Garden Friday

Welcome to September!

 

It is Garden Friday once again.

It was a week of planting fall crops.

We were able to sow carrots, Detroit beets, 

and 2 more pots of Slenderette green beans.

 

We also took time to reseed Brussels sprouts, Chiaggia beets,

Dino kale and sugar snap peas that hadn't germinated well.

Transplants were done for broccoli and eggplant into larger pots.

I'm happy to report that the Dino kale is up and the eggplant is doing well.

The snap peas are hanging on, but barely,

so they may need to be resown yet again.

Our weather is turning more summer-like this week,

so it may be just too hot for the peas,

but we won't give up on having a fall crop.

We just keep planting seed.

 

One of the main tasks that has needed doing for a while

is transplanting the leek that I started in the "tin can garden"

at the rental house.

This deep, empty tub will do the trick.

Its lid has long since deteriorated,

so it's the perfect candidate for a job like this.

 

The first step was to drill drainage holes in the bottom.

The depth of this bin will be ideal for leek,

as they need to be "banked" with soil as they grow.

This allows the majority of the plant to remain white and tender.

 

As you can clearly see,

these poor souls needed to be transplanted a while ago,

but I just never got around to it.

Leek are long growers.

It can take up to 9 months to get the final product ready for harvest.

 

Once they were removed from the tin cans and six-packs,

the root system was duly admired.

They will be so happy to be able to spread out.

 

Adding just enough soil to cover the roots,

they were happily laid to rest in their new location.

As they mature and lengthen,

soil will be added to the bin to ensure long, white stalks.

We were blessed with a good amount of rain yesterday,

(and more due today),

so all of our crops should be quite content. 

Succession planting will be practiced,

so that the fall crops can keep providing fresh produce

for as long into the cooler months as possible.

This will be our first fall/winter growing season

here in North Carolina,

so it will be a year of learning.

Here's a sneak preview of something I've been working on.

I'll be sharing next week how we're expanding the garden.

Until then, I hope you'll keep those Texans in your prayers.

 Count your blessings this weekend!