Oh man, I LOVE fall gardening!

It's so beautiful out! The weather has finally cooled off and we haven't had a 90° day in weeks! The skeeters and no-see-ums don't bite as long as I remember my bug spray and I'm seeing so many wonderful pollinators in the garden!

Mustard is going bananas, asian greens are happy, the broccoli is up, there are little sprouts on the carrots, the first batch of radishes and turnips are already washed and on the menu! Cabbage is a little slow, but that's okay. There aren't enough heat units to ripen tomatoes anymore, I don't think, but the trombocino squash has put out one more fruit. The groundcherries are done, I sure will miss those, but I have a feeling I will be seeing hundreds of volunteer plants in the spring because the birds LOVE them! And all peas and beans have blooms.

I wish it could be 74° every day all summer long. You wouldn't be able to get me out of the garden!

How is everyone's fall garden coming?

I am in the process of building a garden for the coming spring of 2013 and this is one of those few great days we see so seldom. I have been so busy out there and enjoying every minute wishing it could last forever.

bnoles wrote:I am in the process of building a garden for the coming spring of 2013 and this is one of those few great days we see so seldom. I have been so busy out there and enjoying every minute wishing it could last forever.

I agree with you as it has been a perfect two days here also in British Columbia. Been busy refurbishing the strawberry bed and adding some of the lovely compost I made this year thanks to the discovery of composting worms in my compost heap. (I never had them before). Added about an inch to the bed, plus another inch to my second bed so I am halfway there as I have four beds.

The only thing I can compain about is that I have run out of steam so have to stop working. Perhaps if I have a cou[ple of hours rest I can summon a little more energy as there are still a few hours left before darkness.

My first fully intentional fall garden: chard and two kinds of kale up and ready to offer leaves for a salad. Bed ready for garlic plantings. New bed prepared today for filderkraut cabbage (overwintering variety that makes a lovely crock of sauerkraut). Last beets ready for picking. Bale bed to be emptied tomorrow and replanted with potatoes. Yep, good time of the year: lots of work to be done, but end in sight. Then it's back to knitting needles and quilting until spring. I love living where there are true seasons, don't you? Nonna

Nonna.PapaVino wrote:My first fully intentional fall garden: chard and two kinds of kale up and ready to offer leaves for a salad. Bed ready for garlic plantings. New bed prepared today for filderkraut cabbage (overwintering variety that makes a lovely crock of sauerkraut). Last beets ready for picking. Bale bed to be emptied tomorrow and replanted with potatoes. Yep, good time of the year: lots of work to be done, but end in sight. Then it's back to knitting needles and quilting until spring. I love living where there are true seasons, don't you? Nonna

Nonna, that cabbage sounds intriguing. I need to look into that. Would you please share your kraut recipe next year when you make it?

And when did you plant your fall garden that it's ready now for picking?

Also, I didn't know that you can plant potatoes now. Can I do that, too? I think my weather is similar to Oregons...

CC

CC, Once again, I'm experimenting: for the past 3 years, I've had potatoes emerge in early spring from tiny 'taters I missed when digging up my potato beds. True, we rarely have truly killing frosts here, and I think the leftover spuds were rather deep in the Mel's Mix, therefore protected. This year, I'm fall planting this year's bale bed with some of the potatoes we particularly enjoyed this year (King Harry (white), Chieftan (red skin, early), and Rose Finn (particularly good for potato salad). If we have a rare vicious winter and they winter kill, I will have reserved seed potatoes to set in when potato planting time comes in the Spring. Otherwise, our harvest date may come in earlier than for the usual spring-planted 'taters. We'll see. After all, I've had folks who were skeptical about my efforts to grow okra, but I did it! Advice to all: experiment and enjoy. Nonna

CapeCoddess, the recipe I used for my sauerkraut this year (and will use next year should the Garden Goddess bless my efforts) is that found under the Wild Fermentation website
http://www.wildfermentation.com/resources.php?page=sauerkraut
My recipe is similar, see below:

Needed: 1 ceramic crock, or food-grade container to hold 1-2 gal. liquid.
Plate that fits inside crock or bucket
2 large freezer bags, one inside the other and filled with brine (see below)
Cloth cover (like a pillowcase or towel) and rubber band large enough to circle crock

Kraut Ingredients (for 1 gallon):
5 pounds cabbage
3 tablespoons sea salt

Process:
1. Slice cabbage thinly (I use a mandolin or food processor. Filderkraut is green, but some folks like to mix green and red cabbage to end up with bright pink kraut.
Place cabbage in a large bowl as you cut it.
2. Sprinkle salt on the cabbage as you go. (quote from Wild Fermentation: "The salt pulls water out of the cabbage (through osmosis), and this creates the brine in which the cabbage can ferment and sour without rotting. The salt also has the effect of keeping the cabbage crunchy, by inhibiting organisms and enzymes that soften it. 3 tablespoons of salt is a rough guideline for 5 pounds of cabbage. I never measure the salt; I just shake some on after I chop up each cabbage. I use more salt in summer, less in winter.")

3. This is the time to add additions you like to your 'kraut, like caraway seeds, juniper berries or dill, apples, shredded carrot, whatever you like.

4. Mix ingredients together and pack into crock, a bit at a time, tamping it down hard using your fists or any (other) sturdy kitchen implement, like potato masher or bottom of a heavy glass bottle. The tamping packs the kraut tight in the crock and helps force water out of the cabbage.

5. Cover kraut with a plate or some other lid that fits snugly inside the crock. Place a clean weight (a sterilized glass jar filled with water works well) on the cover. This weight is to force water out of the cabbage and keeps the cabbage submerged under the brine. Take a large freezer bag and fill it half way with brine. Secure it and place it over the plate/lid covering the 'kraut to seal it in and keep it away from air and dust. Cover the crock with a piece of plastic wrap, and cover that with with a cloth secured with a rubber band to keep dust and fruitflies out.

NOTE: quote from Wild Fermentation site: "Press down on the weight to add pressure to the cabbage and help force water out of it. Continue doing this periodically (as often as you think of it, every few hours), until the brine rises above the cover. This can take up to about 24 hours, as the salt draws water out of the cabbage slowly. Some cabbage, particularly if it is old, simply contains less water. If the brine does not rise above the plate level by the next day, add enough salt water to bring the brine level above the plate. "

6. Store the crock in an out-of-the-way place that is relatively cool and let it begin the fermentation process. I check it every other day to assure the brine is above the cabbage, and there are no icky things happening. If a scum forms over the plate, remove the plate and rinse it off well, skim off the skum, replace the plate, be sure brine covers it, replace brine-containing freezer bag, seal crock with plastic wrap and linen cover secured with rubber band and leave kraut to work some more. After about a week, start tasting to see if it's developing the sour flavor you like. The cooler the place the kraut crock is stored, the longer it takes to sour. Enjoy eating it when it's the flavor you like best. BTW, sauerkraut has lots of beneficial microbs in it, so serving it without boiling the death out of the microbs is best; think: kraut on a bratwurst sandwich.

I love fall gardening, too. This spring I attempted to cross two radishes varieties to get a bigger radish early. I harvested the seeds in July and planted them in the middle of August. The F1 was super!!! I tried a white egg turnip and would recommend that to anyone. My lettuce is coming on, as well as the carrots. I have two cold frames and put the lights on yesterday as we had light frost in southeast Iowa last night. Trying a China Rose radish for the first time this fall and four different kinds of lettuce. They love the cold nights!
Fall is a great time to garden!

cyclonegardener, I agree: great time to garden.....and to eat the results! Nonna

we are loving fall as well!

this is our first year with a small green house.......... i think its like 5x6 and a couple of hoops over our box's.....

as we go into winter we want to try and over winter and harvest some veggies ....would small holiday type lights hung up in the green house give enough heat to make it worth it?.....and if yes....how many of them should we put up?

thanks
hugs
rose

I think it was Boffer in Yelm, WA, who used Christmas lights in a tabletop hoop house to get a jump on Spring. You might try searching some of the hoop house info on this site, or perhaps someone reading this has a better memory than I do and can point you in the right direction. Nonna

Last fall Staf74 did a whole series of videos showing his hoop houses. One of the things he tried was Christmas lights. He used the old fashion lights before the LEDS came out. Here is one of his videos (he had a few other videos - look in the mid south region last Oct - Dec).

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t9443-hoop-house-video-series

Boffer also did a lot of experimenting.

thank you!
hugs
rose who is off to read the thread

My son put 2 strings of Christmas lights in his 5x5 plastic greenhouse last winter and kept begonias, a tropical flowering jasmine, a habenero pepper plant (that bloomed at New Years) and some other plants alive last year. HOWEVER, last year was a flukey year weatherwise in his zone 8 near the coast area. He used the size 9 blubs.

Kay

Got it, Nonna! Thanks so much!

CC

It is my second time with a real attempt at fall gardening. Last year was very nice. I had fewer issues with insects.

I learned that some plants like some cold before harvest. Carrots get incredibly sweet after couple frosts. Swiss Chard gets a better taste too.


This is my spinach, lettuce, chard, peas and more chard.



This is tulle covered broccoli, cauliflower, and radishes.


here's the salad tray

Spinach??? Did I hear you say spinach? Still can't get my spinach to grow!

SJ, what are your hoops made out of? They look thin enuff for my clothespins.

CC

Hoops are from a roll of heavy gauge wire.

Here is part of my fall garden. The inner hoops are covered in tulle, and on the outer hoops is shade cloth on the side of the bed that is the hottest. When the temperatures fall in Oct/Nov I will put plastic on the outer hoops. Then when the temperature falls lower in Jan/Feb I can put my Agribon 19 on the inner hoops and have a double layer of frost/freeze protection.



Under the tulle are 18 Packman Broccoli, 9 Buttercrunch lettuce, 12 Romaine lettuce, 4 cauliflower, 4 Cabbage, and 4 Chard. The bed is 4 ft x 20 ft. It is the area in my old row garden that I have not yet converted fully to MM. The soil is made of bagged garden soil, Compost (five way) and peat. Everything is growing very well so far. No bugs under the tulle.

I have other things planted in my SFG but they are not covered with Tulle (broccoli, kohlarbi, carrots). I also suckered a few tomatoes and planted some of the suckers. They are just now forming fruit. I also planted some late cucumbers (Muncher) in 1/2 wiskey barrels that are producing many cucumbers.