Garden Update 3 - Things Coming To An End

It's been a few weeks since I updated about my garden. It's getting to the point now that I see the end is near. Sadly, this far north you just never know when that first freeze is going to hit. It could be T shirt weather one day and that night you might get your first freeze and wake up to dead plants. I know my plants are still growing slowly, but I am starting to receive less and less sunlight in my already heavily shaded back yard. I had a terrible space for growing but I felt a strong need to try and learn. So I did.

I have had so much fun planting and tending to my vegetables. It's something I struggle to put into words. There is something magical about taking a seed and turning it into food with the help of Earth and it's cycles. This is something I believe many people are disconnected from. I believe it's very important to learn how to garden. I am guilty of going to the grocery store, but I am started down the rode to providing myself with the things I need daily.

Definitely slowing down

It may look like a healthy garden at first glance but you can see the yellowing of the leaves, and some effects from blight that got to my plants later in the season.

I ran out of my store bought organic fertilizer with very little time left in the season so I didn't want to go buy another bag of fertilizer to just have the majority of it sitting in the garage all winter. So I decided to use some DIY home made fertilizer with egg shells and coffee grounds. I buy Maxwell House so I am sure the coffee is not organic, but the egg shells come from my mother's house up in the woods. The chickens are free range all over her patch of woods and they are fed organic corn otherwise. I saw my plants perk back up immediately even though my egg shells weren't very finely ground. I am now on the lookout for a coffee grinder at the thrift store so that I can grind my eggshells all winter long and have a nice supply of calcium for spring gardening.

My kale is turning colors. I will probably pick the rest at the end of the week and throw it in my juicer with some other fruits and vegetables. I have been really enjoying the juicer this summer and personally I would rather juice kale that chomp on it.

I still have tomato fruit sets coming in. I learned a lot about tomatoes this summer and it's really crazy how they just keep on growing, at least indeterminate kinds, and they keep bringing more fruit until the first freeze. I doubt I will get to eat these guys but it's still fascinating to see and witness plant life in action.

Still some ripening fruits that I will get to eat yet this year. These are very small cherry tomatoes. I planted this plant in a planter that was much too small for a tomato plant so I got a very weak plant with very small fruits. Another learning experience.

Something I learned is that my jalapenos will do a 2nd flush of fruit set late in fall, this is what you see in the picture. The fruits are growing slow, probably because of reduced sun and nutrients, but the amount of fruit on this flush has been more than the first bunch of fruits in the mid summer. I plan on drying these out with a food dehydrator and storing them for use in soups/chili/cooking during winter.

Nothing too exciting, but I thought I would share none the less! In my opinion the harvest is the fun part. It's not even winter yet but I already can't wait for spring so that I can plant many more varieties and experiment and learn. Thanks for reading, happy gardening!