Fall Garden Clean Up Time
Why is it that this time of year has so many glories of the harvest (sunflower seeds, tomatoes for canning, sweet corn), but yet on a day like today, I work in the garden with a heavy heart? All my hard work throughout the summer seems to stop today. The start of the fall garden clean up always gets me.
But... I keep telling myself 'all good things must come to an end'.. "the sun will come out tomorrow"... yeah, all those cliques. So I do tell myself that next year's garden will be here before I know it and that keeps me going.
Sunflowers
The sunflowers have been harvested, the seeds dried and ready for seasoning. (I am preferring to ignore the experiment I did earlier and posted on steemit. It was a fail and I have blocked it from my mind).
All we have left are the stumpy stems that need to be pulled out.
As you can see there are still some herbs out there that need to be trimmed and brought in for dehydrating. But that's a chore for another day. Today is all about starting the fall garden clean up.
Almost Hot Potato Time
Still NOT quite ready for harvesting, but getting closer. I can almost taste those red beauties. I planted your basic red skinned potatoes because they are just so good. Next year I think I will be adding some Yukon Gold. I grew those a few years back and they were so 'buttery' and scrumptious!
Bye-Bye Corn, Cukes & Peppers
I pulled the corn stalks, the cucumber plants (as they stopped producing about two weeks ago) and most of my pepper plants. I left two Jalapeno plants because they still have about two dozen peppers on each plants. I foresee poppers being made soon.
You can see the two lonely Jalapeno plants in the distance
Greenhouse Is So Bare
I was looking at earlier in the season pictures of the herb greenhouse: it was so FULL of life. Seedlings growing, herbs sprouting.. it was a wondrous sight!
But now... LOOK!
I had just swept out the leaves maybe thirty minutes before this picture was taken
Gotta love how the leaves just fall.. and fall.. and fall all day long. It's a never-ending sweeping chore.
All that's left is two small Brussel sprout plants that I haven't decided what to do with as of yet. Not sure how they would survive indoors. So this week I need to make a decision.
Transplanted Mint From Outdoors To Indoors For The Winter
Two weeks ago I dug up a mint plant in my front herb garden with the hopes of it taking and adjusting to the indoors. I had wanted to have fresh mint for my herbal teas all winter long.
As you can see, it is adapting quite well. I'm going to give it another week or two before I trim some leaves off to dehydrate. Right now it appears to be to 'stem-y' and I would prefer a bushier plant. Seems as though the bushier the plant, the better the harvest in my experience.
So there you have it, the beginning of the fall garden clean up. Have you started yours yet?
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How wonderful, a fresh start for the next crop! Your potato box looks awesome! How deep is it if you don't mind me asking? I'm hoping to have a better plan for my potatoes next year and might use the cold months to build something good!
Do you do anything with your corn stalks? crafty things? I was hoping to have enough to make some husk dolls or a basket but I didn't know how to dry them properly and they rotted in the garden dew.... Just curious if you had a plan for recycling?
Thanks for sharing your day with us, I enjoy your posts so much!
I make potato boxes and raised planters during the winter as well. I have found this year I have had success with 2ftx2ft x2.5ft tall, and leaving an open bottom on them (used cardboard as a weed barrier). I got a pretty good crop halfway though the season with my one batch and will be pulling my other batch soon.
Oh thank you so much! Do you layer plant throughout the season, or just have multiple boxes? I'd be interested in seeing how you made your, if you left room or removable boards to pull taters out or if it's a box per batch? How well do they drain?
The container was gifted to me by our neighbors. Only the four sides, no bottom.
Drainage doesn't seem to be a problem, considering the downspout for gutter is right there.
I use multiple boxes (2 this year, moving to 4 next year). I do plant them on the bottom layer, then actually once the leaves are coming up, I add more mulch/compost/soil mixture (about equal parts), and allow it to grow upwards again before repeating. I will be re-making some more this winter with tutorials on how to do it (photos if @mwoodall will take them while I work). Drainage is not an issue at all, as the bottoms are open. You can have removable planks, but If you do not seal them, the wood will swell so once you remove them, you will be hard pressed to get it back on. Sealing them is key I find
yay! a build-along!! I'm down for some quality learning!!
Oh gosh I love that term! A Build-along! Now I am excited to move my wood workshop into the basement for the winter.
ha ha me too!! (she said, eager to start her own projects!!)
The depth is about 18". This is the first time potatoes have been in this box so I am so hopeful for a decent crop
I'm hopeful too! Either way, I bet your taters do much better than mine!! Did you use dirt from around your property or start with a planting soil? Just curious? sorry for all the questions!
Just started with regular potting soil. No chemicals.
On the bottom i put top soil about 10 inches. I know kinda backwards but it's all I had on hand at the time.
Hey you make do with what you got!! Thank you for the information. I'm plotting and planning now!
What a nice garden! And so productive too. Pretty jealous of your jalapenos haha none of ours germinated. Can you believe I managed to kill an established mint plant? This was a few years ago so I think it might be time to try again
I had a rough season with mint. Just couldn't get it to take at first but so far, so good.
Love the idea of bringing some inside. I am personally experimenting with that with our bell pepper plants, and have brought one inside after treating it for any crawlies that might try to make their way into my indoor plants. Another one I found that is seeming to winter well inside is any Strawberry plants. I trim the runners, and root them inside during the fall. Still deciding if want to have them in a hydroponic set up inside, or a cascading soil based one.
With the corn stalks you pulled, are you drying them? I have been wondering about drying mine and using them as a smoker chip during the winter for smoking meat for preserving. Also I am really curious, what zoning are you in?
I didn't do anything with the stalks this year. I had way too much on my plate. Maybe next year I will dry and save them for crafts or something. This was the first year I grew corn so it was an experiment for me.
Same, very much an experiment for me also. Haha, only half of my cobs developed. Not like 2 out of 4, but each cob only had 1/2 of the corn in it. This years drought did not help at all.
You know, I had a problem with that too. What is wrong with the gardening eco-system this year.
I've had problems, and heard of many others too, that the tomatoes aren't ripening... hmmm... so weird
Not sure, I know mine was mostly a water issue. Corn being such a water heavy crop, it needs to be well watered for cob development I have been told. As I mentioned we had a horrible drought in Saskatchewan this year (yet also flooding in some areas). few farms only got 1 or 2 cuts this year, and now it saddens me to see that people are having to give up some livestock because they won't have enough feed to get through the winter.
I find mint to be a hardy plant and makes for easy transplants.
@originalworks
this was my first year growing so I am pleased with the results
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You sure have been busy! I would bring every one of my plants inside for the winter if I could! Haha! I need a way to safely get electricity out to my greenhouse so I can keep growing and growing.
Thanks for the herb information!
Always busy... ain't that the truth!
You're welcome for the herb advice. I am burying myself in growing the ultimate herb garden for next year. So many BIG plans
I wish I had a bigger greenhouse, but space is limited
I plan on more herbs next year as well. I also need to learn how to properly dry and store them for when the fresh runs out, but that's another post. Haha!
Brussel sprouts do well in the fall outside. Frost actually makes the sprouts taste sweeter. I know what you mean though about closing up some of the beds. I just planted some rye to over winter on some of the beds and I'll turn that over in the spring.