Our harvest!
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Today it started to freeze… I had to quickly bring in the last green tomatoes to go on riping indoors & try to protect the plants by wrapping them up with thin plastic sheets.
Without knowing if I was doing the right thing I cut the leaves & put them around the root to keep the heat assuming the plants needed all their energy to stay alive.
As we have many gardeners out there I’d like to ask if I did the right thing or did I weaken them by taking it off & is plastic enough to stop them from freezing as I have no place for the portable greenhouses suggested by other bloggers?
Here are photos of our “garden” & of our seeds drying system 😉
Our “garden” ready (?) for winter
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Our leek seeds drying system
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Oregano leaves drying too
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And onion seeds…set for next year!
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ArtPoetry&Literature 
Looks like you are getting things nicely prepared.. It makes me appreciate how very lucky we are to have our plot of land with the allotments.. Our Green tomatoes we had the last of only last week.. They ripened on the kitchen window 🙂 but we made lots into soup and froze some ripe ones which we blanched and skinned which will be made into soups and sauces later in the winter months..
Good to see you back.. 🙂
I just picked them today but didn’t know we had to put them next to the window, thanks for the tip & taking your time to comment!
The recipe-ideas are very useful too 🙂
Have a warm,cozy week!
You too 🙂 xxx
🙂
Wonderful pictures ! If it gets at or below freezing at night cover everything with an old sheet overnight. If any part of the plants should freeze and die do not cut off unless they are moldy. The dead parts protect the rest of the plant. Avoid humidity in the indoor garden!
It is okay to put the leaves in the pots but make sure that they do not mold. When you water do not drench those leaves. Regularly smell the dirt in all the pots and if there is a good earthy odor the plants are okay. I always smell my potted plants to know if the soil is alive. You are lucky to have such a great place to grow things!
Cheers, V.
Wow! So many tips at once,thanks! You sound like you really have a lot of experience with plants, I never thought of smelling the earth.
Was I wrong to cut off the leaves or right about them taking too much of the plants energy that is needed for its survival during winter?
I never thought my very small balcony was a great place to grow stuff, my dream was to have a small real garden but I imagine some people don’t even have balconies so I should appreciate it more…
Have a warm & healthy winter 🙂
Did you cut off ALL the leaves or just those that looked old? the leaves are needed for photosynthesis, it does not happen in the stem. However the plant will go into a temporary shock and then regrow some leaves. Never underestimate the power of roots ! I had a garden that grew into a jungle when I lived in California. After that I had to make do with window sills… check my posts about plants …
I cut off all those that looked old but the top ones,they were fine but now that I know their importance I won’t do it next year & we’ll see & hope these will manage to get over my mistake 🙂
Thanks for letting me know!