New England October, 2016

Cloudy and cool today, like I would expect 10 years ago!

For the tropical update, it looks very loud! Possibly an Irene-like depression or a Sandy-like storm!

RJ, my tablet doesn't support these plugins that you posted so I'll have to wait until I can get on a different computer.

I am on an iPad, cannot view what you got going on, RJ!  

Clearly nice summery-fally transition here.  Trying to actually have a fall garden.  Never done it.  Last year was utter fail.  I think I got a bit of a jump this year, but germination has been crappy.

Scorpio Rising wrote:I am on an iPad, cannot view what you got going on, RJ!  

Clearly nice summery-fally transition here.  Trying to actually have a fall garden.  Never done it.  Last year was utter fail.  I think I got a bit of a jump this year, but germination has been crappy.

That's the weather widgets, LOL.

A little late for this info but we can still refer to it for what's left:
http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/how-to-freeze-fruits-vegetables/

My poor SFG has just gone thru about 10 days of rain, drizzle, hi winds, cold and mist.  Most of cukes, tomatoes and squashes are all wilted and covered with PM.  All of the green Gilbertie tomatoes were blown off the vines early on and the ber & bugs took over from there.  I have to say the lettuce is happy though, as are most of the leafy greens.  

Sunny today!  Finally.  We had 2 trees taken down yesterday and that should allow a bit more sun into the SFG and the orchard.    

We also had the windows cleaned yesterday and the cleaner brought me a pack of cuke seeds this morning, from his grandfather, that were ordered from Bulgaria.  I can't read the package but the photo on the front looks like English cukes.  He says they get too many fruits from 3 plants.    Can't wait to try them!

Just used an online translator and found out that the cukes are call Gergana. Can't find any for sale in the U.S. but if they are good I'll be sure to save seeds for us.

Gads, fall is here! the cucumbers sound exciting. Let us know next year how you like them.

CC, consider me IN for the cuke seeds saved! Loved my Beit Alphas, super thin skin, no seeds, but I really love cukes!  

I could send ya some!  Wish I had saved some....wah.

This is what's left after harvesting and cleaning up:

Raspberry bed.  Most ripened during the 10-day rain and were eaten by birds and ants.

Looks like freezes in Vermont expected on the morning of Tuesday, October 11th! In southern Vermont, if that occurs, it would be a week early! Especially if a hard freeze occurs!

Scorpio Rising wrote:I am on an iPad, cannot view what you got going on, RJ!  

Clearly nice summery-fally transition here.  Trying to actually have a fall garden.  Never done it.  Last year was utter fail.  I think I got a bit of a jump this year, but germination has been crappy.

I've been truly blessed with my fall garden this year.  Looks like I was right on target when I started my seeds. Good thing I recorded all of the dates.  Although I did plant my garlic way to soon.    Most of the garlic is up about 4 to 6 inches aready. Going to mulch heavily today and hope for the best in the spring.

I have hoops on most of my beds and put new 6 mil plastic on them yesterday. Some of my carrots and beets were planted a little late but maybe the plastic will protect them til they mature.

I would definitely recommend a fall garden to everyone, no matter what zone you live in. There's less heat, less watering and not as many bugs and slugs. A lot of veggies actually taste BETTER after a frost or two. Things like parsnips, carrots, beets and turnips turn their starch into sugar to protect themselves from freezing... Pretty smart for a dumb old plant Huh?

One thing I DIDN'T plan on was the shade factor in the fall. The sun comes up in a slightly different location now and I get a LOT of shade. I can't move my beds so I'll have to deal with it.

Our first frost date can be as soon as next week and I'm really excited to see how long I can keep my garden growing with my hoop houses. I'm somewhat worried about the water situation as I have to shut my outside faucets off during the winter but I'll do whatever I have to do...even if I have to carry water from inside the house.... 

Sorry. I didn't mean to chew your ear off but I'm on a caffeine high  and we're talking gardening here.  

Hi Mr B!  to New England.  

I get your excitement about extending the season!  I did it a couple of times.  The last time looked like this:


You can see more photos and read about what happened and how far it went in the NE Jan 2013 thread if you're interested. But I can tell you that it's a matter of getting as much grown as quickly as possible because once the daylight hits 10 hrs I think it is, the plants pretty much stop growing. So we're only going out there to pick fresh veggies, not grow them.

Rainy rainy day today.  I'm not complaining mind you...we need it!  And I did a lot of planting and transplanting yesterday in anticipation.  got all the my flowering kale starts planted along the edge of a perennial garden.  They are such a beautiful flowering plant the 2nd year!  

What are the rest of you New Englanders up to this holiday weekend?
CC

Nice pics, CC!  Mr. B, I need help on the fall timetable...always wait too long!

Scorpio Rising wrote:Nice pics, CC!  Mr. B, I need help on the fall timetable...always wait too long!

Scorpio. My theory is, plant a little early and at the first sign of bolting you may still have time to replant, especially if you use a cover. I figure better early than late. Here are some pics I took today.

Hey All, nice pics so far this month!
I have been working (long hours) everyday for a while now, but I asked for today off last week in case we got hammered by Matthew. It has been a very not been windy or stormy here, only cool temps and slow, off and on sprinkles so far, not even a half an inch yet of rain here. But, in New England, when it comes to the weather, I plan for the worst and hope for the best. It is unforgiving.
I think I had a very successful garden this year, better than I have had in many years. I feel that since I got on to the SFG forum it has made me more aware of things in my gardens. This year I did a much better job of watering. Those are the two biggest reasons my garden did so well. It is great to read about what others are doing, it helped me stay on top of things and I didn't get behind.
I had a very good crop of potatoes. Everything I planted was from the local grocery store that had been in the cupboard long enough to start growing eyes. They did wonderful! I got 6-15 good sized potatoes from each eye-seed I planted. Many of them were large, few were smaller than a baseball. The average large sized potato was about the size of two baseballs joined together. I did mostly container gardens, old bee hive boxes set off from the garden. I laid the eye-seed in the bottom and covered them with compost and soil mix, just barely covering them. I added compost up to the bottom of the leaves until it was about 6-10 inches deep. Then I put a mulch over the top to keep the moisture in. I did something right!
I planted my cucs to close together, I have about 40 golf ball sized cucs, I am going to see if they are ripe, then make them into cold pickles. I did have one container that produced very well, the cucs were a perfect size for me and it produced about 30 very tasty cucs.
My tomatoes did excellent!
My green beans did excellent!
I did OK with cabbage, not real big but not small.
I didn't do great with the beets, but I do have a friend and neighbor who has a bumper crop, he uses the water from his duck pool to water his garden, he has done great with everything. He has been supplying me with all the beets I want! I made a batch of Harvard Beets after church today. They are delicious! I have had plenty of greens too!
My sunflowers did OK, not great, but they got to be 6-7 feet high, but the flowers were only about 6-7 inches across.
I have about half of all my beds put to sleep for the winter, had no time at all for a fall garden. When my cabbage comes out I will put in all my garlic, which did well this year.
I wish I had pics, but I have been working and getting home after it was to late to take them.

Sounds like a good year in the garden, Rock!

Great pics and interesting content my NE friends.
I am just dropping by from Ottawa, which is about 8 hours drive away.

I woke up this morning to some (very light) wind damage. Must of had a few 25-35 mph gusts. It just knocked over a few trellises and broke my tall sunflowers in the middle. Nothing that has me even slightly upset, just surprised.
We went all day yesterday cloudy and cool with off and on sprinkles, and no wind. Ididn't hear anything in the weather reports yesterday. I didn't expect this at all, did anybody up here in NE in S. NH experience it as well?

Yes! And the wind is till going on here! It's crazy windy...but sunny.

You NE/Canadian folks amaze me by your beautiful gardens.

Mimi2 wrote:Great pics and interesting content my NE friends.
I am just dropping by from Ottawa, which is about 8 hours drive away.

+1

Like Mimi I am dropping in from Ottawa and I live only about 3 miles (as the crow flies) from Mimi.

bigdogrock wrote:I woke up this morning to some (very light) wind damage. Must of had a few 25-35 mph gusts. It just knocked over a few trellises and broke my tall sunflowers in the middle. Nothing that has me even slightly upset, just surprised.
We went all day yesterday cloudy and cool with off and on sprinkles, and no wind. Ididn't hear anything in the weather reports yesterday. I didn't expect this at all, did anybody up here in NE in S. NH experience it as well?

Hey Rock! I was surprised by the weather, as well. We're a bit west of Manchester, in the extreme drought area. I expected a sprinkle or two Saturday night, but it rained lightly all day yesterday, instead, and we ended up with 3/4" according to the rain gauge.   

Today is windy and cold. Brrrrrrr....I can handle one or the other, but not both at the same time!  Anticipating first frost tonight.

By the way, there's a flock of 20-or-so wild turkeys that forage in our yard twice a day. All hens. They're robust and very healthy...I'm wondering how many will survive the winter and how many hatchlings we'll see next year.

Save

Sound so like all in all you got spared the brunt of the flooding/horrific winds from this monster....

Yay!  Light frost patchy here this morning, but going to warm up a bit....still have some peppers and tomatoes, and fall radishes, one black seeded Simpson, and some other leaves that are Babies......

Will see!  I am always too late on the freaking fall thing!!!????

I think you are right SR, I am very happy we were spared a hurricane.
Yup, we could use the rain, but we don't need a deluge. I feel for all the folks down south that got hit, my prayers go out to them.
This drought we are in GB is something, but the combo of people being sensible and the timely storms we had during the past few months have lessened the effects.
The windy cold we had today was kind of a bummer for me too. The off and on sprinkles yesterday kept me from doing anything worthwhile outside. Major bummer. But, that is New Hampster (New Hampshire) for you, if you don't like the weather, wait five and it will change.
I too have a good sized flock of turkeys, and I see no toms, only hens. They parade up the hill next to the house strutting their stuff, what a wonderful sight it is. If the winter isn't to harsh they will break into smaller groups in the spring and hopefully we will have more big flocks.
They have done damage to my garden, they took out my beets this year by using the garden as a dust bath. I was furious at first, but after putting up 2x4 wire they stayed out. Then I learned why I shouldn't mind them being here, they completely annihilated the grasshoppers before the hoppers could do much damage. I found that garden fabric keeps the turkeys out as well as keeping weeds from growing helping to hold in the water.

I often get those visitors also.


Lilly doesn't mind them at all...as long as they don't drink from her water bowl.