Robbins Farm Garden

A Cooperative Learning Project

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November Harvests: Brussels Sprouts and other Cold-Hardy Crops

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If it’s November, it’s time to harvest the Brussels Sprouts. They’re one of the slowest crops in the garden — but worth the wait. They’re exceptionally cold hardy. In fact, they were growing so vigorously in late October that the snow didn’t even stick to them! 

The last of the Scallions, Leeks, Collard Greens and Tatsoi were harvested this week. (Sadly, the Leeks never fully matured.) We’re still picking small Broccoli florets (amazingly, from the seedlings we planted in April) and some of the sweetest Kale I’ve ever tasted. The Arugula and Broccoli Rabe also continue to produce. A few tiny Lettuce and Spinach seedlings remain, along with our marginal late-season Cabbages.  

Alan harvests Brussels sprouts

Mike, Melanie and Sophia prep the sprouts

October weather Surprise

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garden before and after snow

 

After Saturday’s work session, the garden was neat and clean and green. The following day, it was white! The fluke October snow was perfectly timed to weigh down the fresh compost of basil, bean, eggplant, okra, pepper, tomato and tomatillo plants.

The cabbage was snug in its white blanket, awaiting more warm weather and the Brussels sprouts were standing tall.

Fall Plantings: Garlic & Jerusalem Artichokes

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This year, we’ve been granted permission to leave the garden in place over winter. So, our first garlic has been planted! We chose a stiff-neck  variety (Purple Glazer) and planted the largest cloves 6" apart in two 12" rows down the center of the 6′ x 9′ bed. The smaller cloves were planted somewhat closer together in a third row, which we plan to harvest as garlic scallions next spring.
 
In addition, the garden’s year-round status allowed us to plant our first perennial vegetable: Jerusalem Artichokes (or Sunchokes). Cultivated by Native Americans, this species of sunflower is prized for its sweet, nutty tubers and decorative flowers. Jerusalem Artichokes are a good source of potassium and iron, and are also more suitable for diabetics than potatoes because their carbohydrate is in the form of inulin.

What to do with arugula? A simple, flavorful vegetarian pasta recipe.

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Right now, the arugula is beautiful in the garden.  There is plenty of it, and it’s still tender, as well as spicy.  Last week, I used my arugula in a salad.  But, tonight, John used our share of  Saturday’s harvest in one of our favorite pasta recipes, “Pesto of Sundried Tomatoes with Arugula”.  The book Pasta Fresca by Viana La Place and Evan Kleiman features very simple, delicious pasta recipes and this is one great example, from their section on “Pasta with Raw Sauces”.  Note that, in the printed recipe, John changed the “3/4 cup” sundried tomatoes to “entire jar (8 oz)”.  We use sundried tomatoes from Trader Joe’s, though the cookbook authors urge readers to make their own.  I’ve not done that yet, though I understand that tomatoes can be readily oven-dried. 

As you can see, this dish is very colorful and, with the spicy arugula, sweet sundried tomatoes, dried hot pepper, and garlic, it has a lot of flavor!  It’s also vegetarian, as are many, though not all, of the Pasta Fresca recipes. 

 


 

Videos from the summer

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I’ve been remiss in posting several brief videos I took this summer of animal activity in the garden. The first two are of the tremendous activity bees have kept up on the fennel plant. It probably won’t translate well, but when I see these, I think of scenes from Bladerunner or Star Wars, in which huge vertical structures accept vehicle docking at multiple levels.

The third one is pretty hard to watch, entirely attributable to poor photography. It is a view of the compost pile, freshly turned by compost captain Stephen Lee.

 

Visitors, human and caterpillar

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I opened the garden for a couple of hours in the afternoon and quite a few families came through.

Three Chinese-American boys became quite attached, staying over half an hour and wanting to eat various veggies. I gave them a few cherry tomatoes, and even a tomatillo. The older boy wanted to take home seeds and plant. Wait until spring I suggested. He may come Saturday, when I said we’d be there.

His father came by, not speaking English (Jerry is in the 4th grade at Brackett and is fluent). He found a caterpillar in the carrots.