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Planting Begins for My Fall Garden

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The first seeds in the ground for my fall garden are two kinds of carrots and a winter radish. I also planted one last round of basil, so there will be more pesto in my freezer to use in wintertime meals.

First seeds planted for my fall garden, plus one last summer herb.
First seeds planted for my fall garden, plus one last summer herb. PHOTO/Amygwh

This year’s carrots: ‘Bolero’ and ‘Short Stuff’

The two varieties, ‘Bolero’ and ‘Short Stuff’, are shorter carrots that will do well in the clay soil of my in-ground garden.

‘Short stuff’ is also recommended as a good choice for container plantings. The fully-mature carrots will be only about 4-inches long, but wide at the top.

‘Bolero’ will be longer, closer to 6-inches at harvest, but slender all the way down.

I amended the soil by adding a nearly-full bucket (5-gallon size) of yard compost to the garden bed before planting. This addition will loosen the soil and improve the odds that the carrots will grow as they should.

The seedlings have not yet come up, but when they do, they will get a dose of the kind of fish emulsion fertilizer that promotes root growth (higher phosphorus than nitrogen).

You may be wondering why I already planted seeds for carrots, in mid-August. The reason is that crops mature more slowly in fall than in spring. If I want to harvest carrots before mid-December, they need to be in the ground, in my garden, now. (For more details, read my book.)

The first winter radishes

‘Watermelon’ winter radish seeds also are in the garden. The current packet says they take 60 days to reach maturity, but older packets from other seed companies have claimed 70-days, which is closer to the speed they grew in my garden. I decided to use 70-days as my working number to determine the planting date, as a result.

Most of the winter radishes will only make good bulbs in fall, in the time of shortening day length. I don’t know why. Some plants are just like that.

That means, though, that this is a crop that can ONLY be had from a fall garden. If anyone in your family loves radishes (a rare thing, I know), plant these soon!

Heat sink surprise

Raised bed planted with beet seedlings and young onions, in mid-August, in Chicago.
Raised bed with beet seedlings and young onions, in mid-August, in Chicago. PHOTO/Amygwh

When I was in Chicago last week, I noticed that many vegetable gardens already contained plenty of cool-season seedlings. Considering how much further north Chicago is from here, it made sense that fall gardening would already be well-underway.

However, when I looked up its hardiness zone, I was surprised. Chicago is in plant hardiness zone 6a, according to the newer USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. The plant hardiness zone where I live, north of Atlanta, is 7b. That difference in hardiness zones, between Chicago and north-metro-Atlanta, is less than I expected.

Most of area around Chicago (all the northern half of Illinois) is in plant hardiness zone 5, according to the USDA map. That seems more reasonable than 6a. Chicago, which is a large city containing a lot of concrete, must be the same kind of heat-sink that Atlanta is (most of Atlanta is in zone 8a). That could account for part of the difference. Lake Michigan could account for the rest, since enormous bodies of water also help keep nearby air temperatures more moderate.

Update on the ‘Astia’ zucchini

Flower buds forming on young 'Astia' zucchini plant.
Flower bud on young ‘Astia’ zucchini plant, in the “v” between two stems (main stem and leaf petiole). 

The ‘Astia’ zucchini that is growing in my half-barrel planter is still alive. There are no signs yet of leaf-mildew-diseases, which is good news. The other good news is that, even though the seedlings have only been up for a couple of weeks, I can see the buds of flowers forming on the plants.

These flower buds will keep growing, until the flower buds open. Some flowers will be “girls”, which are the ones that make the zucchini that we eat. Some flowers will be ‘boys’. After the boys have done their job of pollinating the girls, I plan to harvest those boy flowers to use in cooking.

While in Italy over the summer, Joe and I enjoyed fried squash blossoms at the Sax Wine Bar in Montepulciano. We are going to make those ourselves, since the good ladies at Sax Wine Bar are in Italy and we are not.

 

Side-Dress Your Vegetable Garden if Needed

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If plant growth in your garden has slowed, or your plants are looking puny, it might be time to side-dress your vegetable garden with fertilizer. What does that mean? Side dressing is applying additional fertilizer near your crop plants, either spread on the ground around them or in a little furrow a few inches away.

Side-dressing helps some crops more than others

Some crops will not need additional fertilizer in mid-summer to make a full harvest. These, mostly, are the beans and peas — Southern peas especially, like purple hull peas and zipper creams. Most of the other fruiting crops in a summer garden, like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, corn, eggplants, and squashes, may benefit from additional fertilizer. These crops are often referred to as medium feeders or heavy feeders. They have a higher need for some nutrients.

Side dress your vegetable garden tomatoes in mid-summer, if needed.
Side dress your vegetable garden tomatoes in mid-summer, if needed. PHOTO/Amygwh

For plants that benefit from additional fertilizer in mid-summer, it usually is applied either when plants have begun to set their fruit (squash and cucumbers count as fruit, since they have seeds), or, for corn, when it is “knee high.” If your crops are further along than this, it is not too late to side-dress, if plant growth or productivity seems slow.

How to know if you need to side-dress your vegetable garden

These gardens are most likely to benefit from mid-summer side-dressing with fertilizer:

  1. Gardens with sandy or fast-draining soil
  2. Gardens that have received more than the usual amount of rain
  3. Gardens fertilized with water-soluble, conventional, chemical fertilizers
  4. Gardens that support a lot of medium and heavy feeders

In the first three examples, some of the nutrients added in spring may have washed away, out of reach of the plant roots. When nutrients are out of reach, plant growth will slow down, some plants may start to look a little pale, and harvests will not be as large as they should.

If the only plants in your garden that look pale/puny by mid-summer are the tomatoes, peppers, and/or eggplants, and all other crops are growing well, these crops might need a little extra magnesium. In my county, soils are low on magnesium. The tomato-family plants all have a slightly higher need for magnesium than other crops. This combination can result in plants that are pale and less productive.

To boost the available magnesium for these plants, use epsom salts. Dissolve a couple of tablespoons of epsom salts in two gallons of water, and pour it on the ground around your plants. Two tablespoons-full dissolved in two gallons of water should be enough for four plants. If the plants start to look darker green in about a week, then they needed the magnesium.

You also, of course, could get your soil tested through your local County Extension office. A soil lab report will tell you whether any nutrients are in short supply and offer a fertilizer recommendation. Extension fertilizer recommendations are, at this point, still all for conventional, chemical fertilizers, but even this can be helpful in pointing out the needs of your garden’s soil.

Some gardens may not need side-dressing

  1. Gardens with soil that is, essentially, all compost
  2. Gardens that are 100% beans and Southern peas that have been inoculated with bacteria that help fix nitrogen

If your garden soil is all-compost in a raised bed, and the compost was all new this spring, then the odds are good that your plants will not need side-dressing. Some community gardens in my county fill new beds with a product called “Soil3”, from SuperSod. This is an all-compost product. Soil3 and similar composts available in other areas can provide all the nutrients the garden plants will need for the first summer. Organic fertilizers may be needed in increasing amounts in later years.

Which organic fertilizer is good for side-dressing?

  1. The vegetable garden fertilizer you already have
  2. Fish emulsion or a seed-meal-based fertilizer
  3. Worm compost, yard compost, compost tea

If you have a complete garden fertilizer already, one that you used in spring, use that again in mid-summer, following directions on the container.

However, the nutrient that is most often in short-supply by mid-summer is nitrogen. It can leave your soil by going into the air in addition to being washed away. If you can locate a higher nitrogen fertilizer product like the Alaska fish emulsion fertilizer or the seed-meal-based Nature’s Source Garden Plant Food, those can be good choices.

Composts are also good choices. To side-dress with these, be sure to rake them in — shallowly to avoid damaging roots — around the plants, covering it all with soil. Then water the compost in well to give the soil bacteria, fungi, and other small life-forms better access, to start breaking it down for use by plants. Use a big shovelful of yard compost, or a cup or two of worm compost, per plant. Worm compost is usually a more concentrated source of nutrients than yard compost.

If you make compost tea from your compost, to pour around your plants, root-damage becomes a non-problem. The tea may need to be poured around the plants more often than just once in mid-summer, for best effect. Compost tea applied to leaves can also slow down the growth of fungal leaf diseases. (Compost tea recipe is in the “treating mildews” section of the Summer Squash blog post.)

For gardens prone to leaf disease problems (pretty much every garden I have ever seen), regular use of compost tea can be helpful in extending harvests of some sensitive crops, like cucumbers and tomatoes, further into the summer.

Any gardener who has a small garden, but no compost pile or worm bin at home, might be interested in trying the compost tea bags. Sustane Compost Tea Bags are convenient, and no straining is required. I have used these to make tea for my own garden, and they seem helpful. When pressed for time, it is nice to not have to strain the compost bits out of the tea before filling a spray bottle.

 

Small Garden in Early Spring

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My small organic vegetable garden is providing greens right now. Kale and spinach are growing together in a half-barrel in the front yard. I started these indoors, from seeds, while it was still winter. Before moving them outside permanently, I used one of those warmer weeks in February to harden them off. By “harden them off”, I mean that I moved them into a dappled sun area for a few hours while it was warm. Each day, the plants spent a little more time outside. After six days of this transition-time, I set the small plants into their current positions in the half-barrel planter.

Half-barrel planted with kale and spinach, organically grown.
Winter-planted kale and spinach produce plenty of greens in early spring. PHOTO/Amy Whitney

In this little greens-garden, three kale plants are clustered near the center, and nine spinach plants are set, evenly spaced, in a big ring near the outer edge.

These container-greens, along with the rocket that is still growing with cilantro in another large container, add variety in texture and flavor to lettuce-based salads.

The kale is producing enough leaves that some can also go into a white-bean soup in a few days, with plenty left for other purposes (shepherd’s pie, pizza toppings, salad, etc.).

Organically grown garlic, planted in fall, as seen in spring.
Intensively-planted garlic grows throughout the winter, making a small forest of garlic. PHOTO/Amy Whitney

Also in the garden, the garlic, which was spaced in a grid-pattern at planting time, resembles a little forest.

This was planted back in early winter (I missed the recommended October planting time for my area). The stems rising out of the ground look thick enough to make decent-sized bulbs, so maybe the late planting won’t hurt the harvest too much.

Garlic, shallots, and onions all benefit from a little extra fertilizer as they start making their bulbs (now, in my garden), so I am applying fish emulsion fertilizer (the 2-3-1 version), mixed with water in my watering can, every 7-10 days.

My onions are not bulbing onions — I planted the bunching type this year — but the extra fertilizer helps them, too, to make more little onions.

Fall Garden Planning guide for vegetables in the Southeastern US.
A guide to choosing and growing crops and setting a planting schedule that will work for a fall garden in the Southeastern US.

Also — my biggest news — my little book on Fall Garden Planning is nearing completion! I should be receiving a couple of “proof” copies this week. If all looks good, the book will be available within a few weeks.

Writing it, and learning all the technology bits to get it published, has been a grand adventure! I have been lucky, too, to have some very tolerant/patient friends who read an early version of the text and said nice things about it even though it had a long way to go.

Best wishes for great gardens!

-Amy

 

 

 

A Tale of Two Fish Emulsion Fertilizers

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Several years ago, I could have suggested to organic gardeners that they use dilute fish-emulsion fertilizer as a “starter”, after setting transplants into the garden. A starter fertilizer is one that is phosphorus-rich.

There would have been very little chance of error, since the only form of fish emulsion I had seen at garden centers had a nutrient balance that would promote root growth: 2-3-1. (A brand with similar nutrient balance to the one pictured below is Indian River Organics Liquid Fish Fertilizer.)

This fish fertilizer is great to dilute for use as a starter fertilizer for transplant in the organic garden.
This fish fertilizer is great to dilute for use as a starter fertilizer for transplants in the organic garden. PHOTO/Amy Whitney

That number sequence, 2-3-1, is a short way of telling how much, as a percentage of the total product, of the three major plant nutrients are in the fertilizer. The numbers are always in the order nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium, also called N-P-K.

All fertilizer labels show the N-P-K of the product. In the example above, 2-3-1, you can see that the middle number, the phosphorus number, is higher than the other two. Using this as a starter fertilizer would be a good plan for many organic gardeners.

Now, though, some garden centers offer another version of fish emulsion fertilizer, made in a way that gives it a very different nutrient balance: 5-1-1. The one in my current “stash” is Alaska Fish Fertilizer. This product has a larger first number, the nitrogen number. Using this on newly planted transplants would be less of a good idea. Nitrogen supports/promotes leafy growth.

This fish emulsion fertilizer has an N-P-K of 5-1-1.
This fish emulsion fertilizer has an N-P-K of 5-1-1. PHOTO/Amy Whitney

If plants start their new lives in the garden with a rush of nitrogen, they might not have a good enough root system, as the summer gets hotter and drier, to keep the large above-ground part supplied with water and nutrients.

The beauty of a starter fertilizer is that it helps get a good root system established before the plants develop a lot of above-ground growth.

Organic gardeners looking for a good starter fertilizer, and thinking about using fish emulsion, should check their product label to verify the nutrient balance. Most of us are going to want to use something similar to the one that shows an N-P-K of 2-3-1 on the label when we set our transplants into the garden.

When would you use the 5-1-1 version of fish fertilizer? I am using it now, on leafy greens that were planted in late winter. I have spinach and kale in the garden, and both of those crops tend to bolt (send up a flower stalk and quit making delicious leaves) when the weather gets warm. That time is coming soon.

To keep the leafy greens tender and tasty for as long into spring as I can, I will be applying the 5-1-1 Alaska product, once every ten-or-so days, as I water those crops.

For organic gardeners who are following veganic practices, a fertilizer that is fairly rich in nitrogen, to keep late winter greens growing as the spring progresses, is Nature’s Source Organic Plant Food 3-1-1. This is a seed-based product, and its odor is a lot milder than that of the fish fertilizers.

Veganic gardeners looking for a pre-mixed starter fertilizer, with more phosphorus, may be out of luck. I haven’t seen one yet, but it is possible to create your own by adding some rock phosphate to one of the seed-meal fertilizers. This is a very concentrated source of phosphorus. Follow instructions on the label to avoid applying too much of the product.

 

 

Potassium Sources for an Organic Garden

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Potassium is one of the Big Three nutrients that plants need in large amounts (the other two are nitrogen and phosphorous). These are the essential nutrients that are represented by three numbers, such as 5-10-15, on bags of chemical fertilizers.

If you’ve had the soil of your organic garden tested and learned that it is very low in potassium, you may be looking for ways to boost the amount of this essential plant nutrient in your organic garden.

The good news? There are several good sources for potassium available for organic gardens.

Greensand – This is a mined product, made from natural deposits of a marine sediment called glauconite. It is smashed into very small bits (making it into “sand”) for you to mix into your soil. The potassium content can vary between brands. You will need to read the label of your bag to know how much potassium (the percentage) is in there.

Greensand is a potassium source for organic gardens.
Greensand is a potassium source for organic gardens.

Greensand does not contain any nitrogen; some brands may contain a tiny bit of phosphorus, but not enough to really count if your garden needs phosphorus, too. The potassium is released SLOWLY, so if your garden’s need is dire, you might want to use a faster-release potassium source along with the greensand.

When I make my own organic potting mix, I add a little greensand (about a half cup for a 6-gallon batch of potting mix). McGee and Stuckey, in their book The Bountiful Container, also recommend adding a bit of greensand to organic potting mixes.

Wood Ashes – This is a fast-release and FREE source of potassium for home gardens. Wood ashes may be as much as 3-7% potassium! This is similar to the percentage in many bags of greensand (my current bag has less), making wood ashes an option to consider for gardens that need a lot of potassium Right Now. The potential drawback to this organic potassium source is that it will raise the pH of your garden’s soil.

Did you have the soil from your organic garden tested this year? If you did, you will have a record of the soil pH, which is how acidic or basic it is. A pH number below 7 is acidic. A pH number higher than 7 is basic. Most garden vegetable plants will be more productive when grown in soil that is in the 6-7 pH range (slightly acidic). If your soil pH is already in that desired range — or higher — then wood ashes are not a good potassium choice for your garden.

Sul-Po-Mag – This is another mined source of potassium, available to gardeners as bags of pulverized rock. The name Sul-Po-Mag is shorthand for the longer name of Sulfate of Potash Magnesia. This has a very high percentage of potassium, as much as 22%. Even though it is from rocks, it is considered a fast-release source. If your organic garden needs a lot of potassium right away, and the pH is high enough that wood ashes are not a good choice, then this may be what you want. Sul-Po-Mag also provides sulfur, magnesium, and some micronutrients. This product is generally pH-neutral, meaning that it will not swing your soil’s pH in either direction.

Locally, we have used Sul-Po-Mag when mixing up batches of organic fertilizer for community gardens that have a soil-pH higher than 7.

Kelp Meal – This is a slower-release source of potassium. It is not a concentrated source (about 1% potassium), but it also provides nitrogen, phosphorus, and a host of essential micronutrients that can improve the nutrient state of poor soils. If you are working with native soil, in an in-ground garden in the Southern US, and your organic garden is fairly new, you may want to choose kelp meal as your potassium source. In my area, the clay soils are all worn-out (decades of cotton fields) or washed-out (erosion from high rainfall), and benefit greatly from a dose of kelp meal.

How much of any of these should you use? If you have a report from a soil lab, the recommendation it offers for a chemical fertilizer can be converted to organic amendments, if you are reasonably good at math. The linked UGA publication includes the equations to use. I have done these conversions for our local community gardens.

An alternative is that you mix up a batch of organic “10-10-10” (or another listed formula), following the recipe in the above-linked UGA publication about converting to organic amendments. The recipes on the last page of the document list options for the nitrogen source (pick one from the list), options for the phosphorus source (pick one), and options for the potassium source (pick one).