The Modern Victory Garden

HARVEST MONDAY

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone submits links to their blog posts summarizing their harvest for the week.   It’s fun to see what people are producing from gardens from so many different regions, and how they are using it.   Check it out and join in too!       

Not much fresh harvesting occurred this week other than some beets I pulled on Sunday.   We did use stored, frozen, and canned items a great deal, but the fresh harvests are somewhat limited at the moment because the kale and chard have been previously harvested pretty hard and are not bouncing back quickly during these darkest days of winter.   There are some green onions, parsnips and beets available for harvest, and coming along in the green house are some young lettuces, Napa cabbages, and dwarf pac choi that will not be too much longer of a wait before ready.   In the meantime, we are leaning heavily on our stored supplies and are very glad to have previously put by an ample supply from the prior year garden. 

Sunday afternoon I harvested both red and golden beets.   I really did not need them for the Sunday dinner preparation, but thought I would harvest them in the light of day and put them in the fridge to use early next week.                

Harvest totals for the week of January 2nd through January 8th (rounded to the nearest ¼ pound).                                                  

• Beets 0.75 lbs

Total For Week 0.75 lbs

Total Year to Date 1.75 lbs                                  

Eggs collected this week – 7                                          

SOME WINTER GARDEN PROJECTS

This winter is actually shaping up to be a “normal” winter for us (so far), which is a pleasant change from the past two winters which had significant periods of below normal temperatures.   Two good things come from this.   First, the perennial plantings and the crops being over wintered are faring well, and second, the mild daytime temperatures affords the ability to do some garden projects much earlier than a harsher winter would allow.   So long as the weather continues to hold, I intend to take full advantage of that good fortune.   Sunday was a particularly mild day with a high temperature that reached a balmy 50 degrees so I definitely spent some time in the garden and tended to a few winter projects.       

About a week ago I had given the bed of cranberry plants a good weeding and finished the job on Sunday by following up with a trimming of the longest runners that were trailing over the edge of the bed, which not only keeps the bed tidy but also encourages the plants to put energy into development of uprights (where the fruit is formed).   I sprinkled some garden sulfur around the plants because a quick test with the PH meter indicated the soil could use some acidification.   This was then followed with a sanding which helps the many long runners to root and establish a more solid mat of plants from which more uprights can eventually form.   This bed is in its third year and the plants are finally really developing a decent foundation and have some nice uprights formed, so I have some reason to hope that this may be its first year to produce berries (usually takes 3 to 4 years).                    

Another project tackled on Sunday which is not nearly as much fun as tending to a promising bed of cranberries – was the removal of dead pole bean vines from the support structures.   Is there anything more tedious than unwinding the vines of pole beans from netting?!   It really has to be a fine day and I really have to have nothing better to do to get in the proper mood to tackle that particular winter task.   I had run out of excuses however to ignore it any longer and the weather was indeed fine, so I completed it for yet another year.   The funny thing is that I will happily plant more pole beans just as soon as the soil warms sufficiently and blissfully forget the royal pain in the butt that those longed for vines will give me come next winter.   It’s a good thing our garden memories are shrouded in the springtime by a haze of green shoots and warm sunshine - or pole beans would never get planted and enjoyed for dinner!     

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener