybe a sprinkle in June or July. The rain is good news for us. It's fire season here, and the rain lessens the fire danger and brings relief to the birds and animals. Weather is still warm, 60's to 70's, and the rain will help us recover from the previous years' severe drought. Most reservoirs are still well below capacity.

　

People here plant in the fall to take advantage of the winter rains. Even though the plants don't grow much, if at all, they settle in during the winter and they're ready to burst out in early spring. This past week I did some transplanting and repotting.

　

　

On the back deck, the kaffir lime tree could use some pruning soon. Not much fruit this year, but that's OK. Bay leaf shrub is doing fine, roses and lavenders are going dormant. Camellias are budding though the plants are still scrawny (the two very big containers, left and right sides of pic). The camellias almost died during the drought. They will bloom in the late fall and winter.

　

　

Also off the back deck, roses on the left side of the pic, a patch of dwarf Greek oregano in the middle, and the newly transplanted 'Spice Islands' rosemary on the right side of the pic. The rain puddle is a welcome sight.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Frost advisory for tonight so I brought in the pots of mint and thyme.

 

[kayb]

As my last few tomatoes have been stubbornly clinging to the vines and refusing to ripen, even though it's supposed to be in the high 80s next week, I've been thinking about an expanded garden next year. Browsed the Burpee seed site for thoughts, and determined if I got everything I wanted, I'd need approximately an acre and a half of garden space. Ain't happening. I think the thing will be to pace off the site I want prepared (larger than this year, with hopes for no broke ankle!), and then determine what will fit in it. 

 

For sure: early sweet peas, and Kentucky Wonder green beans. All else is optional.

 

[HungryChris]

Trying to buy a little time.

HC

[JoNorvelleWalker]

No frost!  Now the forecast is to get warmer for the next few days.

 

[Wayne]

 

Out early this morning to harvest. Except for 2 nights of colder weather this has been a very mild fall and is forecasted to last through this week.

Starting at top left: Dill, garlic chives, parsley, thyme and rosemary. Cherry tomatoes.Young romaine. Chard. Tomatoes, Watermelon radishes. Daikon. Zucchini.  Aji Limo, Habanero, Cherry Bomb, and a few Jalapenos and Portugal Hot Peppers.

 

 

[cyalexa]

This has languished in my phone for so long it's almost time to plant again! My 2016 garlic crop:

[kayb]

The last of my Romas have bitten the dust, at the hands of my preschool grandchildren, who enjoyed pelting each other with the half-dozen or so that were left on the vine.

 

Hey, it was 30 minutes' worth of entertainment. I was all about it. Flung a tomato or two myself.

 

[TicTac]

Love the wooden barrels.

 

Living on a ravine/forest limits our ability to grow produce which requires a ton of sun (unless I do it in the front, which I have started testing this year and will expand next!).  However, the flip side, besides the beautiful setting, is the bounties that mother nature offers.

 

It's mushroom season - and the Elm Oysters are absolutely booming - today's pickage (yay, I get to participate in the pickage verbage!) - lime for scale:

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Freeze watch for tomorrow night.  I picked and brought in all the halfway decent looking tomatoes for the enjoyment of the fruit flies.  Brought the herbs in too.  Again.

 

If it does freeze I shall miss the flowers.  They are lovely at the moment.

 

[HungryChris]

Heavy frost warning tonight. Cold and windy today. I started picking all the shishito peppers in the cold wind, then decided to take a different approach.

The final tally

and a little snack

HC

Edited October 25, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Now that the gardens are winding down, how about a good book to tide us all over during the winter? I like any of the books by Henry Mitchell, the late garden columnist for the Washington Post. My personal favorite is a collection of his columns called The Essential Earthman (the title of his column was "Earthman"). Mitchell was opinionated, often very funny, and the quintessential good-hearted curmudgeon. He had very little time for many popular roses and always complained about having too many daylilies and hence not enough room for irises, or facing the terrible prospect of tearing out some plant he loved but that had outgrown its location. He despised silver maples. I believe he passed away while helping a neighbor plant daffodils.

 

I don't know if The Essential Earthman is still in print but it's worth searching for.

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

[Wayne]

 

First frost alert of the season tonight. I've already lost my last zucchini plant (a real trooper: appr. 250 fruit from one plant) and may be harvesting green tomatoes and green hot peppers tomorrow.

Lots of frost hardy greens and I've protected my late season lettuces.

 

 

[ElainaA]

3 hours ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

Now that the gardens are winding down, how about a good book to tide us all over during the winter? I like any of the books by Henry Mitchell, the late garden columnist for the Washington Post. My personal favorite is a collection of his columns called The Essential Earthman (the title of his column was "Earthman"). Mitchell was opinionated, often very funny, and the quintessential good-hearted curmudgeon. He had very little time for many popular roses and always complained about having too many daylilies and hence not enough room for irises, or facing the terrible prospect of tearing out some plant he loved but that had outgrown its location. He despised silver maples. I believe he passed away while helping a neighbor plant daffodils.

 

I don't know if The Essential Earthman is still in print but it's worth searching for.

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Michael Pollen's Second Nature

[Wayne]

 

It's the end of October and it's 18 C. (66 F.) and it looks like another week of mild weather. Zucchini and basil have given up the ghost and I've harvested all my late planted spring radishes and beets. Still have tomatoes and peppers, hardy greens, herbs and lettuces.

Cherry tomatoes are doing well (these are Blueberry). Larger tomatoes pretty much done.

 

 

Hot peppers still ripening. These are Aji Limo (notice the tip turning yellow)

 

 

Still lots of kale and collards.

 

 

Kohlrabi, daikon, bok choy and lettuces (romaine and Simpson black seeded)

 

 

This has been an unusual fall. By this time I'm usually finished re-conditioning the beds and have planted next year's garlic and lettuce.

 

 

[ElainaA]

Wow @Wayne - I am so jealous of your climate! The only thing still alive in my garden is parsley. I just finished pulling up the drip system - this afternoon it's time to start pulling the greenhouse tomato plants. Six outside garden-less months ahead. 

[Wayne]

 

@ElainaA

It's an interesting microclimate. I'm 0.4 km. / 0.25 mi. from Lake Ontario which consistently keeps the ambient temperature 5 C. cooler in warmer months and 5 C. warmer in colder months. Also have the Niagara Escarpment to the south which results in a 7a. growing zone.

 

 

Edited October 29, 2016 by Wayne (log)

[Shelby]

Soooooo hot here, STILL.  I'm sick of it.  Zucchini are not slowing down.  I even have brand new tomato plants that have grown on their own.....and there are blooms on them.  

 

[rotuts]

Cr*p.  too bad  @Shelby

[kayb]

I still have green tomatoes, and looking out this morning, it appears I have at least one ripe one. I've never had tomatoes this late.

 

Already starting to think about next year, though. I'm going to move the herbs to the front flower bed, so I need to start multiple seedlings this winter indoors. What seed catalogs do  y'all recommend? I grew up with Burpee, but am not tied to them.

[Toliver]

6 hours ago, Shelby said:

Soooooo hot here, STILL.  I'm sick of it.  Zucchini are not slowing down.  I even have brand new tomato plants that have grown on their own.....and there are blooms on them.  

Perhaps God is compensating you with zukes this year for your decimated tomato crop. 

Time to look for more unlocked vehicles. 

[ElainaA]

5 hours ago, kayb said:

I still have green tomatoes, and looking out this morning, it appears I have at least one ripe one. I've never had tomatoes this late.

 

Already starting to think about next year, though. I'm going to move the herbs to the front flower bed, so I need to start multiple seedlings this winter indoors. What seed catalogs do  y'all recommend? I grew up with Burpee, but am not tied to them.

I like Johnny's Selected Seeds - the source of probably 2/3 of my garden - and Territorial. @DiggingDogFarm (I think it was him) posted a link some time ago to High Mowing Organic Seeds - it looks very interesting - I'll be looking closely at that around February. I also like Pine Tree Garden Seeds - they are aimed at home gardeners so the seed packets are smaller and also cheaper. If, like me, you like to plant 14 varieties of lettuce and 12 varieties of tomatoes, it's a good choice. I also use Pine Tree's "kitchen sink mix" for micro greens all winter.

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Back when I was gardening in Colorado I liked Nichols Garden Nursery in Oregon, Johnny's Selected Seeds, and Seed Savers Exchange. My problem with a garden at 7,000 feet was frost-free days, so Johnny's was particularly helpful. But I've been a fan of Seed Savers Exchange since back in the day when we used to trade seeds with each other via a catalog typed on a typewriter (remember those?) and mimeographed. I believe in their mission, which is to save the old varieties that the more commercial nurseries have dropped from their catalogs, and now they have an extensive list of wonderful non-hybrid varieties. My sister, at a lower altitude north of Denver, grows a dozen varieties of heirloom tomatoes and won't plant anything other than SSE seeds.

 

I always preferred the family-owned and operated seed companies, like Nichols. They may not have had a huge catalog but I wanted them to stay in business. Does anyone know if Johnny's has avoided being scooped up by a bigger company?

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro