Lower South, Anyone ready for fall planting?

Sorry, I forgot -- you can plant garlic chives anytime.

Chives are an invasive perennial. They spread slowly, though, so you can certainly start them in a SFG... but if you want to grow them as a perennial, I suggest you containerize unless you want to dedicate the whole SFG bed to them. Over time, the roots/tubers become really densely packed to where you have to hack at them with a shovel just to break them apart. And I mean, raising the shovel to your shoulders and putting your back into it like it was an axe. The root mass on mine is probably 6"+ from top to bottom. I hacked a few clumps off for friends and it was a lot more exertion than I expected, nor do I want to repeat it any time soon (but I will, if someone really wants some and comes to pick it up! )

My chives overwinter outdoors fine (freeze/ice/snow) in large containers. I don't do anything to protect them. For new starts... if you mulch them well they might stand a chance... or put them in your greenhouse/bring indoors for the first winter.

Good luck!

thank you, that was interesting information.
I am so glad I can sow my chives.

Sadly---I never got around to sowing seeds today. I was working in the
greenhouse most of the day.

I had no idea that chives would spread and take over. Im kinda

I finally finished filling my bed with soil this evening. I been feeling kinda worn out.
(wonder why)
and I sprayed my soil down with dish detergent and mouth wash as I was adding
the used soil to the bed.........to help prevent fungus from breeding from any debris
that may have made it to the bed while dumping used soil in.

My sister is bringing over some lettuce seeds in the morning to share with me.
It is still to hot here to grow lettuce without shade. This weeks heat index will fluctuate
around 100.
So----- I am building another 4x4 for just lettuce and setting it up so I can put a
40% shade cloth over it..........

toads have buried themselves in my concrete block holes. I noticed a hole next
to a strawberry plant and thought----geeeeeee, I must of did that while i was
watering but don't know how. so I reached down to fill the hole and Toad jumped out.

Whee! Gonna give him (or her) a name?

i love frogs----but "he" (George) scared the snot out of me.

Three of my beds are concrete block and I put cap blocks on 2 spots on the long side of each bed (inside of each bed is 3.5' x 7.5') so I can sit and lean in to weed, plant, etc. I then planted each of the other holes with some type of herb, bug repellent plant like marigolds, or small, leafy green like sorrel. Mine are 2 blocks high, plus the cap block, and it takes it to a nice seated height of 18".

And I just got my fall seeds in place in the garden this weekend. My brassicas and some other stuff I had started indoors, and those have been planted for nearly a month, now. At least I got those started and planted in a timely manner!

CarolynPhillips wrote:i love frogs----but "he" (George) scared the snot out of me.

I have same over the weekend (amphibious invaders).

I mixed up some Mels mix to get ready for my radish sprouts that emerged sooner than expected. I ran out of daylight and left the mix on the porch overnight. The next morning, I came out to put the mix in the containers and frogs came jumping out every time I went for another spadeful of mix.

I think they like the consistency to burrow in ... or vermiculite is an amphibian-aphrodesiac ....or something

Frogs::::I think they like the soil consistency too. It is nice and loose and easy to get out of hot weather.

I have more seeds to sow.
I have sown---Toy Choy, Radish, Beets, Turnip Greens, Chives, Garlic Chives, Carrots,

Still have to sow----Lettuce Mix, Lettuce Little Gem, Lettuce Tom Thumb, Early Purple Broc.
::::Corn Salad, Red Lettuce Petite Rouge, Ching Chang Bok Choy
::::Still working on building the Salad Bed

Year Round Covered Wagon Salad Bed
Summer Shade
Winter Poly

should be finished tomorrow---soil and seeding.

Wish I could build with CBS block ... but HOA would have a loss of bowel control.

I'm sure they are already locked away in their secret HQ, plotting away on how to change the charter to somehow condemn my SFG.

Just chatting

Since my sfg beds are built out of 8" x 16" concrete blocks, it is easier
for me to lay out my squares in 8 inches instead of 12 inches. Most everything
I grow is grown 4 inch apart or 8 inch or 16 inch. My plants get big so this works
out better for me. (except for carrots and radishes, etc....)
an 8 inch grid for the salad bed is perfect for me.

I know you know what a grid looks like but I was just taking a break from working
out in that sun and was doodling. ---took a pic of my doodling and posting it.
My salad garden will grow 192 leafy plants 4 inches apart. Gee, can we eat that much?

if i get on your nerves just let me know===i post pics of everything.

My salad garden took about 38 cu ft of soil. It is deeper than it has to be but it
raises it up so I can tend to it better. (arthritis in knees) Sometimes I get down and can't get back up.
It only has "vermiculite" in the upper 6 to 8 inches mixed with compost and peat where it is needed the most.
The lower 6 to 8 inchs is mostly peat moss and perlite mix with a little compost.

Can sow seeds now. The hard part is over .

I should not plant the leaf lettuce every 4 inches.

someone said I could plant the leaf lettuce every 4 inches and the loose head every 6 inches.
But I am leery of putting leaf every 4 inches. I put them all every 6 inches.----Except in the blocks---there will be only one per block hole. Its all sown----can't undo it.
I had to figure all this out between forums and websites. not able to have instant chat with anyone
Sometimes you see things more clearly when you can talk about it instead of just thinking to yourself.

I planted my leaf lettuce this spring at 16 to a square foot and it was tight. It probably would have worked fine if I had been a bit more attentive about pulling some early plants to eat and leaving the others to grow at more like 9 per square. (This issue was compounded by the fact that I planted 2-3 seeds per each of the 16 spots.... you get the idea.) It was still very tasty, though!

One thing I have noticed about the big beds (4 foot wide) is that eventually you need a place to lean your non-dominant hand or put your feet to try to get in close to prune or pick, etc. I have very long arms and I have trouble sometimes, but I am bound and determined not to step on the SFG soil. Has anyone else had issues with this? At soil level it's not a big deal but trying to reach the top of a 6.5 foot trellis a couple feet in (plus the plants growing above the top of the trellis) can be a little challenging.

Hi Megan,

I sympathize with you. I'm fairly short and sometimes have trouble reaching the center of my 4x4's. I though it might just be me.

I've found that "straddling" the corner - with your feet caddy-cornered on each side helps a lot. It moves the center of gravity in toward the center of the bed a little. I'm not sure if it would help though if your bed is long.

I'll be interested to hear what everyone else has to say.
Good luck,
Gloria

yes have trouble reaching in to that 4ft bed when i cannot get around the whole bed------My biggest mistake was putting my long bed against a wall. I hope to change this in the spring.......I really dread it cause it is a concrete block bed and i will have to completely relevel the main ground if I make the bed narrower. Either that or I could grow some tall flowers on the back side---that doesn't need much maintenance. -----Im not satisfied with that idea either----- Last option would be for me to place a board in the
middle of the bed so I can step up and tend to the back side.

WHAT was i thinking???????? Oh yeh----I wasn't.

Oh yeh, about those lettuce seeds------I have a hard time making myself
do away with the extra seedlings too. I have sown 2 to 4 seeds per spot.
I will see how this batch of lettuce grows-----then make changes if any in the spring crop.

Carolyn, could you lay a 2x4 on its edge down the middle of the bed as a sort of stepping stone to get into the middle of the bed?

And Gloria, yes, I've played straddling games standing on my landscaping timbers. I am six feet tall myself with really long arms, so I figured if I have troubles, others probably do, too. A couple of times I nearly wound up on my keester in the middle of the SFG, trying to reach my pole beans! I set my trellises to go through the middle of my beds from side to side, rather than along one edge. I'm sure that has contributed to the issue. I really can't set them the other way, though, as it will block our view of our vehicles in their parking places, plus the sunlight would be all wonky.

Did the same thing with mine....WTH was I thinking butting my 4 x 4 against a wall ....

Only thing that save me was the individual outrigger trellises I built ... otherwise I'd be toast

I will put a board down for maintaining---just loose that space for growing .

Acara: What is your outrigger trellis? pics?


( me= 5' 11" )

CarolynPhillips wrote:
( me= 5' 11" )

High-Five!

CarolynPhillips wrote:Acara: What is your outrigger trellis? pics?


( me= 5' 11" )

The Frankenstein SFG build ...








They are sectional, a foot above the planting surface and can be pivoted/moved around(slightly)/out of the way ..

Hummmmmm...... Megan you've given me food for thought!

I've got most of my fall garden planted - but I've still got one 4x4 for the later crops like peas, garlic, onions and spinach to put in.

I was planning on planting the peas in the 4 edge squares with the garlic and onions in front. I knew I wouldn't be able to reach past the peas - so I wanted something very low maintenance directly in front of them. But now I'm wondering if I'll be able to reach through the peas to pick those on the front of the trellis. Up to this point, I've put all my vine/trellised crops in individual self-watering containers. That way I can access them from all sides.

Thanks for letting me know.
Gloria