Ready for fall vegetables

One drawback of planting late is that my tomatoes, squash, and beans are still going strong. It continues to amaze me how disease and pest-free that they've been this summer.  No bean beetles, squash bugs, cucumber beetles, etc.

late summer beans and squash

 There's just now a bit of powdery mildew developing on a few squash leaves, but nothing disfiguring so far.  Hooray!

But, happily, the three "loser" tomatoes were all in the same bed -- a cherry tomato masquerading as a Sweet Million (NOT), a Pantano (maybe OK), and a "black cherry" that was totally not what I'd grown before.  These were all bought from a small vendor at the WNC Herb Festival, so perhaps weren't what the grower thought they were, or perhaps were OP grown out versions (at least in the "Sweet Million" case.)

So, I pulled them all up today to be able to sow some fall greens, beets, and turnips.  It's still a bit early, perhaps, but no reason not to turn over the beds (the black cherry was the only plant still producing much, and they weren't really all that tasty fresh, and I've got LOTS of tomatoes already roasted and frozen, with more to come....)

I added a tall layer of composted manure (it was Black Kow, which looked like an excellent addition for hard-working beds) and worked it in-- so I'm ready to plant!

ready to plant fall vegetables

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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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Wind, vegetables, and falling leaves

Apparently, the winds here and in the mountains of North Carolina are secondary to Hurricane Sandy.  Amazing.  There's been snow around Asheville already at high elevations, with more rain and wet snow to come.

The lows in Asheville (located in a mountain basin) are supposed to dip to 31° on Wednesday and keep those overnight lows through Friday.

Hmm, that'll take care of the pizza peppers!  I haven't been there to tend the mountain raised beds for quite awhile, because traveling and then staying home with Woody, recovering from knee surgery (no stairs for him!) has limited my mobility.

I'm thinking that we might be able to get up to the mountains this weekend, if Woody's cleared for stairs, or maybe I'll just scoot up on my own, to check on things. 

I had pulled out all of the remaining tomatoes, beans, and tomatillos in September, so happily won't face a lot of clean-up (aside from the peppers!)  Some might actually be still OK, if I process them them right away.

I'd sown lots of greens, not anticipating Woody's surgery, in late August, so may have beet, turnip, and mustard greens to harvest, depending on how hungry the woodchuck that Tim (my gardening companion) spotted on his last visit has been.  I sowed lettuce and spinach seed, too, in a bit of late season enthusiasm.  It'll be interesting to see what's doing well.

Here's a view of one of the front beds from two years ago.

October, 2010

I love how leeks will sail through (even) tough winters looking great.

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Mid-October gardening thoughts

My garden(s) at home need some attention.  We've had delicious Hakurei turnips the last few evenings, with plenty of arugula and cilantro, too, along with bright red pizza peppers, too.

But helping Woody (our sweet rescue Golden) recover post-knee surgery is a primary focus currently, returning from traveling, while Tim is finishing up fall field work for his second book.

Woody needs to be quiet as he heals (uh, that means that one of us needs to be with him, as he's so averse to being alone!)

Happily, he rested comfortably as I weeded the main vegetable garden here in the Piedmont this afternoon, and attended to the woodland wildflower patch in front of the house.

I had sowed all sorts of greens in our mountain beds, thinking we'd be up there more this fall, but will need to depend on my gardening companion's harvesting, as Woody isn't supposed to do any stairs for at least 6 more weeks.  (We have three levels in our small mountain house).

Tim will be looping through at our mountain house on a long field work trip, so hopefully, he'll be  bringing back more peppers and greens....

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More planting

I'm wondering how we'll eat all these greens, if the seeds I'm sowing are productive, unless the resident woodchuck in the back woodlot creeps out!  But I have barriers that I'm planning to use, too.

I spent yesterday evening turning over the beds in the satellite garden in the Piedmont, and cleaning out the Oxalis that had colonized my containers, and sowed more lettuce, spinach, turnips, chard, and kale late this afternoon.

Maybe the edges of Isaac will water them in for me; otherwise, I'll get them nicely settled in tomorrow.

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Mystery squash, easy basil, and fall vegetables

I've been down in the Piedmont for a couple of days -- for an evening hike at the Garden with a bunch of fabulous Summer Science Research high school students and a vet check-up for Woody (his partially-torn crucial ligament is being monitored -- happily, he's improving again).

Thankfully, we've had enough periodic rain that everything looks good, even though the lakes nearby (Lake Hartwell) and the ponds at the Garden are way down.

Interestingly, there's a mystery squash in the satellite garden.

I'd pretty much given up on squash in the Piedmont because of woodchucks in the back woodlot, but perhaps they've gone elsewhere now.  This "mystery" vine (quite healthy) is producing small butternut-shaped squash that have outer markings like young tromboncino squash, and were totally delicious as part of my dinner tonight, along with some young leeks and a red 'Pizza' pepper.  Yum.

I'm planning on planting long-season fall vegetables later in the month, continuing through August.  It's SO hard to think about sowing seeds and planting when the temperatures are in the upper 90's.

Young basil in flats up in the mountains have already yielded some exceptionally- tasty pesto. I hope they'll have been well-watered in last night's thunderstorms.  It's a great way to grow basil.  I've been doing this for awhile and it's totally superior to trying to coax edible leaves out of older basil plants in the garden.

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