This week we had a final garden work day to do a little left-over clean up. We cleared the large outside AFAC plot that the County is going to take over and maintain. This involved moving the asparagus I planted going on two springs ago. The small AFAC plot will now be an asparagus bed. Elizabeth and Jonathan dug up the plants, Bonnie finished prepping the small bed, I replanted all the crowns, and Betsy came along and covered it all with a nice layer of compost. Whew!
Yes, I know this looks pretty much like a small bed of dirt. But it will supply lots of luscious asparagus!
Mike took some of the rabbit barriers out of the larger AFAC garden so it would look neat, and I weeded in there a bit. It still has turnips, broccoli and cauliflower to be harvested for the Plot Against Hunger. I’m not sure about the kale.
Cauliflower and kale in the background, turnips foreground. All the carrots are gone!
All the help made it possible for me to get to my own garden and finish putting it to bed.
I’ve covered the arugula hoping it can last a while…
Last week I mentioned that I had put the cold frame in the garden. Doesn’t it look like it leads a life of its own?
It’s snugging in between the peas and the radishes…
The lettuce is thriving in there.
I still have peas, radishes, cauliflower, broccoli, broccoli raab, parsley, arugula, and of course lettuces as well as herbs.
My broccoli isn’t as far along as that in the AFAC garden, but it’s coming…
We’ll see how it goes as the weather changes.
Hoses ready to be put away for winter.
I hope you have a lovely week!
There’s still a lot to harvest it seems Lisa – just a bit further north it’s snowing and you still have garden fresh veges to harvest. That’s pretty good I think. Down here it’s still mostly grey and wettish, though moderately warmer than it was a couple of months ago. I have an awful feeling nothing much will happen in my ‘garden’ again this summer.
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You can always go for some pot tomatoes. Even a little bit helps–and you could have a cheery patio. But it all depends on how you feel about getting at it. Sometimes the weather discourages and it isn’t warm enough and you get out of the mood for it. I hope you do get a better summer this year than last. How much gloominess can a country take?
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Fall cleanup just in time to put your feet up for the holidays. 🙂
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Absolutely! My thoughts exactly.
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Don’t think so much of it as “putting things away for winter” but as “getting things ready for next spring”!!
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Yes. I’ve found that really good weeding and feeding in fall makes things easier in the spring!
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You still have so much growing. That lettuce looks fantastic. Snow here in central Maine, and I think it will be here until spring.
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Oof, I just could not live any farther north than I do…I’m looking forward to the lettuce and more arugula. My hopes are not too large for the broccoli and cauliflower, though.
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We all have places that are right for us. This Mainer could not live any farther south than New York, and even that seems a little too far south. 😉 We jokingly call New Hampshire the banana belt.
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Oh, that’s so funny, Laurie. I guess we do gravitate to our special zones.
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And all zones have something worth noticing, if we take the time to look.
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An impressive tidy up; and array of hoses.
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Thanks, derrick. The hoses have to cover a lot of territory.
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you seem to work very well as a team. It does not look like it is going to sleep for the winter.
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Well, it’s tucked in, ready for the bedtime story…
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🙂
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Your garden looks wonderful.
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Thank you! I had just finished cleaning it all up so I was joking with a fellow gardener that it looked good in early spring and late fall every year. I am hoping it has a good winter.
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I love the cold frame! I’m already perusing seed catalogs for next year …
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I like the cold frame, too. It’s like a protective creature of some sort. I’m getting some great lettuces!
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It is all so enviable. For another season, I will be without a garden. I might get some winter vegetables out there, but will plant them from store bought seedlings.
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Thanks, Tony. I was able to take 8 pounds of turnips and broccoli to the food assistance center today–and there is more to come as long as we don’t get ice, snow or wintry mix, which is predicted tonight. The lettuces will stay snug, though. I have some to eat this week.
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Food Assistance Centers ROK! I go to one on Thursdays to collect produce for some of the homeless who are at work during the day, as well as for some of the guys on the crew here. It is disgraceful that hard working people can not afford groceries, but it is excellent that no one goes hungry. I go late to take away the empty boxes that can not be recycled, as well as to collect some of the surplus produce. Some of it gets frozen here. I really wish I could can more of it. Because there is a solar array on the roof, no one minds how much electricity we use here. (Not many other roofs are so exposed in redwood forests.) In one of the shops, there is a functional refrigerator with a freezer that was replaced in one of the guest houses only because it is ugly.
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That is so nice that you can collect food for others from the food bank. Here, they get cards so they collect only once a week and not at multiple collection places. We did think about canning, but there were so many issues with it that we decided against. I think that the homeless are left out here, except for sandwich distribution and various centers that feed. There’s also some delivery, but it’s really good that you can pick up and distribute that way.
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That is unfortunate that they are left out there, or anywhere. The homeless here have it rather good, although there are only a few right now. Just a few miles away, the situation with the homeless in Santa Cruz in deplorable. Propaganda only makes it much worse. If I had time, I would write more about it. My other blog is very limited, and only relevant to the situation here.
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The garden looks good. I have let ours become rather scruffy over the years. Cold frames are surprisingly useful. 🙂
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Mine has given years of good service and is currently full of nice lettuce.
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You are obviously much more organised that we are. Ours has some spindly cuttings. None of them look healthy.
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Aww, geez.
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IN the garden I am mostly known for my optimism rather than skill and industry. 🙂
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Impressive cold frame indeed. And I hope the arugula continued to flourish as long as you wished!
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I’m still eating that arugula! In fact, I need to check the cold frame again, too.
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I am late in getting to this post, but I bet you still have plenty coming in from those cold frames!
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I need to check them tomorrow. Happy new year, Lavinia!
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I agree it is enviable! It looks great!
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