Well, after much encouragement from my best source, (Mom) I have decided to try some late season planting. My first challenge was to find some seeds to plant. I called two stores, and no, they had no seeds left. The third store had some vegetable seeds in stock, so off I went. I bought 5 varieties: lettuce, radishes, onions, peas, and carrots.
The garden is really more of my husband's domain, so I asked if he could expand it. He said there was probably room in the existing area if he cleared out a space near our still oh-so-short corn, and our yet-to-arrive pumpkins. So while I was out chasing down seeds, he was out clearing the garden. To be fair, when I say that I have decided to try some planting, I am using the "I" in much the same way that I sometimes use the "we" when talking with my husband. Here is a probably-not-verbatim, close facsimile of the conversation we had this morning:
Me: So what did you clear out of the garden to make room?
Him: Mostly weeds.
Me: So will there be enough room to plant everything, do you think?
Him: We'll see.
Me: So can we plant them tonight? ( My thinking: after all, according to the information I have, I have until the end of July to plant these, so I am on a timetable here. :)
Him: (Laughing) You're funny.
Me: Ok, will you plant them tonight?
Him: Yes.
So that is the plan. Some of the produce I have chosen to start with supposedly has more time--August 15--to get into the ground, but I don't plan to wait. If something arises, and we (he) can't plant them until tomorrow, hopefully there is a little leeway--as my husband reminded me, there was snow on the ground last month where we live, so sometimes the weather isn't what you expect. I guess you can only do what you can do, and hope for the best.
Now, after having given my husband credit where credit is due, I will officially go back to using "we" when referring to our garden. I'm pretty excited, even though the weather around here had been interesting lately. I'm especially hoping that the "over-winter" (I think that's the terminology) crops turn out, since I don't recall having tried anything like that before. My suggestion to you: try it. Hey, if I can try it, anyone can. I'll let you know how it goes.
By the way, Homesteading Hickory Hills is back, and Johnson Family Farm has some recommendations for planting in their June 28th post. ( I know I mention these blogs a lot, but these people know how to grow gardens!) They live in a different area of the country than we do, so you will probably have to check out what is best for your area. But for procrastinators such as myself, with the "end of July" being the key date mentioned, today is actually the best day for this post... :)
4 comments:
Hey Marie, Way to go!! Glad you got a spot in the garden. haha!! My fall crops aren't doing to well here, only a few of the collards came up, not sure why. I'm gonna replant them this weekend. Thanks for mentioning us and please keep us up to date. Good luck,
Chris
Glad to hear at least some of your collards came up--hopefully something will come of ours. I specifically picked out packets that indicated that the crops were to be planted this time of year, but at least one of them also indicated that it was a "cool weather" crop or something, and it definitely isn't cool here now. We planted them anyway, because I think that the fact that we waited so long to plant our corn when it was cold is the reason we may not get any this season. Ahhh well. You do what you can. Good luck with your next crop!
You are wise to be planting! I put some seeds in yesterday and more are going in in the morning. I am going to start some broccoli and cabbage in the house to keep the soil cool so they will hopefully sprout. It was too cold this spring and now hot for cool crops to start. It is a good time to learn how to start seeds before the big planting season next spring. I ordered some garlic bulbs that will supposedly be planted late and grow next spring...a new crop for me. Thanks for sharing your "adventures" . It is nice to know I am not the only one trying to learn new ways of doing things. I like your blog and I like your links!! I have learned a lot about alternative ways of being prepared for just about anything. Thanks!
I hadn't thought about starting seeds in the house, but think that is a great idea, because it seems a little hot here as well. I also would like to start some garlic, so maybe I will look into that. I find that a lot of the "staples" recipes that I like take garlic, so I have stored some powder, but that will eventually run out... :)
Thank you for your kind words--as for the links, it's amazing how much you can learn from others on the internet!
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