Today's harvest

[pepperhead212]

I pulled all the rest of my butternuts yesterday, as the cold nights pretty much killed them - no frost or freeze, and I even have peppers growing still, but not those. So I cut all of the squash off, and then pulled the vines out - 2 more trash cans full! Then I pulled up the landscape fabric from under them - still in pretty good shape! That area is where my garlic is going in, so I put some compost and some organic fertilizer over it, but it was too late to pull the 'tiller out, so I'll get that tomorrow.

You can see that all of these were not totally mature - I'll see how they do now that they are pulled.
Last butternuts of the season, 9-4-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

Last of my produce sitting on the counter waiting to be used up.
Small green peppers to the right got stuffed
Red peppers got grilled and will be either be marinated or frozen for later use
Hot peppers will be given away. Ill keep a few , but I dont really use them.
Everything else, snacked on ( peppers)
Butternut will wind up in the soup
And the other squashes will be roasted.

Only thing left in the garden is leaf lettuce, arugula, a few peas, horse radish I dont use and never dug up. Rosemary, sage, Bay leaf , parsley and cilantro and some mint.

 

[pepperhead212]

I got my last tomatoes today! Not much, though, just a few small Big Beefs, and another 2 cups or so of grape tomatoes, but the last 3 plants got pulled, so there will be no more.

I pulled all of my bean plants today, finding a few small enough to cook, and a few dried pods, plus a good number that I've left for weeks to dry, but they haven't - just sat there! I'll let them dry in the pods, then test to see if they will germinate.

I also cut off all that hardy ginger, plus the last asparagus ferns out of that edge row, then put some compost over the section with the asparagus, and I'll put a bunch of the leaves over the whole row later on. I got a bunch of my SIPs drained, and tomorrow I'm going to cover them with those cheap tarps I get from Harbor Freight - some free, some 99¢! Tbe rest of the SIPs have greens in them, which I may transplant to a raised bed, or maybe eat a couple of those. I'm trying to get all that done before Wednesday afternoon, when we are supposed to get hit with rain - a lot of it!

At least it's not snow here!

 

[taxlady]

...

At least it's not snow here!

Do you get snow in winter? Much?

 

[pepperhead212]

Do you get snow in winter? Much?

We do get snow, and it varies. We have gotten over 30" in a day (I think it was '96, if my memory is correct),, and several 20"+ snowfalls, but that is extremely rare, fortunately, and that's far more than we get in most years. Last year we had basically nothing - very small amounts would melt, before it needed to be removed. And back when a friend of mine retired, and moved down to Myrtle Beach, SC, they got more snow in the first year he was there than I got here, which was another one of those super mild years, when I also had some things grow outside, the entire winter. But that doesn't mean it can't happen. In fact, that's how I fell, and broke my knee, back in 2017 - one reason I do not like snow!

 

[taxlady]

We do get snow, and it varies. We have gotten over 30" in a day (I think it was '96, if my memory is correct),, and several 20"+ snowfalls, but that is extremely rare, fortunately, and that's far more than we get in most years. Last year we had basically nothing - very small amounts would melt, before it needed to be removed. And back when a friend of mine retired, and moved down to Myrtle Beach, SC, they got more snow in the first year he was there than I got here, which was another one of those super mild years, when I also had some things grow outside, the entire winter. But that doesn't mean it can't happen. In fact, that's how I fell, and broke my knee, back in 2017 - one reason I do not like snow!

Broke your knee, kneecap, or some other part of the knee. It's a PITA. I have broken my kneecap twice. I still have the braces, just in case.

 

[pepperhead212]

TL, Yeah, it is a pain - almost 3 years I broke the R knee cap, but the worst part was tearing the patellar tendon. Had to have that operated on, and it never really healed, but I still get around!

Yesterday and today I got all of my Earthboxes and other large SIPs covered, after draining them a couple of days. Still 11 bucket SIPs that will need covered, but I'll do that another time. Yesterday I pulled the end of my pepper plants, and pulled a lot of peppers off them; an Aji Panka, that I didn't like the flavor of, and produced very late, had to have over a hundred peppers on the plant I tossed. Here are all those peppers.
Absolute last of the peppers, when plants were pulled, 11-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

I only picked a few greens yesterday, and I got my first frost of the season this morning, and a heavy one, at that. It got down to 38°, and the air was dead - something that hasn't been happening around here, which is why there has been no frost. The latest frost I ever had was the day after Thanksgiving that year, which I think was the 25th that year. It's still very wet, so I'll have to wait another day to work on those leaves. Nothing left out there, except cold weather crops, fortunately.

 

[pepperhead212]

My hydroponics plants have really taken off in this last week. The Thai basil was growing into the lights, which is why I had to harvest a bunch of it, and figure out something to do with it yesterday! That parsley plant finally took off - the first plant didn't root, so I started another.
Thai basil harvest from the hydroponics. Still got more, for that sauce later. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Thai basil, after the harvest, and some red Epazote in the back, in hydroponics, 11-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Leaf lettuce, parsley, mizuna, and dill, in hydroponics, 11-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

I had to trim my kaffir lime trees today, as the smaller one had grown one new stem all the way to the ceiling! The larger plant has countless new stems - I just trimmed the longest ones, esp. the ones that would stick me, as I'd walk by! I wish I had a place or person to give them to, but nobody around here, like the epazote and curry leaves, so I just toss them.
Trimmed kaffir lime branches, 12-5, after growing indoors for about 7 weeks. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[bbqcoder]

I made a raised bed hoop house for my herb bed. Still need to finish it by securing the plastic with wood instead of patio blocks. It’s hard to find time when you can only work on weekends and we just got snow. Will work to clear it off shortly.

 

[Vinylhanger]

Got some baby arugala tonight for a salad to go with our pasta.

 

[larry_stewart]

Got some baby arugala tonight for a salad to go with our pasta.

Nice !
Looks like my arugula, along with some leaf lettuce (beets and carrots) survived the last 8 inch snow storm we had. All the snow melted today as a result of a 2 + inch rain storm and 50+ degree temps.

the kale, and carrots I protected with a last minute make shift row cover. The other stuff I just kinda took the whatever happens, happens approach.

I did dig up and take in 2 brussel sprouts and 2 potted cabbages which are doing really well ( cabbages small, but pickable, and more importantly, no bugs).

 

[pepperhead212]

It is nice not getting those bugs on things when you pick them now! I just filled up an 8 qt bowl with Swiss chard and komatsuna, for dinner today! Doesn't happen that often on Christmas, at least from uncovered plants.

 

[larry_stewart]

It is nice not getting those bugs on things when you pick them now! I just filled up an 8 qt bowl with Swiss chard and komatsuna, for dinner today! Doesn't happen that often on Christmas, at least from uncovered plants.

Yeah, with the sudden burst of cold and 8+ inches totally covering the exposed plants, I figured the cabbage and brussel sprouts and kale would be fine, the chard and beets , maybe, but the leaf lettuce I thought for sure would be gone. To my surprise, once the snow melted, and we got some almost 60 degree temps today, everything just perked up nicely so I took advantage of it.

Actually, my cilantro is doing better than ever. Not bolting cause its cold, and sticking around since October, so ive had it on hand for months. Usually I get 2 weeks then it bolts.

And yes, not having to compete with the bugs is great.

 

[pepperhead212]

It got down to 21° last night, and it isn't supposed to get past 33° all day, with strong winds, and wind chills in the teens. Won't be going out there to harvest greens today! It only got this cold one other time this season, and the two Origanum species I have - marjoram and Syrian oregano - that are not supposedly cold resistant (I actually took some cuttings inside, to be safe), have not been bothered at all. I haven't taken the time to harvest a bunch of them, and dry them, but I might still do that, to replace last year's dried batches.

 

[larry_stewart]

So in early December , as the weather was getting colder and freezing temps were approaching, I brought some of my potted veggies in (cabbages, brussel sprouts, Rosemary, bay leaf and a few others). I have a spare empty room in the garage and decided to turn it into an indoor plant room. I invested in a few higher quality plant lights, timers and humidifier . I decided to move the cabbages in from the garage to that new plant room to see what would happen ( My citrus trees, curry plant and dwarf bananas are in there). The room, although has no heat, it is well insulated by the adjacent rooms, and with the groom light running, it keeps it at temps between 65 - 75 degrees ( even on sub freezing days). Anyway, my Meyer lemons are flowering like crazy. Although theoretically self pollinating, ive been hand pollinating anyway ( especially since both trees are flowering at the same time, which hasn't happened in the past). Today, I harvested one of the cabbages. Not sure of the variety, but I think it was a smaller, quicker late season variety that doesn't get too big. It got slightly larger than an apple then stopped growing , so I decided too pick it. Made spring rolls today. Last year my cabbages overwintered outside, but bolted as the temps got warmer, so I figured I had nothing to lose by bringing it into this room, an it all payed off. Also, another benefit is no bugs. Usually my cabbages get so buggy, after pealing off the affected leaves Im down to almost nothing . Ill probably harvest the other one this week and then bring the brussel sprouts in from the garage to this room and see how they perform.

 

[pepperhead212]

Looks great, Larry! Any problems yet with bugs inside?

 

[blissful]

Looking good Larry. That's so great you have a place to go with them. Go you.

 

[Kathleen]

It looks great!