Celtic Garden Fall Planting

Last weekend I watched the first round of Premier League football in England and Scotland. That always triggers my thoughts of the fall vegetable garden. It is time to think about some fall planting.

In a previous article, we discussed broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower. It is not too late to still add these, but you had better hurry. You need to know your growing zone, and when your first frost will be coming. In the Ozarks, I have till around October 16.

Think back to spring time crops now also. Onions, lettuce, spinach, carrots are all good possibilities at this point. You can also use a cold frame to extend the growing season. The key is finding crops that can get their business done in around 60 days.

Get yourself some straw, and have it around to help with early frost. In addition, you want to make sure your crops are well watered through the remainder of the really hot weather. For me, that means mid-September.

Before you plant, make sure and fertilize the ground again, as summer crops will have taken needed nutrients from the soil. You can find an article on organic fertilizers in the archives of this blog. Feel free check it out. A good fish emulsion is also a favorite of mine for this time of year. Add a can or bottle of beer for the root system. Mix it all in 5 gallons of water, and add to the garden plot.

We will see you in the Celtic Ozark Garden again soon, feel free to email me with your questions about fall gardening, and I will share answers with everyone.

Ray Province

Ray Province is a retired minister who now works as an IT Programmer in the healthcare industry. He is also owner of The Celtic Ozarkian, a website that chronicles life in the Ozarks. He is an avid gardener, fly fisher, and Scottish football fan. You can reach him at contactus@celticozarkian.com or @celticozarkian on Twitter

How To Grow Turnips

I wanted to share a video on growing my personal favorite vegetable. Turnips will grow almost anywhere, which is probably why Ozarkians grow them. It is a strong tasting vegetable, that has many of the same basic uses as potatoes or colliflower. Hope you enjoy the vdeo.

Vertical Growing Techniques

How To Know When to Pick Green Beans

My first batch of green beans for the year are almost ready to pick. It is one of my favorite vegetables to plant in the Celtic Ozark Garden. My family loves them also. It also happens to be very easy to grow green beans.

One of the questions I am frequently asked is, "how do you know when to start expecting green beans to pick?" So, I decided to shoot a video this month of the subject. Enjoy!

The Celtic Ozark Garden-Seeds Blossoming

In my last video, I talked about the vegetables that I had planted in a 4' x 8' raised bed garden. In this video, I have taken some footage of what the Springtime garden looks like as it begins to blossom. This video was shot by request for beginning gardeners. Hope you like it.

I wanted to share a video that I recently shot at the Baker Creek Seed Company. They specialize in providing their customers with top quality heirloom seeds. Hope you enjoy the video. You can reach them at http:/rareseeds.com

The Case For Raising Worms

I wanted to do an extra article for the month of January, so I decided to address the issue of having worms help your garden. One of the best forms of fertilizer is worm castings. The castings are what are left behind after it passes through the body of the worm! Enough said on that!

What one needs to consider is raising worms. It is an easy process to do. They will live in a small bin, eat your organic garbage, and make the best fertilizer around. If done correctly, you won’t even smell them!

You will need a bin of some sort for them to live in. I use plastic storage containers, like you keep Christmas stuff in! Don’t get the clear ones; the worms do not mind the dark. You will need to make some holes for air. Cover the holes with screen, so nothing gets in or out. You can add a hose spigot near the bottom of the bin to take advantage of worm tea. Worm tea is even better than compost tea for your plants. All you have to do is add a cup or two to a large watering can and fill the rest with water. You can then water your plants as you would normally.

Bedding will also need to be added to the bin. We use shredded newspaper, because we read the paper all the time, and it is a great way to recycle. Some dirt needs to go in as well. I like to use some potting soil, mixed with my backyard dirt. The Ozarks soil is very hard and rocky, full of class. Not the best soil in the world, even for an old Celtic gardener! The soil will provide the grit needed by the worms to digest food matter.

Red wiggler worms are the worms of choice. Don’t use worms from your backyard. Find a good dealer online and purchase your worms. Rule of thumb: for every pound of garbage you put in per day, you need to have two pounds of worms to do the work.

Feed your worms plant matter: vegetables, rotten fruit,egg shells. No meat, artificial anything! You also need to keep the paper/vegetable matter moist. I recommend using a spray bottle, so you don’t water log the soil and drown your worms!

Check your bin everyday to ensure that you get off to a good start. Keep the bedding moist and the bin should stay in a spot that's about 60 to 70 degrees. Leaving the bin outside in the summer sun is a good way to cook all of your worms. And remember if the worm bin starts to smell, then you probably need more bedding.

Get your bin started now, and you will reap the benefits of their work all summer. Here’s to your Celtic Ozark Garden!

Slainte,
Ray Province

Ray and Robin Province are the owners of The Celtic Ozarkian website, dedicated to issues surrounding life in the Ozarks. You can find us at: http://ping.fm/W0mRn
Ray is currently an IT programmer in the healthcare industry, and freelances in SEO and website development. Robin is a semi retired ICU nurse who now works in coding and compliance in the healthcare industry.