Friday, November 16, 2012

A Little Bit of This and That

There is no doubt that the cold weather is here for awhile. Yet it is quite remarkable that when I visit the garden there are still bright and cheery patches of green here and there. I am still slowly...verrrrrry slowly doing my garden clean-up and prep for next year. I got the garlic planted two weeks ago. I am in the process of digging my last raised bed and as I see it coming close to finished I am so excited to think that this coming spring I will actually get on to planting instead of digging new beds and racing with the calendar to have beds ready. But I will say this, the chill drove me out of the garden yesterday. I put on my grubbies and went down there fully planning to put in a few hours work and complete that bed, but as I stood there taking pictures and surveying all around me, the slate gray skies and the damp cold air just became too much and I let my lazy side win the battle. Back into thehouse I went and curled up with a book in front of the wood stove for the rest of the day. Oh, and I did read my first seed catalogue for 2013. It came three days ago!
Some would say it's too early, but I don't care. I love to daydream about what to grow next season! So much hope and optimism!
Here's a look at the November garden:

 The brussels sprouts bed is still green and producing sprouts. I hope to use some for the holiday dinner next week. The bed to the left of them are old broccoli plants that have yet to be pulled out.
Kale is still looking green and healthy. Some is old and was planted in the spring and some is newer. It was planted in late summer. It's a lot more tender, but doesn't have a lot to harvest. It should overwinter and give us some of our earliest spring greens
 
 Below are my three carrot beds and the small bed covered with hay has the spinach that I'm trying to overwinter.
 Only a few of the mache I planted came up and they sure are pretty even if there aren't many!
 Here are the brussels sprouts, looking beautiful! I should have had this picture next to the photo of the brussels sprouts bed, but I still have the hardest time getting blogger to cooperate with me. It's a steep learning curve!
 And below is the Final Bed! If you look carefully you will see that I have only a short patch about 3 feet long yet to dig and raise. Hopefully it'll be done before December.
I won't get any work done there this weekend though. I am off to the southern shore of Long Island this afternoon to volunteer my time to storm clean-up down near the Rockaways that were hit so hard by Storm Sandy. There are people there still without electricity and there are many badly damaged homes.
We have had an up and down year in our household. The up was my younger son's wedding. The down was the elephant in the room at our house for the past seven months and that is the completely unexpected collapse of our older son's marriage. We're not the only ones to go through the sadness of such a thing, but it has had its effect. Our son moved pretty far away a few weeks ago to start a new life and it has been difficult for us. I am reminded of a line from Fiddler on the Roof: "God would like us to be joyful even when our hearts lie panting on the floor" One way to do that is to focus on others and not ourselves and going to Long Island today is one way to do that. People are really hurting there in ways I can't even imagine. I volunteered to go last year to New Jersey after the floods there and went with the organization Samaritan's Purse, the same organization my group is going with this weekend. It was one of the best experiences of my life and I expect no less this time around.
Here at home my garden, even in the late fall, is my happy place. I have far more to be grateful for than to be sad about and as the coming Thanksgiving holiday looms, I will concentrate on that!

8 comments:

  1. You are lucky to still have that much greenery in your gardens. I have a little greens trying to grow in my cold frame and just planted a little Kale there. Probably too late in the season but thought I would try! Divorces are so hard. We have one going on in our family too. May God give comfort to you and him. Nancy

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  2. Thank you Nancy! It is always comforting to hear from someone who knows what you're going through.I firmly believe God has a plan and that something ultimately good will rise out of it all! Hope your kale makes it and that your family is doing OK too!

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  3. Oh I am sorry to read about your son and poor muma's heart her boy moving away - SOB.
    I can't grow brussel sprouts here I don;t think it gets cold enough.
    This weekend I'm going to be busy planting out the summer garden - perfect time by the moon. I've been hanging off and pleased I did as we have had some really cold spring days.
    Seems weird our land is waking up and yous is going to sleep.
    Love Leanne

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    1. Thank you Leanne! It is weird isn't it, this topsy-turvy world. I'll think of you planting your garden. Your place looks so beautiful and you do such a good job growing things. Best wishes!

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  4. Your Brussels sprouts sure produce well. You are one zone warmer than us.
    Wishing you and you son all the best, time will heal.

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  5. You got your first seed catalog. I still haven't seen my first one yet. Though there are only a few I really care about.

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    1. I agree Daphne, I only like a few and I get a few I don't want and don't bother to look at. But this was one of the good ones!

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