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| Roselle blooms |
Our gardeners were out doing fall tasks—cleaning up spent plants, nurturing fall crops, harvesting some late summer crops, and planting new things. Weeding is certainly more rewarding when you know you won’t have to pull those summer weeds again for months.
One thing that was planted today is 40 crocus corms. These particular crocuses bloom in the fall rather than spring, and they produce the most expensive spice in the world – saffron. Saffron crocuses are relatively easy to grow, but harvesting the saffron stamens (each bloom produces just three) is so tedious, that they are not usually grown as a cash crop in the US. We’re trying them out just for fun.
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| Saffron Crocus corms Crocus sativa |
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| Peggy has been harvesting gallons of Roselle calyxes. Fortunately, the vinegar flags have kept the deer away. |
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| Sweet potatoes have completely enveloped part of the “A” beds. They will be harvested before frost. |
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| Jessica has used old bamboo canes to refurbish one of the 4-H beds. We love the way it looks. This bed is made from half of one 4’ x 16’ cattle panel, split lengthwise, making it 2’ high and 4’ square. |
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| Another one of the 4-H beds, one of the easiest ways to build a raised bed. Each of the blocks is 6 inches high. Two are used on each corner here for a bed 12” deep. |
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| Some of the perennials in the forest garden do their best in the fall. Turmeric Curcuma longa |
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| Culinary Ginger Zingiber officinale |
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| Comfrey Symphytum officinale |
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| Cherokee Greens or Sochan Rudbeckia laciniata |
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| Louie prepared the herb beds for winter and cleaned up damaged plants |
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| Emma pulled up Yarrow growing into the pathway around the bat house. She will pot it up to save for our spring plant sale. |
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| Heather cleaned the spent Loofah vines off the central arbor. |
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| Spotted Horsemint. Great for pollinators |
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| Nancy and Linda cleaned up pollinator beds |
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