Fall's Glory Days

It’s almost officially winter and I muse about how lucky we are to have a garden at this time of the year that makes us feel almost as good about it as we feel about our spring garden.  The wonderful shades and tastes of plentiful salad greens and the hearty appeal of cooked winter greens cancel out most of the negative feelings I may have about our more inclement days.

I wish the camera could better capture these wonderful shades of green that we are enjoying in the garden just now.  There are the dusky hues of the broccoli leaves as well as the collards, the strident dark greens of the dinosaur kale, the medium notes of Mache and Romaine and the vibrant light greens of Black Seeded Simpson lettuce heads.  And with our All Star lettuce mix plantings, the greens are accented with the bronze reds of oak leaf lettuces and large red leaf lettuce; I love the way they look as I pick them and how they look in the salad bowl - and love how they taste too.  Especially when mixed with my spicy favorite, Arugula!

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce is always a reliable
quick grower that is delightful for its color as
well as its delicate texture and flavor.

The All Star Lettuce mix pleases with its different varieties and varying colors and tastes.

Carrots are so pretty in the garden with their delicate feathery fronds.

Dinosauer or Tuscan Kale is especially popular for its excellent
nuitrional value.

A broccoli head begins to form. 

Now I should probably start talking about how this warm weather is the product of global warming but while I am honestly concerned about that, it is hard to complain about the mild days we are enjoying in these weeks of a waning fall.

Suzy

The Not So Big Freeze

We finally had freezing weather here at Elm Street Gardens in Sparta last night.  Actually, it was early this morning.  I checked the local weather station (not far from our gardens) report about 6:20 am and was pleased to see it was only 31.2 degrees and not the 28 predicted for our low.  However, I rejoiced too soon and by 7:30 am the temperature had dipped to 27.5 degrees. 

Which was interesting and while officially we had a substantial freeze, my mid-morning tour of the garden showed most of the basil ruined as expected, but there were a few stalks of this treasured herb that were still bright green and not the sullen black of the ruined plants. 

We had put row covers on all the tender greens, such as our lettuces, but I also noted a lettuce plant that had accidentally been seeded in a row of kale, looking just fine in the morning sun.  Still it is too worrisome to leave such plants uncovered when a freeze is predicted.  Nothing worse than waking up at 3 am worrying about all the tender stuff you want to survive. 

And peppers and tomato plants in the two hoop houses did not suffer at all although we currently don’t have the doors at the ends of the houses closed.  We had picked a fair amount of green tomatoes yesterday as well as tons of peppers, but apparently we did not need to worry about them – yet!  Tomato plants in the outside beds did not uniformly hit the ditch, but most of them suffered pretty badly. 

Although this event may seem mundane to those who are not so invested in growing,  it is significant here on Elm Street.  At least we don’t have to live with the anticipation of the first freeze of the season anymore. And now it is a fine sunny day outside with the temperature in the 50’s and no wind. 

Suzy

You can see the sorry state of most of the basil but
there are still a few stems of bright green that escaped frost damage.

An overview of bed one showing the lettuce row covers.

Here is the happy news for the winter garden:
Swiss Chard is still bright and perky.

Young turnip greens are also still quite happy 

A New Life For An Old Building

Sparta folks have been commenting on the restoration of our old “Furniture Factory” building at the corner across from Elm Street Gardens.  We have been working on it for some time and I think it is worthy now of attracting this new attention. The most amazing transformation happened when we took off the concrete block front on one side leaving the old brick front exposed.  We left the roof on this section and supported it with handsome timbers styled after the support beams inside the building.

The brick and granite portion of the structure, which dates to the 1890’s, has been repaired and renovation of additional parts of the building continues. The inside of the building will be used to cultivate mushrooms in enclosed environments created by the use of “hoop house” structures.  And these houses are up and nearing completion. 

Jonathan Tescher, manager of the mushroom operation plans to be in production by the first of the year, with a focus on shiitake and lion’s mane mushrooms for the dinner plate and reishi mushrooms for teas and tinctures.  All of these mushrooms will grow on hardwoods in the enclosed environment of the hoop houses. Farmers markets, restaurants and groceries will be the main outlets for marketing.  So far, Jonathan and Robert and I have felt compelled to sample the mushrooms that have been produced so far in the temporary “labs” where Jonathan has started quite a number of cultures.  Our sampling is a very necessary part of the process, of course, and quite yummy.

But back to the building itself:  Hancock native, Sistie Hudson, has researched its history and reports that it was most likely built sometime between 1890 and 1895, about the same time the old railroad depot which is adjacent to it was constructed.  The bricks used in its construction may have come from a brick factory that once was located not far from us.  The local newspaper, The Sparta Ishmaelite, reported in an 1895 article that “a commodious warehouse” was among the new buildings erected in the last five years.  The building which most of Sparta nowadays knows as the “Furniture Factory” was originally built and used as a cotton warehouse.  The railroad had reached from Augusta to Sparta by 1867 and the line was completed to Macon in 1870.  So this cotton warehouse was strategically located on the rail line for shipping purposes. 

After cotton ceased to be an important crop in Hancock, the building became a furniture factory.  There are still many in Sparta who remember those days and a number who had their first jobs there.  The furniture operation was closed about 1997 and the building sat unused (and abused) since that time.  With the current renovation and a new business moving into it, there is hope for this historic property to be a vital part of the Hancock community once again. 

 Suzy

You can still see in this photo some of the concrete block which was
removed from the front of the old cotton warehouse/furniture factory.  

These handsome support beams apparently are typical
for warehouse buildings of the period when this was constructed.

Jonathan and Butch Bohannon in the process of
laying out the first supports for the hoop houses.

The most  recent picture of the hoop houses.

One of my favorites:  The dust collector "people"
from the building's furniture factory days.

A Different Kind of Market

Elm Street Gardens made its second appearance this October at market - and we are not talking about a farmers market here, but rather the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, North Carolina.  The Currey & Company showroom featured an "Elm Street Gardens Day" using vegetables and  herbs that traveled to market just before or those that had been gathered at the end of August and prepared and preserved for later use.  Customers munched on sweet potato hash, sweet Hakueri turnip roots, green beans and basil pesto and raved over the pickled okra they had in their bloody marys.  Refreshing cups of fresh carrots, lettuce and other raw nibbles were snatched up as mid-afternoon snacks.

Our hats are off to the creative cooks who braided Asian long beans and utilized our veggies in other unique applications.  Mark and Anna Thrower keep a variety of delightful and healthy food options constantly before customers on the long days of market.  It was nice to see the food with its personal connection to us being used and enjoyed by many.  It was especially great to hear the customer interest in fresh sustainable food!  We've shared a few pictures from the Currey & Company showroom . . .

Pickled vegetables from Elm Street Gardens on the bar.

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Note the use of the braided long beans in this scrumptious veggie dish.

One of the serving tables set with Elm Street Gardens veggies.

Jazz pianist, Keith Byrd from High Point, is a regular
entertainer in our showroom as we mix good food
 with good music for our customers.

At the end of a long day, Robert and I take a break and rest our feet.

Our dog, Rives came to market too and while he was largely bored, he was a
good dog and enjoyed a lot of attention from customers

September: Where Did It Go?

Here's what is happening in our garden beds at the end of September.

Our hoop house #1:  Salad greens grow behind the peppers which are still going
strong in the front of the space.

An overview of some of the outside beds.  You can see the bright greens of
 lettuces going strong in the third row from the rear.

Arugula is one of our favorite crops.

A close-up of some recently planted broccoli transplants.

Just one more day left in the month of September and then we will be moving on to October when it truly becomes fall here in Middle Georgia.  Wow!  Where did it go?  Of course we are already having cooler nights and milder days, but it still gets into the middle or upper 80's pretty regularly.  However, I must add that these small changes and the shorter days have already made a difference in the way things grow and thrive in the garden.  We are starting to say our good byes to many of summer's treasured crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers and okra, as they slow down and we are welcoming the fall favorites (lettuces, kale and collards) as they begin thriving with the cooler nights and milder days.

We have had an unusually rough time with the transition from summer to fall here at Elm Street Gardens with unusual onslaughts from insect pests (the result of the unusually mild winter here???) and unusual weather patterns that have inhibited germination of the fall crops.  (It probably falls into the misery loves company department, but I was perversely gratified a few weeks ago to read a post on FaceBook by a prominent organic grower in Georgia on her need to sew some of the fall crops a second time after the first seeding had failed.). But the fall crops seem to be humming right along now; we may be just a tad later than usual with some of them.

But such is life in the garden.  If it all worked the same way each year, it would be unnatural.  And not nearly as interesting.

Suzy

Community Spirit in Hancock County

More than 300 people came together on Labor Day for a picnic on the grounds of Elm Street Gardens’ home place.  The event was the third annual Hancock Community Labor Day Picnic and it turned out to be a lot of fun.  Everyone pitched in and did their part so things went smoothly and we were left with clean grounds and happy memories.

Jackie Craig starts the set up of the serving line.

Opening ceremonies.

Lining up for the food and getting comfortable in the shade.

 It was an old-fashioned potluck affair with everyone bringing something yummy.  There was also whole hog barbeque and grilled organic chicken from White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia.  Some of the highlights included sack races and other fun games for the children, our lively emcee, Tommie Ingram (who did just enough talking sparked with good humor and enthusiasm to move things right along), a nifty scavenger hunt and a raffle that had everyone waiting to see if they had won (the grand prize was a Farm Box from Elm Street Gardens with the addition of pork from Three Centuries Farm and grass fed beef from Fort Creek Farm).  Hancock “4-H Club” and “Young Doctors” helped greet and serve and were a huge help to the adults. Everyone got plenty to eat and then took time to sit around and visit with new friends and old.  And garden managers, Brad and Megan, led a tour through the gardens. 

Young folks race with "egg spoons" on their heads.

Our wonderful servers help to get the pig ready to eat.

Start of a sack race.

Great fun as all hop toward the finish line. 

From my standpoint, it was terrific how everyone really made this picnic happen.  From set up to clean up, everyone took part and got it all done.  It truly was a community event in the best sense. And, although it threatened rain all day, there was not a drop until we had a brief cloudburst just as we finished cleaning up!  Perfect.