Fall radishes from seed of spring plants!

These radishes have answered one question I had. I found that you can plant a spring crop of radishes, let a few go to seed, collect the seeds and then re-sow them in the fall. That's pretty good to know!

A cherry tomato plant in chicken wire!

This picture hurts my eyes every time I look at it, but the chicken wire is what saved this last remaining plant as all the others have been eaten up by critters. Amazingly, it’s also still producing fruit!

Everything else is pretty much kaput for this year. Even my late planting of romaine lettuce hasn’t panned out. Maybe the seed was too old, I’m not sure. In any case, I’ve decided to turn all the beds over in preparation for the coming winter. A winter that is forecast to be long, cold and snowy by the way. It would get a chance, do read the forecast carefully. I’m in agreement that things may get a little wacky with climate extremes due to some of the things going on with the sun (solar minimum) and with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Remember how this summer was? That’s also part of the same pattern, so you have been forewarned!

Time to plant some fall lettuce!

As I have some romaine seed left over from the spring plantings, I thought it might be a good idea to great a few fall heads before the serious cold sets in. Since I have two small cold frames, I know from experience that I can raise the lettuce to the point where they will go into a form of hibernation over most of the winter months. If I time everything just right, I’ll be eating lettuce right through the month of December.

To start my seeds, I will be using a couple of six pack growing cells which will get two seeds each and I also plant to direct seed in a small area out in front of my home. The starting mix for the indoor trays will be Miracle Gro’s potting mix, or in plainer language, some mix I had left over from the spring. I let these sit in warm water for a few hours then planted the seed very close to the surface. I’ve found that lettuce seeds, in particular, respond to a process called ‘photo-activation’. Doing it that way, I get really fast germination, typically two to three days!

Once the seeds get to be about two inches high, they will go into the cold frames which are open at this time of year. I’ll do a short blog on that process in a couple or three weeks when my seedlings get to proper size.

Update: This is a fine how do you do! Nothing came up! Hmm, maybe the seed was too old. It could also be the gardener....

Dried basil is the best!

This time most every year, I have a decent crop of basil plants growing here and there. I always try to plant some for drying purposes since I love to use dried basil during the winter for both my chili and spaghetti dishes. Basil is one herb that retains its essential oils rather well over the winter time if they have been properly dried first.

My method of drying involves a simple process. I gather the leaves then cut them up unto small pieces with a knife. Note that I do not wash the leaves first! That would remove the very oil you are trying to preserve! Inspect them carefully and remove any foreign matter. Next I take a cookie pan from the oven, cover it with paper towels and then will sprinkle the leaf pieces evenly over the top. Over this will go a cooking drying grill that helps to keep the dried leaves safe from the winds. That done, all there is left to do is leave the tray in a sunny location for the day and voila, you have dried leaves that can be crushed by hand and then stored in a suitable container.

A meager, but fitting, harvest on a fine Sunday in August!

OK, I know this is not much to look at, especially when my neighbors are now bring in bushel baskets full from their estate gardens. It is August after all, the month of high harvest and plenty. But, perhaps God is sending me a message.

Perhaps the Lord is reminding me that I will be taken care of to the extent I need caring for. After all, the animals outside also had a hard summer of too much heat and too little water. They were also taken care of and were given the major portion of my labors this season. And, just maybe, that is also a good thing.

A new beginning: Fall plantings!

After weathering stifling heat, all summer with little to show in my humble garden (it all burned up), I have bravely gone out and planted anew. The moderating temperatures helped get me out there again. Also, something ate the rabbits which were eating my crops, so that was another good point in favor of a renewed effort on my part.

As a cooler regime seems to be headed this way, it being late August and all, I decided to plant some radishes and lettuce. I did this last week after clearing out the weeds I’d let accumulate in both raised beds. I used a space of about four feet square and used up pretty much the remainder of my Little Caesar romaine seed. I also went ahead and planted a row of Cherry Belle radish as well as a row of kale, using seed that I had harvested from a single plant earlier in the growing season. To my amazement, many of the seeds germinated rather quickly and now I actually have hope of salvaging has been a meager growing season. I’ll just have to wait, water and weed now until the late fall harvest (I hope)!

The rising cost of vegetables at our stores!

Here is a table that compares the cost of vegetables at a local grocery where I live in Forsyth Missouri. Note the 21% increase in just one year. This is not a scientific study, but a casual comparison.  Yet, it's just another good reason to raise your own!