In the weeds, and ready for winter

Jagger helped plow through the unpleasant part of gardening

The last of our dill has been snipped and cleaned and ready to help flavor the roasted vegetables and turkey pan drippings that will become gravy for our Thanksgiving meal.

Those stalks of dill were the final ones standing of all the tiny seeds we planted 82 days ago. We went six for eight in this fall harvest — all but the Swiss chard and Chiogga beets popped up in time to enjoy before winter’s chill set in. 🤷‍♂️

I’ve been reading different gardening sites about how to prepare your vegetable patch for the winter. All agree it’s best to do some cleaning up now so the garden is ready to go for springtime planting: pulling up the dead or dying plants, removing any weeds, and protecting the soil with a layer of compost, mulch, or a cover crop.

Not normally one to like getting dirty, Jagger surprised us by getting right into the soil to help pull weeds and “till” the garden with his mini-rake and shovel.

‘I’m weeding.’

We put about a 1” layer of natural mulch over the garden to keep as much water and nutrients in the soil as possible during the winter. And we’ll add compost closer to spring, before it’s time to plant again. I’ve started to pick out tiny seeds for next year’s harvest — use promo code FREESHIP20 at Rohrer Seeds from Nov. 27 to 30 for free shipping — and so far have landed on shishito peppers and tatsoi mustard greens. What would you like to see us try to grow next year?

‘Where’d my plants go?’

Reflecting on gratitude this year would be incomplete without acknowledging you, our Tiny Seeds community. Thank you for following along on this growing adventure, and thank you for all of your comments and shares and likes and questions. I’m sure we’ll find updates for you before we plant again. Until then: Thank you for being here — Jagger and I love sharing our gardening journey with you — and for letting us tell you about everything from dog hair to Caesar dressing. We’re just getting started.

Happy Thanksgiving. It’s a scaled-down holiday for many of us this year, and for me that means an opportunity to slow down and truly appreciate what’s on our table, as well as the people who are sitting around it and those we are missing. I’ll remember to appreciate the turkey that someone raised and fed and cared for until it was my turn to show it respect in the form of heat and seasonings and butter. And I’ll have a newfound appreciation for everything else on the menu — from green beans to cranberries and from herbs to sweet potatoes — that started as tiny seeds.