October Microbouquet
Category: In the garden
September Plot
I have been traveling this month and therefore have not spent much time in the community garden. It has been a weird, pretty bad gardening season for me. The tomatoes are pretty much done. I have a few green ones still on the vines (Ailsa Craig and Brimmer), but pulled the diseased plants (Ananas Noire, Dr. Wyche’s Yellow, and Black Krim) just before my trip. More on my tomato issues in a different blog post.
Currently, I have some winter squash growing and greens (kale and chard). Also cilantro, parsley and fall salad greens. The beets are still tiny, so I am not sure what to expect. The squash has been super slow to flower and set fruit. Just a strange season.
I have a lot of color in the plot though. The strawflowers have been taking off, as have the zinnias. And the marigolds and nasturtium are happy as usual.
Today’s Harvest
More Fall Sowing
This afternoon, I did some weeding and sowed two rows of fall greens (mix of lettuces, arugula, mustard greens, kale) and more cilantro. The beets, cilantro and basil I sowed three weeks ago, on August, 2 have sprouted but are tiny. I also harvested a second batch of Thai basil to make Thai basil pesto in the next couple of days.
August
More Sowing
This afternoon, I weeded the area where I had harvested the garlic two weeks ago and sowed one row each of sweet Italian basil, slow-bolting cilantro, Detroit Dark Red beets, Chioggia beets and Golden beets. The Chioggia seeds are four years old, and the Detroit Dark Red three years old, so we shall see whether they germinate. Fingers crossed.
First Tomato of 2025
It is a Stupice, yay! Tomato season has officially started. I also harvested my first (pickling) cucumber today.
Garlic Harvest 2025
Today, I harvested my garlic. A little later than in previous years, but it had just not been ready for harvest a week or so ago. I harvested 16 hardnecks (Red Russian) and 20 softnecks (Transylvania). I had originally planted 15 and 20, respectively, but one of the hardnecks split and produced two heads.
I will air-dry them on the porch (away from the sun) for a couple of days and then hang them in my back hallway to cure until the leaves are completely dry and the hardneck stalks very firm. This typically takes about two weeks for the softnecks and three weeks for the hardnecks. I will then clean them, remove all dirt and the very outer papery layer, trim the stalks of the hardnecks and braid the softnecks. But not before I put the largest heads aside as seed garlic for the fall.
I also planted shallots this spring, but only three of the many I planted grew. Not sure what went wrong.
Lettuce
I harvested all four heads of my Black Seeded Simpson as they started to show early signs of bolting. I still have four other lettuce types growing: Salanova Green Butter, Merlot, Johnny’s Allstar Gourmet Lettuce Mix, and Sandy Hill Preservation Center lettuce mix. Salad for dinner tonight!