Cindy Shumate was sitting in her commuter train one morning when she noticed a woman with a vase of fresh cut zinnias in the seat next to her. They got talking and next thing she knew, Cindy was booked to talk to the gardeners at Fodor Farm's Community Garden on Flax Hill Road in Norwalk.
Cindy has spent 25 years working as a landscape designer in Connecticut, Nantucket and Cape Cod, plus a stint doing roof-top gardens in Manhattan. She lectures to garden clubs and spends weekends tending her vegetable garden at the Rowayton Woods condo complex community garden.
But on a bright and sunny Saturday morning, Cindy was in the picnic area talking to the Fodor Farm gardeners about how to extend a garden into the fall. "Right now it's harvest time and all the big producing crops are calling out to be picked, so the question is, what to do with it all," she said. Bucket loads of tomatoes can be turned into sauce , canned or frozen. Cucumbers can be pickled, as can zucchini, which can also be frozen. "These are the traditional methods of preserving crops, but you can also think about drying vegetables, such as tomatoes, and don't forget to harvest your own seeds for next year," she added.
"Think about making gifts for the holidays with your bounty. Perhaps you can make little packets of seeds, or pretty purple basil vinegar." What a brilliant idea!
Cindy pointed out that there is still time to plant fall crops, such as lettuce, spinach, beets, turnips and kale. These crops like cooler nights and sunny days. When you've had enough of food-growing, make sure you prepare your beds for next year. Soil renovation is key here. Remove all this year's vegetable debris. If you had any pests or mildew, throw those plants in the trash. Cover the beds with a thick layer of compost and just leave it to break down over the winter, so that in the spring it's all ready to be dug in to create nutrient rich soil.
Cindy had an absolutely brilliant tip for keeping track of your small gardening tools, gloves and your garden notebook. Find an old mailbox and leave it near your vegetable garden!
Cindy Shumate can be reached at [email protected].
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