Sorry for the delay in posting this. If anyone knows me (Jessica), they know that I go to bed early. So instead of getting around to this post, I passed out.
In Durham, NC we have an extended growing season. Since it’s hot here from about mid-march to October, we are able to have an abundant spring and fall garden.
Northerners, this may not apply to you; except for planting garlic or onions which you can leave, pretty much unattended, through the winter to harvest in the spring. My parents did this with garlic last season and they had a successful spring harvest. To harvest a crop in the spring before you even plant your garden, gives you a great feeling of accomplishment.
Here is what we are going to do with our garden this weekend to ready it for fall heirlooms seeds. (The veggies I list are the ones that are currently there)
Garden bed one: tomatoes (Sungold, Black Cherry, Pink Thai), marigolds, and sweet basil
- We will harvest the rest of the crop; even if there are cracked tomatoes we can seed save.
- Pull out all of the plant debris to be used in our compost pile. This is a great practice because even if you don’t plant a fall crop in the space, you don’t want to encourage insects and diseases to hang out over the winter.
- Till and incorporate Harvest in the City Compost. We are going to be using this compost because the fall is a great time to add fertilizer. Although compost is NOT considered a fertilizer, Harvest in the City Compost helps to maintain balanced N-P-K soil. We love this compost and so do our plants. Adding compost will also improve soil drainage, water holding capacity and loosen up heavy soils. If your garden is prone to erosion, don’t turn your garden till the spring.
- We will leave the marigolds in the ground and just deadhead them. Marigolds help to keep unwanted bugs away.
- We will harvest the rest of our basil because it starting to flower and we will make pesto with it.
Garden bed two: peppers (Tam Jalapeño, Chinese 5-color, mini bell), purple tomatillo, Emerald okra, marigolds and sweet basil
We grouped together these plants because they are companions. Companion planting is important since you want your plants to be able to live harmoniously. For example, if you plant sweet peppers as an ornamental plant around an apricot tree, be aware that peppers are prone to certain fungus which will harm the apricot tree. NOT A COMPANION PLANT.
Here is a great website to see what to plant if you are having bug issues and want to ward them off naturally: http://davidson.ces.ncsu.edu/content/Companion+Planting
Garden bed three: parsley, sage, borage, stevia, calendula, petunias, sweet basil and purple basil, purple hull pinkeye (cowpeas)
In this garden bed we will only pull out the cowpeas. The cool thing about cowpeas is that you can do seed saving right on the vine. We had a good harvest this year. Some of them we will save to replant in the spring and many of them we will use to make winter soup. The herbs are still doing great since we have been using them all summer long. The more you harvest off of herbs the more they will give you.
This is a great time to take a soil sample in to the local extension office. This will keep you current on your soil status. Here is our extension office website: http://durham.ces.ncsu.edu/
I will write more later about the crops to plant. I think that this is enough information for now.
Happy gardening!!!
Good luck getting your spring garden ready for some fall loving!
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