Time to Think Fall Garden

I spent some time in the abandoned garden this evening. I saw signs of bricks amongst the tall grass, the crab grass and the centipede grass. I untangled a few of the bricks and placed them by the fence for later use. I pulled up the dried corn stalks and leaned them against the fence. I am thinking that a wide fall-colored ribbon would look nice on a bundle or two of those in a month or so. I went to the pole beans and picked the dried pods and placed them in the sack to take in, shell and save for next spring planting. I walked past the tomato cages. They will be moved soon enough. The cucumber fence was covered with dead vines from lack of water. That fence will be moved to the shade house until next spring as well. The hoses need to be wound back up. I tried the soaker hoses and I am not so sure. They are so flimsy and one just broke in half. A new irrigation system will have to be considered. I supposed the soaker hoses will do fine in the fall/winter garden.

The seedlings in the greenhouse are growing nicely and so things need to be done soon. I will be removing the grass, adding two year old compost and fresh rabbit manure before tilling. I am not sure what size beds to make for the fall. I will more than likely have long rows so that I can use covered tunnels when the colder weather comes (although that seems so hard to imagine right now). Broccoli, cabbage, kale, lettuces such as winter density and Rouge de Hiver, carrots, collards, spinach, various mustard greens, to name a few that I have already. I would still like to add chard, brussels sprouts, radishes and a few other greens to the mix. I also have garlic coming fairly soon to plant. I know just where to put it. It will be all around the rose bush at the entrance of the garden. I will also be using the greenhouse and the greenhouse beds, but I would like to see what else I can grow without heating. I need to learn to take advantage of this southern growing season-it is just so different from what I (and my mother) knew in Indiana.

I hope to have pictures of my "work in progress" and I hope to share my bounty (if there is one) with friends and neighbors; that's what it is really about, after all.