Experimental garden

We have had a couple of hard frosts now and most everything has wilted including the marigolds and dahlias that brightened our front yard all summer. I covered one of the garden frames which includes a few lettuce and kale plants. the stick in the middle keeps rain from pooling over the frame. I am planning to add an additional layer of plastic before the average daytime temperature dips into the forties and we will see how well these plants fair a la Coleman-style. If they are still alive in mid-to-late January, I will declare victory and harvest them. Note that the kale and chard in unprotected frames three and six are still looking good in spite of the frosts.

Last tomatoes

I was surprised to find several tomatoes that had ripened on the vine over the past few weeks, though the plants have been dead for a while. Youngest daughter and I also picked all of the apples from the braeburn. We haven't had a frost yet but the temperatures have been in the low forties and occasionally thirties at night. The kale and chard are still healthy, though they seem to have stopped growing for the most part. I placed some plastic around the frame that was planted mid-July in the hopes that the extra warmth will allow the lettuce to mature a little more before the really cold weather hits. The weather service is calling for snow on Thursday though temperatures will not drop below freezing.

Final big harvest

Yesterday, I did some much needed maintenance on the garden frames and harvested most of the beets and carrots. I also harvested all of the remaining basil (about 10 cups destemmed and lightly packed) and made some pesto (about 5 half-pint jars). After a cold and rainy weekend, the tomatoes and pepper plants decided that they had had enough and shriveled up and turned brown. There is still a lot of kale remaining to be harvested and the garden frame that was planted with lettuce and kale mid-August may be ready in a couple of weeks if I place some plastic over it to retain heat. The Braeburn apples should be ready in a week or so.