New England: November 2013

The dogs look so happy out there.  Something different to play in.

Aw, the puppies are so happy!  My kitty, Lilly, is not.  The house just shook from the wind and she's wide-eyed right now.  

quiltbea wrote:Cape....You sure have some disfigured 'snips.  Mine are always pretty long and straight.  Can your snips grow beyond 12" or so?  They are long and like unfettered feet and if the soil is rocky that might cause misshapes.  My bed is 12" deep over uncovered garden soil beneath so they can grow....and grow as needed.

The parsnips could only go down 12" in straight MM before hitting bottom, QB.  Like this one:
Don't know why those in the earlier post are so disfigured.  I'm not even sure what to do with them.  

Meanwhile, the lettuces, kale, parsley, tomatoes, stevia and basil in the bay window are safe and happy:




  
CC

CapeCoddess wrote:

Update on 2 parsnips that I pulled yesterday.   I felt around the tops and they were 3 inches wide, so I pulled:
They look like man o' war.  I have no idea what that's about...but it sure fits in with the hard time I have growing root veggies without adding anything to the MM.   I may cave next year...


CC

Did you happen to use relatively fresh compost last season? That could be one of the reasons for the lack of taproot. It may be worth sending a sample for testing to determine the fertility of your mix. Scroll down for parsnip info.
http://unusuallyunusualfarmchick.blogspot.com/2012_01_01_archive.html

use soilless media greenhouse form.
http://soiltest.umass.edu/ordering-information

The photo in that article is just like my 2 disfigured parsnips.  Good find, Camp. How do you do that???

camprn wrote:Did you happen to use relatively fresh compost last season? That could be one of the reasons for the lack of taproot.

The compost used for the parsnips was from the year before, so not new but old, and there is no manure in my compost.  So after thinking about it for while, I concluded that the high nitrogen content of the soil could have been due to the diluted urine watered spinach that was grown in that space before the parsnips were planted, and also the peas, then beans, then peas grown about 8" behind the parsnips.  Next year I'll be sure to keep them away from all that, and in more of a neutral area. Meanwhile, it'll be interesting to see what all the others look like.  

The score so far:
Perfect = 1
Disfigured = 2
 

CC

CapeCoddess wrote:  Good find, Camp. How do you do that???
CC

Persistence and Tenacity.

After 3 days of 27 degrees & under after the cover blew off, the winter SFG became flat, limp then frozen. 

But then came the rains, winds & warm weather of Winter Storm Boreas: 
And the SFG started to spring back to life:


Kale box:
The only thing that didn't bounce back was the Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, but even limp they made mighty fine smoothies.

Back inside the bay window, the lower Roma is beginning to blush:
And yes, Miss Lilly is once again miffed at being crowded out of her sunbathing spot, but darn it all....her mama HAS to have her veggies!

And the romaine quietly grows on...

And for all of this, and you, I am thankful.  

CC

It all looks pretty good to me!

I think you need to build Miss Lily a cat shelf somewhere in the sun. She probably needs her sunbathing more than you need your veggies!

Marc Iverson wrote:I think you need to build Miss Lily a cat shelf somewhere in the sun.  She probably needs her sunbathing more than you need your veggies!

Ayuh...no Marc.  As long as she's still willing to go outside there's a lovely sheltered table & a shelf out there she can use.  We'll cross the inside bridge when going outside is not an option.

Look closely at the cabbage and the radishes below it.  Something is eating them.  You'd think all the buggers would be frozen by now but noooooo.    What the heck eats radishes???

CC

Oh GOOD! only 167 days until my last frost. 

camprn wrote:Oh GOOD! only 167 days until my last frost. 

Gruesome. Do you have any veggies growing inside?

I pulled the remainder of a dzn parsnips and the man o' war shapes won out. The first parsnip I pulled was the only normal one.  

Meanwhile, the winter SFG continues to freeze and thaw, and I keep harvesting. I don't know how long this will continue but as long as it's willing to give, I'm willing to eat.   Once it's all harvested or unthawable I'll start on the lettuce, kale & tomatoes in bay window garden.

OK, heading off to the library to pick up the 5th & final season of 'Fringe'.

CC

ooooooooh! I loved FRINGE. It was so sad when discontinued.

I still have some fresh san marzano tomatoes siting in a box and a few pounds of yellow pear tomatoes sitting in a box. I think I am going to dehydrate those. just to get them out of the dining room. I brought in 2 different types of pepper plants, a parsley and a basil. The last two I set into a small window box which I thought was just dirt, but them some autumn crocus popped out of that. SURPRISE! I have quite a lot of spring flowering bulbs that I didn't get into the ground that I will pot up here pretty soon then put in the garage for a few months. I will bring them out in February and hopefully have some flowers for the early part of the month of March. I also have some paperwhites that I thought were dead bulbs that never quite made it into the compost pile. Those are starting to grow as well.

Camp, then you probably liked Eureka, The New Dr Who, Warehouse 13...what am I forgetting?  I get the vids by season out of the library and do marathons thru out the winter since I only have basic cable so don't see most of the original showings.  Got any suggestions for newish ones?

I tried tulip bulbs in winter and had spectacular results 2 yrs ago.  Not so much last year.   It's harder than I thought.  I hope you'll post photos of your bulbs when they are up.

For other winter flowers this year I cut back and brought in some petunias to see how they do.  One Pink Bubblegum is already 2 yrs old so I'm hoping for another beautiful repeat performance of last winter.  I also cut back a few potted geraniums and put them in the garage.  This is a first for me, as I usually let them grow indoors for winter, so I hope they live.  Some are years old.

I just watched an interesting vid about building a raised garden from 1 x 2' crates, which makes it portable.  You can fast forward to 28:40 to see the results:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeKufjx1GZ8

CC

I love checking into this thread to see what's new with the New Englanders. I know some, like me, have rec'd at least one seed catalog and we're thumbing thru and dreaming of spring.
I'm making a plan to use my worm condo as three 2 x 2 raised beds close to my kitchen door so I can be out there every day watching and improving. Maybe I can even extend those few beds into late next fall with care.
Herbs, once again, will go in the flower bed beside the house.
The original nine raised beds up the high hill and difficult for me to get to often with my aches and pains of aging, will be used for flowers (some edible) and a few root crops that won't need much attention thru the summer. Plans continue to go forward on those.
The strawberry berm and the asparagus bed will stay up the hill.
I plan to garden as long as I possibly can.

CapC....Keep posting your pics. They give me such inspiration.

Just got my first of the new, um, winter/year (even though neither has changed over yet) the other day: From High Mowing Organic Seeds. I flipped through it yesterday, and had to put it away & defer the dreaming for awhile  

Please, let today be the last time I have to water the SFG this year...
 

CC