Bringing in the Last of the Winter Crops

I took this week off to work in the garden, but I didn’t realize how much time it was going to take. Other than taking time off for the Sabbath and Passover, I have worked 8 to 10 hour days in the garden; and I still have yet to start spring planting! (That begins today, though.) However, my garden beds look beautiful and ready to plant now that I’ve harvested the last of my winter crops, weeded in and around the beds (filling TEN four-feet-tall lawn & leaf bags!), supplemented my soil with Azomite (rock dust) and compost, and top dressed the cypress mulch around my beds. (I’ll share pictures in my next Sanctuary Gardener Update post.) It’s been a lot of work, but I have everything ready for seed and seedlings, and a refrigerator full of root veggies and greens.

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 1/19/15

It’s been a quiet week in the garden, although the weather has bounced around. In typical Charleston fashion, the week’s weather included a low of 33, a high of 67, over 2 inches of rain, clouds, sun, and quite a bit of wind one day. Is it winter? Is it spring? My garden surely can’t tell! Without any frosts this week – and a couple of days in the 60s – there is some new growth in the garden.

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 1/5/15

Happy new year, everyone! Welcome to my first update of 2015. It’s a new year, a new opportunity to expand our horizons, and a new chance to grow more and harvest more. This past week, I looked at seed catalogs, weeded, harvested, and planted peas and spinach and lettuce. The weather has been rather warm, but a cold winter blast is on its way. Next Wednesday night will go down to 20 degrees. Big difference from yesterday’s high of 74. Ah, the joys of living on the coast of South Carolina. Regardless, it IS nice to still be gardening in the winter.

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 12/22/14

The weather has been fairly mild the past week, and I’ve been able to leave the plastic off my hoop tunnels at night. That’s been great as my plants need some direct sunlight – and the rain we’re now getting. I harvested a few things, and I noticed some seedlings finally germinated. A typical quiet week in my December garden.

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 12/15/14

Wow! There are only two more weeks left in 2014. Where did the year go? I’m already flipping through seed catalogs as they’re arriving, ordering seeds, planning my spring garden. Meanwhile, the nights are staying cool (in the 30s), and the days are warming up into the mid to high 60s. I still have crops that are maturing – just at a slower rate (less sun, cooler weather). Although several of my beds are fallow, there are still crops growing and maturing – despite it being December. Gotta love the South!

Sanctuary Gardener’s Favorites: Roots and Greens

Welcome to the final installment of my four-part series, Sanctuary Gardener’s Favorites. I’ve already shared my favorite nightshades, legumes, and cucurbits. (If you missed any of them, see the links at the end of this post.) Today, I will share with you my favorite root vegetables and greens.

2014 Winter Crop Harvest

This past weekend, I harvested the bulk of my winter crops. Considering we had several frosts and two ice storms AFTER I planted, I’m surprised I harvested anything. I harvested the rest of my radishes and lettuce a couple weeks or so ago. Here’s what I harvested this past weekend.

Mid-November Harvests

I harvested so much this past weekend that I couldn’t include all the pictures in my weekly Sanctuary Gardener Update on Monday! Some of the harvest is expected this time of year – root vegetables and greens -but I’m amazed that I’m still harvesting figs and peppers. This displaced New England girl is beyond excited about harvests like this in November!

In Honor of Farmers’ Wives

Last weekend, I harvested winter crops from ten raised beds, then started the spring planting. I work full time on a flex schedule so I can have Fridays off, but I took an additional day off, thinking a four-day weekend would be enough to complete the harvesting and the planting. HA! The joke’s on this suburbanite turned homesteader! 

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 1/11/13

It’s sunny and 75 degrees in the Charleston, South Carolina, area today, and I thought it was a perfect day to post my first garden update. Over the growing seasons (yes, plural), I will regularly share with you what’s going on here in my garden ~ what’s been planted, how it’s growing, what problems I may be experiencing (as well as how I’m trying to solve them), and what’s being harvested. With the climate we have here in the South, we have three agricultural cycles and there’s almost always something growing in my garden.