Fall Planting…Already???

Well, just about.

Can you believe it? We rush, rush, rush to get the spring garden in and before we’re harvesting much of anything we’re already thinking of the Fall Garden.

My Spring Garden is spent…kaput…finished…done. It got tooooo hot tooooo soon and the Spring Garden was very short lived.

But my Summer Garden is booming with growth and color.

I will have cucs coming out my ears! That’s my hope. Last years crop failed for just about everyone in this area. We had tooooo much rain. At least with too little rain, you can water just the right amount…but when you are blessed with too much rain, everything can rot.

The eggplant below are doing great. I’ve been able to battle the flea beetles and I’m winning….so far.

And the peppers are blooming. I was planning to cover each variety so they would stay pure for seeds, but I’m not gonna. I have plenty of seed saved and this year, it’s just not working.

I was over at a friends house this morning disbudding the baby kids and she had a ripe tomato!!!! I honestly have NEVER seen a ripe tomato before July 1. In fact most of my tomatoes ripen in August. It has just been so hot and so dry. Very weird weather we’re having this year.

I’ll plant my Fall Garden in July/August in hopes of actually getting carrots & beets. I’m not sure why my carrots didn’t come up this spring. Perhaps it was the particular box I planted in. Or perhaps it was the seed company I bought from. Or perhaps I got them in too late. Or perhaps it was too wet.

My cabbage aren’t heading. That’s never happened to me before. Maybe it’s been the intense heat and little rain. I’ve placed a row cover over them to try and shade them somewhat, but they just aren’t forming heads this year…I think it’s been the heat. Hopefully my Fall crop which I seeded (indoor..not really) will produce. If not, I’ll be stopping at the Farmer’s Market to buy the crops that failed me.

There are so many variables.

I know what happen to the beets. They came up beautifully. Then the deer thought they looked mighty fine too. So they ate them. Every last one.

Now I know why my FIL had kill permits at his USDA farm plots when he did sugar beet research. Those pesky deer LOVE beets!

A few of my Fall Garden seeds arrived yesterday and will hopefully get in the ground in a few weeks.

My Fall Garden will consist of….

Bulls Blood Beets & Detroit Red

Autumn King Carrots & Chantenay Red Carrots

Russian Red Kale

Georgia Collards

Broccoli

Cabbage

Lettuce

Spinach

Turnips

(I think that’s about it)

I promised I wouldn’t complain about the heat this summer…..all I have to do is remember the Winter of 2010.

Do you remember this?

…… the back-to-back blizzards of a lifetime.

It does seem like a distant past. Not so distant though.

What will you be growing in your Fall Garden? Anything interesting? Or is it too far ahead to think about? It really isn’t.

Here’s a great list by Mother Earth News. But of course you need to look up what’s good for your growing zone. And here’s a link for that. Just click on your area and then on the following page click on the month you want info on.

12 to 14 weeks before your first killing frost

• Direct-sow last plantings of fast-maturing, warm-season vegetables such as snap beans, cucumbers and summer squash. Also sow parsnips and rutabagas, and begin planting cilantro, lettuce and radishes.
• Start cabbage family seedlings indoors, and set out the seedlings as promptly as possible.
• In climates with long autumns, plant celery, bulb fennel and parsley in the fall.

10 to 12 weeks before your first killing frost

• Set out broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi and cauliflower seedlings, along with celery, bulb fennel and parsley.
• Direct-sow beets, carrots, collards, leeks and scallions, along with more lettuce and radishes. In some areas, even fast-maturing peas and potatoes will do well in the fall garden.

8 to 10 weeks before your first killing frost

• Direct-sow arugula, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, turnips, spinach, mustard, pac choi, tatsoi and other Asian greens.
• Sow more lettuce and radishes, including daikons.

6 to 8 weeks before first killing frost

• Make a final sowing of spinach along with mâche, which matches spinach for super winter-hardiness. (In most regions, you can expect to enjoy these crops in your Christmas salads!)
• Make a final sowing of lettuce beneath a protective tunnel or frame.

On or around your first killing frost date

• Every fall garden should include garlic and shallots. If you love onions, be sure to try multiplying onions and perennial “nest” onions.