Second Full Year with a Garden (updated journal)

[mattie g]

Not a problem. It allows me to brag a little bit.

I ended up not planting any fall crops. Things kind of got away from me, so I just didn't get a chance to. I suppose I could give it a shot now in hopes of a lengthened fall, but I think I'll just see out my tomatoes and peppers and be happy with that. I have plenty of garlic and shallots on order, so getting those in the ground in the November timeframe should scratch the itch a bit.

The onions were fine, but nothing to write home about - mostly quite small, but they do have good flavor. It was my first go at them, and they were a complete afterthought, so I planted them a bit late. I'm planning on researching good onions for this area and getting them in plenty early in the spring next year. My shallots turned out nicely, though. Not huge, by any stretch, but I got a nice return from them and they really taste great!

Good luck with your fall beans!

[mattie g]

I finally harvested my remaining tomatoes and pulled the pepper and tomato plants yesterday. We're expecting a frost or freeze tonight, so it was the best time to get it done. Quite a few of the tomatoes - especially the Romas, as they were sitting on or near the ground - had slug damage, but I'm hoping those without damage ripen OK indoors. If not, no big deal - I have probably 50 lbs. or cored and seeded tomatoes in the freezer at this point. The basil came out about a month-and-a-half ago, as it once again developed downly mildew and went downhill quickly. Incredibly frustrating...

Shallots went in about three or four weeks ago, and most have already put out shoots, so I threw some mulched leaves over them for a little insulation for the time being. I'll probably put some grass clippings on to help them overwinter. Garlic will go in over the next week. We may actually get some snow on Wednesday night (incredibly early for these parts), so I'm debating whether to put it in today or just wait until next weekend.

That'll pretty much wrap things up for this season. Next season will likely see quite a few changes, as we'll be growing things that we can eventually mush up for baby food (we're expecting in January), so it'll likely be more beans and carrots and the like, whereas I've done mostly tomatoes and peppers recently. I'll still have some of those, but I'll just focus more on the other stuff next year. Looking forward to it already!