The Gardens at Tidewater Farm: October 2024
Garden Update
Welcome fall! The days are shortening and the asters are popping! September brought the late summer weather of our dreams with warm, sunny days and cool nights. Our annual flowers and vegetables were very grateful for the irrigation systems at Tidewater which got us through the unusually dry August and September.
So far, we have donated over 980 pounds of produce to local pantries, but this does not include bags of storage onions, winter squash, sweet potatoes, fall turnips and radish, and beds and beds of fall carrots. We love a late produce season at Tidewater! The turmeric and ginger crop will be left in the High Tunnel 
for as long as weather permits, to encourage as much growth as possible. Both have seemed to enjoy the warmer days of September. Turmeric has a stunning flower which is an indication of healthy growing conditions and, hopefully, a good crop!
Over 70 bouquets of cut flowers from the gardens have gone out to be distributed to people receiving care through Northern Light’s Home Care and Hospice. Thank you to Master Gardener Volunteer, Lorissa Ciriello, for making the connection through her work and for jumping in on cutting and arranging flowers.
The dahlias were a little late but became showstoppers as September rolled on.
Tidewater Master Gardener Volunteers have really stepped up to stay on top of caring for the 
gardens as they got a bit unruly during this extra busy summer. Here are some intrepid volunteers in the Cottage Garden, weeding and thinning out native perennials. We are looking forward to more workshops and events this October as well as celebrating the end of the season with garlic planting the first weekend of November!
Upcoming Events at Tidewater Farm
All of the following events will take place at the UMaine Gardens at Tidewater Farm, 200 Presumpscot Point Rd, Falmouth, ME 04105.
Enter the Garden of Silence: From Seeing to Writing
Join us for a writing workshop, Enter the Garden of Silence: From Seeing to Writing on Thursday, October 10, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. This writing workshop aims to help you appreciate the beauty in the ordinary and the simplicity in the extraordinary. The art of seeing deeply requires attention, curiosity, openness, and connection. Taking the time to “see” will help restore you to wonder.
We welcome all levels of writers. The workshop will include a writing prompt, time to experience a moment in the gardens, time to write, and sharing of our experiences. Please bring a notebook or sketchbook and a pen that you really love to write with! We encourage participants to wear layers as this class will take place outside and in our unheated greenhouse.
Please note registration is capped at 18 participants. Early registration is encouraged.
Registration is required and the program fee is $10 for this workshop.
October Field Day at Tidewater Farm
Join us at Tidewater Farm for a Field Day, Saturday, October 19, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm. Open to the public, no registration required! Come check out the gardens before hands-on demonstrations begin at 10:30 a.m. No registration required. The demos will focus on best practices for wrapping up the season while simultaneously getting a jump start on next season through planning and soil testing. Participants will also take home native seeds to sow outdoors this fall or winter!
Harvesting and Sowing Native Seeds
Did you know that fall and early winter is the perfect time to sow native seeds outdoors?
Join us for this informal workshop on Monday, October 28, 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. where you’ll learn the basics of how to collect native seeds in your garden and how to start and care for your native plants from seed to transplant.
This workshop will include sowing techniques, protecting your seeds from critters, and when and how to divide your plants in the spring. Each participant will take home two containers with seeds they planted. We encourage participants to wear layers as this class will take place outside and in our unheated greenhouse.
Please note registration is capped at 15 participants. Early registration is encouraged.
Registration is required and the program fee is offered on a sliding scale, $5-$15.
Recipe
This recipe is in honor of soup season and the hundreds of pounds of carrots that will hopefully be coming out of the ground at Tidewater. Maybe have it with a side of roasted carrot chips!?
Serves: 6
Ingredients
1 medium leek, thinly sliced and soaked in water to remove sand
4 teaspoons butter
6 medium carrots, sliced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 cans (14 1/2 ounces each ) low sodium chicken broth
2 cups skim milk
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Directions
- In a large saucepan, sauté leek in butter until tender.
- Add carrots, potatoes, and broth; bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat; cover and simmer until vegetables are tender.
- Remove vegetables from heat and put into a blender or food processor.
- Add enough cooking liquid to cover, blend until smooth and return to pan.
- Stir in milk and pepper and heat through.
Wildlife Sighting
If you grow dill, parsley, carrots or other plants in the Apiaceae family, you may be familiar with black swallowtail butterfly larva, which primarily feeds on this family of plants. Though they share the same stylish color scheme as monarch butterfly larvae, they will not be found on milkweed and have a more dotted pattern on their bodies. One distinguishing characteristic of black swallowtail larva is that the stages, or instars, between each shedding of their skin, do not all look alike. The caterpillar that hatches from the egg is dark and covered in spikes, resembling a bird dropping, keeping hungry birds from eating it. Only after three molts does it emerge with its stripes and dots.