Fall Garden ALREADY??

[Ruth_10]

Hmm, I have some seed for Tuscan kale as well but forgot to plant it. I wonder if it is too late here?

I think my fall brassicas are not going to mature in time for a fall/early winter crop. The first two seedings got eaten by bugs and/or a rabbit. All three were started indoors and then taken outside for hardening off. I will have carrots and kohlrabi, both of which were direct seeded.

I haven't grown beets at this location yet, though I did grow them every year when we lived in Michigan. I never found them "easy" to grow.

[ibadreamer]

michele, how big is your garden? i am just wondering how much i should fence in. have to fence as i have millions of rabbits.

[feldon30]

I'm going to guess that the monsoon rains we are having right now are going to wash away or otherwise rot all the carrot and beet seeds. I really need to get my act together and build a movable rainshield.

[shelleybean]

Sorry I'm so late to answer. I just came back to this thread. My regular garden area is small, about 160 square feet. And then I plant all around my pool and patio too. I used to have a much bigger garden before we put the pool in and most of that was dedicated to tomatoes, but I've always liked growing a lot of different things.

I'm lucky I don't have rabbits in my yard, though there are a lot in the neighborhood. There used to be a cinder block wall around my back yard and it sat on a concrete strip that is about two feet wide. Hurricane Dennis blew the block wall down so now we have a much nicer looking wooden fence, but that concrete is still there so my beagles were never successful at digging their way out and no animals were able to dig under to get in either. I did have a possum in my laundry room once but that's another story...

I'm about to put out my second round of baby cabbages. Everything else is doing pretty well except the chard. It's just kind of sitting there and I got spotty germination. The cabbage I put out last month looks great. The only thing left to plant is the shallots. I'm still getting a lot of peppers and butter beans from my summer garden.

[ibadreamer]

just got my fence up last weekend. need to build a gate. my garden is 20'x30' with a 5' fence. i think i will plant some berries and grapes on the fence. i need to trench about 120' to get water over to the garden. hopefully i will be planting soon.

[feldon30]

Looked outside this morning at the garden beds. Looks like a bomb went off.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by feldon30

Looked outside this morning at the garden beds. Looks like a bomb went off.

What do you mean by it looked like a bomb went off?
Is this bad or good?

[FlipTX]

Did the rains get you, Feldon? I didn't get hit too badly here in the SE corner of Houston. The bok choy looks flattened but they weren't doing that well to start with.

[feldon30]

It rained here in N.W. Houston for 8 hours. The two non-tomato garden beds have soil splashed everywhere. No doubt the carrot and beet seeds were scattered everywhere and rotted. The cucumbers and zucchini look beat up.

No doubt I'll have a huge breakout of tomato foliage diseases.

[duajones]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Morgan. Seems like the heavy heavy rains is a pretty normal thing in Houston. Makes it hard on you for sure. That movable rainshed sounds like a good plan.

[feldon30]

The carrot and beet seeds are coming up all over the place. The radishes stayed mostly put and believe it or not, 3 of them are already ready to harvest. If you even remotely like radishes, grow them!

In other news, maybe I should buy a lottery ticket! My neighbor just trimmed the heck out of the tree that was overhanging my yard. The sunlight reaching the garden bed I created in spring 2006 had dwindled from about 8 hours a day to maybe 5 in the last 2 years. To the point that I built 4 garden beds on the other side of the yard and moved all my growing there.

Now I can use the whole yard!!

[duajones]

A lotto ticket might be a good idea. I have 3 trees in the alley that have really hurt my hours of sunlight, especially in the fall. And as they get bigger it will begin to effect my spring crop as well. They will get a good haircut soon.

Morgan, I have some radishes growing in a raised bed, only about 9 days old at this point and they look ok, but I havent had any luck growing radishes at all. I am hoping the cooler temps will give me my first crop this fall.

[shelleybean]

My neighbor cut a tree way back this past spring. I didn't ask him to do it but I was real glad he did. Last year I grew cucumbers on a trellis and they just continued to climb right onto his tree. I knew I was putting pole beans in that spot this year so I was glad the area was clear.

We planted radishes back in September. They're all gone now. My son chose German Giant and they were quite pungent, but very pretty!

My cabbage is coming along great. Broccoli is the wrong variety. I've pulled the first few carrots and they've been so good. They are Paris Market. Garlic is coming up. I still need to plant shallots. I'm getting ready for my duaghter's birthday and party on Saturday. It'll have to wait until after then.

[feldon30]

I thought they were trimming it. They completely removed the tree and ground the stump! That had to have been a 20 year old tree. I'll have to ask her why she did it. Unfortunately I don't know my neighbors like I should -- none of us really do anymore, do we?

[duajones]

I am lucky to at least have a great relationship with one of my neighbors. I provided him with tomato seedlings this spring and fall. Unfortunately, he doesnt have any trees to cut down and help me with my gardening...hehe
My neighbors on the other side are very quiet and not very friendly. I have given them plenty of tomatoes and jalapeno peppers and they havent even responded, not even a thank you. Same with my neighbors across the street, gave them a small basket full of both hybrid and heirloom tomatoes and they havent spoken to me since. People are just weird these days