Thursday, September 17, 2015

Around the Garden


Buckwheat cover crop in full bloom

Buckwheat cover crop cut back and worked into the soil

















As we near the end of summer you would think the garden would be slowing down, but not this one. Things are still growing, and we are still harvesting daily. The harvests are a little smaller than they were a month ago, and for the most part, our harvests are for our daily meals, with the exception of tomatoes, which are rolling in by the basketful every few days. We are soaking up the goodness of all this food we grew, and enjoying every tasty bite.

The buckwheat cover crop was beautiful at its peak, and attracted many bees and butterflies before I cut it back. Every day I spend a few minutes working the crop into the soil, getting it ready for spring. This bed will be covered in leaves as soon as enough have fallen from the trees, and then I will cover it with a row cover and plastic for the winter. In late winter/early spring it will be the first bed planted with early greens, beets, carrots, and a few other things.

Our winter tunnels are up, and the winter garden is growing well. This stretch of tunnels is actually two separate tunnels. Justin is planning to hinge them on one side so I can just swing them up to harvest. In one tunnel I have planted bush beans, Swiss chard, and kale. The other tunnel has beets and carrots. There is still a bit of room in the second tunnel, thinking I might toss in a bit more spinach, and kale. I didn't snap a photo of the cold frame, it is growing well with salad greens and spinach.

Did you see those sunflowers? The tallest one has topped out at just over fourteen feet! It makes me happy to walk out there and see the sunflowers. They are beautiful.

The back garden is still producing quite a bit of food...strawberries, beans, Swiss chard, tomatoes, and carrots. One bed is empty at the moment, and is being prepared for garlic, which will go in the ground in about a month. This is the first year I will plant garlic from my own harvest, and that has me pretty excited.

Every morning, just before the sun rises, I head out to let the chickens out. I hang out with them for a bit, and then head over to the raspberry bushes to pick raspberries for breakfast, then I stroll over to the strawberry bed, and if any are ripe, pick a few strawberries. There is often a stop for Swiss chard, and then I head back inside to prepare breakfast. It's a simple walk through the garden, but it is so filling on so many levels, and I enjoy it so much.

I began harvesting the dry beans this week, and will continue to do that over the next few weeks. There is still a lot on the vines to dry, and I look forward to a few winter soups and stews with the beans we grew and harvested from the garden.

Reece was super excited to harvest our first squash yesterday. He has been eyeing it since it started growing, and has been checking in on it almost daily to see if it was ready to harvest. You should have seen his face when I told him he could harvest it yesterday...priceless. He has now put his name on a few others, and keeps asking when he can harvest those ones.

I am more than pleased with our garden this summer. It has produced more than any other season so far, and we are moving into autumn and winter with a pantry that is overflowing and a freezer that is at capacity. It feels good, growing the food that nourishes us, and it feels even better knowing we are getting very close to eating from the backyard year round. It's a good place to be, and makes me happy just thinking about it.

How are things around your garden?

34 comments:

  1. Your harvest sounds amazing! I would do well not to compare as I am so much further North than you! We are getting a trickle of veg not as good as previous years but some things have done really well. My onions are the biggest they have ever been and I have red tomatoes for the first time in seven years despite the cold and lack of sun - I am under no illusion that gardening is ever easy :).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, it feels pretty good bringing it all in :) No comparisons, please, we are all at different stages in this gardening thing, and some seasons are better than others.

      I find every year there are things that do well, and then things that don't. So many factors come into play, and we just have to roll with it.

      Never easy, but so worth it :)

      Delete
  2. It looks so good still, you wouldn't think we're into Autumn now. The girls and I are so impressed with your sunflower, amazing! And I'm very interested in your buckwheat, does it make a big difference to the soil? And is the rest of your plan for that bed all about keeping it weed free so it's all ready to go straight away in the Spring? And how quickly do the leaves tend to rot down? Do you have to remove them come Spring or dig them in? Sorry, lots of questions! It's just we've never been in as good a state with our veggie patch as we are this year, so these kind of finer detail points have never been of interest before, previously we've just still been about trying to reduce the jungle factor a little bit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sally! We are pretty impressed with the sunflowers too. I will definitely be saving seeds for next year.

      Yes, the buckwheat is a cover crop, also called a green manure. While it grows it helps crowd out weeds, and once you cut it back and work it in, it feeds the soil, replenishing nutrients and feeding all of the good bugs that live in the soil.

      Yes, the leaves help keep the weeds down, and when they breakdown, they also provide nutrition for the soil.

      When left uncovered, and unprotected from the elements, the leaves break down pretty quickly, and I work them into the soil in the spring. The leaves under the tunnel won't breakdown as quickly, so I will just move them out of the way, plant seeds, and once they sprout move the leaves back to act as a mulch until they break down.

      I love all the questions, keep them coming. Happy to hear you are in a good place with your garden this year. Enjoy the harvest!

      xo

      Delete
  3. Your garden is fantastic! I don't get enough ... I just love the variety of beans ! Really beautiful

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! The beans are awesome, I can't wait to enjoy them this winter :)

      Delete
  4. Your garden has been amazingly productive!! Those sunflowers are huge, I have never seen them get so tall!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It has been a really great year. So very grateful for all it has produced for us. Those are the biggest sunflowers we have ever had...we love them!

      Delete
  5. Behold the beauty and abundance of your garden. I wish this was me...I couldn't keep up with everything this summer- sadly the garden was one of the things I had to let go of. You are such an inspiration Kim, you make it look so easy- thank you for sharing ( there is always next year)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thanks my friend. And yes, there is always next year.

      Delete
  6. Wow! That garden of yours looks amazing Kim! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those tomatoes looks so tasty Kim, that is the one item I can't grow in the fall and am missing them already.
    That is an impressive butternut squash and I can just imagine Reece's face!
    My garden is a big zero! I think I will be working in the green house and growing food there as the weather is just not going to cooperate with me this season.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are so sweet Tracey, we are eating them with every meal, and roasting trays of them to store away in the freezer for the winter. So good!

      It is a big one, and the others on the vines are just as big. It has been a good squash year around here.

      Oh no, that it too bad. But at least you have a green house :)

      Delete
  8. The buckwheat flowers are really pretty! I don't think I've ever seen those before. I love the look of all your produce. I can just imagine how excited Reece is to be helping with the harvest, knowing that the food he eats came from his own family's garden.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are, and so very delicate. Thank you Jennifer, we are pretty happy about our harvest this year, and yes, Reece's favourite part, besides eating the food we grow, it harvesting it :)

      Delete
  9. you know we didn't plant anything this summer (sadly) but I'm happy to report that the volunteer tomato plants are producing! I've been walking by and picking cherry tomatoes and it just makes me smile that no effort was done :) Nature is so good to us!! I am going to plant sunflowers next year, I love yours!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay for volunteer tomato plants...lucky you :)

      I will be collecting seeds from those sunflowers, I will make sure a little packet gets sent your way.

      Delete
  10. Your garden is maturing so beautifully. To be able to pick breakfast fresh from your own back yard is so rewarding. We definitely don't get enough sun around these parts our sunflowers are lucky to reach 5 foot :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Suzy. Eating meals from the backyard is so very rewarding, and it fills me with so much joy to be able to provide for my family this way.

      Delete
  11. So many beautiful pictures of this paradise garden! Such a inspiration for my future one....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sandra. I can't wait to watch your new garden grow.

      Delete
  12. Love those sunflowers, so tall and pretty. That squash is HUGE!
    I know you love harvesting and being able to enjoy the hard work you put in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Darcel, those sunflowers are making us smile big every day. Yes, it is a big one, and there are quite a few more that size. It has been a good squash year around here.

      Delete
  13. Your garden is beautiful! I love hearing that you can almost feed yourselves from it year round - what an amazing feeling that must be! I love going out in the garden in the morning too. :) Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Carlin! It is truly amazing, and feels so darn good.

      We had a great weekend, hope you and your gang did too! xo

      Delete
  14. How much does that butternut squash weigh!! Tell me more about your tunnel covers. I need to get some of those. I think it will help so much next year with the squash bugs. That and for the kale.

    It all looks so lovely my friend! Happy Weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure, we don't weigh, just eat :)

      They are a lightweight fabric that covers your crops. This one has frost protection, but the ones I use over the summer don't. They allow both sunlight and water through, and protect the plants. For the fall/winter garden I want frost protection, in the spring garden they help with germination, and also frost protection in case we get a late frost, and in the summer garden they are great for keeping pests away. Worth the investment.

      Thank you.

      Delete
  15. A beautiful and bountiful garden. Much of our garden went astray this year. I missed working out in it and the connection to both the earth and my mother's spirit. All we have left this year are three rosy apples that are getting ready to pick. Panda will have the honor of harvesting all three and I can't wait to crunch into one. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I can imagine how much you missed the garden this summer. Just think how wonderful it will be to get out there next summer, with Panda and the new little one...all those hands in the dirt, gosh you guys will have so much fun.

      Enjoy those apples my friend. xo

      Delete
  16. Haha! Your tallest sunflower has beaten ours by a foot. :-) Isn't it wonderful?
    Your gardens are looking wonderful. That butternut squash is insane. Eat a few bites of soup when you make some. We have been harvesting left and right. As I'm typing this, we have another 7 lbs of tomatoes roasting in the oven. That put our tomato harvest this year at almost 70 lbs. And we are still filled with tomatoes in the garden. Unfortunately though, nights are dropping fast (6'C yesterday, 5'C tonight and down to 2'C by the week-end) so I think we will be uprooting the tomatoes and peppers in the next few days and hanging them in the garage to ripen. But all our cold weather crops are thriving. I couldn't be more thrilled with the season we had.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is wonderful, and we are really enjoying those sunflowers. Thank you, we are so pleased with our gardens this year, and are looking forward to the fall/winter season, and planning for next year. It is huge, we are going to cook it up this week, most likely a big pot of soup.

      Yay for tomatoes, we are still harvesting baskets every second or third day, and roasting them. I won't pull ours yet, the nights are cool, but our days are still full of heat and sunshine, perfect to get them all sweetened up.

      Glad you are pleased with your growing season, it seems it has been a good year for many homesteaders this year.

      Delete