Fall Garden!

As my spring crops of various vegetables bit the dust of a hot summer, I would clean the bed and prepare it for a fall crop of a different vegetable. I let the prepared beds simply sit idle through the highest heat, but starting today, we seem to be in line for eight or ten days of moderate day time heat and much cooler nights. Normally the late August and early September days with fewer hours of sunlight slowly recede into a cool fall season and finally a first frost in mid to late November.

I had a couple of free hours this morning so I planted three kinds of lettuce, Chinese cabbage, collard greens, spinach, carrots; and a couple of other things. I planted beets a couple of weeks ago because they seem to germinate well in high heat. My spring tomatoes, cucumbers; and peppers are still growing well and will become more productive in the fall. I still have a lot of really large sweet onions preserved in the soil where they grew. I will harvest them when they start producing new green tops.

I haven't used any insecticide in my garden, but I usually have an invasion of stink bugs in the fall. They drill tiny holes in my green tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and other crops causing me to lose a lot of fall veggies because they ripen quickly while still small after a stink bug attack. I'm thinking of spraying my plants to kill the resident stink bugs before any new fruit is set but I haven't decided what to use.

Most years, I clean my spring/summer beds and let them sit until it's time to plant in the fall. This year, I thought the seed should germinate quickly in the warmer soil and may grow faster plus I seem to have more energy this year than in past years.

Comments please!

Ted

[Hellmanns]

Good old Sevin won't kill stinkbugs, but will keep them from feeding on the fruit. I've used it for years to keep them at bay.

[AlittleSalt]

I just read this and thought about planting some beets in a raised bed. I went out and looked at some tomato plants. One looked awful and I figured yesterday's 107F got it. I pulled it up and found it has RKN in the roots.

I'll be planting a lot of mustard greens there instead of beets. RKN does not like mustard greens.

The mustard greens are a good idea. I had a bumper crop of collard green this past spring and we ate a lot and gave a lot away. I used to grow turnips for the greens to cook with the collards, but I got tired of looking for some way to use the turnips. My wife hates them and they are not a favorite of mine. I planted the Chinese cabbage as a flavor and texture companion with the collards this year, but I may still plant some mustard greens. They give a pot of mixed greens a really good flavor.

Ted

I use Sevin as a fly killer on my cows, but it is a very mild insecticide and seems to have lost it's effectiveness with many insects. I'm thinking about using a mild solution of either permethrin or malathion. I would apply it in early evening before a rain comes the same evening and washes it away. I could use Bifenthrin or Beta Cyfluthrin, but I don't like to use them due to their long residual. They don't wash away once they have dried. They are also less selective about what they kill. They kill just about any insect and they keep killing for a long time.

Ted

[imp]

Originally Posted by tedln

The mustard greens are a good idea. I had a bumper crop of collard green this past spring and we ate a lot and gave a lot away. I used to grow turnips for the greens to cook with the collards, but I got tired of looking for some way to use the turnips. My wife hates them and they are not a favorite of mine. I planted the Chinese cabbage as a flavor and texture companion with the collards this year, but I may still plant some mustard greens. They give a pot of mixed greens a really good flavor.

Ted

Depending on the size of the turnip and how prepared, affects as to whether I will eat them, LOL.

I like turnips small and sweet, sometimes roasted below the chicken, down in the drippings with carrots. Or smaller ones, sliced, leave in colander and salt them to draw moisture out, then rinse and bread them in some seasoned cornmeal/flour dredge and fry in bacon drippings until browned. Good that way.

I'll also boil some small ones cut up with the potatoes and mash, adding in some swiss chards and mixing it up; the potatoes, turnip mash with chard is also good made into thinner patties the next day and fried, sometimes I add some fine grated carrots or apple to the mix the next day for the patties- again in the seasoned cornmeal/flour. You can also add some Old Bay seasoning for a different flavor. Good with a simple gravy or thin white sauce.

Grated raw baby turnips are good on a salad, too.My mom used to make a slaw type salad with cabbage, carrots and turnips, it was pretty good, too.

I've eaten greens with tiny little cubes of turnip cooked with the greens. I like it, but the little turnip cubes don't really add much to the dish. They don't have much taste when cooked that way, so I don't know if they were good or bad. The greens were good.

Ted

[b54red]

Mustard greens are a favorite for both fall and early spring for me. They are my favorite green to eat besides rutabaga leaves because of their tenderness and good flavor. I like turnip greens okay but not the roots. If I want roots I go for rutabagas but even on them I prefer the tops.

I am afraid to start any thing like lettuce or greens this early in my garden because of the pests that will descend on them this time of the year. I may start some lettuce in the greenhouse soon along with other fall crops like broccoli etc.

For stink bugs use a mix of food grade DE 2/3 cup mixed in some water and then strained into your sprayer, a good dose of Permethrin and 2 TBS of Dawn then fill to the gallon level. Spray it and in a day or two you shouldn't see any more stink bugs, leaf footed bugs or aphids. The residual DE left keeps killing the newly hatched bugs I guess because the Permethrin is a contact killer with a short life. Things can be picked and eaten the next day; but you might want to rinse them to get off the excess DE. This is also the most effective spray I have found for spider mites and whiteflies without resorting to more toxic chemicals or systemics.

Bill

Bill

[shelleybean]

I am getting ready to plant my fall garden, as well, but not as many different veggies as I have in the past. This year I'm trying to stretch my summer things further into the fall so that doesn't leave me as much room for cool weather vegetables.

My second planting of cucumbers is beginning to produce so it's time the pull the first planting out and makes some space for carrots. It's tedious to thin the seedlings but once that's done, I just keep them watered and they always seem to do great with very little attention. I just leave them in the ground until I need them.

My field peas and butter beans are winding down and I don't really have enough time to plant another round of those, so I will use that space for collards. I can leave those in until spring. They are easy and grow in both hot and cold weather.

It was about 100 degrees here yesterday and should be about the same today, but we have had some cooler days mixed in and I see my tomato plants are blooming again and there are a few tiny tomatoes already. I will keep them as long as I can through the fall. I have lots of peppers and expect to keep those going until frost in November. As I said, the cucumbers look good. My second planting of squash is about done. Green beans are doing well and I hope those will keep producing until frost.