Here at my farm, my gardeners and housekeepers are rushing to pick the last of the outdoor vegetables before the first hard frost.
A hard frost is when temperatures drop below 28-degrees Fahrenheit for at least four consecutive hours. So far we've had a pretty mild fall, but nights are getting cold fast and there's still a lot of delicious produce growing in my garden, including peppers, eggplants, leeks, and a second crop of potatoes.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
It may be late October, but there’s still a lot of wonderful garden produce to pick. I always keep close track of the weather so we can be sure to harvest all those vegetables that wouldn’t survive a hard frost.
Enma and Elvira picked a bounty of wonderful vegetables for me and my hardworking crew.
They picked as many of the eggplants as possible. Eggplants are part of the Solanaceae family, also known as the nightshade family, and are sensitive to cold temperatures. Eggplants are ready to harvest when they are firm, glossy, and shiny.
And look at this bag of peppers. The most common sweet pepper is the bell – usually seen in green, red, and yellow, but they can also be purple, brown, and orange. It was a great pepper season – I’ve picked a lot this year.
They also got some hot peppers.
Swiss chard always stands out in the garden, with its rich red, orange, and yellow stalks.
Enma picked a handful of Swiss chard. It’s best to harvest Swiss chard when the leaves are tender and big enough to eat.
The leek is a cultivar of Allium ampeloprasum, the broadleaf wild leek. The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. Leeks have a mildly sweet flavor similar to onions, shallots, garlic, and chives.
We did not pick the celeriac just yet. Celeriac is tolerant of a few frosts and can be left in the ground when it’s cold.
And in the two back corner beds are the potatoes – they’re also ready. This bed is a less attractive sight in the garden, but it’s filled with lots of delicious russet, red, white, and yellow potatoes.
My gardeners planted this bed of potatoes in late July after they harvested a first crop – about 100 days ago. Depending on the season and the type, potatoes usually take 80 to 115 days to grow.
Here’s Ryan as he starts to pick through the vines in search of potatoes. The size of a potato can vary depending on the variety. We have all different sizes up to more than two pounds.
The potatoes are ready to pick once the vines have died back – when the tubers are done growing, and the potato plants have begun to turn yellow and withered.
The best time to dig up potatoes is on a dry day. Here in the Northeast, we haven’t had any rain in weeks, so it’s been very dry. To harvest potatoes, Josh uses a gardening fork. It has four tines that can pierce the ground more easily than would a shovel or a spade.
Josh drives the fork into the soil at the outside edges of the plant and then carefully lifts the soil and plant.
Then Josh digs deep into the ground and feels around for potatoes – potatoes will be slightly cool to the touch.
It’s important to dig them up carefully, so as not to damage any of the tubers.
Always be careful not to scrape, bruise or cut the tubers. Damaged tubers will rot during storage.
The skins of mature potatoes are thick and firmly attached to the flesh. If the skins appear thin and rub off easily, the potatoes are still too ‘new’ and should be left in the ground. All of these are just right.
And leave any green potatoes alone. When potatoes are exposed to light, they turn green, a sign the toxic substance called solanine is developing, which may cause illness if eaten in large quantities.
We always keep varieties separated, so we know what grows well and should be grown again next season.
Here’s Ryan with our bounty ready to be stored in a cool, dry place. Another tip – never wash potatoes until right before using – washing them shortens the potato’s storage life. Because potatoes grow underground, it is always a surprise to see how prolific the plants have been. It was an excellent harvest!
And then after all the potatoes are picked, the bed is emptied of vines and raked clean. Later, the soil in all the beds will be amended and prepared for winter.
We're nearing the end of October, but with such mild autumn temperatures here in New York, my dahlias continue to bloom.
I designated a large space for growing dahlias right behind my vegetable greenhouse, in an area that gets great sun and protection from strong winds. The colorful flowers begin to bloom with great profusion just as other plants pass their prime, and they last right up until the first frost. From small to giant dinner-plate size, there's always a dahlia that catches someone's eye.
Here are some photos of the season's late blooms, enjoy.
Here at the farm, the leaves are falling in such droves it’s been hard to keep up with all the blowing and raking, but tucked behind my vegetable greenhouse is a little bit of summer – my bed of dahlias is still holding strong with a number of beautiful blooms.
Right now, there are about 40 different species of Dahlias and many different sizes, colors, and forms. Some of the forms include anemone, ball, cactus, and collarette.
Dahlia colors include white, yellow, orange, bronze, flame, red, pink, lilac, lavender, mauve, purple, wines, and violets. Some dahlias even bloom in multiple colors at once, but there is no blue.
In fact, In the 19th century, a London newspaper offered a pound, or a little more than a dollar, to the first breeder to create a blue dahlia—the reward was never claimed, but there have been many attempts that are near-blue. This one is a creamy yellow with a light tinge of pink along the petal edges.
And, unlike plants that use scent to attract, dahlias rely on their amazing spectrum of color. The bright blooms of dahlias make them attractive to pollinating insects.
The genus Dahlia is native to the high plains of Mexico. Some species can be found in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Costa Rica as well as parts of South America where it was introduced.
The dahlia was first recorded by Westerners back in 1615. Back then they were called by their original name which was acoctli. The first garden dahlias reached the United States in the early 1830s. Today, dahlias are grown all over the world.
Dahlias are planted from tubers, which are underground bulbs that store energy for the plant’s growth. Tubers are similar to potatoes, and each tuber produces a shoot that grows into a plant.
The dahlia is named after the Swedish 18th century botanist Anders Dahl, who originally declared the flower a vegetable, as the tubers are edible, but eating dahlias as a delicacy never grew popular.
Dahlias are officially part of the Asteraceae family. This flower family includes asters, daisies. sunflowers, and chrysanthemums.
Flowers come one head per stem. The blooms can be as small as two-inches in diameter or up to one foot across. Most varieties grow four to five feet tall.
The dahlia is the national flower of Mexico, but it is also the official flower of both San Francisco and Seattle.
When planting dahlias, choose the location carefully – dahlias grow more blooms where they can have six to eight hours of direct sunlight.
Dahlias prefer well-draining soil amended with lots of organic material. All my gardens do so well because I place a lot of attention on the nutrient-rich soil, regular feeding and water.
One the the benefits of growing healthy, beautiful flowers is the arrangements. Dahlias make wonderful cut flower arrangements. I decorate my home with many dahlias blooms during summer.
Ball forms have recurved petals that open evenly to form a globe.
Incurved cactus forms and semi cactus forms have varying degrees of spikiness.
And some dahlias are simple and more flat than others. These types are loved by pollinators. The majority of dahlia species also do not produce scented flowers or cultivars.
To prevent wilting, cut only in the early morning or late afternoon. And only cut them after they open to mature size – dahlias will not open after cutting.
And always strip off all leaves that would be below the water line in the vase. This is true for all flower arrangements, not just dahlias. When leaves stay underwater, they decay and release bacteria that shorten the vase life of the flowers. And change the water daily so they look fresh and last longer.
By early November in this area, all the dahlia flowers are gone. And once the foliage has turned brown, it’s time to dig them up for storage or cover well to insulate them in the cold. This is important so that the plant can gather energy for the following year. It will store starches in the tuber which will fuel initial sprouting in summer. The best time is a couple weeks after the first frost when they’re well into dormancy yet haven’t been harmed by the dropping temperatures. How are your dahlias?
If you’re looking for fast-growing, easy-to-care-for evergreen trees to use in your garden as a border hedge or privacy screen, consider arborvitae. These lush, dense, bright green conifers are so versatile.
I'm in the process of planting a living maze in a pasture just outside my Winter House. Much of the three-acre area is now complete and all the plants are growing excellently. Some of the latest plants include Technito Arborvitae, Thuja Occidentals 'BailJohn' and Lemon Burst Arborvitae, Thuja Occidentals 'Rutthu3' - both from First Editions Shrubs and Trees.
Here are some photos.
I’ve been working hard on my living maze since I started planting it in the spring of 2022. I carefully plan and design every puzzling path and row of plants. And then I print a detailed schematic for my gardeners to follow. I am very proud of how it is growing so far. And yes, like a true maze there is only one right way from the entrance to the goal location.
Last spring, we planted these Tiny Tower® Green Giant Arborvitae – noted for its upright, compact habit with lively green foliage that is soft to the touch.
This season while we can still plant in the gardens, I am adding these Lemon Burst Arborvitae, Thuja Occidentals ‘Rutthu3’ which are moderately sized with broadly conical form and tight habit.
Yellow-green new growth keeps its color even when grown in full sun. And then during winter, the foliage turns a lovely orange tone.
First, the team is planting a row of Technito Arborvitae, Thuja Occidentals ‘BailJohn.’
The foliage has attractive dark green color that stays through winter. It grows up to 10-feet tall and five feet wide when mature.
Cesar measures the precise distance between each plant. It is crucial to give plants enough room to grow. Their roots need space to spread out and absorb water and nutrients from the soil, while their leaves need space to access adequate sunlight. If plants are planted too close together, they compete for these vital resources.
These plants are not too big, so Pete uses a post hole digger to make the holes. It actually works perfectly for this task and plant hole size.
Several holes are made before planting begins. Each hole is dug precisely with enough room for the plant’s root ball. The rule of thumb when planting is to dig the hole two times as wide as the rootball and no deeper than the bottom of the rootball, similar to how it is in its pot.
As each specimen is planted, fertilizer is dropped into the hole and mixed in with the existing soil. We use an all-purpose formula from Miracle-Gro.
The best way to release a plant from its pot is to tap on the outside of the pot first to loosen the root ball.
I teach all my outdoor grounds crew members how to scarify. Scarifying stimulates root growth. Essentially, small portions of the root ball are cut to loosen the roots and encourage new development. First Pete scarifies in one direction diagonally across the root ball, then in the other direction…
… and finally at the bottom. Scarifying also encourages the roots to penetrate the soil and grow in different directions.
Pete places it in the hole and makes sure it is planted at the right height. The top of the root ball should be level with the top of the hole when in place.
Then Pete backfills the hole, tamping down as he goes.
Pete also scarifies the sides of the hole with his hori-hori knife. Doing this roughens the surface, allowing roots to grow into the surrounding soil and eliminates air pockets.
Pete does this for all the arborvitae, stopping occasionally to assess the line up of each specimen.
They should all be straight, but if not, adjusting now is easy as the soil is still soft and workable.
Cesar gives the plants a good soaking. Where is the rain? We really need some rain here in the Northeast.
After the water has been absorbed, Pete rakes the bed and removes any tags or labels.
Arborvitae comes in many shapes – from pyramid and conical to ball-shaped. And they are long lived. Arborvitae can survive up to 150-years old if planted in the right environment. I am sure these specimens will thrive in the living maze here at Cantitoe Corners.
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