I've been mulling over what to grow this fall, and I was finally inspired to get a move on after seeing
Crystabel's plans laid out.
Since I planted my cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, and watermelon late (they're in the right raised bed), I've decided to plant my beds more or less by month. As next spring rolls around, I'm going to gradually switch over to having each bed designated to certain veggies instead of a mish-mash of stuff in each one. That's the plan, anyway...
To the people who know me and my occasional "obsessions" with putting things into excel: This is only the first page! LOL
Please click the plans for your perusing pleasure.

I'm told September is the hottest month of the year here (you mean it's going to get hotter than the 100* heat we've
been having??), so I have some time to prepare for planting my cool weather crops. Here are my to-do's:
- Enrich soil in SFG - I'll do this by adding compost, used coffee grounds, and grass clippings. I was told 1.5 months was a short amount of time to do this in, but what can ya' do...
- Build trellis to add to SFG - I'm going to try to find recycled materials through craigslist, so I'm not sure how I'll be making this yet. I was given a height max of 4ft by DH though, so hopefully my peas (and whatever grows on it in the future) will be content...
When I built my SFG, I installed PVC pipes on the right side before adding the dirt. These will allow me to install the trellis but also allow me to remove the trellis if I don't need it (yay me for planning ahead!).
- Add another set of 2x4's to my salad table - This will increase the soil depth to ~7in. Even though Lettuces have shallow root systems, a single level of 2x4's really only amounts to 3in of settled soil, and I don't think that's enough for growing good lettuce.
- Decrease height of salad table legs - When I built the table, I forgot to account for the added height from the casters so it's pretty, well, leggy right now (har har). It's a good height for working on, but I'd like it to be shorter so it's easier on the eyes.
- (maybe) convert the buckets I received in May to self watering containers (SWCs). This may or may not happen before fall sets in. I was originally planning on making the SWCs for next spring/summer's plants, but I also want more space to grow things now! I may just dump some dirt in a few and see how things grow...
- (maybe) Create removable "hoop house" over one or both raised beds - I'm thinking the hoops can hold either plastic to create an enclosure and extend my season (I don't know if that's really needed here or not), or row cover to protect against bugs.
That's so cool. Man, my pencil and graph paper are so out dated.
ReplyDeleteLOL Nah... Pencil and paper are "classics," and those never go outa style! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThis all started on a paper napkin. It's a lot easier to grab than an old heavy laptop when a LO is running in circles around your feet.