Broccoli Harvest

We decided to pick all the substantial broccoli and cauliflower heads before the forecasted hard frost this weekend. It was surprising the sheer amount we were able to grow this fall compared to last year's single (inedible) yellow head of cauliflower.

Great Greens from the Fall Gardens

Last year we were so busy on the Hemingway Land Project that we never managed to put together a fall garden. This year I was able to plant lettuce, spinach, peas, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage all in the last week in August. In the future I may skip the entire spring garden and just concentrate on the fall garden. Our plants seemed to grow twice as fast as their spring counterparts. They also competed with less weeds. The fall garden did require a great deal more watering, but I'll take watering over weeding any day. Another benefit I found was that by August all the organic seeds were 50% off in the local shops.

Papa Steve's Rose Garden

Bryan and I were so impressed by Papa Steve's rose garden that we decided to have a family picture day among the flowers. After the snow falls we can hang these pictures to remind us that the color will soon return to Iowa.

Finally Fall

Fall has finally arrived at the Hemingway Land Project Farm. Last weekend with the coming of October we experienced our first frost. We were able to save the spinach and lettuce by bundling the lot in old blankets.

Spaghetti Squash Unwrapping

Like a kid on Christmas morning, I sat down in the garden to open the preciously wrapped spaghetti squash. With a grand total of three surviving squash, I have been carefully protecting our small crop with row covers to ensure their survival. Unfortunately these squash were just planted as an afterthought. The bumper crop of squash was planted in an area we now refer to as the "dead zone". An area in which even the weeds refused to grow. Sadly this year will not yield the wealth of varied squash we were expecting.

As I began unwrapping the squash the aptly named squash bugs detected our vulnerability and rushed to devour the rind of the poor vegetable. At this point I took great delight in squashing each and everyone of these little munchers, watching gleefully as the exploded yellow and green guts covered the garden leaves.

The Fall Garden

This year we planted a fall garden. Basically a do over garden for some of our earlier failures. A cabbage and pea reprieve. We planted three different varieties of peas with the hope that one will flourish. We also discovered that using grass clippings could save us a fortune on mulch. The grass clippings may not be as aesthetically pleasing but they are absolutely free.

Jiffy Pop

This year in addition to sweet corn we decided to grow a small patch of pop corn. At this point we have harvested the ears and now we will let them dry for a few weeks. I can't wait to test the kernels at the end of this week. Hopefully they will be dry enough to pop for the Landlocked Film Fest.