The Incredible Shrinking Garden

September 23rd, 2009 at 12:49pm Jill Beyer

I sure love the Midwest and its seasonality.  The fall cycle takes place invariably in the execution of weeds, spent vines, brown harvested sweet corn stalks, and  green bean debris.  The weeds are all tilled under in the process.  Hopefully most were tilled under before the seed heads matured.  Weed whipping held most at bay when hand weeding became tedious and not worth the effort. The plants had already made their fruits.  Rows become fewer, and the garden seems to shrink. The Guinea fowl are still delighting in the never-ending supply of Japanese beetles and are supplementing their diets with the weed seeds.  They spend their days “working”.

Late planted lettuces, turnips, broccoli, green beans, and cabbages are coming to maturity.  The tomatoes are lifeless lumps in their beds.  There’s still a lot of tomato out there, although the last big rain seemed to “rain disease” on the vines.  The serious pickers and tomato lovers will salvage the ugly fruits, chop out the bad spots and make wonderful bruschettas and flavorful sauces out of the garden ripened fruits.  Peppers and tomatillos have come into their own abundance.

Our usual challenge is just when is a melon perfect for picking.  For the last few weeks we pick a few here and there, but now the first tendril on the watermelon has turned brown.  The cantaloupe is ready when the vine slips off the melon attachment. Oh my.  Hidden under the vines were about 200 perfectly ripe fruits of all sizes.   The melon options are fantastic when home grown.  We have red, yellow, and orange watermelons.  All have a tender rind, not good for shipping in big brown boxes, so seldom found in the big grocery stores.  Check out the farmer’s markets! Picking day is also tilling day.  The vines and weeds go with the tilling, leaving another flat place in the garden to receive wonderful organic manures and composts.

Potatoes and onions are still in the ground and can come out any time.  Our little V-plow, lovingly dubbed the “potato popper”,  is a back saver.  Onions, fortunately, sit on the surface and just need to be lifted.  Onions like to dry on the surface for a couple days.  Potatoes would turn green if left in the light for very long.

After the first frost, we’ll snip off the sweet  potato vines and “mine for gold”. We wait patiently for the parsnips to sweeten after a hard frost, and have topped off the brussel sprouts so the plant’s energy will feed the growing sprouts.  The late crops are starting to look lonely as the garden shrinks.

Local food is still abundant, just changing with the season.  Take advantage of the fall harvest by visiting local markets and the Openfields Dinner Series.  There are only three dinners remaining.  Visit www.extension.uiuc.edu/winnebago for the details. ?

Entry Filed under: Eat locally