New England November, 2018

We're having the most unusual weather this fall - hot, cold, rain, wind and everything in between - all mixed up day by day.  Warmish today - low 60's.  

Got my garlic planted yesterday!     Also transplanted about 20 kale teenagers from the SFG to the kitchen garden for winter harvesting.  Hoping to do some box composting this weekend but who knows what the future holds...especially since I just got season 3 of Outlander from the library! 

What's everyone else up to?
CC

Will you be tossing any sea weed on the boxes? I told Miss Lilly to remind you.

sanderson wrote:Will you be tossing any sea weed on the boxes?  I told Miss Lilly to remind you.

lol...yes!  Matter of fact the garlic box already has a layer of seaweed on it.  I had to plant through it.  There is also some on the new compost pile along with some fall leaves that I mowed up yesterday.  But I need a lot more seaweed so once Indian summer arrives I'll hit the beach again.

Miss Lilly has taken over the heating pad already.  It's always a battle come seed sprouting time.

Miss Lilly has the right idea!

We'll be fighting over that heating pad on Thankgiving day:

US National Weather Service Boston MA
An arctic cold front will bring blustery and chilly conditions to southern New England tomorrow night and thru Thanksgiving Day. Wind chills ranging from sub-zero to the single digits above zero are expected.
Daytime highs on Thanksgiving Day are forecast to range from the teens to low 20s across the interior, and upper teens to mid 20s closer to the coast. This is about 30 degrees below normal for this time of year.



But if it's sunny,  maybe I can use my new rooftop gift to myself:

We literally had no Fall.  Went from 80s to 30s, and stayed there.  It is just crazy.

Cape Coddess, that heating pad might be priceless. They are not made like that anymore. They only stay on for a few hours and automatically shut-off. I still have the one I used as my first germination mat. Then I made a homemade one utilizing rope lights and just picked up a new 18' rope light as a replacement. Mine uses 2-18' rope lights to create a 2' x 4' station enough for 4-1020 trays. I did buy a germination mat with a thermostat control that also does 4-1020 trays. The rope light station is excellent for tomatoes, peppers and eggplant stays at 75-80 F but with the germination mat with the thermostat I finally got rosemary in numbers to germinate at 70 F. I think I may have celery down too. Will know for sure after this year.

To get back on topic we should be calling this month Novembery here as when it gets down to single digits the month should have a y at the end of its name. As a procrastinator this extreme cold weather throws my things that must get done list to maybe next year. Suppose to warm up so I should get most things put away.

 Dan!  So nice to meet you!

Thanks for mentioning that the new heating pads turn off after a while.  I bought a longer one last year but have yet to use it, so now I know to be sure to keep an eye it if/when I do. 

What else do you like to grow over there in CT?  I have great luck with lettuces, green leafies and garlic here.  They seem to do fine with lots of tender loving neglect

CC

Hi CapeCoddess, Thank you for the welcome and it is nice to meet you. I grow garlic very well here but skipped the last couple of years. I got some of my seed garlic with an instruction page from Wayne Hansen at The Coventry Farmers Market here in Ct years ago. He had the first certified organic farm here in Ct. I didn't know that or the he was Mr Organic Garlic until some time later. He is now selling his farm. I do grow my garlic in raised beds with 6" spacing in all directions. I will get back to growing it again next year because my daughter wants to learn how. I do grow mostly in buckets and will start next year using grow bags but as a Bucketeer, I consider what I do mini-raised bed gardening.

I do like growing my own celery because until you grow your own you can never experience that flavor burst. As a cook that secret ingredient called freshness makes me 10 times the cook I really am. I think I will also do potatoes in a welded wire 2" x 4" x 3' wire enclosure again. I like Kennebecs and they do well here. Can't beat a just dug potato! I do snow peas in the spring, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and summer squash in the summer. Several herbs but especially basil. Going to try and grow blue berries in a bucket this year to get the pH correct and then possibly transplant in the fall. Had a hard time growing raspberries here, great looking brambles but never any berries. I do have wild raspberries at the corner of the garage, so it could be a virus that the wild ones carry but are not affected by.

I grow spinach, lettuces and greens on the railing of the back deck using window box containers. I get very little sunlight in the backyard as my property is line on three sides by my neighbors mature maple trees. So although they grow slowly seldom do they bolt. I do try and steward the earthworms here so I am never gardening alone. I do add earthworms to my buckets per Dr. Wade Elmer's experiment. This might be the year I get serious and identify all the species that call The Crazy Half Acre home which is an Insect Sanctuary, Weed Sanitarium and Earthworm Research Center.

I have been busy the last couple of years with education, first Master Composter and then Master Gardener both programs furthered my understanding but in no way did either maker me an expert. This is usually the time of year I pick a few topics and research them. By March it slows down as I start my seeds and begin making plans for the next year. The history of the heirloom tomato is one topic, always some aspect of earthworms, biochar and drip irrigation are some of the others. Herbs and their uses if I have enough time.

Dan in Ct wrote:Hi CapeCoddess, Thank you for the welcome and it is nice to meet you. I grow garlic very well here but skipped the last couple of years. I got some of my seed garlic with an instruction page from Wayne Hansen at The Coventry Farmers Market here in Ct years ago. He had the first certified organic farm here in Ct. I didn't know that or the he was Mr Organic Garlic until some time later. He is now selling his farm. I do grow my garlic in raised beds with 6" spacing in all directions. I will get back to growing it again next year because my daughter wants to learn how. I do grow mostly in buckets and will start next year using grow bags but as a Bucketeer, I consider what I do mini-raised bed gardening.

I do like growing my own celery because until you grow your own you can never experience that flavor burst. As a cook that secret ingredient called freshness makes me 10 times the cook I really am. I think I will also do potatoes in a welded wire 2" x 4" x 3' wire enclosure again. I like Kennebecs and they do well here. Can't beat a just dug potato! I do snow peas in the spring, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and summer squash in the summer. Several herbs but especially basil. Going to try and grow blue berries in a bucket this year to get the pH correct and then possibly transplant in the fall. Had a hard time growing raspberries here, great looking brambles but never any berries. I do have wild raspberries at the corner of the garage, so it could be a virus that the wild ones carry but are not affected by.

I grow spinach, lettuces and greens on the railing of the back deck using window box containers. I get very little sunlight in the backyard as my property is line on three sides by my neighbors mature maple trees. So although they grow slowly seldom do they bolt. I do try and steward the earthworms here so I am never gardening alone. I do add earthworms to my buckets per Dr. Wade Elmer's experiment. This might be the year I get serious and identify all the species that call The Crazy Half Acre home which is an Insect Sanctuary, Weed Sanitarium and Earthworm Research Center.

I have been busy the last couple of years with education, first Master Composter and then Master Gardener both programs furthered my understanding but in no way did either maker me an expert. This is usually the time of year I pick a few topics and research them. By March it slows down as I start my seeds and begin making plans for the next year. The history of the heirloom tomato is one topic, always some aspect of earthworms, biochar and drip irrigation are some of the others. Herbs and their uses if I have enough time.

Hi, Dan!  Welcome from Ohio!  You are quite accomplished, and I have never even thought about growing celery...hmmm.

Glad you are here, you should introduce yourself on the general thread!

Dan in Ct wrote:To get back on topic we should be calling this month Novembery here as when it gets down to single digits the month should have a y at the end of its name. As a procrastinator this extreme cold weather throws my things that must get done list to maybe next year. Suppose to warm up so I should get most things put away.

QFT, especially when the maximum daytime temp is sub-33 F!