Fall Cleanup–In Stages

I have a lot of work to do in the garden. We had a hard frost on Friday and I did not go beforehand to get the last of the peppers and tomatoes. Ah well. I did get in there yesterday and pull the last of the zinnia skeletons and the Jerusalem artichokes, not to mention the frosted pepper plants, tomatoes, eggplant, et cetera…So it looks like this now… very end of season.

Next step: a good weeding and dig.

It’s going to take several weekends to weed, lay down some composted manure and leaf compost in my garden and the small Plot Against Hunger garden, then go after the zinnia skeletons outside the fence. I am still recovering from an evil virus that had me sick most of October, so can’t go at the cleanup for four or six hours at a time the way I normally would.

Some mustards, arugula and frisee survived the freeze.

After things are cleaned up and composted, I’ll set out my cold frame and plant some lettuces in it. I may also plant some beets under the accelerator, but we’ll see how ambitious I am for winter gardening. Right now, I’m feeling as though next spring might be perfect.

The accelerator last year at this time–I was a little farther ahead!

I do still have some turnips in the garden that I’ll be harvesting, but they should not look like this. I will be seeking out a new seed supplier next spring because I keep getting the wrong thing in the seeds of the supplier I used. Once a daikon radish in amongst the French Breakfast radishes; once Kentucky wonders in a Blue Lake pole bean package.

Mystery veggies or mutants? They are NOT purple top turnips.

In the meantime, I’m paying more attention to my three indoor plants. I had to apologize to the African violet on Friday for not raising the blinds earlier. The other plants (and if anyone knows what they are, do tell–there is a story behind them) don’t mind low light, so I merely promised them water soon.

Have a good week folks!!!