The Weekly Watch

Fall for Gardens

Many people think gardening season is winding down, and it is true the summer crops are playing out. However, fall is a great gardening season in my corner of the world. It is the best time for some of the healthiest garden produce...leafy greens. Those of you in more northern locations can still put in young plants. Most garden centers offer plants or sets. So, it is still hot and dry here and it makes it difficult to think about cool fall season crops, but it is time...past time. After we get the fall garden going today we'll take a glance around the world to see what's happening...

fall garden.jpg

So what can you plant in the fall? More than you might think. Of course it does depend on where you live, so below I've included planting guides for several states around the country. First a couple of general links and information....
https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/fall-garden-vegetables...
https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/08/vegetables-fall-garden.html

North Carolina
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/growing-a-fall-vegetable-garden
Texas
https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/browse/featured-solutions/gardening-l...
Alabama
https://bonnieplants.com/fall-gardening/
Minnesota
https://extension.umn.edu/planting-and-growing-guides/planting-vegetable...
California
https://www.ufseeds.com/learning/planting-schedules/california-vegetable...

fall veggies_1.jpg

Our favorite fall crops include Kale, collards, various lettuces, spinach, Swiss Chard, peas, and parsley. We keep a parsley salad going most of the time. Parsley (and cilantro) are so easy to grow in the garden or a container. They are also inexpensive in the grocery and are very nutrient rich. More vitamin C than an orange. We like flat leaf Italian parley.
Parsley salad...
Take about two cups of coarsely chopped parsley leaves, a bit of onion and a minced clove or two of garlic, about 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, juice of about 1/2 lemon. We often add crushed nuts...pecans, pine nuts, or walnuts. Then we add to it to keep it going. You can use basil instead if you like. We use this salad with eggs in the AM, as a tossed salad topping, or a side with dinner. Easy, tasty, and nutritious.

Parsley is easy to grow and a great crop to get started....
Growing parsley in the garden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSjrjY4X8uM (14 min)
Parsley production in containers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp4mny_z6vc (11 min)

Collards are my favorite garden green. Traditionally they were cooked in lard in a cast iron skillet. My typical way to cook them is in a pot of water with a large onion coarsely chopped and a good dollop of olive oil (a chunk of fatback is more traditional), and a bit of salt. Cook until tender. Another delicious and nutritious dish. Serve with pepper sauce https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKpDFDY29uU (3.5 min)
You can buy plants and set them in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YnUHL_-ZrM (8 min)
or direct seed them in the garden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56pz4Ra1IpE (7 min)

It is so nice to go to the garden and get lettuce for a fresh salad. Again these crops are also easy to grow in containers. We typically use row covers as cold weather approaches and have managed to over winter lettuce and harvest from the same plants through the spring. Single digits will do them in, and we sometimes have cold weather like that.
Planting lettuce https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZs5IQ7vWZM (9 min)
Growing in containers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4nlJ2u248k (3.5 min)

Ever made kale chips? They are pretty dog gone good.
https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-kale-chips/
https://ohsheglows.com/2014/03/12/6-tips-for-flawless-kale-chips-all-dre...

cover crops.jpg

Suppose you're just beginning your garden. Then instead of planting veggies, you might consider a cover crop to improve your soil. September is a good time to plant fall cover crops that will remain in the garden over the winter, although you can plant them later in mild climates.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/grains/cover-crops/cover-crop-pl...

In my area I like crimson clover (trifolium incarnatum) as a nitrogen source and soil fertility builder. Winter pea and fava beans are also an option. If you're trying to build organic matter, Rye (not rye grass) is a big producer. In fact one year I planted rye and winter peas together. The peas climbed the rye and made a great mulch. It try to cut the rye before seed set (in the boot stage) Be aware these crops will attract deer, so plant them inside your garden fence, or away from the garden to attract the deer elsewhere.
https://www.highmowingseeds.com/blog/keep-it-covered-how-to-choose-fall-...
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/farm-seed-cover-crops/librar...

crimson clover_0.jpg

Annual rye grass is a good option where you have bare soil. It grows quickly. I let it go through the spring when it naturally dies creating a standing mulch. It does well mixed with crimson clover if you want an added punch of nitrogen.

If you plant a legume, it will fix more nitrogen if the seed is inoculated with the correct rhizobium bacteria. https://www.groworganic.com/media/pdfs/legume-l.pdf
The rhizobia species must match the legume species. Alfalfa inoculant will not work on beans and bean inoculant will not work on alfalfa. Powder legume inoculants should indicate how many pounds or bushels of seed the inoculant will cover; never use less than the recommended amount of inoculant for the given quantity of seed. If conditions are particularly hot or dry when planting, if the inoculant is old or has been stored improperly, or if the land has never been cultivated with legumes, then double the amount of inoculant per quantity of seed.
https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A130/welcome.html

Where to buy inoculant...
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/tools-supplies/inoculants/
https://www.groworganic.com/cover-crop-seeds/inoculants.html

I typically plant 50 pound of crimson clover in the fall. To inoculate the seed, I empty my bag of seed into the wheel barrow. I wet the seed slightly with a sugar or honey water to act as a sticker. Mix with a hoe until all the seed are slightly wet and sticky. Add the pack of inoculant...a black peat based culture. Stir with the hoe until it seems all the seed have a black speck or two. Dry the seed by adding lime and mixing with the hoe until all the seed are coated. Then broadcast the seed on prepared ground, or overseed over grasses and summer cover crops (farmers would drill it in).

rhizobia.png

The symbiotic relationship between legumes and the bacteria is quite interesting, but not necessary to understand in order to take advantage of this gift of turning air into fertilizer. http://labs.bio.unc.edu/Vision/pmabs/rhizobium.activity2.pdf
https://www.csun.edu/~hcbio027/biotechnology/lec10/lindemann.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You would think I would learn, but after spending a couple of hours this morning collecting stories I once again forgot to save after previewing and liking the complete piece. I hit publish instead and lost that work. I'll add some comment with some of the better stories...they are still in my history.

Share
up
0 users have voted.

Comments

Lookout's picture

to me this week involves all the fires...from the arctic to the tropics.

Arctic fires
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11072019/arctic-wildfires-alaska-clim...
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2019/07/25/Arctic-wildfires-continue-to...

Amazon

the fires are up essentially 80% over the same period last year, but we’re also seeing other symptoms, like deforestation rates also being up, you know, in a very terrifying way in recent months, and the pressures and threats that indigenous peoples are facing on the ground from the illegal miners, from the land grabbers, from the loggers.

Video or text - part one and part two

The fires are the product of Bolsonaro's policies that prioritize agribusiness over people—especially indigenous people, says Amazon Watch's Christian Poirier (video or text)
https://therealnews.com/stories/the-amazon-is-burning-at-a-record-rate

“Just a gentle reminder that the fires in the Amazon are intentional," said Muse. "It's not a forest fire type situation. It's an intentional setting ablaze of the forest by the fascist Brazilian government, agribusiness, and ranching oligarchs."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/23/our-lungs-are-fire-climate-...

Both Israel and the US CIA were knee deep in the coup against Dilma and Lula creating the election of Bolsonaro
https://original.antiwar.com/cook/2018/11/07/with-brazils-bolsonaro-isra...
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-cia-has-its-fingerprints-on-brazil...

Climate campaigners demonstrated outside the Brazilian embassies in London, Paris, and Madrid on Friday to protest what they say is the Bolsonaro regime's role in dozens of fires that have ravaged large swathes of the Amazon rainforest over the past three weeks.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/23/our-lungs-are-fire-climate-...

Media Blackout on Brazil’s Anti-Bolsonaro Protests
Why are New York Times and Guardian downplaying resistance to Brazil’s far-right president?
https://fair.org/home/media-blackout-on-brazils-anti-bolsonaro-protests/
https://fair.org/home/reporting-on-global-crises-like-amazon-fires-media...

When you connect the dots the US almost always is implicated.

Edit to add...
https://rebellion.earth/2019/08/23/newsletter-28-murder-in-the-amazon/

up
0 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

mhagle's picture

I have been working on the fall garden since June. Sadly, we have not had rain since June 29. My husband's water capture system lasted 43 days. Pretty great for watering every day! Now I am paying for my water. Skimping trying to keep stuff alive. It only takes 3 inches of rain or less to fill the entire 2700 gallon system.

Peanuts look pretty good. I planted them in the onion patch after harvest. Planting out tomato plants I started in July.

We need rain. Grasshoppers are here and munching. Rain gives them a fungus and kills them.

Our family had a lovely small vacation last week. A very long time since we have done that. My cousin, her husband and daughter met us at a cabin on a remote beach on the gulf. Beautiful. Enjoyed the waves. Fished. Caught crabs. Ate crabs and shrimp, corn, potatoes one night. Gumbo with left over shrimp the next. Kids played board games. My cousin and I visited at length and solved the mysteries of the universe.

up
0 users have voted.

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Lookout's picture

@mhagle

I love the white beaches and dune fields of the gulf.

Hope you get rain soon. We went 3+ weeks without any and finally got 1.5" It filled our 2000 gallon cisterns. Still kinda dry here although it is raining nearby according to the radar, and more predicted next week.

Happy gardening!

up
0 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Raggedy Ann's picture

Thanks for the gardening info and recipes. We’re still waiting to hear on the availability of our well-driller. Until we get water, we can barely haul enough to keep everything going, so a garden must wait. Water is life. I worry about the world’s water.

We didn’t get the monsoonal rains we have in the past. Climate change, sigh, I am experiencing effects as is Marilyn above.

Have loads of work to do today - better get at it.

Have a productive Sunday, folks! Pleasantry

up
0 users have voted.

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Lookout's picture

@Raggedy Ann

There are several approaches...
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/new-solar-powered-device-can-pul...
https://newatlas.com/airdrop-wins-james-dyson-award/20471/
https://upliftconnect.com/capturing-fresh-water/

But it would probably be cheaper to drill a well. Best of luck with your project

up
0 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Raggedy Ann's picture

@Lookout
which has helped us stave off drilling for a number of years. With declining rainfall, a well is imminent.

up
0 users have voted.

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Thanks as usual for all your hard work putting this together each week. Reading about you forgetting to save, cannot tell you how many times D.O. would tell me, do a draft and save as I would lose another piece I was working on.

Plan to be in Santa Fe until December so will read what would be good for Fall balcony garden here in Santafe.

Now must stop enjoying the bird music and cool and get some things done. Good day to all.

up
0 users have voted.

Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.

This ain't no dress rehearsal!

Lookout's picture

@jakkalbessie

I did the same thing a couple of weeks ago. This is the 140th WW and I've forgotten to save twice...in the last couple of weeks. I think I've really learned my lesson this time.

I often write a comment and forget to save, but I've gotten better about that too.

Containers work great for the fall crops, so good luck with your project!

Been to Santa Fe once several years ago and played a dance there. Brought a nice money clip from an older first nations woman in the market square. It had a piece of turquoise incorporated. I asked her where the stone came from. She answered, "found it". I bought it and carried it for years before I lost it some where. Enjoy your winter there!

up
0 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Azazello's picture

Here's some stuff worth watching.
This one is a must see, if you haven't seen it already.
Jimmy Dore and Aaron Maté: NYTIMES Pathetic Apology For Russiagate Coverage Failure, YouTube, 49 min.
From The Hill, Christopher Leonard, Author of Kochland, talks new book, YouTube, 11 min.
Two more interviews with Tulsi Gabbard, from Rolling Stone: YouTube, 1 hr. and from MCSC Network W/ Niko House: YouTube, 28 min.
And finally, there's this little piece from Fellow Travelers: Empire of Ignorance, Ignorance of Empire with handy map.

Have a nice day.

up
0 users have voted.

We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

Lookout's picture

@Azazello

Thanks for all the links. Another good grayzone piece with Max Blumenthal and Aaron ...
https://thegrayzone.com/2019/08/25/max-blumenthal-us-sanctions-on-venezu...

up
0 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Azazello's picture

@Lookout
I'm watching it now, very good.
I'll link it in tomorrow's EB if joe doesn't catch it.

up
0 users have voted.

We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

Lookout's picture

@Azazello

I'll link it in tomorrow's EB if joe doesn't catch it.

I'm usually a day late and a dollar short on the EB and so rarely comment. However, I find Joe's work to be the best news summary out there. He catches so many important, ignored stories.

up
0 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

wendy davis's picture

garden, both to protect from cold in the spring (and late fall if one chooses) and protect young transplants from the sun...and birds who just love to snag those young plants, the peckerwoods!

we buy the widths and thicknesses that work for us, then buy big giant loops of heavy wire to cut into hoops to cover with the cloth. we use those giant (allegedly) stainless steel staples to peg the covers to the ground. the rain and sun pass thru the fabric.

now i will admit that they're not foolproof. some of the wilier and more persistent magpies will jump on the fabric like it's a bloody trampoline, and poke holes in the cloth with their beaks...sometimes even tear it the scalawags.

now that our garden is so small, i think the only edible greens we grow are cannabis plants, although we dry the high CBD varieties and put in capsules . ; ) they sure are gorgeous plants. make nice floral arrangement foliage, as well.

up
0 users have voted.

@wendy davis
simple, cheap and flexible
deer and woodchuck filters as well.

Thanks

up
0 users have voted.
wendy davis's picture

@QMS

but i think deer would just mow em down, and woodchucks would crawl underneath. i used to fashion these great Tomato Deer Protectors© from tall bamboo stakes woven into fruit tree netting...they worked great! ...until one hungry beast or two decided ripe tomatoes smelled yummy, and they'd crash through them. gotta say, when i saw one doe pluck a whole tomato plant out by the roots, and carried it away like a christmas tree with red ornaments dangling, i laughed until i cried. finally, we fenced the whole damn garden w/ that kinda fencing (cyclone wire), an what a pain in the ass for getting in and out now.

it wouldn't keep an avid bear or coonie out, either. and so it goes....

up
0 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

@wendy davis
...but they can take our place away from us....seizing what we have accomplished. I buy my dope as a result wishing I could grow it. I know I can grow better than I buy...just like my other vegetables.

We also use row covers over our lettuce. It is a daily task in cool/cold weather...to uncover in the AM and cover again in the PM. Not too bad a task. Not having to deal with that yet, but it's coming in a month or so. Other time consuming tasks fortunately abate about that time....things like mowing and so on.

I enjoyed your story of gifts today. Could not think of a meaningful comment except to say I wish you continued healing. I believe diet is a great healer as well as various herbs. Don't know enough to suggest a specific remedy, but wish you well and continued cognitive improvement.

I'm confident limiting your carbs to lessen the effects of insulin would be beneficial, but have no other advice except to keep on keeping on. I appreciate your view point and wish you the best!

up
0 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

wendy davis's picture

@Lookout

approved recreational MJ as well, but it's taxed thru the roof by any of the entities who can get a piece. i wish you could grow it legally as well.

glad you liked the vignette, but yes, i have my own ways of healing my dementia, carbs/insulin makes no sense to me, but CBDs have helped with my ginormous hegg-aches and prisms in my vision, as well as any number of pieces as medicines, especially east indian ones, and shiitake mushrooms are supposed to help, as well. kinda glad you hadn't given me advice on that vignette, to say the truth, a well-intentioned as you may have been. ; )

up
0 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

@wendy davis

diet advice is like religion and political advice....useless. We all must find our own way!

Here's to a good path for us all!

up
0 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

wendy davis's picture

@Lookout

you'd uncover, then recover your plants' row covers.

and yes, you seem to believe that diet can heal everything, and may it be that you never receive massive enough trauma to your brain or body that your belief is challenged. but sure: oh, add a bit more ginko biloba, tra la la...how about a bit more turmeric? i will offer that i did bodywork and soul/spirit work professionally for 30 years or more, and learned that 'you are what you eat' is a very limited concept by my lights. i'll also add that except for that non-elective knee surgery, i hadn't been to a doc in all those decades, and never.will.again.

and we may be talking past one another, but the reason i'd mentioned i was glad you hadn't made dietary suggestions on the gift thread was that on my margaret and charlie vignette, you'd brought up the firefox bibles, then later noted that the author/editor is in prison for pedophilia, or close to that. yes, it kinda killed the joy buzz, imo. and really the vignette wasn't about ancient wisdom so much, but 'in the eye of the beholder' and all that.

anyway, my best to you, and may you and yours stay healthy and vibrant as long as possible.

up
0 users have voted.
magiamma's picture

Thanks for the great fall gardening advice. Bookmarked. We are still having a very warm late summer. The news about the wild fires is so disturbing. If the trees along the coast get burned it will disrupt the whole of the Amazonian rain cycle which transpires from the coast to the mountains. Not good. I am visualizing World regime change for a Climate Future. Have a good one..,

up
0 users have voted.

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Lookout's picture

@magiamma

...but one must observe what is happening and it ain't hopeful.

None the less I think we must do what we can do. I wonder what our c99 folks are thinking about...

strike_1.png

XR is looking at it as a turning point. I hope so....

Still contemplating my action here in my corner of the world.

up
0 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

enhydra lutris's picture

expansion, so this is timely. Stashed for lter re-read, so thanks again.

up
0 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Lookout's picture

@enhydra lutris

Happy gardening!

up
0 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”