This is REALLY bedtime for the garden
Cassandra Corcoran’s Brussel sprouts finally producing. Photo: Cassandra Corcoran
Listening to Martha and Amy Ivy talking about wrapping up the garden for the winter, I’m reminded of how late it is compared to the gardening calendar of the late 20th century when gardens were done—really done—by late September or maybe very early October.
Over the course of the summer and fall, you may have followed our gardening photos from around the region. Cassandra Corcoran in Monkton, Vermont has been one of our most consistent photo contributors. She just sent me some photos from her garden wrap up, which I share with you below, along with a couple of shots from my place.
Over the winter months, send along photos of your garden under snow and ice, or your wilted potted plants on the deck, or any images of “gardening at rest.” And, let me know what seed varieties are tempting to you as the catalogs start arriving.
So, here are Cassandra’s photos which she sent with this message: “Sprouts finally did Brussel. Seems the deer have been nibbling the crowns. We share well here. And I lay in a few bags of bulbs every year–gives me hope for spring. Been great fun sending in photos. Happy winter and looking ahead to bulbs bursting forth.” Indeed!
Butternut squash and seed for next year. Photo: Cassandra Corcoran
Harvesting radish seed. Photo: Cassandra Corcoran
Small garlic patch. Photo: Cassandra Corcoran
Cover crop “gone by.” Photo: Cassandra Corcoran
Looking ahead to spring: planting bulbs. Photo: Cassandra Corcoran
And here are a couple of shots from my place…
I know. There’s still green, and I haven’t blanketed the bare ground with leaves and manure, yet. But there are still lots of carrots and parsnips, some beets and turnips, and arugula and parsley. Photo: Ellen Rocco
In the foreground, a plot of new garden space I’ve been putting manure and old hay on for several years. This spring, it becomes a piece of working garden. Photo: Ellen Rocco
Tags: fall garden, gardening
One of our young friends asked a few weeks ago,”How much time do you guys spend getting ready for winter?” It was an honest enough question, but we both stopped in our tracks for an instant before someone said “200?” The summers crops are long gone…well except for those kale plants, but next years garlic is already in place, so does it ever really end? In these years where the extent of climate change becomes most obvious, we continue…Janet mowed the neighbor’s lawn on Saturday because the grass was tall and the leaves of the poplar tree had finally fallen. “Look at all the mulch I got.” she crows. Just today, I found some new mowed mulch piles along Leroy Street. It’s not just us who’s out there.