Fall Gardening

   I planted my first fall and winter gardens this year. I live in the mid-south where we have this extra gardening season. In September, when I think that the gardening is done for the year, I planted Black Beauty Zucchini, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Russian Red Kale, cabbage, Red Cabbage, Collard Greens, Kohlrabi, Brussels Sprouts, Onions, Broccoli, three varieties of radishes, Cilantro, cucumbers, and something that is a cross between a radish and a cabbage. I should have realized that a family that doesn't like to eat radishes wouldn't like to eat a cross between a radish and a cabbage. It grew fine we just didn't like the radish flavor. I tried many different plants to see what would grow at this late point in the year.
      How did the other plants do? Until the first frost the zucchini were amazingly tender and produced like crazy. The broccoli was deliciously mild and produced well. I planted rows or radishes next to them and I think that it helped. The cucumbers grew and grew but never gave me and cucumbers so I won't try that again. I had never had Kohlrabi before and now I see why everyone wants to grow it. It don't produce much in that little bulb for the garden space it takes. Once you harvest the bulb the plant is done for the season- but yum it has great flavor! We just peeled and sliced it into little sticks and ate it raw. There aren't as many weeds or insect to deal with. Watering is crucial in the beginning and then tapers off. I was really surprised at all we were able to harvest.
      Since the first frost the other plants have surprised me with what and how they have produced. So far the Swiss Chard has kept coming back. I will think that it is dead but then it grows again. The Russian Red Kale has done really well. It just gets curlier and more ruffled but keeps producing.  Collards did great also. The cabbages grew large but didn't form very good heads. The Brussels Sprouts didn't form heads either. I think that I may have planted them too close together. All of the greens are so much sweeter and more mild after they are frozen. I planted the onions, radishes, and cilantro as companion plants. I think that they really helped the other plants thrive. I was really surprised that Cilantro is frost hardy. Each week I have harvested a couple bunches. It is wonderful because it doesn't bolt away from me like it does in the summer. I hope to plant it every fall to harvest all winter. All and all I have been happily surprised with my first attempt.
     The biggest problem I had was that the rabbits would eat my collard greens as fast as I planted them. I transplanted seedlings. Next year I will plant a huge row by seed. My friends planted this way and produced a great crop. Live and learn. Last night was very cold for us 8 Degrees. The fun might be finally done outside. Now we will dream over the seed catalogs about next year!

Aa Update on the Great Cucumber Beetle War

  I have officially won the Cucumber Beetle war this summer and I thought that I would pass on what I have learned.  First of all the beetles follow the scent of the plant so that anything you can do to mask the scent of your yummy garden plants will work. This could be marigolds, fennel, lemon balm, nasturtiums, dill, etc. You can even spray your plants with diluted witch hazel or even perfume. The second consideration is to plant these plants before you plant the garden vegetables. If you take an open garden and put your sweet little seedling in there without any protection it can be eaten to the ground by these buggers overnight. The third consideration I would mention is to grow Butternut squash. It seems to be very hard against the beetles. Good luck!

Gardening Update

   I am happy to say that after years of gardening failures this year's garden was a success. Looking back over what I have spent on groceries I estimate that we have saved at least $800 a month if not more. We have also eaten well on the fresh produce. All of the old heirloom seeds sprouted and did beautifully. Here are a few photos of the 3 Sister method that I mentioned in an earlier post. This was a terrific method. I am totally sold on companion planting. I recently learned that squash leaves actually have a chemical in them that suppress weed growth. So the corn stalks provided a pole for the beans to climb. The beans fixed the nitrogen in the soil. The squash shaded the ground and worked as a mulch suppressing weed growth and evaporation.
     I also covered open ground with layers of newspaper covered in a layer of grass clippings. This method saved me hours of backbreaking weeding and watering. I will never garden again without using this method. This is the easiest garden that I have ever grown and I have had the biggest harvests.

I have planted my first Fall garden. I planted radishes with my greens. Supposedly the insects don't like radishes and this protects my greens. I am not sure about this. I saw white moths happily flitting around in them.   I will let you know how it goes!

Tile Strawberry Planters

    A couple of weeks ago someone was throwing out several stacks of tile. They had never been used and contained a varied assortment of colors and sizes. I was sure that I could make something with them. Now that we have finally made it throughout the end of the school year activities and the garden doesn't have anything urgent I had to address these tiles. Despite the many youtube videos demonstrating how easy it is to drill holes in tile- I couldn't seem to do it. So I laid the larger tiles on the flat dirt all the way around a rectangular hydroponics type pond that my husband built last year. I then took my trusty caulk gun and glued four smaller tiles together to make a pot with on open bottom. I then set this on the larger tile. I am hoping that there will be enough drainage if I set it between two of the large tiles. I had enough to make 10 pots. I think that is looks classier than the wooden board we had before for on edge and I have more planting space. They have to dry for 24 hours and then I will fill them with a layer of gravel and potting soil. I will then take my strawberry plants out of the kiddie swimming pool they have been growing in. I think that this will be a huge improvement and it only cost me $3 in caulk.
   Update on the Blue Jays: I am thrilled that they have moved away! Also, the tomato plant eating rabbit hasn't been seen from. Evidently, my 20 pinwheels and mylar balloon bouquet made them all move on. I don't know if my dollar store toy snakes had an effect of not but I am just glass that they are gone. It was such a simple solution that I may never garden without pinwheels again.

The Impossible Errand List

     It is the end of the school year, the end of the month and my husband has been traveling a lot. I could tell that a list in my mind was growing. I needed to return shoes that didn't fit to one store, a broken cable for a refund to another, a replacement zipper for mending, the copy store- you know those little errands. I felt the mounting pressure. I didn't see how I could get these all done. I thought that I just might have to take a day when my husband got back and drive around doing dumb errands. Or my worse thought was that some of them just might not get done. I hate that because then it is just like losing money. I could get $20 just for bringing the cable back to the Apple Store because we are part of their Apple Care program. I could get $25 for bringing my son's shoes to Target and returning them because they didn't fit. I bought them without him because they were on sale. I could tell that the person waiting for the new zipper was impatient because I found the sweatshirt in the garbage. I took this as a hint that I was taking too long. I am sure that you have had similar lists.
    I decided to write down everything that I needed to do in what I called in my mind "The Impossible Errand List". Well much to my surprise I started to see that the errands- because the list was so long-could be grouped. Some of my errands could be done at the same store and some the same area of town. Encouraged, I organize everything I needed to accomplish the list- the shoes, cable, sweatshirt, coupons, library books, tuba- Oh yes I told you this list was impossible! I made a plan working around two music lessons and a trip to the library and set off with four of my children. I wasn't sure how far we would get but I wanted to try. Miraculously we did it! The whole list! I calculated that we saved a least $150 by doing them. When we came home I made homemade frosties to celebrate. The kids looked a little wilted. It did take a little longer that I anticipated because they were having so much fun shoe shopping at Target's 70% off rack. Next time I will pack some drinks and snacks in the car to keep up our strength. This weekend my family can do something fun together instead of the "Impossible Errand List".


 

Budget Ballet Teacher

    I love our Ballet Studio. Our Ballet instructor keeps all of the fun in ballet and takes out the run away expenses. For example, each year for our recital the girls wear simple lovely tulle skirts over their regular black leotards. Each class has their own color. These skirts are reused every year. They receive a simple handmade hair piece that they get to keep. The girls feel fancy, grown up and elegant. They are comfortable dancing in their leotard that they have practiced in all year instead of some scratchy sequin monster that cost an outrageous amount.

Newspaper Pots

    I have been making newspaper pots for my little sprouts. I just love them. They are free, quick to make, and the right size. I have about 112 and need to make about 72 more. There are many different ways to make these pots. The youtube video that I like and shows the method I use is called

DIY: Newspaper Pots for Seed Starting/Cuttings

and here is the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dlGQP81yfo


    They are sturdy little pots. My daughter had a couple of sheets of pretty tissue paper left over from something and used this method to make a pretty box. It isn't very strong but she is going to keep bobby pins and barrettes in it just for fun. If you used card stock you could make a pretty gift box. Well I better get back to the regular old newspaper ones because these sprouts aren't going to wait. They are growing like crazy!