What's happening in the early November edible garden

Lavender in late fall

Sunday, November 3, 2024

Well, we are still experiencing record warmth here in the Midwest.  We are seeing highs in the 80's and lows in the 60's.  Our normal highs are the 60's and lows in the 30's and there are no 30's in the forecast for the next two weeks!  It's like we moved to Georgia.  My summer veggies are still producing and the cool season crops are growing quickly.  

So far, I'm still harvesting tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, beans, Red Malabar and New Zealand spinach.  They all have flowers and baby fruits on them.  They have slowed down as the daylight hours are so much shorter now.  

The cold season crops like kale, lettuce, onions, mustards, chard, carrots, garlic and many herbs are nice and green and growing quickly in the warmth.  When the mercury dips, the cold season crops will get sweeter.  Cold season crops for your edible garden

I have been planting onions and garlic recently.  I ordered a sweet Egyptian walking onion in the summer and it came in a few days ago.  I planted them in a pot to keep an eye on them for the winter..  Looks like they all transplanted well  By early next summer, they should be dividing underground and putting on top sets that I can then move into the garden bed.  I planted the top sets from my existing Egyptian walking onions into the garden bed a couple of weeks ago and many of those are up.  I planted some new potato onions at the same time.  I have a few of those up, too.  

Egyptian walking onions don't get as big as the potato onions but you can harvest Egyptians year round.  Potato onions multiply underground over the winter so can be divided next spring.  I'll then harvest the potato onions in the fall, re-planting all the small ones and putting the largest ones in the cellar.  Potato onions are long keepers.  By next summer, I hope to not have to buy any onions. 

If you are gardening in pots, move them up against a wall that gets southern exposure.  This will move your effective climate zone up a full zone and prolong the harvest.  If they are on stands or coaster, remove from their stand and set them onto the ground.  They will stay much warmer on the ground than suspended off the ground.  Putting the pots into the mulch will help keep them warmer still.  

Now is a fun time of year to experiment in the kitchen with all the fresh herbs that are still available.  Parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, tarragon, bay, lavender, chives, oregano, and dill are all hardy herbs in November.  I have had many Christmas dinners with herbs fresh from the garden.

You can also bring tender perennials like basil, rosemary and bay into the garage or house for the winter.  Other veggies I bring in are my pepper plants, celery, eggplants, citrus trees and tropicals.  I keep them in our unheated, insulated garage or heated basement with a 4' grow lights over them.  We did finally transplant my Morton Citrange into our southern exposure garden bed up against the fireplace.  It is hardy down to 0 F, but being on the south side up against stone just helps give it winter protection.  It's fruit is supposed to taste like a cross between an orange and grapefruit.  Fingers crossed I get to taste some next year!  

Last year, I moved the pepper plants, eggplants and tropicals into my new walk in, portable greenhouse.  I chose clear plastic to maximize the sunlight that gets through since I will primarily be using it during the cold seasons. When it started getting down into the teens, I moved the tropicals to the basement.  Plants just don't do as well under artificial light as they do outside.  My eggplant didn't do great in the greenhouse.  I need to put straw around the greenhouse to hold the warmth in at a higher level, up where the leaves and fruits are.  I'll try that next year.  The natives I put in to overwinter did great.

Walk in, portable greenhouse

You can also take a look at all the tomatoes you have put up in freezer bags.  If you have more than you know you need, this is the perfect time of year to do some water bath canning.  I go through and any left over from last year or more than will fit in the bottom freezer bin, I make into sauce.  Time to make homemade tomato sauce! 

As even more freezing weather comes our way, you can extend the season for lettuce and greens through the winter by using a portable green house or making your own hoop house.  I'll put my potted lettuce, chard, arugula, celery, kale and mustard under my portable greenhouses to keep salads going the entire winter.  Extend the season with protection for plants

The biggest killer of veggies in greenhouses?  Getting too hot!  Make sure you crack open your green house when the temps get above freezing and the sun is shining.

I have pulled the seed heads of my zinnias, cockscomb, Cardinal basil, Christmas Speckles lima beans, Blauhilde purple vining pole beans, garlic chives, Turkish Orange eggplant, Red Burgundy okra.  After they dry thoroughly, I will separate the seeds from the petals/hulls and package in small plastic baggies for next year and for the local seed library we are starting in the community next spring.  I also have eggplant, squash and tomato seeds saved from earlier.

I usually save my extra garlic cloves for peeling and pickling in the late fall.  If you have a large harvest or have soft neck, it can take a while to peel.  I stick with hardneck as they are larger and their skins are easier to remove.  I also grow Elephant garlic whose cloves are huge and very easy to peel.  This year, I didn't have much of a harvest.  I had put my garlic in a pot last year as we were moving our beds around and they all died.  I had a few volunteers come back up in the garden bed from tiny bulbets left from a couple of years ago so I dug all those this summer and replanted in the garden bed a couple of weeks ago.  Next year, I'll see how these do and supplement if needed for next fall in the southern large bed we just put in.  Starting next year, the beds will consistent and I can just plant and practice crop rotation through my beds.

I just planted blueberry bushes in pots.  They require very acidic soil so will see how much they produce keeping them in pots.  Pots are easier to keep pH control.  I mixed half and half peat moss with potting soil to get the lower pH they prefer.  

I have 3 raspberry and 2 blackberry bushes that I've kept in pots that I'll put in the ground yet this fall.  Fall is a great time to plant trees and bushes.  These berry bushes grow well under the same conditions as other edibles so no special bed preparation is needed for them.

Lastly, I will need to transplant the lettuce I started into their permanent pots and cover them with a portable greenhouse cover.  I am going to move the pots onto the concrete so I am not creating a vole tropical winter habitat.  Hopefully, this will reduce the number of voles in my garden beds.  I am also going to use blood meal for nitrogen as it deters voles and lowers the pH in the soil, which I need to do in our beds.