When it’s not covered by the white stuff, the garden is still green and yielding a limited selection of fresh produce for the kitchen. Kale, collards, broccoli, turnip greens, Swiss Chard, spinach, arugula, leeks, and a few other hardy fall vegetables.

Still Harvesting Hardy Fall Vegetables from the Garden!

You won’t see the rapid growth and production of summer, but the leafy greens will hold better in the garden than they would in the refrigerator. And it’s great to have the option of harvesting a few leaves of fresh garden produce to supplement store bought vegetables. You can reap a surprising amount of nutritious greens from the garden in spite of the weather.

One trick is to hold off harvesting leafy vegetables when they are frozen solid in the garden. Instead wait for a break in weather conditions and allow the leaves to thaw out before you pick and bring them indoors. Unlike the summertime when it’s best to harvest greens during the cooler morning hours, winter forces the gardener to delay harvesting until the warmer times of the day or week.

Not all the plants are enjoying the rush into winter. The globe artichoke and cardoon plants have wilted under the cold conditions and are begging to be cut back and covered with something to keep them warm and dry until spring returns. Those Mexican Sage plants have also concluded their colorful display of flowers, the blueberry plants have shed their fiery red leaves, and you’d be hard pressed to find any herbs still standing in the garden beds.

Wrapping up a few Plants and Other Loose Ends

I did leave a small potted bay laurel plant on the patio and it has surprised me with its ability to withstand the frigid conditions. It will soon join the pampered six foot tall bay plant that was moved into the house weeks ago. A container grown fig tree is also waiting to be relocated to a corner of the garage where it will reside until spring returns.

The portable cold frames weren’t deployed into the garden this fall but I did plant an assortment of kale and other leafy greens into the main cold frame and they seem to be growing nicely now that the caterpillar worms are no longer an issue.

Yes, my duties outside in the garden are just about done for the season. There’s a bed of garlic to mulch, a pond to winterize, and a few more leaves to rake, but that’s about it. Now if the weather cooperates, I’ll be content to continue harvesting leafy greens until I come up with a few indoor gardening activities to bide my time till spring.

“I had such a good crop of Fireball garlic last year that I used some of the best cloves for planting last week. Hope that it works. Have others saved their own bulbs or are you buying new ones every year?”

Saving the Best of Your Garlic Harvest for Seed Stock

It doesn’t get any simpler in terms of seed saving than to sort through your garlic harvest and select the largest and best looking bulbs to become the seed stock for future garlic generations. But it does sometimes require a bit of discipline to resist cannibalizing those prized garlic bulbs that must be set aside and reserved for seed!

While most gardeners want to use super sized bulbs for planting stock, some argue that the medium sized bulbs are just as good and maybe even a better choice for planting. I’m OK with using either as seed stock, but reject any dwarfed cloves from the seed quality bulbs and send them off to become salsa or guacamole instead of seed.

One caution when saving garlic seed is to ensure that all of the garlic bulbs designated as seed stock come from healthy plants that grew free of any sign of disease. Plant viruses are common in the garlic world and infected bulbs are perfectly fine for eating, but are best avoided when it comes to selecting your garlic seed.

Diagnosing, Managing, and Controlling Garlic Viruses

That’s easier said than done because the signs of disease aren’t always obvious and can be easily overlooked. Garlic viruses sometimes make themselves known by the appearance of stunted plants, misshapen leaves, and poor growth in the field.

Other times diseased crops may be revealed by slightly yellowed or discolored leaves, smaller sized bulbs at harvest, or garlic that stores poorly. While the presence of a virus in the garlic seed won’t automatically doom your crop, if you have doubts about the health of the seed I would recommend starting your next planting with good quality seed stock obtained from a reputable garlic seed supplier.

I’m obsessive about rotating my garlic beds so that the crop doesn’t grow in the same spot more often than once every four or five years. You needn’t worry over the following concerns that Josh expressed regarding crossing though: “If I plant potato onions next to gourmet garlic is there any threat of the two crossing to make some sort of hybrid plant?”

Other Considerations for Saving and Maintaining Garlic Seed

There’s no pollination necessary in the sex life or reproduction of garlic, so there’s no risk of garlic crossing with nearby shallots or potato onions. In fact you don’t even have to worry about different varieties of garlic crossing with each other in the garden, and no separation or isolation is required to save and maintain pure seed stock.

As far as using garlic from the supermarket for seed, I always advise against it with good reason. First, the seed may have been treated to discourage it from sprouting, but more importantly obtaining specialty seed affords the opportunity to explore and experience the wide assortment of flavors and types of gourmet garlic varieties rather than settle for the single softneck variety that is likely to be stocked by your local grocer.

After harvesting and curing garlic I store the bulbs indoors until it’s time to replant them in the fall. Keep them in a cool, dry, location, but never refrigerate garlic. Also, you shouldn’t remove the wrappers or separate the cloves until just before you are ready to plant the garlic seed out into the garden.

Custom Crafted Gourmet Garlic Strains from Your Garden

Saving garlic for seed is an easy way to multiply and propagate your gourmet garlic crop while eliminating the expense of purchasing garlic seed every year. I admit that I frequently purchase a portion of my garlic seed stock anyway, just to try out some new and different gourmet garlic varieties that are out there.

Saving your own seed also has the advantages of enabling you to develop superior garlic strains; as the garlic will become better acclimated to the specific climate and growing conditions present in your own backyard.

Even if you haven’t saved a single seed before, there’s little downside to reserving the best of your garlic harvest to use as the seed for next season’s crop of gourmet garlic!

The gourmet garlic varieties planted out included Music, German White, Ukrainian Red, and Italian Purple. Over a hundred cloves went into a section of the garden measuring about 15 feet long by 4 feet wide. A dozen potato onion bulbs were planted alongside the garlic in the end of the bed.

Preparing the Garden for Planting Garlic Seed

The garlic bed occupies the same area that played host to my heirloom tomatoes during the heat of summer. After the tomato plants were removed I planted a quick cover crop of rye that grew to four inches tall before it was turned under to make way for the garlic to be planted.

I usually don’t bother planting a cover crop between the summer veggies and the fall garlic but decided to put the raised beds brief down time to productive use this fall. After turning and allowing the cover crop to decompose a bit, the soil in bed was loosened to a depth of about eight inches with a digging fork.

The area was also enriched with the addition of an inch or so of compost that was scratched into the top layer of soil prior to planting the garlic cloves. Late September to early October is the proper time to set out fall planted garlic here in my growing region.

The objective is to get substantial root growth but little or no leaf growth from the garlic cloves before winter sends the plants into hibernation. So how will you know that your garlic seed has germinated if there’s no sign of growth above ground? You won’t, but garlic seed germinates pretty reliably, so just relax and have faith that those roots are growing and preparing the plants for an explosion of green leafy growth as soon as spring arrives!

Sowing Gourmet Garlic Seed in the Backyard Garden

Garlic grows extremely well in raised beds with an intensive spacing pattern. Rather than planting the seeds in traditional rows, I use a grid like pattern that spaces the plants an equal distance apart in each direction. The garlic seed is planted far enough apart so that the plants are separated by a distance of six to eight inches.

An easy way to eyeball your garlic spacing is to lay out all of the separated seed cloves on top of the ground so that you can space them evenly. Once the seeds are positioned it’s a snap to go back and plant the cloves without worrying where you left off, or where you have already planted seed.

The cloves should be set one to two inches deep. I use a trowel to pry open a planting slit that is then half filled with an amendment of compost, worm castings, and a little bone meal. The garlic seed clove is then gently pressed down into the welcoming soil, pointed end up of course.

It Doesn’t Get Any Easier than Growing Garlic in the Garden

Fill in the hole and the hardest parts of growing garlic are behind you because this is such an easy and rewarding crop to grow in the home garden. A thick mulch of shredded leaves or straw will be applied after the ground begins to freeze to protect the plants over the winter and prevent weed growth next spring when the plants send up leaf growth.

Of course you could wait and plant your garlic seed next spring but then you lose out on the advantage that fall rooted garlic plants provide in late winter when they are all ready to start growing. Some varieties are also thought to develop superior flavors after being exposed to a harsh, cold winter in the ground.

I’ve yet to see a garlic bed attacked by any type of insect and my biggest problem with wildlife has come from rabbits. They don’t eat the plants but can become a pest as they run through the beds toppling the plants as they go. Battling the bunnies is a small price to pay for the large and delicious homegrown garlic bulbs harvested in mid summer from fall planted seed.

Composting worms are the perfect breed of livestock for the gardener who wants to raise a little more than fruits, vegetables, and herbs in the backyard. The worms won’t put meat on the dinner table but they’ll happily recycle your kitchen waste and turn it into a rich, organic plant food known as worm castings.

It’s Time to Open a “Can-O-Worms”

I was fortunate enough to inherit a four-story worm bin, complete with red wriggler composting worms when a co-worker relocated out of state this summer (thanks Gretchen)! I’ve written about the perks of vermiculture and worm castings here in the past but this was my first attempt at vermicomposting.

The worms spent the summer contentedly out on the patio but this weekend I decided it was time to bring them indoors for the winter. The transition gave me a perfect excuse to tear things apart and take a close look at what was happening inside the worm bin. The experience was very similar to inspecting a colony of bees inside of a hive.

While there isn’t the same level of complexity, communication, and organization that the bees employ, the worms do enjoy their own sense of community and teamwork. My bin has four stackable trays in which the worms are free to roam around as they forage for food, mate, lay eggs, and do whatever other things worms do.

Touring a Deluxe Multi-Level Worm Condo

The lower level of the bin was full of finished worm castings along with a surprising number of earthworms in every stage of their development; full grown adults, juveniles, new hatchlings, and freshly laid eggs or worm cocoons. I had assumed that all but a few stragglers had abandoned this section of the worm bin to move up to greener pastures but I was wrong.

The second level of the bin was empty except for the commuters traveling up or down to reach the other levels so there wasn’t much to see in this section. The third level is where I thought all the action would be taking place because this is where I had been depositing table scraps and yard waste all summer long to feed the hungry beasts.

A giant overgrown zucchini, water hyacinths out of the pond, those mysteriously half eaten tomatoes left on the vines, weeds yanked from the garden, and other assorted organic yard matter joined the kitchen waste and shredded strips of paper that made their way into the third level to be assaulted in a piranha-like feeding frenzy.

Warning: Compost Under Construction, Do Not Disturb!

It was amazing to see just how quickly the worms were able to devour whatever came their way and convert it into the black crumbly gold of rich worm castings! Unlike bees, it wasn’t possible to actually watch them work because they retreat from sight and disappear the second that a tray is exposed to any light. That led to some interesting bouts of peak-a-boo and hide-and-go-seek between the worms and myself.

The top tray of the bin was a wasteland of dried leaves, stalks, and debris that the worms didn’t seem to be taking much interest in. The only sign of life in this tray was from light colored, threadlike strands of baby worms that you had to look really close to notice. Guess these youngins were still finding their way around, figuring out up from down, and learning what’s good or bad.

After exploring the can-o-worms bin, I spent the rest of the afternoon separating worms from castings. The job was made a lot easier by the worm’s determination to avoid the light of day and move away and down deeper as each thin layer of castings was gently scraped away. They could only run so far until eventually I was left with nothing but a twisted mass of wriggling worms.

Relocating the Composting Worms Indoors for the Winter

Sorting through the castings you could clearly notice some areas containing concentrations of adult worms and others with pockets of barely discernible baby worms. I tried my best to save every single worm but I know that some of the adults and many of the babies will be going off to the garden when I add the castings to bed that I just finished preparing to plant the fall garlic in later this week.

Once the worm bin was cleaned, castings removed, and everything reassembled, order was restored as I divided the worms onto the top of two of the trays where a smorgasbord of delightful organic waste awaited them. Then the entire production was moved indoors to a corner of the room used for propagation and seed starting activities.

I have to admit that I’m very impressed with these red wriggler composting worms and the work that they are doing in their bin. They seem to be healthy and multiplying, with little effort on my part beyond feeding them garbage. Now I’ll see how it goes in the house and over the winter for my small livestock and worm farming operation.

Not that I have anything agaist autumn, it’s actually my favorite growing season in the vegetable garden, but I don’t look forward to cold, snow and icy conditions that follow it at all.

“Are You Still Planting Out There?”

A neighbor looked over at the garden a couple weeks ago and was surprised to find that I was still working and planting like it was springtime. I was busy thinning turnips, transplanting kale seedlings, and sowing seeds of mesclun, mache, spinach, winter cress, and other cold hardy vegetables.

With a little luck the garden will continue growing and yielding produce through the month of December here in the Zone 6 region of Central Pennsylvania. The only summer crops remaining in the ground are a couple of tomatillos, sweet potato vines that are rambling out of control, and various frost-tender herbs like basil and epazote.

I’m anxious to dig the unusual variety of Japanese Sweet Potatoes that I planted for the first time this summer so that I can see how well they performed. Based on the size and appearance of the vines I’m envisioning football sized tubers… but hope I’m not disappointed and embarrassed to find pencil thin roots come harvest time!

Fall and Winter Vegetable Production

The rest of the garden is devoted to producing fall vegetable crops such as broccoli, cabbages, turnips, lettuce, kale, collards, mustard, Swiss Chard, spinach, and oriental greens. Attractive accents are provided by the Mexican Sage that is preparing to bloom and a couple of huge cardoon plants.

The next gardening project will be to plant garlic seed, shallots, and potato onions, which will go in some time this week. A few new additions of ornamental edibles to the garden that were planted recently included a couple of juneberries, several filbert trees, and another elderberry plant.

The Season for Taking it Slow and Easy in the Garden

The cold frames are also being prepped and seeded to provide extended harvests of leafy greens into the winter season. Despite the volume of produce growing in the garden, fall is a much more laid back time for the vegetable gardener. The garden thrives with little in the way of attention and the main activities are planting and harvesting.

Plants grow slower, including the weeds which are much less of a threat these days. The cooler temperatures, combined with the shorter days and fall precipitation means that there’s little need to spend time irrigating the garden. Harvesting is even less demanding since most of the veggies mature slowly and will hold in the garden over longer periods.

I’m not ready to cease my gardening activities just yet, so thank God there are plenty of veggies that enjoy the fall growing conditions and will yield delicious produce for a good while longer!

Okay, maybe it wasn’t so dangerous, and most of the Paw Paw trees were actually fairly tame and cultivated varieties rather than those growing wild, but it was still a new and interesting experience for most of our group. The BYFG Paw Paw tours take place each fall but this was my first opportunity to attend the annual outing.

Introducing the Unusual and Rare Paw Paw Tree

If you’re not familiar with the Paw Paw don’t feel bad because they’re pretty uncommon and seldom find their way into the typical backyard landscape. They do grow wild in Pennsylvania and other areas on the East Coast, with a range that extends down into the southern states.

Paw Paws are a medium sized, upright growing tree with large dark green leaves, and clusters of fruit that ripen early in the fall season. The tree is attractive and often takes on a pyramid like shape with a wide base narrowing to a peak at the top.

There are many different varieties of Paw Paws including; Sunflower, Mango, Collins Select, Pennsylvania Golden, Davis, and Rebecca’s Gold. Growers are also currently working to develop new varieties of Paw Paws in attempts to improve its growth, quality, and productivity.

Cultivating Paw Paw’s in the Home Garden

For a plant that grows wild you would think that it would be a cinch to raise Paw Paws in the back yard or garden. Unfortunately that isn’t necessarily the case. While some gardeners are quite successful cultivating this fruit, others struggle with the temperamental and painfully slow growing plant.

The first challenge for the gardener is due to the Paw Paws odd cultural requirements. The plant does not take well at all to being transplanted. Then the young seedling grows best in a shady location, but for fruiting and mature growth the plant prefers to be situated in full sunshine.

So transplant paw paws with the root ball intact, provide temporary shade for the juvenile plant, grow the tree in a spot where it will receive full sun when it matures and finally, make sure your patience is high because this is a very slow growing and maturing fruit.

It appears that the location and growing environment are key considerations and that the trees appreciate a nearby water source such as a stream or spring. The paw paw seems to tolerate sharing its space with other trees, will grow in forested areas, and will spread by way of underground runners to expand its territory and produce new offspring.

Strange Sights and Odors in the Paw Paw Patch

A mature paw paw tree can grow over twenty-five feet tall but it may take a decade to reach such lofty heights. You can enjoy your first fruits in less than half that time though, with puny little five foot tall paw paw trees straining to support a paltry crop of heavy and full-sized fruits.

Paw Paws are also “unique” when it comes to their pollination requirements. You typically need more than one variety for pollination and paw paw flowers are described as being “dark and stinky” so good luck in getting a bee to go anywhere near this tree!

Instead paw paws are dependent on flies and beetles to do the dirty work necessary for their pollination. Some paw paw enthusiasts place road killed carcasses near their trees to help draw in the pollinators, but I think I’d test my skill at hand pollinating before resorting to more drastic measures!

Sweet Rewards for the Adventurous Fruit Seeker

If all of this paw paw discussion sounds really, really strange don’t worry, things aren’t about to change at the end of the tale. Paw paw fruits look a little bit like an elongated mango with a creamy yellow or white pulp inside. They are ripe when they begin to soften and should not be removed from the tree prior to that stage. The fruit will also fall from the tree as the ripen.

Ripe paw paw fruits are very aromatic and will quickly fill the room with an exotic and fruity aroma. Most paw paw admirers search them out or grow them not for an ornamental display, but because of the tasty fruit that’s not easy to describe or draw comparisons to.

The best comparison would be with something that’s not a fruit at all… a rich, colorful, sweet flavored custard; that’s exactly how I would describe the texture and flavor of the paw paw’s flesh. I personally like them but at least one of my co-workers that I shared the fruits with had a very different reaction and opinion (but I have to give her credit for trying it)!

Maybe it was the texture and odd consistency that she wasn’t prepared for. All I can say is that paw paws must be pretty delicious — either that or a lot of people are just as peculiar as this fruit is to go through all the effort to forage or cultivate this uncommon plant.

That’s a dilemma that many backyard gardeners are faced with at this time of year and the solution often calls for some rather ruthless decisions and drastic actions… Do you pull out the old to make room for new crops, or do you delay planting and take the risk of running short of growing season to mature those cold hardy fall vegetables?

Growing into the Fall Gardening Season

After all, timing is critical and the changing seasons are unpredictable when it comes to forecasting frosts, hard freezes, and other weather conditions. Then there’s the matter of decreasing day lengths and the reduced levels of sunlight that are the major villains disrupting plant growth and creating a roadblock for the fall gardener.

Personally, mid to late summer is the time of year that I’m looking for excuses to free up garden space for my precious fall vegetable garden, and nothing is sacred that’s left growing in the summer beds. Any slackers, under performers, or has beens are destined either for the dinner table or the compost heap.

I can always count on the raised bed vacated by the gourmet garlic, shallots, and multiplier onions that are harvested each summer to free up gardening real estate in time for planting broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and collard transplants, but I need much more growing space for all of the other fall and winter veggies!

Tough Love Out there in the Vegetable Beds

Are those Royalty Purple Podded beans finished producing yet? Then it’s time for them to go! The Blacktail Mountain watermelons are early producers but will they really ripen additional melons this season? Nope, so they’re goners also! Is that Golden Zucchini plant wilting from a virus? Are the heirloom eggplants surrendering to the flea beetles? And is that a Cilantro plant that I see bolting and going to seed? Hmmm!

The heirloom tomato plants just hate when I look in their direction, but they are safe for at least a few more weeks, maybe longer since their territory is reserved for raising fall planted garlic, which won’t go into the ground until sometime in October. Although I could always put in a quick cover crop if the tomato plants decide to relax and stop ripening those tasty fruits any time soon.

Now is when all of the garden planning and management really pays off; grouping crops with similar growth habits and maturities together means that you can more efficiently clear and replant entire beds or sections of the garden rather than become handicapped with smaller growing areas scattered here and there.

The Joys of Growing Veggies during the Autumn Season

Fall really can be the ultimate season for enjoying the garden and producing loads of delicious winter vegetables. Fewer insect pests, decreased weed growth, pleasant temperatures, and a reduced need for irrigation create ideal conditions for both the garden and the gardener!

Vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels Sprouts will only reach their full potential when raised as a fall crop in many growing regions. And others such as kale, collards, and parsnips will become sweeter and have their flavors enhanced following exposure to the seasoning effects of frost and cold weather.

It may prove to be a difficult choice for some gardeners to make, but I’ll gladly sacrifice a few weeks of declining production from selected summer crops in order to cultivate a fall garden that will be productive throughout autumn and right into the winter months.

This fall vegetable gardening article has been submitted as part of the Problogger Group Writing Project.

In short, foliar fertilization is the process of feeding plants through their leaves rather than going the slower route of delivering nutrients through the soil for absorption by the root system. Plant leaves are very effective at absorbing nutrients and making them available for plant growth.

Using Foliar Fertilizers in the Organic Garden

While it’s not a substitute for building a healthy, fertile, garden soil; foliar fertilization is a great supplement for providing an extra boost to your plants in the midst of the growing season. Or to provide specific nutrients such as phosphorous at the time needed to promote flowering and fruiting.

In addition to supplying nutrients and trace elements, foliar fertilizers are considered to be beneficial in easing drought stresses, and in keeping plants strong and healthy enough to help resist insect infestations.

Organic fertilizers are typically mixed with water to form a very dilute solution that is then applied with a garden sprayer, or even a misting bottle depending on the size of your garden. You have many options to explore when it comes to choosing the organic fertilizer to be used in your foliar fertilization program.

Popular Choices for Foliar Fertilization

Here are some of the organic fertilizers and plant growth enhancers that can be applied as a foliar spray in the garden. They can be used individually or combined to create your own custom blends.

• Kelp Seaweed Extracts
• Fish Emulsion
• Compost Tea
• Organic Bloom Formulas
• Fish & Seaweed Mixtures
• Worm Castings Tea
• Spray-N-Grow
• Liquid Organic Fertilizers

Gardening Tips for Making the Best of Foliar Fertilizers

Because they are intended as a supplement and very diluted, foliars can be applied a couple of times a month during the growing season, or whenever signs indicate the need to address issues with poor growth, plant stresses, or insect pressures. Mix your foliar fertilizer with water in accordance with the product’s labeled instructions.

The best time to apply a foliar fertilizer is during the early morning or late evening hours when the plant’s leaf pores are open and more receptive to taking in nutrients. And of course you wouldn’t want to apply a foliar immediately before a rain storm.

Set your sprayer to deliver the smallest sized droplets of fertilizer solution that the nozzle will allow. It’s also a good idea to add a few drops of a spreader/sticker or wetting agent (such as Coco-Wet or Yucca Extract) before spraying to help break the surface tension and provide for better adhesion of your foliar fertilizers.