Too much rain

[b54red]

So far starting a fall garden has been a big bust. Squirrels ate all my cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprout plants that I had ready to set out. I already had a really good stand of young mustard greens but then we got over 10 inches of rain last week and they just turned yellow. I guess that much rain must have leached all the nitrogen out or rotted the roots. Everything is just too wet to mess with. I would like to clear another bed and restart some greens and a few rows of carrots but the soil even in my raised beds is just muck right now. I have lettuce started that should be big enough to set out in a week or so if I can get a place ready for them by then. My spinach got washed out of the cups a few nights ago so I will have to restart it also.

I guess a good fall garden just wasn't in the cards for me this year. I'm still getting a few tomatoes and bell peppers but that is about it.

Bill

[Labradors2]

What a pain!

I'm growing Swiss Chard in a big pot again this winter. Amazingly it survives quite well with three plants in about a 3 gallon pot. I can bring it inside on really cold nights. Maybe that's an idea that you could use?

Linda

[Bipetual]

Sorry, Bill. That must be pretty discouraging.

Better luck in the spring!

[AlittleSalt]

We had greens coming up and it rained like that here too. Now there's a good stand of dirt growing there. The forecast is calling for lows around 42 and the tomatoes that are left taste like supermarket ones. But that's better than having no tomatoes at all.

Sorry to hear about your garden Bill.

[b54red]

I am considering planting another bed of mustard greens. At least the squirrels leave them alone and if it isn't as cold this winter as the last two winters they might do fine. I've got to have something from the garden this winter besides lettuce and rutabagas. I'm not even sure the squirrels will leave them alone this year.

Bill

[imp]

Squirrel goes real good stewed in a gravy with rutabagas and carrots. Even in a tomato gravy, too.

[b54red]

I couldn't get my bed ready for the mustard greens yet and it is supposed to rain another 3 to 5 inches today and tonight. Oh great. Now that the bed is broken up it will absorb so much more water. I'll probably have to wait another week or 10 days before I can add my soil amendments and plant anything in it. I have some rutabagas almost ready to set out. I do them very different now days. I start them in cups and don't set them out til they are about the size of broccoli plants ready to set out. I then space them out at least 18 inches apart in rows at least two feet apart and then heavily mulch them. Since I started doing this I have made huge rutabagas and have had almost no problems with bugs. Another advantage of this method is the tops get huge and I prefer rutabaga tops to any other green. I know the leaves look large and tough but they cook down really fast and are extremely tender and sweet. I'm just hoping the squirrels will leave them alone when they finally get out in the garden.

Bill