Veggie Garden Update-November 2009

From In the Garden

Tina's Vegetable Garden Update:

It is the 20th of the month so for Skeeter and I here at "In the Garden" we'll be talking about our vegetables. The picture above was taken from my deck and shows a long view of my vegetable garden. Everything is still hanging on and still growing though you can see some changes from previous month's postings. Most notably is the fact that you can't see any vegetables growing in the garden and also the A-frames have been moved in preparation for next year's climbing vegetables. I have cleaned out my pitiful tomatoes, the gourd and pumpkin vines, the beans and all of the summer crops. In their place I have planted some cool weather crops; which we'll see below. The hay bales were purchased in readiness for when the first big hard freeze takes my angel trumpets. Once that happens I'll cut them back then put a hay bale over the root ball. So far they and the bananas (a focal point of the vegetable garden) have been hanging tough. This is most unusual for this late in the year.

The first cool season vegetable up for its moment in the glory is Swiss chard. This is something I have never grown before this year. I believe it was Frances who sent me the seeds and I started these from seeds. I am not sure why all the seeds did not grow and flourish but it is okay because this one plant is probably more than enough for our family to eat fresh. It rocks and I will grow it again next year. The cool thing about this plant (for me at least) is that it does well in this shadiest of all the vegetable beds and still it looks good. That and the fact that chard is chock full of iron and simply good for you makes it a keeper here.

This next picture shows the sunniest bed in the vegetable garden. It is on the diagonal and faces the southwest. This is the bed where I have placed all of my winter 'crops' and my coldframe. I have planted: Broccoli Raab, Chinese cabbage, radishes, turnip greens, kohlrabi, beets, mesclun, spinach, and lettuce. Some seeds have not germinated and I realize it has to do with their shelf life. The lettuce and spinach did not come up. I am guessing they need to be purchased fresh each season and do not keep well for a long period of time because this has happened to me before. Gee, I wish the stores did not sell lettuce in such large bargain packages. I hate having all those leftover lettuce seeds but I have learned my lesson. Use all the seeds each season and toss the rest if you cannot use them. I have purchased new seeds along with some onion sets I hope to get put out this week. Wish me luck this late in the season.

Here is a close up of the turnip greens. I first ate turnip greens in Germany at a friend's house. I must say I like them when cooked well and flavored (okay smothered) in bacon but the greens are also useful in salads. These greens are growing right outside of my coldframe toward the sun. I feel they will do okay without the added protection of the coldframe. Things in the coldframe are: kohlrabi, broccoli raab, and lettuce (once I plant it). I am hopeful that if I can get some lettuce growing then I can enjoy fresh salads all winter. The key will be in getting it going. The other things in the coldframe will take care of themselves over the winter but do have the added benefit of protection if need be. Only time will tell how they all do. This process of growing veggies in the winter here is a learning one for me. I've not been successful in the past because even in Tennessee, we do get a few periods of extended freezes where hardly anything grows (for me this seems to be December/January but the weathermen will tell you the coldest months in Tennessee are January and February).

Not much more going on here in the vegetable garden. The nest egg gourds are still drying and they will be a craft I'll save for later. I am busy planning exactly what I'll grow next year since I've vowed to only grow what I'll eat and enjoy. That is a tough one because I simply want to grow all veggies.

Now let's look and see what Skeeter has going on in her Georgia vegetable garden.

SKEETERS GEORGIA VEGGIE GARDEN UPDATE:

November has us picking the last of the Anaheim Peppers! Yes, Pepper Picking in Nov. in Georgia! That happens when you had a late start putting your veggies into the ground and a mild Fall.This Sweet Pepper is still growing and should be picked soon.I have a couple of surprises this month. First, I found a tomato plant growing in the mailbox planter we have on the street! I can only assume the dirt I added from the compost bin is the answer to this surprise. I also spotted Black-eyed Susan in this planter that I did not plant. Hum, Maybe I should just add compost dirt to planters and see what grows! The two gourd plants were growing like weeds until recently. They had grown over the fence and looked like I had planted more seeds but what you see are two very happy plants.Here are the two I call the Twins! They are a bit different at the tops but have grown side by side at the same rate.This one I named Big Daddy as it is the largest one of the bunch! It measures in at one foot tall and 22 inches around the belly! This one will make a nice birdhouse for next spring.Here is my second surprise! While collecting all the gourds and removing the dying vines, I found this Purple Cherokee Tomato hiding below the tangled mess! The Saint said it was yummy. I am glad to show you this tomato as I had 6 to show you but they were eaten by my dad before I snapped a picture of them. He really did enjoy them while visiting with us last month. I venture to say, this is the first time I have harvested a tomato in November! And here are the gourds drying on the fence. There are 12 hanging on the fence and 2 on the ground which are well on their way to the drying state. I will Scrape the Gourds as I found that much easier then scrubbing them after they dried last year.

It was another trial and error year in the Veggie Garden and we did have a bit of fun even though it started out bad as last year. We enjoyed lots of Tomatoes, Herbs, Peppers and the Gourds will make wonderful Birdhouses for my feathered friends! I guess all in all, it was fun being In The Veggie Garden...