garden news-my fall winter garden

 GARDEN NEWS-MY FALL WINTER GARDEN

this is ms b watering the vines that are growing on my trellis fence structure that separates my garden from the harvest prep area next to my garden plot
the trellis fence keeps traffic off my garden and provides support for my sweet peas in the winter and my green beans and christmas lima beans and malabar spinach in the summer

my wife she just made saag paneer from the last of the malabar spinach that grows on the trellis fence
her recipe tastes much better than the one we eat at the local indian restaurants
she uses malabar spinach and its freshly picked that day which gives it a different but better flavor



my garden is made up of 8 slightly raised beds bordered with  native sandstone rocks
each bed is approximately 3 ft x 8 ft is size
the soil is a rich healthy soil that has taken me three years to produce
just this week i reached down with a gloved hand and pulled out a handful of dark rich soil with worms to show a new gardener what garden soil should look like

prior to planting each bed i add a 3-4 inch layer of compost that we make ourself here in the garden

i tend to use unfinished compost since my beds sit empty for a few weeks before they are planted
i add an organic fertilizer on top of this
this is all forked in with a garden fork with tines that are about a foot long
then a solution of fish emulsion seaweed and molasses is added 
this provides nitrogen and minerals and some hormones and the molasses provide a sugar source for the bacteria and fungi of the soil
im sure if you looked at my soil under a microscope it would be teeming with good bacteria and fungi

this is then raked smooth and covered with a layer of pine straw to keep the soil from drying out
it is all kept watered with a drip water system that saves water
i water every 5-7 days
in the winter when we get our rains i turn off the water

when im ready to plant i simply pull back the pine straw dig my hole and drop in the veggie plant 
when i plant the veggies i water it in initially with the solution described above
sometimes i put a handful of my worm compost in my planting hole
im saving all my worm compost for my spring summer plantings

i also put cages of hardware cloth around some of the new plantings to keep away the voles and gophers and birds from eating the new veggies
usually when the veggies get large enough i remove the cages

so here is what i have planted in my garden

in bed 1 on the left side of the garden starting from the bottom of the picture
i have planted brussel sprouts cauliflower celery and soon will plant about 30 leeks in that bed
at the right corner of bed 1 i have multiplying onions planted that will provide green onions all winter long
my dad gave me these about 30 years ago and i have had them in my gardens since
they die down each summer then come back each fall
i brought a few bulbs with me from my garden in texas when we moved

in bed 2 i have planted about 80 onions
these will grow about the size of a big meyer lemon 
in texas these same onions would grow to the size of a softball or grapefruit
its the difference in the climate between here and there
ill harvest these onions in the late spring when the tops fall over
i usually hang them in what i call onion chimes in our garage
this year we put them in the blender to chop them up and froze them in quart ziplock bags
we just used our last onions from last years crop in soup this week

in bed 3 is bok choy red cabbage and more celery
a row of radishes are planted along the front of the bed

in bed 4 the back row on the left of the picture is planted broccoli
as the heads are cut off side shoots grow more smaller broccoli heads 
this should provide us with broccoli most of the winter

in bed 5 the lower bed on the right
there is planted about 80 garlic
the garlic here like the onions dont get as big as they do in texas
in the late spring the leaves turn brown
this is when we harvest them
we weave them up in garlic chains and hang them in our garage
we have two garlics left from last years harvest

in bed 6 is the salad bed
i plant a mix of several different lettuces and spinach and beets that grow all together
i harvest them with a pair of scissors an inch or two above the ground
these will all grow back again several times
also in that bed is planted swiss chard and cilantro

in bed 7 is my cabbage bed
this year i planted mini cabbages 
i will harvest the heads of cabbage with a knife 
the remaining stub of cabbage will grow more smaller cabbage heads for harvest later

in bed 8 is my kale
i planted curly leaf kale dinosaur kale and baby kale
the baby kale is made to be grown in pots 
these kales are used in salads and or soups or stir fries
at the far right of this bed is a long stalk of curly leaf kale from last winter plantings
it should last for two seasons sometimes
we just harvest from its lower leaves and it keeps on producing 
they remind me of little palm trees

on my trellis fence i have growing on half of it sweet peas that grow about 5-8 ft tall
the grandkids love to eat them raw
mr hudson loves them as does ms b
we hope to introduce them to mr n when he gets older
also growing on the end of the fence closer to the bottom of the picture is malabar spinach
it is about done for the year

so this is my fall winter garden that will provide us with lots of fresh veggies this winter

when you eat this fresh produce you realize its worth all the effort it takes to do this garden

the garden is my zen place

the organicgreen doctor