Mid-Atl - Nov 2016 - Weather?

Has this been the craziest weather? Here in Central Maryland it's been hot, cool, warm, cold, . . . Yesterday was a high of 82 and today's high was 63.

Have you found it hard to maintain your fall garden?

I actually got a late start and decided to plant some more seeds yesterday and cover with plastic sheeting. Even if they don't germinate, they will hopefully overwinter (like some did last year) and start early in the spring.

It's been quite a year -- having to re-do my garden when we fenced in the garden area, thinking we might be moving so not wanting to start anything . . .

Weather has been unseasonable this fall.  Took everything down after the first frost and filled my boxes with compost so am ready for next spring.

Leaves late in your area?  Picked up about 15 bags but still tons ready to come down so I think it will be at least 2 more weeks till I get a lot of leaves.

Think I was done this time last year.

Unseasonably warm here, we have had one hard frost, about a week ago.  I just tore my entire garden (really only 6 peppers and maybe 5 tomato plants) out because they won't have time to do anything else...

I will take the warm as long as I can have it, we know what's coming!

I topped off my beds and am ready for next year.  OK why are my photos messing up? They're oriented correctly in my Photos.

Your pictures look fine to me!

floyd1440 wrote:Your pictures look fine to me!

The first and last photo look rotated to me.

Weird

The first photo is 180 (upside down) and the third photo is 90 degrees off.

I saw your post about what to do with the photos and thank you for it, but that just seems like a lot of work we shouldn't have to do that we didn't have to do in the past. Hhhmmm

sfg4uKim wrote:Weird

The first photo is 180 (upside down) and the third photo is 90 degrees off.

I saw your post about what to do with the photos and thank you for it, but that just seems like a lot of work we shouldn't have to do that we didn't have to do in the past. Hhhmmm

They changed the way they handle photos. Apparently, this was a result of a request from photographers.

This may be lack of experience, or some other gardening error, but it seemed to me like here in central Pennsylvania it was too hot to start fall plants on time (things didn't germinate, or bolted, or didn't change much in size* after being transplanted out), and now it seems, on average, to be too cold for them to grow well. The first frost actually ended up being the same date as I had chosen in my garden calendar versus the start ___ #weeks before the first frost, so it's not like I was starting too early...
(*unless you count being nibbled on by pests as getting smaller.)

I guess the weather sites only warn about the first frost of the season? Are there any good sites for gardeners that forecast later frosts, so I know when to cover the plants? (I'm lazy and don't want to cover and uncover them daily.) I got the ground cherries and porch peppers through three frosts and then got hit by a predicted 38*F low that ended up being 31.

BPSF, I started my winter starts in containers so I could move them out of the late sun. When it was time to plant them, it was still too warm so I put shade cloth/curtain sheers over them until it cooled down.

Does anyone do spinach or lettuce under row cover starting now? I have heard s possible.

You could always try it. I don't have enough daylight left up here to promote growth. I hear that 10 hrs is needed, but you might want to research that.
CC

We got some much-needed rain today so I took the plastic sheeting off the fall/winter garden.

Kale is looking good and the arugula and radishes are popping up nicely.

sanderson wrote:BPSF,  I started my winter starts in containers so I could move them out of the late sun.  When it was time to plant them, it was still too warm so I put shade cloth/curtain sheers over them until it cooled down.

Some of the winter starts were under a ANSFG PVC covered wagon frame with the Agribon15 over the whole thing but they didn't do better than the uncovered ones, I guess because although it shades a little, the full cover also traps heat.

I looked at photos of your shade cloth setup and I don't think I can pull off that off at my current location. I think I need some sort of single square somethings that shade without trapping heat... and to make that more challenging, they need to be fairly wind-resistant. Although it's not always this bad: the wind actually knocked over the propane grill once, tank and all. And the time the patio umbrella flew up over the house and slid down the roof to the front yard was fun, too...  Basically I can't just drape something expect it to stay put, and anything that can act like a sail is likely to be a problem. Anyone out there have a suggestion for this somewhat unique combination of problems? 
:twister:There are cows on the property at the rear. Fortunately there are at least three fences that they'd have to blow over before they'd be in my garden...

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:. And the time the patio umbrella flew up over the house and slid down the roof to the front yard was fun, too... 

I know it's probably not that funny to you but I was sitting on my front porch one time and watched that exact same thing happened at the house right across the street from me! Anyway the point is, I live in Wind Tunnel also. It's difficult! I've used burlap successfully as wind barriers. I clip them to 3ft hi t bars at each corner of the boxes and leave the tops open.

Plastic can also be clipped to the t bars if you need to keep all breeze out. Boffer has some great wind barrier set ups on his table tops if you want to look him up.
CC

CapeCoddess wrote:

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:. And the time the patio umbrella flew up over the house and slid down the roof to the front yard was fun, too... 

I know it's probably not that funny to you but I was sitting on my front porch one time and watched that exact same thing happened at the house right across the street from me! Anyway the point is, I live in Wind Tunnel also. It's difficult! I've used burlap successfully as wind barriers. I clip them to 3ft hi t bars at each corner of the boxes and leave the tops open.

Plastic can also be clipped to the t bars if you need to keep all breeze out. Boffer has some great wind barrier set ups on his table tops if you want to look him up.
CC

It was terrifying when I saw the umbrella coming down because I was in the front yard and couldn't tell if it was going to hit me... or keep going and visit the neighbors car windows... but no one/nothing was hurt or damaged - yes, it's funny now.

My current burlap has been promised to lining some more containers for container gardening, but next time Joanne's has a suitable sale I can get more.  This may be a stupid question, but what is a "t bar"?

Saw Boffer's TT PVC-frame for keeping out leaf miners - is that the one? I've come across several of his posts when I've been looking stuff up, but it looks like he hasn't been by since March - is he doing ok/just too busy?

woops, I made a mistake.  I meant t-posts or u-posts, not t-bars.


I don't remember Boffer's photos of the wind barriers but they were as I described above with my burlap.  I think his was plastic, wrapped around the box but not over the top.  He may have connected the plastic to the PVC at the corners.

Not sure where he went.  People come and go around here.

sfg4uKim wrote:We got some much-needed rain today so I took the plastic sheeting off the fall/winter garden.

Kale is looking good and the arugula and radishes are popping up nicely.

I'm glad things are sprouting for you, especially after the turmoil during your regular growing season. I love your arch waiting for vines - especially the sensible 2ft wide beds. Is it planning to have cucumbers?

Yes! cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, peas, beans, squash . . .

And, yes . . . VERY welcome after a miserable season.

The wind is howling outside... a near constant drone. There is a wind advisory in effect until 7pm Monday, west 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph.
It was hard to sleep because I kept thinking I was hearing garden things blowing away. Everything looks intact now that it's daylight. The lightweight Agribon is still on the covered-wagon beds. The dollar store spring clips are doing remarkably well for their price/quality.

I made low hoops out of zebra grass stems for a newly raised bed but ran out of time to actually cover it. I'm fairly certain that trying to do it in the wind wouldn't go well. I threw some clear plastic tubs over some of my surviving greens instead. I tried to hurriedly put a 5-gallon plastic bucket over my rosemary, which successfully got it through the winter last year... but it's bigger and doesn't really fit anymore. Maybe Tuesday or Wednesday it will be nice enough to wrangle it into a wall-o-water for the winter.

I get it!  The wind will die down, but still cold!  I didn't tarp my compost pile yet either!    Still need to plant my garlic!  YIKES!

Scorpio Rising wrote:I get it!  The wind will die down, but still cold!  I didn't tarp my compost pile yet either!    Still need to plant my garlic!  YIKES!

My garlic isn't planted yet, either! Today, I hope to do most of it. I'm switching some of the garden over from oldSFG to ANSFG. I have the a new bed ready for most of the garlic, but the other section getting raised for them doesn't even have a box yet. I should have purchased boards yesterday, but couldn't bring myself to leave the house (except to get the mail and some fresh thyme for dinner.) It's already above freezing, and it looks like it will be breezy, but tolerable. If it helps you feel any better, I put in some garlic December 1st last year - in the old SFG section. It didn't do well, but it survived, and they were small cloves to start with. What I really need to do differently this year is move the straw mulch off the beds in the spring so the soil can warm up.