Quick Snowfall Marks End of Growing Season

Snowfall
Originally uploaded by tpl108.

Yesterday afternoon, as temperatures hovered near freezing, a dusting of wet snow signaled the end of the growing season for almost all of the plants in the grange.

While temperatures have yet to actually dip below freezing, it's probably safe to assume that the all of the flowers, basil, and tomatoes have packed it up for the season. The lettuce and spinach should keep growing for a little while longer however.

Lessons Learned: Lettuce

Romaine, Day 53
Originally uploaded by tpl108.

We've learned a thing or two about growing lettuce this season. Having grown a looseleaf variety like Black-Seeded Simpson and a head-lettuce variety like Romaine, each plant requires different levels of attention.

Black-Seeded Simpson is a very delicate plant. It likes cool weather and did not grow well this fall. Heavy rainfall is particularly damaging to the plant, causing it to droop and hang low the ground, which invites leaf rot and pests. Consider providing some sort of protection if rain is forecast. Making two or three small harvests rather than waiting for one large harvest seems to take weight off the main stem and allows the plant to remain upright. Next spring, we'll plant several containers of Black-Seeded Simpson. The cooler weather will likely make a big difference. The best part about this plant is its wonderfully delicate taste and texture. It's unlike anything found in big supermarkets.

Romaine, on the other hand, is a lot easier to grow. (Actually, the pictured lettuce may not be romaine. This plant grew from seed labeled Boston Bibb. Obviously the seed company made a mistake, so I'm not too sure what variety this is.) While it does take more time to reach maturity, it is far more resistant to the weather and requires less maintenance. As with the Black-Seeded Simpson, this plant grew better in the spring than in the fall.

Fall Flowers

Fall Flowers
Originally uploaded by tpl108.

It's hard to say when these flowers emerged. It could have been anytime since last week. Aside from stumbling around the yard in a Grateful Dead tye-dye and black denim slacks, drunk, yelling at feral cats who relentlessly taunt and judge me, I haven't been outside much because of the rains (and the increasingly caustic rhetoric of the cats).

These are some good looking flowers and are some sort of daisy, perhaps chrysanthemum leucanthemum or ox-eye daisy. They typically bloom in early-fall and might stay in bloom through month's end.

Mailbag: The Grange and You, Arm & Arm We Walk to Unknown Adventures

Leaves
Originally uploaded by tpl108.

Question: Are you saying the Grange is kaput for the season?

Answer: Far from it. There are a few weeks left in the growing season, so there will be lots of stuff to talk about, at least until the first hard freeze.

After that, the plan is to write about the lessons learned and preparations made for winter and the following spring. By November or so, the number of posts will surely dwindle. Things should pick back up by the first week of March. Thanks for the question! There are lots of topics in the works, so please keep reading!

The photo was taken about two weeks ago, about an hour before sunset.

Under Tupperware Skies

Departing Storm
Originally uploaded by tpl108.

Capping off eight straight days of rain, this weekend brought nearly six additional inches of rain to the grange. Few things hold up well to a half-foot of rain, not to mention the 40 mph winds left in the storm's wake. The marigolds have just about had it and the tomatoes look downright haggard, which is probably for the best because the neighbors are starting to talk, bandying about words like eyesore, public nuisance, and ship box. Why they think my plants have anything to do with shipping is beyond me.

Stormy Early-Fall Weather

Black-Seeded Simpson, Day 46
Originally uploaded by tpl108.

As the front moved through and the winds swung around to the north, temperatures fell almost twenty degrees in less than two hours. Three-and-a-half inches of rain over the past two days combined with a forecast of rain through the end of the week certainly presents a fair number of challenges.

Delicate plants like black-seeded simpson don't stand up well to heavy rain. An old window frame provides plenty of protection and is big enough to shelter two plants. As seen in the picture, the plant outside the window has been beat up by the rain while the other plant remains vigorous.

The romaine (not pictured) withstands the weather considerably better than the black-seeded simpson, but it too has started to droop from all the water.

Black-seeded simpson is an heirloom variety of lettuce and has been around for well over 150 years. It has a very light taste and delicate texture.

Bolting Spinach & Tossed Tomatoes

Early-October Tomatoes
Originally uploaded by tpl108.

Although warm weather is great, it does make it difficult to grow cool-weather crops. The spinach has recently started to bolt.

A fickle crop to begin with, Spinach likes cool weather and will bolt in the heat. Spinach has two life-cycles: the vegetative stage and the bolting stage. During the vegetative stage Spinach puts out tasty leaves, which emerge from the base of the plant.

The onset of heat, however, causes Spinach to send up a seed stalk (bolting). During this phase the leaves become pointy, the stem grows rapidly, and taste deteriorates. When the plant bolts, the leaves should be promptly harvested and eaten.

In other news, high winds last week tossed three tomato plants. If this hadn't happened before, it would've been fairly traumatic. But, tomato plants are resilient. After a quick pep-talk and affirmation session, they were set right-side up and were no worse for wear. The picture above is of a plant that took a header. Just look at all the tomatoes it has.

Global Warming A-OK: Grange Experiences Warmest Two-Month Period in 121 Years

Pollination
Originally uploaded by tpl108.

The average temperature of 68.9 F over the past eight weeks marks the warmest August/September in 121 years. The warm weather allowed the tomatoes and flowers to keep producing. In fact, the bees are still out and pollinating. Getting the growing season to last until early November looks encouraging.