Harvesting After Frost - Coriander and Wheat

Hard frost has hit, but gardening work continues for a while longer. Compost has been spread on the garden (note to self, take frequent breaks to save the back). Leaf raking in process.

Neighbour's Mountain Ash (aka Rowan, Genus: Sorbus), not sure which species. The photos were taken during a brilliant rose-coloured sunrise. The photos are shown as-is, unedited.

Harvesting continues. The coriander (cilantro) is at perfect harvesting conditions, falling off the plant with relatively little effort (relative to the wheat harvesting).

Below is Threshing Box Experiment #1 for the wheat. Should be self-explanatory from the photos.

I have not got around to winnowing the grain yet. Not sure if there is really any easy way to do this. No matter what method, it is time and labour intensive at this scale. Harvesting machines rank high on the labour-savingness scale. So far my other half has been meticulously separating the hulls from the grains during the occasional movie watching.

Utrecht Blue Wheat (above) after hard frost. Quinoa behind and on the right.

First Moderate Frost

Looks like we beat the average first frost day of September 14 again this year! Although not as impressive as October 1 last year, the forecast is looking good for the next week.

So far only the Amaranth has taken a hit. Everything else appears to still be growing. So I guess this is a "moderate" first frost, no "heavy" killing frost yet (unlike Edmonton, sorry guys). According to Environment Canada, measured at the Calgary ariport (same elevation as the Middle Earth Garden), we had -0.5 C on September 18. Everything survived this first light frost. Last night was -1.1 C.

The Amaranth doesn't seem to have any seeds yet, that I can find. I will take a closer look tomorrow. So may not get any Amaranth seeds this year. This spring was exceptionally slow germination, starting them inside would help alleviate this risk.

Harvest Time

Potatoes of Unknown Variety gradually being consumed. We dig them as we eat them, since no cold room or root cellar for storage.

I'm currently researching when best to harvest the Amaranth (above) and Quinoa (below). Teresa provided a good reference regarding when to harvest at Salt Spring Seeds.