Most of my fall crops are under row covers right now. It makes the garden a very sad place since you can't see much green anymore. White little bubbles just don't make for a beautiful garden. There are a couple of crops that are still lovely and not yet covered.
My chard has been a favorite in the garden for a long time. I started harvesting from this batch in the middle of May. It is still going strong.
The lettuce is getting to be a good size. The heads never get really big in the fall for me, so I harvest them a leaf at a time. Luckily I have a lot of plants going now.
Under the covers are lots of different greens. The tatsoi above is going strong. I ought to pick it soon. Sometimes I have trouble picking the really pretty plants. Tatsoi is in that category. It makes such a beautiful rosette. Last time I harvested them only because I had new tatsoi transplants that needed their spot in the garden.
Under a bubble all its own is my spinach. I'm starting to think it is too late for much of a spinach harvest this fall. Maybe. If not I'll over winter it under a row cover and eat it in the spring. Frankly I'll probably want it more in the spring than now in the fall, but I worry. I've yet to overwinter any green successfully. Maybe with spinach and mache I'll be sucessful. I can hope.
I have to get out and cover my greens today, as frost is in the forecast within this next week.
ReplyDeleteYour chard and lettuce is so gorgeous, Daphne! I'm with you, just as with flowers, it's awfully hard to pick things when they're adding so much beauty to the landscape.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna have to try chard one of these days, because it has to be good. I mean, just look at how pretty it is.....
ReplyDeleteAll these greens look great! My chard is still going from the spring, but I have had no luck in getting a fall spinach crop started: http://2greenacres.blogspot.com/2009/08/fall-vegetable-gardening-failures.html
ReplyDeleteWhat's the secret?
Everything looks so yummy! I didn't start my fall crops this year as our move is most probable now and packing has been the task of the day lately- that and recovering. I'm going to miss my garden this fall and winter, but I have yours to watch, thankfully!
ReplyDeleteLove the rainbow chard Daphne, such a versatile vegetable and pretty to boot! I have a pot of it here, which needs to be vacated to make way for a tomato but I love the rainbow chard so much I am loathe to use it all!
ReplyDeleteI've got lots of faith that your spinach and mache will come through beautifully for you. You'll love having those greens so early in the spring. Your chard is really pretty, but I have to confess I don't like chard.I don't like cashews either. It's just me.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the oxalic "squeakiness" of chard, but I will use it in recipes. I prefer kale -- ah, kale, what would I do without you?
ReplyDeleteAnd spinach can't be beat for spinach pies with feta. Or in salads. I know what you mean about the tat soi. There are some lovely rosettes in our yard which really should be in a stir fry.
With autumn lurking, your greens still look gorgeous!!... just look at the shines... ~ bangchik
ReplyDeleteWhen I got home from traveling for several days... the first thing I wanted to do was harvest a bunch fo swiss chard and have a meal that included some fresh and wonderful greens. There is truly nothing like it and I think the nutrition they provide is a critical component of wellness in the dark days of winter. My fall sowing of the overwintering bed of spinach did not germinate well this year, so I am going to have to plant an extra early crop of spinach and provide it with cover to warm the soil up enough to encourage reasonable germination.
ReplyDeleteKeewee, we are going to start having frost warnings too. I'm going to have to go out and pick my peppers soon and get those out of the garden.
ReplyDeleteour friend Ben, thanks. I do have trouble with it, but I have noticed I have no issue picking chard, no matter how beautiful it is. I think it is one of my favorite greens.
EG, lol well I have grown some veggies just because of their beauty and not because I wanted to eat them.
2 Green Acres, I chit my seed inside. I put it between two layers of damp paper towels, then put it in a slightly open baggie and keep it cool. I think I actually put it in the fridge overnight too. I was trying to convince the spinach it was time.
Tessa, well mine will freeze over solid soon enough. Last year it was really pretty in the snow.
prue, I need to plant more of it next year. I like it too much and would love to have some to freeze for the winter.
Becky, well chard and cashews, two of my favorite things. Hmm haven't had them together yet.
Stefaneener, This was my first year to try kale. So far I like it a lot. I'll have to plant more of that next year too.
Bangchik and Kakdah, thanks.
kitsapFG, I keep thinking of how I can start earlier next year, but since I'm still looking to move (no luck yet), I don't want to spend much for something that may not go in the garden at the next house. Ah well. This year I threw out the tomato cages, so next year I'll have to buy some new ones.
The chard is beautiful! I'd like to grow it but need to figure out how to cook it first.
ReplyDeleteOne year I planted spinach and left it to die, which is my usual M.O. but we had a mild winter with a weird warm week in January when I was able to actually harvest spinach! I'm really enjoying the cool weather - my mache is actually growing, yet not suffering from the heat.
I'm having lettuce envy! I didn't grow mine under a row cover. Is yours under one?
ReplyDeleteSpinach doesn't look bad, just young. I have never wintered that over, curious to see how it goes with you.