Out with the old.....

Something I've been getting better at this year is the understanding that many things aren't going to be around forever.  When I first started out with my first garden, I fought tooth and nail to try and keep plants going - even though they would eventually die off.  Now I enjoy sitting and watching things go through their natural cycle, watching one set of plants come into their own as another is cycling out.  In this case it's the Basil - phasing out as the sage comes in.
The dill, cilantro and parsley have long been removed, and in their place I've just planted some Oregano - something I've had not much luck with in the past - but then again I said the same of Parsley last year, and I have a mason jar full of dried parsley in the kitchen this year.

Basil is a plant I try and encourage people new to growing things to try - it was one of my first successful plants, and to this day I've had constant good luck growing it (not to mention it's very useful in the kitchen).  2 squares planted with 4 plants each seems to be the 'magic number' for me.  More than that and you get get smaller plants, one by itself doesn't grow much bigger than the 4.
It sprouts fast, grows quick, and with that amount of plants you'll be in fresh basil very quickly.
It thickens as you harvest it, so the more you cut, the more you get - and soon you'll find yourself with an abundance.  Going back over the blog here you'll see how easy it is to dry and preserve, or refrigerate / freeze with a little oil and a food processor. As it winds down I'm entering the final stage - harvesting seeds.  Wait until the flower stems die back then run them through your hand, then crush the seed pods by pinching them and rubbing.  The seeds fall into your hand and much of the waste blows away in the breeze.  One stalk easily gives up more seeds than you planted, and a single plant could give up more than you bought in a seed packet.

My little squash plant is ending it's run as well.  As the only surviving squash it's done very well - giving up several 'single serve' butternut squashes.  There area  couple still there that are growing and one that I'll probably eat next week.
Next year I hope to have a dedicated squash patch by the edge of the driveway, but for now I'll let it run it's course.  I don't think I'll be planting any Winter squash - I don't really have the space prepared for them this year.

Brussels Sprouts that were planted in Summer are coming up nicely - nothing on them yet, but we'll wait and see. You can see the difference in the color of the plants.  These are meant to be growing at this time of year.

I've only tried to grow these once before - and that wasn't very successful (albeit in a container), so I'm curious to see how they turn out - they have plenty of room at just one per square.

The rest of the garden is being planted out with things I grew successfully last year - lots of Beets, Spinach (shown), Swiss Chard, and Lettuce.
As each square comes up with it's quota, it's mulched with verimcompost (worm poo).  It will act as a slow release fertilizer, lock in moisture, and hopefully help keep the squirrels away. There is a race at the moment with the Beets, between getting the plants big enough to mulch, and them digging up the seeds.
 Peas are starting to poke up from the patch I planted - a single long row where last year there were beans and peas up against the wall.

I've forgone planting beans this Autumn, as the results were mediocre compared to the blast I had in the spring - I'll probably use the patch by the wall to alternate between the two over Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer.  Possibly using it for carrots to fill the gap between when the beans die off and the optimum planting time as things cool down in Autumn.

Germination containers are currently being left alone, with the exception of one being kept running for lettuce - as the nights get colder the ground will hold temps better than an exposed container - it's the tradeoff for the early start they can help you get in spring.

The garden itself is getting sparse at the moment - as many of the things planted out are going to be slow growing, and much of the current fresh produce has been picked as needed. Peppers and Eggplant are slowing down production, and each plant is being pruned back as it stops.  Over winter some will survive, giving me an early jump on next year.

The last couple of weeks have shown me the difference between a sustaining garden and one that supplements - with most of my meals coming from the backyard due to my recent health issues, I see that I will certainly be expanding in time to catch the spring plant - more than likely another 4 x 4. This year I expanded by a single 4 x 4 bed, and managed to keep up with things rather well.
Although I shifted my diet radically to vegetable intensive as a temporary necessity (I'm not going to say Vegetarian, as it would be a misrepresentation - for instance I still eat fish), I've been very impressed with the results, and will be probably continuing it even though I may not need to.  I've always been at the least a 'meat and 3 veg' man - but I think that too much meat is a bad thing, and it's hard to steer away from that in todays society.
I'll probably be introducing red meat again soon, but probably only one day a week (Sunday), and sticking to my Catholic roots and make 'Fish on Friday' a regular thing.  All fast food was eliminated, as was the caffeine laden soda, and I immediately dropped about 5lbs.  I noticed no difference in energy while working out at the farm past the first day (where I was still a little sick), and with some adjustments to my eating times I've felt much better than I have for about 6 months.

Basically having 5 meals a day - in the same way I did back in my homeland.  Morning and Afternoon Tea fill the space between the 3 main meals, and a quarter cup of peanuts or trail mix with a glass of milk is all that's eaten there - more like a snack really.

I'll keep at it and see how things progress - I doubt I could ever do the full Vegetarian thing, but I am all for giving it more room on the plate.

Cheers.