Fall Garden

I can't believe it's already been a month since my last post! Things have been very busy here, obviously.

There have been a few clinic visits.

New friends.

Lots of snuggles.

Many various garden salads. This one is lemon cucumber, cherry tomato, purple bean, and balsalmic vinegar. Yum!

The Pristine apples ripened first and the 15 or so of them were eaten in two days, they were so delicious!

The first flying in a long time.

And hair do-ing.

And lots of canning! Dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, green beans, beets, pears, and peach jam.

The crabapple tree is so heavy-laden we might actually be able to preserve a few pints of jelly.

The quinoa is growing so prolifically it's having a hard time standing up.

In fact, during a thunderstorm a few days ago the heaviest heads snapped off. They're not quite ready so I strung them up in hopes they could dry out enough to be useable.

 

Almost every day that I'm not working I am spending time either in the garden or preserving produce. One of the new things I'm adding to the tasks this year is harvesting seeds so that I don't have to keep buying them. Yesterday I did my first threshing and winnowing of pea seeds. Unfortunately, many of them had cracked seed sacks which makes them unable to germinate.

We have transplanted the last of the fall sprouts: broccoli, cabbage, fennel, carrots, beets, peas, lettuce, kale, and overwintering onions. I have yet to plant the garlic sampler I got from Nichols Garden Nursery to help me decide which kinds to cultivate; I am especially excited about that experiment!

Once the weather turns sour enough that grass stops growing we will add another layer of newspaper and wood chips to the area in the orchard that wasn't done quite properly and is now overtaken by grass. We have found that in the areas covered properly weeds are almost non-existent! Only one certain kind of grass manages to grow from underneath and it is exceptionally easier to pull out from wood chips than dirt. Also, any weeds that float in are shockingly easy to pull. I've pulled more giant dandilion roots this season than in all of my gardening seasons before. One of these days I'll actually videotape how easy these wood chips are to manage. Some areas I haven't touched once since laying them down and they are still weed free!

If you are interested in seeing how the wood chips are laid down Sustainable Renton is hosting a Back to Eden Gardening clinic hosted by me! This Saturday, Sept 7th, 1-4pm. Meet us at the Community Farm location in the Highlands:

11840 148th Ave. S.E., Renton, Washington 98059

We will be building a plot for the community farm and you can learn along with everyone else!

Other events coming up I am really excited about are the seed saving lesson on Sept 13th at 6pm and the Harvest Mayhem party Sunday, Sept 15th from 4-7pm at the same location. Will I see any of you there?