Planting in October?  You bet!  A few weeks ago Andy finished assembling a small raised bed for my garlic.   I think that ideally, I should have planted the garlic three weeks ago, but I don’t think the bed was ready at that time, and I also really haven’t had two seconds to myself to do so.  But today I did.  I had purchased a huge sack of garlic at the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market back at Labor Day that has just been waiting for planting.  I’ve used a good deal of it, but happened to save the perfect amount of cloves to fit into the bed.

Of course, you can’t see anything but the bed and dirt, but the cloves are in there.  It’s a Siberian variety- delicious and crispy- the bulbs are compact and on the small side- most have only between 4-6 cloves of garlic.  I’m looking forward to seeing how the next generation turns out!  I topped my freshly planted cloves with a nice layer of homemade compost, and here’s to hoping that next fall I am busily braiding my own string of garlic!

I also took a minute today and dug up my Tarragon and my Rosemary plants.  I transplanted them into pots with some compost, and I’m hoping I can keep them alive in the house over the winter.  We’ll see, I don’t have very much sun in the windows, but I’m hopeful.   I need a small plant stand or two to set in this corner window for them.

I expect the Sage, Lemon Thyme and Thyme to survive the winter intact.  The Lovage I think I’ll be harvesting and drying.  But maybe if I find another pot with a bottom I’ll dig it up and add it to the indoor collection.  My Summer Savory died quite a few weeks back- even before it got cooler out,  so I’m not sure what happened there.   If I get a chance I would like to make a batch of pesto out of the basil, but I’m not sure when and if I’ll have time.

The rest of the garden is still hanging out, though I have some clean-up to start focusing on.  I have beets and carrots all over the place that I will think about harvesting soon.  The kale is looking gorgeous, as is the chard, so I’ll just leave those and pluck them as I desire.  I still pick a few handfuls of green beans here and there- plenty for the kids to snack on, so they’re happy.  And I’m also still harvesting tomatoes- and quite a few at that!

They’re not the prettiest- they’re pretty much all cracked, but once you cut the cracks off, they’re perfect for adding to soups or stews.   The Lemon Drop cherries and the Black Cherries are still going, so we’re still delighting in snacking on those as well.  Today my Woodle Orange plant surprised me with a cluster of four ripe and orange tomatoes.  Those ones are not cracked- so we’ll have a few slicers out of those ones.

My leeks are continuing to struggle, and I’m unsure if I should harvest them and use them as babies, or let them winter over and see if the come back in the spring.  It just wasn’t a good year for them, I guess.

While the gardening season is meandering to a close, my thoughts are already turning to next year.  What to plant, what to plant, that is the question.  I’m researching the possibility of joining a CSA when we get our tax return in the spring.  Then, we will utilize the CSA veggies for everyday eating, and then I can use the garden to focus on what I would like to preserve.  Like planting onions, peppers and tomatoes for salsa, cucumbers and dill for pickles, and cucumbers and tomatoes for eating fresh out of hand.  We’ll see.  I have to find out more about the CSA that has a drop off just a few blocks from our house.