“Why be influenced by another person when you already are one?” – Martin Mull
“There ain’t no rules around here! We’re trying to accomplish something!” Thomas Edison
“Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for.” – Earl Warren
“We had a quicksand box in our backyard. I was an only child, eventually.” -- Steven Wright
IN MY GARDEN
November 2009
Archive In My Garden
Wanna know what I’ve been up to in the garden lately? Well here’s a quick rundown.
In the veggie garden, I began my fall planting in August. The challenge, as always, was getting seeds of cool-season crops to germinate in the summer heat, but frequent watering and a light mulch of shredded leaves kept the soil cool enough to make that happen, and the results have been spectacular.
Since mid-September, we’ve been munching on six different types of lettuce, three kinds of spinach, arugula, baby bok choy, mizuna, mesclun, Japanese red mustard, mustard greens, and carrots. And thanks to moderate temperatures last month and so far this month, I think I’m going to have an acceptable harvest of potatoes. Yummy! I love salads, including potato salads.
I also grew a bunch of veggies in containers, and they too have done well. I used a number of different pots, both glazed and unglazed, and of varying sizes.
I like growing edibles of all kinds in containers throughout the year, but during the fall months in particular they make an attractive alternative to the more predictable mums, asters, and ornamental kale. They may not be quite as colorful, but at least you can eat them.
And I used the new portable planting bags available from Gardener’s Supply Company with excellent results. The black polypropylene bags are available in two sizes, and they come with handles so you can move them around at will, making them ideal for those of you who garden on terraces or have limited space. (To find out more about them, click on the Gardener’s Supply Company ad on this website or go to www.gardeners.com.)
Planting Bags from Gardener Supply
Around here, fall is the best time to sow cool-season turf grasses, and I did just that last month. I went with a mix of tall fescue, rye, and bluegrass – 300 pounds in all. (Hey, I’ve got a big yard!) Thankfully, the grass germinated quickly – and before the leaves began to fall – and my lawn is looking great. I typically reseed again in the spring, but the results aren’t quite as good as the fall seeding.
Speaking of leaves, last year I pledged not to remove a single fallen leaf from my property. Instead, I mulched them directly into the lawn or blew them into adjacent ornamental beds or used them to fill several compost bins. I plan on doing the same thing this year, and I encourage all of you to do likewise. Leaves are an excellent soil amendment, and they contain important (albeit small amounts of) nutrients.
Typically I would have moved several tropical plants growing in containers into the house by now, but again, temperatures have been unusually mild, so I haven’t tackled that task yet. But the time for doing just that is just around the corner – as in any day now – because the mild weather won’t last forever. This year I plan on moving four large palms, a couple of crotons, and my plumerias indoors. I’d like to save even more of what’s on the patio, but I just don’t have enough room. What I really need is a greenhouse!
All in all, I haven’t done all that much gardening. However, I’ve done a tremendous amount of maintenance, and that’s cool. After all, maintenance chores keep me busy and help me burn lots of calories, which means I can eat more than just salads!
