Winter garden

This is a couple of my raised beds that sit end to end.  The beds are 7 feet long.  This was a couple weeks ago.  I have not harvested any of the cabbage yet, but they are ready anytime.  I brought in the last of my cauliflower two days ago, and I froze the last of the broccoli that I planted from plants back at the end of September.  At the same time as I set those plants in one bed, I also planted a row of broccoli at the end of this bed... from seed.  I noticed 3 or 4 days ago that the broccoli from seed is starting to show signs of little heads.  These are now full size plants that you can see behind the beets. I have a full bed of brussel sprouts that will probably be ready in a couple weeks.  I regularly pick spinach or kale from another bed to use in my green smoothies.  Swiss chard is tall and shiny. Lots of onions and garlic are distributed in several beds.

Today was a beautiful day.  I had planned to get up to my garden this morning, but our day got turned in a different direction, so I didn't get out there till late afternoon.  We are having some frosty cool mornings and I'm figuring it is a good time to cut back my asparagus plants.  This is my first experience with asparagus, which I planted a year ago about this time.  A friend said I needed to cut my asparagus back in the winter.  I thought I wasn't supposed to do any cutting until they were three years old.  I then asked the lady at my local nursery and she advised me that I should cut them down to the ground after there has been a frost.  Well I think we have had a few frosts, so I wanted to get it done.  If you cut them back too soon they could start new growth and then get hit by frost and damage the plants. My asparagus bed is now all trimmed back and I have covered the whole bed with an additional 3 or 4 inches of soil.  All of my raised beds are 18" deep, except the asparagus bed... because I didn't want to disturb the bed when I was adding to the depth of the other beds.  My husband will add another row of boards around the asparagus bed tomorrow, then all beds will be where I want them.

I am really enjoying my gardening experience.  Lots of work, but it is good work.  Brings me great joy to be able to share some of my produce with others. 

It's about time...

With so much time since my last post, it is hard to know where to begin with a new post.  I have done some quilting, both for myself and for several others, but most of my focus has been on gardening.  My enclosed garden now has 9 raised beds, and most of those raised beds have shade cloth over them.  There is still my first raised bed on the other side of the back yard, but that is another story.  My tomatoes were good producers for a while, especially my Juliets.  Juliet tomatoes are kind of a mini Roma tomato. The Tycoon tomatoes have not been as productive as the Juliets, but both were good choices for my raised beds.
 
Back in December I put several asparagus plants (crowns) directly in the ground.  They were slow to come up, but little by little they appeared until I think I had about 12 plants.  Among other challenges I have had, moles/voles/gophers... one or all have been a problem with tunneling and causing havoc in my root crops.  My potatoes were a bust.  I made my potato box and put some red potatoes in there, then I planted two 20 foot rows of white potatoes.  I planted them at the end of February like I was supposed to.  When it came time to dig them, I did not even have 1/2 bucket.  I think I might have planted more than I reaped.  I did find many tunnels as I was digging.  I thought the potatoes were going to be OK... The plants looked real good, but I think the moles did alot of damage.  The potato box was a complete waste of time.

It is not uncommon to find tunnels all over my backyard... the telltale raised trails.  I very much would like to have my asparagus be one of my victories in the garden.  I don't think I realized back in December the potential problem of the moles/gophers when I put my asparagus crowns directly in the ground... All of my raised beds have hardware cloth on the bottom to keep critters out.  A few weeks ago when I was at a nursery, I asked if it would be possible to move an asparagus bed.  With it being a new bed, their advice was to do it right now, if I was going to do it at all, so I had Ron build me another raised bed to move my asparagus into.  It has been a few weeks already and they appear to be adjusting well.

Enough about gardening for the moment.  I have acquired a few beads over time.  Every now and then I sit down and try to create something special.  I put the finishing touches on this creation today at quilting.  Closures have never been something I liked doing.  One of my quilting buddies just happens to be an artist in beads. I had her show me how the real beaders finish their necklaces.  I didn't have all the right tools, but we made do with what I had... and now I know what I will need to buy for additional tools and findings.  I think this one might get worn more than once or twice.  I really like the colors.