Harvest Monday and Garden in November, Eastern NC, Zone 7b

November 2, 2015

This week, we harvested a couple handfuls of raspberries, a couple strawberries, a few peas, some celery, and kale. The peas were then pulled out and the area raked smooth. The chickens enjoyed the leftover peas. I keep waiting for the raspberries to stop ripening so I can prune them and transplant all of the runners.Here is what our garden looked like at the beginning of OctoberAnd now the beginning of NovemberAt first glance, the trees and grass is a little less green and all of the tomatoes and zinnias are gone. As we look closer, some of my late fall plantings are starting to sprout.(lettuce) (carrots) (spinach and beets)

What is my goal for these? I don’t really know. I guess I hope to keep them alive and harvest them early spring. They are experiments so I don’t know when I should expect to harvest. I just hope I can keep them alive right now 🙂

Our highs have been in the 60s and 70s this month so there has been no need to cover anything (other than the brassicas). That will be a chore for November. Other November chores include spreading more compost on the garden, cleaning out the coop and preparing it for the winter, and covering the strawberry plants in woodchips and compost.

If you haven’t heard what Paul does with his strawberries or why, the gist of it is that he covers his strawberries in woodchips and his coop cleanings or whatever he has on hand – JUST to flatten the strawberry plants; not to bury them deeply. Then, in the spring, the older plants that are not healthy enough to grow through the cover will decompose and add nutrients to the soil while the younger, healthier plants will pop through and do wonderfully. It keeps his plants from being over-crowded and he never has to move/transplant plants.

I did this last year and was quite nervous because I had heard from others that their strawberry plants all just composted. However, mine popped through and were incredibly healthy this spring! I think you have to have a good winter for this to work (those in California were having the issues of their plants not popping through). This does not mean your patch will not spread, it just means it will not get overcrowded and will stay high-producing and healthy 🙂

We’re not quite ready to put the strawberries to bed for the winter though, as they are still producing 🙂

Another November chore that needs to be done is WEEDING. We haven’t weeded for a couple of months and the clover is LOVING the cooler weather!We also need to weed the edge of the garden. The mounds of mulch have kept most of the weeds back but as the mounds are decomposing, they are shrinking and are not as much of a barrier for the evil bermuda grass!What is going on in your garden this November? Are you as busy as we are? If not, feel free to lend a hand! 😀 We’ll put you to work! Check out what other gardeners are harvesting at Our Happy Acres today.

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