A December Harvest

I decided to pick my Brussels sprouts today. They've been sitting in the garden for the past eight months, but at this point, I think they're done growing. Today was especially cold and the garden remained frosty for much of the day. I figured that if I didn't pick them today, I never would.

As you can see, I have a lot to learn about growing Brussels sprouts. They look pretty leggy, not anything like the compact robust stalks you see at the supermarket. The ones at the bottom are pretty ratty looking (I guess I should have picked these a long time ago) but the rest are fine.


These sprouts are definitely on the small side, yet large enough to be worth keeping. Maybe next year I'll get it right.


Finally, I picked the last of this year's broccoli. There wasn't much but it'll still be good in a stir-fry alongside other veggies.

Random Happenings...and Non-Happenings

Looks awful doesn't it? For some reason, I can't seem to find the motivation to start the fall cleanup. And it's not helping that the garden is covered in mud right now. It's always hard getting started but ultimately, I do enjoy tidying things up and putting the garden to rest for the winter.

The only things blooming in our garden right now are the Asian greens that have bolted prematurely. In this case, it's the Napa cabbages. The honey bees seem to appreciate them so I think I'll wait to pull them.


The wild arugula seeds that I sowed last fall never took so I'm happy to see that it did this time around. The leaves are very pungent so a little bit goes a long way in a salad or sandwich.


Broccoli side shoots - one of my favorite things in the fall garden. I love a veggie plant that keeps on giving.

My two Brussels Sprout plants - I'd cut off the tops but I'm wondering now whether I should remove more of the leaves to coax the plant into putting more of its energy into maturing the sprouts.


The four chrysanthemum tea plants that I transplanted into the garden in 2010 have since taken over their bed.

It won't be long now before they begin to bloom. And if we can avoid a hard frost anytime soon, we might just get a decent crop of flowers this year.

Decapitating the Brussels Sprout Plants

This is my first year growing Brussels sprouts and I have to admit, I'm a bit perplexed. My two plants (the only two that recovered from the groundhog assaults) are about 3 feet tall right now but the sprouts are still rather tiny. I thought I read somewhere that you can cut off the tops of the plants to encourage the sprouts to grow faster. It was worth a shot. Does anyone know if this actually works?

Generally, you can harvest Brussels sprouts well into December in our zone 6 climate. Hopefully there's still enough warmth left in the fall growing season to provide us with a harvest.

Fall Garden Tour

Now that summer is coming to an end, here's a preview of this year's fall garden. All in all, I was good about getting our fall crops started on time. In a few weeks we'll have to break out the row cover at night, but nonetheless, I'm hoping that we'll be able to harvest continually from the garden until at least early December.

In no particular order, here is what we'll be eating (hopefully) during the next few months:


The fall beets (lower right) are slowly sizing up while the fast growing Tokyo Market turnips should be ready in a couple of weeks.


The spinach is practically ready for us to harvest. The winter carrots (right) on the other hand will be pulled in December and January, that is if the voles don't get to them first.

Red russian kale in the background and gai lan (Chinese broccoli) in the foreground. I have another bed of gai lan that should be ready in a week or two.


Here's a bed of Asian greens.


I am growing a ton of leeks this year and they are looking really good. They are much fatter than last year's crop.

I have two Jade Cross Brussel sprout plants that survived the groundhog attacks earlier this year. Can we defeat the cabbage worms and actually get a harvest this year?


My fall carrots should be ready in another month or so.


The Bonanza broccoli is doing well and should be ready soon. On the other hand, I'm worried that our cauliflower won't head up in time.


This will most likely be my last year of growing Napa cabbage. It's impossible to keep the slugs away from this plant. Also, our fall crop has bolted prematurely due to the sudden change in temperatures. I think I'll stick to other Asian greens that are easier and faster to grow.


I don't expect much from our fall snow peas but that won't stop me from trying to grow them.


Finally, I have several varieties of winter lettuce this year. These will have to be harvested by early December their quality quickly diminishes after that point.

In addition to this, I sowed some mache, claytonia and French Breakfast radishes the other day. What's growing in your fall garden?