Category: General

Ready for Winter

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Today I got my plot truly ready for winter. We had a few night frosts this past week, so I pulled the flowers, Swiss chard and tender lettuces, which all had frost damage. The fall greens are still going strong, so I am keeping them in for a few more days. I also still have carrots growing, which I will pull in a few weeks. Same with the parsley, of which I harvested some today. I am planning to overwinter my leeks.

I finally divided the asparagus, yay! I divided the big clump into six crowns and gave them plenty of space in between. I hope they will establish over the winter. I had planned to do this these past two years in early spring, but this spring I had COVID, which knocked me out for the entire month of April and made me miss the dividing window, and the year before the ground was frozen solid for much longer and then it got warm very quickly. Fingers crossed. The worst case scenario is that I won’t have much to harvest next spring.

November Clean-Up

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Today, I finished cleaning up my plot and getting it ready for the winter. The only thing left to do is to take out the flowers and divide the asparagus (or leave the latter for early spring next year). I still have Swiss Chard, leeks, fall greens, carrots, parsley and flowers growing. I spread salt marsh hay on the garlic patch and around the chard and leeks. It has been in the 70s today, and we have not had a frost yet this year.

Front left: next year’s garlic plus parsley. Back left: leeks. On the right: carrots, fall greens and chard. Flowers (cosmos, Zinnias and dahlias) at the fence in the back.
Next year’s garlic

Back Porch Cleanup and Tulip Planting

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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.

Our neighbor’s maple is gorgeous this year

Anticipation

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My corn is not yet ready for harvest but I am very excited about the King Philip corn I planted this year. It is a historic Wampanoag flint corn native to New England (named after the Wampanoag chief Metacom who adopted the name King Philip) and has copper-colored, reddish kernels. Flint corn has a hard outer layer around each kernel (protecting it from rodents) and is mostly used for coarse corn meal. It can also be dried and used for popcorn. In addition to King Philip corn, I grew glass gem corn again this year. While mostly used for decoration, glass gem corn can also be ground into meal or popped for snacking.

Green Beans and Flowers

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My Kentucky Wonder green beans have been taking off. I love having beans this late in the season. They grow slower now that the days are shorter and cooler meaning that I can harvest more at the same time (as opposed to a handful every day in the height of summer, which I find less useful in terms of using them to cook). The flowers also are finally in a really good place, which makes me happy as I now will have flowers until the first frost. This is the perk of getting a late start this season, ha! (The beans were planted in mid-July. On purpose.)

Early September

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Butternut squash

I did some weeding this beautiful Saturday morning and also thinned the carrots. Many tomato and cucumber plants seem to have recovered from the heat waves, the corn is tall, the beans are flowering, the winter squash are (finally) growing. Some tomato plants are looking very sad though: Black Strawberry and Ananas Noire have dried, brown leaves; Ananas Noire even has fruit rotting on the stem. There is still lots to come from my plot this late summer and fall: green beans, Swiss chard, kale, corn, squash, salad greens, beets, carrots, leeks.

Scotia tomatoes. Very prolific.
Glass gem corn
Kentucky Wonder tendrils looking for something to hold onto

Late July Update

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I harvested some more tomatoes and some forgotten beets and baby carrots. I need to replant the spot in the garden where I pulled the garlic a couple of weeks ago. I will direct-sow lettuces, carrots and beets and some basil. I also need to stake the beans and do a thorough weeding. There is so much grass in my plot. I think it came from the field hay that I used to mulch last year or the year before.

The cucumbers do not look great. The plants are not thriving, and the fruit is small and round. I know they suffered from the heat. Cucumbers do not like temperatures above 90, and we just had a 8 day-heat wave with temperatures in the mid- to upper 90s. The zucchini is dying. Not sure what is happening. It is just shriveling up, including the one single fruit, which stopped growing and is deformed and starting to yellow. The eggplant plants are tiny. The three winter squash plants have very few flowers. I am hoping things will improve.

Tomatoes are looking great. Tons of fruit, but the plants themselves are not very tall this year. I need to amend the soil this fall. Beans, corn and flowers are looking great.

Peas and Scapes

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Today’s harvest

I went to the garden this morning to water, and I harvested peas and garlic scapes. The garden is looking good, everything is growing nicely except the kale, which has become victim to some nibbler. If I am lucky, I will have one surviving plant. Other than that, everything looks great. The corn is coming up (I think, unless I mistook some weeds for it) and the dahlias (that I had stored in the basement since the fall under complete neglect) are also growing. I am excited.

I will have the peas for lunch (in a salad most likely) and will make pesto with the garlic scapes.