We are expecting our first “real” frost tonight, so this afternoon, I harvested all the Swiss chard that was still in the plot. Not much else still growing there: kale, some leeks (that I will let overwinter), some small carrots plus fall greens and komatsuna (both of which need to be harvested soon as well).
Category: Greens
Fall Clean-up and Planting Garlic
Today, I finished cleaning up my plot (weeding, spreading compost and salt marsh hay), and I sowed my garlic for next year – 6 rows total, 15 cloves of hardneck garlic, and 20 cloves of softneck garlic.
Late October Plot
Today, I started cleaning up the garden plot. It is (unseasonably) warm during the day but there will be frost tomorrow night. I took out the tomato plants and harvested all the butternut squash. Over the next week or so, I will get an area ready for planting my garlic. I still have chard, kale, radishes, beets, fall greens, leeks, carrots and flowers growing.
September
Things are winding down in the garden. I have only a few tomatoes still on the vines. Still growing are winter squash, chard, kale, and leeks. On the right side of the plot I have my recently sown radishes, fall greens, beets and carrots. Plus flowers everywhere.
More Fall Sowing
Today, I sowed one row each mache (seeds were from 2020, so my hopes of germination are extremely low), komatsuna (also known as Japanese mustard spinach) and French Breakfast radishes in the plot. I had sowed some radishes yesterday in containers on the back porch. The winter lettuce (Landis) I had sown about two weeks ago unfortunately never germinated. I have two rows of fall greens coming up (lettuces, chards, kale, arugula, mustard greens, Chinese cabbage, spinach, endive), plus two rows of beets (one Golden, one Chioggia) and a (spotty) row of early carrots. My plan is to have the mache and komatsuna overwinter under a row cover. And perhaps the fall greens as well. We shall see.
Fall Squash and Fall Sowing
Today, I took out the zucchini plant and in its place sowed one row of winter lettuce (Landis) and two rows of fall greens (a mix of different lettuces, chards, greens, Chinese cabbage, spinach, and endive). Fall seems just around the corner.
Today’s Harvest
Nice big harvest today. I keep forgetting to take pictures. I harvested a ton of Italian basil and made basil pesto (really just basil, olive oil and salt; no garlic, cheese or nuts), which I froze in ice cube trays. I like to leave out the garlic, cheese and the nuts to keep it more versatile, as I also use it on fish or roasted vegetables, where I might not always want cheese.