Why Did The Tart Go To School?… To Get Butter Educated!
This past weekend was the Lumby Market’s Butter Tart Festival and it never ceases to amaze me how many people love their Butter Tarts! It was a very successful event again this year with a constant stream of people out and about with an amazing amount of vendors to tempt you. It was so good to see people that I haven’t seen all summer and hear so many good things with the plants they purchased and lovingly grew. The weather cooperated nicely, however, it was extremely chilly first thing in the morning while the vendors were setting. Even with several layers of clothing and gloves I was cold and needed the entire morning to recover. As my Dear Old Dad would have said “It was cold enough for two neck ties”. I was surprised to see frost in many yards on my drive in and many reported that they got hit with it, some sustaining damage many not. Although the temperature was only supposed to be as low as 4 degrees others reported a reading of 1 degree and at higher elevations I’m sure even lower. Next weekend is forecasting a temperature of minus 2 so it is time to harvest or be prepared to cover your plants and cover them well. Of course the night time temperature do go up nicely after that to well above freezing. I guess it’s Mother Natures warning to get it together because Winter is coming.
As you know this the busiest time for us Gardeners and the more you get done now the easier your spring will be. Leaves are turning yellow rapidly these should be gathered to put on areas of the garden that have been prepped for winter. This will suppress the weeds that will happily grow until the snow flies and then again until you spade them in then pull them when you are preparing to plant. Not to mention how lovely it looks. Garden refuse from your harvesting can be planted in furrows in the garden where it will breakdown and can be spaded into the garden in Spring. Only healthy garden refuse should be used in this manner or put into your compost, the rest should be taken to the dump once dried and manageable also if there are a lot of weed seeds in this matter many of them are not killed with extreme cold. If you are growing in containers this can be salvaged and reused the following spring although if you were growing Tomatoes in this dirt you should not use it to grow Tomatoes the following year as they are very susceptible to Fungal infections and the soil can harbour this potential problem. If you have a lot of Tomatoes that have not even started to ripen try using a spade to slightly lift one side of the plant (about a foot from the main stalk) remove all blooms and very small tomatoes as they will not have time to develop. Any that are showing any sign of ripening remove and place in boxes where you can keep them in a warm dark place ideal for them to ripen. I usually quickly wash them in water with a bit of bleach then air dry them this will kill any bacteria that will cause them to rot.
Plants that were brought outside from the house should be sprayed well with dish soap and water. (1 quart of water and a teaspoon of dish soap). This should prevent any aphids, spider mites and other pest from entering your home as they will want a nice place to spend the winter. The lifting of plants and bulbs like Gladiola, Calla Lily, Cana Lily, Dahlias and if you wish Geranium plants can be lifted now. Herbs should be harvested and if not frozen then dried but remember when using them that dried herbs are much stronger than fresh. Chopping then freezing them in water and then poured into ice cube trays is another excellent way to store them. If you grow Raspberries the old fruit bearing canes should be removed and any new growth should be supported to protect it from heavy snowfall. Now is also a good time to supplement your soil, a simple soil kit can tell you if anything major needs to be done but a dressing of compost, bone meal, cow manure or lime if needed will give these supplements plenty of time to break down before spring. The planting of a cover crop can also replenish many of the nutrients that were used up this year. I will be covering more fall prep work next week so hang in there. All shrubs, hedges trees and other precious perennial plants should be given a heavy watering over the next few weeks as I see little rain in the forecast and this will help protect them from winter kill.
Happy Gardening!
Samantha Nason
BS Ranch & Greenhouses
250 547 6567
sam1nason@gmail.com
