Sustainable Gardening and Creative Food
The Cadence of the Changing Seasons
Seasons have their own special cadence. Summer seems to last forever. Fall is one of the most amazing seasons and most years, winter seems to come too quickly. This year saw a wonderful slow fade from summer into fall with tomatoes and peppers still trying to flower and bear fruit in mid-November!
As summer faded, autumn seeds for cool season crops that can overwinter under cover went in. Garlic was planted in October and is waiting under its layer of pine needle mulch to burst forth in spring. I didn’t manage to plant fall harvest crops like broccoli and cauliflower — but there’s always next year.
Weather Makes a Mess
This fall saw my garden looking disheveled. The fringe of two hurricanes, Ian and Nicole, bashed plants around, tilting tomato cages and leaving debris. They even uprooted two of my sunflowers! Apparently there was still enough dirt attached that even with roots up in the air, the plants just kept pumping out flowers. Although unsightly, I let them be. They were covered with bees — big bumble bees, honey bees and tiny bees that the internet informs me are called Sunflower Bees. Who knew! I love them all.
The Seasons of Birds
Late in the fall when I opened my sliding glass door to step into the garden, 20 or more goldfinches rose up into the air, unseen before my disturbance. They were clearly still getting plenty of nourishment from the plants, even in their tumbled state.
The plants aren’t the only things changing. One of my markers for the start of fall is the Osprey disappearing from the creek as they make their way to South America for the winter. Just as they leave, Dark Eyed Juncos flock to the yard and the feeders. Usually the switch is complete at the end of October. Some years it is earlier, some later. Birds seem to have their own idea of when it’s time to come and time to go dependent upon something other than the turning pages of a calendar.
Winter is Coming
Now that we’ve had our first couple of nights with temps around 30, the sunflowers finally gave up. I pulled them up from the garden beds and laid the plants on the bank by the creek in the hope that next summer sunflowers will sprout there. I did that last fall as well and was rewarded with a handful of volunteers…who knows, maybe next summer there will be even more.
I’ve planted Swiss chard, beets and some kale in the late fall garden. When the overnight temperature dipped down to 30 degrees for the first time in late November, I covered the bed with plastic sheeting. I buy the plastic cover from the local hardware store, the 4 mil thick variety. That seems to be enough insulation.
This year I bought some easy on easy off clips from Gardener’s Supply (they look like big chip bag clips) so that I can easily move the plastic off when the beds need rain or the day is too warm for the covering.
The Last Summer Harvest
Fall lasted a long time this year and only in mid-December is it starting to feel like winter is approaching. For now, I still have a few tomatoes ripening on the counter and thinnings from the autumn beds to make the best of two seasons.
Fall Meets Summer in the Kitchen
Fall thinnings with summer tomatoes
This hardly qualifies as a recipe but if you are thinning beds, don’t toss the tiny greens! They are delicious and so tender that you can even eat the roots. I mixed my thinnings with some of the tiny tomatoes from my volunteer tomato plan and topped it with a light vinaigrette. A small but satisfying side salad. One hint, make the vinaigrette very light or it will overpower the delicate greens. A lemon or rice wine salad dressing would be beautiful.
Such a lovely march through the seasons. You will have to help me with sunflowers. Maybe I can grab some seeds from you. You forgot to mention the crows. They seem everywhere right now. Happy winter!!!