Springing into the harvest of more than greens

We are also beginning to harvest some of the onions we planted. They are drying out a bit faster now that I have removed some of the mulch--not such a good thing. I put the first harvest in to ferment--1/2 gallon of the white/yellow onions. I will probably ferment these small red coach onions as well.  Lots of the larger ones will go into the onion safe that George built for us last year. The yellow onions are getting big--3" or more in diameter and some of the red ones are picking up a better size as I baby them. Some of the garlic is also getting dry but not as big as I hoped for. We have been using the garlic greens for a long time to flavor dressing for salad and butter. These have just been ones I planted to deter bugs over the winter that have been a real treat and bonus crop.Now there are a few squash plants that came up from seed in the compost that I am looking fondly upon. I think one of them is a cantaloupe so am holding off planting more until I can tell. Also have picked the first eggplant in spite of the cooler than normal weather. I think my big cloches helped a lot!

Our garden has been good to us this year and I should not complain as I planted all the greens but sometimes you just want to eat something else. that said, we have had beets and carrots too but a lot of greens for a long time. We had a decent crop of broccoli and a few cauliflower along the way too.This is the 2nd year I have planted Contender Gr. beans and they are fantastic tasting, fast to fruit and produce prolifically--8-10 beans on each plant ripening at once!  

Harvesting sweet potatoes, kohl rabi and more

Last  spring some of the sweet potatoes I had purchased near Thanksgiving and began to sprout.I investigated how to produce sweet potato slips from them and successfully came up with about 12 slips. Digging into the bed behind my shed and readying it for the slips was the easiest part. Not much grows in the summer heat and I was pretty busy with camp anyway. The vines got really rangy and in August I snipped some and shoved them into a pot just for greens. I should have used a bigger pot as when I pulled the soil out it was full of little fingerling potatoes.Last

With a frost predicted this week I began harvesting my sweet potatoes. I decided to use my weed weasel in hopes that I would not damage the potatoes. Great choice! The harvest was not bad, about 3 gallon jugs but I probably would have had more if I had known to cut my vines and either harvest the leaves or just have more individual plants. As it is I put up three bags of leaves for creaming and probably will have another two or three bags this week as I complete the harvest.

Some of the kohl rabi from last year didn't make any  rabes or bulbs but because the leaves are so tasty I left six or seven of them in the garden. After all of the heavy rains during the last month, imagine my surprise that they're making rabes or bulbs. With the cold weather I have pulled the last of the okra plants and am still harvesting A handful of green beans that survived the bugs. It is still nice to have a variety of fresh vegetables right from the yard. We still have several eggplant in the garden that are full of blooms and baby eggplants as well as green peppers that probably will need to be covered with plastic to survive these cool fronts.

Tim wows the garden guild with fall prep and planting information

 The room was full and Tim Pfluger ( Green 'n Growing) was in high gear talking about how to get a new or old garden ready for planting and what plants and seeds to put into in in the fall. He talked about out clay soils and how to amend them using a variety of organic products which he whipped out of his bag to show us so everyone could examine them and ask about them. He says he starts with a good application of compost (about 1 cu.ft/ 12 sq. ft of garden--double for new beds) each time and mixes in  a bit of green sand which provides iron for the plants and some of the rock phosphate or alpha meal, then spreads this over the area he is planting and digs it in with a garden fork. He says the alpha meal is a natural growth stimulator. He also may add dried molasses to stimulate the micro-organisms in the compost. 


For seed starting he showed up a product to add that stimulates growth called mycorrhizal Fungi (at right) apparently does not need a lot to get things going. 

He also showed a couple of products to use once the plants are established that aid bloom and fruit production pictures below. Both contain a mixture of minerals and other nutrients. Each is a different blend and can be used as a side dressing about once a month.   He also mentioned Lady Bug flower power. Questions were asked about MG and the nitrogen content is way to high to promote fruiting but green growth is enhanced. 


 Tim referred us to the county extension chart for planting and discussed serial plantings so that not all the production is at one time. It is too late to see the brassicas but not to put in transplants. Great time for seeding lots of vegetable that will take a light frost or be ready to harvest within 60 days. Good time for lettuce, spinach, carrots, beets, radish, kale, chard, bush beans, snap peas and even summer squash.  Onion sets get planted in November for harvest in last spring.  It was a great meeting and good information. 

Our first seed/plant exchange had lots of items switching hands.