New England Dec 2015

I just checked in and no new topic yet so I opened it.
I hope you all are enjoying the late fall harvests and has anyone put in a winter garden of hardy greens this year?

I have kale, collards and swiss chard from spring planting that I'm still eating from.

CC

I rec'd my Johnny's Selected Seeds catalog today and it made my heart palpitate.  Oh, I'll miss my garden next year.  Normally I would be making out my spring list for a Christmas gift to myself.  The catalog is beautiful with lots of colors and lots of information.  I appreciate the planting information given with each plant type.

Is container gardening still an option, QB?  Will you have any deck space?

AMarie.....At this point I have no idea what I'll have.  All I know is this house is up for sale in the spring and I'll have to find something.

QB, my girlfriend lived in a wonderful subsidized retirement community here on the Cape where she had a bit of a yard and was able to make 2 lovely gardens - one in the front and one in the back.  Maybe you will find something like that.

Still picking greens but they are getting so tiny, like microgreens:

Also still harvesting for roasting:

50's all this week into next Tuesday!  I have no excuse not to clean up the gardens.


Lilly guards the pumpkins out at the compost area, probably because her friend, Danger the fox, has been tinkling there and in all her favorite spots:

Is Danger really Lilly's friend? Foxes are pretty shy around here, don't really mess with dogs, etc., unlike coyotes which will gang up on domestic dogs....

Scorpio Rising wrote:Is Danger really Lilly's friend?  

Yes, I think so.  Lilly is kinda lonely since one kitty friend died and the other moved away.  So she tolerates the foxes, up to a point, which I'll illustrate below. The foxes are pretty tame around here and will come right up onto my front porch while I'm sitting there...the little dickens.  


Young Danger comes to the back porch to play.  He jumps around, back and forth, & eats acorns, but Miss Lilly is an old gal now so prefers to sit back and communicate telepathically:

But as soon as he tries to drink out of her water bowl, she's on the move:

Uh oh, says Danger:

See Danger run.  Run, Danger, run:

I think I may have posted these in a Pet thread but can't find them.  Sorry if they are dupes.

That's the cutest story!

That is great! Love it!!!

I just lifted the last two dozen leeks. Still have carrots, bok choi, chard, beets, kale and Brussels sprouts in the garden.

Honestly, I learned so much this year about what I didn't do, or didn't time right. Did not start the fall to winter garden nearly early enough...And mostly because I don't have enought SF. Need more....

After going to the beach for seaweed this morning, I actually mowed what I hope is the last of the grass and leaves. I piled it on top of the compost pile as the crowning glory.
 

The black pile in the back on the right  is what's left of  my finished compost pile.

 Then I spread some seaweed around the fruit trees.

Nice haul, camp. My leeks that are still out there are getting moldy. I really need to bring them all in but I just don't seem to be moved to do it. I hope the mold doesn't go all the way into the middle.


I know what you mean, SR. I said the same thing for 3 year ends and kept building. This is the first year that I'm not saying I need more boxes.

Love the story of the cat and fox.  And the pix are marvelous.
I cut some tall spikes of Rosemary in the garden today and put them in a rosebud vase so I can have the aroma in my house.  The plant is still going strong out there.
And inside I have 2 thyme plants doing very well under a light.  I use a lot of thyme in my dishes.  I really like it for chicken, soups, potatoes.  Mmmmm good.
I spotted a half dozen Dark-eyed Juncos eating in my yard today.  They seemed very happy to clean up the many small seeds the birds seem to scratch out of the feeder.

I have had Juncoes and bluejays, sparrows, house finches, snowy woodpeckers, and others!

Scorpio....I never paid any attention to the birds that visited before because my feeders were too far away from the house til this fall.  After the feeders being snowbound for a few weeks last year and the disappearance of many birds since I couldn't get to fill the feeders, I moved them to right outside my kitchen door.  Lately I've had tufted titmice, chickadees, nuthatches, goldfinches, bluejays, sparrows, and now the juncos.   Now I notice them all the time and can easily fill the 2 feeders (regular and a flat feeder) and the waterer which are about 6 feet from my doorway.    I'm sure they will be happy and healthy this year.  Its so nice to see all the different species I've been having that visit.
Many seem quite happy, too, with the seeded heads from the flowers in my garden.
I'm still waiting to spy a red cardinal and haven't seen our pair of mourning doves for over a year now.

QB, Smart idea moving the bird feeders close to the house so you can enjoy their comings and goings. Plus being easier to refill the feeders.

QB, my feeder and suet are about 15 feet from my bay window. It is very fun to watch them come and go! I did see a couple of cardinals, and I think the tufted titmouses (titmice?) are so cute! And their winter song is cheerful as they come and go!

You, and they, will enjoy their closer location!

Today's smoothie harvest - chard, baby kale & collard leaves:


The pickin's are getting REAL slim now.  So glad I blanched & froze some greens this summer.  Not enough to get me thru the winter but still...


I raked off and then composted the asparagus bed yesterday.  Now all I need to do is cover it with seaweed for the winter, and then repeat the process on the 10 SFG boxes.


Things I've learned this year:
-PM doesn't seem to bother Dino kale and broccoli.  I'll be planting more of those.
-I don't care that much for parsnips so won't grow them again.
-Same with the leeks.
-I need to plant new greens mid summer in hopes that they will go on longer than Dec.
-Cukes need to be seeded in the SFG earlier and put under clam packs.
-PM resistant zukes aren't.
-Garlic loves MM.
-Lettuce should be planted further apart than 4 or 5/sq...2/sq should be fine.
-Green beans can get some kind of waxy moldy coating.  Probably needs more spacing than I gave them.
-Ya just never know with tomatoes....except that baby aspirin works for blight.

CapeC.....Great tips you learned this year.
Regarding parsnips, did you wait til they went thru a freeze or two before harvesting them?  That cold makes the sugars run and makes a better flavor in parsnips.  Just a thought.

Nice synopsis of the year in review! I learned a lot too, about what I thought I would love/eat, and what I ate/loved! Some of my decisions were based on deprivation....couldn't grow patty pans in the ground, so over planted in the SFG. Over produced. Same with pole beans. Pole beans just adequate in ground, gangbusters in MM. Too much of some, too little of others.

And learned alot about how to harvest the unknown green thing, kale? in your pics where they are just leaves at the total top of the plant? Kale? I guess you pull from below! Yay pictures!

Thanks, CC

Scorpio Rising wrote:Nice synopsis of the year in review!

Yes, it was. Every year, something learned and something new.

Do parsnips taste like turnips?

I can eat parsnips but not turnips, rutabagas and definitely not beets!! I use parsnips in stocks and occasionally when I roast a variety of veggies. Buy one and see.

sanderson wrote:I can eat parsnips but not turnips, rutabagas and definitely not beets!!  I use parsnips in stocks and occasionally when I roast a variety of veggies.  Buy one and see.

Good idea....I think I did roast some once when I Roasted a bunch of root veggies....can't remember though!