Fall Garden-Rual Thursday

This week the temperatures really dropped.  We started our first fire of the season, this is by far the earliest fire we've ever had to start. We typically do not start burning wood until Thanksgiving. 

Our first killing frost is predicted for this week, and the temperatures have been dipping down to around freezing all week.  Despite the low temps my garden is still hanging in there.

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My main fall garden is still thriving.  i have a few zinnias still blooming,then a row of zucchini that have never produced. The plants are small and stunted. They developed downy mildew and never recovered despite my attempts to treat them with organic copper.  The plants have continued to bloom, but have never produced any fruit.

 

i have 5 rows of blue lake green beans that are just beginning to produce.  This garden somehow managed to avoid the frost that hit my other gardens. It's on the other side of the driveway, and down a bit lower than the other beds. Although the other gardens survived that frost, all the plants had a bit of frost damage, while these plants all look untouched.  Would love it if the frost can delay a couple weeks, but i'm not really counting on it. 

 

Swiss chard is doing fabulous. These is such an easy plant to grow. i actually have this planted in three different garden beds.  The cabbage worms don't seem to care for it, and other than an occasional snail i have very little problems with  garden pests or disease. Swiss chard can be used like kale or spinach in recipes.  i've even made baked Chard chips and they've very good, just a bit thinner and more delicate than kale.

My peas are also just starting to bloom. They had a very slow start sprouting in the summer heat. Now they are thriving, but i don't think i'll be getting any peas from them before they succumb to the frost/temps.

 

Kale is always a fall favorite. My Rebor kale has been producing all summer. i planted a new crop for the fall, and with the lower temperatures it has much more of a purple color than it did over the summer.   i really love this variety of kale. It is thick and hearty, cooks wonderfully and makes the best kale chips.  i planted several varieties this year, and the cabbage worms devoured most of them.  The Redbor has been somewhat resistant to them. It seems i didn't start getting any worms until after i pulled the other kale, and even then the worms have been manageable. 

Fall is also the perfect time to plant lettuce. i planted several varieties of leaf lettuce, romaine, and buttercrunch.   i have quite a bit of rocket arugula that reseeded its self as well. 

My broccoli plans had a rough start with all of the cabbage worms. The temps have gotten cold enough, that the cabbage whites are not as active.  For the fall i planted regular broccoli, violet cauliflower and Romanesco Broccoli.  So far all the plants are doing well, although the Romanesco Broccoli plants are still pretty small, despite being planted at the same time as the others and so i'm not sure they'll make it to harvest.

My pepper plants are still loaded. Many of the peppers are tiny, and will never make it to harvest. i may attempt to cover these on nights that frost is predicted or go below 32.  i may even dig up one of the small plants and keep it inside. Peppers are can grow all winter if given enough warmth and light.

Look what the Autumn fairy dropped off at our house!! We found these huge pumpkins and butternut squash left in our yard. We have no idea who dropped them off. At first we assumed it was the folks down the road that have in the past blessed us with several different fruits and veggies, but it wasn't them. ???  So i want to shout out a huge THANK YOU to whoever it was, just incase they read this blog. My kids are so thilled with the giant pumpkins. We only grew 4 year and they are all very small compared to these.  i love butternut squash, but didn't even plant it this year because i have so many problems with the squash borers and pickle worms. This was quite an unexpected blessing.