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Happy Sunday!
We've been slack on garden news and new articles lately because we've been uber busy with a new project we were crazy to take on. :-D More on that in a minute. First, a garden update.
Finally, we received a visit from Jack (Frost) and a weekend stay by Old Man (Winter).
The first freeze got down to 26 F here in the Zone 7a of NC. The big frost came a few days later and set in at around 37 F. It’s odd that it seemed the frost did more damage to the more vulnerable plants than the freeze. At any rate, it’s game over for the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and cucamelons.
But there’s good news! This is actually a fine time for gardening because many of the pest issues have dwindled and the hardy plants get their chance to flourish. Kale, broccoli, chard, collards, bok choi, spinach, arugula, and even some lettuces get into high gear and actually improve with flavor from a little nip of winter.
Tomatoes and peppers got picked the day before (November 9), and most of our cold crops got covered with heavier row cover fabric.
We’ve also been testing our cattle panel cloche. Basically covering the arch and both ends with medium weight frost fabric. So far, it’s keeping most all plants from freezing and frost, but yesterday, high winds stripped off the cover. This is likely due to the use of clothespins for securing the cloth to the frame. What may work better are the small binder clips from the office store. They have a much stronger grip!
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Our makeshift cloche functions well except in high winds.
The spinach in containers is finally taking off as are its companion planting of beets. And the carrot box is looking great on top. We’re really looking forward to a success with carrots. In fact, almost all of our root crops these past two years have been a disappointment.
Carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, and even the later radishes–have simply not done well in containers, raised beds, or straw bales. Potato and sweet potato vines look so great and lush, but next to nothing is found down below.
So, it’s time to do some research to help figure out some new strategies.
Carrot box with its cover pulled back:
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| As always, we welcome any tips about successful organic growing of root crops. We know there is a vast store of information among our readers and we’re nearly certain that our failures aren’t all that unique. Apart from the carrot box (so far so good) we seem to be learning more about what doesn’t work.
Longevity spinach (gynura procumbens) now indoors:
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| | We’ve brought our longevity spinach plants (gynura procumbens) into our sunroom for the winter. A recent article we published extols the amazing virtues of this plant as a source of nutrition and medicine. In our Zone 7a, it’s too delicate to survive the cold, so our two “bushes” will stay with us indoors. Once their new growth flushes out, we’ll take cuttings and root them in pots for the coming warm season. They also will make great gifts, though a bit late now for Christmas.
By all accounts, propagation is quite easy with longevity spinach. To ease the transfer from the garden to indoors and vice versa, we used 3 gallon grow bags. Since they did pretty well in these over the summer, it’s easy to see how well they’d do in other types of containers.
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| Sooo.... here's what we've been up to!
Many gardeners are also crafters, artists, soapers, etc. In our family, we're mainly writers. Long gone are the days when I have time to crochet, though it's something I enjoy and will likely return to in quieter years.
For now, we're about helping others grow their endeavors in the world. THAT is one of our family passions.
Toward that, we've created the iCreateDaily brand, that includes a podcast and even an apparel line.
In the past three months we've:
✔︎ Built the new brand
✔︎ Created a Creator's Challenge
✔︎ Two websites
✔︎ a New podcast
✔︎ Designed and launched an apparel line
✔︎ And soon to be creating new "Goals Challenge Journal
Sooooo... In between work, tending winter crops and putting garden beds to rest for the winter. Sharing this in case you're into creating things, and because we know you can probably relate to the busy-bee syndrome that so many of us folks who love gardening, homesteading and creating things thrive on. (And tend to get ourselves into doing… more to do than time, kind of thing :-D).
We'd love to hear what you're working on and if there’s anything you need help with, let us know. Our goal is to bring you more of what interests and serves you.
Happy Harvests!
The Alderson's |
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