What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

@sourland yes I do store them. I wait till they get a good frost then dig them up, clean them off & let them dry out a bit. Then they get wrapped in newspaper & go in a box in a cold room. I have also put them in a box of vermiculite, but I'm out this year so they'll be wrapped in newspaper.

 

[sourland]

@sourland yes I do store them. I wait till they get a good frost then dig them up, clean them off & let them dry out a bit. Then they get wrapped in newspaper & go in a box in a cold room. I have also put them in a box of vermiculite, but I'm out this year so they'll be wrapped in newspaper.

Thanks. I'll give this a try. 'Box' as in a cardboard box?

 

[Phaedra Geiermann]

Thanks. I'll give this a try. 'Box' as in a cardboard box?

I also dug out some last week and was surprised about the growth of their tubers, almost overwhelming.

I cleaned and divided them, really a lot.

After drying in the greenhouse, I used some packing materials (paper) to store them in the cardboard boxes, too.

In the coming weeks I have more to dig out. But I would also try to leave some in the raised beds. If I don't want to divide them any longer, I will consider to try dry storage method.

 

[Sueby]

Thanks. I'll give this a try. 'Box' as in a cardboard box?

Yes.

I also dug out some last week and was surprised about the growth of their tubers, almost overwhelming.

View attachment 2884918 View attachment 2884919

I cleaned and divided them, really a lot.
View attachment 2884920View attachment 2884922
After drying in the greenhouse, I used some packing materials (paper) to store them in the cardboard boxes, too.

In the coming weeks I have more to dig out. But I would also try to leave some in the raised beds. If I don't want to divide them any longer, I will consider to try dry storage method.

Interesting! If I had a basement I would totally try this. They over winter in my unheated bedroom, can't do that in my bedroom!

So we blew out the spigots. Looks like I'm carrying water from now on.

 

[vall]

Gophers! Found one tunnel right under the grapefruit tree (it's still alive) and the west side of the yard is all torn up. Set all my traps yesterday, no dice, but I moved some to a new tunnel today.

Integrated two quail hens in the aviary with the 3-week old quail chicks yesterday. Was planning to wait longer, but they are doing just fine. Couple of the chicks are pecking the adults, not the other way around

 

[NewBoots]

The house smells like sweet peppers, onions, and chopped green tomatoes. Making that batch of tomato relish today, it's sitting in colanders draining now. Walmart delivered 2 boxes of pint canning jars today with more coming so the timing is perfect. Talked to the friend who used to live with us when we were in Portland and he's thinking more and more about moving down here. I really hope he does, we both miss him hanging around and sharing cooking back and forth.

It poured this morning till about 10:30 but it's lovely and sunny now. The kids had great weather last night, we had about 30 kids come by, about the same as last year. We got Penny into the car today and drove her around for maybe 10 minutes so that's a good start.

 

[Birdsonghill]

They are pretty big. I think they get woody on year 2 from what I researched. They are supposed to get sweeter with a frost though. That's really what I'm waiting for.

Indeed they do get sweeter after a frost! They also can/will get woody in the second year, so correct on both accounts. I am waiting on a frost to start harvesting some of my rutabagas, because I feel they are enhanced by a frost. I over winter many root crops and harvest as I need them here in the midsouth. They are good all winter, most years! Carrots, turnips , rutabaga ,parsnips are all on my over wintering list. I am blessed to have cilantro, lettuces, spinach , mustards, Chinese cabbages, collards and kale all winter under row covers. A dinner in January fresh from the garden is a treat, we can enjoy here. We expect our first frost this Thursday night. That is a bit early for us, on average (November 11th was average in the past, some years nearly Christmas recently!). If we don't get any long lasting hard freezing weather, I can grow a lot of crops all winter under row covers. Every now and then we get an artic blast that last and kills things that are under covers, usually in mid to late winter ,if at all! My new flock of layers , I started in May, have started laying well now, and I am getting 12 or 13 a day from the 18 girls, even though a few have not laid yet. The size is increasing for the ones who started laying a couple weeks ago or so. I ate a few of the excess roosters and they were 4lbs cleaned and very tasty! I am a happy guy with all my blessings! I also have started a mushroom operation with four varieties started so far. Shiitake, Italian oyster, Golden oyster, and Lions Mane mushrooms.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. I got my tulips in the ground yesterday and did some clean up in the cutting garden. I removed the zinnias from there and pulled up some of the grass. Then I pulled the monstrous marigolds out of the last garden bed and tossed it in the compost pile. This morning I harvested as much of the chard that was bigger than one bite then pulled my rutabagas. They were all quite small. I planted them in early August so they didn't have all that much time to grow. What I did harvest will do nicely in the next stew I make. I still have some work to do in the garden beds including testing and amending the soil. Next week I'll start covering the chicken runs before the really cold stuff gets here. Have a great day everyone.

 

[Sueby]

Morning all. I just pulled a double batch of carrot cake bars out of the oven, got a ton of mashed cauliflower made & packaged up. As soon as the kitchen is cleaned of that I'm headed out to plant the shallot sets that finally made it here & get the straw spread on the empty beds. Just need the strawberries to die back tonight & then I can spread the straw on them & call the garden DONE!

Oh, except for the dahlia bulbs. Ugh, it's never ending. I took today & yesterday off to get it all done, I might need to take tomorrow off too. Sheesh, it's easier to go to work.

@NewBoots - did you ever end up freezing any garlic in any way? I never remember I have the frozen garlic butter in there. Plus it's sooo hard it's a pain to get it out. Just curious if you figured anything out. Maybe next time I will freeze it in tablespoon fulls - that would have been much easier.

 

[Birdsonghill]

They have taken the frost warning off for this week and the ten day forecast looks like none expected soon. It is cool in the fifties in the daytime and 40's at night. Typical late fall and winter temps here. I have some late planted mixed varieties of leafy greens planted that could use more mild weather for a while. I have covered much of the garden rows now with frost fabric, but not all that need it. Every year it depends on how far south the wintery blast come down, how well late plantings do. Sometimes they work out great, some years not so good. Time will tell. I am working on renovating the landscape and flower beds at my nephews home, as a side job for my remaining brother, who has financed the work as a gift for my nephew and his wife. He is a generous man that I owe for his many acts of generosity towards me. It is getting hard for me to do a solid day of landscape work, but I still love seeing the results and get a lot of satisfaction from doing the work! I just have to take more frequent breaks and go slower, these days. I love hearing of all of you guys experiences in your gardens! Learning never stops and having fun and satisfaction does make learning a better experience. All of you have fun and enjoy the lessons we get from our interactions with nature in our gardens and on our homesteads! God bless you all!