Monday, September 19, 2011

fall

The weather took a drastic turn last week -- getting chilly, and the days growing suddenly short, and then a bunch of rain on Friday night. The tomatoes have virtually stopped ripening, and the squash leaves have gone gray.

I harvested the last romaine interplanted among the winter brassicas yesterday. Full and gorgeous! And the green deer tongue is delicious, as well. All the lettuce is good. In general, we've been harvesting lots of greens including chard and kale, though the spinach is bolting.

We're also harvesting tons and tons of tomatoes, and somehow we're managing to eat them all. Elana is a salsa machine, with her salsa machine.

My squash have done poorly -- a few small fruits on the vines. I'm pretty sure they're overcrowded. Next year I'll plant them farther apart and see if that fixes it.

A lot of garden projects right now. Been working on that new coop and am almost done. Some fun artistic use of natural forms for the gate and the food canopy outside. The perimeter is pretty patchy in places, but should hold.

Also, scored a p-patch! After at least 2 years on the waitlist. Want to use it to learn about growing staples -- corn, wheat, potatoes, maybe beans and winter squash. Though my other idea for winter squash is a hugelkultur bed contouring above the garden at Davi and Wojtek's place.

1 comment:

Matt said...

We lost our black chicken a couple nights ago. The perimeter was complete, but the gauge of the mesh too big (2"x4"). A raccoon reached through the fence and grabbed Blackie, and ate her through the fence. In the morning we found her legs and a wing lying around, buried them in the sideyard. The one chicken we had all started thinking of as a pet, the smart chicken, and too trusting. Trusting, it seems, even of raccoons.