Fall Planting

Happy Labor Day! I don't know about where you live, but the weather here today made it seem more like the 4th of July than Labor Day. We took advantage of somewhat cooler temperatures this morning to get out to the garden.

After reading Mother of a Hubbard and seeing all of Kathy's success with her eastern Kentucky winter garden, I've been itching to try my hand at it. Two weeks ago, we planted some beets and peas. The peas are starting to come up nicely. From what I've read, fall peas are far superior to spring planted ones, so time will tell!

I got some kale, spinach, swiss chard, and lettuce in the ground. I hope to do some succession planting of the lettuce and perhaps purchase some corn salad to plant in a few weeks. I also will be ordering our row cover this week. Despite the forecasted high of 96 tomorrow, cold weather will be here before we know it!

We also need rain - badly! We have 6 rain barrels and they are pretty much empty. We were able to set up our soaker hoses, so that will help out in keeping the newly planted seeds moist and ready to germinate.

Every time I go to the garden, I am accompanied by Chip. He slithers in through the fence. After the planting was done and the soaker hoses connected, I sat down for a minute to rest and watch the hoses do their thing. Chip decided it was prime time for some cuddling, and so we sat and enjoyed some quiet time alone. A rare occurrence around here!

How about you? Are you trying your hand at a fall or winter garden? 

Four Season Gardening

I shared recently on my Facebook page how envious I am of Mother of a Hubbard. Her winter garden is drool worthy! She's in KY in a similar zone to me, so it was encouraging to see her having such success. And it made my tummy rumble at the thought of harvesting delicious greens year round.

I ordered Eliot Coleman's books, Four Season Harvest, and I can't wait to read it cover to cover. I read through the first chapter and I love how down to earth it is. And how encouraging!

We have big goals for next year and I'd love to try our hand at four season harvests!  How about you? Are you a year round gardener?

First Autumn CSA

The leaves are starting to change here in West Virginia. We have some of the most beautiful fall foliage in the country during October. We get some pretty spectacular views at the house, so I hope to have some neat pictures to share with you over the course of the next few weeks!

It's always somewhat depressing to know that the summer Farmers Market season is coming to an end. We only have two more weeks of a summer market left until the winter market starts. To help ease my sadness about the ending of the market, I stocked up on some summer produce for my CSA box this week.

I picked up a dozen ears of corn, bell peppers, apples, tomatoes, and a huge watermelon. We had some corn last night that was delicious. And we enjoyed some watermelon for dessert. We ate outside and the chickens loved us because we shared our rinds with them.

I roasted a pumpkin from the garden this weekend and I am looking forward to going to the Springs Folk Festival later this week. Dan is ordering some things to make hard cider from the unpasteurized apple cider I pick up for him by the gallon. I also snag a gallon jug of maple syrup. We love that! On the road to the festival, there is an Amish family that generally has a few wagon loads of goods. This is where we got hooked on delicata squash. You can pick up pie pumpkins for $0.50 or $1 and other squashes for just as affordable. I'm looking forward to stocking up on some to throw in our root cellar.

What plans do you have for fall? I'll share some progress on painting the chicken coop and our fall garden this week! Happy Monday!