End of the 2008 Garden

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I think my garden is just about finished producing for the year. I harvested several carrots growing under the hoop about 5 days ago, to use in a vegetable soup. These carrots were a little smaller than the other plot. I think the pole lima beans were shading them. Despite their size, the carrots were still very sweet. I will be harvesting more of these over the next few weeks. Now is the time to start planning next year’s garden. I will be taking inventory of all of my seeds soon. I will be ordering all of my seeds in mid to late January.

Wishing all of you a very Prosperous and Productive New Year!!

2008 Garden Season Coming to an End

The 2008 gardening season is fast coming to an end. Since my last post of early November, there has been a few very hard freezes. In fact, there were a few days where the temperature did not even get above freezing. Most of the rest of the garden that was still growing has since died, like the broccoli and cauliflower. I even gave up on the brussels sprouts plants and pulled all of them up a few days ago. The only thing left in the garden now is one plot of carrots and one plot of lettuce. I harvested some lettuce under the plastic hoop about 5 days ago. This should just about be the last lettuce harvest of the year. Yesterday, I harvested one plot of carrots that was growing under a row cover (see pics below). I was pleased with the harvest from this small plot. If you have never grown carrots in the fall, you are missing out. They are much sweeter than spring-grown carrots. I still have one more carrot plot (approx. 4 ft x 3 ft) left, which is covered by a plastic hoop. I will wait to harvest them later. There is nothing better than going out into the garden and harvesting carrots in the snow!! Happy Winter Gardening!!

Fall Harvest Continues

The weather has been relatively warm and very dry for about the last week. It has cooled off today, so I think the cold weather is here to stay. The last cold snap killed off all of the warm season crops, but the cool season crops are still doing fine. The cauliflower has now grown to harvestable size (see picture below). The lettuce has been growing nicely under the plastic hoop (see pictures below) and I was able to harvest a decent amount about 4 days ago. The late-planted carrots growing under the hoop are nearing harvestable size, so it won’t long before I start harvesting them. The celery was not damaged by the last freeze, due to them being covered by row covers. Overall, the fall garden has been a success, with the exception of the brussels sprouts. The brussels sprouts refuse to form sprouts this year. The variety I am growing this year is Long Island Improved, instead of Jade Cross. I will not be growing Long Island Improved again!! The seed company substituted this variety this year in place of Jade Cross. Oh well, I should have stuck with Jade Cross.

Fall Garden Going Strong

Sorry for the delay in writing this post. I have been having a few technical difficulties, which I think have now been solved. The fall garden is growing really well. The broccoli crop has probably been the best fall crop ever. The plants have produced many good-sized main heads and a fair amount of side shoots (side shoot production is usually very limited for me in the fall). The weather, overall, has been warmer than normal over the last month or so. It has cooled down the last week. This morning I had the first widespread moderate to heavy frost. Not to worry, I have most of the still producing plants covered either with row covers or plastic hoops. The fall cabbage has also grown well. Most of the cauliflower is still maturing, so I have those plant covered (although they are frost tolerant plants, they seem to like a little protection). The peppers and tomatoes are probably finished for the year after this morning. My late-planted green beans growing in the raised bed corn plot produced a very nice harvest before the frost. My celery is still growing and producing and I also have the plants covered with row covers. I will have to wait and see if it got too cold this morning for them. My carrots are growing nicely, but are still a bit small to harvest. I also have them covered. The late-planted lettuce is coming along, albeit a little slower now. I should be able to get a small lettuce harvest soon. Overall, the fall garden has produced very well this year. Here is the list of vegetables I have been harvesting from the garden over the last month: Tomatoes, peppers, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, radishes, green onions, green beans, lima beans.