Happy Fall!

Last Friday we went to a special celebration of the Equinox, which we usually do schedule-permitting.  I finally sorted all of the garlic and selected the heads that I'll plant for next year's crop.  I've yet to haul in any squash, save one.  I spotted maybe 4 luffa gourds the other day, when all along I thought there were none!  The bushel basket gourds are starting to set fruit EVERYWHERE, and some of them are getting big. There are still beans to be picked.

I transplanted seedlings for kale, arugula, and kohlrabi sometime last week, along with tatsoi and pak choi.  I've got a lot more broccoli and kale seedlings to transplant, but it's been raining pretty hard so they'll have to wait.  I'm somewhat impatiently waiting for the first frost, mostly because I want to pick all of the garden huckleberries.  The garden has been somewhat neglected because I've turned most of my focus to filling the freezer now that the root cellar is full. 

Speaking of root cellars, I've been reading about them, and I can't believe how much I didn't even know there was to know about root cellars!  It's fantastic and beautiful.  The idea of saving food without needing any outside power is a really wonderful thing that I think the vast majority of people in our society have no idea about anymore. 

Here is some harvest record information that I found laying under a pile on my desk:

9/8/12
Scarlett Runner beans: 1 lb. 2. oz.
Lazy Wife + Purple Podded Pole Beans: 5 lb. 12 oz.
Cucumbers: 1 lb. 8 oz.
Tomatoes: 2 lb. 12 oz.
Tomatillos: 2 lb. 11 oz.

9/9/12
French Horticulture beans: 4 oz.
Cowpeas: 5 oz.
Sky Rocket Tomatoes: 3 oz.
White Onion: 1 oz.
Tomatillos: 3 lb. 4 oz.
Jalapeño: 7 oz.
Mixed straggler beans: 6 oz.
Bottle Gourds: 2.  (they later rotted because they were too immature)
Swiss Chard: 2 lb. 1 oz.
Malabar Spinach 1 lb. 12 oz. (later fed to chickens)
Leeks: 6 large ones (weight unknown)
Sunberries: some.
Long Beans: 2 for seed collection

9/12/12
Sky Rockets: 7 lb. 14 oz.

9/16/12
Beans, mixed: 4 lb. 10 oz.
Daikon Radish: 1 small one
Herbs for drying
- Oregano
- Basil
- Spearmint
- Peppermint
- Raspberry leaf
- Sage

Pole Beans: 7 lb. 3 oz.
Bell Peppers: 4 oz.(2)
 Tomatoes: 14 oz.
Peppers: 4 oz.
Tomatillos: 2 lb. 7 oz.

9/ 21/12
Bell Peppers: 2 small ones
Tomatillos: a few
Skyrockets: a few

9/22/12
Georgia Jet Sweet Potatoes: 17 lbs.
Ping Tung Eggplant: 6 small ones
Red Onions: 3 small ones found while digging sweets.

9/??/12- sometime in the last week
Tomatillos: 17 lbs.

Busy Busy Busy

It seems like most of the rush of the Summer's end harvest has passed us at this point.  The high point of that harvest always seems busy, because we're in a rush to process and save as much as we can for the coming winter, but now that it's done, it seems there's so much more to do now. 

I need to start prepping the garden for winter.  That means pulling the last of the weeds, mulching bare soil where things were taken out, setting up the hoophouse, and starting fall crops on time.  Yesterday, I spotted a SIXTH woodchuck; probably the biggest one I've ever seen in my life.  Seeing a woodchuck always gives me a sense of urgency, so that's not helping. 

I also need to expand the chicken run before the ground hardens.  I also need to make sure I eliminate any drafts in the coop.  We're about a month away from the time when the chickens should start laying.  The anticipation is starting to get to me!!  Last week I started 3 trays of seeds; stuff like cabbage, broccoli, spinach and kale. 

We've yet to harvest any butternut squashes.  I need to pull up the sweet potatoes really soon.  After the frost comes, I can worry about the garden huckleberries.  The beans are still going strong because I planted them late.  I think the last day that I planted them was July 15, but might have been a few days later.  Hopefully the hoophouse greens will work out well!

Harvest Records and Updates

I dug the last of our potatoes today.  Many of them were over 1 lb. each!  In all, I harvested 46 lb. 8 oz. of Butte potatoes today, giving us a grand total of just over 100 lbs. for this growing season.  This is great!  If only our tomatoes did as well this year, but I really can't complain.  Naomi put up 11 pints of corn, last year she only put up 3, so that's good.  We also didn't have beans last year, or potatoes, or any onions at all.  If only we had harvest records from last year to compare to. 

I started seeds this past week, but can't recall the day.  I think it was Monday, September 3rd, but I'm not sure.  I've got two trays going now that were started on different days.  I also bought more seeds this week, along with some more multiplier onion bulbs.  I'm looking forward to growing some hardy greens this winter, especially in the hoop houses.  I know there will be much to learn about growing under plastic in low temperatures, but I'm ready to learn! 

We've still got one woodchuck that's been visiting daily.  He'll get his soon enough I hope.  I'd like to go into winter with no resident woodchucks, so I can have a jump start on the spring. 

I've been slacking off on general garden chores as I've been getting back into work for the fall.  A lot of weeding needs to be done still, and I'm planning to rebuild all of the garden beds before mulching them over deeply before winter's chill sets in.  The good thing is that I haven't needed to water; mother nature's been providing plenty. 

OK, onto the harvest records!

8/31
Daikon Radish: 4 oz (cut off about half to rot)
Corn: 8 oz (2)
Jersey Giant Tomatoes: 1 lb. 2 oz. (4)
Tomatoes, mixed: 3 lb. 7 oz.
Tomatillos: 5 oz. (6)
Onions: 4 lb. 8 oz.
Cowpeas: 8 oz.
Sky Rocket Tomatoes: 1 lb. 6 oz.
Jalapeño: 3 oz.
Ground Cherries: 5 oz.
Basil: 2 oz.
French Horticulture Beans: 1 lb. 1 oz.
Green, Purple, and Wax beans, mixed: 8 oz.

9/3
Corn: 2 Lb. 5 oz. (4 ears)
Tomatoes: 7 Lb. 2 oz.
Sky Rocket: 1 lb. 4 oz.
Beans (green, wax, purple): 3 lb. 5 oz.
Yard Long Beans: 2 oz. (2)
French Horticulture beans: 7 oz.
Cowpeas: 1 lb. 2 oz.
Tomatillos: 10 oz.
Eggplant: 3 oz. (1)
Fish Peppers: 5 peppers
Ground Cherries: some

9/6
Cowpeas 8 oz.
Ground Cherry: 4 oz.
Tomatillos: 13 oz.
Tomatoes, mixed: 3 lb. 12 oz.
French Horticulture beans: 1 lb.
Wax, Purple, and Green Beans, mixed: 1 lb. 2 oz.

9/7
Butte potatoes: 46 lb. 8 oz. 


Sometime in the last week, I picked 5 lbs of green beans, purple beans, and wax beans, but I can't find the paper with that day's harvest record on it, so some data is missing.