Goodnight Sweetheart-

[Amishway Homesteaders]

Yes for us anyway (zone 6) it is time to start putting the garden to bed for another year.

BUT, we have had another good year and lots of things in the cellar for the winter.

 

So here is my to-do-list:

Whenever I have a few minutes (or an hour) I go out and clean out one bed -

 

Pick any vegetables that still out there and are ready to go,

 

pull the few weeds that are still there,

 

Pull any plants that are left,

 

Put away any stakes, or cages, or row markers,

 

Turn over the bed and add any compost or grass or leaves that are around.

 

This will make it a lot easier come Spring when it will be time to start Gardening for the new season.

Hate it when you are all set to go and can't find things or when you do they are all messed up because they weren't cleaned before the winter came.

 

I also go out and walk around the gardens with a pad and pencil. I write down what worked well, what didn't and anything I see that could be better or needs to be moved. This will help a lot when in the middle of winter when I start Next year’s garden layout. Yes I keep a Folder for each bed and what I did to it and how the growing season went as well as what harvest I got from each vegetable ( I LOVE paperwork). But this 'walk-a-round' gets the old brain working on how I can make the Garden better and easier to work.

Like this year (again) the Peppers just were huge and it got a bit crowded in the bed (still did get tons of peppers) but I need to put less in each row next year. I had moved the acorn squash this year into bed #4 to run around the garlic plants (seeing they would come out in June). But it went EVERYWHERE seeing it was in full sun (last 2 years was in part shade). Now we had lots of acorn squash to eat and share and can but it was shading other plants that didn't do as well because it was running amuck.

 

 

 

 

 

[Christy]

Impressive organized. And envy your energy levels

[Jori]

I was able to put pen to papper last night and plotted out what was this year's garden. And we figured out where to put the garlic, too. I have sage (the weed of choice this year) that needs to be pulled and dried but we found out after we purchased the dehydrator that it's a 20 amp so I have to figure out where we have 20 amp outlets (and thanks to our fabulous builder for one more thing that is a pain or will need to be replace on an 8 year old house ).

 

We still have tomatoes in but they are still producing a little (and I'm not 100% ready to say goodbye to summer) and leeks, not sure what we are going to do with them or why/how they made it into the garden but it all works out in the end. The blackberries need to be cut down and we need to figure out how to save the poor blueberry bushes from them.

 

I am in agreement, it has been a wonderful growning season!

 

AH~ How did you have such a great result from peppers? We are giving up because we just can't get bells to grow.

[indy gal preps]

I put Leeks in my potato soup.Yummy!

[Amishway Homesteaders]

AH~ How did you have such a great result from peppers? We are giving up because we just can't get bells to grow.

 

Water, Water, WATER!

they need lots of water in the beging and then as they grow.

another things we do is brush against the plants when they are in flower, Same as we do for tomatoes. Helps to give them big stems and pollenate. YES the wind and bees do that but I have been doing this for years and I always have good plants.

 

As for the tomato plants you have to grab the stake (or cage) and give it a 'fast' shake back and forth to get the pollen to move from one flower to another. Something to do with the way a bee's wings shake the plant. Then the plant knows NOW is the time to pollenate? We also do this to all the plants in the greenhouse because some days there is no breeze in there.

 

Peppers we just do that way to help 'Mother Nature' along the way.

 

[Amishway Homesteaders]

Impressive organized. And envy your energy levels

 

Well the way I look at things is:

I can do some of it now when things are slowing down (LOL) a bit in the Fall or HAVE to do it in the Spring when things are busy and I want to get going with planting, or we have a wet spring (like this year) and everyone else had to wait until things dried out to work in the gardens and we were planting.

[Amishway Homesteaders]

..................... by the way-

that WAS the song I was singing as I pulled things out of the bed. LOL

 

I am a bit weird like that, when I am doing things out there in the gardens I am always singing and thinking how great things grew this year and all the great food we will be eating (free) this year and come Winter. Also looking around to see how I can make things better, or what worked and what didn't. Looking forward to next year and what we can plant that will be new and good to grow.

If you look at Life that way the days are so much earier.

[Prickle]

leeks, not sure what we are going to do with them or why/how they made it into the garden but it all works out in the end.

 

Potato leek soup!

 

 

I didn't have a spring garden this year I decided to wait until fall, yesterday I built some raised beds and I have cabbage and onions to set out. I'll also plant some carrots and beets and I still have time for some beans.

[Amishway Homesteaders]

I didn't have a spring garden this year I decided to wait until fall, yesterday I built some raised beds and I have cabbage and onions to set out. I'll also plant some carrots and beets and I still have time for some beans.

 

NOT FARE!

We can't do anything in the gardens until Spring gets here!

 

But I get to grow a few things in the greenhouse now, then at the end of March or April get things going for spring planting so that helps a bit.

 

I also have some spinach and lettuce going in the coldframe now and that will last until the end of November or maybe even December IF I remember to go out and cover it every night. LOL