Tag: carrots

Garden Update – December

On December 6, 2020

December is here already! It is definitely starting to feel like winter and the weather has been changing a lot this past month. We have had lots of rain and on clear days the temperature routinely gets down to freezing at night. Despite this, I am still working in the garden on the few sunny days we have. Here is what has been going on in the garden this month:

Getting the Garden Ready for Winter

The main thing I have been working on is putting the garden “to bed” for the winter. I covered the garden with a thick layer of leaves from our trees and covered it with a tarp. The tarp helps to hold the leaves in place so they do not blow away. Also, it prevents soil erosion and leeching of nutrients from the heavy rains. The worms will be very happy and hopefully by spring most of the leaves will start to break down into the soil.

Cover the garden with leaves — We cover our garden with a layer of leaves. They will break down over the winter and add organic matter to the soil.

Garden covered with leaves and a tarp — After the leaves are on we covered our garden area with a tarp to hold them in place.

Worms in the leaves — Look at all these worms! They will help to break down the leaves over time.

Garlic

I planted our garlic at the beginning of October. We had some very nice weather and it grew about four inches tall by November. Since the weather is colder now it has slowed its growth. I mulched around the garlic shoots with leaves. Since I covered much of my garden with a tarp over the winter, I put some overturned buckets and a crate over my garlic so the tarp (and heavy rainwater) would not be sitting directly on the plants. I will uncover them in the early spring when temperature warm and growth begins.

Related Post: How to Plant Garlic in the Fall

Garlic growing in December — Since I covered our garden with a tarp over the winter, an overturned crate or bucket will prevent the tarp (and heavy rainwater) from sitting directly on the plants.

Peas

My peas are still doing great! They are about 12-18 tall now and very healthy. Yesterday we had temperatures in the high 20’s and a hard frost. The peas looked fine as soon as the frost melted later in the day. Although peas should be hardy down to about 20 degrees, I will cover them with a blanket if the temperatures get down to the mid-20’s or below because I do not want to chance any damage. I am looking forward to earlier peas in the spring!

Related post: How to Overwinter Peas

Overwinter peas in garden — Our peas are doing great despite some heavy frosts. I am already looking forward to our peas next spring!

Carrots

Our carrots are one of the few crops still in the ground. We have just a few carrots left this season, which is a real treat. Storing them in the ground has kept them crisp and crunchy. It is nice knowing that I can go outside and dig some fresh carrots whenever I need them!

Blackberries

My blackberries have gone dormant for the winter and have lost some of their leaves. We had some strong winds that blew the canes off of their trellis so I had to go outside and carefully wrap the canes back around the wires.

Several weeks ago I decided to start a few new blackberry plants, so I allowed them to root both in a pot and in a new area in my planting bed. You can read more about propagating blackberries here.

Propagate blackberries — It is very easy to propagate blackberries! Here I started one in a pot for a friend.

Raspberries

Our raspberries have stopped growing for the year and they have lost most of their leaves. I planted them a year and a half ago as an experiment and they took off and did much better than expected! I do not have a permanent trellis for them yet (one of my projects for next year!) so I put them in tomato cages to keep the canes off of the ground. That seems to do the job, although they do not look too pretty. I pruned away some of the excess shoots as I was putting them in the tomato cages so the plants are not overcrowded. The raspberries look very healthy and I am looking forward to a large harvest next summer!

Raspberry canes in tomato cages — Tomato cages are helping to keep my raspberry canes off of the ground this winter. I plan to make a permanent trellis next year.

Final Thoughts

It has been a slower month around here and nice to finish up some last gardening chores for the year. Have you been doing anything in your garden this December? Let me know in the comments below!

As always, Happy Gardening!

Garden Update – November

By Mandy

On November 2, 2020

In Gardening

The weather is getting COLD! We had our first freeze here in Oregon at the end of October, which is about a month ahead of schedule. I have been preparing my garden for the winter and finishing up for the year. Here’s what’s happening in the garden this month:

Carrots

Carrots are one of the few crops still in the ground. We have quite a few carrots left this season, which is a real treat. I like to leave them in the ground because it acts like a big refrigerator, keeping them crisp and crunchy to use over the winter. Although the tops are starting to die back, the roots are big and healthy. It is nice knowing that I can go outside and dig some fresh carrots whenever I need them!

Bolero carrots and Purple Haze Carrots — Beautiful home grown freshly dug carrots! Purple Haze and Bolero are shown here.

Purple Haze Carrots — Purple Haze carrots are absolutely beautiful! They are crispy and sweet too!

Garlic

I planted our garlic at the beginning of October. We had some very nice weather and it has green shoots that are already a few inches tall! Next year I will plant it a little later to prevent this because the green shoots make the bulbs more susceptible to winter injury. I will continue to mulch around them with leaves to insulate and protect them over the winter.

Related Post: How to Plant Garlic in the Fall

Garlic in November — My garlic is about 4 inches high now. I will mulch around the shoots to protect them over the winter.

Peas

My peas are doing great! They are about a foot tall now and very healthy. The slugs and snails have been bothering them a little so I have been putting some slug bait out to take care of the problem. I will mulch around them as soon as the weather gets colder. I am looking forward to earlier peas next year!

Related post: How to Overwinter Peas

Popcorn

We had so much fun this year growing popcorn! We harvested it last month and then let the cobs dry in the garage for a few weeks before removing the kernels. My kids enjoyed helping with this part!

Since the seeds were still not all of the way dry yet, I spread them out on a big pan and set them on top of the cabinets where they would not be disturbed so they could continue to dry. I tested a few kernels every few days until they popped well. Then I transferred them to pint jars for longer term storage.

We got around 4 cups of popcorn kernels from our small 4 x 4 inch raised bed, which does not include the 10 or so ears that we saved for decoration around the house. It was such a fun thing to include in our garden this year!

Getting the Garden Ready for Winter

I have been starting to rake leaves and scatter them over the garden. I also spread some lawn clippings around to enrich the soil for next year. Once all of the leaves have fallen at the end of November I will cover most of the garden (but not where I have things planted) with a large tarp to help hold the leaves in place so the worms can go to work! As much as I love working in the garden, I am looking forward to a few months off!

Are you done with your gardening chores for the year? Let me know how things are going in the comments below. As always, Happy Gardening!