New opportunities

So, I went out and checked my vegetable garden over the weekend. Things are bad. So bad, in fact, that I'm not going to post a picture of what has gone on. For several reasons, I was not able to get after it this spring (like, we were busy at the garden center?), and a little jaunt out of town, and it's now at the point of giving up. Crabgrass knee high (maybe higher), DEAD tomato plants, you get the drill.

So my new plan? After this current heat spell passes, I'm going to rock out on a fall garden. Last year was really my first concerted effort at a fall garden, and my efforts were fruitful. It's looking like I'm going to have all the space in the world this year to expand.

So, what am I going to plant in this "fall garden"?

One vegetable that I have really grown to enjoy is the turnip. I don't really know why, we don't eat them raw or anything like that. Like many families, we often enjoy a hearty soup or stew as temperatures drop in the fall. For me, all soups now need to contain turnips. Hey, try it. They're really easy.

I'm also going to do some of the regular "cool weather" fare, radishes, green beans, probably a few peas, spinach, leaf lettuce, etc. Now's a great time to plant another quick turn of summer squash as well. (Since my earlier plantings were not all too fruitful, I am not yet sick of squash at this point)

So, what to do? Just pull the old plants out of the garden, if you have weeds, just raise the lawnmower and go over the area. We don't really want to till or disturb the soil heavily for fall planting, so only light cultivation is needed. Plant your seeds a bit deeper than you would have in the spring and water. Yes, watering can be a little difficult during the early days of a fall garden, but once the plants are up, it's pretty smooth sailing.

Now only to get motivated to clean out the mess I have on hand. Hey, the heat index is only 108...

Happy gardening.