The Autumn Garden

By the time autumn rolls around, I'll admit to having a bit of garden fatigue, but there are still so many great things to come out of the garden this time of year that I find it worth the late season effort.  My growing season here is shorter than average and even though I use tarps to cover the more sensitive plants during the first few frosty nights of October, the time eventually comes when I bring in the last of the green tomatoes to ripen in the warmth of my windowsill and shift my focus to the vegetables that don't mind chilly weather.  For my garden this includes collards, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, leeks and lettuce.  Kale, chard, and cabbages are also great fall crops.

Lettuce can be planted throughout the entire growing season from early spring to late fall.  I try to plant a row every few weeks so that I always have a little bit of lettuce to pick from in the garden all season long.  It doesn't freeze or keep well with any method of preservation, so I find it best to enjoy it fresh while I can from May-October.  I like growing different varieties so that I have some green, some red, and several varying textures and flavors.  The varieties this year included Optima Butterhead, Rouge d'Hiver, Winter Density Romaine, and a Mild Mustard Mix.  I plant the seeds close together so that I can thin the rows as they grow eating the thinned plants as micro-greens and allowing the remaining sprouts to grow into larger heads of lettuce.  

The collards thrive throughout the growing season, as well.  I just snip off a few leaves from each plant when I want to cook a batch for dinner and they continue to fill in with new leaves as the season moves along.  The Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and leeks get planted in the spring with the collards, but I have to wait all season to get to taste them.  I begin snipping heads of broccoli in late September and the Brussels sprouts are usually the last veggies I harvest in late October or early November.  They are so cold-hearty that I have harvested and eaten them long after the snow covers the ground.  Leeks have a similar tolerance for the cold and I like to harvest them a few at a time as needed to add to soups and stews throughout the fall. 

 A friend recently gave me a bit of sage advice where this blog is concerned and suggested that I share my failures as well as my successes.  I decided this was a fantastic idea given that I always learn more from my failures in the garden or kitchen than I do when things go as planned.  So in the spirit of sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly- here is my sad crop of spinach:

Yep, just one scraggly little plant barely hanging on despite my best efforts.  Spinach is supposed to be easy to grow in the spring or fall.  I have attempted to grow spinach several times, each time failing miserably.  The first spring that I tried growing it, the plants bolted, meaning that they shot up too quickly with long spindly stems and very few edible leaves.  The next season I tried a different variety, this one claiming on the seed packet to be bolt-resistant.  It sprouted, but the sprouts failed to mature and instead just shriveled up.  This season I planted an entire row, only to have three sprout, two die, and the one remaining plant you see above.  I've had similar failures in the garden with other fruits and vegetables and can usually experiment with different varieties and growing methods until I find one that works for my soil and unique growing conditions.  Once I finally do, it makes that fruit or veggie taste so much sweeter than if it had come easily.  

Another important autumn garden project is planting garlic for next summers harvest.  Where I grew up in Alabama, the local folk-lore suggested planting garlic on the shortest day of the year and harvesting on the longest.  Since my ground will likely be frozen on the shortest day of the year, I plant in mid-October.  I select the largest, healthiest bulbs from last years harvest for re-planting.  Mine is a hard-neck, purple striped German variety that is known for its strong flavor and excellent storing capabilities.  I plant each clove 6-8 inches apart and 2 inches deep with the pointed tip facing up. 

The final project for this autumn garden weekend allows the chickens to have some new, warm bedding for the cold winter ahead and also provides a blanket for the new garlic and remaining vegetables in the garden.  I begin by taking the wheelbarrow out the chicken coop and filling it with all the old straw bedding in the chickens nesting boxes.  The old straw is then spread over the freshly planted garlic and around the late-season vegetables remaining in the garden.  It serves as a blanket to keep in warmth and moisture, as well as a weed deterrent.  

I then returned to the coop with a wheelbarrow full of fresh straw and made a new nest for each of the four boxes where the ladies lay their eggs.  They eyed me suspiciously from their roost and gossiped about the new beds, but I know they will appreciate it as the days get colder and the snow begins to fly.