November 19, 2008
It is now mid-November and the garden is still alive and well. Certainly a different look and feel from the late summer, but thriving nonetheless.
As I write, I am glancing at a few tomatoes that are still around from summer planting. They were still green when the first frost hit, but they are still tasty. I guess it will be next spring before i will have another tomato fresh from the vine.
I planted garlic and onion sets back a few weeks ago. They are showing their tops and they have been mulched for the winter. They might be taking up bed space until next spring, but I will be able to follow their harvest with another long season crop.
The Magenta lettuce has remained under row cover for a couple of weeks, but it healthy and quite tasty in a salad. The temperatures have dropped below freezing numerous times in the creek bottom where I live, but the hardiness of that variety has shown it will grow even as the temperatures approach 20 degrees.
We have had some outstanding kale and Swiss chard that has survived the cold weather. Though the late planted turnips are not producing large numbers of leaves with the lower temperatures, they are still growing and should be offering edibles for a while yet.
Inside the hoop house, my experiments with sprouting turnips and mesculun are going well. As long as we have seasonal cold, the inside soil temperatures are remaining warm enough for sprouting. It is slower going than seed planted in September, but I am hoping to be surprised by some excellent greens in December and January.
See this article at The Garden Slug
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November 18, 2008
What more can I say, it has been cold in the mountains the last few days.
We had chard over the weekend that has been frosted on and had lived through some cold nights below freezing, and it was tasty as ever. Same is true with the kale.
Last time I checked, the seedlings are growing slowly in the hoophouse (turnips, mesculun and spinach). Other items in their are thriving because it is often 5-10 degrees warmer than outside.
The wind has been blwoing up to 30 mph at times and the hoophouse has been battered but not beaten.
I would love to go home and work int he garden this afternoon, but I am afraid that i am a bit wimpy and refuse to put on winter gear. We might pick some broccoli or lettuce for dinner, but to heck with mulching and weeding–there will be some warmer days later in the week.
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November 13, 2008
Yep, my husband sweet talked me. He married an Italian woman who loves food, and doesn’t mind sharing her recipes. I got the idea from Real Simple magazine, and just like my mother would do, I adapted it to my own tastes and what I have in hand.Here are the ingredients:
3 lbs. of sweet potatoes
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion chopped
1 celery stalk sliced
1 apple peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons salt
(you may want to try substituting some winter squash for the potatoes, or add some ginger to the mix, maybe a bit of cinnamon)Directions:Heat oven to 400 degrees, prick the potatoes with a fork, place on a baking sheet and roast until tender (40-45 minutes).
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat–add the onion, celery and apple and cook, stirring occasionally until soft about 10-12 minutes.
Halve the potatoes, scoop out the flesh, then add to the saucepan, add 6 cups of water, the salt and pepper and other spices). Cook until heated through (8-10 minutes).
Puree the soup in the saucepan using an immersion blender (or working in batches, use a standard blender). Add more water if needed to reach the desired consistency.
Serve with croutons and a dollop of sour cream (and a garden salad, fresh from the back yard).
(Find it at The Garden Slug)
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November 3, 2008
This past weekend we spent time in the garden and yard cleaning up and preparing for the winter.
The annuals were spent and it was time to take care of the brown and brittle leaves and stems. We cut the grass one more time and got rid of a good bit of garden waste.
But just because it is November does not mean that the vegetable garden is done. We are still picking cabbage, broccoli, chard, kale and turnips. We have green onions that are tasty, and there are still all kinds of salad greens available.
The hoop house is extending the season for some crops. I am experimenting with sprouting mesculun and spinach under cover. After all, the air temperature inside the house is usually about 10 degrees higher than outside, and the ground temperature appears to be much higher than the ground outside.
We also have about 5 dozen heads of Magenta lettuce in full growth. We keep a row cover on them overnight and try to take it off during the day. Even with temperatures falling down near 20 degrees last week, the row cover gave sufficient protection to keep the lettuce alive.
Garlic, as well as white and purple onions are in the ground and have pushed up some sprouts in the past couple of weeks. I will be mulching them all between now and the end of the month for a layer of protection through the winter.
We still have some tomatoes that ripened in the window sill, and there are still lots of vegetables in the freezer. And we cooked some of the first carrots of the season. They were not large in size but huge in taste.
I’ll keep you posted as the extended season continues.
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October 28, 2008
Last night as I went to bed, snow was dusting in Waynesville. The temperatures were expected to go down to below freezing, so I was not sure what to expect when I awoke.
Much to our surprise we awoke to almost two inches of wet snow in the yard, garden and on the hoop house. There was plenty of good news:
- The roads were fine, and I made it to work on time.
- The hoop house withstood the heavy snow, followed by winds this morning in fine fashion.
- The lettuce plants that were covered by row covers seemed to make it fine.
- It seems that the greens and cole crops will survive the snow.
Hoophouse update:
I checked my indoor outdoor thermometer and had these statistics from 10/27 5 PM to 10/28 12:30 PM:
- Min. Outdoor temperature-30.1
- Max. Outdoor- 60.1
- Min. Indoor Temperature- 35.5
- Max. Indoor Temperature-66.1
At 12:30 PM today with few clouds, the temperature outside the greenhouse was 42 and inside it was 66 and climbing. I will check things after work to see how the temperatures fluctuated.
October 27, 2008
Last night the wind picked up in the neighborhood because the shingles were rattling. It sounds like an animal on the roof, but from experience, it is just the gusting of wind.
I figured i would awake to see plastic hanging in the trees and my hoophouse in shambles. I was pleasantly surprised. It was in one piece (figuratively speaking) and in good condition. I came home to check at lunch and found it in the same condition.
I put my inside/outside thermometer to work this afternoon and found that the hoop house, without end walls attached, raises the air temperature inside about 15-20 degrees. The outside air temperature was about 42 this afternoon (chilly by my standards) and the air in the green house was 62 degrees in a bright sun, and 57 degrees with a little overcast. I will be able to check maximum/minimum temperatures as well.
Tonight we are supposed to see the thermometer go down below 30–I am planning to get the ends on the house before dark. I’ll post some stats tomorrow.
October 26, 2008
They are calling for below freezing temperatures on Monday night here in Haywood Countty. So far, all of my green crops have survived the patchy frosts, but I am not sure how the garden will fare with some below 30 degree temperatures. I have been planning for a hoop house since August. The weather forecast made me get my act together this weekend.
I built A 10 X 12 ft. structure that is sturdy enough for a light wind (my garden has a stand of trees blocking winds on one side, a house on the other and my neighbor’s storage shed to the west. I may be in trouble if a storm comes from the east, but I have some wind protection from my storage shed.
Here is a basic list of materials:
2-2×6x10 ft lumber
2-2×8x12 ft lumber
5- 3/4 in PVC pipe (20 feet long)
20- 1 inch pipe hangers
Poly-sheeting (14 feet wide–40 linear feet makes the top and sides The total cost for the structure is a little over $100 dollars. It is not that pretty to look at, and I am not sure how it will do in a strong wind, but I can’t beat the price (based on all of the portable greenhouses and hoop houses that I have seen in catalogs).My plans are to keep something growing all winter under the plastic. I am convinced that I will be able to keep numerous greens and root crops going. I am not sure how seed will germinate, but it will never hurt to try a few things. It will be an experiment that I will share regularly in “The Garden Slug.”The garden has given us plenty to eat lately. We still have plenty of lettuce and more on the way. Still, we have a number of tomatoes that are ripening inside after the frost killed plants while we were out of town. Broccoli and cabbage have been on the table a couple of times this past week. Last night we had sweet potato soup from roasted potatoes picked about two weeks ago. Tonight we are eating some pintos and Swiss chard picked this afternoon. You can’t get dinner fresher or more tasty anywhere.
I’ll keep you posted on the hoop house, and if I can sweet talk the wife, I’ll see if she will share a few recipes with you.
Posted on The Garden Slug
October 22, 2008
Three days have gone by that I scraped a light frost off my windshield. That means three days that the garden has been nipped by a patchy frost.
I try and get a good look at the observed weather data at Ray’s Weather Center each day and also the forecast for the coming evening. (No shameless plugs here!)
Since my garden is just a few blocks from their weather station at Mast General Store in downtown, the weather doesn’t get much more accurate than that.
Many of my neighbors gave up their gardens back in September, mine is still producing with hardy vegetables and greens.
Here is a list of what’s growing in my garden: lettuce (numerous varieties), radishes, turnips, swiss chard, turnips, beets, kale, spinach, carrots, cabbage, broccoli
Vegetables planted recently for a spring harvest: white and purple onions, garlic
I have a couple of experiments going for further season extension that will be posted later.
What’s growing in your garden?
(Published on The Garden Slug)
It is now mid-November and the garden is still alive and well. Certainly a different look and feel from the late summer, but thriving nonetheless.