Life is good in the fall garden. Things are growing, we are harvesting food, and we survived our first frost. Work has been slow since I last updated you on our garden. First, there was some glorious fall weather which begged to be enjoyed, we played and hiked a lot, and then the rain came, lots of it. Between storms on the weekend, I headed out to pick the last strawberries, clean out the strawberry bed, and cover two of the front beds with leaves. The last bed, in the very front, is for garlic, which will get planted sometime next week, and then covered with straw. The back beds, no picture this week, they look the same as my last update, still need a layer of leaves. That will hopefully get done this weekend, if enough leaves have fallen.
I am so happy with the tunnels, everything is growing well, and there are no bugs. The first tunnel is lush, and we are harvesting a little bit from it each day. The second tunnel is slowing catching up to the first, and I have started to harvest just a bit from it here and there. They still need a layer of plastic for the cold winter, but for now, the row covers offer enough protection, and don't require us to be careful of temperature changes, as the plastic would.
The cold frame is working well, some slugs are enjoying my pak choi, but they seem to be leaving everything else alone. I have been hand picking them when I harvest, but truth be told, I just don't spend as much time in the garden at this time of year. As we move into this season of fall/winter gardening, our first, there is a definite difference in how we go about gardening. The energy with which I go about summer gardening has faded, the shift from our summer rhythm to our homeschool rhythm changes things, and we have begun the movement indoors to enjoy activities in the warmth and coziness of our home. All of this means the garden has moved down the priority list. And I am okay with that. I am happy to peek out the window at the tunnels, I enjoy heading out before our meals to pick food to eat, and I am still excited about the prospect of eating fresh food from the garden when snow is falling, and old man winter has arrived, but I don't have the desire to be in the garden every day, like I do in the summer. Fall/winter gardening is a new experience, one I am enjoying, but it is different.
How are things around your garden?
Kim, your tunnels look wonderful can't wait to see how it all works out over the winter but from the looks of all your work I think it will be just fine and you all will be enjoying the harvest all winter. I know you posted some where in your comments before where the tunnels came from but I can't seem to remember will you share the link again thanks! Have a great day
ReplyDeleteThanks Beth. The frame for the tunnels we made, just rebar stakes with plastic conduit piping. The rebar is hammered into the ground and the conduit piping is bent in the shape you see. Then the floating row covers are placed over top, and secured. When we are ready, the plastic will go right over top.
DeleteThe floating row covers are from Veseys. We are using the AG-19 for the winter. Here they are...http://www.veseys.com/ca/en/store/tools/indoorseed/floatingrow
Hope that helps. Hope you have a great day too!
I love how you have extended the growing season for your family :) Now could you send a frost down my way? the allergies are awful!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen, it really is wonderful to have the fresh food, and seeing Reece out there peeking in the tunnels is fun. I will get on the whole frost thing, and send it your way :)
DeleteIt all looks amazing Kim. I haven't done anything in the fall garden this year, just trying to get ready for the wedding. I am just thankful for the farm so I still have plenty of fresh vegetables coming in.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tracey. I can imagine that life is a little crazy for you right now, but all for good reason. Enjoy it :)
Deletelooks great Kim! I want to just take a bite of those strawberries!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Taryn! You can't, they are long gone :)
DeleteOh your garden looks amazing! We have been pretty warm here, and instead of going to the garden to harvest everyday, I have been sitting in the sunshine drinking coffee! There is a great deal of work to be done, and we have done some canning, but this weekend we have planned our big harvest. Looking forward to it. My husband and I consider it a date night!
ReplyDeleteThank you! That sounds like a good idea, soak up any bit of sunshine you can. Enjoy the harvesting. .Your date nights sound like ours :)
DeleteLooking good! Definitely inspiring for us next year...
ReplyDeleteMaybe your pak choi is your fall's "sacrificial veggie"? We've noticed every year that one green usually gets hit. The first few years, we tried fighting it and what would happen is that the pests would go somewhere else. Last year, it was our swiss chards... couldn't get on top of the bugs so we just stopped. Well, the bugs feasted on the chards all summer long and left the rest of the garden alone. So yeah, we ended up with no chards, but enjoyed everything else! LOL!
Thanks Yanic!
DeleteThat is exactly how I am looking at it. I have never planted it before, but Justin enjoys it, so we gave it a try. I will be happy if the slugs keep at it and leave the rest alone :)
Everything is so colorful and seems to burst with flavor and nutrients- you really have inspired me to buck up and garden again next year. Enjoy all your hard work.
ReplyDeleteThank you Camilla. Happy to inspire, can't wait to see your gardens next year. By the way, you know you inspire me with all your gorgeous knitting, right?
DeleteNice work!
ReplyDeleteThe tunnels look great! My dad and I are talking about trying them in the next few years. I would love to prolong our growing season!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathleen, I am really pleased with them. A definite must to extend the season.
Deleteyou sure keep on top of stuff... everything is looking so well tended !!!
ReplyDeletethe strawberries look yummy.
I try to :) Thank you, those strawberries were delicious.
DeleteAll this looks so grey! An extend season and garden activity seems so interesting... i sow arrugula some days ago and I'll be planting garlic soon, but here we have such a lovely autumn for the moment...
ReplyDeleteThank you! It is very interesting, and we are learning lots as we give it a go.
DeleteCan you imagine gardening all year round? We can do the here. If you didn't want to you really wouldn't have to put any food. In the middle of January with a row covers I could still have tomatoes and some people do. I do kind of wish there was more of a push to put of food for the winter. I think it would make me a more serious gardener.
ReplyDeleteWell, it is what I am trying to do, but definitely different than what you do down there. I think if I could garden all year round in spring/summer like conditions I would have a different plan of attack. So much energy and time goes into the summer garden season here because it is so short, and there is a push to grow as much as you can, and put by as much as you can. I would spread that energy out a bit, grow different things at different times and really slow down the whole process.
DeleteI have to say if the slugs are eating anything, personally I'd much rather it was pak choi rather than strawberries! Our weather has got a lot more iffy this last week too, I'm really missing being outside so much :(
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes, me too! It has been rainy and chilly here all week, I am really hoping they are right when they say the sun is going to shine tomorrow, we could use a day of sunshine. Fingers crossed you get some too.
DeleteYum! Your fall garden is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteEverything is still so green and lush in your garden!! Lovely!! Ours is browning and browning. We've felt guilty watering so much since the cap on water was placed on our city, so the garden beds are pretty much on their own. And they are not happy. :( oh well. I will live vicariously through you and yours!
ReplyDeleteIt is, mostly because it has been raining pretty much non stop for the last week. Wish I could send you some. Hopefully you will get some rain soon.
DeleteLive away my friend. :)
Your fall garden is looking wonderful! I love seeing others extending the season as we've been doing so the past couple of years. i'm hoping we have enough kale until the New Year! The slugs have been going crazy for our bok choi too, I've been killing them every day and they're still at it. We lost most of our fall broccoli too but alas, you can't win them all. I love the leaves nestled in your beds! We actually don't have that many on this acreage (surprising I know) so the girls and I went for a walk with a wheelbarrow to harvest some from the forest :)
ReplyDeleteHave a good rest of your week!
Thanks Isis. It will be interesting to see how long everything lasts. We have started small, so I am know we won't get through the whole winter, but even part of it would be lovely. If all goes well, we will go a little bigger next year.
DeleteNo leaves, really! We have so many. The leaves I piled on the two beds were from one tree, and it still has leaves on it to come down.
Enjoy your weekend my friend. xo