Final harvest of the year

I harvested the last of the parsley and more kale, lettuce and choi. This should last into the middle of January. Now with temperatures in the teens forecast, we will see how well the remaining kale, lettuce and choi fare. I do need to get a second layer of plastic up if they are really going to survive the next two months. We are finding a taste for traditional Lebanese tabouli, so I will plant more parsley this spring.

The parsley that I picked would grow back and provide continuous harvests, but unfortunately the voles seem to like the taste of parsley roots. The voles have migrated to a second frame and parsley is the first thing that they attacked there. I set out snap traps based on Eliot Coleman's suggestion of no bait and placing them in tunnels. Since I didn't have time to put together a wooden box, I used a cardboard box. I am planning to put out traps by every garden frame until the population is under control.

We planted about 50 mache seeds, we will see how long it takes for them to sprout. It would have been better if they were planted in October. Have I mentioned that my goal for the coming year is to have the garden in constant production for an entire 12-month span beginning in April? This will require timing the succession planting better than ever. I also want to get an automatic watering system in place.

I made applesauce with the remaining apples in our refrigerator (about six cups). My daughter asks if I put sugar in the recipe but it is just peeled apples and a little cinnamon and filtered water. We lost more than a bushel due to spoilage in the garage earlier, one of the casualties of our mild autumn. [1 bushel apples = 48 pounds = 126 medium apples = 15 9-inch pies = 30-36 pints frozen = 16-19 quarts canned]

December update

There have been many harvests since my last post in November. The garden provided everything necessary for a big salad to share with the extended family on Thanksgiving. Here are some other favorite things that we have been able to do with produce from the garden:

• pickled beets
• tabouli with parsley and tomatoes
• stir fry with choi
• miso soup with scallions, choi and thinly sliced carrots
• chunky cinnamon apple sauce
• kale and garlic saute
• green smoothies with kale
• plenty of fresh eating of carrots and salad greens

Of course, the mild weather is making season extension easy. I did replace the barely fitting plastic covers with more ample covers because there have been temperature dips near the mid twenties. I probably have only another week or two before a second layer of plastic will be necessary to protect the tender lettuce.

On my last harvest of lettuce, I discovered that voles have been busy gnawing at the roots in one garden frame. Based on my research, the best remedy will be to set out snap traps, which I hate to do, but these guys are having a major impact. This experience highlights one of the benefits of having multiple small frames. Damage from pests is often isolated to only one frame.

Here is an overview of the rest of the frames:

Early November Update

This is the most productive fall garden that I have had going into the winter months. It will be interesting to see how long we are able to harvest greens going forward. The key will be to adequately protect the greens from frost. So far I have gotten away with some plastic that doesn't quite reach from side to side, but soon, I will need not just one but two suspended layers.

We are currently in what might be called an Indian Summer with lots of sun and temperatures into the 70's. No sign of frost in the extended forecast either. Perhaps the most recent planting of lettuce will get to harvestable size before December?

First frost

We had our first frost last night and a couple blasts of snow yesterday, but today the temperatures are back in the high 50's and the low tonight is expect to be 50 deg F. I covered all of the frames except the tomatoes with one layer of plastic.

I was able to fill the sixth frame with soil and transplant lettuce, chard and parsley that have been growing in overcrowded conditions. I picked choi and some beets and carrots that were planted way back in May. A couple of beets were almost baseball size, but most were only slightly larger than golf balls. I will try giving them more space to grow next year since I have not been good about thinning them as they grow. Similarly with the carrots, one very wide but short, while most were small, and one "frankencarrot" with 8 tapers.

EDIT: I did a little research on how long you can leave beets in the ground and found that they are most tender when allowed to grow 40-50 days (that would have been late July), and that they are best when picked small (1-1/2" to 2"). So I guess I was wrong to disparage the size of my beets. I am just accustomed to purchasing larger beets at the grocery store.