Gearing Up For Greener Things



Fall in Monkton, Winona Lake in the background.

      We are experiencing a warmer then usual fall and its been so nice to clean up the yard and get last minute bulbs, perennials, garlic and seeds planted! 
      Tonight, I sat down to a delicous dinner prepared by my husband Rob.  A chicken stir fry using local garlic, onions and swiss chard from our garden.  We also savored roasted carrots, beets and parsnips that we grew!

My kale, parsnips and Swiss chard !



      When I left my 'regular' job I set out to grow some of our food.  And each year I get a little better at it.  I'm slowly learning about sucession planting and planting smaller rows so we are kept in a constant supply and not an over abundance all at once.  Here we are entering November and still we eat from our gardens, it's the best feeling!  I made a pledge that I would see if I could at least keep things going in the unheated hoop house until the end of December.  (Granted there won't be a lot of variety because I'm only using a small space, about four feet by twelve feet, to grow in this year).  AND I'm not in love with cold weather, I'm kind of a wimp that way.

  

Inisde the hoop house without the remay.

       A few weeks ago I transplanted curly kale, Russian kale, and Swiss chard from my raised bed gardens into the hoop house.  A few tiny beet seedlings I moved into the hoop house as well.  And although it's late in the season I seeded in some mixed greens and tatsoi.  There are a few carrots and herbs and a small patch of  spinach too.  It's a great small scale experiment  to see how our hoop house will hold up to snow and I can see just how diligent I am about racing down the hillside to dust off heavy snow falls and to time my harvesting of salad after the frost has lifted from the greens and before night fall (which will be coming earlier soon).  A layer of remay covers the crops and allows about seventy percent of available light to penetrate through the fabric as well as acts as a layer of insulation. 

 

Holiday wreath that I created.



            My next task is to start harvesting greens, not the edible type.  I  have a knack for floral design and I've worked at a florist supply wholesaler, florist shops and in the nursery business through out my career.  Come late fall and early winter I am delighted to keep my hands busy creating one of a kind wreaths and evergreen arrangements.  I'm not one to buy into the holiday season  because it wasn't how I was raised.  I love the warmth of the holiday season (shared meals, getting together) but I don't like the materialstic association that the holiday has.  Rob and I tend not to exchange gifts and if we do for family members we like to make our gifts.  Sometimes that can be a loaf of bread that I've baked, a hand made holiday ornament, canned goods that I've put up or a evergreen wreath that I've made.  It's fun to think of the person and create something especially for them, or to share a gift that has a lot of meaning, like my sweet chile sauce or cucumber relish that we grew the ingredients that it's made with.    

 

Holiday wreath for my chicken coop.

      And in an effort to work close to home (another one of my goals) I will begin harvesting greens and turning my porch into a workshop.  Kissing balls will be made, wreaths and centerpieces.  This year I will have some of these creations available at The Last Resort Farm on Tyler Bridge Road in Monkton starting the week before Thanksgiving and I will be selling at The Burlington Holiday Hop at Burlington Community Glass Studio, 416 Pine Street.(December ninth through the eleventh) This is where Stained Glass artist Terry Zigmund creates her amazing work.  I will also be offering a few make and take workshops this November and December for the Monkton Community Coffeehouse.  At these workshops I will supply all that is needed to create a wreath or centerpiece and provide instruction on how to make one.  If you'd like a little something beautiful and  green for the winter months please feel free to contact me, I do custom work as well. 
 

Centerpiece created using a chicken feeder.

As my gardens are mostly put to bed and my work in people's ornamental gardens is getting wrapped up I'm happy to think about my edible greens that I will harvest into the early winter months and about the greens that I will  selectively harvest from my property so that I can keep myself busy doing something I love!   



Kissing ball, a donation for the Monkton PTO silent auction last year.