Organic Gardening Info from Peaceful Valley

I know everybody is just coming down from the busy-ness of the Summer gardening season, especially for you hard working people still canning and processing (tomato sauce, apple sauce, pear sauce, whatever sauce), but don’t forget about the wonderful bounty Fall can provide! I’ve been planting onions, garlic cloves, broccoli starts, and seeds of all sorts of greens. It’s so exciting to think about the deliciousness these favorites will provide! Of course, onions and garlic won’t be ready to harvest until July, but the greens and brassicas will be enjoyed through Winter. For anyone who hasn’t had success growing broccoli in the Spring, try now instead. It’s a struggle in the Spring when temperatures warm up rapidly to keep the plants from bolting, but in the Fall, broccoli (and other brassicas-cauliflower, cabbage, brussellsprouts, etc) just gets sweeter as the temperatures get cooler (for those of us who like to know the “why”, it’s because brassicas produce sugar to act as an “antifreeze” to protect their cells from being damaged by cold-cool, huh?).
Happy Fall!

Now is the time to create lasting enjoyment all fall and winter long by planting flower bulbs. We’ve created a new page here that tells you all about how to prepare your soil and plant bulbs! Bulbs make great gifts btw

Jeweled droplets of rain in moonlight,

fall like silent diamonds bouncing off of trees.

Saturation.

Through the window, the branches are weighed down.

Here in a cave of blankets,

I am in bed next to the warm body of my darling.

Meanwhile everything is dying outside.

Tomorrow  – the Sun will be reborn,

dispelling these last traces of encumbered darkness.

And like the vibrant light shown through sacred beads of dew,

I will awake in the new dawn.

I am sitting here on Saturday in my cubicle at Peaceful Valley.  Its getting cold outside.  The ancients believed that the Great Father dies away during the fall, to lie dormant in the winter, and is reborn again in the following spring.  It sure feels like that sometimes.  But driving down Nevada Street, in Nevada City, while the last throws of his death rattle produce some spectacular color in the trees is an amazing sight.  Some of the leaves are such a vibrant red color it looks like they are on fire.   Death is not the end, but a inevitable change which lays the foundations for something adapted and new.

Fall is my favorite time of the year except for one thing. When do I pull up my still-producing garden to put in the winter cover crop? I have purchased it already, so it will happen. I’m just not sure when.

The light is so beautiful now, the days are definitely shorter, but the bees are still stimulating the green beans to produce and the tomatoes are still ripening. I know soon I will have to step in, but when? I started the garden from seeds, many that were saved from the year before.

It was fun to try to trick the cold weather into leaving the seedlings alone enough to germinate and grow. They have produced an abundance of produce that has allowed me to freeze and dry enough for the next year as well as share with my neighbors and co-workers. It’s a good feeling to be able to do that, but I still have to decide.

When? Logically, it should be before the rains start, which is pretty soon, but I guess I don’t yet want to give up the fun and work and good flavor of picking dinner every night. I really like visiting the garden two to three times a day. We share a lot of memories.

Maybe this will be the year that winter starts late, or maybe I’m fooling myself because I’m not ready. I’m just going to enjoy it all right now and when it’s time, I hope I’ll know.

The mornings have been cool, and I’m finally sleeping through the night without waking up in a torpor from heat induced dreams.

Thus I know that fall is here, and I can plant cover crop in my newly double-dug beds.  It’s been quite a process this summer of preparing rocky clay ground for growing, and I was anxious to finish in time to plant our soil builder mix, and get a good start on my garden next year.

With grandiose thoughts in my head of 6 foot tall legumes fixing pounds of nitrogen by December I scattered the seed and gave it a thorough watering.  I chanted Wendell Barry’s poem “Enriching the Earth” over the seeds for good measure.  The next morning….. who should arrive but thousands of ravenous birds, eating the delicious oat, pea , bean, and vetch seeds laid out so nicely for them.  A perfect fall breakfast!

Determined to fight back, I’m putting up some bird scare tape.  The red and silver kind that they think is fire.  It is still fire season here after all. Hopefully they’ll retreat into the hills.

Since we started offering it for sale over 5 years ago, garlic has proven itself time and time again to be one of our most popular fall products. Affordable, relatively easy to grow and well loved by many; garlic is a worthy addition to any garden.

This year, we have a “bumper crop,” if you will, offering more than a dozen different varieties (most of them organic!), with types suitable for nearly all tastes and growing conditions.

For the beginning garlic grower, you can’t go wrong with the old standby: California Late White (or Early White, which is quite similar). Both of these are the types you will typically find in your local grocery store, and are perfect to help ease yourself into the wide world of garlic growing.

For the more adventurous types, you can choose from some amazing varieties for all palates – you can try Music for a great flavor, Chesnok Red is great for those seeking a more full-bodied taste, or for the truly daring of tongue, Bogatyr will challenge your taste buds to a duel.

Plant in Fall, and you can expect a crop of fresh, tasty garlic in late Spring. You will yield tremendous results – one clove will net one new bulb, which can turn around and be replanted for the next year’s crop. And, best of all, our seed garlic can also be eaten right away. Buy an extra pound or two for cooking or baking over the winter, while your crop grows, and make those Gilroy folks jealous over your new plants!

Get your order in now, for shipping in late August.

Every year, we run out of several varieties before we even receive our stock in our warehouse. Don’t miss out on your chance to get the best types!

Browse And Pre-Order Our Garlic Varieties.

Posted by Chad Silverstein, Call Center PVFGS

(shown in picture:music garlic)

For the first time ever, Peaceful Valley is offering our gourmet garlics for pre-order NOW! In past years, we were unable to advertise our selection until late August, just before we receive it.

Choose from over a dozen different varieties, including some distinctive ones not found in your local grocery store…or even your local co-op! Order now for the best selection, and we will start shipping these in late August or early September. The unique garlics tend to sell out quickly (often before we even get our stock in house), so get your order in right away!