In the garden {end of November}

Gardening has been on the light side lately since the temperatures have been dropping.  We’ve finally been getting some cold temps at night so I brought in the  last of the peppers this week.  I’m hoping to squeeze in a little pepper jelly and pepper sauce making time.

I love gardening in the fall.  Granted, you can’t plant some of the favorites like tomatoes and watermelons.  But it’s just not too hot to work outside.  It is downright pleasant to dig in the dirt right now.  And I really love…

that I can fill the pockets of my favorite sweater with my garden finds.  Today it was pecans from the neighbor’s tree that it generously deposited into our yard.  Sometimes it is eggs from the chickens and sometimes it’s a pepper or two. 

Remember in an earlier post where I talked about giving the chickens leaves from the yard compost pile to dig through?  The chickens turned those leaves into some beautiful looking soil.  That soil has been added to some of the garden boxes to work its magic over the winter.  This spot is marked for tomatoes!  Can’t wait to see if our city chicks will help boost our soil quality and garden production.

The garden looks quite bare right now but there are some winter crops planted.  So far we have collard and mustard greens, turnips, and carrots.  The peppers will probably be composted soon and the pumpkins pulled. 

We have never been able to successfully grow pumpkins before (those squash borer worms that get my squash get my pumpkins too).  I decided this year to just persevere without using chemicals.  The vines looked rather rough but some of the pumpkins did make it.  This pumpkin is just starting to turn orange.  I haven’t a clue what I will do with an orange jack-o-lantern pumpkin in the winter! 

And a garden post wouldn’t be complete with out a picture of our girls!  They are working hard and giving us 3 – 4 eggs a day.  They are also eating a lot lately.  I’m not sure if it is because it is getting cold and they need more food for energy to stay warm or lack of grass but they are really eating a lot.  David built a new little feeding area to keep their food dry since we usually get rain during this time of year.  So far, it works well and looks super cute!

Since we are entering winter, a lot of garden dreaming will be going on.  I’m sure you’ll see a post or two in the future as I dream of our spring and summer gardens!