Fall Gardeners Unite!

[Allyn]

I've whined a few times now that my summer garden is waning and I'm going to start seeds for the Fall. Well, I started today.

I cleaned off the grow-light shelves, pulled out my seeds and started the jiffy pellets with Better Boy and San Marzano tomatoes, Green Ice and Fanfare leaf lettuce, Buttercrunch and Little Gem head lettuce, Georgia Collards, Kentucky Blue pole beans, and a few other things that have slipped my mind (not hard to do at my age, because, you know, that was like an hour ago.)

I also started a couple of Thai pepper seeds. I put that tray outside because pepper seeds like warmth to germinate and it's plenty warm out there. Why run the heating pad inside when the temp outside is conducive, yeah? I also started a few more honeydew melons. They're 90-day melons. According to the planting guide at almanac.com, I could have/should have sown melon seeds outside up until the end of June for harvest through the end of November, so really, I'll only be a little late getting melons going. I haven't tried peppers and melons this late before. We'll see what happens.

[rainbowgardener]

Terrific! But why start any of it inside under lights? I do that at the beginning of the year, because even here, if I am starting things in January, it is too cold for them outside. I do like starting things in pots somewhere handy where I see them all the time, so I can monitor better, give them the best care. But I think when I start starting ( ) it will be in trays on my deck...

[digitS']

I'm joining you, starting today ... I remember deciding to start getting some things in, that was yesterday, I think. Since you are just south of me (what is it, Allyn, about 20 or 30 miles?), I'll let you and RainbowGardener get a head start starting ...

My cucumber starts in the containers might be old enough to set out in the big veggie garden, as if I'll need more cucumbers. But, you never know, they can play out if frost doesn't come in, ahem, early September. Zucchini too, although playing out too often means going down to powdery mildew. The zuks can go where some of the broccoli were since the heavy hand of harvest looks like it's fallen with too much effect on those plants.

Early potato harvest has really commenced so I might just as well begin prepping that bed beginning at one end and heading, ummm, East! That will give me open ground for peas on a teepee trellis and Asian greens. I'm trying two additional greens this year - altho they are red and purple greens: orach and edible amaranth.

I have orach volunteers every spring but I have saved seed and want to see how they do in the fall (late summer weeks #). The Jamaicans call edible amaranth callaloo and I want to be in solidarity with my neighbors the Jamaicans but Kitazawa has the seed of the purple Japanese amaranth I'm trying in 2016. It just would NOT get started until late June from a spring sowing. The tiny plants were right against the soil. Then, it shot right up as skinny things and bloomed. I've got some in the fridge but more seed in a package. We'll see how it does in summer heat.

Heat? No air conditioning needed yesterday. It was 66°f just about all the time I was in the big veggie garden yesterday afternoon. Terribly windy, too ... It was a relief to get into the protected little veggie garden even if I had to witness the damage earwigs are doing to the basil there (!). I got some spinosad on those plants.

Anyway, I have grown okay peas and plenty of bok choy for plenty of seasons sowing seed beginning about now and continuing for about one month. Honeydews? There is quite a melon growing area down in northeastern Oregon ... that must be your location, right Allyn?

Steve
who has been as far south as land travel would take him in the Deep South, gazed into the Gulf and nearly forgot how he got there ...

[Allyn]

Terrific! But why start any of it inside under lights? I do that at the beginning of the year, because even here, if I am starting things in January, it is too cold for them outside. I do like starting things in pots somewhere handy where I see them all the time, so I can monitor better, give them the best care. But I think when I start starting ( ) it will be in trays on my deck...

In January, it is too cold for the plants outside. In July, it is too steamy hot for me to be outside. I want them someplace handy -- like you -- where I can fret over them. That's inside under the lights. It might not be ideal, but I do what I gotta do. I have to finish anything I need to do outside by about 8 am or it doesn't get done because I'm not going back out until evening. My husband pokes fun -- good naturedly, of course -- at me because I just can't take the heat. I get to return the favor in winter when he's all bundled up under so many layers he can't bend his elbows, and all I need is a flannel shirt to cover my arms.

I'm joining you, starting today ... I remember deciding to start getting some things in, that was yesterday, I think. Since you are just south of me (what is it, Allyn, about 20 or 30 miles?), I'll let you and RainbowGardener get a head start starting ... ... Heat? No air conditioning needed yesterday. It was 66°f just about all the time I was in the big veggie garden yesterday afternoon. Terribly windy, too ... ... Honeydews? There is quite a melon growing area down in northeastern Oregon ... that must be your location, right Allyn?...

Yeah, something like that .

I'm a little envious. I remember what 66 degrees F is like. Unfortunately for me, I'll have to wait a few months to even see that as an overnight temp.

[jal_ut]

Fall garden? its 40 degrees here this morning. Perhaps fall is upon us ? Seems a little early.

[gumbo2176]

Fall garden? its 40 degrees here this morning. Perhaps fall is upon us ? Seems a little early.

A fall garden for you is as inconceivable as 2 inches of snow on the ground for us deep south folks. Can't believe it is already 40 degrees in your neck of the woods. I'd love me some 40 degree weather right about now-----at least a few days worth anyway.

[jal_ut]

I get from third week of May till first week of September frost free here. About 105 days average. So my fall garden is planted early June. Today 72 degrees and beautiful clear skies. Not a cloud in sight.

[imafan26]

Since I only have one kale and one Brussels' sprout (I'm amazed it made it this far), I guess it is too late for summer so I need to start working on my fall garden instead. Sign me up for the fall garden club.

I just bought some DeCicco broccoli seeds. I am going to wait a few weeks to plants them in August. Hopefully the snails will leave them alone this time.
I have some bush beans to put out and cucumbers to plant
I have cleaned out my tomato pot and bought some potting soil so at least one is good to go. I have to clean out the eggplant pot too.
In my garden the hyotan squash is starting to fruit but my garden as usual is overrun with weeds again. The bok choy is bolting.

[Allyn]

It looks like all my lettuce is sprouting except for the Fanfare leaf lettuce. I have not been able to get any of that to grow. I have 8-inch-deep busboy tubs that I use for lettuce flats. As soon as the chicks finish hatching (16 hatched so far, 3 more pipped and 7 unknowns), I can take the incubator off the shelf and bring the flats in to start moving the lettuce to its permanent home.

[gumbo2176]

Are these lettuce plants outside. If so, I'd be concerned that with the amount of hot weather we are still expecting for a couple more months will make it bolt prematurely. I've never had any success this time of year with lettuce, but I do direct sow my seeds in the ground and not start them in flats. Lettuce is a very hardy plant and can handle the rigors of transplanting.

[Allyn]

Are these lettuce plants outside. If so, I'd be concerned that with the amount of hot weather we are still expecting for a couple more months will make it bolt prematurely. I've never had any success this time of year with lettuce, but I do direct sow my seeds in the ground and not start them in flats. Lettuce is a very hardy plant and can handle the rigors of transplanting.

Indoors. If I put them outside, they'll bolt in a heartbeat. I can fit two tubs on a shelf once I get the incubator out of here. They'll stay inside under lights in the nice cool air-conditioning until September. While they're inside, I clip leaves off the leaf lettuce as I need it for sandwiches or salads -- like a little indoor salad bar. I did that last year and it worked out well. By the time the weather cools off (or at least loses that hot intensity), they're ready to go outside. I pick up the tubs and move them to a little rabbit-proof pen outside. Everything here is in containers; nothing is planted in the ground.

[n8young]

Must be nice to have two tomato growing seasons in a year......

Here in Maine, fall gardening means something completely different than a mere reboot. I just started brussel sprouts, beets, and cabbages for fall.

[Allyn]

My hatch was a success.

So I got the new chicks out to the coop and cleared out the incubator.

I moved a lot of stuff that has sprouted to solo cups or tubs tonight -- mostly lettuce, but a few tomatoes, a couple of beans and a couple of melons. A couple of my peppers from the spring planting are doing very well; and amazingly, I have a melon plant outside that looks like it's making another push and a bean plant that seems to have sprung a 6-foot vine overnight, both with new green foliage and a bunch of new blossoms on each of them. The tomato plants that I haven't pulled yet are begging me please to put them out of their misery.

[Gary350]

Why plant seeds inside this time of the year. I plant seeds all the time outside when it is warm. I planted more squash seeds yesterday where I lost 1 plant. I planted more tomato seeds today where I last 1 plant. I dug up a row of onions today I am going to plant turnip greens there tomorrow. In another week my first corn crop will be gone I will plant something in its place. When the second corn crop is gone something will take its place too. 3 rows of white potatoes should be ready to harvest soon I will plant beats, napa cabbage and peas in those 3 rows. I never stop planting seeds all summer. If I time all the crops just right they will all mature a week or so before first frost about 3rd week of Oct. We can expect frost about Nov 1st.

[Allyn]

Why plant seeds inside this time of the year. .....

As I explained in a previous post, it's too hot here. That's why my garden is done for the summer, because the heat is too intense and the humidity is too steamy. I can try to nurse plants through with Neem oil and such to fight the fungus problems, but it's a losing battle. If I plant outside now, my new seedlings will suffer the same fate as the mature plants, only with a much quicker demise.

Not to mention that it's too hot outside for me right now. I can't take the oppressive heat. I thought I knew what "hot and humid" was until I moved to the Gulf Coast. Starting seeds inside in the air-conditioning makes having a fall garden possible for me.

I realize that folks up north don't get it; I didn't either when I lived up there. We have a three-season growing season here; no it's not spring/summer/fall, it's fall/winter/spring. At least it is for me. Winter's are so mild, snow is unheard of and if the temperatures get down to freezing -- which they do occasionally for an hour or two -- it's a major event that requires you call everyone you know to warn them.

[Gary350]

As I explained in a previous post, it's too hot here. .

I never think about Mississippi being hot like AZ or hot like TN but I guess it has to be. When I lived in Arizona seeds would not germinate in 115 degree weather unless I kept the flower pots in full shade all day and kept the soil moist with the automatic irrigation system. July and August was 110+ degrees, I could grow seeds but it was a waste of time garden plants would soon die in that heat. Dec 1st temperature was usually 90 degree or less. Sometimes AZ had frost and freezing temperatures 2 weeks in Feb. Nov was always a good time to plant cold weather crops they did good with frost and freeze down to 25 degrees. It was best to plant summer crops March 1st heat killed everything the last week of May. We are having 100 degree days in TN.

[Allyn]

I never think about Mississippi being hot like AZ or hot like TN but I guess it has to be. ....

Mississippi is south of you; how could you think it isn't hotter here? Considering that Tennessee is zone 6 or 7 and southern Mississippi is skirting the edges of zone 9, yeah, I'd say it is plenty hot here. . .and steamy humid. Arizona heat is a dry heat, so not really the same thing.

Just the heat isn't so bad; it's the humidity that really gets to me. It's also what causes the most problems for me in the garden and why I pretty much just give up in July and August and start thinking about fall. If it weren't for the constant humidity, I'd probably be okay with plenty of shade cloth.

[Allyn]

My starts for fall are coming on nicely. . . . maybe a little too nicely in some cases.

That's one shelf of three; the other two are mostly lettuce flats. When the weather cools off a bit, I'll take the flats out and put them in the rabbit-proof pen.

[nltaff]

I've never specifically planted for fall before, but I planted some ornamental kale for some color in early-mid July. That started me thinking...this lettuce finally bolted about two weeks ago (I kept it in the shade, under my gazebo). I pulled the plants and noticed some gnats, so I covered it for the past two weeks with a black contractor's bag in full sun. Have some composted manure and mushroom compost to blend in now and today I'm going to plant some spinach and broccoli in it. Last year, in the other pot like this, I kept harvesting beets up til December. Both pots are on moving dollies, so I can provide sun/shade as needed. Never grew broc before, either, so this should be interesting.

All this talk of seedlings and seed-starting reminds me of spring again!

This pic is from June, and these beets are matured now, but this year I'm planning on canning them instead of harvesting when needed. I still have about 12 or 15 seedlings left in flats that I can transplant if I want fresh.

[gumbo2176]

You will only be able to grow 1 broccoli plant in that size container, if it is even deep enough for good root development. My broccoli plants get to be at least 3 ft. tall and at least that big around. Also, if you've not grown them before, they form a large main head almost always in the middle of the plant and after you pick it, let the plant stay as it will continue to put out side shoots and keep you in broccoli for weeks after the main head is harvested. It is one of my favorite fall plants because of the extended production, unlike cabbage or cauliflower.

[rainbowgardener]

I'm still waiting a bit before planting cool weather stuff. Beginning of Sept I think. In the meantime, I'm filling up spaces that open up with beans and squash and about to try one last planting of corn. I still have almost three months until first frost.

[nltaff]

gumbo, I should have been more precise with my language. I really meant that I would plant spinach and start broc in there. I intend to move them as transplants into the SBG, as I remove spent tomato plants and pepper plants. I can get them to last quite a while out there as I have a cover for it. The spinach, however will stay there, be thinned out a bit so it can grow in the cool of fall on the deck.

[gumbo2176]

gumbo, I should have been more precise with my language. I really meant that I would plant spinach and start broc in there. I intend to move them as transplants into the SBG, as I remove spent tomato plants and pepper plants. I can get them to last quite a while out there as I have a cover for it. The spinach, however will stay there, be thinned out a bit so it can grow in the cool of fall on the deck.

Ah, now that makes a lot more sense, and keeping smaller leafy plants like spinach in the planters is a great idea. I do all my gardening in ground with the exception of a few herbs that like to overtake an area----think mint. I also keep a few pots with green onions on my 2nd story back porch right outside my kitchen so I can get to them easily when needed.

[digitS']

... cucumber starts ... to set out .... Zucchini too ... peas on a teepee trellis and Asian greens. I'm trying two additional greens this year - altho they are red and purple greens: orach and edible amaranth ...

Those cucumber and zucchini starts have been in almost four weeks. Cukes went into the sweet onions and the onion harvest is full on right now so they already have plenty of room. Zuks went into the broccoli bed. The broccoli look like fallen soldiers, pulled and scattered about but they were upright until a few days ago.

The snow peas are up! Two little teepees are there for their climbing pleasure when they get to that. Bok choy is up, as well!

The next bit of room went for the amaranth and its cousin, spinach. I've never grown spinach for the fall and want to see how it does. I might even leave some to overwinter, which I understand it does well at. It seems odd to have them there side-by-side, warm season and cool season relatives.

Continuing the experiments, and so I'm not "Asian greens all-the-time", I have my springtime friend Red Orach seeds planted along with a thin stem chard. Okay, they are ALL in the amaranth family, except for the usual bok choy and snow peas !

There is more garden space soon available and a second sowing of bok choy, and chard will go in. I just might do a third for the bok choy in another week. Not only is it tried and true for my garden but transplants will be moved into a greenhouse bed if cold weather comes when expected. I want to try that also with the chard. I've never paid much attention to chard but I like those thin stemmed varieties and imagine that it can do okay moved into an unheated greenhouse, over the winter.

Steve

[JayPoc]

I've started turnips, rutabagas, beets, as well as another round of summer squash. Should get another crop out of them before the frost, and hopefully dodge the SVB.

I will soon start collards, kale, and another round of lettuces.

[rainbowgardener]

So it is Sept. For the past few days I have been doing fall planting.

I bought 3 more tomato plants at the nursery to replace some that were too far gone. The other three I cut back and treated with Neem.

I have planted: potatoes, kale, lettuce, spinach, onions, broccoli, and a few more beans. I have squashes and peppers (bell and jalapeno) and some earlier planted beans still going strong and all the herbs.

Garden is starting to look good again after being very sad for awhile. But we are still in extreme drought, so it means daily watering the new stuff and seeds. It is "only" getting to 88 today, but then hotter each day until Tues is 95 and Wed 96. Then it starts slowly going down again. So I hope all this cool weather stuff will be OK through this, since it is still either seeds or babies.

Planting around here isn't really just fall and spring. It's a fairly continuous process of filling in the spaces where something either bit the dust or finished its season.

I want to plant at least spinach and broccoli seed again in a couple more months to winter over.

[rainbowgardener]

Apparently I jumped the gun on fall planting, not being used to this climate, and given that we are in an extreme heat and drought year. I planted some broccoli transplants, some lettuce plants, the three tomato plants and a bunch of seeds. The three tomato plants are doing great, most of the broccoli plants survived and are now looking pretty healthy. Most of the lettuce plants burned up, but there is one left looking good and one more barely hanging on. And ZERO of the seeds sprouted. I think in the weather we were having, they would have had to be watered twice a day. I didn't even quite make once a day; there were a couple days I missed.

So next week our incredible string of days over 90 (almost every day since sometime in June) finally breaks and I will replant some seeds!

Although the seeds I meant to plant didn't sprout, a whole bunch of volunteer tomato seedlings popped up from where I put compost down. Those babies are tough!

[imafan26]

You all have a head start on me. I still haven't harvested my corn yet but it should be ready soon. I took some cuttings from the Bearrs lime tree and from the Jamaican oregano (Lippia micromera) A couple of them took. Some of the seeds are germinating for the Texas granex onions, pak choy and komatsuna. When I have time I am probably going to do more cuttings while the other citrus trees are flushing. I may try to get more cuttings started for lavender but it is still very hot out. I may have to find a different spot for the cuttings. I am starting most of the seeds at the garden now since my propagation bench is overrun with weeds and snails. I still need to start the cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes, and of course more peppers before the days get even shorter.

I got a coleus canina and I am going to try to propagate that. It smells bad to me, but it is a novelty item and supposed to keep cats away.

My roses are flushing again, so I will try again to propagate from cuttings. This time I might skip the baggie.

[gumbo2176]

Apparently I jumped the gun on fall planting, not being used to this climate, and given that we are in an extreme heat and drought year. I planted some broccoli transplants, some lettuce plants, the three tomato plants and a bunch of seeds. The three tomato plants are doing great, most of the broccoli plants survived and are now looking pretty healthy. Most of the lettuce plants burned up, but there is one left looking good and one more barely hanging on. And ZERO of the seeds sprouted. I think in the weather we were having, they would have had to be watered twice a day. I didn't even quite make once a day; there were a couple days I missed.

So next week our incredible string of days over 90 (almost every day since sometime in June) finally breaks and I will replant some seeds!

Although the seeds I meant to plant didn't sprout, a whole bunch of volunteer tomato seedlings popped up from where I put compost down. Those babies are tough!

I feel the same way about jumping the gun, so don't feel bad, as I've lived in the deep south all my life. My fall/winter transplants are in the ground for several days now and I too have to water no less than twice a day to help them survive. There are broccoli, collards, Brussels sprouts, and a couple of winter things I've not planted before in cabbage and cauliflower. I usually stay away from "one and done" plants, but I do have the room, so why not.

I know better than to plant my salad green seeds like lettuces, spinach and other less than hardy plants that don't like the heat as it is still in the lower 90's here too. I will wait until sometime around the 2nd week of October to put those in, along with kale, Swiss Chard and a few others. Cucumbers and pole beans are thriving and loaded with flowers, but no produce yet, but when they come in, I should have a ton of it until frost gets to it.

[pepperhead212]

I planted most of my fall seedlings today, after tilling the row and laying a 40 ft. length of T-tape. I planted two types of lettuce, two bok choys, two komatsunas, two chards, one type of napa, Zen hybrid (komatsuna x tatsoi), senposai, shogoin, and one cauliflower, 64 plants total. As soon as I had them in, I put a row cover over it, to protect from rabbits. Usually, within 3 weeks, I start getting harvests from many of them.

[ButterflyLady29]

Until this week it's been too hot to even think about fall planting. Maybe next week I'll get the spring crops pulled out of the pots, then fertilize and add potting mix and plant lettuce and spinach again. Hopefully I won't have to fight off too many huge spiders just to get into the garden.

[Allyn]

I had to restart my lettuce. I put the lettuce flats out a couple of weeks ago in the shade and they immediately bolted -- do not stop, do not pass Go, just went immediately from seedling to seed. My tomatoes were doing well until my FiL brought me some young plants from his garden. I set those plants in a flat next to my seedlings and the next thing I knew, all the tomato plants had been eaten by worms that rode in from his garden. My fault. I shouldn't have put them together, but I was in a hurry and figured it would be okay. Now, I'm starting tomatoes much later than I wanted to, but we'll see how it works out. Worst case will be a learning experience for me to not make the same mistake next year.

My peppers are still coming on strong, but I can't seem to get the beans going. A Heat Wave plant that I thought was a goner has revived and is setting blossoms. I pruned off the dead branches (I thought it was dead; I stopped watering it weeks ago) and I have oodles of green tomatoes on it now.

The weather today was glorious -- humidity was way down, sun was warm but not hot, and the breeze was just cool enough.

[applestar]

Oh what a disappointment -- lettuce is just lettuce and easy to re-start but tomatoes -- wah!

I know and you know it's best to quarantine anything new, but it seems so easy to make that mistake to group them together so you can take care of them the same way -- believe me I've been there.

(If he was there when you put them with your plants, I know it would have felt less welcoming/appreciative to set them aside rather than gathering them in with your own.

-- what you needed to do was to run out and pull them away from your plants the moment you closed the front door after he left )

[gumbo2176]

Well, well, the past 2 mornings have been much cooler and way less humidity since we last saw this type weather in the mid spring. It seems so long ago now after fighting the summer heat and humidity for the past 4+ months. I actually feel like I can get out in the garden, finish pulling my rows and get some salad green seeds into the ground without risking them being burned up once they emerge. I've got fresh packets of seeds for several varieties of leaf lettuces, Swiss chard, Russian kale and spinach, along with beets, onion sets and seed garlic to get in the ground.


This cool snap has renewed my interest in getting some serious gardening done, not to mention some home projects that were put off until the weather changed. I find no joy in working in the heat and humidity with sweat pouring off me while being baked by the sun and having the dust of the project sticking to me like powdercoating.

[lakngulf]

I think some 90s are due in our area again next week but YES, these cool temp days have been so welcome. I have a combo Late Summer / Early Fall garden going on. Lost most tomato plants to the August heat but four still going. They survived in the shade a bit. Also have some small plants that were actually started from saved seed this year (I had planted the seed to verify germination. Ended up with some plants that needed a home). Golf ball size tomatoes on most plants.

Still got some pepper plants that produce such colorful fruit this time of the year. Some plants could double as a Christmas tree.

Purple Top Turnips, Mustard and Collards are coming along, but I have to water almost every day.

And some late squash. So hard to get late squash started, but the bugs love it. I have some that survived and check out the bees in the blooms yesterday morning...

[Dirt Man]

It is Oct and no rain in 5 week the garden is suffering really bad. I planted my fall garden Aug 15 as usual it has been 97 degrees until 2 week ago now it is in the 80s during the day and 50 at night. The tomatoes and pepper and doing much better now that the days are shorter and cooler but I am tired of watering plants every day they died anyway. Spring and fall are usually the rainy season here in TN but not this fall soil is dry as the desert. Peas are doing ok, broccoli and kale are hanging in there. Lettuce came up an died. Beats, chard, celery never came up. I did some tests planted seeds in pots they came up but not doing well in tiny pots and wont live if moved to the garden. Fall garden sucks maybe it will do better if it ever rains.

[applestar]

I bet you didn't think you would need a watering system like you had built in Arizona after moving back to TN. Hopefully, this is just a freak weather this year.

[rainbowgardener]

I hope so too. I'm an hour or so away from Gary and in a similar weather pattern. We did get 1/2" of rain a week ago, but other than that next to nothing all through this hot summer and there is still zero rain in the 15 day forecast. This just keeps going on and on.

Drought monitor https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/ shows extreme drought along the New England Atlantic coast, western NY state, much of California and us here in NW Georgia.

[pepperhead212]

I just got 2" of rain the last 3 days - about as much as I got in the last 3 months! Those greens that I planted last Sunday, 6 days ago, have at least quadrupled in size, and I have some ready to go out tomorrow, that were too small then.

I did an experiment with those very small seedlings, of tatsoi, kohlrabi, mizuna, and cilantro - I grew them under different types of lights, at least the ones I had in separate pots. The old lighting was the usual T8 bulbs, while the new one was an LED I got from Amazon in their summer sale for $7 something, so I had to try it, even though it is only 12w. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GN ... UTF8&psc=1 This one had to be placed well above (16") the plants, and even then it barely fanned out enough to cover the half tray of seedlings. This light has mostly red, with 9:3 red to blue LEDs, so it is not the best for vegetative growth, but it does work, considering the low wattage.

Here are the two tatsoi - the taller ones on the left were under the LED. It seems they are more leggy, than actually larger, with only a couple more stalks, and not as dark green.


But here are the kohlrabis, which seemed to grow much larger leaves and stalks under the LED, on the right:


And here is some cilantro, which also seemed to do much better under the LED, on left:

[Allyn]

...I know and you know it's best to quarantine anything new....

I know. I was out when he brought them over. By the time I got home it was almost dark. I saw these tall plants in the little tiny peat pots, and I stayed outside well after dark repotting them (I hate those little peat pots) so they would have a chance to not be pot bound. When I was done, I looked for a place to put them. "No, not there, the chickens will get them....no, not there, the chickens will get them there too. . . .here. . .right here, this is fine." I was so over it by that time. If I'd put them where the chickens could get them, the chickens might have eaten the worms before the worms could do more damage. Oh well.

I set out some more tomato seedlings today and more lettuce. I also up-potted my banana plant and potted the pups from it. I now have half a dozen dwarf Cavendish plants. I whined at the price when I bought the first plant, but now that the price is spread over 6 plants, it's quite reasonable.

My melons are looking okay; they have blossoms. I just can't get the beans to do anything. I may just have to wait until January to get them started for spring.