Normally, by now, I’m ready to close up shop in the garden. Pull out what’s left, clear out the brush, call it a season. I’m not sure why, but this year I decided I wanted to extend my gardening into the fall.
I didn’t need to add much – so many of my plants are still going strong – I just needed to leave them alone and let them keep producing. My bell pepper, jalapeno, and eggplant are all still producing, as well as my now not-so-little volunteer Amish Paste tomato.
In addition to these existing plantings, I sowed some lettuces, arugula, and radishes in the enclosure. The radishes are doing great, and have grown quite a bit since the photo featured at the top of this post was taken. The lettuces have been a bit more hesitant. I think it may have still been a bit too warm when I sowed them in the beginning of September. Now that things are really cooling down, I might try again with some more butterhead and mesculin seed. The arugula I sowed in early September is doing great, however. Arugula is fool-proof, I think. It sprouts and thrives no matter what.
In the Grow Camp, the chard and kale are still beautiful, and even though they are getting a little “long in the tooth” I’m going to let them have fun while they can. The kale still tastes terrific, and even the chard isn’t too bitter. I cleared the the bush beans out of the other side of the Grow Camp and planted broccoli rabe and some more kale.
How about you? What’s in your autumn garden? Leave me a note below, or tweet me @cloverandthyme!
