We’ve had a lot of rain lately… which is a HUGE blessing because we were in a severe drought. As a result our back yard is looking like the Amazon. Steven has to mow more frequently and I’m having a blast starting our fall plants.
Pumpkins
After a slow start because of the heat, the pumpkin patch is off and running. I was recently out in the yard helping Steven while he was mowing. We were performing our “lift the vine while I mow under it” routine. It reminded me of last year and I smiled. I’ve noticed a lot of pumpkins and mums popping up around entrances to groceries stores. I love this season! However, I get a little disappointed because I think I started my pumpkins too late again. I followed instructions from our local coop to plant them before 7/15 for Halloween pumpkins, but I just recently saw some female flowers. On the other hand, if we get them late I can use them for Thanksgiving pumpkin pies. YUM!
btw: I can't wait till next year! Be prepared for a lot of pictures of an adorable 5-6 month old in our pumpkin patch!
Zucchini & Squash
Steven and I eat zucchini a lot. So we just had to have another plant this year. I made sure to plant them away from the pumpkins so that I can find them early enough. I couldn’t find a seed pack and it was getting late in the season and I didn’t want to order online. Our local coop had some started. I grab the smallest pack I could find… which happened to be a 6 pack. I would have only planted two plants, but what can you do. For the squash, I started three seeds and hope to plan them along the zucchini row…
Watermelon
I can’t believe I started watermelons. I love to eat them but have been afraid to grow them because it's hard to know when they are done. Pumpkins are easier because they turn orange. Well, at the coop (that is probably getting redundant… but they have the best prices on seeds… and they have varieties that work well locally) a man talked me into trying them. I bought a dip of seeds and planted 2-4 seeds in the yard. They had a rough start like the pumpkins because of the heat. However, they look good and I’ve even seen some little white flowers.
Fall Tomatoes
Summer tomatoes were a disaster! Again… that heat and drought. We were watering a lot, but we barely got anything off of our Better Boy and Beef Master Plants. I think we only managed a few Romas… which were delicious! The tomato seed packs I’m working through are from Home Depot and therefore are not necessarily geared towards our area. When I began thinking about fall tomatoes I ran to the coop, but they didn’t have any seeds. So I bought a 6 pack of started plants. I didn’t want to, but I got a determinate variety (tomatoes come all at once). I just need to learn to can and then this won’t be a problem. This summer we also had some nutrition problems in our soil so I planted the fall tomatoes in a new raised bed Steven and I had made. Last year our fall tomatoes did very well… we will see how this year goes.
The Garden Box
To prepare the soil for lots of lettuce, broccoli and spinach to come over the fall/mild winter months to come, I planted a legume. The legume of choice?… purple hauled peas… kinda like black eye peas… or cow peas, if you will. Everything I plant in the garden box does great because the soil is so good… I probably didn’t need to plant the peas… but I wanted them for New Years Day. We’ve been picking like crazy and our little patch is still growing. When we found out I was pregnant I went out to the garden and planted five spinach seeds and two broccoli seeds... however, I think I planted them too close to the pea patch. I thought the peas were almost done… turns out they were just getting started. I’m going to try to encourage them to grow up and thus save room… especially since my spinach and broccoli will need the sun light. The Aggie cotton is still growing tall and strong. I had to stake it because it lodged over in a heavy rain, but it’s still producing the flowers. I’ve having a problem getting the balls to open up. In our recent trip to Dallas I noticed all they fields had little white softness sprinkled about. Since we are further south, our cotton season should be over… I just can’t get mine to open up. Finally, CHECK OUT thoses Cannas! They were already established next to the shed. They are impossible to get rid of... so I just live with them... as long as they don't crawl over into the garden box.
Rain Harvesting
This is more just for fun. I often tell my friends about our crazy rain harvesting system. We hope to one day have barrels or even tanks but right now we are working off of a humble budget. However, that does not stop my husband from darting out in the pouring rain to rearrange our “rain tubs.” We line them up and catch as much as we can. We then use the water in the drier days to come. It works really well when we get rain every week. When it rains the plants get watered… then we supplement with the rain we’ve collected for them. Our city water is very salty and has a horrible ph level. It’s hard to get things to really thrive so providing plants with fresh, pure rain water does wonders for your veggies!
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