It was a late start on the fall garden this year, but things are looking good!
It has been a long autumn-- here it is October 23rd and we haven't even had a frost yet. This week though, that all changes, and I'll have to build little greenhouses over the garden beds-- freezing temperatures and snow are forecast for this weekend here in the Ozarks!
The seeds that I planted last month are doing well, and while they are growing slowly, they have a chance to make it until spring if I build their little greenhouses well. That project will be an upcoming post, but for now, here's some little sprouts that demanded to be photographed.
Rainbow Chard
Chard is good at growing through the winter inside a little greenhouse box, and it looks like a few of them are going to eventually add some color to the garden.
Rainbow Chard
Russian Red Kale
Another plant that I've had luck growing through the Ozark winters is this Russian Red Kale. It's pretty green now, but a few weeks in it's winter greenhouse surrounded by frost and snow, the leaves will take on a reddish color as the winter takes over the garden.
Russian Red Kale
Spinach
Here's the tricky part for me: spinach. I like spinach, and I can sprout spinach, no problems there, but I have yet to get a decent harvest of spinach since I started trying to grow the stuff-- about 8 years ago. I'm not sure why they stall after sprouting, maybe I'm just too impatient.
Here's a well-fed, well-drained bed of spinach-- I'm trying it again. I'll post pictures of the thick foliage that I expect to see in this bed here in a few months. I like spinach, I'm determined to grow a batch, and I have a lot of seeds.
Spinach
Here's a couple more pictures of the gardens, and...
... here's a little house that I had nearly forgotten: a bee house that never got any bees, I'll pull it out of the overgrowth and inspect it soon-- another post for another day.
thanks for looking, I'll post pics of the making of the tiny greenhouses this week, let me know how your garden grows in the comments, or if you know how to grow spinach, I could use the help!