Fall Work Day

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Blueberry foliage

Yesterday, we had our community garden fall work day. We got a lot done, from weeding and clearing the common areas inside the garden to getting the communal outside beds ready for winter (including planting 100 tulip bulbs and 100 crocus bulbs), to spreading hay and mulch, replacing three more timber plot borders and more. We harvested the last green tomatoes and flowers for gardeners to take home, and placed the remaining tomatoes in our donation box outside the garden gate for neighbors to take home. All that is left to do apart from finishing weeding & mulching and cleaning the shed is to dig up the dahlia tubers after the first hard frost. The common areas are (almost) ready for winter.

Before
After
Pinwheel marigolds

Pickled Green Tomatoes

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Just before adding the brine (vinegar, water, peppercorns, garlic, sugar, kosher salt)

Two days ago, I harvested many of the green tomatoes that were still on the vines in our new vegetable/flower bed outside the community garden as we had a light frost that night. They were all of a smallish variety (I think it was Mountain Magic), with the fruit being very uniform perfect little globes of about 1.5 inch in diameter. Last night I quick-pickled them and filled two jars. I always use this recipe but omit the turmeric and the dill. They keep in the fridge for a few months. I am looking forward to adding the pickles to sandwiches (sharp cheddar/apple/grainy mustard, pickled tomatoes is a great combo – yum!).

Late October Plot

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Plot today after harvesting the squash and removing tomato plants

Today, I started cleaning up the garden plot. It is (unseasonably) warm during the day but there will be frost tomorrow night. I took out the tomato plants and harvested all the butternut squash. Over the next week or so, I will get an area ready for planting my garlic. I still have chard, kale, radishes, beets, fall greens, leeks, carrots and flowers growing.

Swiss Chard
Calendula
Fall greens
Radishes

Ginger

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This year, I experimented with growing ginger in a container. I started in February with a piece of store-bought organic ginger that I misted with water for about a month to encourage formation of growth buds. Then, on March 12, I planted it in a pot, very shallow, with the roots exposed.

Ginger today just before the harvest
March 12

I let it grow indoors for a couple of months until temperatures were warm enough to bring the container outside.

May 14 (ginger in center in the back)
October 17
October 17

Today, I harvested the ginger. The pot I used had a smallish diameter, and I did not get as much ginger as I had hoped. The new ginger is so juicy and fragrant! I am very excited to use it. Next year, I will grow ginger again, but in a wide shallow planter.

Harvest (notice the strong fibrous roots)
A piece of ginger with old growth on the left and new growth on the right

I saved a small piece with several growth buds (and two stems) and replanted it in the same container. I plan to overwinter it in my back hallway.

Overwintering ginger

September

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September plot

Things are winding down in the garden. I have only a few tomatoes still on the vines. Still growing are winter squash, chard, kale, and leeks. On the right side of the plot I have my recently sown radishes, fall greens, beets and carrots. Plus flowers everywhere.

One of quite a few butternut squash
Fall sowings (that need to be thinned). From left to right: beets, carrots, radishes, fall greens.
Love these cheerful pinwheel marigolds
The dwarf kale is doing very well
Swiss Chard jungle

Thai Hot Sauce

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This morning, I harvested my Thai hot peppers from the back porch and made Thai hot sauce. I used this recipe, but did not strain the sauce. I only had about half a cup of peppers, much less than anticipated, so I made a tiny jar full of sauce. I know the sauce is very potent, so it will last me a while. It will keep forever (my last batch lasted two years in the fridge).

Ready for the fridge
Mise-en-place
Peppers after a light char in the 450F oven
All blended and ready to be heated up again before being bottled

More Fall Sowing

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Fall greens, November 2022

Today, I sowed one row each mache (seeds were from 2020, so my hopes of germination are extremely low), komatsuna (also known as Japanese mustard spinach) and French Breakfast radishes in the plot. I had sowed some radishes yesterday in containers on the back porch. The winter lettuce (Landis) I had sown about two weeks ago unfortunately never germinated. I have two rows of fall greens coming up (lettuces, chards, kale, arugula, mustard greens, Chinese cabbage, spinach, endive), plus two rows of beets (one Golden, one Chioggia) and a (spotty) row of early carrots. My plan is to have the mache and komatsuna overwinter under a row cover. And perhaps the fall greens as well. We shall see.