Winter is icumen in
As
soon as the calendar flipped over to July, I could feel the slow
descent into winter begin. I was already planting fall
crops, and the
scorching heat in June made our normal summer temperatures in July feel
relatively cool.
August seems even more
like the beginning of fall. I spent all morning Thursday setting
out broccoli and Brussels sprouts seedlings (a little late for both,
but I hope they'll make it, perhaps with a little frost
protection). This week also marked the first round of oilseed
radishes, planted in
beds that will now be fallow until spring, along with the last seeding
of a summer crop (one more bed of crookneck squash.)
Despite seeing winter on the
horizon, our summer crops are coming in with a vengeance. I sent
Mark to town Tuesday with two big bags of squash and cucumbers --- "and
don't come home until they're all gone!" (He foisted the
vegetables off on appreciative librarians.) I'm saving seeds and
freezing winter soup as fast as I can too, of course.
Even the winter
keepers are starting to ripen. The earliest-planted butternut
squash are turning brown, and the leaves are beginning to lose their
vibrant summer form.
It's hard to believe
that we only have five frost-free months to grow all of these tender
vegetables, but somehow it all gets done (and they all get
eaten). Good thing we budget time to simply enjoy the bounty!
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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I started our garden late, so I didn't get as much planted as I wanted. Using the huggleculture method really helped us grow bigger potatoes. So I have an area in the back with 3 new huggle rows for potatoes next year. I am also starting one up on the hill behind us for potatoes the following year.
My winter cabbage is growing nicely in 1 gallon pots and I put carrots in one gallon pots and they are coming too. Excited!
I will be building a huggle pile behind the trailer for sweet potatoes next year. Hope they turn out good.
I followed your advise with our winter squash and added more nitrogen. Low and behold, the witner squash took off like a gray hound. Ha! Ha!
Thanks for that advise.
Have a great fall.
Daddy --- The cross quarter days do seem to suit my seasonal indicators more than the solstices and equinoxes. Of course, I really think we need more than four seasons --- it's clearly not fall right now, but it's not the same kind of summer it was before either....
Mona --- Glad to hear your garden is thriving! I'm also excited to know that nitrogen perked your winter squash right up. I hope the rest of your year turns out as well!