Out with the old and in with the new. This is where we had English peas the first of the spring. And then a row of green beans. And now I planted some late cucumbers. Hoping this will keep me in fresh cucumbers all the way till first frost. Amended with a little rabbit poop and planted under milk jugs to help hold in that precious moisture and protect them from wild rabbits until they come up.
And here we pulled up red bean plants after they were all harvested and canned. Once cleaned off and weeded good I ran the hand cultivator through it and planted 3 rows of dwarf horticulture beans. Hoping the sweet potato vines won't take them over before they get big enough to bear.
Between the potato and field pea rows and the flowers I planted a nice patch of fall turnips. O Wise One loves canned turnips and we all like turnip greens. Now with a little cooperation from mother nature holding off just a bit on that first frost and we should be able to get some nice sized turnips by late September maybe early October. Just trying to squeeze in those last few crops before first frost. It may be a gamble and some years it works and some years not.
Anyone else out there sticking in some last minute crops?
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
Your season starts earlier, but ours ends later. I still can't plant my fall crops here. I am holding a seed exchange party here tomorrow for all my gardening friends and neighbors- I hope to wake them up to the advantages of heirlooms and seed saving. Wish me luck!
ReplyDeleteEric in Japan
Good luck Eric! Would love to know what they grow in your area? Are heirlooms new to them? So many questions about gardening in Japan.......
ReplyDeleteWe have a late start to our growing season here too.(Western Washington) I have never planted fall crops but I would like to this year. I need to do some research first to see what I can plant.
ReplyDeletePlease help me understand. The drought your are experiencing is something those of us that garden/farm in California know very well. We use surface water (rivers & canals) to irrigate on a large scale and garden hoses on a small scale. When surface water isn't enough, the pumps on the wells are started up to bring groundwater in to fill the void. When water is plenty it is banked for use as needed.
ReplyDeleteDon't you have water wells to help with your irrigation needs?
At one time our farm had a cistern to the old farm house and two hand dug wells that we were aware of. Prior to us purchasing the property the old farm house burned because the inhabitants were producing meth in the old abandoned farmhouse. When we purchased both the original house and barn had burned and the cistern and one well had been bulldozed in along with the root cellar. The remaining well is a hand dug and rock lined well that I am sure was probably dug in the 30's. It holds water wonderfully but the water is undrinkable because of groundwater contamination from the use of pesticides. All my neighbors have wells and none of them have drinkable water in them. You can find thousands of acres of corn and wheat in any direction. Tons of fertilizer and pesticides are used annually. Where do they end up. In the ground water. We collect rainwater. In a pinch we can irrigate with the remaining well but it is not a long term solution. The pond could be used for irrigation but I am sure it has chemical runoff as well from surrounding farmland. I am not native to this area but find it absolutely criminal what America and this state has allowed to happen to it's farmland and natural resources. So to answer your question we use garden hoses and what rain water we collect along with what we purchase from public water supplies.
DeleteWow. What a shame. Hope science can come to the rescue with a way to use the resource of groundwater.
ReplyDeleteI have spinach, turnips, loose leaf lettuce, beans ,kohlrabi , peas and spinach planted for fall. I've never planted a fall crop before.
ReplyDeleteI have planted rows of peas and module grown french beans as a catch crop. Also leaf beet and salad. Wish I could send you some of our rain, have had way too much this summer in the UK.
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