Fall garden tasks

[wsmoak]

I think I've discovered the reason I never get much out of my Fall garden, despite the fact that we have a long growing season with a first frost in the middle of November. It's because I am buried under peaches and tomatoes in July, right at the time I apparently need to be starting seeds for Fall!

I would love to have successions of broccoli, lettuce, maybe even cauliflower... and carrots? I've never managed to get them to grow before. Beets! Chard! All the things I see other people harvesting and think, "I should have planted that..."

I'm officially in zone 8a but I think we're in a microclimate that matches 7b better.

I use Better Hens and Gardens spreadsheet to track things but it mostly has Spring dates.

So, what should I be starting each week? What are YOU starting now, if you're near me?

-Wendy

 

[Ridgerunner]

Wendy you might see if there is a Master Gardener group near you that can help in your area. Your county extension agent should be able to put you in touch with them. They could probably give you a calendar for your area.

Another idea. Do you have a local, Mom and Pop garden center that starts their own plants? If so, you might ask them when they start theirs. That's how I knew when to start my broccoli. I started my broccoli seeds a couple of weeks ago.

 

[canesisters]

'Better Hens & Gardens' ???

 

[digitS']

And, look what I found:

http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.cfm?number=C943

They talk about adjusting the schedule for different areas in Georgia.

It is kinda like I have to be ahead of Georgia by a month. 'Cept , I didn't know cukes and zukes could be planted after green beans for the fall garden.

I didn't look for beets but I can't get the seed started in the heat. No baby beets available soon! That's one reason a spring sown green that can live thru the heat of summer is important to me.

I bet you can grow things like Malabar spinach without starting them under plastic in the spring ...

Steve

 

[canesisters]

Steve, you always find the COOLEST THINGS!!!!!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

• Prepare soil for September to October plantings of "cool-season" crops. Apply fertilizer and prepare seeded so rains will settle the rows and make it easier to get seeds to germinate when they are planted.

• If watering is necessary to get a stand, open the furrow for seed, pour in water, plant seed and cover. Use starter solution on the transplanted crops.

I have a similar calendar for Arkansas. It comes in real handy, not just for when but to remind me what.

I took those comments from that Georgia document. I thought they were interesting. When planting seeds you want the ground reasonably firm, not real loose. That's so the seed doesn't dry out when it sprouts. The root needs to be able to find dirt and moisture when it starts out, not air pockets or voids. When I plant seeds the "normal" way, I try to pat the ground firm over them.

But that second statement is the one I just learned something from. If you need to water to get germination, make the furrow, water first, plant the seed, and then cover. That will help seal in the moisture where it is needed and keep the ground above the seed from forming a hard crust when it dries. I'll still have to water to get some things to live in my hot dry summers, but maybe that trick will help me to get some things to germinate that I often have trouble with. At least it's something to try. If I miss watering my tiny seeds like carrots a day or two after they germinate, they dry up and die. I'll still have to water those regularly to get them to germinate, shade helps too, but maybe pre-water for bigger seeds.

 

[wsmoak]

Thanks for the ideas and links!

A timely article popped up on FB:
http://www.southernexposure.com/blo...ting-for-an-abundant-fall-and-winter-harvest/

canesisters, I was talking about this: http://www.betterhensandgardens.com...ing-planting-schedule-wdownloadable-template/ I keep the schedule above and then add rows below for actual seed starting, potting up, planting out and harvest. That way I can track succession planting and what different varieties are doing in the garden. Well, that's the idea anyway... I rarely get everything entered.

Ridgerunner, I learned that tip about furrowing and pressing the seed into the earth in Herrick Kimball's garden tips book. (The Whizbang chicken plucker guy.) In addition, he has you lay a board over the furrow at first, and then prop it up on bricks as the seeds germinate and start growing, until they are established and can handle rain and wind.

-Wendy

 

[baymule]

@wsmoak I fall into that category myself. Kinda hard to think about fall plants when it is so darn hot, they won't germinate in the first place! I have had success planting seed in the fall, but I didn't start it so early! It throws the harvest late, but stuff lives all winter here anyway.

My garden is between the driveway and sidewalk, so it gets a double whammy of concrete heat radiation. It burns up early in the summer.

 

[journey11]

It's a little hard to think of Fall right now...

But you're right, it's time to get on it. I've planted brussel sprouts, carrots and beets so far and that's it. It's hard to find extra space to put things right now, I've got all the summer stuff packed in, but the onions just came out and I'm debating what I want to put there.

My ag extension puts out a hardcopy of their calendar and gives it out free every year and I always get one, but to be honest I don't manage to follow it very closely.

I am in a quiet lull right now between the frenzy of trying to get it all planted and the onslaught of canning. I scheduled my vacation for the second week of September, but I expect I'll have a lot of produce backed up and waiting for me when I get back.

 

[digitS']

I will be out the last week of July,

dizzy from the heat, sowing seed for snow peas.

I've picked pea pods covered with October frost. Sure, the vines can take a frost. It will put a stop to their growth, however. And, burn up the pea flowers ...

I believe we usually wait too long. A fall garden is a fall garden so what are we doing out there in mid-summer?? Maybe, it should be called a "fall-harvest garden."

Steve