Applestar and me the only ones doing a fall garden or what?

[applestar]

Just came inside mere steps ahead of heavy rainstorm.
Tuned the compost pile (we polished of a dozen ears of corn among 2 adults and 2 little kids yesterday -- lots of husks and cobs had to go out so might as well put then on the bottom of the pile) Layered in with some of the $5 bale of straw I got yesterday as well the latest bucket of drowned weeds, so the compost is double in size It was 105ºF (so really could've waited for it to cool down but the pile was a little too green last time and too wet so I figured it could use the extra brown and will soon heat back up again).

Didn't get to dig the potatoes or plant the peas, but, remember the corn I sowed on Monday? I sowed them under the bush beans. That was the spot I wanted to grow fall corn but the bush beans were still going strong; yet, I was running out of time to sow the corn. Really had to strain my noggin for this one, but hit upon this solution to sow the corn and let the beans continue to produce until the corn sprouted.
Well, today, peeking under the bean bushes for ready-to-pick beans, I saw 1" and 2" corn seedlings! So after a week of bean production, these plants were unceremoniously cut down. Stripped of every little bean and off to the compost pile they went, with another layer of straw covering them on top. Corn is a good one for this method because they need to get hilled anyway, so I can add more compost and amendments later. The bacterial nodules on the bean roots should condition the soil with extra nitrogen too. Actually I intend to retrieve the bean plants when the corn grows a bit more and mulch them around the corn before hilling so the bean plants can break down around the corn -- I think that should complete the nutrition cycle.

[gixxerific]

Sounds like your are doing good Applestar.

Alex I would take 100 or so "worthless" acres over my half an acre that is worthless to me. I'm an outdoors man I hate living in a subdivision. HATE IT! but we couldn't afford what we really wanted maybe some day.

Here are some pics of phase one.

My friends the bee's. We did all this together. I NEVER go out there and not have bee's hanging everywhere, we coexist well though.



Cauliflower in back broccoli in front to the left a sweet potato to the right my Cantaloupe which is doing amazing.



From left to right Cant, Swiss Chard hiding in the shadow, Arugula, Mustard Greens, the 2 dark spots are Brussels Sprouts seeds and my out of control Cucumbers.



My biggest Cucumber this year and it's brother, and my dog of course (Maya).



The garden from a distance, I wanted a photo of what was were so I could plan for next year.



Well have fun and let's keep this thread going. It's motivating me and hopefully others as well.

Dono

P.S. by the way that is my main garden I have other things here and there around my yard. I have a lot of landscaping around and if I can see dirt through the foliage I plant something.

[tedln]

I guess I'm more like Alex. I have lots of room, but choose to garden in four little raised beds. I will be adding a fifth this coming spring for onions which will become a bed for something else when the onions are grown and harvested. I am always amazed at the quantity of vegetables that can be produced in a small area.

I also don't really divide my gardening activities between seasons. I simply plant stuff as early as possible and keep planting successive crops of other plants until it simply is to cold to plant anything else. At that time, I try to give my garden and myself a little rest and repair before starting over again.

Ted

[gixxerific]

I also don't really divide my gardening activities between seasons. I simply plant stuff as early as possible and keep planting successive crops of other plants until it simply is to cold to plant anything else.

That is pretty much what I do as well but as you can see from the pics It wouldn't be prudent to till up my whole yard. I might have the city at my door if I did that. But with limited space you can only do so much which is why I put everything as close as possible. It gets crowded but it usually does pretty good.

Dono

[crobi13]

I plan on planting enough garlic & onions this fall to get through next spring & summer. I would like to try to do the same with carrots but I think it gets too cold here for that.

[tedln]

crobi13,

I've never done well with onions until this year. I planted 120 of the Texas A&M, 1015 sweet onions thinking I wouldn't be able to use or give all of them away. The wife and I probably used fifteen or twenty before they were gone. We gave them to neighbors, family, and friends. The recipients were calling in a few days asking if I had any more of those onions. They didn't last long. I think my two biggest mistakes were not planting enough and not planting them early.

Next spring ( early February for onions) they will be planted early giving them time to get really large and they will have a bed which will hold 450 instead of 120.

The 1015 onion is called a supersweet and can be eaten almost like an apple. Because they are so sweet, they are not good storage onions but will keep for awhile if dried properly before storage. It is a hybrid descendant of the Grano 502 onion which is the parent onion of all supersweet onions such as the Maui, Vidalia, and Noonday onions.

I will also be trying to grow some garlic. I've never done that. I'm trying to get a bed ready for the fall planting of garlic for a summer harvest next year. I have no idea what I'm doing with garlic. You are supposed to consult an expert and select a garlic variety for the region you plan on growing in. I plan on buying some of the large elephant garlic at the grocery market and trying to grow it.

Ted

[gixxerific]

I plan on planting enough garlic & onions this fall to get through next spring & summer. I would like to try to do the same with carrots but I think it gets too cold here for that.

I believe carrots are one of the most cold hardy plants there are. I have never done it but have read that you can just leave them in the gorund all winter under snow and whatever, after the tops have fallen over. I have also heard you can harvest them and bury them in the ground (during winter) for storage. Wish I could do that with my wife.

Tedln I have never done garlic either but have heard that's all you need to do is get store bought garlic and put the cloves in the ground and bingo you have garlic come next year.

[!potatoes!]

got a few things going in for fall...one of the slightly too many things I'm trying to get done at once these days.
-a bunch of red-flesh radishes
-some garlic a bit later
-kale
-maybe something else, time willing.

[Diane]

I'm going to put in Broccoli, Cauliflower, Arugula, Brussles Sprouts, Mustard, Spinach, Carrots, various lettuces, Peas, Onions, Swiss chard and Celery for now.

Anyone else out there doing a fall\winter garden. If so please post up what you are doing. This is my first time in the fall so it's a learning experience. Hopefully we can all learn from each other.

Dono

OK I'm inspired. I'm thinking onions, which I have growing right now for the first time, and garlic.
All of my plants have just gotten up to steam. I haven't harvested much yet.

I plan to plant onions near the (slug) eaten up pepper plants that are making a surprising comeback. Nothing may come of these peppers but I can't pull them when they're trying so hard now.

[applestar]

Ooh that reminds me! I ordered potato onions and Egyptian walking onions which are coming some time in September! I'll also be planting garlic again -- I have about 2 dozen bulbs hanging to dry in the garage. Not huge, but at least a dozen of them are same as the store size, so I call that a success! I'll be saving the biggest cloves to plant again mid-October. Where? I've NO idea. (Actually I'm planning to plant these self-perpetuating/multiplier onions around the apple trees as part of their "guild" since they need a semi permanent location.)

I'll have to think about where to plant garlic this time, since it needs a place until mid-July AND I need to be able to keep it on the dry side during July. Hm, hm... maybe on the perimeter of the raised beds... ? Can't give them prime spring/summer growing locations.... THIS year, I grew them in the same bed as newly planted Cherry trees AND inter-planted with strawberries AND added a couple of sweet potato slips. Right now, the Sweet Potatoes are threatening to take over the entire bed and the day neutral Tristar strawberries are suffering from too much humidity. Still producing a handful of berries every couple of days -- the kids are *tired* of strawberries. It's actually good because I'm FINALLY able to start freezing zip-bags of strawberries (as well as blackberries) I might make some jam when I have enough saved, and they'll be great addition to smoothies later on.

[gixxerific]

OK I'm inspired. I'm thinking onions, which I have growing right now for the first time, and garlic.
All of my plants have just gotten up to steam. I haven't harvested much yet.

Ha ha I got you, add one more to the club.

Applestar you sound like you are n the same boat as me, wanting to plant everything you can but nowhere to put it. Like I said before If I can see dirt though the foliage I plant something there. I was this close to ripping up some tomato's today to make room since it hasn't been a great year for them. But I just couldn't they still have green fruit on them. I am expanding next year but ti still won't be enough. I have thrown a bunch of ideas around for other locations as well, we shall see how it evolves

Dono

[tmace]

I usually do a fall planting of all those things, but this year it has been so cool that the broccoli, peas, spinach, and swiss chard are still doing great. I did start some new cauliflower inside and planted a another crop of beets and beans. I have no more room. I plant so when something goes out something else is growing bigger to take up the space. I will do lettuce and radish later though.

[crobi13]

Thanks Ted.
I have not had much luck with onions either. I planted many onion seeds this spring, I think I only have 1 still growing. My mistake I think was that I started from seed, never having planted any veggies before. This time, I'm going to try using starter onions.
I have 2 sets of carrots growing now & they are doing really well. The tops of my first set are now over 2 feet high! I sampled 2 of them so far and they are the BEST tasting carrots I've ever had

[tedln]

I've never planted onion seed. To be honest, I'm afraid to. I have no idea how to grow onions from seed to fully grown plant. I tried onion sets a few times with poor results. This year, I planted onion seedlings and let someone else worry about getting them from the seed stage to the seedling stage. They worked very well and I plan on doing the same next year.

I've had good results with carrots in the past and they taste so much better than the carrots from the market. I planted some this year, but made the mistake of planting them in the shade of my cucumber trellis along with my lettuce. The lettuce did great, but the carrots only made tiny little roots on very large plants. I'm not really that much of a carrot fan, so I will use all of my space in the shade next year for lettuce. If I have any unused space, I may try carrots again in full sun.

Ted

[gixxerific]

I have never had good luck with either carrots or onions but still keep trying. Never did them from seed (at least onions) either but am trying it this year. I started some last Sat. Both of those need just the right kind of soil. I'm going to do both again of course but this time I think I will dig VERY DEEP trenches maybe 10 inches or more deep and pretty wide. Then fill that with my planting soil mix that I put together. So it will be plenty loose and well draining to see how they do like that. We have lots of clay around here and they sure don't like that, or the rocks.

Good luck, Dono

[Diane]

Thanks Ted.
I have not had much luck with onions either. I planted many onion seeds this spring, I think I only have 1 still growing. My mistake I think was that I started from seed, never having planted any veggies before. This time, I'm going to try using starter onions.
I have 2 sets of carrots growing now & they are doing really well. The tops of my first set are now over 2 feet high! I sampled 2 of them so far and they are the BEST tasting carrots I've ever had

I found a small bag of starter onions while shopping at Kmart in the spring. I hope I can find another.
This is my first try with onions. The onions are now at least three to four times larger than they were when I planted them. Not as large as store bought ones. I planted at different times and can't remember who came first.
Most are still green and growing but a few turned brown and aren't big at all. I pulled the brown off and replanted.
In my compost I found onions with roots, so I planted them. I got a lot of green and then a flower and now seeds. The original onion was just about gone.
I threw some seed in with the onions. We'll see what happens.

[St. Louis gardener]

Hey Dono, good to see another St. Louis-area gardener on the forum! Re: the carrots. I planted two kinds this spring but, like everything else in my tiny (15-by-11 foot) in-ground garden, they are too close together and so aren't doing well (about half the size they should be by this time). I dug a trench at least 12 inches deep, so thought they would have a chance, but they are a disappointment. My only chance is to leave them in the ground for awhile (although I don't want them to get tough and woody). Will pull a bunch every few weeks for awhile to see if there is any growth/improvement.

Thinking about expanding to raised beds in my lawn next year. That's the only way I would be able to access the plants from all four sides. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Rambo 09]

im doing one to.

[splat42069]

I just ordered some pepper seeds from http://www.tomatogrowers.com
for this winter indoors. I got Jimmy Nardello ,Cherry Pick 1 and, White Habanero .

I have a 1000 watt HPS/MH switchable ballasts light. I'm gonna try and grow 2 of each plant in 3 gallon buckets.(After I germinate them in a Solo cups). I don't kno what else im gonna grow yet but I got room for 3 more plants under the light in 3 gallon buckets.

[Rambo 09]

Why don't you just but seeds locally.

[gixxerific]

Why don't you just but seeds locally.

Because you won't be able to find the variety.

Whats up St Louis Gardner this site is great hope to see you around.

Dono

[splat42069]

^^^^^^^^^

What Gixxer said. I cant cant find these varietys at a local nurssery or walmart/lowes.

To get the good stuff you gotta put alittle money into it.

[St. Louis gardener]

Yes, I just recently found the site, and I think it's terrific. BTW, I may have spoke too soon about the carrots. I picked some petite & sweet today, just because I was making a stir fry, and wanted something orange. Well, they turned out pretty good, even though some were intertwined with others because I planted them too close together. But the taste was great. I've made a pact with myself to incorporate something from my garden in each and every meal I cook, at least through the fall.

About those raised beds, I've checked out some info on other threads on this site, and will probably catch up with you, Dono, on one of those.

[Jewell]

Hi, I have a city lot that I have been playing in for some time. No planning . I use bed methods because they are easier for me and I tend to mix flowers and vegetables.

This year I am finally looking at the success/failures of different varieties of winter hardy vegies. (Gosh I actually have to remember what varieties I planted ~not always easy)

Since I have been playing with winter gardening for a few of decades, I am finally trying other varieties of kale from the usual Siberian with mixed results. I am wondering if any members have favorite varieties of spinach, kale, chard or other greens that they have chosen for cold hardiness, leaf miner resistence, and flavor?

I also have favorite heirloom varieties of vegetables that are suitable for our usually cool, wet summers and am in to trying new varieties.

Anyone have sources for European seeds and bulbs for year round vegetable gardening that ship to USA?

Sorry with so many questions. The more I garden the more questions I have

[gixxerific]

This year I am finally looking at the success/failures of different varieties of winter hardy vegies. (Gosh I actually have to remember what varieties I planted ~not always easy)

Can't help you on the varieties to use, sorry. This will be my first fall\winter planting.

I feel you on the remembering of varieties though. Actually this planting is the first time I ever wrote down what I planted and when. I would usually put the tags in the ground with the plants but after a season of growing they get lost or are mixed up with the last years tags. (Get it together Dono) I even took pictures this year to remember where what type of plants are so I can plan a better crop rotation next year. I'm trying to be more pro-active this year, this site is helping motivate me more so let's hope we all learn something and have even better gardens next year.

Dono

[tedln]

Lots of gardeners keep journals or write blogs they can reference in the future. I'm not that diligent at recording data. Since I grow in raised beds, I simply use a black magic marker and write everything on the frame of the bed. I typically write the variety, planting date, projected days to harvest or first harvest date. If I am unhappy with something, I draw a line thru it. If I am happy with it, I circle it. By the following spring, my writing has faded to the point that I can barely read it, but I can see enough to know what I liked last year and what I didn't like. I then write over last years notes with this years notes.

Ted

[crobi13]

That's a great idea, Ted!
I am regretting not writing anything down but I will certainly try to next year.

[gixxerific]

I agree, good idea Ted, see that why I love this site. I get all kinds of ideas some good some bad. But I don't have any real gardening friends to ask about life experiences. Not that you guy's aren't my cyber friends.

Dono

[SP8]

Maintaining a garden scrapbook is vital and a hell of a lot of fun to look back on!

[tedln]

SP8,

I love your patio garden. I also admire your diligence in recording data. I am not inclined to do that. I know a lot of people who keep relevent data on their activities. I just decide if I like something or I don't like it.

I am curious about the seasonal conditions on the Gold Coast of Australia. I know your seasons are reversed from ours in the U.S. Do you experience below freezing temps in the winter or excessively hot in the summer. What months are your primary gardening months? Is the Gold Coast an agricultural area, tourist area, or manufacturing area of Australia? You mentioned problems you were having with aphids in your notes. What are some other common gardening pests you have?

Ted

[kgall]

I would love to do a fall garden. I am a new gardener and I think it's too late for my area. Our first average frost is Sept 19. Maybe by next year I will be wiser!

[SP8]

Cheers!

The Gold Coast is Australia’s main tourism city and is a great spot for gardening all year round!

December/January/February – Summer
Mean temperature: 24.1 C - 75.4 F

March/April/May – Autumn
Mean temperature: 21.1 C – 70.0 F

June/July/August – Winter
Mean temperature: 17.20 C – 63 F

September/October/November – Spring
Mean temperature: 20.00 C – 68 F

The ‘wet’ season is typically in late Summer to early Autumn.



In regards to pests, as I’m up on the 3rd floor and container based, my biggest problems to date have been from aphids and the occasional Currawong (bird). I think the aphids got introduced and established after I purchased some seedlings without checking them thoroughly….. Thankfully my homemade brew seems to have all but finished them off.

[cherlynn]

I just thought that I'd join in the Fall Garden Planting fun! The last week in July I direct seeded snap peas, freckled romaine lettuce(delicious!), radishes, carrots and spinach. I also planted some broccoli starts for fall. However, I didn't realize that I could plant corn for fall....I wonder if it's too late?!?!? I'm going to check my seed packet and give it a try! Excellent idea to plant corn where the bush beans are growing, Applestar!

My earlier corn was not that productive...there are five stalks with ears growing...enough to enjoy with the grandkids! The pole beans are enjoying the climb up the stalks...still waiting for their harvest!

Believe it or not...we are still getting snap peas from the early spring planting...just a few, but yummy!


Happy Gardening!

[tedln]

I planted some asparagus yard long beans where my pole beans had been earlier. They have sprouted and are growing rapidly. I understand they are a tropical plant that thrives in high heat.

I also planted more cucumbers and yellow squash to start producing in late September for a fall crop. Both the cucumbers and squash popped a few plants out of the ground and decided this place is to hot for them and promptly died. I will wait for a cooling trend in the weather and try again.

I can't say that I blame the cukes and squash for dying on me. I only stick my head outside in the cooler mornings and evenings.

I bought some tomato plants to plant for a fall crop in addition to my still alive but dormant spring tomatoes. They are just sitting there with their feet in the cool ground waiting for cooler weather. They are not dying or growing. They are just waiting.

Ted

[gixxerific]

Cherlynn I direct sowed snap peas myself and they are getting big for just over a week old. I hope they do well my spring crop did not I think I ate one bean pod and that was straight off the plant, before they went down.

Ted sorry to hear about your squash and cuc's, but hey I believe you are a lot like me plant and hope for growth if no growth try again or try something else. I think I have a problem, I just love to grow stuff whether it will make it or not. It's a game of sorts with tasty fruits of beautiful flowers as the reward.

I have too many cuc's to even think about planting any more, I'm actually getting tired of them.

Dono

[cherlynn]

gixxerific said...

I think I have a problem, I just love to grow stuff whether it will make it or not.

I think I have the same problem. Fortunately most of it does just fine!

[applestar]

I'm still amazed that one little seed can grow and produce so much bounty.

Even the pests are kind of interesting even if they're destroying my garden in the process. I discovered squash borers in one of my Yellow Crookneck squash.
I found 6 FAT 3/4" grubs when I dissected the crumbly remains of the vine. :evil::evil::evil::evil::evil:

I've planted my washing machine corn starts -- 2~3" tall with 4" roots -- in its place. Matures in 62 days... I'm cutting it close -- hope they make it.

I'm pretty sure 2 zucchini plants have been invaded too. Well, I still have more washing machine corn to plant.

[crobi13]

kgall:
It's not too late for you to plant fall veggies. I'm in MA & I have not planted my fall garden either. I'm going to plant Onions, Garlic & Carrots to let them grow over the winter. Hopefully, by spring, I'll have a big bounty

[crobi13]

Does anyone know if potatoes will grow over winter? I found a website that ships them in Sept. I was not sure if that was for planting then or in preperation for spring. Any thoughts?

[kgall]

I am going to try the garlic. The carrots I planted in the spring are not quite ready yet! I picked one yesterday and it looked like it was growing just fine...just slow! I am not too sure about the onions yet. I have never planted them before!