Winding Down
I would think most gardeners are a bit thankful towards the end of the year as our gardens slow down in production and the plants wither and die. Perhaps because I had a garden outside my back door for the first time in 30+ years has shaded my views a bit. Being accessible, means I'm out there more often and preserve a larger percentage of the yield. It feels like more work and so I'm ready to start winding things down and getting ready for seed catalog and dreaming season.
This morning, before it warmed up, I cut down all our sweetcorn stalks and hauled them down to the compost pile. They were all tangled up, halfway laid over and I thought I had found and picked every ear. But in the process of composting the stalks, I did uncover 8 or 9 ears, only 1 or 2 of which I would consider nice. Still, they are edible and will be eaten or preserved.
I also moved the fence around to allow easier access to parts of the garden. Now, only one half of the garden is fenced in, mostly for the sake of the strawberry bed, eggplant and possibly the last summer squash that is blooming. I know the deer will eat the strawberry leaves but am not sure about the rest. The Japanese eggplant are still producing quite well and we are getting a regular influx of them. Thus far between giving away and our eating them, we've been able to stay ahead of them going to waste.
On the left side of the garden, all that remains are the tomatoes, Japanese peppers and Brussel sprouts. I doubt deer will bother any of those plants and excepting the Brussel sprouts, if they do, I'm not too worried. We are tomatoes and peppered out. The tomatoes I've been using to fill odds and end jars with sauce and paste. The peppers we eat in a vinegar pepper stew of sorts that my mother-in-law makes served with rice and I pickle some as well. They are also still desirable by others so we give away a fair amount too. The Brussel sprouts are slowly filling out and getting denser but the jury is still out whether we will be able to pick any bulbs we can roast or if they will be more like a salad as our previous attempt was.
Below is this morning's harvest which I do every other day at this point.
Considering how new your vegetable plot is, you seem to have made it pretty productive - in spite of those pesky deer! The shed/greenhouse you built now looks as though it has always been there.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy with the first year. We have a list of things we want to change and do a bit differently, mostly due to the reduced size of this garden, so it will be a work in progress for awhile yet.
DeleteThe world would be better off if more people grew and processed their own food.
ReplyDeleteAt least there would be a healthier population.
DeleteI don't have a vegetable garden but I'm tired of watering my annuals and am near to pulling some of the scraggly ones out.
ReplyDeleteFortunately I have a mother-in-law who waters the annuals and pulls out the scraggly ones.
DeleteIt has been a very good producer for the first year garden spot!
ReplyDeleteAt least there has been less waste than there was when our garden was 45 miles away and we only got to it once a week.
DeleteIt's not a bad haul considering it's September!
ReplyDeleteThis has been a nice change of pace from the last four or five years. Everything is still very green. It is going to be a very late harvest this year.
DeleteSuch a great harvest year! And what makes it even better is that you actually use them by either canning, cooking, or giving them away.
ReplyDeleteAnd if none of those things work, we do compost!
DeleteIt's winding down everywhere, slowly but surely.
ReplyDeleteIt has been a bit chilly in the mornings and I have seen a leaf or two fall from some of the trees so it is coming.
DeleteI am so impressed with all that your garden produces and how you're able to preserve them or prepare them in so many ways. The only thing I'm growing now are a poha plant, nira (garlic chives), and green onions.
ReplyDeleteI raised neither of those things this year but would like to raise some in the future years.
DeleteI'll be interested to hear if the deer eat the Brussels sprouts!
ReplyDeleteThey have been unfenced for nearly two weeks now and thus far, nothing has touched them.
DeleteI would think you would indeed be getting near the end of the season.
ReplyDeleteAutumn seems to be definitively upon us here in New Home 2.0.
I should say that traditionally we would be winding down but with a garden right behind our house, we are experimenting on perhaps getting a fall crop of summer squash. Even without that, we typically harvest tomatoes, peppers, okra and some eggplant right up until the first killing frost which might still be a number of weeks away.
DeleteYou still have some good picking for the end of the season, which is nice. Good eating without the work of dealing with large quantities.
ReplyDelete