As I do every year, I kept several containers on my southwest-facing back porch. There are always herbs; this year, it was parsley (3 plants), Italian basil (2), Thai basil (2), rosemary, thyme, sage, chives and lavender. I have one large container for flowers only, which is positioned in the line of view from the kitchen door. It makes me so happy to open the door to the back porch and see flowers. I planted bulbs in this container the previous fall, and they came up nicely in April. To this pot, I later added Zinnia seedlings. I also grew radishes, arugula and lettuce (all in the spring), and Thai peppers in the summer.
Siberian squill, April 15Arugula (left) and radishes (right), April 22Radishes (to be replaced by parsley, Italian basil and nasturtium), May 6Arugula, May 6From left to right: parsley, arugula, flowers, radishes, May 6From left to right: flowers, radishes, lettuces, asparagus (2x), May 6Lettuces, May 6Asparagus and Cosmos, June 4Thai peppers, Thai basil and nasturtium (in the pot that had the lettuce growing earlier), June 4Parsley, chamomile and spilanthes, June 4Spilanthes (planted in the pot that earlier in the spring had the arugula), July 1Zinnia, July 27Mums (in the container that hosted the chamomile & spilanthes and the arugula earlier), October 5 (terrible resolution, sorry)Parsley and pine branches (covering the flower bulbs), December 14
I grew a lot of annual flowers from seed this year: calendula, zinnias, strawflowers, marigolds, and nasturtiums in my garden plot plus dahlias (from over-wintered tubers), gomphrena, zinnias, cosmos, sweet alyssum, and a wild flower mix in the communal garden bed. There were also spilanthes and chamomile plants (both bought as seedlings from the Neighborhood Farm), cosmos, zinnias and nasturtiums on the back porch as well as snapdragons on the front porch. This was the first time I grew strawflowers, and they did very well. I used them in small bouquets (both fresh and dried), in this year’s garlic braid and also just in random decorations around the house. The dried ones keep their color well, and continue to make me happy even now in December.
August 25(Zinnia and eucalyptus)October 11 (strawflower on backyard grapevine wreath )October 5 (Zinnia, strawflower and parsley)August 22 (garlic braid 2025) August 16 (dahlia and eucalyptus)
White dahlia, not sure what variety, possibly “Snow cap”
I did terrible with storing dahlias last winter. I only had three surviving, sprouting tubers – a dwarf variety, a white one (pictured above) and a purple one. All the other ones were shriveled and/or rotted. I am pretty sure I dug them up too soon and also neglected to take good care of them over the winter. Plus, our basement is too warm. This time, I want to make sure I divide them correctly and store them properly. We had a “killing” frost on November 18, so the foliage of the dahlias started to turn black. I cut down the stalks to about 4 to 5 inches and left them in the soil for a few days so the tubers could cure a little. I then dug them up (on November 30), rinsed the soil off the tubers and let them dry for two days (one day would have been enough).
Cleaned and drying tubers, I had labeled each of them with a twist tiewhen I dug them up
Today, I divided them. I made sure, each piece was intact and had at least one “eye”. I discarded the “mother tuber”. With a Sharpie, I put a number on each tuber that corresponded to the number on the twist tie: 1 for the dwarf variety, 2 for the white dahlia and 3 for the purple one.
I then dusted them in sulfur powder to prevent fungal disease.
Tubers all dusted in sulfur
Then, the tubers were wrapped in plastic wrap. Not the most environmentally friendly way, but a dahlia expert I spoke to swears by it. Plus, my previous system of storing them in a box filled with vermiculite and spritzing them with water every once in a while did not work last year, so I am trying something new. I wrapped them in packages of three to four tubers making sure each individual tuber was fully wrapped. This way, I am saving plastic wrap, but I can still inspect each individual tuber for rot.
Ready for storage
The wrapped tubers will be stored in the back hallway, the coolest spot in the house (the basement is too warm), and I will check on them every two to four weeks. Fingers crossed.
The plot is now all winterized. I finally took out the last (orange frilly) marigold and saved a few flower heads to dry for seeds. I hope it was not too late as we already had a frost this week. Still growing are leeks, kale, Swiss chard and parsley. And of course the heavily mulched garlic for next year.
Every year, I strive to prolong the season by preserving vegetables (cucumbers, tomatoes, hot peppers, winter squash, garlic) and herbs (Italian basil, Thai basil) from the garden. I do not can my vegetables in a way that makes them shelf-stable. The methods I use are quick-pickling, curing/drying, slow-roasting and freezing. This year, I had a decent harvest of pickling cucumbers, and I quick-pickled several batches, one to two jars each. I also pickled green cherry tomatoes at the end of the season.
Driedand cured – hot peppers, garlic, shallots, garlic scapes.
I cured my garlic and my three (!) shallots, as well as my pathetic squash harvest (two small butternut and three small Delicata squash). For the first time, I oven-dried garlic scapes and turned them into a very fragrant and delicious garlic scape powder, which I am using in my cooking instead of garlic powder. I also slow-dried my super hot Thai peppers in the oven (at 175 F for several hours, checking first every 60 then every 30 minutes until they start to become brittle).
Slow-roasted and frozen – slow-roasted tomatoes and different types of basil pesto.
I slow-roasted several batches of tomatoes and made one big batch of garlic scape pesto, two batches of regular pesto and tree of Thai pesto. The tomatoes are topped with olive oil and frozen for future use. If not used immediately after making it, the Italian pesto is frozen in ice cube trays, covered with olive oil. This makes it easy to use. I just thaw a few cubes to use as pizza topping or for pasta. I freeze the Thai basil pesto straight in the jar (covered with sesame oil), as each batch makes one recipe for the crispy pork noodle bowls that we all love so much.
This year was a strange one for tomatoes. Overall, I had a ton of tomatoes all August (I harvested around two pounds every other day), but then production dropped off sharply. By the beginning of September, the early tomatoes were done, and the Ananas Noire and Black Krim had developed some type of rot. It was not blossom end rot, just small brown soft spots that got bigger and started to take over the entire fruit. None of the other varieties had it (with the exception of one big Dr. Wyche’s Yellow tomato in close proximity to the Ananas Noire plant). The spots did not affect the flavor (I was able to cut them out and eat the rest of the tomato), but I have not figured out what exactly the problem was.
Ailsa Craig, August 27
I learned that another gardener in our community garden had the same issues with her tomatoes. Interestingly, Ailsa Craig, Brimmer and Green Zebra were not affected. Scotia and Stupice are also likely fine, but those varieties were physically far away from the diseased ones, and were almost done fruiting by the time the spots appeared. By early/mid October, only Ailsa Craig and Brimmer tomatoes were still producing, and I got a few more tomatoes from those plants.
Ailsa Craig, September 28
I will need to do more research over the winter on what the problem might have been and plan my tomato varieties for next year accordingly.
Today, I cleaned up my plot and prepared it for winter. It was a gorgeous 60 degree late fall day. Perfect weeding weather ;). I took out all the annual plants (except for one beautifully frilly marigold, which I am trying to save seeds from), loosened the soil and covered it with salt marsh hay. Still growing are the leeks, kale, some Swiss chard, and parsley. I harvested the last cilantro and the last calendula flowers. I also planted next year’s garlic, 16 cloves Red Russian hardnecks, and 18 cloves Transylvanian softnecks, 34 total. Like every year, I had saved the largest heads as seed garlic.
Yesterday, I made pickled green tomatoes. After the community garden fall cleanup day on Saturday, I brought home a few handfuls of green cherry tomatoes. I used a different recipe this time, which called for lemongrass and Thai peppers – both from my homegrown (and frozen) reserve. I am excited to see how the pickles turn out.
