November Garden Report

Short version: I did nothing!

Slightly longer version: I thought about doing some things, then none of them happened.

Most of the plants are gone and have been uprooted. There were still strawberry plants and marigolds, and I thought about transplanting them, but did not.

Part of that is because I have not decided whether or not to renew the plot. It almost doesn't matter with the strawberries, because I have decided that I don't want them in the ground again.

I read something about how strawberries are the worst berries to pick, and have been nicknamed the devil's berries. I didn't know about the nickname, or how passionate some people were about it, but I knew about picking them. There is no comfortable position, you get cramped and dirty, and there are always stickers and things, and the berries are more in the dirt. They were somehow also the ones that needed the most workers back when I was doing that.  (Probably just a coincidence.)

So even if I renew the community garden plot, I will change something with the berries. Whether I just put them in an urn, or use rain gutters, or hanging baskets, I have not decided yet. However, this is not a great time of year to transplant them. If I suddenly need to do it in January that won't be great either (March would probably be best), but I will have to wait and see.

The marigolds are a different story. They are annuals. Technically they should die out. They have been remarkably strong though. We are starting to get some frost, and this may be what finally sends them to rest, but their resilience has been a pleasant surprise.

I also thought of putting in a cover crop - commonly referred to as green manure - to improve the soil. It sounds like alfalfa is pretty common, though I was getting a lot of volunteer clover, so that would probably grow well. Without knowing if I am going to be using the space, it didn't seem like a good idea. Still, it's an intriguing idea. I hope to experiment with it next year. If there is one thing that growing does, it's make you believe and look forward to future years.

I promise that nothing will happen in December, and probably not in January. Instead, I will be gaining knowledge, to help me better decide what I want to do. I have four books that I want to read:

All New Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew
Grocery Gardening, by Jean Ann Van Krevelen, Amanda Thomsen, and Robin Ripley
Founding Gardeners, by Andrea Wulf
Botany for Gardeners, by Brian Capon

Technically the first two are the really practical ones, but taking in the less practical knowledge can be very inspiring.