July garden pics and tips

One hill of each summer squash (not 3) this year. Four varieties are framing the okra in the center which is on a 10" spacing between plants and about 2' from the squash plants.

We are so dry it was time to get out the soaker hoses.  I have cabbages and other cruciferous veggies in a raised mound. Peppers, eggplant, and a few tomatoes are sharing space with radicchio, fennel, and kale in my 3 wooden beds.  Mulch surrounds most of the beds, wood chips while rotted straw is around plant rows.  The soil isn't what I would want, but it will build with time.  

I have a 6x6 patch of onions (Alisa Craig and Copra on kitty corners) alternated with Ambition Shallots and Lancelot leeks.  I have watered them regularly to keep them well hydrated but not wet.

Pole beans and  bush beans are sharing the same space.  I pulled out the netting with twine in the centers to give me more room as my tepee was closing in on my for picking.  I got my first handful of baby beans on Sunday.

My fencing is hardware cloth around the base with a nylon mesh to bring the total height around 8'.  The rest of the garden is at the mercy of what surrounds us.  I hope for the best every day that I see the woodchucks running around the nursery.

The Swiss chard has gone gang busters on me this year.  I planted so few, but boy did they grow!  I don't think the carrots that are interplanted stand a chance.

The garlic ended up in the enclosure because I didn't have anything else ready last fall.  It is almost ready to pull and dry.  My lettuce crop bolted, so the dino kale has been liberated.  The adjacent carrots are loving the space and will really appreciate the garlic leaving their south exposure open.  I tucked a row of fennel plants next to my pea trellis.  I am letting the peas dry down again this year as the seed saving worked out so good last year.  Peas are self-pollinating so they came true from seed.

I am done hilling the potatoes for the season.  There is about 18" of dirt, compost, and rotting straw around the plants. Winter squash was put in at the head of the potato area.  Yukon Gold and Molly purples are my varieties this year.  I miss my Norland reds.

I went with 18 tomatoes this year.  I have a single stake method with twine corkscrew twisting around plants and stems to hold them up.  I put the tags at the top of the poles this year as I couldn't find them in the foliage last year.  Soaker hoses wind through tomatoes and potatoes on mostly separate lines.  I am trying a French variety of rhubarb Glaskins, from seed in the corner of the garden.

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!

Fall vegetables...canning, freezing, or just keeping it cool

I have continued to keep putting up the harvest as long as it keeps coming in.  That includes the harvest that comes in from my local farmers as well.  There are so many crops that continue to produce after the first freeze.  Just because the weather changes at the end of September, it is still too early to write off the weekly farm market visits.  In Milwaukee there are several winter farm markets that have sprung up as well.

There are several crops that are better after the cold hits.  Kale, cabbage, brussel sprouts, late apples, parsnips, turnips, carrots, and several other root vegetables are a few of them.  I also wait for the fall to buy a bushel of potatoes, some storing onions (when I don't have enough of my own), and winter squash.  Many farmers have cold storage areas for items that they can continue to sell well after the last apple is picked and potato is dug.

Some crops require no preparation other than a quick cleaning before storing them in a cool, dark location.  Many of the root crops can be stored in the extra frig if you have it or layered in sand in an area that does not freeze.  Squash can be laid out on shelves or hung in nets to store until they start to lose their storage limits.  The better that the rind is cured in sun and kept dry, the longer it will store later.  Potatoes and onions as well as garlic just need some air circulation and a cool, dark space to keep for months.

Natural fermentation will also keep crops for a much longer time, sauerkraut being one of the most common in a town with a large population of German and Polish heritage.  Fermented foods do not end there.  Check out some of the old and new authors that devote their time to writing about some common and uncommon fermented food.  I had fun with a bag of "wind fall" apples and the cider project.  I made one gallon of some very nice hard cider with apples that my sister salvaged from their fallen tree.  Next year I will make twice as much.  The package of champagne yeast from the wine making store was a very small investment for my project.

You don't have to have a big canning set up or a large freezer to enjoy some of the local produce into the cold, winter months.