As of today (Nov. 19), the kale is bigger, and the green beans (in the cold frame) are blooming. The total pea harvest has been 7 pea pods…but wow, is it cool to see blooms in November! There’s also some Purple Peacock Broccoli and Happy Rich greens (like rapini) sprouting between the leeks and the cold frame – we’ll see how long that makes it.

The goal with the kale is to keep us in greens through January, and to protect the stalks so they can re-sprout early in the spring. We’ll see how that goes!

Ok, I think I know what my winter project is…starting an indoor citrus orchard!

http://simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com/2009/11/grow-your-own-citrus-meyer-lemons.html

Well, things are winding down in the garden. For the first time, it seems less like I’m racing the frost and more like I’ve eaten everything interesting in the garden. Here’s a recap:

• Over 125 lb. of produce to Food Gatherers this year!
• Peas – fabulous! Over 14 pounds of edible pod peas, between the greenhouse and the garden. My sweetie has decided they are the best raw vegetable ever and eats them in preference to carrots in his lunch when they’re available. I planted a second crop July 23 (some in and some out of the greenhouse) that is just starting to set pods – we’ll see if there’s a second crop or not.
• Green beans – also my best year ever. Nine quarts in the freezer and five pounds to a potluck, plus lots fresh.
• Carrots – planted Napolis and Danvers. One of them – I think the Napolis – branched a lot. Got a nine-pointer the other night. I still have a hard time growing carrots, but I want to keep trying because we like them so much.
• Parsnips – haven’t harvested most of them, but the ones we got (Turga variety) were good.
• Rutabagas – Very good crop, though somewhat wormy. Try covering the crop next year.
• Turnips – Ditto. Planted a second crop Aug. 25th but I think that was too late to even get greens.
• Squash – blah. Got squash bugs. Harvested a goodly number, but they weren’t very ripe or sweet.
• Tomatoes – Don’t die of shock, but I think I may not grow any tomatoes next year. I don’t really *like* tomatoes all that much, and I found I can get organic tomatoes for 80 cents a pound if I want to make a batch of salsa.
• Onions – were troopers, as always. I went to the trouble of planting out leek sets I’d bought this year, and they grew into onions, not leeks. *facepalm* I really want to grow leeks – from side shoots and bulblets, if not from tiny hairlike transplants.
• Radishes – quick, easy, and way yummy to pickle!
• Pickling cucumbers – great crop (“little leaf”), and I think I will plant the same number next year. I planted 24 plants; about 2/3 survived, and that gave us a quart or two of cukes every other day for a month. I’ll pick them smaller next year, but I think I can’t get enough to pickle a quart if I don’t have at least a dozen plants.
• Potatoes – definitely planting Kennebecs next year if they hold up well in storage. These were prolific and medium-to-large in size.
• Sweet potatoes – They are still in the ground, mostly, so no final report yet. The couple plants I did dig up already yielded about a pound of finger-sized roots between three or four plants in the greenhouse. They were tasty, baked whole with a little oil and salt.

I’ll write up a separate report on the greenhouse.

I’ve been tracking my garden planting and harvest dates (Southern Michigan, US zone 5a in a particularly cold microclimate) in Google Calendar and decided to make these into public calendars. You can see the calendars at the addresses below, and if you have a Google Calendar account, you can subscribe to them and view them in your own calendar. I’ll update these as I plant and harvest more crops. I’m not guaranteeing these are ideal dates, but they’re at least a guideline.

I’ve put the addresses through TinyURL to make them more manageable; they won’t spam you.

• http://tinyurl.com/gardenplantingzone5
• http://tinyurl.com/gardenharvestzone5

I’m having a really good year for succession planting. I’ve never done so much of it, nor has the timing ever worked out so well! Here are a few things I’ve been doing:

• Green beans. On April 24, I planted Contender bush beans. I had to protect them from a couple frosts, but they rewarded me with nice harvests starting the third week in June. On May 25th, I planted Fortex pole beans and EZ-Pick bush beans. The EZ-Picks started to bear about July 21, and the Fortex started a week after that. (The Fortex never looked very happy; I think they might make a better fall crop bean.) I just pulled the Fortex and EZ-Pick a couple days ago, and lo an behold – the Contenders are bearing again! They are my favorite beans this year, and I’m especially proud because these are first- and second-generation seeds that I’ve saved.
• Peas. The greenhouse peas finished up just as the outdoor peas were starting to bear (third week of June – saved seed from the very tall Sugar Ann variety). When the outdoor peas wound down, I pulled those and replanted a shorter variety (Dwarf Gray). We’ve been about 6 weeks without peas, but I think we should start getting a fall crop in the next 2 weeks.
• Potatoes. I harvested potatoes August 11 and August 23 (still have 1/3 of the crop to go). In one of those spots, I’ve put a late crop of Purple Top turnips (for greens) and the other a cover crop of buckwheat.
• Cucumbers. I’ll pull these vines out later this week. They look like they’re setting up for another run, but man, after nearly 20 pounds of cucumbers, we’re done. Out they come. I will plant the whole 3×6 bed with chard and beets. Hopefully, I’ll get a nice run of chard to take to Food Gatherers and maybe some tiny beets for Thanksgiving dinner (but I might be too late on that).

I’ve also been very good and gotten my fall crop of kale in on July 21. This crop will go into the greenhouse, and I’ll try protecting some of the huge swath of kale that’s currently outdoors, too. I might finally have enough kale to not need to steal from children and the elderly* last past December.

It was so nice looking around the garden tonight. I’m really pleased with what I’ve done. I’m especially pleased that my “scaling-up” experiment has worked so well. The extra 1000 sf of garden I added this year has been very much plant-and-forget-it: potatoes, squash, rye, corn. I haven’t even watered any of it, because the rain gods have been so kind and the mulch so deep. Squash beetles are getting into the vines, but I’m hoping the Delicatas will ripen enough so it’s not a worry…but it’s really not been all that much work. And I dropped off 40 more pounds of food at Food Gatherers today and have several pounds of spuds in the “root cellar.”

I like gardening.

I’m going to be trying to grow sweet potatoes this year. I’ve ordered five varieties from two sources. I’ll keep you updated on how they go!

• Beauregard from Johnny’s Selected Seeds.  “One of the most popular sweet potato varieties. Dark red-orange skin with moist, sweet, orange flesh. Quick maturing and well adapted to difficult growing conditions. High percentage of usable roots. Excellent choice for cool season areas.” (Planted late May? Early June?)
• Centennial from Sand Hill Preservation Center. “Early. Semi-bush, normal leaf, copper skin, pale orange flesh, long, skinny roots, adapted for heavier soils, above average yield.”
• Ginseng Red from Sand Hill Preservation Center. “(Heirloom Variety) Early. Large, semi-bush, ivy leaf, pink skin, light orange flesh. Can produce one super large root. “
• Red Ivy Leaf from Sand Hill Preservation Center. “Early. Semi-bush, green colored ivy leaf, deep pink skin, light orange flesh, average yield.”
• Ringley’s Puerto Rico from Sand Hill Preservation Center. “(Heirloom Variety) Early. Average vines, ivy leaf type with pale, off-cream to tan colored skin, apricot flesh, average yields.” (Planted these June 18-20)

Sand Hill specializes in heirloom sweet potatoes. I ordered the “Northern Special” – a random selection of short-season varieties. I forget if I ordered 25 or 50…I think 50. Hmmm…might have to move some squash…especially since the peas are still going gangbusters in the greenhouse. I’m planting some in there and some outside under black plastic mulch to compare how they do.

DSCN1452

Originally uploaded by espring4224

May 9, 2009. Front to back: Peas are nearly chest-high. Purple peacock broccoli. Garbanzo beans. More peas. Wild kale mix. Mizuna. Overwintered kale in pots, now flowering.

My friend Dan took these on April 4th.

Purple Peacock Broccoli sprouts:

Sugar Snap peas, from seeds I saved last year.

Yesterday, I led a garden planning workshop with Preserving Traditions at the Pittsfield Grange. A couple of questions came up more than once, so I thought I’d answer them here in case they interest anyone else.

What material should I use for my raised bed’s walls?

I’ve used both composite decking material and 2″x8″x8′ standard (untreated) pine lumber. The composite has bowed out over the years but the pine hasn’t. I’m not sure how long the pine will last, but after 3 years in my Michigan zone 5b garden, it’s not showing much wear or rot. It’s also cheap, easy to find, and there’s no worry about leaching chemicals, so it is my preference for all my new beds. YMMV, especially if you live where it’s warm all year and termites are a problem.

Do I need to dig up the sod/soil before building my raised bed?

No. If you put at least 6″ of dirt and compost in the bed, it will smother all the grass. The grass will compost and become worm food, and your deeper-rooted plants will soften the hardpan. Save your back! Let the plants and worms do the work!

What soil should I use in the beds?

You want “garden blend” soil, which is half topsoil and half compost. Plants need the minerals of the dirt AND organic matter – don’t use just one or the other. You’ll need one cubic yard to fill a 4′x8′ bed 6-8″ deep.

Where should I get soil?

If you’re near Ann Arbor and you only need a couple yards of soil, I’d order it from Lodi Farms. They’ll deliver small loads at a decent price. It will have some weeds in it (all bulk soil does) but they’re easy to remove. For larger loads, other places, like EZ Landscaping, are probably less expensive. The soil is all more or less the same quality, and all good enough to get started with.

Don’t raised beds dry out really fast?

I water mine deeply about once a week – twice if it’s really dry, not at all if we get a good rain. They seem to do just fine and they don’t “bake” any faster than the rest of the yard. And because the soil’s so loamy, it doesn’t get compacted like the rest of my clay yard does.

Is it better to put all the plants of the same family in one bed, or spread them around?

I like putting them into one bed for two reasons: it makes crop rotation easier, and similar plants often need similar protection. So, I can fence the beans easily, and cover all the brassicas to keep out the caterpillars. Other folks like mixing up the plant families to explore companion planting, or to prevent pests and diseases from moving like wildfire through all the plants of that family. It’s up to you – both approaches have advantages!

Do I have to worry about crop rotation this year? I’m getting overwhelmed!

Personally, I think it’s much more important to get out there and start your first garden than to worry about rotating crops your first year or two. Crop rotation is certainly a concern as you think about long-term sustainability. If you plant the same crop in the same place year after year, it will deplete the soil of its favorite nutrients, and it’s possible that diseases and pests will build up in the soil. So do think about it…but if it’s too much for this year, don’t sweat it.

See also:

• Starting a garden from scratch
• Common questions from new gardeners
• Drag and drop garden planner
• Easy plants for beginners
• Essential garden tools

I formally apologize for any and all greenhouse envy I may have perpetrated

You can all laugh at me if I kill my seedlings by overheating today. I left the door shut and I’m not sure how hot it’s going to get in there today.