The Garden To-Do August / September 2016

Well Hello Again!

Welcome back to the exciting place I call my garden blog.  I can't believe it but all of a sudden it is the end of the August.  That means fall is right around the corner.  That also means getting prepared for a Fall Garden!  I can just see it now - rows of collards, onions, carrots - all the good cool weather vegetables I enjoy so much.  But somehow, I just don't see them getting themselves in the ground on their own.

I have to admit, I've been busy lately.  Different work hours have meant that I've had to really manage my time wisely.  Also, as plants stop producing and the heat is so oppressive one just gets demotivated.  That means I've been "enjoying" my garden rather than working on it.  But not for long!  Last week I made a Garden To Do List.

Garden To Do's

As Soon As Possible

• Pull up tomatoes - some of them
• Finish weeding
• Mark where I want what
• Plant more seedlings if desired (re-use seed pots) & fertilize
• Check Mom's seeds to get lettuce / other fall plants

Soon, If possible

• Dismantle old fence, put in new fencing  & make a new door (if necessary)
• Dump and spread compost 
• Till everything up
• Decide on most cost effective mulch and purchase it
• Move Rabbi's hutch
• Coat the back of that sink thing
• Plant for fall in late September

Aren't I ambitious?  Well, let me tell you what I did!

 

 

TA-DA!

My biggest accomplishment is weeding.  All of the weeds and unwanted plants are in the compost or the burn pile.  (Aggressive weeds and vines go into the burn pile and really bad/ buggy stuff goes in the trash can).  All the tomato cages and stakes are stored in the shed and any pots have been dumped out.  I still have a few tomatoes, peppers, and black eyed peas, which I fertilized today, but everything else has been harvested and pulled up.  Whew!

 

As of right now I have seedlings growing for dill, cilantro, sage, basil, collards, cauliflower & broccoli.  They are looking pretty good; about three weeks of growing time so I have thinned and fertilized them.  

 

Last week I visited my mom's and I asked her for some of her seeds which she gladly shared.  My most recent plantings include black seeded simpson & butter crunch lettuces (Thanks Mom!), kale and kohlrabi.  

 

  

 

I had planted a mixture of those seedlings some three weeks earlier but a hard rain shower washed away many of my seeds.  Last week I added more seeds to them.  They are doing pretty good! Hopefully by the end of the September they will be ready.  I don't want everything ready all at once, so I planted my seedlings in intervals of two weeks.

In addition the plants I have mentioned, I want to grow rutabaga, carrots, onion, mustard greens, & perhaps some other things that strike my fancy.  I have drawn up a map in my garden journal for where all of these things will grow, taking into consider crop rotation and previous years planting. 

 

Before I put in my new garden for fall, I want to till everything up (there are a lot of pepper vine and Virginia creeper roots in the soil) and put in my new fence. I already did one side myself but I would like the help of my husband for the longer side, especially when it comes to dealing with Rabbi's old hutch.

  

 

 

I feel like this is good progress.  I have a long way to go but it's always nice to have something to do in the garden.  It's even better to have it done and best to do it well.

 

Anyways, you all take care and I'll keep you up to date on my next garden adventure!

 

-Rebecca