Never too late

10 years ago

It was a frustrating year for gardening here; a very wet May & June kept me from planting at the normal time in my rural veggie plot (10,000 square feet). It is very fertile, but low land... so it takes quite awhile to dry out, and the rains were too frequent for that to happen. I had to find room for only the most important things in my smaller home plots (which have better drainage). Many transplants died waiting to get into the ground, and the majority of my seed crops were not planted.

But over the July 4th weekend, I was able to dig up that plot, and plant part of it. Normally, I grow pole beans; but their DTM would have been too long. Same for the Tromboncino summer squash that I usually grow, and the winter squash. So I found myself in the local garden store, looking for things that would (most likely) mature. Ended up putting in green & yellow straightneck zucchini, acorn squash, bush beans, cucumbers (the only thing planted from saved seed), peas, chard, and water spinach transplants. Put in a planting of early corn too, but sandhill cranes pulled it all up as soon as it germinated. Oh well, it would probably have been a stretch anyway.

Since I anticipated only getting squash for a week or two before bugs or frost killed them, I put in a lot of plants (about 30). Surprise! No SVB, no squash bugs, no cucumber beetles - nothing. Apparently they all got tired of waiting for me to plant, and moved on. The harvest is in its third week, and I have already frozen enough to last through the winter. Same for the bush beans, which are still going strong. The cukes just started, I'll probably only get them for a couple weeks... but that will be a couple good weeks. The water spinach (rooted stems from the home garden) have stopped growing in the cooler weather, but not before two pickings. The peas & chard are coming along nicely, and it looks like the acorns will probably make it.

My point is that when a troublesome Spring gets in the way of Plan A, don't give up... there is always a Plan B. Vegetables which are harvested immature can be planted very late, and still have time produce a good crop before frost. Growing zucchini & acorns completely without SVB was a wonderful experience, even if it was not what I had originally planned.

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Comments (9)

seysonn
10 years ago
Spring gets in the way of Plan A, don't give up... there is always a Plan B...
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I like that attitude, Mr. zeedman. Never give up !
Gardening, for most part is challenge, fighting the elements. It constantly tests our will, determination and character.
pnbrown
10 years ago
Quite right. Being adaptable will be more important than ever.
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sunnibel7 Md 7
10 years ago
Yup, and sometimes you even have to go to plan C!

You have sandhill cranes there? How totally cool.
carolync1
10 years ago
Gardening is a bit unpredictable, isn't it? Makes me appreciate farmers who rely on planting for a living.

Happy for your experience.
zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
Original Author
10 years ago
"You have sandhill cranes there? How totally cool."

Well... sort of. I arrived to put up the fence, and they were just walking out of the garden. Probably a half hour earlier, and my corn would still be growing. They just strutted away slowly, looking back at me over their shoulders, with guilt written all over their beaks. Kind of a smug guilt, though... like cats.

Oh, I've got wild turkeys too, and red wing blackbirds, and finches, and crows - sometimes my garden seems more like a bird farm. ;-)

Annoying though they are at times, the birds & animals that visit my rural plot prove that it is still surrounded by a vibrant ecosystem... something that can be simultaneously comforting, and frustrating.
pnbrown
10 years ago
Those same cranes come to my place in central florida in the winter. I'll ask them if they felt ok about eating Zeedman's crops....
qbush
10 years ago
Zeedman
Thanks for your posts. I always learn from them.

What kind of peas did you plant in July? How successful were they? I planted Pea Premium, and Maxigolt the beginning of Aug. July was record heat, and really dry here in north of Boston MA, so I waited for cooler nights. Both are shelling peas with short DTM, that after reading posts all morning I figured were my best bet for a fall crop. (DH and DTB love peas, so...) I had read that shelling peas are a low volume crop so I sowed thickly.

Seeds germinated fast and thick. The plants are bearing peas now, but they are small and scrawny. I used an inoculant, and sowed them where I had had snow peas (BUMPER crop) and onions wondering what crop they would prefer to follow.

Thoughts?
KateQ
veggiecanner
10 years ago
My spring and fall crops did well. but summer crops were a bust,except cucumbers. we dehydrated about 75 pounds for veggie chips.
zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
Original Author
10 years ago
Qbush, the peas I put in were "Sugar Lace" (snap) and "Green Arrow" (shelling).

"Sugar Lace" was old seed, so I over-sowed; but the germination was still poor. In the past, I actually had better germination if planted in warm soil, so I suspect it was the age of the seed. To make a bad situation worse, one whole row died off in the summer heat. Only a partial row remains, but it was a long row, so there will still be plenty to snack on.

"Green Arrow" was also old seed, but had pretty good germination, and much less summer die-off. The longest row was planted adjacent to a long row of bush beans, and the two seem very happy together... a little too happy, with the peas clinging to the beans. I've had to separate them (carefully) while picking the beans. The peas seem to have benefited from the moisture & cooler soil under the bean canopy, that part of the row is lush & full of pods.

All the beans ("Tenderette") and peas were planted the same day. The bush beans matured first, before the end of August. To my surprise, both peas are maturing at about the same time; I expected "Green Arrow" to be a week or two later. I'll be snacking on snap peas while picking shelling peas, which should be pleasant.

Still no frost in the long-term forecast; looks like I'll be picking bush beans & zucchini for awhile yet, and getting more cukes than I expected. 10+ more days of moderate temperatures should give at least some of the "Bush Table King" acorn squash time to mature, there are about 70-80 that have reached full size. Never tried planting acorn squash so late, it will be impressive if they make it.

This wasn't the garden that I planned; none of the seed crops planned for the rural plot were planted, and will need to be put off until next year. Still, it looks like it will be a good harvest & a full freezer.

"Those same cranes come to my place in central florida in the winter. I'll ask them if they felt ok about eating Zeedman's crops...."

Well maybe if you had fed them better, they wouldn't be so hungry! ;-)