I wandered out to the garden this afternoon, and was so pleased to see that our broccoli is finally starting to do something. The leaves are big and healthy looking, despite me never having sprayed the BT to kill the caterpillars. Maybe they will die when we get our first frost. Supposedly the broccoli is able to thrive in this weather, even with a few frosty mornings. I certainly hope that proves to be true! There are tiny little buds starting on most of the plants. I have only grown broccoli in the summer, and spring/fall broccoli is supposed to be much sweeter so I am excited to eat ours.
The tomato vines died, and the remaining tomatoes had turned a sickly brownish yellow. So mid November was the end of my tomatoes I guess...I was so shocked that they lasted this long. Its good to know for next year, hopefully we have the same luck then. We still have tomatoes in bags in the freezer, Matthew and I really need to get to work on those. I think the plan is mainly salsa, but if we have enough I would like to try our hand at spaghetti sauce. Ketchup sounds like fun to make, but its not really practical as we go through so much of the stuff. We would have to use our whole harvest for it, and I would rather use our tomatoes more diversely.
The crimson clover has sprouted and has leaves. Hopefully it will spread itself around because there are plenty of bare spots where we didn't get the seeds spread evenly. I had only bought one bag, next year I will get twice as much. My friend Linda recommended something else as a cover crop, I cant remember but I think it was some sort of wheat. I will have to ask her again and make sure to write it down this time. Hopefully the clover will do a good job this winter and spring of restoring the nitrogen to our soil. In the spring we will get a load of manure from the nursery by our house and probably till it all together. I have heard varying opinions on tilling, with the majority leaning towards NOT tilling in your soil yearly. Its something I am going to have to research more. Since we don't have a tiller, and have to hire someone for it, it would save us money if we didn't have to do it. Which means more money for plants and seeds, which I like!
I got my first seed catalog in the mail the other day! It seems so early to start thinking about next spring, but its also nice to be able to plan all winter long. It will give us something to look forward to on these dreary winter days :)
The tomato vines died, and the remaining tomatoes had turned a sickly brownish yellow. So mid November was the end of my tomatoes I guess...I was so shocked that they lasted this long. Its good to know for next year, hopefully we have the same luck then. We still have tomatoes in bags in the freezer, Matthew and I really need to get to work on those. I think the plan is mainly salsa, but if we have enough I would like to try our hand at spaghetti sauce. Ketchup sounds like fun to make, but its not really practical as we go through so much of the stuff. We would have to use our whole harvest for it, and I would rather use our tomatoes more diversely.
The crimson clover has sprouted and has leaves. Hopefully it will spread itself around because there are plenty of bare spots where we didn't get the seeds spread evenly. I had only bought one bag, next year I will get twice as much. My friend Linda recommended something else as a cover crop, I cant remember but I think it was some sort of wheat. I will have to ask her again and make sure to write it down this time. Hopefully the clover will do a good job this winter and spring of restoring the nitrogen to our soil. In the spring we will get a load of manure from the nursery by our house and probably till it all together. I have heard varying opinions on tilling, with the majority leaning towards NOT tilling in your soil yearly. Its something I am going to have to research more. Since we don't have a tiller, and have to hire someone for it, it would save us money if we didn't have to do it. Which means more money for plants and seeds, which I like!
I got my first seed catalog in the mail the other day! It seems so early to start thinking about next spring, but its also nice to be able to plan all winter long. It will give us something to look forward to on these dreary winter days :)