Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Harvest update; the indoor season begins

First, a harvest update; better late than never, I suppose. These last few days we've been enjoying sunshine and temperatures in the sixties. Not only has the weather extended the harvest, but has coaxed my first season raspberry plants to continue producing new berries. Only one of my four plants has quit, leaving pea-sized dried-up remains. Fortunately for me, the other fruits have retained their sweet flavor, which is not always guaranteed to happen this late in the season (the berries in the communal patch at the Minton Stable Garden taste bland and are lacking in juiciness in comparison).Now for some not-so-scientific estimates of the value of my harvest (for more impressive numbers and other gardeners' harvest updates visit Daphne's blog). Based on all of the nearly identical photos I've taken since my last tally, I've yielded the following:

Previous benefits total: $143.18
1/2 pound (estimated) organic broccoli at $2.50/lb.: $1.25
1 package (estimated) raspberries at $3.59: $3.59
New benefits total: $148.02

Current cost total: $171.57
New balance: -$23.55
I have this nifty grow light that has put me in the red this season, so I may as well keep using it. Under a layer of leaves in containers out back, I was pleasantly surprised to find a few German thyme plants still thriving and new parsley rising up over the stumps of what my husband had picked and used in pesto. I potted them in containers I could bring indoors, and plan to keep them alive for as long as I can under the grow light. I placed another thyme plant under a kitchen window; we'll see which fares better. I would like to start some rosemary from seed, maybe some other herbs, as well as lettuce. In a comment she made earlier to my blog Emily mentioned that she was going to sow an indoor garden, and since I still have soil, light, and lettuce seeds, why not?

4 comments:

Daphne Gould said...

Oh it would be nice to have fresh herbs over the winter. I did bring in my rosemary plant, but at this point it only belongs in a Death Day post. Poor things.

Bryan Bunch said...

Rosemary is tricky. We lose one over the winter about every other year. Sally should note that parsley in its second year gets coarse and not so good--she might want to plant some in her new garden (from seed--although parsley seed has to go down to the devil in hell nine times before it sprouts!)

Giulietta the Muse said...

I was wondering what you were going to do for fresh veggies in the winter. Sounds like you could use a hot house. Could we grow year round with that? Any hot house cooperatives in the greater boston area? or do veggies need direct sunlight?

giulietta, question girl

Sally said...

Daphne: I feel your pain. I can never keep rosemary alive more than a year.

Bryan: See comment above. Also, tonight what little parsley you saw in the pic was used in a pasta dish, so I guess I should start again from seed anyway.

Giulietta: A hot house if every gardener's dream. I don't know of any cooperatives, but sounds like a good idea to me. I think particularly in winter most if not all veggies need sunlight. With less heat it's even more crucial.