Monday, December 14, 2009

The Last Dig

I FINALLY made it out to the garden today to do my final dig for the year.  All the recent rain made pulling dahlia and gladiola tubers an easy task.  Well, aside from the dahlia that was intertwined with a rat's nest of asparagus roots, that one took a beating as I tugged and ripped the tubers off the main stem one by one....I am hoping rot does not set in in all the newly exposed flesh.



I also pulled most of the remaining carrots.  One of the later sowings had not put on much growth, so I left them...here is the bunch I pulled, disappointing!



I have so many carrot varieties growing in three different beds, too many for me to keep straight....not sure which 2 varieties these are, but I can at least narrow it down:  the carrots in the spinner basket are either Mokum or Bolero.  The bunch to the left of the basket are either Petite 'n Sweet or Short 'n Sweet.  They smelled so good as they were tugged from the earth, it will be interesting to see if the cold weather sweetened them up or not.  The Napoli I sowed never took off (my bad, they went in quite late).  I am going to cover them with straw and hope they winter over for an early Spring carrot.



Lastly, some Rouge D' Hiver romaine will be on the menu tonight, nothing like being spoiled by crisp greens from the garden in mid- December!



(P.S.- we have a Christmas tree on the premises, though it has not made it IN the house.  Baby steps.  :)  )

5 comments:

Michelle @ Give a Girl a Fig said...

Beautiful photos...I especially love the first one.

And don't feel bad about your tree...we don't even have one on the premises yet!!

Thomas said...

YAY! I'm glad you made it out into the garden today. I think those carrots look great! I didn't know you grew some many varieties this year. One of your varieties look pretty round...I was considering growing a bulbing variety next year as well.

Ahh...I recognize the lettuce...it's the same one I have growing! Thanks again for the seed. Rouge D'Hiver has been one of the successes of my garden this year...in addition to the kale and chard that you graciously shared.

I think I gave you some Tango lettuce last fall. I hope you get a chance to grow it this spring...it is a really tasty and crisp variety. You might have a bit of luck starting them now in doors and planting them out in January.

Kelly said...

Yes Thomas, I planted out your shared seeds along with others and they were a flop, including the kale and chard I sent you. I think the seedlings were eaten. I gave up on them and planted the garlic there instead,lol. ( Luckily I still have some Tango and Mache so I can give them another go next year. ) I am glad you are enjoying the seeds, your garden is rocking!

Erin said...

How wonderful your greens are still producing too! My fall carrot planting was a disappointment...probably because I DIDN'T DO IT! My spring planting turned out great though. I am definitely doing the seed/paper/glue thing again with a board, it seems to be the only way to end up with a decent harvest! Will be checking out your catalog recommendations online later - I haven't received one single catalog yet...it's driving me crazy! Congrats on the tree!

Wren said...

Great looking greens! I left our short-and-sweet carrots out in the garden, buried under a pile of leaves. Been going out and pulling them up as we need them and they are still huge and delicious. The lettuce isn't looking too bad under the cold frames either. Happy winter gardening to you!!