Out with the Old

Today I took advantage of the cool, overcast weather and pulled out the dying summer vegetables to make room for new fall projects.  I'd picked all the pumpkins on Friday, and there were only a few remaining green tomatoes left that I'll throw in a brown paper bag to ripen.  For this bed, I plan on experimenting with a few different new plants over the fall and winter.  I placed an order from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, starting with Broad Windsor fava beans, which will serve as a winter ground cover adding nitrogen back into the soil.

I also needed some new lettuce seeds, so I picked the Tom Thumb variety.

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They're nice and compact so I can grow them in our raised beds' cinder block holes, saving space for other plants in the main beds.  Another new addition is red orach, a beautiful, cold-hardy plant that you can add to salads.  I basically just got this one because it's pretty.

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Ok, now onto the really grand experiment for the cold season.  Using PVC pipes and row covers, we plan on turning part of the raised bed into a mini greenhouse.  I'm going to try a few flowers and herbs including borage and nasturtiums:

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I can't wait for my seeds to arrive to get started--who says you have to wait until spring to have fun in the garden?