Starting FALL GARDENS 2011 in Zone 8 - Part 2

FENNEL is also growing well.
I have added lot of compost to hide the bulbs ... I have read that in this way the bulb will be sweeater ... I will let ya know

Kales

FAVA BEAVS ... I keep cutting them down because my DH tortoises really love them ... and they keep growing ...

Fava Beans flowers

I still have some CAULIFLOWERS to harvest ...

this BROCCOLO CALABRESE seems like it wants to bolt ...

KOHLRABI growing slowly.
I gave the bottom leaves to my DH pets ... I hope it will encourage the Kolrabi to grow faster

Do you think so? The leaves are what create the actual "food" (energy compounds from photosynthesis) for the rest of the plant. In some vegetables (e.g. tomatoes), leaves and shoots are removed to redirect energy (stems can only bring up so much water & dissolved nutrients) or to open up the plant for ventilation and light penetration. I've never heard that about kohlrabi.

-Rich

oh oh ... I hope so.
I will let you know.

On my Broccoli I kept removing the bottom larger leaves to feed the tortoises and I had a millions of shootings.

I will keep posting

I have millions of broccoli shoots without removing any leaves.

On broccoli, though, the parts we eat form at the actively growing and elongating tops, not at the base of the stem. Removing lower leaves allows more nutrients to be carried upwards - where we want them.

I am interested to know how they fare. I've only grown kohlrabi a couple of times, never having developed a liking for it. Maybe I just need some good recipes.

-Rich

On the left you can see my veggie garedn (in between the rocks).
OMG this year everything is so lush.
Look at my LETTUCE, the first crop on the left ... wow

LETTUCE growing here

This year FAVA BEANS are just so beautiful and decorative.
Right now so many flowers, which they smell so good and they taste delish

CAULIFLOWER VERONICA

FAVA BEANS delish flowers

These are Chicory and White Clover growing in my DH pets area.
I just trew the seeds ... and off course they are growig in poor soil ... grrrrrr
Sometimes my seeds will not germinate in my precious soil in my veggie garden ... go figure ....

Temps and light have to do with seed germination not soil quality. Thats why I had Swiss Chard germinating on the tile in my bathroom this summer. In paper towels in plastic bags, it was the coolest place I could find.

That is pretty cool thinking, Lisa!

Pun intended?

Yep.

Your fava beans and lettuce are lovely, drthor. I'm impressed at how closely planted they are.

Thanks
I am very excited about Fava Feans this year.
I have started them very early and they are doing fantastic.
You are missing out if you have never had Fava Beans ... delish !!

Fava Bean pods are starting to form

Arugula is bolting

Your arugula photo looks like mine! 8-0

Look how gorgeous is this little Arugula bed !
All my friends are asking what flowers are those ...

Mine is also in bloom and I wonder how freely it will re-seed. Any thoughts?

yes it will reseed .... weeee
free food !

I know it will develop seed but I don't want it to stay in the same bed so will cut it back then. Thanks.

Is anyone still stating their Fall 2011 Garden? ;o)

-Rich

Time for an updated thread?

Maybe we should start a new thread for the new year that's open to all zones.

I'll vote for that!

There are at least four threads currently going, all with the same relative theme. I hate monitoring them all. Should've been only one from the start.

So, what're we calling the NEW new thread?

I don't think anyone is specifically excluded for NOT being in zone 8, are they? And I think it's already been pretty well established that the actual growing season for all the areas of the country that are technically within zone 8 varies tremendously. Zones were, after all, intended primarily as a guide for woody plant hardiness, right?

That said, I appreciate the value of getting information that is applicable to local growing conditions. Hearing that people in Mn are still browsing their seed catalogs or what they are planning to plant is always interesting at some level of curiosity, but it just isn't generally very useful to me here in Florida.

I would even consider starting a separate group for Southeast US edible plant gardeners - but I'm afraid it would only attract a few people. IMHO I still think the best alternative is starting specific threads within the existing groups. That's the reason for having separate threads instead of one single long rambling thread, isn't it?

(Or maybe I'm just jealous reading the Summer 2012 thread about some Vt gardener's beautiful beefsteak tomatoes when I'm lucky

-Rich

to have a few lonely grape tomatoes that haven't split yet. ;o)

In all the time I've been with DG we never had threads that said "only". I guess it's clear if you read the whole thread but if you read the title many people wouldn't even bother reading the whole thread. Tomatoes are pretty much grown the same no matter where you live, and the zone maps only say how cold an area gets not for how long or when. DG has done fine for years without titles that exclude individuals. If the zones are for "woody plants" then they don't pertain to veggies, anyway. There may be a regional forum for your area, I know there is one for Texas.

There is at least one DGer in MN that grows tomatoes on a huge scale, I'm sure he could share information even if he's not at that stage yet.

Linda's right tho there are other threads on this forum and the tomato forum
(others I'm sure) that are already going with 2012 so maybe we just need to start posting there. Linda, why do you have to monitor them?

The only thing I'm sure about is that I don't want another thread named zone-only.

And around and around it goes!

The lettuce I seeded in September is still going strong