Ready or Not, Fall has Come

     First fall frost does not signal the end of the gardening year, but it is a time for retrospection and introspection.  What went right and what went wrong this year.  What is left to be done before the snow covers the ground.  In planning for next year, consider more of what went well, less of what didn't go so well.  Try not to repeat the same errors, but do continue to experiment.  Failure is just a step on the way to success.

The View from the South Chicken Yard

 South Garden

     Starting with the South Garden, from front to back (north to south), you can see the cabbages, broccoli and sweet corn.  Behind the sweet corn in the southeast corner is a small patch of late planted lettuce and swiss chard.  Golden Bantam sweet corn does not have large ears, but this year they were very small.  Because they were small, I didn't harvest any until they were past their prime, and not very tasty.  The chickens enjoyed it though and they'll have more of it this fall and early winter. The ones that were closest to the Spruce trees on the south were exceptionally small, which is why I tore some out and planted the late salad crops,  They did quite well.

     From the north end we had several meals of broccoli, cooked cabbage and cole slaw.  I can put those in the success column. In a few days I'll get the last of the cabbage and swiss chard out and open the gate between the garden and the chicken yard so they can clean it out,

East Garden

Two rows of tomatoes saved

     The East Garden was my tomato and pepper patch this year.  Although there were cutworms early on, and late ripening, we did end up with tasty tomatoes and a nice yield.  Some are still ripening under that low tunnel in the back.  That pile on the right is the chicken manure I cleaned out of the coop last spring and other rotting vegetable matter that will be spread on the Tomato Patch to nourish next year's crops.

Central Garden

Three Plots will become One

     The old carpeting you see is killing the grass underneath so that next year the old North, East Central and West Central Gardens will become the new Central Garden.  The North Garden in the back has pole beans and sunflowers, most of which were eaten by Mr Deer when he dropped by for dinner one evening.  In front of the beans are beets, and in front of the sunflowers are pumpkins.  The beans were plentiful as usual and the sunflowers and beets are looking good.  The pumpkins look good, but two hills yielded only four pumpkins.

     To the right of the carpet is the old East Central Potato Patch.  3 rows of red potatoes in the front, with 3 rows of Yukon Gold behind that.  A row of peas stand beyond that with 4 rows of Kennebec potatoes bringing up the rear.  The red potatoes were small and misshapen.  My fault for using inferior seed, but it was an experiment.  The Yukon Gold were better, but still had a high percentage of misshapen ones.  We've only started to dig the Kennebec, but they're nice sized, well shaped and a good yield so far.  The one double row of peas gave us a couple of meals.  Little Marvel Peas are quite dependable.

     To the left of the carpet was a mixture.  The first four feet in the front was an extremely early planting of onions, radishes, carrots and lettuce.  Only the radishes did well.  The others had extremely poor germination.  Maybe it was the old seed, maybe it was too early, but I later planted zucchini in that spot which did produce.  Behind that were two rows of garlic planted too late.  Then a row of edible pod peas which were OK, but not great.  In the back was my 3 sisters garden of sweetcorn, pole beans and butternut squash.  The corn and squash didn't do well, but the beans produced.  I planted arugula and kale of the northwest and northeast corners of the 3 sisters and they were very productive,

East Side of the Barn

The View from the North Chicken Yard

     This year when I extended the North Chicken Yard, I also opened up and cleaned up the area east of the barn for easier access to the part of the barn where I keep implements such as the tiller, the mower, wagons and wheelbarrows.  It's also a nice area to work on farm carpentry projects as it's shaded from the heat of the afternoon sun.  I still have to trim the succor trees on the left and repair the door before winter.  I'm going to leave the wild black cherry tree next to the door, just trimming the branches in the back that might scrape against the barn.

The Flowers

"Be it ever so Humble"

     I love the annual flowers that Amber hung in baskets on the porch.  They've supplied us with color all summer long, and because of their height, escaped the low hanging frost that killed off the other tender plants close to the ground.  The flowers give us food for the soul.
   

Fall Chores that Remain

     The carrots, potatoes and beets still must be harvested and used or stored for winter.  The same goes for the pumpkins, corn and sunflowers.  Some of the sunflower seeds and all of the corn will be stored for poultry consumption.  The protected tomatoes will be used or canned as they ripen.

     The sliding wall for the new poultry house is ready and will be installed as soon as I get 2 strong young men together to lift it into place.  I also hope to install the shelves in the greenhouse that I didn't get to last year.

    After the harvest, I'll clean up most of the debris and turn the rest under along with most of the compost and a load or two of manure.  A few of the carrots will be left in the ground and mulched.  They produce beautiful flowers and seed in their second year.  I'll also cover the strawberries and hope for a better year for them.  I may even get to a fall planting of garlic, and a start on the new West Garden which didn't happen this past summer as previously planned.

     Whatever happens, winter will come.  I'll be happy with what I did get done, and will gaze at the snow on the pines as I walk out to do the poultry chores, dreaming and planning for the coming year.