Tuesday, October 19, 2010

October 19 2010
That was as far as I got.  A synopsis of the rest of the year to today is:

~ We had a great crop of tomatoes both in the garden and in the greenhouse. There are still some growing in half the green house bed. I'm not sure how long we'll have them before the cold kills them back but they are still thriving. I've already pulled up the outside tomatoes and brought in green ones that wouldn't ripen before the first heavy frost. And I've mulched the bed and put it to "sleep" for the year. Next year that bed will be the lettuce and greens bed. 

The picture above are the tomatoes in the greenhouse.

I have a ton of tomatoes frozen and ready for soup, sautes, bruchetta and whatever else I think up.

~ We had a pretty good bean crop. Mostly green and wax beans but I have some pods of Black Beans and Italian/Americans drying in the greenhouse for soup this winter. Not much but they'll be good. ... I hope. :)

~Peas were ok; a few meals and a lot of munching off the vine. The latter is one reason I don't get a big pea crop. :)

~ The Greens crop was really good this year and I still have a ton of Kale and Swiss Chard (Rainbow) going. I just planted seeds in the greenhouse of a mesclun mix I put together myself, Spinach and some Arugala. There is some Swiss chard still, parsley and basil. And a couple pepper plants near the tomatoes. So lots going on in there still that will survive the cold.

The cement block path project is going slowly but surely. Lots of work to lay down the gravel (on landscape cloth) level it then put the blocks on. I decided to put them down flat after all. Once this is done it will not only look good but make getting around in the garden much easier as well as keep the weeds away from the paths. Did I mention how *long* it takes to do this? :)

As in most gardening years there are successes and failures. My most surprising failure was my zucchini and summer squash. Hardly  had any and had to buy them from the road stand. Almost embarrassing. :)  At least I get to help support the family that has the stand. 

The great success was I grew the biggest Butternut Squashes ever. I can't wait to have them in soup, sauted in olive oil and garlic and of course, pureed for the traditional Thanksgiving Feast next month.

Another success and my first ever with it is my leeks. I planted them by using my dibble and making a hole about 8" deep, 4" apart and placing the baby leeks I'd started in the greenhouse in the spring into the hole one at a time.  The rain and hose water refilled the holes naturally and I didn't have to do any "back filling". I've just this past weekend pulled up about half a dozen to make into leek soup and was delighted with how long the white part is. I'll leave as many as I can to over winter and harvest in the Spring.

Here are some pictures to give some visual insight as to where the garden and greenhouse are at this point. I've written under them to give you some idea as to what you're looking at:


Standing in the doorway end of the greenhouse looking down the bed. First the tomatoes and you can just make out the chard and fennel plants. At the far end is the new seed bed for the salad mix, spinach and arugula.

 One end of the Kale bed. These were planted along the pea fence and are just now coming into their own. Pea fence was moved this past weekend to it's new bed for 2011.


 Looking south down the lower garden beds. First wood fence is where the Tomatoes were grown outside... you can see left over calandula and the first leek bed. In the back is the bean fence where the tomatoes will go next year. Way back is the potting shed.



 You can just see the cement block walk where the peonies are starting to go to sleep for the winter. In the far back is the bed with the other leek bed.


 mmmm. Can't wait. Not quite ready to come in for storage yet. There is still a little green on the stems.


A first for me: French Sorrel. I've found some recipes to try including Sorrel Vichyssoise that I can use my leeks with too. I'll report back. :)


 Food for the eyes. Even this time of year there are still some flowers to feed the soul.


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