Last night, I pickled my green tomatoes. When they cool down over night on the counter, the color goes from a bright green to a pickle-greenish-brown. I am looking forward to using these on sandwiches (my favorite combination: sharp cheddar, grainy mustard, apple slices, arugula), or on burgers. Yum!
I planted my garlic today. I planted less than in previous years as one kid is out of the house, and the other one is with me only half of the year. This means I cook differently and don’t have use for 60 heads of garlic over the year anymore. Which is why of this year’s soft neck harvest, I made a small braid to give to a neighbor. Today I planted 16 hard necks (Red Russian) and 20 soft necks (Transylvania). I picked the fattest cloves of the three fattest bulbs I had harvested back in July 🙂
The last tomatoes of 2022. I harvested them yesterday, November 5, just before I pulled all plants. My first tomatoes this year were harvested on July 15. I will savor the last red tomato and quick-pickle the green tomatoes for sandwiches. Yum!
We are having an unseasonably warm November. 75 degrees today (November 5) and the same is forecasted for tomorrow. The trees have almost lost all their leaves yet here we are enjoying the sun in our tank tops. I am behind with clearing my plot and I have not planted my garlic yet. Today, I cleaned almost half of my plot and will do more work tomorrow. Trying to get the garlic in tomorrow as well.
Yesterday, I cleaned up my back porch to get it ready for the winter. I covered the table and chairs, pulled most of the plants (the only things still producing are the Swiss Chard and the herbs) and moved containers away from the railings for protection from the elements. We are still promised a few warm days (upper 60s) this week, and I will enjoy sitting on my South-facing bench as much as possible until the first frost will force me inside for good. I also planted about 150 tulip bulbs, both in containers and in the front and back yard. I planted Little Princess Botanical tulips on my back porch, and the following tulips in the front yard: Queen of the Night combined with Apricot Parrot, and Purple Prince combined with Orange Brilliant Fosteriana plus more Princess Botanical. In the back yard and in the herb garden and the little side bed along the back porch, I planted Mixed Triumph Tulips. All bulbs are from Holland Bulb Farms. I am looking forward to a lot of color next spring.
Bad news. The rodents got ALL the King Philip corn. Even the ears that were not quite ripe. I was too late. They also started feasting on the glass gem corn, so I harvested four bigger ears this morning, even though it is still a couple of weeks early. Lots of things still growing in the garden. I still have plenty of green beans. The carrots are coming in nicely, I thinned them a few days ago. Fall greens are looking good. The winter squash less so; there are only a few fruit on the vines and those are not very big.
I still have so many flowers and the green beans are still going strong. The tomatoes are winding down now; these five are Scotia (3), a super productive plant, and Black Prince (2).
So much for King Philip corn being more rodent resistant :(. I still have a few ears growing. The mice/rats only ate ears with partially exposed kernels. I hope they will leave the other ones alone. The glass gem corn is (still) untouched. Fingers crossed.
