Hi Mavis and One Hundred Dollars a Month readers!
This past summer I shared my summer garden with you and am excited to share my fall garden this time around. Most of my fall vegetables have already been planted and are well on their merry way to giving me a fruitful harvest come early spring.
In my garden I have carrots, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, lettuce, arugula, beets, kale, radish, garlic, and collards planted. I also have snap peas that volunteered itself in this garden bed, so I went and put in a small red trellis just in case they decided to keep growing and needed something to crawl on.
I planted brussels sprouts in the spring, but they did not fare well during the hot summer months. I read that brussels sprouts do well in colder temps, so I decided to give it another go. To keep my brussel sprouts some company, I planted a row of carrots in between the sprouts.
I also planted radish in the spring but didn’t care for the flavor of it, so I planted a different variety of radish this fall in hopes it will taste better. This is Easter Egg Blend radish.
Lettuce is about the easiest vegetable to grow! I’m waiting for these butter crunch lettuce to get a bit bigger, then I plan to make a beet apple walnut salad. My kids have also been requesting turkey sandwiches for school lunch, just so they can have fresh lettuce with it.
Along with my fall plants, I am ready to harvest the last of my summer vegetables, including these leeks. Leek potato soup is on the menu this week! You can also spy swiss chard in this picture, which I mostly use in breakfast smoothies (ssshhh the kids don’t know this!).
My neighbor gave me this horseradish plant which I planted in May. Before I harvest this, I need to do some research. I was told by a fellow gardener that I will need goggles and rubber gloves, sounds a little intimidating! I’m planning on making horseradish sauce to go with our prime rib Thanksgiving dinner.
Here is the sad pathetic state of my tomato plants. As you can see, I still have alot of good tomato’s to pick. The roots in these plants were too strong and I had to use my husbands brute strength to pull these out. I canned and froze homemade tomato and pasta sauce and am really not in the mood to do anymore canning. I even used Mavis’s amazing heirloom pasta sauce recipe. Maybe I’ll muster up some will power this week and do one more batch of tomato sauce.
This acorn squash plant volunteered itself. I have never planted acorn squash before, so it is a mystery to me where these came from. But I’ll take it! I’m going to be making stuffed acorn squash with them.
Thanks for letting me share my fall garden with you! You can follow more of my urban gardening adventures on my blog journal from a not quite urban homestead.
~ Henrietta from the Pacific Northwest
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Earlene says
Quick question, I live in northern Wisconsin, so with that in mind do rutabaga grow well here or parsnips?? Where would I check ??
Earlene says
Do you know anything about growing rutabaga? On northern Wisconsin?
Earlene says
Sorry I didn’t see my first question.
Deborah from FL says
My understanding is that they love the cold. Assuming you’re in zones 1-4, that is. Colder than that, I don’t know.
If you don’t know your zone, check http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/.
Once you know your zone, you just have to look up info on plants related to that zone.
Hope that helps. 🙂
Kari says
I had a similar experience with volunteers. I keep getting volunteer cantaloupe, although I had never planted it. My guess they came from the compost that didn’t fully “cook.”
Henrietta says
I have never put acorn squash in my compost before, so I don’t think it came from my compost. Good idea though.
Teckla says
I haven’t actually grown and processed horseradish, although I believe my mother did at one time. But yes, everything I’ve ever heard is that it can be very, very pungent and require gloves and caution. Just think about how hot commercial horseradish is, even after all they do to it. Doing a little research should pay off well for you and still give you an awesome Thanksgiving dinner! Enjoy!
Lisa Millar says
Love all the raised garden beds! So much happening in there.
I totally understand the reluctance to do MORE with tomatoes after processing what seems like a million of them!
I end up freezing a lot when I am over it. That way during winter I can dig out a container of tomatoes and make a fresh batch of relish or sauce or whatever!
I envy those who can do winter gardens! I somehow fail each time!! 😀
Enjoyed reading about yours!!
Brianna Lytle says
My dad was obsessed with horseradish when I was growing up! We would go digging in a friends pasture and toss them in the back of the truck. I remember him in the driveway peeling it and putting it in a food processor to grind it. He then would place it in canning jars and put it in the freezer. I don’t remember what all he added to it, but it was incredibly strong compared to anything your would get in a store and a little big goes a long way. My mother always made him process it outside and he had a specific food processor, knife, peeler, etc. for it since she claimed the flavor and smell would linger forever on anything it touched. Goggles and disposable thick rubber gloves are a necessity and keep your fingers away from your mucus membranes!
KC says
One note on the horseradish: I’ve heard it’s invasive, so get *all* that root out, or you may have some multiplication going on next spring…
janet in woodway says
Your raised beds are awesome, thanks for sharing. Be sure to keep us posted on the horseradish sauce. I remember my Dad telling a story of his mom cooking it on the wood burning stove and he lifted the lid and inhaled and passed out. I don’t know if was true but he loved to tell that story.
Henrietta says
Oh my, loving all these stories of horseradish! I’ll be sure I won’t pass out, lol.
Deborah from FL says
When I saw your raised beds, my heart skipped a beat. It’s the makings of my dream garden. Unfortunately for me, I’m disabled and living on disability, so purchasing these premade is beyond my budget and I’ve been unsuccessful (so far! I’m very determined!) trying to entice anyone into building me one (or 2!). So I have to settle for containers and kiddie pools. HA!
Thank you, Henrietta, for allowing me to live vicariously through you. Your gardens are absolutely wonderful! 🙂
Henrietta says
Hi Deborah! This makes me sad, if I were in Florida, I would totally help you!!! This past spring we held a make your own garden bed class for my friends. Have you tried looking for a local gardening facebook group? I’m sure you have one in your area, maybe you can try looking there for some help?
Deborah from FL says
Thanks for the kind thoughts. I have looked into local groups, both facebook and “real world,” but they seem to focus on flower (I’m an edibles gal!), or are more about the social, less about the gardening. But it’s okay, I know that if it’s meant to be, it will all come together. In the meantime, I keep my eyes open. 😉
Mandy Mascaro says
I loved your raised beds Henrietta. Can you tell me what plans you used to make them? I’m planning on starting a garden this coming spring for the first time ever and I want to do raised beds. And I love the look of yours.
Henrietta says
Hi Mandy! Let me put together some info and I’ll send it your way later this week. I’ll post a link to this comment later in the week with our plans. They were pretty easy to make.