Enjoying the last of the season

Some people may feel that the first frost is the last of the season.  If you have planned well and researched even a little bit about your region and crops that will continue to grow past frost, the first frost will bring a whole new season of crops your way.  There are so many cold weather crops that actually improve after they are exposed to some cold weather.  Kale, cabbage, and other cole crops will often take on a sweeter edge as they adapt to the cold weather after frost.  I still have several things in the garden and we have had at least half a dozen frosty mornings on our garden.  
The leeks are still standing tall as are the parsnips.  I have also put in a few carrots and salsify which are durable root crops.  The celery root is just starting to take on the best flavor for flavoring stocks.  I even found a stray potato when cleaning out the debris from the potato patch.  Many people will dig this as a late season crop for long season varieties.
I just cut  some of the cardoon yesterday.  I cannot give you full details on the best ways to use this plant, but there are plenty of references with a quick search.  I am parboiling a bit of it to mash with some califlower (also cut after several frost) to try the infamous fake mashed potatoes recipe I have seen on line.
I harvested many of my winter squash just prior to the frost, but they have stayed on the porch to harden their skins before winter storage.  I am cooking up a Turk's Turban for supper.  I also have two large spaghetti squash in the oven to prepare ahead of tomorrow's supper.
Apples are still coming in to many of the orchards.  We have not had a terribly cold night into the low 20's so the fruit is still wonderful.  Apple cider is starting to flow heavily from the orchard extras at this time of year.  My favorite are the apple cider donuts that are a guilty pleasure.  Apples store well, so they can be enjoyed fresh for months to come.
There is a patch of dinosaur kale that I have been harvesting for use this summer.  I have been using little bits with the cold weather and will do a final harvest before a total freeze.  Kale is a crop that develops more sugar in the plant which acts like anti-freeze making it more and more cold tolerant as time goes on.  There is a bed of ornamental kale (which is also edible) at the entrance to our nursery which has gotten very colorful with the cold weather.  It wasn't even on people's radar two month's ago even though it has been growing in that bed since June.  Sort days and cold temperatures have literally turned this green ghost into a violet glowing beauty accented by it's pure white sister that has caused passer-bys to take notice.  It will be beautiful well into our Wisconsin December weather.
One of my favorite foods that is improved by cold is one that I don't even eat.  Many ornamental crab apple varieties hold their fruit into winter.  The fruit ferments on the tree with the freezing and thawing.  Birds love to partake of this fermented fruit causing flocks to go absolutely gaga.  Watch for this on your cold weather walks through your own neighborhood.
So don't worry about the arrival of cold weather.  Embrace it!

Too much gardening, no time to journal it

I started this blog as a way to journal my gardening efforts.  I have used it that way to look back on some of the things I have done in years past, a way to repeat successes and avoid past mistakes.  Putting things down in words has also helped me work through problems by putting my thoughts into some sort of sequence.  Kind of like talking to myself.

The blog has also been useful to answer questions for family and friends looking for gardening answers.  It gave me quick reference to provide step by step with pictures for someone doing something for the first time.

This year I had the biggest garden I have had since I was young.  In addition to the huge vegetable garden, I had all sort of new garden beds to plant and maintain.  Then there is my job which requires my attention to the various flower beds and 160 acres of nursery and woodland patches.  By the time my day is over, I just haven't had time to track some of the things that happened this year.  I learned so much having so much to do.  I want to jot down some of those highlights so I can remember what I did this year.

I got is my early crops only because I did some bed prep last fall.  Once the busy season hit in the greenhouse, I had very little time for my own garden prep and planning.  I have to do that again this fall so I am ready for a quick entrance into the garden with the peas and onions next spring.

Weed barrier was my greatest friend.  I never would have maintained my sanity this year if it wasn't for all that ground cloth suppressing weed growth.  I had to weed around my plants, but I didn't have to worry about all those other areas that would have required so much attention.  The second advantage was having mud free walking.  My vining plants were able to run over all that black cloth with no rot on the fruits from soil contact.  It also made for quick clean up this fall.

Late blight took the tomatoes, but the weed barrier kept the garden from being taken over by weeds

The start of late blight on the tomatoes.  It takes over in days and the crop is lost

I lost my tomato crop but was able to ripen some of it indoors in trays.  Lay tomatoes in a single layer and check them daily for any signs of blight developing on the fruit.

I found out what late blight is and how devastating it is to a tomato crop.  What I thought was going to be an overwhelming tomato crop with multiple trips to the food pantry, ended up being just enough for my canning needs.  I had very few extras to give away.  It was disheartening to throw out all those tomatoes (and extremely heavy).  I saved those with a blush and some green that didn't have the tell-tale blight and ripened them in the basement.  I checked them at least every couple days and pulled out any that showed signs of disease.  In the end, the dozen or so flats of tomatoes I saved ended up being just enough.  The potatoes had been dug weeks earlier, and the peppers remained unaffected.  I also saved all my cherry tomatoes and froze them whole, unblanched, in Ziploc bags.  These are the only "whole" tomatoes I have.  They have been just the thing to add to dishes in place of canned whole tomatoes.

I grew corn for the first time since I was a kid.  I purchased three kinds with different maturity dates of 65, 75, and 85 days.  They were planted at the same time as the varieties would stagger the harvest for me.  I learned what cut worms are and how they move through the crop.  Fortunately, I had an organic garden product on hand which was listed for cut worms.  I had to go out and spray at nightfall when they come out.  It was successful and the corn crop suffered a limited amount of damage.  I used a radio in a water proof container to keep the raccoon and deer at bay by playing talk radio at night.  I also didn't leave the corn on the stalks any longer than necessary.  The stalks grew taller the longer the season so I have fall decorations for different locales by size.

I grew okra for the first time ever.  There were seeds in an office desk, so why not?  The flowers are beautiful (they are in the hibiscus family).  I found that I liked to harvest them young and tender.  I had enough to share with other okra lovers.  I dehydrated several batches for addition to gumbo this winter.  I will grow that again.

Okra

I grew cauliflower.  I forgot that I grew cauliflower.  I had these plants that I just couldn't remember what the heck they were.  I asked someone if it was collards and they thought so.  The white heads finally proved us both wrong.  Next time, I would tie the leaves up to keep the heads white.  I had some greening with exposure to sunlight.  My heads were also small, so I need to read up on that this winter.

After a full year in the manager's residence, I have learned the sun exposures.  I will be moving my herb garden next spring to the sunnier side of the house.  I like having it by the back door, but the magnolia tree has way too much shade.  I also lost the full sun with the waning season to the height of the house.  Herbs really need the full sun to reach their potential.

I also think I will plant a longer season cabbage.  The heads started splitting at the end of the season before I was ready to make sauerkraut.  I like the cool weather to set in to sweeten up the cabbage.  I was able to use the split heads, but there was a lot of trimming that had to be done.

I want to beef up the asparagus patch which had been neglected and mowed over too many times.  I have the weeds under control in the bed, but there are dead spots which need new roots.  I may try seed plants as an affordable way to do this as it isn't my patch forever.

The berry patch grew well for first year plants.  I put in two raspberries and one blackberry variety in the only space I had available when they need to find a home as bare root canes.  I will add stakes at the end of the row to provide support.  I also may move the whole thing to an open area for room to spread.  What garden doesn't need to have things moved?

Next year I will have my patty pan squash away from the edge of the garden.  This may keep whatever thief I had from eating 99% of my crop.  I will refine my choices of squash and grow more pumpkins.

Come the dead of winter, I will come back to this post and read what I have forgotten to do.