Ready for the Cold?

We should be having the first real cold snap of the year over the next couple of nights with lows temps below freezing for several hours each night. That will mean it is garden clean up time again and time to enjoy the new season's crop bounty. All of the summer's crops like tomatoes, beans, okra, peppers, and any other annual vegetables that are going to be killed by the cold, should be pulled out of the garden and discarded as they can be good hiding places for garden pests or their eggs. The same goes for any weeds near the garden.

Fall and early winter are also good times for adding organic materials to the garden soil. Compost, fall leaves, and animal manures, can be layered onto the soil and then turned under to breakdown over the winter months. It is also time to grow fall and winter crops down here along the coast. Turnips, cabbage, kale, spinach, sweet peas, beets, and other cold weather crops can all be planted now. If you have asparagus, be sure to clean up the bed after the green stems die back. Cut them all off low to the ground, scatter some composted manure over the plants and mulch them well with a layer of hay or leaves. Asparagus doesn't need mulch to protect it from the cold, but to control weeds and to enrich the soil as it rots.

Right now you can find sweet potatoes, pumpkins, collards, satsumas, and of course pecans, for sale by local producers. Locally the pecan crop is rather sparse this year with good ones being hard to find due to all the rain this year. Cassebaum's has a sign up so they have pecans to sell. Last winter was hard on any citrus growing in the region with many people losing their lemon and lime trees. While most satsumas made it through the ice storm and hard cold last winter, they did not produce a good crop locally. I have seen some being offered at roadside stands but not nearly as many as in a bumper year like last year.

Freezing Time

It may not be freezing weather outside but it is definitely freezing time inside. I have been filling my freezer with fresh snap beans, okra for both frying and boiling, pears, tomatoes for canning later, squash, and butter beans. Local growers have had a very good year so far, so there are many sources for fresh Baldwin County grown produce if you know where to look. Here around Lillian I have seen signs advertising okra, pears, muscadines, scuppernongs, melons, tomatoes, and squash.
Our unusually cool summer this year has given me tomato plants which are still putting on fruits and I have yet to see any of those terrible big black stink bugs. I wish I could say the same for the army worms which are chewing my okra to pieces. We had a heavy crop of figs and our fall peas are looking good. I am afraid all the wet weather has ruined our pecan crop though, with most of the small green nuts turning black already.

The Berries are Ripe

  We are pickin' and grinnin' once again. Our blackberries are coming in and this year we have a nice crop of blueberries for everyone to enjoy. Come out to our farm and fill up some pails with fresh sweet berries for cobblers, pies, smoothies, and just to snack on and fill up on antioxidants. You can find some good blueberry recipes listed on my gardening site, Growitveg.com, near the bottom of the recipes on the home page. I have already made two blueberry/peach cobblers that were enjoyed by all. I just replaced have the blueberries called for in the recipe with some fresh peaches from our tree.
  All across Baldwin County fresh produce of all types is available, from sweet corn and tomatoes, to blueberries and peaches, growers have their stands open for business. Our farm is located in Lillian not far from the Florida line, on county road 91, the same road as Cassabaum's sweet corn operation. They have a sign up saying their corn will be ready soon. Our thornless blackberries put on a heavy crop this year which we have for $3.00/lb we pick and $2.00/lb. you pick and the blueberries go for the same prices.
  Hillcrest farm is open for business with their own crop of blueberries and produce, along with homemade preserves and fresh eggs. So come out during the cool of the day, bring the young ones, and make it a family affair to gather this year's abundance and thank God for the chance to be together and enjoy life. See Ya'll in the berry patch.

Springtime Plantings and a Promising crop

                                                                                                                  

Well the temps are on their way up and its time to get those summertime vegetables in the ground. Spring flowers are their full colors like my Amaryllis. I've had tomatoes in the ground for 3 weeks now and just planted my first crop of pole beans today. I like the old fashion pole beans over the bush varieties because I think they taste better along with being easier to pick and staying cleaner growing up off the ground. Kentucky Wonder is still my favorite variety for eating fresh and canning later. Strawberries are starting to come in and our asparagus is coming up with nice thick spears appearing everyday. You can find locally grown winter crops like cabbage, lettuce, turnips, and collards in the farm markets right now. It is time to plant sweet corn if you have the room along with cukes, peppers, eggplants, butterbeans, and melons. The blackberries are blooming and the blueberries already have a nice crop set on for our you-pick customers to enjoy later.

Bit but not Dead. Brrrr

Well we may not have suffered as much as those up north, but we still had our share of the cold this last week. I hope everyone came through the hard freezes alright and without any busted pipes. We got down to around 21 degrees and did not even reach the thawing point of 32 degrees on one day. I spent most of the week thumbing through the new seed catalogs that have been arriving already, to start planning for next season's garden.
The only thing I have growing in the garden right now is turnip green and the cold even made them wilt slightly for several days. We did enjoy fresh greens and blackeyed peas on News Year's day. I have seen local roadside stands with citrus, cabbage, and greens to sell.
If you had outdoor plants that were damaged by the cold, hold off on cutting them back until the weather warms as the tougher stems may still be alive and sprout out in the spring. Now of course any tender annuals that are dead can be pulled up to clean up the garden and do away with hiding places for overwintering bugs or their eggs. Now is the time of year to prune back grape vines, fruit trees, and rose bushes, as well as setting out new ones.

Late Fall and starting to feel the Cold

The constant rains of this last summer have ruined this years pecan crop here in South Baldwin county. I know we don't have any this year and I have not seen any local signs going up advertizing nuts for sale. Underwoods in Foley has a sign out but I don't know what they have to offer or if the nuts are local or from out of state. Be sure to check any unshelled pecans being sold from roadside stands to be sure you're getting good quality nuts.
Our first early cold spell of this week will put an end to any remaining summer vegetables like okra and tomatoes, but it will mean more of the cool weather crops will be in the local farmer's markets. Turnip greens, Kale,  Pumpkins, Beets, and Spinach will all be coming into season. The last of the locally grown tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, and peppers, can still be found if you shop now.
While there may be a shortage of pecans this year, the local citrus crops of satsumas, lemons, grapefruits, and kumquats is sure to be abundant because of last years relatively mild winter. I just picked a bushel of satsumas off our one bush and have some lemons on another plant. When you have an overabundance of citrus, one thing you can do with the fruits is to squeeze the juice and either freeze or can it. I froze all my lemon juice last year and still have a gallon in the freezer. I also juiced and canned satsuma juice so it would last throughout the year. Why buy processed orange juice when you can have sweet satsuma juice every morning?
It is a good idea to buy an electric citrus juicer when faced with large amounts of fruits to juice. I have one and it is a real time and wrist saver. After juicing the fruits, I strain the juice to remove any seeds and pulp. Put it into a large pot and heat it just until it starts to steam good. You don't want it to boil. I taste it and then add some sugar, usually around a cup to a gallon because the canning process can take away some of the natural sweetness. You also want to use satsumas that are at the peak of their ripeness and not too green or over ripe. If over ripe they will lose their tang and be flat. Adding some lemon juice can help remedy that problem.
Pour the juice into clean canning jars, wipe the rims clean, seal with canning lids and process in a hot water bath for 5 minutes. The juice will keep for up to 3 years.
I found that freezing my lemon juice in ice cube trays (2 tablespoons per cube) is a good way to preserve it and have it handy for grabbing just the amount needed in recipes later. I just empty the ice trays into plastic bags and store the lemon cubes that way in the freezer. You can also freeze it in plastic containers in larger amounts.
Hope everyone enjoys the season and helps to keep our local growers in business.

High Summer Vegetables

It is the high point of summer with all the usual heat and humidity that is the norm for our part of the world. Where else can you get a free sauna bath everytime you just step outside. There are some hardy vegetables that are still bearing, which can be found in the local growers markets. Field peas, okra, cucumbers, butterbeans, melons, pears, figs, and summer squash, that are grown locally, can all still be found. Most local tomato patches have quit fruiting due to the heat but there will be a new crop this fall.

Another locally produced crop is our native honey, which is offered for sale at many farm stands and farmer's markets. Did you know that most store brands of honey are actually processed so they cannot be traced back to their country of origin. The honey is washed and watered down so that it does not contain any pollen and it is the pollen that marks each batch of honey so it can be traced back to where it was produced. Much of the honey sold in commercial stores is actually imported from China and may contain pesticides and toxins. Buying locally produced honey is the best way to go as you will be getting a pure product and helping a local producer as well. There is also some evidence that eating local honey can help keep the body from developing allergies to local plants and their pollens.

I put up some 2 gallons of fresh figs the other week. You have to get out early to beat the crows to them and to survive the heat. I have a good crop of pink eyed purple hull peas coming in right now along with my okra which is finally starting to bear in-spite of the constant wet weather and cloudy days.