An Autumn Picnic

This was the view we had at the river.

From the kitchen window I could see a sky awash with pink clouds early that morning. I had my fingers crossed that we would have beautiful weather for this day. We were rapidly running out of nice autumn days to enjoy a picnic at the river. It needed to be warm enough that we wouldn't shiver during our lunch on the grass. As it turned out, the gentle warmth from the sunshine melted our cares away.

This small park along the river in the vintage district is virtually unknown to the average shopper and peruser. It never ceases to amaze me that we can have the entire park practically to ourselves. Meanwhile, just up the trail from where we picnic is a cafe with outdoor seating, with exactly the same view that we enjoy at no cost. The wait time for a table on this cafe's patio looked to be at least 30 minutes, with eager diners standing in the doorway as we passed by to the trail which would take us to the river front.

The previous afternoon I'd made a batch of hummus and a batch of pesto to go with dinner. I'd deliberately made enough for leftovers to take to the river the next day. In the morning, we made hummus-pesto-fresh tomato sandwiches on whole wheat bread. We cut up apples, packed some apple-raisin bar cookies and some cubes of cheddar, and made a large thermos of apple-spice tea. The tea was a 50/50 blend of apple cider and black tea plus a pinch of cloves and dash of cinnamon, all heated together. Our al fresco repast was as enjoyable to us as any diner meal would be.

After our lunch we peeked into the various vintage stores then stopped by the pie shop to each select a slice to bring home. Perhaps that doesn't make sense -- we saved by bringing our own lunch, but then spent on pie to take home. Having the assorted slices of pie after dinner was our way of extending the pleasures of the day into the evening. 

Just as the weather forecasters predicted, our lovely warm autumn days washed away with the rainfall Monday morning. 

I don't know why I felt we needed a picnic to mark this autumn. This isn't something we've done in the past. Perhaps this year, with several difficulties, I just felt we needed to celebrate something, anything, celebrate that we are well and here together, celebrate that seasons are cyclical, and we will always return to summer. Maybe we don't need something to celebrate, but we can just enjoy being. Anyway, this was our autumn picnic.

My Autumn Container Garden Progress

I wanted to show you what's possible for a fall season, shallow container garden in a cool maritime climate. We get our first freeze (32 degrees or lower) in early to mid-November most years. Up against our house on the south-facing side, temperatures can be a degree or two warmer, even at night. That gives us some leeway for keeping a fall container garden going well into fall.

I realize that in many areas, it's already too cold to begin a container garden for fall, even with fast growing vegetables like radish greens. Still, I wanted to show you in photos what can be grown, to keep in mind for future growing seasons.

I'm growing two vegetables this fall, radishes for the greens and watercress. Both of these greens are frost tolerant and can grow in the reduced amount of sunlight that we receive this time of year.

The containers I'm using are fairly shallow, about 7 inches high. I posted about them in the spring, showing that I drilled drainage holes on the bottoms and lower sides.

In this first container, (above) I started radish seeds around Labor Day (the first weekend of September). I planted the seeds close enough to not expect radish roots, but to focus on the greens. I use radish greens in soups, stir fries, salads, and pesto. This batch is now ready to begin harvesting at about 6 weeks since sowing.

This next container (and two others just like it) were seeded with radish seeds around 3 weeks ago, about the end of the 3rd week of September. Due to sowing later in the fall, they were slower to germinate than the ones sown around the first of September. I expect these will be ready to harvest for cooking in about 1 month (early to mid-November). 

At the same time that I seeded the second batch of radish containers I also seeded a container of watercress. Watercress is a slower grower than radishes. Their primary merit this time of year is that watercress can survive occasional overnight freezes once the plants are large enough. I may have waited too long to start them for fall. If push comes to shove, I can bring this container and the radish ones inside and place under lights or in the window to continue growth. For now, both vegetables do better in colder outdoor temperatures than heated indoor areas.

All of the containers are out in the open right now so they can benefit from maximum rainfall for the time being. As the nights become colder, I'll move the containers up against the house. The greens will likely stop putting on new growth in early November. Keeping them up against the house but still outdoors will only serve to hold them until I want to cook with them.

Many of you just want gardening season to be over. I get that. But for those of you finding produce prices, especially leafy greens, to be outrageous this fall (as I am finding in my stores), here's a way to grow some of your own leafy greens, even well into fall depending on your growing zone. I reused my spring and summer containers, the soil within, and without any additional amendments (no fertilizer or compost added for fall growing). There seems to be enough residual nutrients in the "used" soil for these current leafy greens to grow.  The seeds are all from what I've saved when my plants went to seed. So there's been no cost in the seeds either. Whatever grows in these containers will be free for me and with very little work. That's a price I can't pass up.

Like I said earlier in this post, this may be too late for others this year, with exception of those living in the southern tier of the US. However, this is a viable idea for fall seasons.