Virginia Gardeners

[biscgolf]

I'm about 20 miles from Ken B- our groundhogs seem to prefer pineapple.

[Ken B]

About 48 degrees out right now, saw my breath condensing for the first time this (almost) fall... time to get our spinach planted!

[shelleybean]

Ken, I thought about going out to Monticello Saturday but when I looked at the forecast, I decided against it. How did it go?

All the rain here last week has pretty much finished off my tomatoes for the season. About half are badly cracked. I brought in what I could. I think I'll take advantage of the cooler weather this week and get my plants pulled out and use that space for lettuce, spinach, chicory and kale. Broccoli and Brussels sprouts look good. Collards look happy. Beets are coming along. Carrot germination is slow. Picked the last of my butter beans and ate those last night. I still have some field peas to pick.

This Cajun Jewel okra is pretty cool. The shortest plants I've ever grown but they have a ton of side branches and I am cutting a gallon ziplock bag full every other day. And I only have 6 plants. I have frozen a bunch of it and cooked some and now I'm giving a lot of it away. I have my very own little okra forest out there.

[Ken B]

It rained some in the morning, then cleared up later and the sun came out. Less folks than usual, but people seemed to have a good time, so yay!

[shelleybean]

Most of my summer veggies are done for this year. I pulled the tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers this past weekend. It was just too crowded in that bed and the bugs had taken over. I'll spread them out better next year. I usually have eggplant and peppers right up until frost. In that space, I planted kale, chicory and lettuce. Just need to pick a few White Acre peas and I can clear out that bed. The last round of green beans I planted is beginning to flower so I should be picking pretty soon. Still hot here during the day but nice and cool at night.

[Ken B]

We've harvested peanuts and most of our winter squash now, but haven't had a real frost here yet, so we've still got tomatoes, peppers, beans going... nice to have a longer season this year!

[roper2008]

Planted garlic and shallots last week. Need to get a little more garlic in the ground,
and plant some kale seeds.

[shelleybean]

I finally got out to Monticello this weekend! The gardens looked beautiful, of course. They still had a couple of tomato plants going and some peppers and eggplant but most of the garden was herbs and various cabbages and kales.

The foliage was lovely!

[shelleybean]

I think we're due for our first frost this weekend. I'll pick the last of my green beans today and all the other veggies out there should be fine. This will be the end of my zinnias. Sniff, sniff.

[linzelu100]

Originally Posted by shelleybean

I think we're due for our first frost this weekend. I'll pick the last of my green beans today and all the other veggies out there should be fine. This will be the end of my zinnias. Sniff, sniff.

We already had our frost a week ago, here in the mountains. Basil and peppers turned black.

[TomNJ]

We had 2" of snow in Floyd on November 1st. That was it for the garden, but I did get in the last of the peppers, beans, basil, and oregano, and planted the garlic before the snow.

TomNJ/VA

[shelleybean]

I'm ready now, too, Tom. Picked and ate the beans last night and I planted my shallots about two weeks ago. I still have Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, collards, chicory, winter radishes, turnips, beets and carrots out there but that should all be okay for now. Even if we have a winter like we did last year, I think the kale would be fine. I try to keep things going into January and then do a big clean out. I add mushroom compost in February and start all over again in March. I've received one seed catalog so far, and though it's not a company I use for seed, it does have me thinking about next year already.

Last night with dinner we had roasted carrots and parsnips and the parsnips were from the store. I'd like to try growing them next year. I understand it's difficult to get the seed going but once it does, it gets easier. I think I am supposed to plant in the spring and let them grow all summer and then pull them and eat them in the fall. If anyone has experience with parsnips, I'd be interested in hearing how you grow them. Thanks.

[TomNJ]

I planted parsnips last year and they were easy. The seed take a bit longer to germinate then some, but I had a good stand. I planted Hollow Crown seed directly in the garden on April 22nd, thinned to about 6" spacing, and pulled them in early November after some hard frosts. Make sure the soil is fluffy and rock free to get decent shaped roots. The plants get very large, about 3' tall, so watch shading effects on other crops.

TomNJ/VA

[linzelu100]

Shelleybean, which catalogue did you get already? Getting seed catalogues maybe my favorite time of year! Although I havent gotten any yet.

[shelleybean]

Lindsey, all I've received so far is Harris. I ordered my grow lights from them a few years ago and they've sent the catalog ever since. I don't grow any hybrids and that's most of what they sell, but it still jump starts that new gardening season frame of mind we all enjoy so much.

Thanks for that info, Tom. I, too, was thinking Hollow Crown and the timing you're describing is what I had in mind, too. I never imagined a parsnip would grow so tall but I will put them at the north end of the root bed to make sure they don't shade my onions, beets, sweet potatoes, etc. Thank you!