Planting Tulips-Hugelkultur Style-

I bought 25 Tulip Bulbs called Darwin Hybrid. I tried to lay them out equidistant, and then shoved them down several inches. They should be buried deeper, so I put several inches of fresh horse manure over the top and another several inches of chopped leaves over the manure. That way it shouldn't draw flies and smell. I sprayed some water to top it off, hoping that then the wind won't blow away the leaves. Now it can rest and we'll see what happens in the spring.

Hugelkultur - Good use for old firewood-Preparing to plant Tulips

I am kind of intrigued by the idea of Hugelkultur. I am getting ready to plant some Tulips, and a friend gave me some old firewood. I dug a pit, stacked the wood and replaced the soil over the top. The wood is supposed to act as a sponge for water, and nutrients as it decomposes. It should work well in a Tulip bed, because you don't have to till it every year. The whole project took about an hour. It was much easier than what I was afraid of.                                                                          

Planting Grey Griselle French Shallots-Allium Oschanini- Red Janice Garlic

I planted my Garlic and Shallots on Saturday the 22nd of October. You can see in the pictures I lay them out about six inches apart, and then I push them about an inch into the soil.I think I planted about ten bulbs last year and increased them to 50 this year. The soil is rich with organic material and I double dug it and fluffed it up. It is setting on top of about ten inches of horse manure. I am growing a variety of garlic called Red Janice, which I believe is a soft neck. I live in zone 5 and didnt lose any of the shallots in the winter last year, and I think we hit minus 20F . I see a lot of interest on my website with the shallots and garlic, and wish to say that they appear quite foolproof. The shallots sprouted last fall in November, and all the plants were growing and sprouting in February as soon as the snow melted. Last year I didn't mulch them, but this year I put about 8 inches of Oak leaves on top for a mulch, just in case it would get real cold without a snow cover. I planted about 50 Shallot bulbs, and 70 of the garlic. If anyone has questions please leave me a comment.

Fall Mustard Greens

These greens are doing well. I can start picking them any time now. They are about 6  weeks old.

Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes. October 21st

I have my plants up against a garage on the South side. There are still some nice ones coming, I hope they will produce another ten days or so. It got down to the low 30's last night, so we'll see.

Radishes

I have hundreds of radishes coming along that I planted September 18th. The leaves are developing, but there is no sign of anything edible yet. I am pretty scecptical of the dates such as 22 or 30 day radishes that they are as advertised as, I don't know where or under what conditions they would grow so quickly. I think there is still time for them to develop. I'm hoping maybe the middle of November.

Egyptian Onions- Walking Onions-Topsetting Onions

I planted a few bulbs a year ago, and have this stand now. I picked the bulbs they produced and plan to pickle them. In March and April or February if the ground isn't frozen they are good to eat as green Onions. Any other time of the year they are way to hot.

Winter Spinach

This is Bloomsdales Long Standing Winter Spinach. It was planted about the 15th of September. It will grow a little bit more this year yet, and the take off again in early march. This is the way to successfully plant and harvest Spinach in the Midwest.

Swiss Chard October 21st

I planted these Swiss chard plants from seed last March directly in the soil. I think the variety is Bright Lights. They were the first thing to germinate last spring, and are still going strong. They have been harvested repeatedly, and keep coming back. I don't think the groundhogs or insects like them.

October 21st Fall Garden Overview

I have almost all of the beds worked up , double dug and sitting on about ten inches of horse manure. In this picture there are  Strawberries, Swiss chard, Bloomsdales Winter Spinach, various small type radishes, Walking Onions, and Mustard Greens. I have also taken chopped leaves and placed them in my walkways. This way in wet weather my shoes won't get muddy. Even though we've had virtually no rain for weeks, I have very good moisture levels down about an inch in the soil.

Calcots- Spanish style green onions.

I planted these Calcots about September 5th. I think I planted about 75 bulbs, and about half are coming up already. So its been about 6 weeks. Even if they don't all sprout this year it doesn't matter, they will start very early next spring. The only thing I have to do is mound them up as they grow to blanch them. Each bulb will produce about six scallions.

Radiator Charlies Mortgage Lifter. Picked october 8th.

I planted 4 or five varietys last spring, but really the only ones that did any good are the Radiator Charlies. They have very good size and flavor, when they are ripe they are a nice pink almost red color.It was very hot here this summer and I think the fruit didn't set very well. Here at the end they have really come on strong. Most of these were picked about 6 or 7 feet off the ground. Look how clean and shiney they are.They have never been any where near the ground.

Planting Calcots- Spanish Green Onions

I planted about 75 onions, about setember 5th. They are buried about four inches deep. Each bulb will produce about 5 or 6 green onions next spring. They will be ready to harvest in April. I planted each bulb about 6 inches apart. If you look online there is quite a bit of information how to cook and make special sauces for them. In Spain they have big Calcot Onion festivals.

Calcots

Be sure you cut the top off, and not the root end.

Calcots- Forcing onions

I planted my calcots about September 5th. I bought a few bags of onions at the grocery store. I think its a good idea to use as nice and big ones as you can find. You cut the tops off and bury them in a trench about four inches deep. They will sprout in about 5 weeks, as they grow you keep backfilling dirt around them. In march they will start to grow and you will have the nicest green onions you have ever seen.