What y'all getting ready to plant ?

I'm forsure planting snow peas next month. Rudabagas and beets to.
😎😎😎

To do fall crops here, a person would need to have sown them already.

I am collecting seeds for Winter Sowing in vented containers now.
Mostly alpine and rock garden candidates. They will be sown and placed outside after the weather turns cold.

And we are planting spring flowering bulbs right now. This year I am soaking bulbs in Castor oil solution to keep the voles from becoming interested. The soil is drenched with same after the bulbs are planted.

Have you tried that before, Caroline?

Karen

No, I have not tried this before.
I read about it and decided to try.
There are some granules that you can buy (not here) which have castor oil embedded into them for deterring moles and voles.

Last year, I did a good job planting bulbs so the squirrels did not touch them. Then along came the voles, and they uprooted the bulbs and the critters had a hay day !

I am also spraying that "Predator" spray on trees and fences.

It's a constant battle, isn't it?

Karen

Hi All,

Squirrels, moles and voles? I shudder just to think of them. Luckily, I have only squirrels to contend with and that is because I attached chicken wire to the bottom of my fence a long time ago to keep rabbits out. I know I have to mend the fence now, but it is another project on my to-do list.

Fall is another busy time for me in the garden. I have been transplanting perennials and began to plant spring flowering bulbs this week. Last year I did not have enough chicken wire to place over the bulbs, so squirrels dug them up as soon as I had planted them. They even dug up the bulbs this February/March since it was so warm in January the ground no longer froze! So this fall I am placing chicken wire and netting over the planted bulbs as soon as I cover the bulbs with soil. So there, buggers!

During the last week of August, I sowed oak leaf lettuce, cilantro and Chinese broccoli. I am harvesting cilantro and that lettuce now and transplanted Chinese broccoli seedlings two weeks ago. 😁🤓

Two weeks ago, I also sowed purple kale, red leaf lettuce and planted garlic. All of them have sprouted already.

I am still harvesting tomatoes, peppers and basil. I think I picked the last pole beans and the last zucchini two days ago. Will probably have to pull out the stalks this week.

My next project is building garden hoops/tunnels to cover the lettuce and kale and empty my rain barrels. I am going to try winter gardening again after giving up on my cold frame 27 years ago. I am adopting this gardener's how to on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

@pitimpinai : Hoe ! Thats a doosey of a user name.

Hay !😁thumbs-up to you also.
Re-viveall time for winter garden, WOW ! After 27 years 😮!!! Good charts to you
I think winter gardens are overlooked because they need to be planted before summer veges are finished off, for there season.
Ashame, since sence winter stuff have alot to offer over bleak winter days. Fresh veges, as opposed to store bought.
Best of luck to ya !
😎😎😎

Hi Philip, 🤗💐🤓😁

Thank you.

How is your snow pea doing? Has it sprouted? Has the temperature dropped yet?
I was in Fresno in May when the temp was in the 100s. And I made a connection in Phoenix where it was even hotter. Whoooey!

Re: winter garden, I got the idea from a documentary on PBS. A farmer in Maine was growing vegetables in double layer hoop houses without any heating sources. And I love fresh vegggies, but in winter they are difficult to come by. It pains me to shell out so much $ for organic veggies. Anyhow, nothing beats vegetables from your very own garden, eh?

Hi, Mone! I haven't seen you online in ages. Do you post here often? On which forums?

Do you remember me from GardenWeb and the WS forum? I still have several of your plants growing in my yard, which you so generously shared with me so many years ago. Variegated Solomon's Seal and Rudbeckia Goldstrum for sure came from you. You also gave me a beautiful aster which thrived for years but, sadly, bit the dust a couple of years ago.

Are you still active at GardenWeb? Do you still wintersow?

Karen

Oh, and the only "winter crop" that I plant is garlic. I planted some a couple of days ago.

Karen

Here's what I have going in my fall garden:
corn
bush beans
okra
watermelon
herbs - sage, stevia, lemon balm, lavendar, thyme, basil (3 kinds), chives, rosemary, mint
flowers - calendula, alyssum, roses, verbena
tomatoes - 5 kinds
cabbage
cauliflower
broccoli
Brussel sprouts
onions
garlic
peppers -bell, shishito, sweet banana, poblano, jalapeno
kale
mustard spinach
lettuce
cilantro
potatoes

Probably forgot some, but I'm really excited!

Hi Karen,
Of course, I remember you. I especially remember you sending me a large collection of coleus. I had them growing around my desk at work. Unfortunately a st....id coworker complained to my boss that tiny bugs were flying around the plants.

Are you still winter sowing? Are you growing any vegetable? Are you still working, Karen? Your front garden is more beautiful than ever.

I have not winter sown for a while because my garden is stuffed to the gill. I might winter sow some annuals and a perennial geranium this winter.

This is the first time I got on a gardening forum in several years.
I retired 2 years ago and have been traveling extensively. In fact, I was combing Ohio in the fall of 2015 visiting those fabulous art museums you have in Ohio: Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati. Still plan to go back for others. Planning to go to Cleveland next summer to see Yayoi Kusuma's Infinity Mirrors exhibition.

4-5 years prior to retirement I was so engulfed with work I was not on any gardening websites. I also hate the new GardenWeb format, so I was on it only to post a plant ID question a couple times.

I have also concentrated on expanding my vegetable garden. This is the new veg bed where I just sowed red leaf lettuce and purple kale and planted garlic and Chinese broccoli:

I have also transplanted raspberry Fall Gold and chocolate mint at the junction of the L of the two beds.

I recently built these beds in my next-door neighbor's garden. Very proud of myself. This veg garden is more beautiful than mine. Next year, my neighbors will have a fantastic veg garden:

Karen,

I only planted garlic for the first time last year. I have not checked yet how big the cloves are. It produced a lot of flowers and tiny bulbs this year.

LizDTM,
That is an impressive array of veg you have. And it is your first garden too. I can understand your excitement.

I have not been successful with cauliflower, cabbage, or broccoli. Maybe I will try to grow them again next year.

Currently I have in my veg garden:
-tomatoes. (planted 30+, plus many self-sown seedlings. Sungold was the first to bloom and ripen and is still going strong. Many late ones are ripening everyday. I threw dishwashing water in the garden all summer and now I have tomato seedlings everywhere. )
-kale
-peppers
-basil (Thai and Italian)
-cilantro
-swiss chard
-beets
-carrots
-potato
-mint (5 varieties)
Many flowers are still blooming.

Do you have water shortage in AZ?
We have a major draught in the Chicago area this year. My rain barrels did not give me enough water supply, so I have to irrigate my garden several times and frequently. I am not a happy camper.

I need to drain my rain barrels before going on a trip next month.
These rain barrels are along the north wall of my house. I will raise them higher for better draining:

These rain barrels are along the south side of my garage in my main veg bed:


These rain barrels are on the west side of the garage:


BTW Is Liz DTM as in Distinguished Toastmasters?

Pit. Next time you coming into fresno, tree mail me, we could do lunch.
Summer this year was way heck-o-hot. Probably the most triple digit days in history.
Now, fall.started early ! Last month. Its nice. 80s in day.and darn jacket in mornings lows.

For winter. We dont need need row covers. Mid 20s lows, and 40 to 60s highs. A few days in 70s, and everybodys sweating and putting there shorts and sandels on 😎😎😎 lol.
Missed that show on double hoop houses. Darn-it. Sounds like it will work for you If you got yours set up. Id like to see pics of it. Maybe i could set one up to over-winter a few of my summer veges. Lots of them are actually perienalls. Whats your winters like ?

I'm bummed out 😳!!! No snow peas for me this year. Some neighbor decided to leave there chickens run wild. Even though its illegal to have them in city.
I can't get any help from city or any agency. I have a trap, but with factured arm i cant set trap. 😣 !

Best of luck with double hoop house there buddy-o.
Philip with one L.
😎😎😎

Well, Mone, I hope you'll stick around here. It's really a nice forum with lots of good information and friendly folks. (We did have a good bunch of folks on the old GW WSing forum, but that site went south). I've been on this site since it's inception, and I like it a lot.

I don't think you're supposed to let garlic flower. I cut the scapes off as they shoot up, forcing the plant to put all of it's energy into forming the bulb. My garlic was huge this year, although I planted big varieties (elephant garlic and another big red hard neck one).


Your rain barrels and veggie gardens are impressive. Your flower gardens always were.

I retired early, about 5 years ago. I still grow mostly flowers. The only veggie I usually grow is a few tomatoes, this year lettuce, a few herbs... I haven't wintersown for the past two years. We've spent a month in Florida from mid January through mid February those years, and it sort of makes winter fly by. My gardens are overfull too, so there really isn't much space left to plant new things.

Karen

Hi Philip,
I am getting your name right this time. Sorry. And I called myself an investigator
I sure will tree mail you when I come over. Thank you for the invite and the well wishes for the roll covers.

I am sorry about your snow peas. Can't you surround them with chicken wire? No pun intended. I did not know it is illegal to have chicken in Fresno. I loved the rooster crowing while I was visiting my folks in Fresno. BTW chicken are not illegal in Chicago.
Hey, do you live anywhere near E. McKinley & N. Chestnut by any chance? Those might be the same chicken that ate your snow peas.

Our winter is far colder than yours although it has been increasingly warmer every year. Until early 80s, the temperature of -40/-30, not counting the wind chill, was common, but nowadays, it is only -20/-15 in the suburbs. In the city, we have not seen any temp below -10 in years. Still, that is why I am very excited about the roll covers.

Today I attached tube straps and tube ends to the first frame. Tomorrow I will work on another. I am extremely ambitious; I made 5 big frames. My husband is deriding me saying we are never home in the winter implying what good are the roll covers. Well, at least I can pick some fresh veggies when we are around and transplant tomatoes in March instead of May.

Take care.
Mone

Hi Karen,

Congrats on your early retirement. Do you spend every winter in Florida? Do you ever consider moving down there permanently? A former colleague of mine and her husband moved down there and stayed there for several years after retirement, but she has since moved back after her husband passed away.

I did venture into this site a couple years ago right before I retired but got my head bitten off for suggesting a separate forum for Winter Sowing. You came to the rescue but I was already sore from the nasty remarks, so I did not stick around.
I will this time thanks to you and Philip...... when I am not traveling, that is. 😁

Your garlic is amazing. Thank you for telling me you're not supposed to let garlic flower. What do I know about growing garlic? I just picked up the cloves from a plant swap and planted them without any clue on how to plant them. I will cut off the scapes as you advised. Thank you so very much for coming to my rescue again.😁😁😁

Mone

@pitimpinai yes, DTM as in Distinguished Toastmaster. Not many people get that? Are you also a Toastmaster? Actually, most of this is my second garden. It's just that, well, the spring garden didn't go well. So we're starting again!

LizDTM said:@pitimpinai yes, DTM as in Distinguished Toastmaster. Not many people get that? Are you also a Toastmaster? Actually, most of this is my second garden. It's just that, well, the spring garden didn't go well. So we're starting again!

Hi LizDTM,
I envy your gardening weather since it appears that you can garden year round without much concerns about roll covers. 🤓😁

Yeah, I am a DTMx2. Was involved with TM from 2005 through 2015. I even visited clubs in Ireland and had a blast. I quit after retirement, but I do miss the community from time to time.

Howdy Mone
Your parents in fresno. Are you from fresno. I live about a mile from mckinley and chestnut. I have nothing against chickens, as long as there locked up. Even in the country, animals need to be contained.
Yea ! Id like to suround them chickens with chicken wire. So i could ring there necks. 😁 and have some chicken soup. Pressure cooker will tenderize them.

-10f. Burr ! Sounds cold.compared to mid 20s. But.i use to work with a guy from Boston. I asked him how could stand the minus degree days ? He said : 20 degrees, -40 degrees ! It didn't matter ! Wonce its cold, its !
Its ! just COLD ##!!!

Build-on Mone !!!
😎😎😎