My late November garden

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TWE 110813 south viewThe weather has really changed this week.  Today it was 28 when I woke up with temperatures around that for the rest of the week.  Winter is arriving quickly.  My greenhouse plastic has finally arrived and it’s now up.  I’ve had a lot of success growing all winter in northern Utah for years with my basic setup as shown.  I just thought I would put up a greenhouse so that I can garden and harvest without getting snowed or rained upon.  I definitely did it for less than $100.  There is no heat involved-other than the sun-but it doesn’t matter with the crops I’m growing as they all love this cold weather.  Plants have certainly slowed in their normal growing pattern, but now it’s time for the winter harvest.  There’s no work out there to do at this time.  No watering needed, and no pest problems to speak of.  Hopefully we’ll get another snow so that I can post a picture of the greenhouse and what’s growing underneath it.  Fun stuff.

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This weeks activities

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perfect skyphos lettuce 111113This week has been a lot of fun. Usually I’m busy amending all soil, emptying the compost bins and getting ready to close down most of the garden for the season. I ended up bagging a lot of leaves and will finish that chore this week. I’ve emptied my compost bins and have started to fill them up with all the usually things. My biggest job was putting up my greenhouse. It didn’t take me too long-about half an hour. I did it for a grand total of $75, maybe a tad-bit less. We had a light snow earlier in the week. I had the greatest feeling of going out during the storm and tinkering in my gardens with the temperature in the greenhouse at around 50. It felt like I was in a different world under there! This will the most enjoyable winter garden I’ve ever had. I have 96 squares filled with 25 different crops that will be harvested throughout the winter. Probably the best part of this week was the salad I got to make. I snipped some radicchio and arugula leaves which are nowhere near as bitter as they normally would be when grown in warm weather, and combined them with blue cheese and carmelized pecans. I slices some Granny Smith apples and topped it with a honey-lime vinigrette. Can’t wait for salads this winter. You should learn how to grow your own in cold weather. They really taste notably different when grown in the colder climate.[ois skin=”below post”]

Closing down the compost bin

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compost 110113I’ve begun the process of closing my compost bins down for the year. Here is a picture of finished compost from one of my two bins. It’s in perfect shape and will be used for next spring. In the meantime, I’ll be doing nothing but adding compost ingredients during the winter months. This time of year is perfect for the collection of “brown” or carbon ingredients-shredded leaves, branches, pine needles, corn stalks left over from Halloween decorations, etc. After filling both of my bins up with material this week, I’ll have a lot of leftover things-especially leaves. I’ll cover these bags of leaves with a tarp to keep out moisture. Come next spring I’ll use them to sell to people attending my gardening workshops when there is little of the brown ingredients readily available. Everybody wants to start making compost at that time. I won’t water any of my compost bins from this time forward but will only concentrate on adding material. If you water them in like you normally do in the spring and summertime, the bins become little ice cubes and take a lot longer to get going come springtime. It’s hard to believe that there isn’t one tablespoon of dirt in this finished compost. It’s so easy. And it’s the best fertilizer you’ll ever use-all from free ingredients.[ois skin=”below post”]

Fall salad

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TWE dinner salad 110213When Labor Day weekend hits the state of Utah, it marks the end of the garden season for many of us. Here we are in the first week of November and my garden looks like early spring. Salad greens pulled tonight included a cut-and-come again lettuce, spinach, chard, and mizuna. We added a just ripened tomato, black beans, fresh carrots, and a shunkyo radish, along with croutons, blackened chicken, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and fresh ground pepper. We will be able to have a different tasting salad every night between now and the end of February. Protecting those gardens in zone 6 with plastic and row covers is the way to do it. I’ll be having a winter garden class in the first week of December. I hope to be able to show everyone in attendance how easy this is to do and become truly self-sufficient.

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Claytonia

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claytonia 110113This is a great tasting gem! Also known as miners lettuce because the early California gold miners ate it on the way out west. I think it’s actually categorized as a weed. It’s amazingly productive and keeps coming back all winter or spring. It goes to seed in warm weather but is a great addition to your winter salad mixes. In the square foot garden you plant 9 of these per square. A little later in the year these start to grow a small, edible white flower. You’re guests will probably never know what this is in your salads as you entertain during the winter months, but they will certainly love it.

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