In November’s Garden

It is the end of November and I am amazed at how much greenery we still have in the garden.
The swiss chard is crisp. I like to use it in soups and stir frys.
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The plants are glossy and the stalks are almost like celery. This was one of my first edible plants in the spring and has proved to be one of the last. I will surely grow swiss chard every year.

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The kale leaves are like green lace:
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The parsley is vibrant and hardy. It is doing really well in the herb spiral I built this past spring.
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The mint has exploded to the point of invasive. I’ll have to make a bunch of mojitos!
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We save all of our cardboard and use it as sheet mulch in the garden:
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Luke lined the paths of the mandala garden with cardboard:
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And finally, the garlic we planted about 6 weeks ago has sprouted:
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Does anyone know how to protect these scapes over the winter so I’ll have garlic next year?
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Fall is for planting

Many different kinds of crops must be planted in the fall for next years harvest. These crops tend to be grown from roots or tubers instead of from seed and also tend to be expensive. I was planning to order some hardneck garlic from Seed Savers Exchange but most of it was sold out.

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I found very affordable hard neck garlic for sale at a farmers market in Allston, MA. The farmer said she grows all of her garlic from her own bulbs, so I bought as much as I could. You can read Megan’s account of us planting garlic on her blog.

I also just planted jerusalem artichokes or sunchokes. I found that these tubers were also very expensive to buy online. I found them at Russo’s in Watertown, MA.