Garden Update: Fall 2023
Ok, I know many of you follow this blog for my garden updates and I am sorry it’s been so long. I did take pictures even if I was too busy to blog. We were blessed with some extra time this fall and got a rainy November and our first real snow storm didn’t hit until the day of my big holiday market and then it snowed all weekend!
October was a whirlwind of nectarine harvesting and processing which you saw here. Then came the corn harvest which is always a lot of fun! After that was the potato harvest. I love harvesting pototoes, it’s like going on a treasure hunt!
Then in November came the carrot harvest and the celery. Along with clearing the tunnels of dead plants like peppers and tomatoes. There was also the garlic planting. It took us a long time to get the garlic bed ready as that area always has to be cleared of bindweed. But I got it planted just under the wire of the cold threshold. Click here to see our garlic harvest earlier in the summer.
Celery harvesting and processing tends to be a cold activity as it requires so much washing to get out dirt and bugs and earthworms.
In November we also harvest all the dahlia bulbs and cleaned, labled and tucked them away in damp pine shavings for the winter. Harvesting dahlia bulbs is like trying to dig up a china doll. It’s quite nerve-wracking as the tubers are so delicate. They also grow in every direction possible and will snap off of the crown and become useless.
December has brought two snow storms so far. I raked up six 30 gallon bags full of leaves and shredded them for mulch and compost, along with all the corn stalks.
Most of the gardening now will be inside under grow lights. We just potted up tomato cuttings we took back in September and I am experimenting with growing calendula over the winter inside. The plants are still blooming strongly, so I have hope of getting a good crop over the winter.
In the coming weeks we’ll have our seed organzing party and plan out next year’s garden. Before we know it will be time to start some onions and kale and chard. And then the season of growing will start all over again!
