It is October 20 and we still haven’t had our first frost. In fact, there is not one in sight, though that could change tomorrow. The average first frost of the year is normally October 17 here, so it isn’t as if we are breaking new ground with a late frost, but it still feels as if we should have already had one.
Due to the weather outlook still looking like it will stay above freezing with no frost in sight for the next week, I have chosen to leave my super-hot peppers in the ground another week. I am still getting about 3-5 ripe Carolina Reapers a week, and there are probably a dozen or more that could still ripen, so I plan to leave them in the ground as long as I can. I am also going to pot my two Pineapple Sage plants as well, though I don’t have the room in the house to let them continue to bloom, so I am leaving them in the ground as long as possible too.
The work this weekend consisted of pulling up most of the tomato plants, which have really given out already, though they were still full of green tomatoes. Even if they had ripened in time, they sure don’t taste like a summer tomato. I did leave a few cherry tomato plants, as those are still palatable. Once I was done with that, I planted three new types of garlic: Purple Glazer, Duganski, and Mount Hood. Let me share a few pictures:
Purple Glazer Garlic
Duganski Garlic
Mount Hood Garlic
I have traditionally planted my garlic in my raised Square Foot Garden beds – wait, that is not true. I have planted as much in the ground each year as I have the raised beds, but all of this new garlic has been planted in the ground. I am hopeful that I have picked a location where the garlic will get plenty of sun in the spring and early summer. Here’s a pic of the planting:
Planting Garlic
Though some say the garlic needs to be a couple of inches deep, I have always just put mine right below the surface and then ensured there was adequate ground cover to protect it from cold weather. I suppose I might regret this if we have a bitter cold winter, but it hasn’t failed me yet.
The one last harvest I look forward to this year is the sweet potatoes. This is a new crop for me, last year being the first year I attempted to grow it, to no success. This year I have changed things up a bit, and I am hoping to have a nice crop of them to harvest after the first frost.
I think that has covered the happenings of the week, but don’t miss out on tomorrow’s post on the chickens – you will be surprised!