Ready for fall vegetables

One drawback of planting late is that my tomatoes, squash, and beans are still going strong. It continues to amaze me how disease and pest-free that they've been this summer.  No bean beetles, squash bugs, cucumber beetles, etc.late summer beans and squash There's just now a bit of powdery...

Read More

A cleaned up vegetable bed

I may just be preparing food for woodchucks, but I was so happy this weekend to get my main vegetable garden bed cleaned up. I'd be too embarrassed to show what it looked like at its worst. But this image is evocative.A last block to be weededNow, I've sown beet, spinach, cress, arugula, turnip, and...

Read More

Finally, some green beans

I never thought it would be mid-August when I'd harvest my first beans of the season.  They're lovely French filet pole beans (I think). I poked in seeds very late, not expecting very much, but finally, I had 5 lovely beans to harvest. They'll be great with the (first) Cozelle zucchini that will be ready tomorrow!  Curious.I'm already thinking about fall vegetables, seeds, sharing thoughts...

Read More

Cleaning up for fall

I'm almost done "excavating" the main vegetable garden and the satellite garden in the Piedmont of their cloak of over-summering crabgrass.  It was thick, and more abundant than I'd ever experienced before, thanks to the exceptionally high rainfall this summer.Evidence of deer and spotting of woodchucks (one has taken up residence under the garden shed) means that defensive measures need to be...

Read More

Wind, vegetables, and falling leaves

Apparently, the winds here and in the mountains of North Carolina are secondary to Hurricane Sandy.  Amazing.  There's been snow around Asheville already at high elevations, with more rain and wet snow to come.The lows in Asheville (located in a mountain basin) are supposed to dip to 31° on...

Read More

Mid-October gardening thoughts

My garden(s) at home need some attention.  We've had delicious Hakurei turnips the last few evenings, with plenty of arugula and cilantro, too, along with bright red pizza peppers, too.But helping Woody (our sweet rescue Golden) recover post-knee surgery is a primary focus currently, returning from traveling, while Tim is finishing up fall field work for his second book.Woody needs to be quiet...

Read More

More planting

I'm wondering how we'll eat all these greens, if the seeds I'm sowing are productive, unless the resident woodchuck in the back woodlot creeps out!  But I have barriers that I'm planning to use, too.I spent yesterday evening turning over the beds in the satellite garden in the Piedmont, and cleaning out the Oxalis that had colonized my containers, and sowed more lettuce, spinach, turnips, chard,...

Read More