October 26, 2017
I discovered a 3" cauliflower head hidden in the leaves of one of my cauliflower plants. A very pleasant surprise. I now have renewed high hopes for a fall harvest from the other 17 plants. The broccoli is still pretty far behind but I don't mind. We had store bought frozen broccoli the other night and I loved it. It was milder than what I grow so I guess I really don't like the taste of broccoli..
That's probably why I used to dip it in mayonnaise. My youngest son didn't like the taste of it either. One time when he was told to finish his broccoli before he left the dinner table, he stuffed it all in his mouth, got up and put his plate in the sink, went out the back door, and spit it all out into the garbage can. The misses was up like a lightning bolt and he got busted. His older brother and I thought it was hilarious but we could never figure out how she knew..
October 28, 2017
I cut down the asparagus ferns today but instead of cutting them off at the ground I used a hedge shears to lop off all the side stems. I got enough mulch to cover 20' along the side fence line. I've discovered that the secret to using garden waste as mulch, and having it not look messy, is to chop it up fine and spread it out to cover at least a 10' row. Small patches of diverse material looks untidy. It's perfect weather to tidy up the garden with 70ð sunny days. The cole crops are on the grow again and my 3" cauliflower is now 5"..
Leaves are plentiful and not wet enough yet to be a burden. October can be incredibly beautiful, and at the end...we get candy..
October 29, 2017
I learned last summer that using cauliflower leaves to mulch bush beans was not a good idea because they diverted the water away from the plants. This winter I'm using them as weed suppression along one of my planting beds. I have lined them up end to end like shingles and they covered a 10' side. Each time I pick a head I'll layer the leaves on top and we'll see what happens. I'm making a lot fewer trips down to the creek, and my compost pile is easier to turn..
It's probably time to pull the mulch back away from your artichoke plants. The root zone benefits from mulch but the base of the plant prefers air circulation. The birds move my mulch both up against the plant and also out into the walkways, but thanks to my garden cats I've found that feathers make good mulch too..
