We did a whirlwind through the garden on Monday and Tuesday -- uncovering fall crops, weeding, removing the cucumbers, and doing the last bit of seeding! From here on, the shortening days are the limiting factor in growing vegetables. So, we seeded spinach, radish, mixed greens, arugula rapini, kale and corn salad/mache -- all fast crops that enjoy cooler and moister weather, which is what the forecast is calling for!
From now, as beds are harvested and emptied, we'll be seeding cover crops. My favourites for this time of year are oats and peas. They'll still grow in the shorter days of autumn and with the top growth, plus the roots, will help protect the soil now, through winter, and into spring. Both of these species are killed by the cold of winter, but the plant residues provide a bit of mulch. Later in the season, we'll put a layer of compost on the empty beds and then cover them with landscape fabric, so that they are ready for spring planting.
We have some monster winter squash in the field currently. Many are 2 feet in length. These are North Georgia Candy Roasters. It's the first year we have grown them in the field and they seem to like it on our farm! I'm not quite sure how we'll put them in your shares though, because they are gigantic! That's a challenge for October.
The taped-together toes in the picture -- well the little toe is broken, thanks to some mis-guided house cleaning that resulted in a toe getting caught on an aikido matt. It's getting better. Which just goes to show -- it's better to be in the garden in August than in the house!
