Fall Garden | Food Production and Preservation | Forums

i planted one raised bed next to my greenhouse about 3 weeks ago. i plan to frame out a cover using an old glass/screen door as a cover.

i purchased some seedlings from the local produce market that were out back and long forgotten. i got two flats for $3 of cabbage, kale, broccoli, and brussel sprouts. i'm not sure how well they'll do, but for 3 dollards i said "what the hell." they actually look o.k., we'll see if they were stressed too much for growth. i interplanted radishes, lettuce, bok choy, mizuna and corn salad. if the brassicas don't do well, the raised bed won't be a wash.

the vegetables that i succession planted a few weeks ago are doing well. i have more tomatoes, zucchini, sweet peppers, cabbage, broccoli, and greens that will be ready in the next couple of weeks.

i also planted herbs in pots. my raised bed herb garden did awesome and i wanted to keep the fresh herbs going. we have a south-facing bay window in the dining room, so we are looking forward to fresh basil, parsley, cilantro, rosemary, sage, etc. all year long.

i'm also going to plant a few raised beds of root crops in october. a few years ago i had a couple of raised beds of turnips, carrots, and parsnips that didn't grow at all through the summer, but came up the next spring as soon as the ground got warm enough. i did it on purpose last fall, and we had root crops in march and april this year.

if anyone is interested in a year-round garden, check out eliot coleman's four season harvest book.

ie=UTF8&qid=1346373055&sr=1-1&keywords=eliot+coleman

i'd be interested in hearing your thoughts if you do visit. i've learned a lot from his books and videos on the net. he seems to have his succession planting down to a science. i think it's amazing that someone makes a living growing gourmet weeds year 'round. in maine.

i tried making a homemade soil block maker a month or so ago. i made it out of 3" pvc and made a go of it. i packed the blocks a little too hard and a hot weekend of no watering turned them into small soil cement blocks. if you use them you them you have to use a wicking watering system or some type of automatic misting system to keep the blocks friable.