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CARROT HARVESTING
If you're lucky enough to be pulling carrots out of your garden this
time of year, here are some suggestions for handling them once they're
out of the ground. First, DO cut the green tops off them prior to
storage. Left on, the tops will pull moisture from your carrots. Store
them unwashed in your vegetable bin--or pack them in dry playground
sand or plastic containers with holes cut in them and place them in a
cool spot, such as a basement.
If you want, you can freeze your carrots. Just slice them, dice them,
or cut them into sticks. Then, blanch them for two or three minutes
and pack them in airtight containers.You can blanch baby carrots
whole for about five minutes and freeze them without any slicing
required.
November's Garden
with Sherry Kitchen
Try to get your fertilizing and amending done now.
While the above ground growth is dormant the microbial
soil activity continues. Having added compost or these
following natural fertilizers you give the soil a chance
to remineralize; Granite dust ( 0-0-3 plus 67% silica and
19 trace minerals), Greensand (0-1-6 plus 50% silica, 18%
iron oxide and 22 trace minerals), Gypsum (23% to 57%
calcium and 17 % sulfur), Kelp meal or seaweed ( 1-0-12,
33% trace minerals including calcium, sodium, and about
50 other minerals in trace amounts). Some astounding
results in research indicate that ‘tea’ from the horsetail
plant (Equisetum) reduces fungus and mildew on growing plants.
Horsetail is also high in silica content. Compost ‘tea’ for
the foliar feeding also works well. Leaves absorb the
nutrients quicker.
Bulbs can still be planted. It’s usually best to get
them in before the first hard frost. Marking their location
can ensure you won’t slice them the next time the notion
shrikes to play musical plants.
Planting trees and perennials is usually fine up until
mid-November in this zone. If soil is well mulched, it stays
warm enough to support root growth till hard freezes of
January. The real killer can be the heaving of soil from
the freeze/thaw cycle. To stop that, make sure you wander
through your garden and keep a watch. You can always press
them back in place and add mulch, compost or soil if necessary.
Remember the more attention given in the first season the
better long term survival for shrubs, trees and perennials.
In the vegetable garden many still have cold crops.
After harvesting, till and sow green manures to nourish
the soil. Several choices are available see Dig’s Earth column.
Houseplants that spent summers out should be in! The
adaptation to ‘in’ can be devastating. Expect leaf drop
and yellowing. Sometimes it’s best to prune away some
branches then the new growth will be adapted to the new
light intensity. Do not fertilize or overwater. I water
till the plant is saturated and do not water again till
the soil is dry. Otherwise the roots rot very quickly at
this time. Remember only aquatic plants can sit in water
day after day so elevate the pot with rocks or empty the
dish after watering.
Ornamental kale and cabbages complement the winter garden.
Their colors intensify as the temperature drops. Plant these now.
Another plant that blooms well now and reblooms in the spring
is pansies. Most local nurseries still have these. Try to get
them in before the hard frost arrives.
Fall pond cleanup is recommended by experts. Besides
getting info from local nurseries most of the area’s gardens
like Brookside, River Farm, Meadowlark, National Arboretum,
US Botanic Garden offer expert advice and have a staff of
horticulturists that are usually willing to help let your
fingers do the walking.
Sometimes the RIGHT time is when you HAVE time!!
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