garden work

This weekend, I am preparing my home gardens for winter.

First thing, I took down the six tomato plants growing there. As I did this, I realized I've never taken down tomatoes here before a frost. The plants had stopped growing from low light so I removed them. Always a first for everything. The forecast seems to maybe have a frost here in the Boston suburbs soon.

I'm getting more experience with my cold frame each year. I suspect everyone's cold frame is different, with their own temperature and light levels. My particular issue is that the house next door blocks my light when the sun is at it's lowest. I have great sun March to Sept, then nothing Oct to Feb. It seems if I plant seedlings after I remove my summer crops from the cold frame, there isn't enough time for them to grow big enough to produce winter harvests. So, once again, I have my cold frame full of small seedlings that I know (from the last two winters) will not grow again Feb or March. I will have good greens then, which is super, but I'd love to get some fresh greens midwinter too. I do have an idea for another experiment: I have a big crop of greens at my community plot now. They are fully grown and more than we can eat. I will see if I can transplant these, squeeze them into my cold frame for mid winter harvests. It's always fun to try something new.

Tomorrow's To-Do list:
Finish lifting my dahlias and begonia tubers.
Plant my spring flower bulbs. I have about a million bulbs to plant (well maybe 200) in hopes of a fine spring and an easy winter.
Transplant some greens from my community plot to my cold frame.
Put the covers on my cold frame and repair any rips in the plastic for winter.
After this work - see if I can find a nice little veggie to go in a fall martini!