Our CSA season has ended and we are looking toward the start of a new season. There is much work to be done- cleaning up beds, fertilizing, tilling, cover crops and getting ready for an early start in 2011. We have evaded the first couple of freezes of the season with Agribon covers, and cold temperatures are in store for us again this week- it is time to harvest those green tomatoes, unripe peppers, eggplant and late zucchini. Soon the plastic covers will go on the low hoops protecting the greens, cabbage and broccoli. Our largest, oldest garden has been torn up by the "ripper" digging down deep and turning soil over to loosen the soil that compacted by flooding. I am looking forward to getting drainage and lots of humus and compost on it.
Christmas comes early for me in December when the new seed catalogs arrive and provides winter reading. Onions will start in January, the beginning of my growing season. I am going to experiment with overwintering carrots and maybe spinach under the low tunnels so there will hopefully be some ready by May.
We processed 15 of our meat birds last Sunday and the freezer is stocked with some nice broilers. We now have the barn free for the piggies we are getting soon! Today, I think I will go check on the persimmons I have been waiting on to ripen as soon as the wind dies down.
