Climate Change in Ohio in November

 

It has been unseasonably warm in Central Ohio this year, and while the impacts of climate change and global warming are horrifying, I've been taking full advantage in the gardens.

We have had a couple of weeks with lows in the 40s and highs in the 60s and 70s. The yardlong beans have gotten too cold, but the fava beans, beets, and brassicas are quite happy. I piled some fallen mulberry leaves onto the bare raised beds and around the existing plants. The beds are now a golden color from the leaves. 

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong with the fava beans. They are still growing and blooming a strange white and black flower, but I have not gotten a single bean from them this year. I wonder if the neighborhood squirrels, skunks, and rats are getting any beans that grow. Some animals also ate all of our soybeans and soybean plants. Something gnawed at the tomatoes this summer but didn't decimate them. 

I have a number of brassica plants, mostly kale, which have been thriving. There were so many healthy kale seedlings this year that I had to plant some in the strawberry bed. These plants are very happy, and I've been able to juice large leaves, pick small leaves for my salads, and feed leaves infested with cabbage fly caterpillars and aphids to the chickens. The chickens call to me from their area each time I'm in the garden. I think they expect to get fresh-picked leaves each time I am there now. 

I made some juice this week with the kale, apples from Peifer Orchards in Yellow Springs, and store-bought celery, cucumbers, and lemons. I was a little over-zealous with the apples, and the juice turned out very sweet and delicious. I store it in old G.T.'s kombucha bottles and little French bottles from IKEA. I like IKEA's Korken bottles in the 5 oz size for juice; the small size is a perfect single serving, and I can fill the bottle up to the small opening, which allows less oxidization of my juice. 

In terms of flowers, the roses, poppies, and Gerbera daisies are still blooming. The roses grow on the side of the garage, and I'm surprised and pleased at how well they have done with very little attention. The Icelandic poppies are taking over one end of a raised bed. They share the space with a couple bok choi, kale, and chard plants. They are bright orange and very delicate - I have not tried to cut any to bring inside because it seems that they would just disintegrate. The Gerbera daisies have been an unexpected surprise: they popped back up from last year and have kept 1-3 blooms through October and November. I was able to cut on for a small vase for my mother last weekend. They are a lovely wine color and are very thirsty plants. 

The chickens have been molting while it has been warm. We set up their heater so that they won't be too cold when the temperature changes this weekend. We also traded out the old green garden fencing for 5-foot chicken fencing around their enclosure. This is nice because it disappears at a distance. The chickens have been producing just 1 or 2 eggs each day while they are molting and as the days are getting shorter. For now, I'm still getting enough eggs to have about 2 in my salad each day. Ariel has gotten more aggressive this summer and fall. When I go into their enclosure to do work or bring out or take in their feed, she pecks at my garden clogs or even my ankles. I'm worried that she will draw blood one of these days!

Of course, I'm continuing some salad sprouts in the kitchen. I bought some of Nature Jim's salad sprouts mix earlier this year, and I start about 1 teaspoon of seeds at different times so that I always have some fresh sprouts for salad. I got a pack of 8 Picowe sprouting lids which fit right onto a wide-mouth Mason jar. I follow the directions on the package: soak the sprouts for about 8 hours, then drain and water twice each day. These are ready to use in about 5 days and elevate my lunch salad.