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 mildew developing on a few squash leaves, but nothing disfiguring so far.  Hooray!

But, happily, the three "loser" tomatoes were all in the same bed -- a cherry tomato masquerading as a Sweet Million (NOT), a Pantano (maybe OK), and a "black cherry" that was totally not what I'd grown before.  These were all bought from a small vendor at the WNC Herb Festival, so perhaps weren't what the grower thought they were, or perhaps were OP grown out versions (at least in the "Sweet Million" case.)

So, I pulled them all up today to be able to sow some fall greens, beets, and turnips.  It's still a bit early, perhaps, but no reason not to turn over the beds (the black cherry was the only plant still producing much, and they weren't really all that tasty fresh, and I've got LOTS of tomatoes already roasted and frozen, with more to come....)

I added a tall layer of composted manure (it was Black Kow, which looked like an excellent addition for hard-working beds) and worked it in-- so I'm ready to plant!

ready to plant fall vegetables

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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 weeded

Now, I've sown beet, spinach, cress, arugula, turnip, and other greens.  And, I put in transplants of lettuces and radicchio, too.

This is a garden that's shady in winter, so it's really just a matter of what might produce in the next couple of months.

Transplants have been planted, seeds have been sown

I also sowed six large flats with mesclun mix, lettuces, various other greens, etc.

The chives and perennial leeks and onions are doing fine, too.

And I'm anxious to see if my squash, beans, and tomatoes have kept to reasonable sizes and ripeness up in the mountains, too.  Ridiculous to juggle two vegetable gardens, but they are productive!  And, it's fun.

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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 with others about fall vegetable gardening, etc., so it's definitely an odd feeling to have first beans and zucchini. And having summer cilantro that's lasting, too -- how unusual is that?  I'd sowed it thinking 2 weeks, and I've been using it for longer than that, along with lovely large Italian parsley and basil.

We had over an inch of rain this morning - a welcome soaking. 

Time to sow some fall beets, chard, spinach and other greens soon. 

Without the darn woodchucks, I'd put in cole relatives. Oh, well.

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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 taken before greens are planted. Hrmph.

I'm fine planting recently received garlic, shipped from a West Coast farm, and dividing and moving around the perennial leeks, dividing

But with greens -- hmm, I might as well just say welcome, woodchucks -- I have something tasty for you -- help yourself!

I may try to use a row cover/hoop house barrier to see if that deters them short-term.   Or, I may just rely on my mountain beds for greens.  They're less susceptible to woodchucks because of the city location, although not immune.

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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 Wednesday and keep those overnight lows through Friday.

Hmm, that'll take care of the pizza peppers!  I haven't been there to tend the mountain raised beds for quite awhile, because traveling and then staying home with Woody, recovering from knee surgery (no stairs for him!) has limited my mobility.

I'm thinking that we might be able to get up to the mountains this weekend, if Woody's cleared for stairs, or maybe I'll just scoot up on my own, to check on things. 

I had pulled out all of the remaining tomatoes, beans, and tomatillos in September, so happily won't face a lot of clean-up (aside from the peppers!)  Some might actually be still OK, if I process them them right away.

I'd sown lots of greens, not anticipating Woody's surgery, in late August, so may have beet, turnip, and mustard greens to harvest, depending on how hungry the woodchuck that Tim (my gardening companion) spotted on his last visit has been.  I sowed lettuce and spinach seed, too, in a bit of late season enthusiasm.  It'll be interesting to see what's doing well.

Here's a view of one of the front beds from two years ago.

October, 2010

I love how leeks will sail through (even) tough winters looking great.

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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 as he heals (uh, that means that one of us needs to be with him, as he's so averse to being alone!)

Happily, he rested comfortably as I weeded the main vegetable garden here in the Piedmont this afternoon, and attended to the woodland wildflower patch in front of the house.

I had sowed all sorts of greens in our mountain beds, thinking we'd be up there more this fall, but will need to depend on my gardening companion's harvesting, as Woody isn't supposed to do any stairs for at least 6 more weeks.  (We have three levels in our small mountain house).

Tim will be looping through at our mountain house on a long field work trip, so hopefully, he'll be  bringing back more peppers and greens....

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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, and kale late this afternoon.

Maybe the edges of Isaac will water them in for me; otherwise, I'll get them nicely settled in tomorrow.

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