Project: Sprout & About

I am almost nostalgically thinking about the summer that came fast and as fast as it came, it was over. It just feels like the seasons are changing in a blink of an eye. This might sound a bit melancholic but actually, it’s all the opposite (surprisingly). I am talking about the new things this season has brought with itself and I am so excited of it all. Nature is preparing itself for something yet to come. How magical! I can see it in the greenhouse how the change in temperature and the amount of sunlight instantly affects the plants. And just take a look at these colours! ❤

What I Have Been Doing In The Greenhouse?

It might be fall, and it is undeniable that the busiest of sprouting seasons is slowly slowing down. However, that doesn’t mean that the work is done or that the blog would be gone – heck, no! I am not going to stop the project quite yet because the fall has turned out to be way more interesting than what I had anticipated. (Nevertheless, my mission was to stay committed until the end of the year, so there’s still some gardening journey left to be experienced. I am committed!) Therefore, it has been all the opposite of an endgame, as I have come to realize while I have been fixing things here and there. And although the days turned cold pretty quickly, along with them came a bunch of new exciting garden jobs.

Now, soon after I started to sense the end of the summer season somewhere in late August or early September, I knew I wanted to still keep going with the gardening. I would aim at prolonging this project for as long as it would be possible. It’s clear that during those times, I had to let go of some plants, but at the same time, it tested my creativity in coming up with something new to fill up the space. I wouldn’t want the greenhouse to stand empty while I can see that it has so much potential. Yes, it’s not summer anymore, and gardening becomes more complicated in colder climates, but once again, what if I just gave it a try? Could I make it to stay green long into the fall?

The end of warmer days meant that not all my plants would survive a few degrees above 0. Exactly, I said that fall came quick! For instance, watermelon suffered early from cooler nights, and this year’s summer simply wasn’t long enough for it to grow to its fullest. (Anyway, more about that in my Heartful Harvests post, which I’ll soon publish.) Also, the cucumber, the pumpkin, and the zucchini are amongst those plants that died right out after the temperatures fell below 15 degrees and therefore, are now long gone. But despite the fast changes that I had to face, I said to myself that all of this would be fine. I told myself that I would try to turn this moment into an opportunity.

What I mean by creating an opportunity in a moment of despair (read: losing a dear plant due to cold or disease) was to plant nasturtiums everywhere. I hadn’t known that nasturtiums can be propagated! The realization of the possibility of propagating nasturtiums from a stem came to me by chance. I would be accidentally cutting a stem in the garden. I thought I would just stick it to the ground, and well, if anything, at least I could enjoy its flowers for a few more days. This experiment turned out to be a success, as I hadn’t known before that nasturtiums would start growing again from a single stem. You bet that I would later on cut down overgrown stems and replant them in the greenhouse, where they would fill up the space with their beautiful colours for weeks to come. Nature is amazing, once again.

At this point in the fall, it has been all about doing the constant cleanups. Nothing new in that sense; it is something this amateur gardener learned to do throughout the season. Only that now, I would be removing some plants for good, leaving behind empty spaces and realizing that for other plants, it was too late to be growing them again. To this day, I have been too hesitant to cut down the tomatoes, even though I could use the space for some other plants to grow. Until now, I have been cutting down those branches that are changing in color or that otherwise look unwell. Simple cleanups, as one knows, are necessary in a healthy sprout garden.

To my delight, the fruits have kept coming too until this day. It has been delightful to see green tomatoes growing, and ever fewer are going bad. Yes, the growth seems to have been slowing down altogether without a doubt, and especially in the herbs, the taste is not as strong as during the summer season. Still, I am so happy that even if we are in late October, I am still harvesting parsley, coriander, thyme, tomatoes (even though green), radish, dill, chilis, carrots, and grapes! What a list of goodies coming straight from the garden to the table. And well, there’s one plant left that I haven’t dug up yet, the beetroot, which I shall share in another post to see what has come of it, if anything… How exciting!

And What’s Up Next?

It’s notable how fast the climate is changing now (and how fast the climate is changing). One of my most laborious plants, the grape vine, is dropping its leaves like no other. It’s constant work, especially around the greenhouse entrance area. I am not complaning, it was really a nice success how I got it to climb so beautifuly like an arc this year. But certainly, I am being occupied with the cleanups inside the greenhouse, not to forget the fact that there’s the garden plot and plenty other garden jobs around it, too!

But to breake it down, here’s a short list of the most important things I need to be covering the upcoming days and weeks:

• Overwintering chilis and rosmary
• Removing the tomato plants (I know, it’s time has to come sooner or later)
• Replanting herbs that now grow in pots into the bigger garden beds
• Removing the nasturtium from the greenhouse
• Harvesting the second round of carrots

So small things to be done withing the next few weeks and after that, if I still have time and the possibility, I will do a similar big cleaning within the greenhouse. I am talking about the walls inside-out, the decorative rocks, the garden beds, and so on. But that will become more relevant as we get closer to entering the winter season, which I hope is still like a month away from today.

To finish, I feel like the changing seasons is a good time for some beautiful reflection in my own life, too. I like to remind myself also to follow these seasons by taking a look inside. Because, fall and winter are, after all, times when the nature is slowing down and taking a good rest. Hence,
isn’t it true that it cannot always be “go-thrive-achieve”, but
sometimes it can also be “tune in-slow down & rest more” ❤