September 11 used to be just another day, didn't it. All that changed 21 years ago, and every year since then, when the calendar rolls round to 9/11, we all remember where we were and what we were doing when we found out that a plane had hit one of the twin towers. Such a senseless tragedy and I am always sad for the families of those who were killed in the attacks.
The day started out cloudy, damp and cool. We had a surprise rain shower yesterday afternoon, I suppose triggered by a cold front that is inching its way closer to us. I think by tomorrow, it will feel very "fall like" with lows possibly in the 50s.
It was a good morning to do some cleanup in the garden.
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| The black plastic has been relocated to the west side of the cellar to try to kill out the Bermuda grass that was trying to take over. |
I've had black plastic out in the garden since last summer, and it seems to have done a pretty good job of killing out the Bermuda grass. But I had let the area west of the cellar get away from me this summer. So this morning I pulled some of the taller grass and weeds, then dragged the plastic over the Bermuda grass and tried my best to weight it down so it wouldn't be lifted up by the wind. The plastic is starting to get pretty ragged, with lots of holes and splits.
Once the plastic was moved to the new spot, I took the rake and scratched up the dirt where it had been and planted a mix of winter rye and hairy vetch. I raked the seeds back in and scattered straw over the top of it. I hope that's enough to keep the birds from eating the rye seeds. I'm not sure a single rye plant has come up in the back part of the garden where I planted my last cover crop mix.
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| Cover crop mix of Hairy Vetch, Crimson Clover, Daikon Radish, (supposed to be) Winter Rye and Sorghum Sudan grass. |
I cut back some of the Sorghum Sudan grass that hasn't already been cut this morning too. The tallest stalks were just about 5' tall now. I took the first few stalks that I cut off to the compost bin, but it made me sad to see all of the lady bug larvae and pupae in among the leaves. So the rest of what I cut just got left on the ground in that patch of garden.
I didn't cut it very short this time because the last that I cut hasn't really ever seemed to take off growing again like I thought it would. I had cut it at about 6" to 8" after it blew over in the storm.
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| Cover crop mix of Sorghum Sudan grass and black oil sunflower. The stalks that were cut after they blew over are just now starting to grow again. Notice one nice looking sunflower at the edge of the patch.... |
It is interesting to see that some of the sunflowers actually have buds on them. They're not very tall, and most of them are pretty spindly from being shaded by the Sorghum Sudan grass. But I guess their internal clocks are telling them that they're running out of time and they're going to try to produce some seeds if they can.
Elsewhere in the garden....
The crimson clover that I planted under the bell peppers and peas has come up and looks to be doing well.
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| Cover crop of crimson clover in rows of plants that will be taken out after frost. |
I am excited that I might FINALLY have some green peas this fall! I have a section about 10' long where the peas have made it to about 8" high. I did have to put wire up on both sides of the panel because an armadillo got in there one night and rooted up some of the plants, but so far it hasn't been back, or else the wire has deterred it from digging in that row again.
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| Green peas (Sugar Snap) interplanted with a Crimson Clover cover crop. |
I planted some carrots yesterday after the rain. I decided to try the "cover them with a plank" method described by Huw Richards because it seems that small seeds that I direct sow in the garden always dry out and don't germinate very well. I planted two plots, one with newer seeds that I had ordered from Everwilde.com, and the other with very old seeds that I had bought years ago at the local feed store.
