Garden Clean-up

Here are a few of the last things coming out of the gardens this year. These cabbages are going to be made into sauerkraut as soon as we get time. They will keep in our root cellar for a couple weeks just fine. Now we have to get the gardens cleaned up and prepared for next spring. I planted 120 cloves of garlic in a raised bed last week. Those will get a nice blanket of rotten hay later this week. I still have Jerusalem Artichokes to dig and little ones to replant for next year. Other than that it is mostly just clean up. I've started spreading llama manure around on some of the garden and will finish that today if it does not rain too much. I like to get the manure on in the fall and worked in so it is broken down some when we plant. I'll also do a soil test to see if  we need to spread any lime on. I have a lot of fallen leaves to use for mulch , or I should say I will have, they are not raked up yet! Guess I better add that to my never ending list of stuff that needs to be done. As soon as I get a chance to snap a couple of pics I'll introduce you to the latest members of our homestead.

Here is a pic of a mangle or sugar beet. We put in a patch of them most years as feed for the critters. Cattle love them but they have to be cut up for them. We tried making our own sugar last year but that was a flop. Wanted to try again this year but we didn't have the rain we needed to get a decent crop. Not thinning the planting on time just aggravated the lack of moisture.This one, about 8 inches long, is sadly one of the larger ones. On a good year it would be a runt. If you like a challenge,organic gardening would be a good hobby for you. Just about the time you think you know something about raising a certain crop, mother nature throws you a curve ball and it all goes out the window!