Getting Ready for Winter

The garden plants have all been pulled and composted, the ground has been tilled, fall leaves and straw etc are being hauled in to cover the area for the rest of the season. To help the process along I have fenced in about two-thirds of the 6,000 sq ft garden and allowed my flock of black Jersy Giants to roam at will. They scratch and peck and reduce any piles to well-distributed compostable areas right in the garden. I delight in their activity as well as the wonderful brown thick-shelled eggs they give.

I am thankful that the cold wet spring was followed by a great summer and a rather average killing frost about October 3. My CSA customers appeared to enjoy the seventeen-week season I was able to give them. Now I am looking at ways to lengthen the season on both ends: row covers, a green house, portable mini-coverings etc. My bell peppers, for example, had huge amounts of fruit but very few ripened to those wonderful red, yellow, & orange colors that indicate a mellow flavor has developed. I ended up picking them & trying to ripen them in a garage and in my kitchen but I would have preferred to give them -- ripe -- to my customers instead.

Now I am looking at seed catalogs, my garden plan for this past season, and getting ready to plan the 2009 season. Even though the garden appears dead, work is already going on for the new year in more ways than one. I continue to learn how to garden even though I've been at it for more than fifty years. Yup -- this old dog is learning new tricks every day. Here's to a great new season!