The Fall Garden

I headed up to the garden yesterday with every intention of pulling out all the tomato plants and cleaning up the bed.  I found a bunch of healthy plants with lots of green tomatoes.  I decided to just trim up the plants so I could walk easily between the beds and give them another week or two.  Who knows, they may have time to ripen on the vine.  If not, I will pull them off before the first frost and put them in a paper bag in the garage.  I do this every year and usually I get ripened tomatoes a few weeks later.













I lost most of my tomatoes to stink bugs this year.  The cherry tomatoes held up the best.  I am getting some roma tomatoes now that don't seem too affected by the bugs.

I did find a lot of potato plants popping up.  Any small tuber left has started the process over again. I pulled them up, here is what they look like in the ground.










I have lots of fall crops coming up.  I planted kale, broccoli, turnips, parsnips, beets, carrots, spinach, lots of lettuce and carrots. I have never eaten a parsnip or turnip, but when you grow your own food, it is fun to try something different.

spinach

kale

lettuce on left, broccoli on right

 Time to plant garlic.  Don't plant the kind from the grocery store - it is usually treated to not sprout.
You simply break off the cloves and plant them 4 to 6 inches apart and about 2 to 3 inched deep.  They will be ready around July.

garlic - now is the time to plant.

a hard neck variety - better for our climate

I was shocked to see my broccoli I planted last spring has finally given me a crop.  Next year I will research a quicker producing broccoli.  The plants I put out for the fall/winter I bought at Dutch Plant Farm in Frederick, MD.  I expect them to flower after frost.

broccoli and peppers

pole beans

I have row covers to put over the plants when the frost comes in.  It consists of lightweight white material supported by wires.  I will post a picture when I put them up.  This will help to extend the growing season.  I will also put a lot of straw mulch on top of my root crops to hopefully extend the season into winter.





Some of my native flowers are blooming again!  Purple coneflower keeps coming up.  (I cut them down after they set seed and a new flower has emerged.)   Yarrow, gaura, liatris is still going strong. Coreopsis still attracting bees.

I  went to a lecture that mentioned an interesting fact about bees.  It seems it takes 20,000 to 40,000 honey bees to pollinate an acre of an apple orchard.  But only 250 native mason bees to do the same job.  Native bees are the first out in the spring and the last in in the winter.  The honey bee was brought over from Europe. Their benefit above pollination is their honey of course :)

bumble bee on liatris

zinnias

yarrow

echinacea  purple cone flower

Saw a wheel bug aka assassin  bug.   A beneficial that will eat lots of bugs you don't want in your garden.

October in Thurmont cannot be matched.  Took a walk in the woods.  Incredible!

OH MY GOD IT IS HOT!

Welcome to Latvia and the Philippines!  That takes me to 21 countries!  Very cool.








I am hoping for the best that my garden will survive the next few days.  Over 100 degrees every day, uneven rain.  I have mulched  and mulched and watered and now I wait.  I planted pole beans where the sugar snap peas started the season.  Threw some  lettuce and beet seeds out.  When they germinate (weather permitting)  I will probably use a floating row cover to protect them from the sun.







As an experiment, I planted watermelon and cantaloupes among my tomatoes.  I figured that they would cover the soil between the tomatoes and act like a mulch to keep the soil covered.  It seems to be working pretty well.  I did add more lime to the soil because the roma tomatoes were having trouble with blossom end rot.  I have stepped up the watering too.  We have some pretty tomatoes already.

cantaloupe 

lime added - I carefully dug it in

A new addition to the farm.  These guys are less than 48 hours old.

Native garden hanging in there.  The plants that made it into the ground the earliest are the healthiest.  When I plant more, it will probably be in October or late March.  That way, they have a better chance of survival.

bee balm - Monarda

joe pye weed

black eye susan - Maryland state flower

Went to add water to my compost bin and lo and behold, there is a cantaloupe plant that has sprung from the base of the compost bin.  Funny thing is, it is the healthiest plant in the yard  :)

Also on the farm,  my husband accidently mowed a wasp nest.  Luckily he was on a four wheeler and was able to avoid most of the swarm that went after him.  Lucky guy.  We did have to visit the immediate care facility the next morning for treatment.

looks MUCH better

More farm pictures

My son's shirt.  You can see there is a friendly rivalry between John Deere and every other tractor.

heading out for a horse ride

tack room

We have to leave town for a few days.  I hope we get a little rain.  If not, I will plant more.

MULCH

Welcome to Israel and India!  16 countries so far. I am bewildered and thrilled.





Time to mulch!  Actually had to water beds as the temp is  high and getting higher everyday.  Had a huge wind storm come through and drop some large branches into the tomato bed.  Knocked over 2 of the bamboo supports, but the plants are fine.

I am going to head up early tomorrow or the next day to harvest lettuce, chard, strawberries, parsley and possibly peek under the soil to see what the potatoes are up to.  Hoping for rain tonight.

Went into the barn and took a large wheelbarrow of loose straw and spread it around the tomatoes and potatoes.  Mulching helps keep the soil from drying out.  It also keeps the germination of weeds down.  If there is no light hitting the soil, a lot of weed seeds will stay weed seeds.  I use mulch that will decompose and actually help the soil in the future.   Untreated grass clippings are excellent.  They add nitrogen to the soil as they break down.  Straw is my favorite because it is free for me and easy to get to and very light weight.   The texture of the soil a year after it is laid down is beautiful - dark and crumbly.

Onions are ready to bloom.

I skipped last week's entry.  I took an weekend trip with the husband to Virginia.  Wanted to go to the beach but realized It may be senior week for some school districts.  Did senior week once when I was 17, don't need to be there in that environment again. ever.







So, we went to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson.  Beautiful.  We skipped the house tour, saw it last year.  The gardens are an inspiration.  Of course they have a team of people to maintain the gardens now.  In Jefferson's time,  he had slaves to tend to the garden, but was known to spend a lot of time in the dirt ( when he was home.)  The garden did provide a lot of food for the plantation, but also it was a huge science experiment.  Jefferson kept detailed records of plantings and would plant several varieties of vegetables and flowers for testing purposes.

The native garden took a hit with the storm as well.  Lost my phlox.   Replaced it and added a little support for the next storm.  The new phlox is "Miss Lingard."  White with a nice fragrance.  Saw it at Brookside Gardens in Montgomery County last year.

 Coreopsis  is blooming, attracting bugs.

Today, spent the day with family.  What a blessing.

Had a hard winter, but we are starting to recover from a shocking loss.

everyone on the porch!

Vertical Planting

I have always staked tomatoes. I have tried the tomato cages and ALWAYS had them fall down halfway through the summer.  Tomatoes grow fast and heavy.  Last year I tied them to the trellis system my husband built.  That worked very well.  It has steel T- posts every 4 feet with deer fencing made of nylon mesh tied with wire.


This year I am trying a few different devices.  Regular hardwood stakes, bamboo stakes and a plastic cage I  bought at Wal Mart for 7 dollars called the "Ultimate tomato cage. "   I am going to experiment and see which one I like best.  I have decided to rotate my crops every year, so the bed I moved to is 5 x16 x 2.  No trellis,  as my husband is out of town for a while and didn't have time to install before he left.

Ultimate tomato cage?

bamboo in front, hardwood stakes in back

The good thing about  the large bed is that there will be lots of air circulation and sun reaching all the plants equally.  I will mulch with straw in a week or so.  There is good rain expected in the next few days, so I want the seedlings well watered.


To prevent blossom end rot, I added about 1/2 cup of lime to the area I am placing the seedlings.  This will add calcium to the soil, and the mulch will help stop the soil from drying out.  That is the cause of blossom end rot, inconsistent watering and calcium deficiency.

You want to plant the seedlings very deep.  Remove the bottom leaves first and dig deep.  Roots will form all along the stem.

bottom leaves removed

put some basil in front

I am going to try vertical gardening for cucumber, cantaloupes and possibly watermelons.  I have also planted scarlet runner beans and  gita beans.  Gita beans are around a foot long.  Sounded like fun.

will plant cucumbers here

I hilled up my potatoes.  In a few weeks, I will use a lot of straw to cover potatoes so no light gets through to the tubers.  In the valley near the trellis, I have planted my bean seeds to climb the trellis.

Broccoli also went in.  I have a volunteer lettuce plant that  I will leave.

The onion seeds I planted last year grew throughout the summer.  I would pull the young seedlings before the large bulb would form and use for cooking.  Looks like they are getting ready to bloom.

spittle bug underneath the foamy substance - no damage expected

I can feel the garden coming alive.  I know I will have to spend a little more time each week to keep it looking good.

dill

first red strawberry

Below is a native columbine plant that is almost finished blooming.  It will set seed and come back next year.  I have this in my shade garden at home.

Finally get to wear my new new garden shoes!  Like the dorky socks?