New England, November 2014

I was finally able to plant the garlic today.

Your soil looks beautiful, camprn.

I drove 30 miles to the beach for seaweed the other day and spread it on beds. Mowed leaves and spread it on beds. [OOPS - already said that - sorry] I'm putting brush from the brush pile (rescuing it before it gets burned) in between the beds, and putting lots of leaves on the brush/sticks, next best thing to woodchips to help with weed control between beds...

Made 2 pumpkin pies with the pumpkins, but I mashed it by hand, not having a food processor, and it was lumpy. So I'll have to find a food processor. It was still good tho!

In a race against time to get all the leaves around here into the garden before it gets too cold. By the time all is done, you'll probably need a ladder to get into the garden. LOL.

Fortunately, looks like the snow forecast has dwindled away.

QB LOVE your quilt!

hugs
Rose

QB, I already told you that I like your quilting, but love your violets as well! 

I used to have a 5-shelf stand with grow-lights on it in our bedroom.  I had over 100 violets on it of all different colors & mixes.

Unfortunately, I developed a major case of long-term vertigo and wasn't able to take care of them the way they needed.  Thankfully, several folks at church were able to take them off my hands.

I still look at them when I go by at the big box stores...

I ran out of time yesterday, but I too still have some leaves to mow up and put in the bin. I have about 150 spring flower bulbs I need to plant. I also need to move some of my boxes out of the driveway so that snow removal is easier for the next 5 months....

quiltbea wrote:Camprn.......Aren't you afraid your garlic will freeze before it 'takes' at this late stage? 

Nope. It will make roots now, or when it thaws. Either way, it's in the ground and I will have garlic to harvest in July.

Nice and busy in here!   Beautiful quilt, QB.  What a talent!

I got my garlic finally planted, too, and this is the first year I didn't have to buy some to plant!
Only 12 sqs though, but I did that last year and so far so good.

I'm also building & layering my compost pile.  Matter of fact I was out there this morning, barefoot!, mowing.  Lots of leaves to go still, but it's coming along nicely:
At the far right end is my 'greens' pile that has been breaking down for a months now while waiting for the leaves to fall.
Every fork full looks like this:
It's all good!   


I need to get more seaweed maybe today or after the next rain.  Besides putting it in the compost pile, I've layered it atop my old school SFG's and around the fruit trees (per Paul Parent):  
That's the strawberry bed at the bottom.  It gets covered naturally with falling leaves and pine needles, then only the healthy plants come up through it in spring.  Lazy gardening!

This is the last of the tomatoes that will be boxed for ripening and then frozen:


Four boxes of greens & carrots are still going: 




The kitchen garden is planted and ready for winter with chard, onions, kale & collards:



And the inside bay window garden is ready also with parsley, stevia, ginger, basil, collards, kale & 2 types of lettuce:


Lots of flowers still going:  

And last but not least, my favorite mum, RHUMBA!

What a stellar day!   Enjoy, everyone!

CC

camprn, thanks for your wisdom on garlic.   I thought they needed to get some growing at top first.
CapeC.....as usual, I love seeing your gardens. They are always looking so good and healthy.  Good going to you getting a nice fall crop in the ground.

CC - Too funny, I've never seen an avatar quite like that before! LOL. You better get some socks on tho, it's getting chilly....

When did you start growing stevia? I've been mulling that one over, after having read about it in Mother Earth News. Looks like a great sweetener.

Your gardens are beautiful! Neither you nor camprn want to see how I planted my garlic. The bed was already covered in mowed leaves about 3" thick, and I just kind of guessed where the garlic was going, rooted the cloves around in the dirt and plunk. We'll see how blind garlic planting shows up in the spring. LOL.

It's almost like I refuse to be organized. Must be a birth defect.

BUT - today I got the strawberries covered in leaves, so yay, turns out most of them were oak, but I think that'll be okay. Now all my beds are leaf covered, and I mainly want to cover in between the beds with leaves too. It's good exercise.

I find gardening is kind of like housework - there is no "done". It's just either better, or worse.

just BEAUTIFUL!!!

CC -- love your flowers ... and the werewolf feet!

That free seaweed is a nice asset for you.

Marc Iverson wrote:CC -- love your flowers ... and the werewolf feet!  

Aw gee, Marc...you sure know how to make a girl feel....like howling.
That's not hair on those feet, but sweet clean pure compost. Probably the last time I'll see that view for a while so thought I'd better grab a photo to get me through the winter.

NHG, that stevia plant is about 5 yrs old now.  It normally stays indoors.  It's not growing as large as it used to anymore so the end may be nigh.  I'll collect some seeds from it next time it flowers and send them along.  It's VERY difficult to grow from seed though, even store bought seed, so we'll need a lot.  It's a great sweetener for smoothies and baked goods and the like, but for coffee, tea & such I buy the packets from Traders.

Top dress the stevia with compost? ?

Wow CC, you are *such* a garden sophisticate! So when you use the stevia, do you just pluck leaves and throw them in, or do you have to do something to it first?

Sounds exciting, I can't wait to try it.

This morning I looked outside and the yard I mowed leaves from yesterday was covered again! haha. All oak leaves, so not prime, but that's okay. I mowed again today. The spouse is thrilled. He said from now one he's going to scatter leaves on the lawn, so I'll mow. I never touched a lawn mower till this year. Now I tell him to get his mitts off the lawn mower, he doesn't save the clippings.

Plus I went into the tree growth area and scooped 3 garbage cans of downed leaves for between the beds. I'm going to try to do that frequently.

I'm afraid I might be losing control.

CC, Beautiful.

Harvested the last pound of chard tonight, by lamp light.

CC, what great photos...  and I LOVE your view.  How calming...

I grew stevia last year in a 5-gallon bucket on the deck.  Ended up with a gallon of dried leaves.  I just crush some with my peppermint/whatever and steep it with my tea.  Haven't tried cooking w/ it yet.

Camp - you didn't wear your slug-hunting garb to harvest?

I can't believe we're forecasted for 1-3" of snow tonight... grrr...

Actually, Camp, the stevia is growing in straight compost that was charged again mid summer.  Guess I could do it again.

Marie, is your stevia still going?

NHG, I use the stevia any which way - fresh or dried - it all tastes the same.  But the dried breaks down into a powder which is better for baked goods.  The smoothies don't care either way - pluck & throw in the blender is fine.

OH, and here's a great website I found on some uses for that seaweed you drove to Timbuktu to get:
http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/seaweed-fertilizer.html

I have a bunch of buckets full now, too, just waiting on the next round of leaves.  Maybe I'll layer some on some empty boxes.  Can't hurt.  Wonder if I put it on the garlic box if they'd grow up thru it...?

CC

Ol' Cape Cod in November:

I like that last line in that seaweed article:


"As well as supplying nutrients for leaves to absorb, seaweed tea sprayed or misted onto leaves, inhibits pests, viruses and fungal problems such as mildew and blight."


Look like a hassle to make but maybe just blending it in the blender, straining it and putting it in a spray bottle would do the same...?

CapeCoddess wrote:I like that last line in that seaweed article:


"As well as supplying nutrients for leaves to absorb, seaweed tea sprayed or misted onto leaves, inhibits pests, viruses and fungal problems such as mildew and blight."


Look like a hassle to make but maybe just blending it in the blender, straining it and putting it in a spray bottle would do the same...?

Articles say lots of things, but in this case, about foliar spraying, I wonder to myself, 'Is that actually true?'. It seems to be an overly broad statement and almost sounds too good to be true.

camprn wrote:

CapeCoddess wrote:I like that last line in that seaweed article:


"As well as supplying nutrients for leaves to absorb, seaweed tea sprayed or misted onto leaves, inhibits pests, viruses and fungal problems such as mildew and blight."


Look like a hassle to make but maybe just blending it in the blender, straining it and putting it in a spray bottle would do the same...?

Articles say lots of things, but in this case, about foliar spraying, I wonder to myself, 'Is that actually true?'. It seems to be an overly broad statement and almost sounds too good to be true.

Well, if I remember, I sure can test it next year.  Lots of PM here!  The milk worked great on the PM but I'm not a dairy person so don't usually have it around. 

If they agree, which I'm pretty sure they will, I can test the seaweed spray for blight prevention on all my neighbors tomatoes & such since they get it so horribly every year.

That would be great CC, but if you find any actual studies that have already been done regarding the claims, please pass those links along.

Cleaned the gutters and wrapped the hives. The battening of the hatches continues.