Are you planting a FALL garden?

[gary350]

Walmart hard neck garlic has been in refrigerator 2 months they are ready to be planted Sept 1st.

There are several volunteer potatoes coming up from the potatoes rows I dug up in June. Lost marble size potatoes are growing plants, I transplant them to rows.

I have, 30 broccoli, 30 cauliflower, 5 cabbage, seeds growing ready to transplant Sept 1st.

I have 500 carrots seeds sprouting in a jar of water inside the house. They need to be planted Sept 1st.

Our first frost is about Nov 4th. We often have 60°F to 50° weather during the day in Nov & Dec and freezing temperatures after dark.

 

[YumYum]

Yep. I've already transplanted my brussels sprouts to the garden and have cabbage and broccoli started but not transplanted yet. Direct seeded carrots just sprouted a few days ago in a big container with potting mix. The main thing is the timing which I haven't really got a handle on since this is my first year with these types of vegetables.

I don't grow garlic but I have stared onions this time of year to overwinter in which the weeds usually take over so I just start onions real early next year.

I didn't try the fall potato thing this year as I just didn't have time or a place to put them.

Cauliflower tastes about like broccoli but you only get one head and some varieties you have to blanch it so I'd rather just do broccoli in which you can get the main head and then little sprouts so seems like a better vegetable as far as real estate goes.

I figure about Halloween is the first frost over here so that is what I'm hinging my stuff on. In case you haven't seen this, here you go.

 

[Meadowlark]

You bet I am...and thanks for asking. I'm excited about the next few months of spectacular gardening.

The following plants will be (or already) are in both Hügelkultur containers and in ground garden with dates indicated for those already planted:

Malabar spinach 8-8

Sugar snap peas 8-8

f1 spinach 8-21

Toad pumpkin 8/21

Swiss Chard 8-20

Turnips 8-21

Pinkeye Top pick 8-8

Pak Choy 8-20

ButterCrunch lettuce 8-21

Sylyestra lettuce 8-21

Radish 8-22

Carrot 8-21

Green ice lettuce 8-22

Cabbage 8-20

Broccoli 8-20

Cauliflower

Brussels Sprouts

Little gem lettuce 8-22

Romain lettuce 8-22

Sweet potatoes 8-16

Red potato

White Potato

Several of the above, e.g. cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and radish will be stagger planted to provide continuous supply of harvestable green produce all winter while kale and beets will be planted later to replace the warm season plants when they fall to frost.

The warm season plants include Blue Lake pole beans started July 25 (about 70 ft. of trellis) and 8-inch Cucumber (about 16 ft. of trellis) July 25 and those together with several spring tomato plants, jalapeno peppers, and bell peppers that are starting to bloom again are my late season warm weather plants that will expire with first frost.

Finally, I've got about 800 sq. ft of garden space planted in a Sunn Hemp cover crop which is about 8 inches high and growing an incredible 2 inches per day while controlling weeds and replenishing this summer's garden soil with nitrogen and other critical nutrients and another 2000 sq. ft in an Alfalfa cover crop which is about 2 inches high and just surviving until cool weather hits when it will begin to thrive.

The Sunn Hemp plot will be tilled under Nov. 1 and 300 1015 onions, 200 white and 100 red, will be planted shortly thereafter in 1/2 that space. Then next Feb. 14, my spring potato crop will be planted in the other half of that space next to the onions in about 20 pounds of red seed potatoes. Together they will produce about 500 pounds of harvested produce next May. The Alfalfa plot will grow and flourish all fall/winter building soil and controlling weeds in preparation for next spring's garden.

The cycle continues.

 

[Ruderunner]

Not yet, I still have stuff growing and producing.

But most will die off after the first frost and that will open up the real estate. A quick till and seeding after Halloween is the plan. Carrots, beets, spinach, cabbage and turnips are the plan.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Actually I think I have stopped calling it a fall garden personally. Now I self-identify the activity as "supporting a living pantry". I do not even plant everything at the same time and do the ready, set, GO thing anymore either. We can grow year round here so that is an influence. Still, onion and leeks and shallots and garlic are on my short list. I should plant brassica too but they are not very appealing to me. Maybe I am a broccoli burnout?

 

[Mr_Yan]

I wanted to plant a fall garden but think I lost my window at this point. Were about 45 days to first frost.

But I do have my hydroponic lettuce and bok choy going year round.

 

[gary350]

I planted a 35 ft row of Kennebec potatoes today. We are 60 days from first frost. 2 more weeks I will plant 90 garlic.
I need to plant candy onion seeds in Oct.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I wanted to plant a fall garden but think I lost my window at this point. Were about 45 days to first frost.

But I do have my hydroponic lettuce and bok choy going year round.

I am going with indoor basil as the most quantity. But I dearly love chives and thyme.

 

[Meadowlark]

I planted a 35 ft row of Kennebec potatoes today.

I enjoy seeing the pictures of others' gardens instead of just "talk". Keep up the good work, Gary.

I'm setting up to have the largest variety of veggies I've ever had in my garden this fall (close to 30 different varieties). I'm trying a lot of different veggies in HK containers to help increase my knowledge of what does well or not well in the HK containers.

My onions (Nov. planting) and potatoes (Feb 14 planting) will be among the last of the fall/winter veggies to be planted here.

The soil they are destined for is in the "supercharging" mode currently. Sunn Hemp seeded in early Aug. is now four feet high and headed to about 12 ft. before it will be shredded late Oct. and incorporated into the future onion and potato rows.

The target is another "No N-P-K recommended" soil test result.

The time spent building soil is the best investment I can make in gardening.

 

[gary350]

I enjoy seeing the pictures of others' gardens instead of just "talk". Keep up the good work, Gary.

I'm setting up to have the largest variety of veggies I've ever had in my garden this fall (close to 30 different varieties). I'm trying a lot of different veggies in HK containers to help increase my knowledge of what does well or not well in the HK containers.

My onions (Nov. planting) and potatoes (Feb 14 planting) will be among the last of the fall/winter veggies to be planted here.

The soil they are destined for is in the "supercharging" mode currently. Sunn Hemp seeded in early Aug. is now four feet high and headed to about 12 ft. before it will be shredded late Oct. and incorporated into the future onion and potato rows.

The target is another "No N-P-K recommended" soil test result.

The time spent building soil is the best investment I can make in gardening.

Is your TX weather anything like Phoenix AZ.? Best garden I every had was in Phoenix I planted it Nov 1st. People in AZ claim you can't grow a garden here. Melons, sweet potatoes, okra, do great in 114 hot blistering sun. Winter I grew, cabbage, broccoli, napa, cauliflower, potatoes, garlic, onions, beans, tomatoes, peppers. I grew a cabbage that was 18 lbs. I had 28 very large water melons in 1 month. I gave all the melons to a foster home they were not allow to spend government money on none food items like melons. Phoenix has 2 weeks of freezing weather last 2 weeks of Feb.

 

[Meadowlark]

Is your TX weather anything like Phoenix AZ.?

Yes some similarities in moderate winter temps. We get an occasional "blue norther" that breaks through from the Artic but not often and not generally severe. The humidity here is probably the main difference. Very high humidity accompanies our high temps. This places a premium on good soil practices to overcome the potential problems with insects and soil borne diseases.

With strong soil practices, this area is indeed a garden paradise.... without it can be a garden nightmare.

 

[Plantmomma]

I'm new and had no clue where to start. Love seeing all these and getting new ideas for next fall!!!

 

[gary350]

I'm new and had no clue where to start. Love seeing all these and getting new ideas for next fall!!!

It looks like you live about 70 miles north and 200 miles East of where I grew up 65 years ago a small farm town called, Fairfield ILL about 150 east of St Louis. That is farm country, lots of corn & soy beans. I don't remember 1st & last frost, all I remember Halloween was COLD and sometimes snow. My grandfather grew potatoes so easy about 300 lbs. You should be able to grow a very good garden. Its time for you to plant, garlic, carrots, peas, pac choy is a good substitute for lettuce.

 

[PaulZone8b]

"pac choy is a good substitute for lettuce." Got me on that one... what is a good substitute for lettuce? Wife likes spinach best but I cant seem to get that to grow very well and have tried Malabar Spinach...which grew well but we its a little "strong" taste for us so still looking for a substitute. I just put a strip of arugula, red leaf and romaine in the ground so waiting on that to come up.

 

[PaulZone8b]

And for potatoes... I have almost given up on the whites. We are doing 2 varieties of sweet vining potatoes which actually produced a few good ones in 2 fabric containers and now growing more of those in the ground....but the white potatoes all come up fine, stalks look decent and 2 ft tall and then the caterpillars get going which I put BT on to kill and then the blight comes....which I cant seem to fight with all this rain we seem to get this summer. And cant get white potato seeds anymore, so we are waiting for those so we can try again..although I am not confident anything will change. I am pretty sure its blight with the leaves and stems getting yucky. I need a white potato that resists blight I guess.