Sunday, November 4, 2012

'Mater Murderess and Other Garden Stuff

So today is November 4th and I harvested three salvageably-ripe Kellogg's Breakfast 'Maters and one pale Early Girl.

I can't say that's a Record-Breaker for me (I know I've found 'maters as late as December and early as February - in years' past), but all-told, I have to say "Not Bad!"

There are definitely worse things than harvesting fresh, home-grown maters in November, right?

(Even those that are destined to be Green Tomato Relish!)

I pulled the greenies off today...  Because...

It's time to say "Adios" to the Tomato Beds.

Today is turning into a simply lovely day - possible record-breaker with temps creeping into the low 80's (AWESOME!).  But nighttime temps are definitely dipping into the 40's so the maters are essentially "Done."  Plus, there were white-flies galore.  Yep, definitely time to rip 'em out.

Beds are now (nearly) empty

And the wheelbarrow is (very) full!

Next up:  Need to amend the empty beds. I'd already stuck a few transplants in the ground, under the 'maters, so I need to be careful not to OVER amend.  Although I am sticking with organic amendments so, hopefully, no risk of burning (tho' I'm not sure about bagged steer-manure...  Seems not to have hurt the FFF bed though).

Speaking of:

My seeds have sprouted!
Not sure if they're carrots or radishes. Oh well!

And here are a couple more shots from around the yard:

Morning Glories had a rather "Vigorous" year!

Nannas are still hangin' in there (the fruits are about thumb-sized)
No chance of harvesting anything edible though :-(

I've had these bananas since 2004.  I'm pretty sure that the only survivor from that particular eBay acquisition was the Saba.  And this is the second time I've gotten an inflorescence and fruit.  They die back every year, but also put-out pups, so I think I'll have nannas forever!  Saba is cold-hardy, but what Googling I've done has led me to believe that the fruits need to stay on the tree for appx 11 months before they can be cut down.  They may still be green at that point, but they might stand a chance of fully ripening.

However...  We don't get 11 months worth of Banana-Friendly Weather.  Winter temps can (and DO) dip into the 20's so Edible Fruit just ain't gonna happen.  The first hard-freeze will wipe-out the trees, turning the "trunk" to mush, unfortunately.

Next year, I think I may try to plant a California Gold Banana.  Supposedly, that variety does stand a chance of ripening into edible fruit.

Nevertheless, I still think it's pretty damn cool that my Sabas are at least attempting to fruit!

Okay, I think that's a pretty decent "Garden Update" for November, wouldn't you say?!!



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