Fall crop

[rkunsaw]

I just planted 24 cabbages,two rows of crowder peas and one row of rutabagas. Probably about all I.m going to plant this fall.It has been so dry here and my pump quit working. I got a new one but my garden sure suffered. Except the okra,it's doing great.
Larry

[gumbo2176]

As soon as my ground dries and I can work in the garden again, I'll start putting in some of the plants I have already started. Three varieties of tomatoes, bell and hot peppers, collards and broccoli. I'll also direct sow several lettuce varieties along with spinach and chard.

I'm also putting in a 12x4 ft. raised bed for some carrots and beets since the primary garden has a good bit of clay and root crops don't fare too well. I already have new pole beans beginning to show some blooms and my cucumbers from the spring are just about finished with new plants ready to replace them.


I can't wait till the weather cools a bit and gardening becomes less of a chore. If we have our typical fall/winter, I'll be knee deep in vegetables till it's time to plant in the spring.

[rainbowgardener]

I want to live somewhere with a longer growing season! November to March nothing much happens in my garden.

[gumbo2176]

RG, if you don't already do so, load your garden area up with lots of organic material and let it decompose over the winter.

My area had 4 1/2 ft. of water that stayed for almost 3 weeks from Hurricane Katrina. After repairing the damage to my house, I didn't garden for a few years but felt I was missing out on something I really enjoyed.

The winter before I put in my first spring garden in years, I loaded my planting area with lots of organics. I live near City Park and there is an abundance of oak leaves to be had just for the effort of collecting them. I put at least 4 pick-up loads of leaves along with a few truckloads of material from the local riding stables. By the time I got to working it in the soil, it had broken down quite nicely. That and a couple loads of spillway dirt loaded with silt from the Mississippi River helped in making my clay based soil much better and easier to work with.

[Marlingardener]

I am ordering my fall seeds tomorrow, and trying a couple of the red loose leaf lettuce varieties kind folks have recommended. We usually don't put in our fall garden until mid-Sept. because of the heat. We'll have lettuces, broccoli, chard (may not have to replant, just cut down the chard I've let grow for the hens), green beans, sugar peas, carrots, and the tomatoes and peppers that we "over-summered" will start to produce again. We'll have good fresh vegetables until almost Christmastime.
Gumbo, you must have gorgeous soil now! We have a lot of clay in our soil, and after three years of grass clippings, compost and a load of well-rotted steer manure ours is improving, too. I like that silt idea. I think I'll see if I can't get some from the Brazos River the next time they dredge.

[gixxerific]

I"m going out now to plant some seeds in the ground I want to start some indoors as well to supplement those in the ground just in case. As you may have seen from here I have been trying to get ready for the fall. But it has been so hot things are pushed back a bit.

Go fall croppers the excitement begins yet again. Especially since this summer has been a total bummer for most of us. The garden is doing something but no bumper crops here that is for sure.

Marlin oh to live in a climate you can plant most of the year 'round. My main dilemma here is getting fall crops in than out before the big freeze so I can get my beds ready for the following year. A constant battle but fun so it's all good.

[gumbo2176]

I broke out the tiller earlier this week and tilled about 2/3 of the garden and it tills a good 8 inches deep with little effort. That is saying a lot because my current tiller is a used 5hp. Craftsman front tine that I picked up for $125 a couple years ago. It replaced a very old 8hp Troy Bilt I lost to Hurricane Katrina.

When I first broke ground many years ago, that 8 hp tiller had to really work to get the job done because of the density of the clay. I'd have to stop every 5-6 ft. to clear the tines of the buildup. I just about gave up and sold the tiller, but I persevered and am glad I did. Even now, walking between the rows working in the garden will cause them to pack down a bit due to the clay.

There is a company near my house that sells topsoil for $25 a cubic yard and you can get spillway dirt with the river silt in it for $20 a cubic yard. I'm going to get couple loads of topsoil for a raised bed measuring 12x4 by 1 foot deep I want to put in for root crops this fall.

[DoubleDogFarm]

When I read river sediment, first thoughts, heavy metals, is this a safe soil amendment?

Have not researched it thoroughly, but I ran across this study.

Cultivation of garden vegetables in Peoria Pool sediments from the Illinois River: A case study in trace element accumulation and dietary exposures

The results from this study suggest that this reclaimed sediment can be utilized for the production of vegetables intended for human consumption. The results from this case study also suggest that sediment material with similar physicochemical characteristics and elemental concentrations that fall within the pertinent regulatory guidelines should also be a suitable and safe medium for vegetable production

The rest is here

[gumbo2176]

The results from this study suggest that this reclaimed sediment can be utilized for the production of vegetables intended for human consumption. The results from this case study also suggest that sediment material with similar physicochemical characteristics and elemental concentrations that fall within the pertinent regulatory guidelines should also be a suitable and safe medium for vegetable production

Perhaps that is why the sugar cane farmers in Louisiana had many of their plantations along the Mississippi River before the advent of the levee system. Besides the benefit of easier transportation of their product to market via the river in the fall, the benefits of early spring floods depositing the silt in their fields had to be beneficial.