"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant."
Robert Louis Stevenson




Saturday, September 24, 2011

Winter Garden 2011 "We Have Sprouts"

We planted the 3 raised beds last Saturday, September 17th with our winter crops.  We already have lots of goodies sprouting.

Bed Number One
 In this bed, I have planted 2 rows of Bright Lights Swiss Chard from (Botanical Interests) which I started a few months back so I would have a head start on this green, which I love!  Also planted in this bed is 7 rows of Organic Early Wonder Beets and 3 rows of Organic Lacinato or Dino Kale. I will plant more Kale on my east bank next week as I will need a lot more than 3 short rows. We eat a lot of greens, just about everyday.
Bed Number Two
In this bed I have all my lettuces. I have planted 2 rows each of Mesclun, Asian Salad, Rocket Arugula, Farmer's Market Blend of Mesclun, Mache, Leaf Lettuce, Red Sails Lettuce, Oak Leaf Lettuce and 2 rows of Bright Lights Swiss Chard; same as in my first bed but I planted seeds here. All the seeds in this bed are from Botanical Interests.  

Already lots of little sprouts are showing their faces, as if to say "Here we are ready to help you have a healthy heart"
Bed Number Three
 In the third bed I have planted 4 rows of Snow Peas, 3 rows of Heirloom Kohlrabi 3 rows of Heirloom Rutabaga and 3 rows of Organic Tyee Spinach.  

I still need to plant a package of Easter Egg Blend Radishes, Watercress, Sorrel and more Cilantro. We were lucky this summer to have cooler than normal temperatures and my Parsley is still growing; only a few have sent up seed heads so I may get by without having to plant more seeds. I have seen a few sprouts popping up amongst the stone pathway that leads to the herb garden so I think I will have plenty for winter.

I also purchased a pony pack of Brussels Sprouts and will plant these six on the east bank as soon as the San Marzano tomatoes are finished. I am still picking tomatoes from these plants even though our temperatures have dropped to the high 50's at night. If you only plant one tomato, make it a San Marzano . You will not be disappointed!  Take a look at a few of my tomato sauce jars I canned this year. I also canned my own juice.
San Marzano Tomato Sauce
 Juice ready for the jars!
Peppers picked today and ready for roasting
Pink Grapefruit
Yellow Grapefruit
Lemon Tree
We are picking lots of Pink Grapefruit, Yellow Grapefruit and Lemons now, too. Oh, I forgot I made Preserved Lemons.  You can find out how to do this by visiting Emelie Tolley's Blog.  She is the author of two of the herb books you see on my blog photo.

Try to remember the kind of September ...
when life was slow and oh, so mellow. ...
Enjoy your final September Days!


13 comments:

  1. While your other garden harvest is most impressive, I am most impressed by home grown citrus fruit. Your home grown grapefruit and lemons must just be the best.

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  2. What beautiful produce!! Wish I lived near I think I'd grab a grapefruit when you weren't looking :)

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  3. Your harvest is so impressive and I am so envious of your year round gardening climate. Just got through pouring over your tomato review and many other of your wonderful posts! ~Lili

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  4. Saw your post on Nutrimirror..... congrats to your garden. I'm envious. This year I've had a hard time with seeds, just as they sprout the greens disappear. We have a lot of squirels, racoons, skunks, etc. since we are near the foothills in northern California just north of San Jose. So as soon as my tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers are done I'm going to pull those beds out so we can install the green house my husband bought me earlier this year so hopefully we can have veggies all year long. good luck with your winter garden.

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  5. Forgot to mention we're canning Golden Delicous apples right now and Granny Smith's are just starting to fall, so that's next. Our tomatoes have just started ripening and looks like they will all ripen at once, so canning those are just down the road. Made my first batch of tomato sausce last night. It was so much better that what I've made from store bought tomato paste.

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  6. Ann, you are welcome to all the grapefruit you can eat. The two of us never eat all that these two trees produce for us.

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  7. Suzi, I wish you lived closer too. I could fill your arms with goodies.

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  8. Lili, thank you for stopping by and visiting my garden blog.

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  9. Marilyn, a green house would be a great idea for you. I hope you share some pictures of it when you get it up and ready.

    I know what you mean about the tomato sauce. There is no comparison to sauce made fresh from the garden tomatoes.

    We have one apple tree but most of those are eaten by birds. I keep it just for them. Lucky for us Julian Apple Days is next weekend so we can head up to the mountains and pick some apples too. I look forward to making applesauce and apple butter.

    I'm so happy you stopped in for a visit!

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  10. Oh you are having such a great harvest! It all looks divine.

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  11. Thank you Carolyn. We are so grateful to mother earth for providing us with such abundance. And with so little effort on our part.

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  12. Carla,

    This is the first year I have grown citrus, but yours looks to be about a month ahead of mine here in the desert southwest.

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  13. Hi L. Ambler,
    Yes, we have been picking these for a couple of months now. Our trees are about 30 years old. The older they get the more fruit you will have.

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Thank you for taking time to visit my blog, I love hearing from you, stay as long as you like, Carla