Winter Fig Care

It's time for the fig trees to move to their winter quarters, the barn.

Fig trees can be winter hardy, with a little protection, not too far south from us. But I would just kill them if I kept them outside in our winters. So they will have a cozy spot in the back corner of the barn until it's time to get them started again in the spring.

This pretty simple article on fig tree care in winter recommends watering the fig trees once a month. The hard part will be remembering to do that!

More Gardening in November

We had a bit of snow on Thursday, but the garden is holding its own. And the temperatures are finally down into the fall range instead of the 60s we had earlier this week.
The radishes, in the foreground, and beets are doing well after the snow.

The chard is a little droopy but still going strong.

I have kale outside and also in the greenhouse.

All the kale is doing well and the baby spinach and lettuce in the greenhouse (to the left) will probably just be dormant for most of the winter. Then when the late winter sun starts heating up the greenhouse they should take off and we will be eating our own lettuce and spinach in early April.

I gave up on the cauliflower and pulled it all up today.  The heads of cauliflower were about the size of a nickel.  So the chickens, turkeys, goats and sheep all got to enjoy munching on a bit of green.

Radish Cover Crop

The daikon radishes planted for a cover crop are doing very well, even though they are covered in a little snow now. Some of the radishes are getting to be quite large. Once the frigid winter hit those roots they will break down and are going to definitely add a good bit of organic matter to the soil.

And I guess if we were really craving radishes we could eat some too.

Harvesting Saffron

I actually harvested three stigma from my one blooming crocus.

The stigma are the tiny reddish orange thread-like objects hanging below the flower.

After drying, they can be stored then used in cooking. The Pennsylvania Germans considered saffron a must have ingredient in some soup recipes. A 1/4 tsp is going to take a lot more stigma!

A Beautiful Day in November

Today was an absolutely beautiful day for November 10th. The high was around 60 degrees and the sky was clear. And no breeze; a perfect day to rake leaves. Alan surprised me by taking a half day at work and we raked up the leaves that have fallen so far. There are still a few trees holding on to their leaves but the bulk of the leaves have fallen. Today I was reminded again how wonderful our yard vac is.

With all the shredded leaves available I was able to mulch the garlic. First I built up a little fence around the garlic bed to hold the leaves.

Then I had to barrow in the leaves.  Now they are snug in their bed and ready for the cold winter.

The First Barn Inhabitants

Saturday morning we found the turkey that had been living with the goats had been attacked and was headless. We weren't exactly sure what had killed her though.
Saturday night I heard some strange barking noises outside. When I went out to listen more closely I heard coyote yipping and yowling. Since our other three turkeys are a week and a half away from their date with destiny I didn't want to lose them to coyotes! So we moved them into the new barn stall. The whole time we were moving the turkeys we could hear the coyotes on the ridge to the south east.

The turkeys would not walk on the concrete! We had to carry them into the barn and into their new temporary home. They are better with walking on the hay, but are still shuffling around a lot. Sorry turkeys, only nine days left.

Saffron Crocus

I didn't think the saffron crocus bulbs I planted far too late would do anything; however, they all came up and now one is blooming!

I don't think I'll get any actual saffron this year, but it is nice to have something blooming in early November.