Woke up to 57 degrees this a.m. and got out in the garden after the first cup of coffee. Decided to pull the Japanese Yard Longs since they have been fading fast this past week. I pulled apart the foliage getting it off the trellis and added it, along with a garbage bag of shredded personal paperwork I've been saving for a couple months to my compost bin. Then it was off to the stables for more manure and shavings to round out the mix for the compost pile. I scored some pallets a week or so ago and built 2 bins but didn't have the time to get to the stables for the good stuff like I planned.
It never got past the low 70's today and life is again good in the deep south----at least for this guy.
Oh, and the majority of the fall garden is in and out of all the seeds sowed directly into the garden, the carrots are the only ones not up yet--I know, patience. Now I may need to put in another raised bed for garlic since I use a ton of the stuff all year long when cooking.
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rainbowgardener
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Spent a lot of the day doing fall clean up and putting the garden to bed. High 50's day temps and low 40's night temps.
I harvested the last 6 green peppers and cut the last pepper plants down. Harvested a bushel of basil (already have a ton of pesto frozen and a quart jar of dried... this has for some reason been my best basil year ever) and there are still a couple plants out there. Harvested a big pile of lavender and smaller piles of sage, anise hyssop, oregano, bee balm.
The only thing left now in the garden is the trusty swiss chard still going and going and going.
Mulched 3 beds, one with leaves over the remaining straw I put down in the spring, one with compost over the remaining hay, grass, clippings and weeds, and one (perennial flower bed) with home ground wood chips. The compost had been sitting around done for at least a couple months and not watered, so it was hard and dry and no earthworms. I thought I would dig some earthworms out of my active pile. Dug down into it and discovered that the bottom third that should be finished compost just felt like hard packed dry dirt. And nothing was even warm. I guess even though I have watered that pile, it wasn't enough and the water wasn't getting down to the bottom. I guess if we keep having dry years like this I will have to make holes down through the pile and pour water into the holes. For now I will just let it sit and get rained and snowed on through the winter.
The heat went away, but we are still in terrible drought. We had about half an inch of rain last week, making a total of about 1 inch since end of June and the weather forecast still says sunny, sunny, sunny through 10/13.
I harvested the last 6 green peppers and cut the last pepper plants down. Harvested a bushel of basil (already have a ton of pesto frozen and a quart jar of dried... this has for some reason been my best basil year ever) and there are still a couple plants out there. Harvested a big pile of lavender and smaller piles of sage, anise hyssop, oregano, bee balm.
The only thing left now in the garden is the trusty swiss chard still going and going and going.
Mulched 3 beds, one with leaves over the remaining straw I put down in the spring, one with compost over the remaining hay, grass, clippings and weeds, and one (perennial flower bed) with home ground wood chips. The compost had been sitting around done for at least a couple months and not watered, so it was hard and dry and no earthworms. I thought I would dig some earthworms out of my active pile. Dug down into it and discovered that the bottom third that should be finished compost just felt like hard packed dry dirt. And nothing was even warm. I guess even though I have watered that pile, it wasn't enough and the water wasn't getting down to the bottom. I guess if we keep having dry years like this I will have to make holes down through the pile and pour water into the holes. For now I will just let it sit and get rained and snowed on through the winter.
The heat went away, but we are still in terrible drought. We had about half an inch of rain last week, making a total of about 1 inch since end of June and the weather forecast still says sunny, sunny, sunny through 10/13.
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Francis Barnswallow
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applestar
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I'm potting up dug up parsley. I'll dig up basil and start cuttings. I'm also potting up hot peppers to bring in for the winter, and am going to try taking cuttings of them as well this year. I keep them in SE window sills (upstairs and downstairs -- the best exposure I have) with supplemental clamp-on utility lights fitted with daylight CFL bulbs. They last until late winter/early spring (around end of Feb~early March) when my indoor garden is always invaded/overcome by aphids, whiteflies, and/or red spider mites.
During the cold months, I cut a generous pyramid out of the bottom of onions and snuggles them in pots of soil. They grow onion greens all winter long. This spring, I found out that they can be grown as green onions when planted out at about the same time as potatoes (first week of April for me).
During the cold months, I cut a generous pyramid out of the bottom of onions and snuggles them in pots of soil. They grow onion greens all winter long. This spring, I found out that they can be grown as green onions when planted out at about the same time as potatoes (first week of April for me).
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Francis Barnswallow
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DoubleDogFarm
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[quote="DoubleDogFarm"]gumbo,Good for you, take advantage of your long season. 
Besides all the typical fall stuff, I have 18 tomato plants in the ground that are 3 ft. tall now and starting to blossom. I find tomatoes do much better in the fall in my climate than in the summer. Far less disease, pests, and much cooler temps. make for good growing conditions.
Fall/winter is my favorite time of year for gardening. I can work in the garden as long as I want and not suffer like I would in 1/2 hour in the summer. Believe me, I feel for my more northern brethren who like to garden and can't for months at a time.
I mentioned in a prior post that I also love motorcycling and can ride year round even though I curtail that a bit in the summer due to our heat. My friends that have harsh winters often call or e-mail me to ask about recent rides I've taken then curse me for my good fortune.
Besides all the typical fall stuff, I have 18 tomato plants in the ground that are 3 ft. tall now and starting to blossom. I find tomatoes do much better in the fall in my climate than in the summer. Far less disease, pests, and much cooler temps. make for good growing conditions.
Fall/winter is my favorite time of year for gardening. I can work in the garden as long as I want and not suffer like I would in 1/2 hour in the summer. Believe me, I feel for my more northern brethren who like to garden and can't for months at a time.
I mentioned in a prior post that I also love motorcycling and can ride year round even though I curtail that a bit in the summer due to our heat. My friends that have harsh winters often call or e-mail me to ask about recent rides I've taken then curse me for my good fortune.
I'm still hoping to get a fall crop of beans. I planted bush beans in Aug, and am now about a week or two from frost, but they've been flowering for the past several days, and I know that once bush beans start setting fruit, they produce fast. My pole beans are still producing since summer, though, so it's all good.
I've been leaving the tomatoes on the plants so they can get as much color on them as possible before I bring them in before a frost.
The nice thing about fall is there seems to be less anthracnose and other diseases on the tomatoes.
I've been leaving the tomatoes on the plants so they can get as much color on them as possible before I bring them in before a frost.
The nice thing about fall is there seems to be less anthracnose and other diseases on the tomatoes.