Time to look for those deals

Leave a reply

2 star lettuce and chard 101113Today I pulled up all of my drip irrigation lines as I haven’t watered with my automated system in a month.  I’ve been hand watering with free water from my Friskars rainbarrel.  It holds 48 gallons of water, and it fills up in about 20 minutes with any decent rainstorm.  I bought mine for $18 a year ago because it was the last one Home Depot had and also because it had a little white smudge on it.  It’s been great to have around.  I’ve used less metered water this year than any other even though I’ve grown more than I ever have.  I think it’s a good time to look for these closeout bargains at stores in your neighborhood.  Rainbarrels, seeds, trowels, and other garden equipment can usually be found for great deals this time of year.  This is what my gardens look like right now-things are up and alive and all looking good for my winter harvest.  Clockwise from upper left is open leaf radicchio(Fiero), chard, 2 Star lettuce, and Komatsuna.  I noticed today that I’m still getting 7 hours of full sun on my gardens.  It’s almost like spring but I have no pests this time of year.  The winter harvest should be great.

[ois skin=”below post”]

For the healthy types….

Leave a reply

fall wheatgrass and prizeheadThis is wheatgrass. I can’t stand the stuff, but my wife loves to juice it-she calls it her medicine. Oh, well-to each his/her own. This is planted and harvested in 10-12 days. I only cut it once and then I empty the square and plant something else. Since it’s so late in the season and this particular bed gets little winter sun, I won’t replant this square with anything. I’ll begin to harvest and empty this entire 4X8′ box for the season and when it’s done, I’ll add my soil amendments and let it sit for the winter. It won’t be planted with anything until next spring. That’s prizehead next to the wheatgrass-an easy and tasty lettuce that anyone can grow.

Slowing down

Leave a reply

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.

[ois skin=”below post”]

The square foot garden winter harvest

Leave a reply

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

Leave a reply

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”]