Garden Notes, In Retrospect 2021
It’s November now, and the garden is mostly put to bed for the winter. I planted a few garlic bulbs for the first time this week from Filaree Garlic Farm. They went in the raised bed nearest our front door, though I didn’t get them in the ground as soon as I might have liked. I had a really hard time finding a company that wasn’t sold out of seed garlic until I stumbled upon Filaree, which happens to be a local(ish) company located in central Washington.
The main thing I want to express about the 2021 garden season is how glad I am that we took the time to do it at all. We initially weren’t going to because we had so many homestead projects on our to-do list that we didn’t think we’d have the time or energy for it.
But as the weather got warmer, something shifted for me:
It was a hot evening in late June, and I was out in the front yard eating dinner and chatting with Matt while the girls were running around in the sprinkler to cool off, and I looked around at our situation. The porch was a mess, there was a patch of bark dust with weeds overtaking the area by the house, and the shrubbery along the fence needed some major TLC. It wasn’t pretty, but we were outside together, and I suddenly realized how much we needed to prioritize that. To slow down, relax now and then, and play outside together as a family.
It seems pretty straightforward thinking about it now, but we had just spent the past year in go-go-go mode, scrambling to get our homestead up and running, so it took some thought and intention to slow things down.
And then I realized how much more we would enjoy our outdoor space if we could get things cleaned up a little, paint the deck (still hasn’t happened), plant a garden, maybe use that sprinkler the girls had been playing in to also water said garden... everything just clicked.
So although we were in the middle of a big project, I asked Matt if he wouldn’t mind side-tracking for a few days to build a few (or 8) garden beds. I already had my seeds ordered, and my MIL had very generously brought over a few extra tomato and pepper starts a few weeks prior, so we got to work designing and building and planting.
Sure enough, this little bit of work made our outdoor space instantly more enjoyable for all of us. We ate most our meals outside when it was hot while the kids played in the water. And when the plants grew, the girls loved watching the progress. Later, once the peppers and tomatoes had ripened, they helped me harvest. I even wrangled my older daughter into helping me weed here and there too. My kids really seemed to enjoy the garden as much as we did.
That said, now that it’s November and we are eating our preserved garden food on a regular basis, I can tell you there are a few things I really wish I had done differently. So here are some things my November self would like to express to my future gardening, harvesting and preserving self:
Start earlier - plant cold weather crops in Feb & March (peas, lettuce, kale, beets)
Schedule out succession planting or you’ll forget
In the front yard: rip up sod on the back side of porch, design space for more garden boxes and gravel/brick pathways
In the backyard: set up boxes along the fence and shade line by the house + privacy wall
Build all garden boxes two tiers high minimum to ward off wild rabbit population
Add wood + bark chips to the bottom of the garden boxes to fill in space and top with soil and compost
Plant more full-sized tomatoes, hot peppers (including cayenne), tomatillos, basil, cilantro, calendula, carrots, beets, sunflowers…
Plant potatoes in the grow bags
Always have the dehydrator working: greens powder, herbs, green onions, garlic, apple slices, tomatoes (to make powder which can be used in lieu of tomato paste)
Completely restock vinegar pickles: dilly beans, bread and butters, spicy dill, candied jalapeño
Plant your own green beans and cucumbers even though we have some growing in the family garden, just in case
Use green tomatoes and tomatillos for salsa verde
Make more pear and apple butter
Try some new jam recipes (caramelized onion, fig, balsamic, rhubarb)
Fermenting: sauerkraut, carrot + beet kraut, fermented salsa
Freeze: rhubarb (harvest continuously), zucchini (try again), greens, corn (immediately after harvest for better flavor), roasted tomato puree, basil pesto, other pesto varieties, zucchini bread and garden-based baked goods
Foraging: hawthorn greens for tea + salad + tincture
Juice and freeze: apples juice (save pulp for goats), crabapples (make jelly), pears
If you can’t grow it, buy from a local farm: strawberries, peaches/nectarines, blackberries
Stock up well on fresh lids, pectin, freezer containers, vinegar, sugar, salt and lemon/lime juice, herbs and pickling spices well before canning season
Harvest and process daily so it doesn’t get overwhelming
Plant calendula everywhere
Fig tree and dahlias to be brought out front
Cut plants at the end of the season at the base and leave the roots to decompose in place
Use fall leaves as bed mulch
One thing to note: while we do have lots of yard space, our septic system wraps around the house, limiting where we can dig and plant directly in the ground. Because of this, we’ve opted to go with raised beds for most our gardening needs, though it might be useful to find a little patch for growing potatoes in the ground next year.
I plan to continue adding to this list as I think of things to reference later, but this is a good place to start.