What Happened In My Garden This Week? – Week 41

Alliums

All three soil bags with green onions, winter onions and garlic in the garden are doing well. Furthermore, I intend to plant more green onions as well as leeks next week. I want to be able to harvest several kilograms worth of green onions, a few kilograms of regular onions and a few kilograms of garlic. Essentially, I want a years worth of allium by the time spring arrives.

Brassica

The black kale is doing well in the garden, and the regular kale and new cabbage plants have yet to emerge. The last napa cabbage is so pretty and it is growing well. I hope it is able to grow into one of those really big napa cabbages that weighs over 2-3 kilograms. I am fermenting kimchi inside, and I need a lot more brassica to ferment. For 2024, I want to have at least 10-15 kg worth of organic kimchi.

Ginger

The ginger is almost ready to be harvested. Each stalk is about 15 cm tall. I may keep some of the plants in pots indoor and let hem keep growing there.

Herbs

I think I’ll harvest more herbs in the garden next week. I won’t be helping the plants by letting the leaves die, so it’s best to harvest as much as possible, and soon. Of course, while leaving the plants strong enough to make a come back next year. Growing perennial herbs is a gift. They are staples in any kitchen and farmacy. So growing your own significantly reduces costs and makes life a lot easier.

Root vegetables

The root vegetables are doing well. They just need to become larger before I feel comfortable harvesting them. Most of them only have a week or two before they’ll be ready to be harvested. So I better grow some more. It will be sunny tomorrow, so I will be planting more seeds then. I want to harvest food throughout fall, winter and spring. I hope they will keep growing in spite of the harsh autumn rain. There are certain amounts I will need for my annual pantry, and I need to make sure I get them. Better to plant a few seeds too many than a few seeds too few. Self-sufficiency is my goal, after all.

Tomatillos

I have now harvested all of the tomatillos in the garden. It was quite the bounty. I have more than enough for a year’s worth of salsa verde. All and all, it was a very good season. I am happy with the result. Two to three plants is enough for a one person household. If you’re part of a family of 4-6 people, 6-10 plants would be better.

I know now to expect 1.5-2 kg per plant and around 200 tomatillos per plant. Next year I must make sure I plant them earlier, so that they will all have time to mature. There were around 100 tomatillo shells left on the plant that had yet to form tomatillos within.

Turmeric

The turmeric could use a few more weeks in the soil. I may harvest some and keep the rest in pots indoor. I want a big harvest, or at least as big as I can get.

Peppers

The pepper plants outside of the green house died. Which wasn’t all that surprising given the cold nights we’ve had. The peppers love the heat after all. There are few that are still alive in the greenhouse, and I am trying to decide whether to pull them or wash the roots and place them in hydroponic pots inside.

Spinach

The spinach is growing slowly, but it is forming well. It is too cold for pests, so whatever the spinach plants produces, I will be able to keep for myself. I’d love to be able to harvest some daily soon.

Sunflowers

I took down the last sunflowers this week. The birds had eaten most of the seeds, but I at least got seeds from the smaller variety. The variety that looked like a sunset. I left the eaten flowers for the birds and divided up the stalks. Some of them will be turned into flour tomorrow, and the rest will be dried out to become tipis for my beans next year.

Squash & Pumpkin

I have one pumpkin vine left. The frost killed all of the courgettes plants and all of the other pumpkin plants and vines. I hope to get at least one big pumpkin out of it. But preferably a few of them.

Perennials

Berries

The blackberry bush is still producing berries, but I may move it into the greenhouse to help it along. I repotted some honey berry bushes, and rearranged my berry bushes for winter. Most of the berry bushes will get some straw to protect their roots from the cold.

Fruit

The fruit trees will be placed under their winter covers next week. I may tweak one or two branches on one of the apple trees. Other than that, they’re good to go. They’ll remain under the covers until April comes.

Vegetables

I will plant some sunchokes in a few more grow bags so that I can double my harvest next year. I fermented my sunchokes this year and then added them to my kimchi. They were delicious both fermented and as part of the kimchi. My goal is to have my garden be as self-sufficient as possible, and sunchokes will produce a lot of food without much interference from me. I need a few more plants that can be planted once and will provide food for decades.

Fertiliser

I didn’t fertilise at all this week. It was too cold most days of the week. I will give the garden a final dose or two next week. The bokashi tea will then be emptied into its fermentation container. The bokashi compost will be emptied into a grow bag and the bokashi bucket will be re-filled with food- and garden waste. I’ll have enough compost and fertiliser to last me a few months next year.

Propagation

Berry bushes

The propagated berry plants are still doing well. They look a bit worse for wear since they are reaching their dormant stage, but they are still alive.

Fruit trees

Some of the fruit tree cuttings did not make it. Likely due to the cold. The rest have been moved up to the shelves in the greenhouse. That way they won’t get a firsthand experience of the cold seeping through the ground.

Fruit trees from seed

The apricot tree and the pear tree are now kept indoors in my window. I added some grow lamps to keep them growing. The sun on its own won’t be enough for them. I’d like them to grow large enough to be planted out into their own grow bags come spring.

Conclusion:

I am nearly done for the season. There are only a few more things to deal with before I can feel assured that the garden will survive the winter. I received my mycelium this week, and next week I will receive my sawdust and straw from a local pet store.

To do’s for week 42:

• Plant the final seeds

• Harvest root vegetables

• Put the winter covers on the fruit trees

• Fill the mushroom pots with sawdust and mycelium

• Cover the alliums with a layer of straw

• Cover the soil of some perennials with straw

• Tidy up and free up as much space as possible

• Rinse the empty pots and place them in the garage

• Look into repotting a few more berry bushes

See you next week!