chelle said:Neat! Flowers for enjoyment first, and veggies to eat later.

Exactly. No reason why one can't "dress up" the veggie beds. And crocus are so early that they don't interfere with veggie growing, that is for sure. The only reason I don't plant crocus actually in those beds is that I put compost on early each spring. That would be after the flowers are done but I would end up smothering the leaves. And they need those leaves to make the following years bulb.

Good thinking! Do you still have a lot of bulbs left to plant, Rita?

I am going to have to scramble too Chelle. Mostly I have sweet potatoes to get dug before Wed. night and all the remaining peppers. The rest has floating row cover to pull over or can take a light frost. I was hoping to have a few bouquets if we go to market on Sat. But unless I cover the flowers too that won't happen.

Doing very well on the planting but still going to be planting for a while yet. Some days I get more done than others. But it is really going to be nice come spring.

This is it for our tomatoes this year...this is all I'm bringing in. Oh, except for the cherry tomatoes that still need to be picked.





Last of the summer squash and peppers, too.





I suppose I should bring pumpkins in, too? I can never remember how much cold they can take. ...until it's too late.



Shoot, Arlene. I didn't realize y'all were going to get frost already as well. Can the potatoes wait so you can spend that time covering the bouquet flowers? I know that I leave my potatoes in-ground well after the first freeze. Hasn't seemed to bother them any yet.

A nice harvest chelle. Especially for this late in the year.

I finally have a few snap pea flowers! Clearly, I planted them later than I should have.

Oh, well, guessing wrong the first you try a fall crop isn't as embarrassing as most of my gardening blunders.

Oh oh. Well, you will know better next year. But really timing for the planting of the fall peas is most important for success.

I was wincing as I planted them, because it was so warm.

Ont he other hand, my spring peas were planted "months late" so that they were 'early summer peas" ... and did great.

Probably because my summer is so mild.

Probably. Peas would never last thru the summer here. Never.

Do you happen to know whether it is the daytime highs they can't stand, or the night-time lows that they need? Or hours of daylight?

Idle curiosity.

I'm speculating that they need "enough" daytime warmth and sun to get them to grow, because my August 19 peas grew REALLY slowly compared to my (May? June?) peas. And they are still a foot or two shorter.

For peas, they can't take high summer heat. They wither and die.

Chelle, nice harvest and I like the bouquet. The pumpkin is really cute. Did you paint it? Irish potatoes can take the cold but sweet potatoes cannot. I got all but a partial row dug after the baby was picked up tonight so I should be able to easily dig the remaining tomorrow night then cover the flowers Wed. night before i leave. I have tons of fabric already lying around in the garden for that purpose and really, all I need do is drape it over them. We may not even get frost but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

My peas are barely 6" tall Rick so don't feel bad. I have never done fall peas and I knew they were late but it was my third planting. I just couldn't get them to germinate. So, I'll probably drape cover over them as well, a bit trickier since they are on a fence. And I didn't really have spring/summer peas either so at least you had that!

We never even got to have fried green tomatoes this summer. The ones I have are too small to really amount to anything so I'll probably be yanking them out.

Ok, so it's not really that they need COOL weather, its that they can't stand HOT weather. So I could grow them from late may through September, and just know that a rare heat wave might knock them out, some years.

>> My peas are barely 6" tall Rick so don't feel bad. ...
>> I just couldn't get them to germinate.

I have the same problem with spring peas. Cold, wet clay soil.

I liked someone's idea for 'early" peas: first soak the peas overnight, then set them indoors on wet paper towels until the root emerges. THEN plant them. Now, if I can just plan a few days ahead and have time and no rain to plant them, out ...

Presprouting is a good idea. Just remember it doesn't guarantee they will grow.
My spring was cold and wet (soggy) and clay soil as well. Didn't help they were planted at the bottom of the slope so they got more than their share of the run off. There's always next year but I'm going to really try to wrap them at night if it's going to frost because I really, really want some peas this year!

RickCorey said: Cold, wet clay soil.

I liked someone's idea for 'early" peas: first soak the peas overnight, then set them indoors on wet paper towels until the root emerges. THEN plant them. Now, if I can just plan a few days ahead and have time and no rain to plant them, out ...

Definitely worth a shot, but not guaranteed. I did this last year and that batch still didn't grow.

I think Rita's idea of filling large containers with planting medium now, for next year's spring crop, is the best yet. That soil will warm much faster than any other, and drain properly too. I have one ready now, and I hope to get another set up yet this week.



Arlene, can you tell I've never grown edible sweet potatoes? Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Don't their stalks die back after blooming, like the others do?

chelle said:
I think Rita's idea of filling large containers with planting medium now, for next year's spring crop, is the best yet. That soil will warm much faster than any other, and drain properly too. I have one ready now, and I hope to get another set up yet this week.

This past spring I put my in ground peas in 3 weeks before I planted my potted peas. They sprouted after my much later planted potted peas. I fact some of the pots sprouted in about 4 days. Amazingly fast for that time of year.

Newyorkrita said:

This past spring I put my in ground peas in 3 weeks before I planted my potted peas. They sprouted after my much later planted potted peas. I fact some of the pots sprouted in about 4 days. Amazingly fast for that time of year.

Another advantage to the pots is that I could drag them into really sunny spots. Taking advantage of the fact that the sun hit different areas of the garden for really long periods in different locations than it does in mid summer. So pots were good for all sorts of reasons.

Chelle, sweet potato vines do not die back like irish potato stalks. They just keep growing and growing! Unless there is frost. That would kill them.

Ah...I see. Thanks, again!


My first rutabaga! Think it's big enough?

Now I know the proper time to plant these here.

OH my gosh! what a whopper of a rutabaga. I don't think any of mine are that big but now I will just have to go look.