We are at the mid-point of closing down the garden for winter. We are spreading a giant piles of woodchips across the beds, mucking out the chicken coop, and gathering leaves from the yard, all in a quest to increase the organic content of our garden soil. The succession planting of green beans is done, so garlic planting is next. Rain barrels need to be drained and moved to the barn. It is always a race against weather and time to get these last few things completed before it snows and freezes. It also seems like a good time to start thinking back on the year and the new things we tried.
Each year we come up with a little theme to help guide projects. Because of some other time commitments, we kept it simple and made this the Year of the Perennials. It was a year to try and do a better job at establishing some perennial plants that we have tried in the past, and to experiment. Strawberries, raspberries, lavender, and prairie plants were all on the docket.
We have tried establishing raspberries for probably 3 years. Last year, we bought a dozen bare root plants from Indiana Berry and Plant Company. Between the drought and critters digging up the plants, we probably had only two plants survive. We had also bought a Carolina Raspberry plant from a local nursery 2 years ago, and it has struggled to get established. This year, we fenced in the garden to reduce mammal-digging and grazing pressure, and acquired two barn cats. We bought another dozen bare root plants from Indiana Berry and Plant Company and a half dozen Carolina raspberry plants from the local nursery, planted them in the spring, and prayed for rain. The plants rewarded us by slowly getting established. the first Carolina Raspberry plant even produced raspberries, and seemed to be spreading out rhizomes. We are hopeful next year the plants will continue to get established.
Last year we also bought 50 strawberry plants from from Indiana Berry and Plant Company, and had much the same trouble with animals digging up the plants and drought damage. We had a few plants survive, so we further amended the soil in the spring, trusted in the fencing, and bought and planted another 50 plants. We actually got a few strawberries this summer, and the plants look great heading into fall. Weeding has been a challenge and we seem to have Creeping Charlie coming from somewhere, but the plants sent out a lot of runners and we are hoping the strawberries will shade out the weeds, with some help from mulch.
The lavender has been a fun success thus far. Started from seed, we established a bed in well-draining soil on the south side of our garage. We set up a temporary fence to keep the chickens out, and the plants look great. We have been harvesting flowerheads and drying them to make wands to scent our kitchen. Lavender can be finicky in cold weather so they may not survive, but it has been enjoyable watching them grow and spread.
Lastly, last fall I harvested seeds from prairie plants growing wild in a retention pond. I have never tried this before, but was able to grow Rattlesnake Master, Grey Coneflower, Cup Plant, and Prairie Dock from seed. I planted the seedlings in several areas over the summer, and they seem to have taken hold. I plant to revisit the retention pond for more seeds. This time, I plan to hand-spread them along our fence lines. I figure if I do this each fall, sooner or later we will get some plants established. I also want to try and start some additional plants from seed, particularly Wild Senna, which bees are attracted to and is a spectacular plant with its bright yellow flowers.
It feels like we are back in the midst of another drought, but the growing season is winding down. The nice thing about a farmstead is that you have the freedom to try and grow new things. It may take years to see any result, but as we learned by picking apples from our orchard this year, it is worth the wait.
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