December Winter Garden

I realize it's been a month since last posting. The gardens have been feeling weary, barely growing. The cauliflower and broccoli seem to be making head way, pun intended. But I think the snow froze the cauliflower to its core. 

 

The rows of cauliflower, broccoli, kale and radish were covered with cloth then covered with plastic sheeting overtop the hoop piping. 

Last week when the snow came, there was an ice pond on top of the plastic sheeting which became weighed down and hurt the plants. This past Sunday, I readjusted the cloth and plastic sheeting, and reinforced the hoop piping with metal stakes in the ground. This particular garden is very cold, and has a dark, chilly hillside as it is North facing. 

At my other wintery garden. I have kale and radish growing. They're covered the same way, with cloth over top and plastic sheeting over the hoop piping. This acts as a mini greenhouse. This garden is South facing and gets mostly full sun, so this garden tends to thrive more than my other garden. 

I have a picture here of one of the weirdest radishes I've grown this garden year. I had some large radishes this year, and this one is definitely one of the largest, but it's mostly the weirdest shape. 

Out of everything this fall and winter, particularly this garden year in general, I have picked mostly radishes. The kale this past fall season grew enough for a couple of harvests to eat, but it has been a slow grower this winter. 

The remaining winter, I will be tasked with cleaning up debris, organizing supplies, ,storing materials, composting, mulching, cutting back brush and weeds. You name it, I'll be doing it. 

Overalls, swamp boots and a thick coat and gloves are an essential this cold season, so don't forget to use them!

To keep busy in this time, we either stay indoors doing crafts or fiddling with the indoor plant garden or work in the gardens outside. 

Pictured here, I have decorated our door with pine cuttings and ribbon. And a picture of the indoor potted plants with Prince, the cat.

Frost protection for Fall garden & Pumpkin decor

On this Hallows eve, I worked a bit in the garden. It is supposed to drop to 25 degrees F this weekend. So, I arranged water piping over the broccoli, cauliflower, kale plants. Then laid garden canvas over each. 

At my other garden, I did the same--covering thr kale, turnip, basil, cilantro, strawberries, radishes, and flowers. 

There are many ways to cover and protect plants from the cold and frost. What methods do you use? I have tried plastic jugs, jars, and plastic sheeting, and that's usually too harsh for plants because they scorch from the excessive heat. Cloth is usually the best! 

As these nights get colder, I've noticed bugs warming themselves in the carved pumpkins I've lit. Slugs, especially, have taken advantage of the little fires in the pumpkins. 

Did you carve pumpkins? Is that a tradition for you? For me, carving pumpkins are symbolic, and artistic. It is a favorite past time of mine. Pumpkins are a symbol of warmth, stability, plentiful, wholesome. To use these as nature's own little lanterns, makes me feel like I'm warding off the bad, the negative energy. This doesn't mean that that's what pumpkins are doing; but, that's the feeling I get.

Pumpkin carving, painting & Fall food dinners

For the last two nights, Ashley and I have been decorating and carving pumpkins. We got 10 pumpkins for 10 dollars. We saved 3 of those for painting a Frankenstein's monster, witch legs and a black rose with thorns. 

The rest were different carvings of a little man face and puzzle pieces on the back side, cat and a pumpkin face on the back, "Boo" and "Yas", house with a moon and cat, cauldron, and vampire face.

In the above picture, we have our house plants nestled together over top a vent for cool or warmth and displayed my Halloween painting I made years ago. These were the little pumpkins I used for carving and painting.

The colors this year seem brighter, more vibrant, than in the last several years. The quantity of leaves I see in piles skirting trees are more plentiful this year than previous years it seems. Of course, that's my own opinion. 

To further enjoy, and celebrate the Fall you could say, I have been sipping vegan hot chocolate and baking vegan peanut butter cookies, eating lots of seasonal crops like radishes, tomato, kale, and herbs from the garden, and lots of squash and potatoes. And baking pumpkin seeds!

Vegan stuffed peppers with rice

Vegan stuffed squash with vegan cheez

Produce box

Kale harvested to fry over rice

On Sundays, I've been visiting family to check in on them and my gardens, and on these nights, I've been having little fires to roast vegan hot dogs, watching scary movies, and sitting outside.

What are you doing to enjoy Fall this year? What is keeping you motivated to stay hopeful, positive, and active in your life or community?

Mulched Fall Garden, fig harvest, & Fall greenhouse beauty

 Last Friday was bitter cold. It was down in the 30 degrees F. In the evening, I made sure to cover the garden plants to protect them from frost. The next day, I uncovered them and heavily mulched the veggie garden. I was able to get a truck load of mulch to cover the arden of broccoli, cauliflower and kale. The remaining bit of mulch, I placed around the fruit trees and some fruit bushes. In order to mulch the rest of the fruit bushes, I'm going to need another load of mulch! 

Below are pictures of the veggie garden I mulched Saturday.

The greenhouse I went to to get the mulch, was colorfully decorated again, this time with some new flare. A couple posts back, I showed the cute fall settings at the greenhouse, but I'm adding more here..

I was also able to pick some figs too last weekend. Of course, they were delicious!

Houseplants on a warm Autumn evening

Houseplants make you feel like it's a refreshing summer in your home year round when you live in dreary cold climates in winter.

Over the last 7 years, I have collected many houseplants. Of all of the those, probably 90% of them have died. I can say that the philodendrons, snake plants, dracanea and aloe have been with me for over 3 years now, maybe longer. I try to only keep small plants so that lifting on plants and taking them in and out of my apartment is not so strenuous. 

Below, is my current collection of houseplants.  

This year, I adopted new houseplants that I've never had the experience growing before. These succulents were a housewarming gift to me, growing in a wide bowl. I decided to re-pot the succulents in individual containers. Today, I picked up some garden pot trays to place underneath each potted plant as well.

In the above picture, I have my snake plant and dracaena which are several years old, maybe 4 years. In the middle, I have a purple tropical plant that I dug up while I was in Florida back in June. This plant is one that grows quick, but the newest member of the plant family is the monstera that grows by the day! There is a new leaf every other week it seems.

These are the regular tasks in fall for houseplants: new or additional soil, new pot, fertilize, clean, wipe down, organize, etc.

These October nights are chilly. I have been keeping the houseplants inside at night and taking them out during the day. Tonight the forecast predicts 60 degrees F, so I don't worry about them staying out. Friday night, on the other hand, it will be 37 degrees, and that is nearly freezing temperatures--not what we would call a "killing frost", but freezing all the same. 

I have many plants growing in the fall gardens, as I showed you in the last post. I have my turnip bed, radish bed, basil, cilantro, flowers, broccoli, cauliflower and kale. I will have to cover these plants! I am hauling a load of mulch Saturday to go onto these plants and my fruit orchard. 

This past week, I have actually harvested some radishes and radish greens and cilantro, pictured gelow.

At the apartment, I have jalapenos and tomatoes that I will either cover on my patio or bring in to protect from the freezing night. 

As always, I will keep you all posted of the garden tasks, fall garden, and other Autumn joys.