I made an idiotic mistake. I actually planted an entire Fall garden, yet I somehow forgot to photograph or record ANY of it! So, for my records, I'm going to just do a rundown list of the vegetables I planted, along with a quick note on the performance of each.
Bush Beans (Bountiful) : These were still in the garden from late summer. I ended up adding another couple vines to the bed. They did very well, growing quickly and producing a lot of beans. I ended up with two full colanders of beans by the end, and they tasted exactly like green beans should taste. They grew very long, and ended up hanging over the edge of the bed. My main mistake with the beans was not giving them something to climb, like a large tomato stand. The bean vines grew very thick, so there wasn't much air flow through the plant. This resulted in some of the beans turning black and moldy/ rotting. Also, allowing the beans to lay on the soil directly also caused rot, and I lost quite a few to nature. The rotted beans also took root, sprouting new plants to compete with the ones I already had. Verdict: They grew very well in the fall temperatures and are easy to care for. I just need to let them climb next time.
Beets (Bulls Blood and Detroit Supreme): I grew these in the summer, but they weren't very large. Upon cleaning out the bed, I discovered that the tomato roots had been choking the beets, so I gave them another chance. During the Fall, they grew much better. Without extra competition, each beet grew to the size of a mandarin orange up to the size of a baseball. I bought the Detroit seeds to make sure that the summer's low yield wasn't just bc I was using an heirloom variety or that I did it wrong. Both cultivars grew extremely well, and continued to grow after the weather cooled significantly, allowing for a good late harvest. Verdict: Beets were definitely worth it as a Fall crop, and I have to remember not to plant them next to other plants with expansive root systems.
Broccoli (Packman Hybrid): I had three broccoli plants. They grew well, but I need to learn more about when to harvest them, etc. The heads never got terribly large, then they would just open up and bolt. My timing was obviously off, but they seemed to grow okay. Verdict: I'd like to keep trying with broccoli, because I need more practice with this plant.
Italian Parsley (removed, but requires notes): During the summer, I had the carrots in the same bed as the Italian Parsley. When I pulled up the parsley, it had a root ball the size of a basketball, with roots stretching out all the way to the other end of that bed. I think the parsley stunted the carrots and severely reduced the peas, possibly causing their constant demise. Verdict: The next time I grow parsley, I'm going to bury a large-diameter PVC pip vertically into the bed to restrict the roots from extending so far.
Carrots (Danvers): The carrots did awesome. Without the parsley crowding them, they grew long and thick. The sowbugs liked getting down and staying near them. I'm not sure if that's all good, but the carrots didn't seem to be adversely affected. The carrots stayed out in the beds as I picked them one or two at a time for the bunnies. The final carrots were the hardest to pull, since the soil in the beds was nearly frozen by the time I got around to harvesting them. They were still good, even well into late November. Verdict: Carrots will always be in my garden.
Cauliflower (Snowball): This did not do well. The plants grew much more slowly than broccoli. The heads took a long time to form, then a longer time to swell up into cauliflower. By the time the heads were big enough to harvest, the heads had gone all mushy. Verdict: I'll try again, but I definitely need more practice.
Cucumber (Burpless Beauty): These actually grew very well, though I didn't get many cucumbers. The fault is my own, since I obviously didn't get them started until too late in the season. I harvested a couple small cucumbers that were incredibly tasty, but the rest of the cucumbers on the vine just didn't get to mature. Verdict: A very easy, hardy plant that will definitely be added to my garden again next summer.
Kale (Lacinato): Dino Kale grew extremely well. The plants grew quickly- just as well as they had in summer, but without the bug problems. And the bunnies go crazy over it. Verdict: Kale is awesome.
Peas (Amish Snap and Super Sugar Snap): I bought a second type of pea to try both this fall. The Amish performed similarly to the summer- they just never seem to do very well. The Super Sugar Snap peas grew very strong, with nice thick vines and extremely tasty pea pods. I didn't get many peas off of them though. Verdict: I may try them again in the ground somewhere on my property, but I won't use precious space in my beds for peas again next year.
Spinach (America): The spinach grew well, with good leaves and an excellent taste. The plants didn't get very large, though, which leads me to think that I didn't get these planted early enough either. Verdict: I'll keep practicing with timing and harvesting.
So, I got some good things out of the fall garden. I planted it almost as an afterthought (in early September), which was obviously too late a start for many of the vegetables. Since I'll actually be PLANNING on having a fall garden next year, I'll establish a definite cutoff date for the summer season, instead of just letting everything sit there to see how long they'll last. I learned that Zone 7a has a nice long fall for cool-weather crops, and as long as I can get them germinated and established before the cool weather actually sets in, I should be able to have a decent harvest from two different seasons next year.
Bush Beans (Bountiful) : These were still in the garden from late summer. I ended up adding another couple vines to the bed. They did very well, growing quickly and producing a lot of beans. I ended up with two full colanders of beans by the end, and they tasted exactly like green beans should taste. They grew very long, and ended up hanging over the edge of the bed. My main mistake with the beans was not giving them something to climb, like a large tomato stand. The bean vines grew very thick, so there wasn't much air flow through the plant. This resulted in some of the beans turning black and moldy/ rotting. Also, allowing the beans to lay on the soil directly also caused rot, and I lost quite a few to nature. The rotted beans also took root, sprouting new plants to compete with the ones I already had. Verdict: They grew very well in the fall temperatures and are easy to care for. I just need to let them climb next time.
Beets (Bulls Blood and Detroit Supreme): I grew these in the summer, but they weren't very large. Upon cleaning out the bed, I discovered that the tomato roots had been choking the beets, so I gave them another chance. During the Fall, they grew much better. Without extra competition, each beet grew to the size of a mandarin orange up to the size of a baseball. I bought the Detroit seeds to make sure that the summer's low yield wasn't just bc I was using an heirloom variety or that I did it wrong. Both cultivars grew extremely well, and continued to grow after the weather cooled significantly, allowing for a good late harvest. Verdict: Beets were definitely worth it as a Fall crop, and I have to remember not to plant them next to other plants with expansive root systems.
Broccoli (Packman Hybrid): I had three broccoli plants. They grew well, but I need to learn more about when to harvest them, etc. The heads never got terribly large, then they would just open up and bolt. My timing was obviously off, but they seemed to grow okay. Verdict: I'd like to keep trying with broccoli, because I need more practice with this plant.
Italian Parsley (removed, but requires notes): During the summer, I had the carrots in the same bed as the Italian Parsley. When I pulled up the parsley, it had a root ball the size of a basketball, with roots stretching out all the way to the other end of that bed. I think the parsley stunted the carrots and severely reduced the peas, possibly causing their constant demise. Verdict: The next time I grow parsley, I'm going to bury a large-diameter PVC pip vertically into the bed to restrict the roots from extending so far.
Carrots (Danvers): The carrots did awesome. Without the parsley crowding them, they grew long and thick. The sowbugs liked getting down and staying near them. I'm not sure if that's all good, but the carrots didn't seem to be adversely affected. The carrots stayed out in the beds as I picked them one or two at a time for the bunnies. The final carrots were the hardest to pull, since the soil in the beds was nearly frozen by the time I got around to harvesting them. They were still good, even well into late November. Verdict: Carrots will always be in my garden.
Cauliflower (Snowball): This did not do well. The plants grew much more slowly than broccoli. The heads took a long time to form, then a longer time to swell up into cauliflower. By the time the heads were big enough to harvest, the heads had gone all mushy. Verdict: I'll try again, but I definitely need more practice.
Cucumber (Burpless Beauty): These actually grew very well, though I didn't get many cucumbers. The fault is my own, since I obviously didn't get them started until too late in the season. I harvested a couple small cucumbers that were incredibly tasty, but the rest of the cucumbers on the vine just didn't get to mature. Verdict: A very easy, hardy plant that will definitely be added to my garden again next summer.
Kale (Lacinato): Dino Kale grew extremely well. The plants grew quickly- just as well as they had in summer, but without the bug problems. And the bunnies go crazy over it. Verdict: Kale is awesome.
Peas (Amish Snap and Super Sugar Snap): I bought a second type of pea to try both this fall. The Amish performed similarly to the summer- they just never seem to do very well. The Super Sugar Snap peas grew very strong, with nice thick vines and extremely tasty pea pods. I didn't get many peas off of them though. Verdict: I may try them again in the ground somewhere on my property, but I won't use precious space in my beds for peas again next year.
Spinach (America): The spinach grew well, with good leaves and an excellent taste. The plants didn't get very large, though, which leads me to think that I didn't get these planted early enough either. Verdict: I'll keep practicing with timing and harvesting.
So, I got some good things out of the fall garden. I planted it almost as an afterthought (in early September), which was obviously too late a start for many of the vegetables. Since I'll actually be PLANNING on having a fall garden next year, I'll establish a definite cutoff date for the summer season, instead of just letting everything sit there to see how long they'll last. I learned that Zone 7a has a nice long fall for cool-weather crops, and as long as I can get them germinated and established before the cool weather actually sets in, I should be able to have a decent harvest from two different seasons next year.