Happy Thanksgiving! Since today centers around food and the celebration of growing your own food, I will start with my vegetable garden victories. Brussels sprouts and carrots keep providing! If my beet plants had enjoyed more sun and water access, I could be enjoying them too. Oh well, not this year.
Not many in my household really like kale, but it did very well in the garden, so I had to find a recipe that we enjoyed. We tried kale chips. I felt like I was eating paper. Kale in the garden has frosted a few times since we have ignored it. The frosting has made the kale surprisingly sweet. By blanching or sautéing the kale, we have found a new recipe and tasty vegetable for a quick weekday meal. Make a note to yourself to add these late-season vegetables to your garden for 2025 if you enjoy any of their fresh flavors. These will last in the garden soil into November when frost improves the flavor. They also make an appropriate addition to your Thanksgiving table!
I have more vegetable garden tasks in the next few weeks. With wintry weather slow to arrive, I only need to attack a few tasks each weekend, perfect for lazy me.
Still to do:
Mulch strawberry beds after the hard freeze. Add a layer of cut straw to garlic plantings to help insulate the soil and prevent weed germination. Spread seed of winter rye that will germinate in cold temperatures, anchor soil, and add organics to your soil when you turn it into the bed come spring.
With the holidays, I am looking for more color and plant life indoors. Now that I am looking “inward,” I have noticed my plants drying out more quickly. I must water more often and set up some humidity trays. Dry indoor air from the heat vents or wood stove will stress indoor plants. Plants that flower in our winter months prefer cool moist temperatures. I keep parts of my house cool. Mom always said put on a sweater instead of turning up the heat, but we need to remember to add moisture either through a humidifier or a humidity tray.
Also, our watering can become too much of a good thing. Plants do not grow as vigorously indoors in the low-light conditions of winter. Keep soils moist but avoid watering the leaves of hairy-leafed houseplants like African violet. If raising the humidity proves too hard, consider adding mother fern or cacti to your plant shelf because they do not need as much water. Remember flowering plants will need more water and more light compared to foliage plants. Place reflective foil near light-hungry plants to enhance light levels.
In the yard and garden, note where your trees have become hazardous or shrubs have grown in the way. To trim back a tree, don’t cut the main stem. Prune back side branches by one-third and the main stem by one-third as well. If you cut back the center too far, you create multiple leaders and weaken the tree. Try to get some pruning done before heavy winter snow breaks the branches or turns shrubs into obstacles.
Have you allowed some room along the edges of your driveway for a plow truck’s poor aim or salt spray? If not, note now what changes to make in the spring. Keep your plantings a safe distance away from drives and walkways or choose salt-tolerant shrubs like rugosa roses or other seaside natives to line your paths.
I found some mole activity this week. Moles will tunnel into lawns in pursuit of grubs or active worms. They do not care about my perennial roots. However, holes can create trip hazards and their presence means grub pests may lurk below the lawn surface. If the damage becomes too severe, I might focus some grub control product on this section of lawn.
When leaves and undergrowth disappear in November, I notice new things in the woods. I spotted the prettiest green plants on the north face of a hill and confirmed the plants were groundcedar, also known as clubmoss. These sensitive plants grow slowly and only in ideal conditions. November gives us a chance to take a moment to enjoy nature and natural selection. We can learn something about plant health, too. Mushrooms growing on trees are a sign of internal decay. Scout around the trees in your landscape and contact an arborist if you have concerns.
Cooler weather means we store our rakes, bicycles, grass seed, and hoses away while we make snow shovels, a sand bucket, and the snowthrower more accessible. Likewise, I store bags of lime and fertilizer off the concrete floor and on a pallet. Otherwise, they will absorb condensation moisture from the concrete and get hard. Also, store pesticides where they won’t freeze.
If you give or receive cut flowers on this wonderful holiday, remember to keep them in a cool, out-of-sunlight location and they will last longer. Have a nice holiday!
I call myself the Lazy Berkshire Gardener because I don’t want to work too hard in my gardens. I want to enjoy them. I find it easier to observe my landscape and let the compost happen, the water pool up, or daisies to self-sow. I look for ways to do the minimum task for the biggest impact. For example, mulching is better than spraying and much better than weeding all season. I look for beautiful, low-maintenance plants that thrive in or at least tolerate my garden conditions. Plus, I am willing to live with the consequences if I miss something.
