An almost full moon

It would have been a great time for a full moon hike this month. The moon has been glorious - luminous and glowing over the last few evenings.

Tomorrow night, it's full. Temperatures are moderate now, but they could have just as easily been overly cool and chilly. And the nocturnal symphony is largely quiet now, too, making evening hikes not quite as rich.

 

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Final evening sounds

Coming home from the grocery store this evening, I heard some of the final evening songs of fall -- whether they're crickets or tree frogs, I'm not sure. 

We had a good freeze on Saturday night, so I was surprised to hear them, although the warm temperatures before (and after) have buffered the dip in temperature.

The moon is already luminous in the evening, even though not full until Thursday.  It was low in the sky, so visible -- it would have been a great time to schedule a full moon hike, but who knew it would be so mild?

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late November vegetables

November greens have been a high point of an otherwise quiet gardening period, distracted by dog-sitting and coursework.

The Hakurei turnips continue to amaze me. Even unthinned, they've been remarkably productive (and tasty!)

Without a hard frost, the arugula has continued to flourish -- it's remarkably tasty as a cooked green, which tones down the heat-induced bite of the raw leaves, especially the larger ones.

I've been waiting to harvest much of the kale, since it's one of the cold-hardiest greens, and supposedly tastes better, too, after being subjected to cold weather. 

But probably equally important, it's also really attractive next to the parsley, leeks, and chard!

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Thanksgiving harvest



"Nantes half " and "cosmic purple" carrots



Happy Thanksgiving!

We're headed down to south Florida to celebrate the holiday with my daughter and her husband. My contributions to dinner come from the garden.

I planted most of these veggies on Labor Day and wrote about in this post: Fall Edibles. I'd planted two types of carrots, "nantes half" and cosmic purple." The purple carrots have matured faster than the orange ones. They both taste great because they are so fresh, but the purple ones flavor is more complex--my husband called the flavor "darker."

The whole harvest

The Total Harvest

The two types of carrots; "lollo rosso" red leaf lettuce; sugar snap peas; several sprigs of blooming basil; three sprigs of Greek oregano; and not shown, several birdhouse gourds. (See below.)

I removed the tops of the carrots and pre-washed them with rain barrel water. In the kitchen I washed the carrots again. I rinsed the lettuce to get rid of any sand and drained it thoroughly and then patted it dry.

Except for the gourds, everything is in sealed plastic bags in the fridge and will be transported in a cold box so the veggies all stay cool.

Garlic

I planted garlic bulbs the first week in October, as I discussed in Fall weather and planting garlic in wide rows. Now (seven weeks later), all but one of the bulbs have sprouted and a couple have double sprouts, which means that I did not separate all the individual bulbs. These will grow through the winter and will require no particular attention except for irrigation if the weather is really dry for more than a few weeks.

Fall tomatoes

Fall tomatoes

I have yet to harvest a good fall tomato crop.  I'm trying again this year; I bought three "solar heat" plants from Home Depot in August. One plant died, but the other two have grown okay. As of now we've only had a couple of tomatoes. The days are short and the weather has been cool, so I'm not holding my breath for oodles of tomatoes. But our first killing frost comes sometime in mid to late December, the plants are still blooming, and green tomatoes are hanging from the vines, so maybe it will warm up enough so we can have a bunch of vine-ripened tomatoes for Christmas.

Gardeners are always optimistic, but my husband laughingly calls these the $64 tomatoes--a slight exaggeration.

Two low hanging gourds are suspended from a pokeweed stalk.

The continuation of the birdhouse gourd adventure

Back in July I first wrote about my birdhouse gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) in this post: The birdhouse gourd adventure and then provided an update here: An early morning garden tour.

Now as promised, here's an update at the end of the season. My gourds have done very well as you can see in the harvest photo below. Plus there are still at least six gourds hanging too high in the trees to pull down easily. I guess they'll fall as their vines rot away or if I get ambitious enough to haul a ladder out there to pull them down.

So now I have all these gourds. I guess I'll see if I can create a birdhouse or three.  Maybe I'll even try to cook a couple to see if they are worth the effort. I would bet that at least the seeds would be worthwhile.

Got gourds?

How has your fall garden grown?

I wish you and yours a bountiful Thanksgiving!

Green Gardening Matters,

Ginny Stibolt

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Ginkgo fall colors

a luminous ginkgo

From my study window, the ginkgo under the power line corridor is amazing right now -- both from the study and our bedroom.  We planted it almost 20 years ago, so it's tall now.  And beautiful this year.

view from my study

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Sustainable Gardening Program on Sat. 11/17

I'll be giving a presentation on Sustainable Gardening on Saturday 11/17 at the Lyonia Environmental Center. 2150 Eustace Ave., Deltona, FL 32725 in Volusia County. My co-presenter Jim McCuen will speak after my talk with more specifics on the best native plants for your landscape.

Go to the Lyonia Envirnmental Center website for directions and more information on other activities and resources that are available there. While the program is free, registration is requested and can be made by calling:
(386) 789-7207 ext. 253

I hope to see you there!

Green Gardening Matters,

Ginny Stibolt

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Hakurei turnips

LW harvesting turnips

I've been ridiculously pleased with the turnips in my raised beds in the mountains.

I'm not sure exactly when I sowed the seeds (my search for blog posts about turnips resulted in this array of disparate thoughts about turnips and other greens), but it was sometime in late summer.

There were at least five (maybe six) weeks that I didn't get back to the mountains at all this fall, between traveling and tending to Woody.

But I've been recently harvesting turnips, for sure.  Amazing.  I didn't do anything for almost six weeks and have harvested huge amounts of Hakurei turnips (Japanese white turnips) and their greens.

Here was a (final) small bunch harvested today from one of the beds (I transplanted Tuscan kale into all of empty spots and am hoping for rain overnight and tomorrow to keep the plants well-hydrated!)  And I still have another block of turnips to harvest, too.  Not thinned, so the turnip roots are modestly-sized, but the tops are lovely.

Turnips are ridiculously easy to grow

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Green Gardening Matters!

Last month the Blog Action Day theme was "The Power of We." I wrote an article for the Florida Native Plant Society, which was published on the October 15th that talks about how much can be accomplished when members of a group like FNPS works together and with other groups.

"It's easy to see how the Florida Native Plant Society and the combined actions of its 37 chapters - 4,000 members in all - fit within the context of this year's Blog Action Day topic, "The Power of We." Here is a sampling of some of the activities we've engaged in - as a group - for the purpose of conserving and/or restoring Florida's native plant communities and the wildlife that depend upon them."

Continue reading my post with ten action items that show what can be accomplished in a year...

Alone we are small, but together we are mighty

Carole Browne created a group blog Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens, of which I am proud to be a member. Her post for blog action day tells a touching and powerful story of what a dedicated group of people can accomplish.

Read her post here.

To sum up this post: Green Gardening Matters

Positive actions that each of us accomplishes adds up to a much greater whole.  So keep up the good works. Mother Nature appreciates it.

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Fall's ebb and flow

It was cooler today, and with the time change, it's now dark earlier in the evening.

Happily, in late afternoon, light streams into the living room and dining room, as the sun is lower in the sky as fall progresses, so it was lovely to spend time there late today. 

My study is in shadow by then, as is the kitchen, so it's a joy to be experiencing the light out front, being surrounded by the woodland garden and forest.

view from the side gate

I love the view from our front rooms and porch every year in fall and winter, as the light illuminates the rooms.

Here's a post from 2009 and another along the same lines.

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Fall greens and peppers

I'd figured that the vegetables in the mountain beds would have been frosted by now (it was supposedly below freezing last week). But an unexpected weekend found flourishing greens (unconsumed by woodchucks or other herbivores) and a final crop of ripe peppers, most 'Pizza' - a favorite thick-walled pepper and a few sweet frying peppers, along with some ripe 'Big Jim.'

Amazingly, the peppers hadn't been affected much by frost, but I went ahead and pulled up the plants, not knowing when frost might hit. Vegetables in the front garden are pretty darn visible in an urban environment!

I was delighted to see robust beds of Japanese turnips, producing heavily in spite of not being thinned. Yum. Delicious at lunch today. Fresh sweet turnips, especially these thin-skinned ones, along with their mild greens are an unexpected treat. Deer selectively ate their way through turnips, broccoli, collards, French sorrel (!), spinach, and lettuce in the Piedmont (roughly in that order), so I was really happy to see the abundance in the mountains. Lots of red chard, beet greens, and arugula are flourishing as well.

Herbivore note: in my experience (so far), woodchucks and deer are not interested in garlic, leeks, peppers, onions or potatoes. In previous years, woodchucks have eaten cilantro and arugula first, then moved on to other greens. We've only had deer 'issues' in the last couple of years, as their populations have built up in the Piedmont (and we live in town). This year, in their drop-by and sporadic visits, they've ignored both arugula and cilantro, bypassing them for French sorrel, which is remarkably tart. They seem to enjoy sorrel, though, as they're coming up right next to the house to enjoy it in the main vegetable garden bed outside the kitchen door.

A flourishing bed of greens and herbs

 

ripe 'Pizza' peppers

 

Japanese turnips

 

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Interpretation, gardening, and programs

In my trajectory as a garden educator, interpreter, and teacher, I've found a couple of basic truths. (I had a lovely experience this morning doing a program for 20 graduating Master Naturalists).

It's not about the information, rather it's about connection.

It's about engagement, not content.

It's not about what you know, but how you teach.

And taking advantage of teachable moments, where ever they happen is key.

We saw a Cooper's Hawk today in our morning walk, probably attracted by migrants coming through the Garden. I certainly hadn't seen one in the Garden before.  It first sat on a fence rail above the Duck Pond and then swooped below one of the ginkgoes up the slope, trying to nab something beneath a Salvia clump.

We couldn't see if the hawk was successful, but s/he then perched on top of a nearby sign for awhile.

A teachable moment, for sure.  I wouldn't have known that it was a Cooper's Hawk, but a naturalist from a local state park was part of our group (he's one of the regular teachers).

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