Weeding between the lines

By Jim McGinty

Our little “frost pocket” garden was recently blessed by three nights of 29-degree-Fahrenheit temperatures, then by two-and-a-half inches of rain at 67 degrees for three days. Our gardening season ended on quite a traumatic note: though we covered the “sensitive” crops (tomatoes, peppers, ornamental squash, blackberries, etc.) with a frost blanket (Ree-May, in our case), most of those plants are now blackened and crisp. Still struggling, though, are the cold-hardy crops of broccoli, carrots, sugar beets, chard, collards, parsley, mint, and cabbage. 

In the orchard, the apple trees are loaded with a crop of late-ripening fruit, and the Italian prune-plum trees provide tasty snacks as we work – remember that plum trees like to be pruned for dead, diseased, or damaged branches right after harvest.

I’m rolling wheelbarrows of barnyard “litter” (Pat and I like to convert our limited income into food for the goats and sheep; they in turn convert our money into trampled hay and poo) into the garden, in preparation for the 2018 gardening season, and will top that layer off with a couple of pickup-truck loads of seasoned cow and horse poo, as well. Once that goodness has been rototilled into the soil, I’ll plant the garlic, clean up the spent plants and debris (if the pulled plants are disease-free, they’ll go into the compost bin, along with some of the aforementioned litter), and start working on firewood.  Whew!

If you are still harvesting veggies and fruit, and have extra produce, please remember our local food bank: the North County Food Pantry (509-292-2530, 40015 N. Collins Road, Elk) will gladly accept your donations.

Out in the garden, now is a great time to divide that over-crowded rhubarb plant: simply sharpen a shovel, stab it into the center of the plant, cut out a pie-shaped piece (about one fourth of the total plant), fill in the newly-opened cavity with topsoil or compost, wash the pie-shaped piece with garden water, and replant. More rhubarb next year, just in time for rhubarb-and-strawberry pie season.

Now is also a good time to prune out all of the brown raspberry canes (the ones that produced fruit this year), leaving only the green canes for next spring.

Recommendations from Rancho McGinty from our 2017 garden experience:

Cucumber: Burpless Cucumber (yes, that’s it’s actual name), planted in early September, and still producing.

Tomatoes:  Koralik, cherry-sized, very prolific; Silvery Fir Tree, salad-sized, a consistent heirloom winner; Candy Bell, grape-sized, tough skin, good flavor.

Peppers:  Sweet Pickle Pepper and Greek Pepperoncini, abundant harvests; Traveller jalapeno, mild flavor, moderate heat.

Radish:  German Giant, the longer they grow, the better they taste. Try planting with some aged chicken poo for increased flavor.

Squash (?!):  Small Wonder spaghetti squash, Reba acorn squash. The chickens and a smattering of deluded people eat them.

Brussels Sprouts: still trying to grow them, despite limited sprouts and unlimited aphids.

Cabbage: Conical Head, split heads, not recommended.

As you finish with your garden tools, remember to store them out of the winter weather. If you have the time and space, you could save your expensive shears, shovels, rakes, etc. from rusting by removing all the garden dirt and coating the steel parts with oil. Wooden handles can be saved from disintegrating (and splintering, OUCH!), by sanding the handles with 100-grit sandpaper, and coating the handles with your favorite wood preservative (boiled linseed oil, polyurethane, Watco oil, etc.).

While you are resting from your garden endeavors, you might take a look at the 2018 seed catalogs: ordering early is always a good idea, and the seed companies are currently offering substantial discounts.

GARDEN CALENDAR   

On the 7^th of October, those frolicking food and flower fructifiers, the Master Gardeners of Pend Oreille County, will offer a hands-on Practical Pruning class in Newport, at the River Mountain Village Assisted Living Center (608 W. Second St., Newport). The class will discuss and demonstrate how to prune perennials, shrubs, and trees, as taught by Tim Kohlhauff, and runs from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Cost is $5, and it would be a good idea to dress appropriately for the weather and for outdoor work (bring your own gloves, pruning tools, and maybe a snack). You can register for the class by calling the W.S.U. Extension Office at 509-447-2401.

On the 10^th of October, our local garden club will hold its last meeting for the 2017 season, and also conduct our annual Harvest Dinner, starting at 7 p.m. in Camden Grange. We’ll meet one last time this year to discuss what worked in our gardens, and talk about what didn’t work quite so much, and also eat great food! Club members are asked to bring side dishes, desserts, or miscellaneous (biscuits, condiments, margarine, special beverages, etc.), enough for their families and two additional hungry gardeners. Our club will provide the protein (ham and chicken, if I’m unable to harvest something fairly fresh on the side of Highway 2), and non-alcoholic beverages. Club members are asked to call me (509-292-0326) so we can organize the menu (for one previous Harvest Dinner, our “disorganized” menu consisted of only desserts – a meal to remember!).

If you are the fortunate caretaker of a club garden gnome, you are asked to bring the little guy to the meeting, so they can conduct their annual Gnome Conclave. 

On the 14^th of October, the Pend Oreille County Master Gardeners will offer an entirely appropriate class on Preparing your Garden for  Winter, at the W.S.U. Extension Office (227 S. Garden Ave., Newport), from 10 a.m. to noon. The Master Gardeners will discuss and show how to put your garden to bed, with a tour of their rapidly-expanding demonstration garden. Topics include plant protection, pruning, mulching, and tool care; the class costs $5, and you can register by calling the Extension Office at 509-447-2401.

That’s it for this year – rest over the winter, and store up energy for next year’s Best Ever Garden. I’ll be back in March, 2018.

Visit our blog to stay current with club activities.