You may need to click "Display images below" above this newsletter to view photos. FALL IS UPON US! Most of us have had a heavy frost at this point,
You may need to click "Display images below" above this newsletter to view photos.
FALL IS UPON US!
Most of us have had a heavy frost at this point, and it can be sad to see your gardens wither. However, fall can offer a lot to gardeners - read on for advice on fall garden cleanup, cool-season edibles, how to use your leaves and more!
If you enjoy fresh bouquets from your gardens during warm weather, try bringing some of your fall plants indoors to cheer things up! Mophead hydrangea blooms and ornamental grass seed heads make beautiful long-lived dried arrangements. If you have a sweet tooth, the native persimmon trees are ready for harvest! (The fruit of most speices is so astringent that you can’t eat it until it lays on the ground for a while or gets hit by a frost.) The seeds can be a bit bothersome if you choose to remove them, but the unique, sweet flavor is worth a little work. Click here for an amazing traditional persimmon pudding recipe.
UPDATES TO WEBSITE AND FACEBOOK
Check out the new website if you haven’t seen it yet, and visit our Gallery page to see our two new albums! We love getting photos of customers’ gardens – if you would like to have yours added to our album on the website, please send them to us in an email!
Visit our Facebook page for our latest album - it will give you an idea of what we've been up to and a sneak peak at some of our new varieties for next spring! You can also see some great photos of the Black Mountain Elementary School Monarch Walk - Calia, our grower Emily's daughter, and the rest of her 1st grade class learned about the importance of supporting monarchs with native milkweed plantings, got to raise and release monarchs in the wild, and tied it all together with an artistic representation of our at risk monarch populations in the US.
FALL GARDEN MAINTENANCE
OVERWINTERING TENDER PLANTS
Bring tender perennials and annuals that you want to save indoors before they get damaged by frost. Check plants for disease and pests before bringing inside and treat or dispose of them accordingly – you don’t want to expose your indoor plants to problems, and most pests and diseases worsen indoors. Some plants may also benefit from being cut back and fed.
EDIBLES & VEGGIE GARDENS
▪ Remove diseased fruit, fallen fruit and diseased branches from fruit trees. Make sure diseased items are not placed in your compost. Treat any diseased areas of bark with All Seasons Horticultural Spray Oil or Neem Oil. ▪ Remove plant debris from veggie gardens and put it in your compost pile (except diseased plants and weed seedheads). Top dress your veggie beds with compost, and if you are leaving any cold-hardy root veggies in the ground, insulate them with 8-12 inches of straw. ▪ Many edibles can handle the colder months, especially if you use a portable cold frame, plastic tunnels or mulch and insulate with leaves and straw (try the method in the above photo!). Check out the links below for ideal planting and harvesting times for varied cool season crops, including many greens, cruciferous veggies and herbs.
Click here for an image showing when varied veggies & fruits are in season, and click here and here for guidance on winter veggie gardening.
Speaking of edibles, we would love to have feedback from any of you who tried our new tomato varieties this summer - the Siletz seedless tomato (good for diverticulitis) and the Iron Lady tomato (bred for disease resistance and heightened tolerance of our humid, wet summers).
PLANT IN THE FALL!
• Cooler weather is easier on new plants (leaves don’t face scorching and roots don’t require as much water), and also easier on us – less bugs and less sweating!
• Good for planting and transplanting, as the plants don’t require watering as frequently as they would in hot weather, e.g. less work for you!
• Before cutting back your perennials and pulling annuals, make note of any holes in your gardens that you want to fill in. Now is a good time to add those plants, allowing them to grow a strong root system over the winter and perform with more vigor next spring. It’s a good idea to leave perennials up for winter anyway to help insulate the garden, capture moisture and provide protection for overwintering pollinators and wildlife.
• Planting perennials the fall beforehand gives them the entire winter to grow an established root system & be more robust next spring (if they don’t have to expend as much energy on establishing roots, they can put more into healthy foliage and profuse blooms!)
• Make sure you plant during a mild week (ideally by mid-December before the ground is too cold/frozen) & water the plants in deeply.
• Now is the perfect time to plant spring and summer-blooming bulbs. Make sure that your bulbs have good drainage (around here with our clay-dense soils, it’s a good idea to add some looser potting mix or compost). If you are one of our many customers that suffers from vole issues, we recommend using PermaTill when planting bulbs to create a protective barrier around each plant. Bulbs benefit greatly from feeding – try adding Bulb-Tone or another fertilizer specifically for bulbs to the bed.
• Plant ornamental cabbage and pansies for a pop of color as the months get colder.
• Water established and new plants on a regular basis – we often don’t realize how dry fall can be.
USE YOUR LEAVES!
• Mow your leaves and allow them to feed your lawn – leaves and grass clippings add both nitrogen and carbon to the soil, providing a cheap fertilizer alternative!
(Make sure they aren’t more than ¾-1” deep over the lawn or they may not break down fast enough and could cause lawn damage.)
• Add leaves to veggie beds and allow them to compost over the winter. If you want them to break down faster or don’t like the look of leaves in your beds, shred them first. You can also use leaves to insulate your outdoor potted plants – group pots together and mound the leaves around them, covering the pots and plants to add warmth and protection. If you live in a windy area, gather pots next to a building or lay some chicken wire over the pots and leaves. (Terra-cotta pots may crack even with this insulation – it is best to move them indoors.)
• Use leaves to make a leaf mold for future mulch use. Mound wet leaves in a protected area or make 3x3’ circles of chicken wire to hold them. Wet leaves regularly and turn them a few times during the winter. You will be rewarded with a rich, black substance that works great as a mulch in spring.
• Add excess leaves to your compost pile, and if you have a huge amount, bag some up and store them for adding to your compost next summer (typically we have a lot more ‘greens’ than ‘browns’ to add to the compost in warmer months, so leaves can be a valuable source of carbon for that time.)
