As Winter Approaches

I know it’s been quite a while since my last post. I’ve been very busy with my day job and in between trying to squeeze in all the gardening I can :). I’m finally getting some time to write. So here we are.

First I’ll talk about what went well and what didn’t in my vegetable garden this past season. And, now fall is almost done and winter is about to start (though here in New England the weather has been abnormally fair!). I’ll also talk about what I did to get ready for the winter and what I’m already dreaming about for the next gardening season.

Successes and Failures
Tomatoes
Lots of people had great success this past season, but unfortunately I had my worst ever. While I rotate the crops each year, the bed that I put the tomatoes in was filled with roots from a maple tree about 300 feet away. I’ve already moved one bed and this was the 3rd in line. I had prepared the bed back in April, but when I went to plant the tomatoes, I had to pull out many roots. Bummer! The cherry (Juliet hybrid) did fairly well, but most of the other plants either withered away and died or, produced much less than usual. My tomato crop was just enough to eat, but nothing to store away for the winter. So, I moved 2 beds, so I’m hoping next year will be better.

Garlic
Last year I planted a hardneck variety in mid-October and got more top growth than I should have (it was my first time trying garlic, so…). Anyway, by July, the harvest was small heads, only some of which had bulbs. But I’m using it anyway, stored in my garlic keeper. They taste fine and are keeping fairly well.

Eggplant and Peppers
I had the best harvest ever of eggplant, and plenty of green peppers for stuffing. They were planted together in a 6×8 raised bed. I had enough eggplant to eat and store for the winter (I bread, bake, and freeze). It was awesome. I want to try some new varieties of eggplant next season. Hopefully I’ll be just as successful.

Carrots
Having never planted carrots before, I planted seeds in a section of the raised bed where I grow snap/snow peas and green beans. They were a shorter variety and while most were tasty, the crop was, well, many were small and deformed. I think it was because they were planted to closely together. If I plant carrots again, I’ll make my own seed tapes in an attempt to get some better growth.

Cucumbers and Squash
They were planted in the same bed together. I saw plenty of cucumber beetle, but I sprayed the cucumbers with neem regularly and it seemed to do the job. I don’t grow a lot of cucumber because I’m the only one who likes it in my family. I grow just enough for eating over the summer and for salads. I’ve been growing what is called a ‘Spacemaster’ hybrid. Small sweet and delicious. The zucchini was hit with the squash vine borer again, as it is every year. Even though I rotate the crop, and sprayed with rotenone/pyrethrin, they still did their job. Luckily, I caught them and was able to get the worms out of the stalk, then cover with soil. I tried a new variety called ‘Cash flow’. I got just the right amount of reasonably sized zucchini. Just enough for eating and not too many (zucchini can inundate you with fruit, sometimes growing very large overnight). The butternut squash plants in the same garden grew well but didn’t yield many fruit (about 3 or 4). I’m not sure why and will have to do more research on that.

Beans, Snow/Snap Peas, and Lettuce
These are pretty reliable crops for me. The snow/snap peas produce end of may and into July before petering out. I grow bush green beans and got a pretty good crop of those. I mostly grow these to eat over the summer. I may grow more beans next year to freeze some as well. The lettuce was fantastic. I supplied myself with lettuce from May through August. With these crops I practice succession planting (seeding again every other week), to extend the season’s harvest.

Potatoes
This was the first year that I grew potatoes. I purchased a grow bag from Gardener’s supply company. I bought Yukon Gold seed potatoes and planted them in the grow bag, and did the same in a large container as an experiment. With potatoes grown like this, you only cover the seed potatoes with about 4 inches of soil at first. Then when the green growth is about 6-8 inches, cover with another 4 inches of soil. You keep doing this until the bag/pot is full. So what was the result? I got about 5 pounds of great tasting potatoes. I got a much better yield out of the grow bag and there some rotten potatoes in the pot. So it seems that grow bags are much better. I’m guessing this is because the bag allows for greater air flow. I plant to buy a second bag for next season.

Blueberries
I had 3 small dwarf blueberry plants which, when they begin to fruit, I cover with netting to keep the harvest away from the birds. Since the plants are small, I didn’t get a whole lot of blueberries. So, I purchased a high bush blueberry and moved the plants to a location where the raised beds used to be. They’ll get full sun and I’m hoping they grow and provide me with lots of berries in the coming years.

What I did outside
Garlic
On the first weekend in November, I planted garlic. This time I’m trying a softneck variety that I found in the local Agway. I took a little less than half one raised bed, planted the cloves and covered with mulch (the rest of the bed will be devoted to lettuce next season). With this warm weather, there’s been some top growth, but hopefully it’ll stay cold and the warmer earth will promote root growth. Given my failure last year by planting in October, I waited until November to plant. If I get enough harvest next year, maybe I can pre-mince some and either freeze or jar it. We shall see!

Composting
This past season was my second season using my own compost. I have a 3 bin composter. I chose that type because of the amount of yard waste I produce. A tumbler type might be easier to manage, but wouldn’t hold the amount of waste I generate. Generally if the compost pile is in the sun it will decompose more quickly. But mine is in mostly shade and seems to do fine. The first bin is for the newest material. The middle bin for older stuff, usually from the preceding season, or the end of the current one. The last bin is for the stuff that is nearly done (from the season before last usually). During the summer months, 2 or 3 times, depending on how much rain we get, I take the hose over to the compost piles and run the water in each pile until it’s good and soaked. This seems to aid the composting process (especially with the minimal sun the pile gets).

By the end of September, my last bin is gone and all used up. So I turned the middle bin into the last bin, then turned the first bin into the middle bin. Let me tell you, it is quite a work out! But it’s worth it when the compost is ready to use in the spring. The last bin is now nearly done and the middle one is close to it. The first bin is filling up, but will be used through the winter for the indoor vegetable waste, and early spring cleanup. This past season I had weed seeds in the compost from the rudbeckia (black-eyed susan) I cut back, so this year I discarded the rudbeckia cuttings in the woods near my property instead of my compost pile. Unfortunately, the compost ready for use this spring will have the same weed seeds since it’s from the year before last! But it was manageable this year; in my daily rounds I just weed the sprouts out.

Leaves, leaves, and more leaves
I get many leaves in my yard every year. And the truth is, raking is my most hated outdoor activity. I don’t know why since it’s good exercise and you’re outside in the fresh autumn air, but it’s my least favorite. Be that as it may, my yard gets a ton of leaves every year. Luckily we have a mulching lawn mower. I blow the leaves off the garden beds where I don’t want them to accumulate, onto the grass (though granted, they do provide good winter mulch). Then my son or husband mows them. We leave the clippings right on the lawn. They disintegrate and provide much needed nutrients for the lawn in the spring. So the raking isn’t too bad with a mulching lawn mower. I still have to rake and drag the leaves off the large patio, but it’s not too, too bad.

Mulch for winter protection
There are some garden specimens that do better with a layer of protection going into the winter. I usually mulch around mid to end of November. The roses benefit from mulching around the base. Leaves accumulate in my roses, and then I apply a dressing of pine bark mulch (I had a barrel left over from spring). I applied additional mulch to the blueberry bushes, the garlic bed, and to a Twist ‘n Shout hydrangea in my pool garden.

Additonal winter protection
Some plants, like rhododendron and azalea can get dessicated over the winter. To help prevent this, I apply Wiltpruf or Wilt Stop (from Bonide) to them after Thanksgiving, when the air temps are above freezing. Usually I only apply this once due to snow cover and freezing temperatures. The plants would benefit from another application in February, if it’s possible. I’ve never been able to make that happen though.

Overwintered annuals
Every fall I have a few annuals that I like to keep going over the winter. Some are ornamental, others are herbs. Everything that I brought in was sprayed with neem several times, with the final spraying right before bringing the plants in. I want to make sure no critters overwinter with the plants! For the 4th year, I’m overwintering the same Madevilla plant; I cut it back before bringing it in. I’m keeping it isolated in a cool room in front of an east facing window because it always gets mealy bug or aphids. Since Madevilla likes full sun, I have a full spectrum led grow bulb on it for 14-16 hours per day. It lost many leaves, but that’s ok and to be expected with the temperature and light level change.

I also brought in 2 black pearl pepper plants. They’re in a south facing window, also isolated because the tender growth tends to draw mealy bug to it. One plant is in it’s 2nd year of overwintering. The other plant I propagated from seed last spring. They are both doing well and the the new plant is filled with flowers.

I brought in the pot with 4 kalanchoe plants. This is the 3rd year for these. Last spring I cut them back hard, and when the plants came inside in September, they were flush with green growth. They’ve begun to bloom now and are doing well in a large south facing window.

Finally, and most importantly in my opinion, I brought in potted rosemary and potted flat leaf parsely. They sit in the big sunny south facing window too. I get fresh herbs from them all winter. I planted them in their own pots last spring, intending for them to be inside this fall and winter.

So, you might ask, how often to water these overwintered plants? I water everything once a week with some fish/seaweed fertilizer (Neptunes Harvest). I check the soil first and if it’s damp I skip a week. The herbs and kalanchoe seem to need more water than once a week, so I generally water them (with just water) 2 more times during the week.

Seeds already?
Yep. I’ve received a couple of catalogs already. I’m thinking about what to start at the end of February, perhaps some new types of eggplant. Eggplant and peppers seem to need to get a head start so I have sizable plants to put in the garden. I do need to go through all the seeds I have and decide what to get rid of, what to keep, and what to buy. I am looking forward to getting my hands dirty again! But then again, the winter is a nice break too.

Anyway, that’s about all folks. It’s a busy time of year for non-gardening things. But spring is just around the corner!

Happy Gardening!
Susan