Thursday, November 15, 2012

Time to uproot, time to plant

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot

Today I pulled up these eggplants. It was time. I planted six plants from a pony pack in late spring, and although the plants looked surprisingly healthy throughout the long hot summer, they didn't produce much until September, and really took off once the weather began to cool in October. In addition to enjoying eggplant lasagna, eggplant parmigiana, and eggplant souffle during the past few months, I froze several quart bags and gave some away. Although the plants look as healthy as ever, they have ceased bearing as the days have shortened and the nighttime temperatures have dropped. Therefore I decided  it was time to let them go and plant something else. They really had extensive root systems...it took some effort to pull them out.

What to plant? According to my gardening calendar, mid-November possibilities include transplants of broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, kohlrabi, and lettuces, and seeds of beets, carrots, collard greens, endive, kale, mustard greens, peas, radishes, rutabagas, spinach, and turnips.

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