Slowing down

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092213 prepped fall winter bedsRight now I’ve got enough lettuce, beans, tomatoes, leeks, basil, and squash to last me another 3 weeks-tops. Nights are projected to be in the mid-40’s later this week, with highs in the 70’s. My newly planted lettuce seeds are growing quickly in this cooler weather. So are all the remaining cooler crops which I’ve planted. The change in weather has really slowed the summer crops. By the picture you can get an idea of what I’ll be doing this winter in the garden. I’ve got 10 more squares to plant in the next 2-3 weeks and then I’ll be done for the year. After that it’s just a matter of protection and minimal watering for the huge winter harvest season. I doubt it will be as cold as it was last winter so I’m really looking forward to all the great things growing right now. I can’t wait until is snows so I can go and hang out in the garden-with some of the tastiest things around.

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The square foot garden winter harvest

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leeks 091513Here in zone 6 it’s time to fill all your empty squares with things you like to eat during the winter. Most of us try to avoid our gardens during this usually bleak time of year, but you don’t have to. By using the right crops that love cool or cold weather and providing the minimal amount of protection, you can be eating out of your garden all winter. And the eats are good too!! The varieties are a little different than many are used to, but my guess is you’ll love the taste of virtually all of them. If you don’t have your garden filled up yet, you still have a couple of weeks to get many of the crops in that will thrive during the winter months. Leeks, turnips, parsnips, lettuce, spinach, mache, claytonia, mizuna, minutina, arugula, pak choi, raddichio, carrots, etc. are some of the things I grew successfully last winter. I’ll be having my last gardening workshop of the season this weekend if you live locally. Bring a friend and come on out. Visit my website for more information. I’ll be having a one of a kind class during the first week of December. You’ll be hooked when you see it then…[ois skin=”below post”]

I blew it with the wrong support

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tomato plant broken supportSometimes it’s not such a great idea to use just anything you have around the garden for certain things. I’ve always grown my tomatoes vertically, and mostly on supports made of 1/2″ electrical conduit. It’s always worked. Many years ago I had some of these 7 or 8′ green stake supports that I’ve grown tomatoes on-occasionally. Even though you might think they look solid enough, they aren’t. I hope you can recognize them when you see the picture. I even doubled up on the supports and tied them together with Velcro. We had strong winds that came by a few weeks ago and I came home to find this. These are just made out of a very thin and cheap layer of aluminum inside. No way that’s going to be strong enough to hold the amount of tomatoes you’ll be growing on it. Do yourself a favor-do it right from the start. Use the 1/2″ electrical conduit, place it over a piece of rebar that’s been pounded into the ground, and then you won’t have to ever worry about coming home to this….[ois skin=”below post”]

Corn in the square foot garden

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corn-on deck ear

I’ve grown corn in our gardens many times in the past.  There are some things I like about it and some things I don’t.  I don’t like the fact that it takes up so much room for so long.  And it’s so cheap in the summer I always ask myself why I even attempt it.  Last winter Burpee’s came out with this “container” corn that I wanted to try.  Instead of taking up valuable squares in the garden, I could now plant this in a large container.  Well, I did, and it was great.  Easy and very sweet corn.  I had some extra seeds so I stuck them in the garden to see if they would grow and they did.  This is “On-Deck” corn-a sweet SH2 variety that you might consider for next year.  Burpee’s claims you’ll get 2 or 3 ears per stalk.  I’ve gotten one per stalk so far, and the one’s I’ve pulled have been excellent.  The things I like about growing corn yourself is that just picked fresh, sweet taste.  The other thing I like about it is that I can use the stalks for fall decorations in the garden and then they become “brown” compost material that I shred.  The taste of this corn was excellent.  The stalks didn’t get overly tall, and I was able to easily grow 4 stalks per square.

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Sweet corn-looking good

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corn 081913Corn can be successfully grown in a SFG. This is a brand new variety from Burpee’s called “On-deck.” It’s specifically made to be grown in containers where it’s worked very well. I had some extra seeds so I stuck some in the garden-4 per square. This is a sweet corn-SH2-that has at least 1 ear per stalk. Burpee’s says you will get more than that, but I haven’t seen it yet. It would be nice if that turns out to be the case, but even if it doesn’t-nothing beats the taste of corn plucked right from the garden. This is the time when all your hard work starts to pay off in the final harvest of the summer. Parts of the fall garden have already been planted-carrots, beets, kohlrabi, spinach, and a few varieties of lettuce. With temperatures in the high 90’s this week(when will it end?!)I’ll hold back on direct seeding of all the other fall crops until next week. I have my 2nd “Fall Crop SFG” class this weekend. We’ll have a lot of fun with the added benefit of a selection of Johnny’s Selected Seeds for sale. Hope you can join us..[ois skin=”below post”]