Fall Garden Progress

[GoDawgs]

Well, the debris clean up didn't happen yesterday. The first leaves have been coming down but have been wet with the occasional rain shower. Yesterday they were finally dry enough that the leaf bagger on the mower could hoover them up so with rain coming in later today, I decided to do that. It's a nice start to remaking the garden mulch pile.



This pile is maybe a quarter of the size it will be with another same sized pile up behind the house. In fact, I need some of it for mulch right now.The good news is that most of the leaves are still up in the trees so there will be plenty to gather.

We just cut the second broccoli head two days ago but #3 and #4 are about ready!



The turnips are coming along. This is the old Purple Top on the left and on the right that unknown Korean turnip seed I bought at the Korean grocery. The Korean ones are developing a bit of a purple tint on the leaves. I think they're also smaller since they were seeded about 2 weeks after the Purple Tops. Trying to avoid a turnip avalanche!




The cabbages are doing great this fall. On the left, the first four are 'Stonehead' with three 'Premium Late Flat Dutch behind them'. On the right are four 'Charleston Wakefield' with three 'Red Acre' behind them I've never done the Dutch or Red Acre before.




Today I cut the first Stonehead and it weighed just a tad over 3 lbs. Pickles is going to make kimchi with it.



And finally, last spring I read an article on planting potatoes in the fall. The idea was that they'll just sit down there growing roots all winter so that when it warms up in spring, they'll pop up earlier than spring planted ones and produce more. OK, I'll play. A month ago I stuck three potatoes in the ground; two Yukons and one Red Pontiac. Today I noticed that they're coming up.



I guess I'll just have to start hilling them and hoping that as it gets colder they'll slow down and go to sleep for the rest of the winter!

[GoDawgs]

Cut the last of the initial six broccoli heads this afternoon. They're nice this year. There will be a break before the next six are ready but the cut plants are already starting to make side shoots that will be nice in salads.

And I pulled some radishes. These are Opolanka (a Polish type) and French Breakfast. Very similar in shape and color with that white tip. They're very mild and crisp and although I thought the larger ones might be a bit pithy in the middle, they weren't.



Yesterday afternoon I got to wondering how far away the turnips were from being ready and found the first six! The greens were really pretty with no shot holes at all. Maybe the flea beetles have retired until spring. These are the regular old Purple Top. We had steamed turnips along with the greens for lunch today. I like to eat turnips raw too.

[Nan_PA_6b]

Looking good there, GoDawgs! I take it cabbage butterflies don't live down your way? It's hard to grow a cabbage-family veggie up here.

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

Looking good there, GoDawgs! I take it cabbage butterflies don't live down your way? It's hard to grow a cabbage-family veggie up here.

We sure do have them! There were plenty of them this spring but I've seen hardly any this fall. I wonder why. I had to make one application of bT on the cabbages (planted a ways from the other brassicas) in late September but none on anything after that.

[MrBig46]

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

Well, the debris clean up didn't happen yesterday. The first leaves have been coming down but have been wet with the occasional rain shower. Yesterday they were finally dry enough that the leaf bagger on the mower could hoover them up so with rain coming in later today, I decided to do that. It's a nice start to remaking the garden mulch pile.



This pile is maybe a quarter of the size it will be with another same sized pile up behind the house. In fact, I need some of it for mulch right now.The good news is that most of the leaves are still up in the trees so there will be plenty to gather.

We just cut the second broccoli head two days ago but #3 and #4 are about ready!



The turnips are coming along. This is the old Purple Top on the left and on the right that unknown Korean turnip seed I bought at the Korean grocery. The Korean ones are developing a bit of a purple tint on the leaves. I think they're also smaller since they were seeded about 2 weeks after the Purple Tops. Trying to avoid a turnip avalanche!




The cabbages are doing great this fall. On the left, the first four are 'Stonehead' with three 'Premium Late Flat Dutch behind them'. On the right are four 'Charleston Wakefield' with three 'Red Acre' behind them I've never done the Dutch or Red Acre before.




Today I cut the first Stonehead and it weighed just a tad over 3 lbs. Pickles is going to make kimchi with it.



And finally, last spring I read an article on planting potatoes in the fall. The idea was that they'll just sit down there growing roots all winter so that when it warms up in spring, they'll pop up earlier than spring planted ones and produce more. OK, I'll play. A month ago I stuck three potatoes in the ground; two Yukons and one Red Pontiac. Today I noticed that they're coming up.



I guess I'll just have to start hilling them and hoping that as it gets colder they'll slow down and go to sleep for the rest of the winter!

I'm interested in the potatoes. Does it freeze in winter? I know nothing about the Augusta area, just that there is a golf tournament that I watch every year.
Vladimír
PS.: I like everything you grow in the autumn.

[GoDawgs]

Thanks, Big! I don't know about the potatoes yet as this is the first time I'm trying this fall potato planting experiment. The plants are now up about 4", or were because I pulled soil over them last night to protect from 30F and frost.

It's been warm here the last week or so (low 70's F) but this week will be more seasonal (50's F). Maybe the potatoes will slow down. I can't see them getting big without getting burned back. Neither article I read had anything about this scenario of potatoes actually emerging during winter because, I guess, their soil was cold enough that it wouldn't happen. They were concerned about taking precaution to keep the potato sets from freezing in the ground.

Where the potatoes were grown this spring, there was one that got missed that started growing in late summer. When first frost came it was 6" tall and got burned back. Twice more it poked up and both times got burned back. It never came up again after that.

So we'll see. That's the fun of experimenting! January is usually our coldest month with highs averaging in the 50's F, lows in 30's F with occasional cold snaps in the mid 20's F. In February it starts warming back up a bit and we plant potatoes the second half of the month.

[GrowingCoastal]

Any potatoes left in the ground here winter over and pop up in the spring. When there are frosts in March the tips get burned but they are not very tall then. They do just fine.

[b54red]

Cabbage worms have been plentiful this fall here. I keep the Dipel on them and no problem but they did eat a bit on my new seedlings of cabbage and broccoli as soon as they were out of the greenhouse and hardening off outdoors. I also have to keep some blood meal on my new plants to stop the squirrels from eating the new growth tips out of them.

I planted two dozen new Arcadia broccoli plants today and will plant some more Gypsy tomorrow. I also have about a hundred lettuce plants along with some more cabbage plants. My onions are doing good in the pots of DE but I may have a problem with them as my germination was so much better than usual so they are really crowded. My carrots are coming up and the earliest planted ones are about two inches tall while the last batch I planted are just starting to appear. My nest onions are growing and I may plant more since I have a net onion bag full of the little bulbs.

I only have eight Brussels sprouts planted due to poor germination back in July and August when I started the seeds. I am growing Hestia variety since they have done the best the past few years for me. They are really tricky to grow down this far south but if you can start them in late summer you have a chance to have some really good production starting in late February or early March until it gets too hot.

I also thinned my mustard greens really well and got a five gallon bucket packed with tender small greens that were wonderful with some ham, sweet potatoes, onion and fried cornbread. Now the ones left have room to grow and in just a few days they have really jumped. I also planted another small patch of mustard and turnips bout 10 days ago and they are up and starting to grow.

Bill

[imp]

Did you know you can use the cabbage cores in slaw or in soups? And the stems of broccoli will taste just as the broccoli does when peeled and steamed? Ditto on cauliflower stems, too.
My grandmother used to use them all, and also pickle some, peeled and in larger slices or chunks.

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by imp

Did you know you can use the cabbage cores in slaw or in soups? And the stems of broccoli will taste just as the broccoli does when peeled and steamed? Ditto on cauliflower stems, too.
My grandmother used to use them all, and also pickle some, peeled and in larger slices or chunks.

I've not tried using the cabbage cores but I do peel and use the broccoli stems. No difference from the rest of the plant!

[wildcat62]

Originally Posted by b54red

Cabbage worms have been plentiful this fall here. I keep the Dipel on them and no problem but they did eat a bit on my new seedlings of cabbage and broccoli as soon as they were out of the greenhouse and hardening off outdoors. I also have to keep some blood meal on my new plants to stop the squirrels from eating the new growth tips out of them.

I planted two dozen new Arcadia broccoli plants today and will plant some more Gypsy tomorrow. I also have about a hundred lettuce plants along with some more cabbage plants. My onions are doing good in the pots of DE but I may have a problem with them as my germination was so much better than usual so they are really crowded. My carrots are coming up and the earliest planted ones are about two inches tall while the last batch I planted are just starting to appear. My nest onions are growing and I may plant more since I have a net onion bag full of the little bulbs.

I only have eight Brussels sprouts planted due to poor germination back in July and August when I started the seeds. I am growing Hestia variety since they have done the best the past few years for me. They are really tricky to grow down this far south but if you can start them in late summer you have a chance to have some really good production starting in late February or early March until it gets too hot.

I also thinned my mustard greens really well and got a five gallon bucket packed with tender small greens that were wonderful with some ham, sweet potatoes, onion and fried cornbread. Now the ones left have room to grow and in just a few days they have really jumped. I also planted another small patch of mustard and turnips bout 10 days ago and they are up and starting to grow.

Bill

Bill, i wanted to thank you for all the knowledge you have shared on this great website.

[b54red]

You are more than welcome wildcat. I am just passing on things I have figured out or learned from others over the years.

I can't leave well enough alone so I am conducting another experiment this winter. I bought a big roll of 10' wide frost cloth 1.5 oz thickness. I am going to try using it instead of the 4 mil plastic that I have used over my hoops for the last few decades. The plastic sheeting available at fairly reasonable prices is not good but for one season down here due to its quick breakdown. I am hoping the frost cloth will be up to the job but I am not sure how good it will be if the temps get really low so I may lose a lot of plants this winter with this experiment. The blurb on the frost cloth is that it will give me 4 to 6 degrees of extra protection but that is not usually enough most winters. I am hoping with the cloth pulled over the hoops that are fairly tall the extra space will give more protection that just draping it over the plants. I have experimented with some frost cloths the last couple of years in small areas and have not seen any difference in the plants under it than the ones under plastic but we haven't seen any severely cold weather in a couple of years. I think we got down to 19 or so for a couple of nights when I first used the frost cloth and I did get some burn under it but so did some of my plants under plastic.

If this works it will surely make the tedious job of covering and uncovering much easier for me. With our sudden changes in temperatures many of which are wide variations can make it difficult due to the extreme heating up that can happen under plastic if the sun is bright. The heating up is a real problem if I don't get out there and open up the ends of the hoops with plastic but with the frost cloth it doesn't heat up as fast nor as much under the same conditions. When the temps get into the 60s and above then I have to remove the plastic off the hoops in order for it not to get too hot because just opening the ends doesn't allow enough air flow. I think it would have to get pretty hot for me to have to do that with the frost cloth. Now if it will just give me the protection I need down into the low 20s. Of course if we see low teens then all bets are off and I may have to put plastic over the frost cloth or double the thickness of the frost cloth. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I am also testing another cheap organic addition to my soil. I have been using cotton seed meal for years as a fertilizer and wonderful food for my worms in the soil. I found a huge pile of old cottonseed that were composting at a local cotton gin and for 5 bucks they would load my little pickup. The stuff doesn't smell great and it is a mix of dry seed and rotting seed so I may end up with a cotton plantation but I am hoping since it has been pilled up rotting for several years that it will continue to breakdown and be a good addition to the soil without many cotton plants popping up in my beds. I will let everyone know how well it works. I did run it by the agronomist at the state agricultural school and he thought it would be really good for the soil.

Bill