re: 2020 Garden Thread

Well, I’ve kinda neglected my plants for the past few weeks. Usually I spray neem oil once a week and that keeps the aphids in check. But I was picking so much I just stopped caring for them. I‘ll probably pull them soon.

I got lazy and have not started prepping for the fall garden yet. The freak wind storm last Thursday shredded our canopy on the deck and finished off the few remaining tomatoes. I will be cleaning up and getting ready for fall planting this weekend as well.

Neem oil, dawn and water.

Well, the only crops still growing in the garden are the Early Girl tomatoes and all of the pepper plants. So I decided I should at least start planning out the fall garden.


In the coming weeks I will use my time to gather the seeds and supplies I’ll need. Going to clean up in the garden, add some compost to the empty rows to replenish the soil, and get some seeds going.

This weekend I’m going to start the beefmaster tomatoes. They are a later maturing variety, so they’ll need a head start. I’ll start the Bush Champion II tomatoes in a couple of weeks since they are a fast maturing plant. One thing I learned recently by watching some LSU ag youtube videos is that they recommend heat tolerant varieties for the fall so that they can set fruit in the heat of August and September. That makes perfect sense and I wish I would’ve known that sooner. Of all the research I’ve done on fall tomatoes, that never seemed to come up. Oh well, I’ll know better for next year. For now I’m going with what I got.

For cabbage, last year I planted Copenhagen Market Early. They were delicious. But they made small heads about 3 lbs that got to only about the size of a softball. I ordered some from Harris Seeds called Bravo F1. They are supposedly really good for Deep South winters, are a longer maturing variety, and are supposed to get up to 9 lbs! So, I’m doing both. We really like cabbage, so 2 rows of cabbage it is.

This will be my first time trying broccoli and cauliflower. I’ve been watching a bunch of LSU ag videos and reading up on them, so hopefully I have some success.

The “sunflower bed” that I built for my wife earlier this year will be filled with Danver carrots. I’m very happy that I built that thing, cause it will be perfect for carrots. And in my herb box I’m going to grow some creole garlic.

I still have a couple rows in the garden to fill. My wife wants to grow eggplant. But according to the planting guide, I would‘ve had to put some transplants in the ground, like, now, to get a fall crop. So I’m not sure if that’s feasible at this point. Any other suggestions?

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Any other suggestions?

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mustard greens
turnips
beets
radishes

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If you like both, plant more than you think you'll need--especially of the cauliflower since you only get one harvest off of them. Broccoli will continue to produce smaller florets after you harvest the main head. I'll give you a tip on both--don't waste the leaves, especially once you harvest the cauliflower. When roasted, they are very similar in taste to Brussel sprouts.

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Good advice, thanks.

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mustard greens

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Heck yes. I actually love mustard greens. So that’s definitely getting planted.

Well, it looks like my tomatoes and cucumbers are just about done for the year.

I had two cherry tomato plants that grew to about 7.5 feet tall. They produced hundreds of tomatoes over the course of a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, they were too big and the wind blew them over. Somehow, this led to birds and squirrels discovering their presence and eating almost every thing. My cucumbers are dying too after a rather productive stretch. I guess I will pull them both up pretty soon and give a fall garden a shot.

I will try some of the crops y'all have listed above.

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I will try some of the crops y'all have listed above.

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Here’s the final draft for my fall garden. I wrote some general notes on the bottom. All based on the LSU ag planting guide. Depending on your zone those times will be different. If you’re in Arkansas, it’ll be sooner.

I didn’t write a seeding time for the mustard greens because the planting guide says I can direct sow them pretty much now till November. But I’ll probably sow them sometime in September.

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Do birds eat hot peppers?

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Probably. A few of my jalapeños and cayenne peppers have been chewed on. Not sure if it was birds or squirrels. One thing I noticed, they don’t eat much of it.

This is what goes into my fall/winter garden.

Collard Greens
Cabbage
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Brussel Sprouts
Beets
Several varieties of Leaf Lettuces
Kale
Swiss Chard
Garlic
Onions

And on my trellises, more pole beans and cucumbers for an early fall crop.