November's Garden (2021)

 

I have fourteen. 

Fourteen hoop houses. Last year I had ten. I don't know how that happened. Every time I heard a news report about the price of food rising, I planted a few more seeds. 

 

I ran out of row cover fabric and began stitching old pieces together but it wasn't enough. With freezing weather fast approaching, I purchased two of these covers from Amazon. 

The original plan was to cut them in half and cover four hoop houses individually. But instead, I left them whole after seeing how thin they are. 

We didn't even trim the length of the second cover, just rolled it under on the end because they were beginning to rip. It is doubtful if they will last more than one year.

They also hold moisture underneath and on the top which I fear may cause disease. The other houses dry quickly.  It may work out fine but as of now, I am not recommending this product.

As for the plants, the garden is a sea of green.  

It looks like too much food but winter gardens are much different than summer gardens.  They do all of their growing in the fall, and then go dormant through the winter.  

The horse manure has made a big difference in the health of everything so they are larger than ever.

The radishes under the fence row that were planted between the corn roots are getting quite large. A few winter celtuce were also squeezed in the few bare spots. They were from saved seeds from Green Mountain Winter Celtuce plants that made it through my winter a few years ago. They were always out in the open so this row won't be covered. The radishes won't make it to the end of winter no matter what I do.

Every year I purchase something new in addition to saved seeds. The new Pusa Guiabi Radish is going to be a keeper. The leaves are better than other varieties, more leaf, less stem, and could be used in fresh salads when small.

This row needed harvesting because what I thought were Sui Choy Napa Cabbages began bolting. Either the seed company or I got them swapped. They are in the middle of this row and are so tall the leaves are pushing up on the roof of the hoop house. They have started overshadowing the Golden Beauty Chinese Cabbages on the edges. Both varieties are new to me. 

Whatever the new plants are, we liked their flavor anyway (stirfried with onion, butternut squash, and leftover Thanksgiving turkey). Two were harvested and this is the big gap left in the row.  The mixup doesn't bother me - it just adds to the excitement of trying new things.

The Golden Beauty Cabbage looks exactly like the picture in the seed catalog so no problems there. None have been picked yet.

This is the row shown last month when I harvested the mature Tokinashi and Hida Beni Japanese turnips to make room for the Thousand Head Kale. The smaller turnip seedlings were left to continue growing but some began splitting. I don't know if they are winter hardy so all were harvested.  

Thousand Head Kale is supposed to get massive. The plan was to harvest the turnips so the kale could slowly grow over the winter and when it warms in the spring, remove the covers and let them expand.  However, they look spindly.  This bed did not receive much manure last year because perennial onions were in this spot. The soil is still like a rock which is how my whole garden used to be.  Manure will be spread under the mulch this winter and hopefully, it will make a difference before spring.

This is the bed I was excited about last month because it has assorted broccoli with Landis Winter Lettuce underneath.  The middle section has only lettuce and the back has Cascade Glaze Collards.  The broccoli leaves have grown so thick that the lettuce underneath is in the shade.  Some of the leaves have been harvested, (boiled in beef broth and the stems shredded into broccoli coleslaw) and in the process, something horrible was revealed.

A massive fire ant colony has built a huge mound and it is covering the lettuce.  I didn't even know it was there until I removed some of the broccoli leaves.  It is frustrating to constantly fight them. My experiments using different nontoxic home remedies are continuing.

The garden and I are ready for winter. All that is needed is to raise the edge of one cover, harvest enough for a few days, and then return to the warm house.  It has been worth all the work. Now I can rest for a while.  When I look out of the window after hearing the worsening news reports, I feel much safer. We have plenty of food growing.

Last Month's October Garden (2021)

Last Year's November Garden (2020)

Through the Garden Gate

Romeo the Stud Appears After a Storm

After a particularly violent night of rainstorms, I looked out my window to check the horses and noticed an extra one in our field.  He was a miniature stud from our neighbor's adjoining property and seemed quite enamored with the ladies in the herd.

Hey, good-looking. Wink. Wink.

The ladies, on the other hand, were not impressed to see him. They knew he would come up short.

Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!

Romeo was not discouraged by their lack of attention but eagerly strutted his stuff. Into the woods he trotted, chasing the ladies and demanding their admiration.

Out of the trees they flew, around and around the field in circles with starry-eyed Romeo in hot pursuit.  

He chased the ladies until all were exhausted.

Pant, pant, pant.

And then redoubled his efforts at courtship. 

 Oh darn. Here we go again.

Sigh

When a romantic Romeo got too amorous, the ladies would reply with a resounding rebuff.  No matter how often he was kicked upside the head, it didn't faze him.  His overzealous passion remained steady.

Our horse trainer called Romeo's owner and insisted he take him home. We discovered in the conversation that the only person able to catch Romeo was his grandson who had raised him from birth. He spoke the truth. No one else could get close.

Romeo's cellmate, Don the Dashing Donkey, observed the theatrics with delight from the adjoining pasture.

"I says to Romeo, don't go a breakin' out.  She ain't worth the trouble." scolded Don.  "Nope. She's a hee-haw heartbreaker. Stay away from that snobby filly.  I sees trouble."

The grandson was in school plus working full-time and had trouble getting away. When he finally arrived, Romeo calmly walked up, nuzzled his hand, and asked for the lead rope.

 I haven't been naughty.

They agreed to pose for pictures before the long evening of fence-mending began.  Romeo had caused quite a bit of damage.

Romeo is now back in jail.  He longingly watches the ladies from afar, neighs their names occasionally and they continue to ignore him. Life is back to normal.

Additional horse stories

In Search of a Bale of Hay

Hungry, Hungry, Hungry Horses

October's Garden (2021)

October has been a busy month and I am exhausted.  The early killing frosts did not arrive, for which I am thankful so we have been able to harvest all of the summer crops. The sweet potatoes planted in the discarded empty horse grain buckets were dug a week ago.  Cool nights have caused the leaves to change colors although those still in the ground did not turn. 

Bill dug the sweet potatoes while Dustin started putting up the hoop houses.  

The total harvested weight for all four pots was fourteen pounds.  The spent soil was dumped on the top of the compost pile to help with decomposition.  

More sweet potatoes were planted beside the corral fence and beneath vining green beans.  The combination worked great. It was a good use of empty space below the fence plus the potatoes kept the weeds under control.  Being shaded by the beans didn't bother the potatoes since some of them climbed the fence and got more sunlight.  Both die at the first frost so harvesting at the same time worked perfectly.

Today we picked the last of the beans and Scooter helped us dig the potatoes, hence the dirt on his nose and chin. 

The potatoes in the soil produced 23 pounds and were quite a bit bigger than those in the pots.  However, the ones in the pots were much easier to dig. The difference is probably the better soil as opposed to being grown in only manure and sawdust.  I will try this again next year but will put good soil and fertilizer into the pots.  That will be a more equal test.

As of now, the winter garden is planted but the hoop houses aren't all up.  The potato-then-squash-now-cabbage patch was the last to be planted due to the fire ants.  I harvested the squash early so I could stir the ant mounds to try and run them off.  One mound did move to the pepper patch, which wasn't an improvement but the other two stayed. I'm doing experiments with non-toxic home remedies to see if anything will get rid of them.

In the first section beside the yard, all of the basil and peppers have been harvested. Later, I will share the results when all have been processed. (That is code for - they are still sitting in piles on my kitchen floor.)  We have asked for more trailer loads of horse manure since the horse trainer has 30 horses at his barn. He is very willing to share.  It will be piled in this area before being spread on the rest of the garden. I learned my lesson this year. Plenty of time must be allowed so it can decompose before being used in the garden.  I have pushed my soil hard this season and it needs to be heavily amended if I want these abundant harvests to continue.

These two rows were the tomatoes this summer and now they hold a mixture of transplants from other areas.  Anything without a home was stuck here - no labels, no plans just giving seedlings a chance to live. 

This next row previously held the early corn and the aggressive squash that spread down the fence.  Below the fence, a mixture of winter radish seeds were dropped between the corn roots after the stalks were chopped down.  Most are almost decomposed now so the radishes have room to spread.  They will be harvested by February.  

The row to the left of the fence but on the right side of this picture held the late corn that the mystery midnight monster devoured.  Seeds from the bag of saved assorted unknowns were broadcast between the corn roots. The varieties that sprout seem to be changing year to year according to what has cross-pollinated. All is good. I love surprises. The row below on the left was the melon patch. The celery planted in the early spring survived the spreading vines and is thriving.

Below, the row on the right held the purple hull peas. The row on the left received transplants later because I gave the Dixie Butter Peas as long as possible to mature - they didn't make it.  

The very last row on the left was planted last because I was waiting on the green beans in this spot to produce as much as possible. I thought they were a bush variety but ended up being a vining type.  It was a big tangled mess but at least there was a decent harvest. The transplants are still small but everything else was this size a few weeks ago.  It is amazing how fast these winter varieties grow.

The corral fence in the back toward the woods that held the late tomatoes is pitiful. They produce a spindly tomato every few days.  Better something than nothing.

This row in the back is one I'm excited about. It is the same mix of different varieties of broccoli that were planted in the spring. We didn't get much because the heat got to them.  It will be interesting to see if any do better now. Underneath is Landis Winter Lettuce which is supposed to spread up to twelve inches across and be hardy enough to live through my cold weather.

This is an example of the way I transitioned from summer to winter vegetables. This bed holds white Tokinashi and red Hida Beni Japanese turnips. They both grow from seed to maturity in 40 - 50 days and work perfectly in empty spots.  

They have a mild turnip flavor. The largest ones were picked to be cooked in a beef stew and the leaves were used in southern turnip greens. 

A week later, the rest of the leaves were harvested for meals, weeds were removed and seedlings were transplanted into the empty spots.  The smaller bulbs were left to mature and should be large enough soon.  They are seeds I have saved so it seems their colors have crossed. Whatever.

The back of the garden is going to lie fallow this winter.  We plan on piling more of the horse manure here.

The magnificent but unproductive Lima beans look beautiful.  Too bad they were put out too late to do anything. It has not been a good year for beans. I haven't gotten enough to save for winter. Lesson learned.  If I can't get them out early enough, plant something else.

The bitter melon is still alive even though we have had about six nights where the temperature dropped down to the mid-'40s.  

The Python Snake Bean is also still alive but its leaves have begun to turn colors.  All of the smaller beans have been picked and either eaten fresh in salads or frozen for later use. When the long beans touch the ground, they rot so I had to tie them up.  Looks crazy.  I have left some on the vine to see how frost affects them and then I will share all I have learned.

Reese gave me some cannas a few years ago and they are planted in the flower bed out front. Some way, a seed mysteriously migrated to the potato patch, sprouted, and was missed being weeded after we bolted from being attacked by fire ants.  It has bloomed this week. I have missed working in my flowers this year but the food has taken precedence. Finding nutritious food that has not been shipped a thousand miles, sprayed with toxic chemicals, stuffed with fillers, GMO altered, and void of any vitamins is difficult. Lately, the fresh foods for sale in my local stores are beginning to look anemic. My vegetable garden has become a necessity, not my hobby.

I have learned much this year planting new vegetables, trying different varieties, and experimenting with alternative growing methods.  Failing has not been a problem since my local stores are still mostly stocked. However, prices are rising quickly in my area and the empty spots on the store shelves are expanding. The supply chain continues to break apart and it doesn't look good.  We are having difficulty locating many of the products we need. Perhaps it is because we are out in the country and at the end of the supply line that everything is looking worrisome. Maybe this storm will blow over and life will return to normal - but what if doesn't?  What if the worst is yet to come? I sense we have a difficult time ahead.  America is falling apart.  I can't do much to stop the trainwreck but at least I can feed my family and help some friends - that is my priority.

"And I heard a voice from among the four living beings say, "A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day's pay. And don't waste the oil and wine." Revelation 6:6, NLT.

Last Month's September Garden (2021)

Last Year's October Garden (2020)

Through the Garden Gate