I caught it!!!!! Err....Is that my cat?!

Well, let’s see if I can get that coon tonight...

LOL, It doesn't look very happy! Better luck tonight.

That is too funny. [g]. We usually end up finding squirrels when we've tried setting a cage.

Jacob - I take it that you didn't catch the critter last night.

I saw my groundhog again last evening. It was on the other side of the creek from my house. I imagine its den is somewhere over in that area,

I harvested another couple of heads of broccoli for last night's dinner. Although the heads were a little smaller than I usually pick it was very tasty after the last couple frosts we've had.

Jack, we have so many groundhogs around here, but they have yet to bother my garden. Our neighbor has taken care of one that decimated his garden in the spring.

No, I didn’t catch the coon. Hmm. I may need to move my trap. He’s a smart one....my father has seen him, just the other night, as he went to let our cat outside. It was on our front porch, and he said it was the biggest coon he’d ever seen. I want to catch him!!

Gonna get my garlic planted later this afternoon. Planting around 110-120 cloves of Inchelium Red and 15 cloves of elephant garlic. I’m really taking a liking to garlic!! I’d like to try roasting it sometime. My dad and I tried a few weeks, but it burnt. My crop from the mid June harvest is still keeping super well, no signs of mold or rot yet.

My garlic is about 2" tall now hahaha It's in one of the covered beds. I was expecting it to take a little longer to sprout for some reason.

Jacob - roasted garlic is go good! You should for for sure try it. Have you googled 'roasted garlic' for a recipe? Spread over sliced and lightly toasted baguette bread. Yum!

Jamie - how long ago did you plant your garlic again? I plant mine with the tip about 2-2.5" deep and it takes anywhere from 10 days to about 4 weeks to sprout. Being as far south as you are I doubt excess fall top growth will be much affected by the winter.

I just planted mine last Friday so I don't expect to see any sprouting until around the first of November. We are supposed to get the remnants of hurricane Willa tomorrow so I won't have to water it again. It looks like both you and Jacob will get some of the rain too.

Hi Jack- I planted it the morning of October 13, so it sprouted in a little less than 10 days. It has been a little warm, aside from a few days, though.

and yep! We have rain in the forecast for Tomorrow

Add me to the garlic planting club. Wow! My mom helped me plant it today and we planted it all in under 10 minutes, filling up two 30”x10’ beds in the top garden with 120 softneck garlic (Inchelium Red and some other variety I bought at the farmers’ market last July) cloves and about 12 elephant garlic cloves. I probably planted shallower than needed but I think they’ll be alright. I may mulch with some compost to get a little more depth. I tested my ph and it showed my soil being acidic as expected, so I worked a bit of lime and wood ash in with the compost I added. I’m trying a spacing of 5” in rows around 8” apart this time.

Does anyone else fertilize their growing space before planting garlic? I notice most online sources say to fertilize with 10-10-10 or similar before planting, but I feel like it would just leech since the garlic isn’t really using it over winter? Seems like side dressing would be much for effective here.

Jacob - if you topdress with compost, the garlic will get a decent amount of fertilization. I agree that it probably doesnt need a lot of fertilizer at this time of year.

I applied azomite and rock phosphate to my beds prior to planting. The beds were heavily composted also.

I mixed in compost and a few cups of Garden tone in my garlic bed prior to planting. I'll start fertilizing with urea sometime in February when I see new growth starting to show.

I've never grown elephant garlic before so I look forward to hearing how it does for you next year. It's supposed to be really good roasted.

For my new garlic bed this year I reclaimed a bed that had held iris. After I ripped out the iris, I turned the soil and mixed in a couple inches of compost. Then I covered it with a couple inches of fresh grass clippings. A few weeks later I tossed some Urea on top and turned that and the now brown/dry grass clippings in and topped it again with a fresh supply of grass clippings. That last treatment was two weeks ago. I am hoping that all that TCL will help improve the soil. I will possibly plant this weekend.

A question for those here who have overwintered anything in your house. What do you do to assure you're not bringing bugs into the house along with the plant? I have a rosemary plant that I think I would like to bring in. I do not want to bring in bugs! Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Itsmce - I've overwintered rosemary several times. The first time I tried, I brought it in the house and put it in a sunny south facing window. It died. After that I just put it in the garage where it stayed above freezing and only received indirect sun for the most part and it made it thru 3 straight winters just fine. I did water it a few times and started putting it outside during the day when the weather allowed.

Have any of y’all tried growing the hardier varieties of rosemary? I’m trying Arp this year and it’s supposed to be hardy to zone 5- at least that’s the variety that I think I have. I’ve had success in the past with rosemary surviving but had stopped growing it for quite a while, so I don’t remember the variety that I used to have.

The Dark Galaxy, Bolseno, Liz Birt, and Rebell Yell seem to be growing the fastest and begining to put on blooms.

Richard - Stop it! Your're making me crave a BLT already. LOL Looks like they are all doing well.

Jamie - Arp is the variety that I over wintered for 3 or 4 years...same plant. Unfortunately it finally died I think from being root bound. It was in a half barrel and I never root pruned it. I wouldn't trust leaving it outside much below 20 degrees.

I couldn't find a new Arp seedling this year and ended up buying one called Spice Island and it did very poorly for me.

Well that’s unfortunate. I think Rosemary makes a nice ornamental plant but I don’t use it a lot as an herb- not enough to justify having the 4 or 5 plants in the yard right now hahaha I like it more as an herb in the fall and winter than I do in the warmer months.

Hot sauce ingredients. I forgot to take pictures of the cherry tomatoes yesterday, so I only had a few today that were ready

Hot sauce ingredients. I forgot to take pictures of the cherry tomatoes yesterday, so I only had a few today that were ready. The bottom picture has Purple ghost peppers (top row), Jalapenos (second row), Habaneros (3rd row) and Cayenne (bottom row).

Probably won't use all the habanero pods but all the rest (in the bottom picture) are going in the sauce. I usually keep the habanero seperate because they have such a distinctive taste and tend to overpower anything else in the sauce.

I am a little disappointed. I thought the caterpillar tunnels were supposed to be delivered today based on the tracking number. Turns out they were waiting on me to make an appointment for delivery. I dont believe I was informed that's what needed to happen but oh well, I now have to wait until Tuesday. Its supposed to be rainy here all weekend anyhow. Gotta find something to do!

That’s too bad, Kevin, but since it’s raining maybe the universe delayed them on purpose! :D

Richard, Wow! You are getting quite the harvest. It all looks great....and much of it looks HOT!

In a way, all your green growth and harvest make me wish warm weather was still here. But then I remember how busy it was processing the big harvests of August and September and how often the lawn needed mowing. So I'll be content with kale and chard leaves, beets and carrots, and leeks and green onions. And I'll enjoy enough time to get in a few last kayak trips.

Kevin, sorry to hear about the delivery delay. It's hard when big plans get derailed. Here's hoping that you have a warm and sunny weekend for installation when you finally do get your delivery.

It’s a really beautiful fall weekend here. I hope all of y’all are enjoying yours. We are finally digging sweet potatoes tomorrow.

There are no signs of a killimg frost in this area yet.

But it is cooling down

We dug our sweet potatoes today. Some of them crowded together and formed huge Frankenpotatoes haha this was originally 4 plants that took over a 4x8 bed.

Jamie - nice spud harvest! Are they two different varieties ? Some look browner than others.

Well this Weekend was fairly productive for me given the rainy weather. I was Able to clean out the garage and also got this nifty little seed germination table built in our attached “greenhouse”/sunroom. Can fit 18 trays on the table total and 10 under the cover.

Very nice, Kevin.

Thanks! And, Yes there are two varieties but at the moment I can’t remember what they are. Most of them are from a six pack of transplants I got at Lowe’s, though.

get some rest, Cindy - then tell us about your trip!

Richard - I didnt see your pepper photos until now - they look great!! I agree about habanero - it overpowers/takes over a sauce if you use too much. I usually make a habanero lime sauce that uses strictly habaneros (and orange bell peppers to tone it down a bit). I have about 5 or 6 gallon zip locks full of various peppers that I will process at sometime this off season.

I also need to get my bonchi's in order - Right now they are just dug up and sitting in buckets in the garage. I will try to get a photo of them once set up.

Kevin - Do you do a soil drench of some sort for the bonchi peppers to dispose of any pests that might be lingering in the soil? I want to bring in a rosemary plant and I don't want to bring any critters into the house.

Thanks Kevin. I mixed jalapeños with the habanero and then 11 purple ghost with 10 jalapeños. The purple mix made two quart sized containers full and the habanero made one. Both are hot but the Habanero might be hotter. I have some reapers turning red so I will be making hot sauce with reapers within a week. I have never used reapers before. Will probably use only one or two in the sauce for 2-3 mason jars. I use about 20 tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, purple onion, 3-4 garlic cloves, salt, pepper and a small splash of cider vinegar. I actually had to buy the tomatoes on this last batch and I am out of onions and cilantro (almost), so this next batch will be store bought except for the peppers. The only tomatoes I have now are about 20-40 cherry tomatoes a day

itsmce - Last year i did my best to rinse the roots almost completely of soil, then repotted in an orchid / pine bark fine potting mix. Didnt have any bugs. I have heard that it can be a problem though.

itsmce, I did bring critters in when I tried to overwinter peppers. There were lots of aphids that I never could get under control.After repeatedly carrying pots from the sunny slider windows to the shower and back, I threw them all outside into the stormy winter. Fortunately, none remained to interfere with my seed starting several weeks later. I can't give you advice on how to prevent problems...I never tried again. It seemed easier to start new plants.

Yea, I’ll agree with naturegirl that it’s easier to start new plants. My bonchi experiment was mostly to let me take care of something “Gardeny” over the winter!

Cat tunnels arrived today! With any luck from Mother Nature one of them will be installed this weekend!

What are cat tunnels for? [g]

Kevin - that looks like a giant erector set! Looks like you have plenty of rain today but a pretty nice weekend coming up to install the tunnel. I hope you have some help coming over! A barn raising of sorts. Got any Amish friends? LOL

PM - when I google 'cat tunnel' it brings up several links for outdoor enclosures for a cat. In Kevin's case it is actually like a high tunnel or hoop house for growing veggies.

Not much going on in my garden. I'm still harvesting a lot of broccoli and a few carrots. I noticed a couple of the snow crown cauliflower are starting to get decent sized 3-4" heads. I don't see anything on the Cheddar yet so they may be a bust this fall.

I'll be digging and processing my horseradish the week of Thanksgiving. That's always a chore but kind of fun at the same time....sort of like digging potatoes.

Finally...I got my garlic in the ground yesterday. 124 cloves or rounds of likely 9 different varieties. Now, the long wait.

Last Sunday I added some grass clippings and leaves to my compost bin. I hope things are cooking in there.

Yeah sorry I should have been more specific! Cat tunnel is short for Caterpillar Tunnel. It is a more economical version of hoop houses or high tunnels. The other advantage beside the cost is that they are more readily movable. Since there are minimal endwall/sidewall structures to assemble and take down its as "simple" as driving new rebar stakes, taking the plastic off, and moving the hoops one by one. Its a good way to ensure you arent growing tomatoes in the same place year after year after year.

This is an installation video from the company that I ordered from.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QK_HFoS3hU

Jack - we are crossing our fingers that the weather will cooperate!

Good luck with the broccoli and cauliflower! How many frosts have you received so far? It looks like you have some decent weather over the next week or so!

Kevin, thanks for the explanation and the link. I actually thought you meant actual 'cat' tunnels. [g]. Wondering, if it was some new product that allowed cats that are house bound to get out in the yard. lol.

I took a look at the video - that looks like a pretty easy tunnel to erect. Not as bad as I would have imagined. 100 feet! That's great!

Yes we Ordered two of the 50 foot ones. They worked out better in our arrangement, plus when you order two you get free shipping (saved over $150). We couldnt stomach the cost of two 100 fters.

Kevin - they do look pretty easy peasy to assemble. No need to have a crowd of people to help.

We've had 2 frosts here so far with more predicted later next week. The broccoli heads are growing pretty slow but they are slowly getting bigger. I'm harvesting them at about 3/4 lb. and round 6" across which is a little smaller than what I usually harvest. I put them out 2 or 3 weeks later than normal because August was brutally hot and dry. Most years I am down to only picking side shoots by mid October but this year I still have about 10 main heads left to pick yet and the side shoots are just coming on strong on the others.

The carrots and lettuce are taking their sweet time as well. I may have to cover the lettuce when we start getting down into the upper 20s.

Psssst - it's November.

Cindy - I LOVE the subtle nudge!

Started the new thread.

Kevin - You're in zone 6b - I wonder what you grow in those tunnels all winter? Can you grow Kale/Broccoli/Cabbage or lettuces, or is that too much to expect? I assume you've already had at least one season growing with a tunnel?

wow - I totally didnt even think it was November... moving over to that thread now!