Yesterday was a gorgeous warm fall day, and I spent a few hours in the afternoon clearing my plot. I weeded, took out old plant material and covered the rhubarb with a little hay. I left much of the calendula as they add such a cheerful pop of fall color.
Swiss chard
Still growing in my plot are kale, chard, cilantro, parsley, chives, sage and leeks.
Tuscan kale
Now, I only need to harvest the chard, kale, cilantro, parsley; take out the calendula and dig up the dahlia tubers. I will overwinter the leeks. Sage, lavender and rhubarb with be mulched with hay, as will most of the plot. I will spread some compost and plant (and mulch) garlic. Ready for winter.
This week, I planted fall bulbs in both my back porch flower container and my garden plot. In the container, I planted 25 Little Princessbotanical tulips and 25 blue grape hyacinths.
In my plot, I took out all the flowers towards the fence and replanted the irises and lily of the valley (and the strawberries). In the center, I planted an Eden’s Perfumepeony, surrounded by 21 Mixed Triumph tulips and 25 mixed botanical crocuses. I then surrounded the bulbs with chicken wire to protect them from nibbling rabbits. I felt it was better to do this now when I know where I planted the bulbs. In the spring, I will readjust the “fence”.
Freshly planted peony, tulips and crocuses (rabbit-proofed), October 24
Next week, I will plant the remaining bulbs (28 large tulips, 25 botanical tulips, 75 crocuses and 25 grape hyacinths) in my front and back yard.
Grizzly Bear pumpkins (plus one stripey Trader Joe’s pumpkin)
This year, I grew pumpkins for the first time. In the spring, my daughter gave me two Grizzly Bear seedlings that were leftovers from her work. They both thrived in my garden but only produced one pumpkin each – one good-sized orange pumpkin and one smaller, paler one. I was hoping for a “wartier” appearance, but I am quite happy with the gross details of this specimen. Kind of fun to grow your own Halloween decoration.
Flower harvest October 15: dahlias, calendulas, Thai basil, dill
I love growing my own flowers and have been enjoying mini bouquets all over my home this season. I don’t need big bunches of flowers, but rather love to split my harvest up, so I have fresh flowers in different rooms. Here is a typical example. I harvested four dahlias (two Fleurel, one Diva, one Cornel Bronze) and three huge calendulas (plus Thai basil and dill flowers) and split those up into three different mini bouquets.
Dahlias, calendula and dillDahlia and Thai basilDahlia and Thai basil
This year, I am collecting and drying calendula flowers again to make salve. I am air-drying the flowers on paper plates in a darkened room for about three weeks and then transfer them to a large mason jar for storage.
Making the oil: dried calendula flowers + sweet almond oil (August 7)
I still had dried flowers from last year (about 3 cups, loosely packed) and decided to use them up first. To make the calendula oil, I added 16 oz. of sweet almond oil to these dried flowers, covering them about 3/4 in the jars. I let them extract for seven weeks (six would have been enough), from August 7 though today, September 26.
Calendula flowers in oil
I then strained the oil through a sieve, this time omitting the cheese cloth, as I wanted to try to minimize loss by absorption. The flowers absorb a good amount, as does the cheese cloth. From my initial 16 oz. of oil, I got around 13 oz. The flowers were densely packed in the extraction jars, so I decided to just dilute the calendula oil with pure almond oil to bring the volume back up to 16 oz.
Calendula oil
Over a water bath, I melted 2 oz. of beeswax and 1 oz. of shea butter. Once melted, I slowly added the 16 oz. of calendula oil, making sure to not heat the oil too much. Just enough for it to melt. I then added 16 drops of essential lavender oil and filled the salve into 8 2 oz.-tins. Ready!
Grizzly Bear pumpkin (I was hoping for more warts)Kale and calendula, a match made in heaven apparently because I have no aphids this year!Wire mesh bag-encased tomatoes – a “mixed bag”. It is helping quite a bit, but there is still some nibbling, though I suspect by birds.ZinniaThai pepperToday’s harvest(Thai basil, which was promptly turned into more Thai pesto), kale, tomatoes, flowers
Eggplant, dill, pickling cucumber, slicing cucumber, Thai basil, flower/herb mini bouquet (calendula, lavender, dwarf zinnia, mint), July 17
Here are a few pictures of some of my harvests from mid-July through the end of August. Notably absent are tomatoes, despite having 12 (!) tomato plants. Thanks, rats and birds 🙁
Eggplant, cucumbers (for more pickles), flowers (snapdragon, calendula, strawflower, zinnia, lavender, mint), July 23Pickling cucumbers, rainbow chard, basil (for pesto!), strangely shaped Costata Romanesco zucchino, July 28First tomato (tiny and underripe but the rats are wreaking havoc), eggplant, Costata Romanesco zucchino, calendula flowers to dry for salve, mini bouquet (calendula, snapdragon, dill, mint), August 2Kale and cucumbers, August 10 (not pictured: more calendula flowers for drying)Cucumbers, eggplant, Italian basil (which I turned into more pesto) and cherry tomatoes, August 14Thai basil (4 cups, which I turned into more pesto), first vine-ripened (wire-mesh-encased) tomatoes of the season: Mountain Sunrise and Caiman, August 16Cucumbers and cherry tomatoes (from another gardener’s plot that I am watering while they are on vacation), August 18Cucumber, eggplant, flower/herb bouquet, calendula for drying, August 24Last zucchini, last eggplant, flowers (dahlias, snapdragons, lavender, clover, mint), August 28
