Our summer garden is winding down. We’re still getting okra, a few tomatoes, peppers, ground cherries, peas, and green beans. I’m tickled pink about the way our winter squash did this year, so there’s still a lot of those to harvest.
I’m hoping to plant a fall garden this month, but I’ll have to wait for it to dry up first.
We always plant kale in our fall garden and generally have good luck with it overwintering for us. Radishes and lettuce are also on the fall garden list.
My turnips didn’t do no good at all last fall so I’m anxious to have a good harvest of them this year. I believe I’ll start a few green beans just to see how they do. I’ve never planted them in the fall before, but I recently read about someone who lives a little north of me and they have good success with beans in their fall garden.
Our cabbage did so well growing under the small hoops that I hope to plant some cabbage too, but that will depend on if I can find any to purchase locally. I started the ones we grew this summer from seed, but my greenhouse is way too hot for seed germination at this time of the year and there just isn’t enough sunlight coming in my house windows to start them inside. I’ve been wondering if direct sowing cabbage would work. If you have any experience direct sowing cabbage please share your knowledge with me.
Here’s my favorite planting by the sign days for September.
- Taurus: good for all root crops and above ground crops 23, 24
- Cancer: best for planting above ground and root crops 1, 2, 28, 29
- Scorpio: best for flowers and above ground crops 10, 11
- Pisces: good for planting and transplanting above ground crops, trees and shrubbery 18, 19
Best fermenting days for September (when the signs are in the head).
- 20, 21, 22
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I buy the “ornamental” cabbages in the fall, protect them during the winter and get them going again in the spring. I love it when they “get legs” and start flowering.
Walmarts’ websites near me show they have cabbage plants in stock for $3.47 for a 6-pack. You can also buy bare-rooted plants online. My mother never grew plants in pots. I think that was before they invented pots. She bought cabbage and tomatoes bare-rooted. Every thing else she planted directly in the ground. Daddy bought mail order strawberry plants bare-rooted. A few of the plants didn’t make it but no more than you lose in pots.
I planted butter beans, green beans, field peas, squash and cucumbers about 4 weeks ago. They’d re all doing well. Haven’t tried cabbage seed in a fall garden, hope it works for you. Remember Edison said “I have not failed, I have found 10,000 says that don’t work.
I want to plant some turnips. I like them raw not cooked. I would like to do maybe some greens to. Love just about any kind of greens. My husband has went ahead and done more cucumbers. They actually are doing good.
I have posted on Facebook that there has been an unusual shortage of okra around here this year. Some people have replied that I can buy frozen okra from the grocery store. I apparently the suggestion, but fresh okra is my weakness. I can almost smell a big skillet of it, coated in cornmeal, sizzling to crispy perfection. Add that to a big platter of fried catfish, some hush puppies, and big sliced tomatoes if you want a little sample of manna from Heaven.
*appreciate *
We have better luck direct sowing cabbage than starting in pots. This is for spring planting. You might not have enough time for them to come up and head before hard frost. You can always try it as an experiment.
We planted a second crop of beets this year since ours made and we ate them so fast. They did great. I had asked around and no one knew why beets couldn’t be planted a second time.
I have heading collards planted now for the first time to try. I’m hoping to have them for new years even if they have to come from the freezer.
Timely post today. I want to plant lettuce, mustard and turnip tomorrow. Letting the garden dry out today after all the rain from Ida yesterday and last night.
Lord willing, I will plant the same things you do and add broccoli and brussel sprouts if I find plants. I have never tried fall planted green beans though. I think you will like getting fresh green beans. But I suspect the frost will get then before they can reach their best. Still worth doing though.
Where in the world will you get cabbage seed? I don’t recall ever having seen any except maybe in seed catalogs. I could save myself some money if I planted more seed but I only plant a dozen or less of any one thing so it is very wasteful of seed. Like you, I don’t have a good place inside to start seed either. And I don’t know enough people who garden to give extras to. Wish I did.
Tipper you are welcome to bring some cabbage seeds over here to sprout. I get good sun on my back porch and some on the front too. They would probably do good here. You are the busiest woman I know and you certainly produce the most healthy, chemical free food that I know of!
Those beets in the picture sure look good, I bet you are going to can them too!
Ron-I have some cabbage seed left over from spring planting but you’re right it would be hard to find it in store this time of the year.
I had planned to plant kale, turnip greens, collards, and radishes on September 2. Hurricane Ida left three inches of rain here, so I’m doubting if it will be dry enough to plant. Thanks for sharing the moon signs for the best days to plant.
I live to your west in Northeast Tennessee. I just planted my greens and turnips. I would have planted them a little earlier but we have had a long strich of dry weather, with temp well into the 90s for three weeks.