End of the Season

The garden is just about ready for winter; that's cover crop in the first few beds.

The end of the season is here. Yesterday was the last Thursday delivery. Monday will be the very last delivery of the season. It took me a long time to decide when to end the season. I have this romantic notion that our Thanksgiving dinners should be based on our local harvest, with the emphasis on what we are harvesting right now, more than what may have been preserved for winter. So, of course, I would like to deliver the week of Thanksgiving. The reality is, that can be pretty hard to do. There is a reason why many CSA farms and farmers’ markets end this time of year.

The Brussels' Sprouts still need to be planted earlier; they didn't quite make it to maturity.

As I have mentioned in recent posts, plants stop actively growing when we get down to about 10 hours of daylight. That means, most everything that will be harvested for Thanksgiving has to be ready to go now; but the longer crops sit in the field, the more chance there is for damage to occur. On a large farm, this can be managed. There is enough space to get fall and winter crops in the ground early enough to mature, and enough room to overplant, expecting to cull much more than in the summer months. In a small space, it is harder, though not impossible. I have to get spring and early summer crops out quicker, to use the same space for fall crops. Then, with more pest and weather damage, I don’t have as much to choose from and the quantities to sell are smaller.

After talking about this with a neighboring farmer, I have finally decided to give up on my romantic ideal. Until I have more room to grow, I will plan for the season to end at the end of October.

Aquadulce fava bean seed

As for what is happening in the garden this week, we did have a another frost Wednesday morning. This time, it was a good one, maybe enough to start to sweetening up what is left in the beds. I started cleaning out the squash field, to get it ready to be covered by oak leaves for the winter. I am a bit late, but I will try to get the fava beans planted today (I just finished harvesting the lettuce yesterday in the bed where I will plant them). I have a new variety to try out for next year. I will plant the Casine favas I had this year again, but I will also plant Aquadulce. I am already looking forward to trying out the new beans!