Now that the weather is cooling down I've planted a few fall crops and prepared some containers for winter storage.
More soybeans on the left. I'm going to keep the wind collar on this batch to see if it makes a noticeable difference in plant performance. If it does I'll need to start hoarding more plastic jugs.
Parmex carrot seedlings. This is a short season variety that matures in 55 days, though it will probably take longer as it gets colder. As long as they're ready by the end of October I'll be happy. I want to be done with all outdoor garden activity by the beginning of November.
The Sun Gold cherry is still going strong. It's actually the only plant left in this section of the garden. All the other plants were removed.
The Atris and King Crimson pepper plants in the blue tote still had tiny peppers on them, but I did not think they had enough time to get large enough to be worth harvesting so I decided to rip the plants out. The Lemon cucumber in the water cooler bottle was closer to dead than alive so that was an easy decision. The Yellow Perfection tomato in the Garden Patch Grow Box still had a few green fruit on it, but the plant looked worn out, and I don't like the flavor of the fruit enough to let the plant linger, so it went too. The pepper plants were added to the compost bucket. The cucumber and tomato plant were diseased so they went to the trash.
Once the plants were removed the containers were tipped onto their sides to let the water drain. They'll stay like this for a few days to let the soil dry out. The soil won't fall out of the containers, the root system from the old plants will keep it in place.
The Valencia tomato plants were also removed. They really took a turn for the worse after the torrential rain from Hurricane Irene so they were ready to go.
The Fairy Tale eggplants were chugging along, but after I took this photo I ripped them out anyway because I've reached my eggplant consumption limit. I'm definitely planting only 1 eggplant next year.
The Atris pepper plants in the Southern Patio container still have several green fruits. I doubt they'll turn red, so instead I'll just wait for them to get a little bit larger and then remove the plants.
This year 2 pepper plants were planted in this container, but a season's worth of observation leads me to think it can comfortably support 3 peppers plants without running out of water too quickly.
Purple Top White Globe turnip seedlings, 50 days to maturity. Also, used, clear party cups getting a second life as wind collars.
How's your garden doing? Is it still going strong or is it winding down?
Sept 1-Sept 14:
Cherry Tomato (Sun Gold): 5.5 ounces
Cucumber (Lemon): 9.9 ounces
Eggplants (Fairy Tale): 1 pound, 5.4 ounces
Pepper (Atris): 10.8 ounces
Pepper (King Crimson): 2.8 ounces
Tomato (Valencia): 4.6 ounces
Tomato (Yellow Perfection): 6.7 ounces
This Harvest: 3 pounds, 13.7 ounces
Running Weight Total 2011: 51 pounds, 9.3 ounces
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I've been wanting to plant some more lettuce, mesclun and maybe some Swiss chard. Every time I had the opportunity to plant, it seemed to rain or a major rain was on its way and I feared the seeds would wash away. I live in Nassau County, do you think it is too late to start these from seed now? The temperature is dropping as I write. BTW, I too am eggplant-ed out!
ReplyDeleteI think leafy greens will mature in time. I'm skeptical about my root vegetables and beans though. Given the weather we've had this year I would not be surprised if we had a blizzard in October.
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