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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 17, 2017 14:27:37 GMT -6
I live in Northeast Oklahoma, in the Tahlequah region, and thought it would be nice to start a Fall gardening thread, so folks could share their experiences in that regard as we grow fall crops through the years.
Today is August 17th, 2017 it's raining again, which is abnormal for this time of year; where I live anyhow.
It has been in the upper 80s to 90 degrees all month, which is also very unusual for August. It's usually the hottest, driest, most miserable month of the year. When I was a kid (before air conditioning) we started school in September because August was too hot.
Normally, July is the best month to start a Fall garden, but this year, crows came in droves and ate all my seedlings as soon as they were about 1" inch tall. Because of that, I had to build a scarecrow and start over from scratch on August 1st. As a result, my corn is only about 6" to 8" inches tall but is growing very fast in this rainy, 90-degree weather.
I planted every kind of squash seed I could find and marked the rows with empty seed packets. The rain destroyed the seed packets, so the squash harvest (if I get one) will be a grab-bag-surprise!
This August, the planting season is perfect for germinating seeds; they pop up within a couple days, but it's kind of late in the year with the days getting shorter. I don't know what to expect?
Worse case scenario, I'll harvest dried corn stalks for Fall decorations come the first frost.
Fall gardening is enjoyable because of the cooler temperatures. Lettuce would be a good choice this late in the season, or maybe beets and carrots, but I didn't have any of those seeds so I planted whatever I could find.
If anyone else has anything planted for a Fall crop, please feel free to add to this thread. Hopefully, as the years progress, we can look back on this thread to see what crops do best in this region as a Fall crop. By including a running history of temperatures and rainfall, and comparing these weather patterns, we can know what crops do best in wet or dry, hotter or cooler conditions.
Maybe, over the years, this thread will provide curious gardeners in the local region with a 'go to list' of what seeds to choose for their Fall gardens and the best planting dates as we learn more about them.
Enjoy this unusually cool, wet, weather!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 17, 2017 17:36:11 GMT -6
Here is a photo of my squash and corn from this morning, right after it rained. My corn is planted a little too thick. I was expecting crows to invade it again after they wiped me out the week before, but my scarecrow worked too well, and as a result, I got nearly 100% germination with no losses due to crow or deer predation. I'll have to thin the corn out in a few days or it won't do very well later on when it gets bigger.
As my Grandma used to say, "Better too many plants and suffer a need to thin them out, than not to have planted enough seeds, and miss the window of opportunity."
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 20, 2017 19:25:42 GMT -6
It was terribly hot today. It was 95 degrees and dew was still on the ground at 1:00 pm from the high humidity. I went out to the garden after Church to look at the okra and got eaten up with chiggers. Chiggers are usually gone by mid-July, but this constant raining since May 1st has kept them around a month longer... (Yeah! Lucky us!!!) The corn, beans, okra, Roselle. and squash are getting along just fine though. I picked a couple dozen pawpaws this afternoon. That was the highlight of my day.
For August, it's not too bad. I'll still be very glad to see September roll around with cooler temperatures. I need some relief from the seed ticks and chiggers. Friday, I went out to work in the yard and found 64 seed ticks had chewed through my socks when I came back inside. It's enough to make a person not want to venture beyond the front door. I guess that's why God makes such drastic season changes in Oklahoma or else things like ticks, chiggers, and fleas would carry us off.
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Post by john on Aug 20, 2017 20:35:55 GMT -6
Ron, this is a great thread you started. Do you know how many days till maturity for that corn? I find that here in CT I can plant 75 day corn up until the middle of July. (I have sweet corn right now that is about a foot tall, that I fully expect to be able to harvest at the end of September or early October.) So chances are you are fine for OK. It seems that most new sweet corn varieties are all shorter season. Years ago 75 days was an early or second early corn. The real good corn was always at least 85 days till maturity. Another good crop to plant in the fall is Spinach. You have to wait until the soil has started to cool or you won't get it to germinate properly. I think the soil temps need to be below 70 fahrenheit for it to sprout properly. (I usually wait until around labor day here, you may have to wait for another month or so.) It will overwinter nicely and then you will have spinach nice and early come spring. (before the leafminers start.) I just planted cilantro, lettuce, and dill in the space left after I dug some potatoes. I stop planting bush beans the first week in August. They usually bring beans up until the first frost. Some years, you wish you had planted one more planting, but those late plantings tend to last much longer in the cooler weather of fall. Lastly, I hear you about the crows. I had problems with them ripping out my corn seedlings and even my young squash and cucumbers. I had to replant the squash in the middle of june. I put a string about six inches over the row. For some reason crows don't like that string and they stay away.
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Post by macmex on Aug 21, 2017 5:35:41 GMT -6
Out in the hills in Mexico, I remember farmers using the tape from an old cassette to string above their corn. It shimmered in the sun and blew in the breeze. Apparently that helped a lot with birds.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 23, 2017 14:29:33 GMT -6
I had crows pull every one of my onion sets out this year. That has never happened before. They didn't eat the sets, they just pulled them up like it was some kind of game for them. I replanted the sets each time I found them pulled up, until finally, they all got severely stunted by the roots being broken so many times. None of them developed bulbs, they just barely survived with tiny greens about 6" to 8" inches tall. My onions this year are still growing and no bigger around than my thumb.
I think the crows got started pulling things up when last Autumn's drought caused my Austrian Winter peas not to germinate. The dry earth blew away from the seeds during the drought and the crows ate them.
This year, the crows have ruined several hours of my labor, not to mention several hundred pounds of potential production.
I might make it before frost with my corn? Who knows? I replanted it August 1st after the crows pulled out all my previously germinated seedlings. If frost holds off until November 1st, that will be 90 days. Unfortunately, our first frost usually comes by mid, to late-October. It's a gamble to plant that late, but it's better than not planting at all.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 23, 2017 14:35:26 GMT -6
It finally dried up enough today to get some plowing done. It took me 4 hours to complete the task. Now, that I've got that chore done, I've got all kinds of fresh soil to plant my Fall turnips and radishes in. I'll probably go ahead and sow my Austrian Winter peas and Hairy Vetch while I'm at it.
I don't know if I have any spinach or lettuce seeds? Those would be good candidates if I do.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 23, 2017 18:12:54 GMT -6
My scarecrow is still on the job. My Fall corn is a foot tall already. My Fall squash plants can be seen in the foreground; they are about 8" inches tall now. This row is almost 200' feet long, so that will be plenty to feed our family come harvest. Fall turnip planting preparations are made. I've got my Fall plowing done. Now, all I need are seeds and a good steady rain. Last year, the rains never came but hopefully, this year will be better. If I can find Austrian Winter Pea seeds tomorrow, I'll plant those too.
Fall gardening is a very enjoyable pass-time once you have the plowing done. this field will look nice when there is snow on my turnip tops this Winter. Hopefully, I'll have plenty of radishes by then too.
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Post by john on Aug 24, 2017 15:42:31 GMT -6
Ron, Thanks for the picture. I love the look of freshly tilled soil. It makes me happy!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 25, 2017 19:57:10 GMT -6
Me too John!
I'm sure glad to have that plowing done and behind me now.
I sowed 35 pounds of Austrian Winter Peas last night and about a pound of Daikon Radishes and an eighth of a pound of Purple Top Turnips. I dragged the seed in with a heavy, 20' foot log chain, so they'll have at least a little dirt over them when it rains.
My corn is taller than my watering can today. (I'm guessing around 16" to 18" inches?) It's hard to believe it's grown so fast. All that rain the day before I planted it, really gave it a boost.
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Post by macmex on Aug 26, 2017 7:10:18 GMT -6
Ron, what kind of corn is it?
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 26, 2017 18:58:45 GMT -6
It's just Indian corn from last year's seeds that I saved. My first crop got wiped out by the flood and high winds on June 17th during the thunderstorm that hit the Red Fern Festival so hard that day. My second crop was destroyed by crows. This is my 3rd try this season. I just planted it August 1st, the day after it rained, so it came right up almost as soon as it hit the ground.
I just planted these mainly for silage to feed my hogs this Autumn. If it makes corn too, that will be a big plus.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 30, 2017 5:39:13 GMT -6
We need rain. The garden is dry as a bone. I watered for 5 hours yesterday and I can't even tell I did it this morning. It has been in the mid-90s for nearly two weeks with no rain. Last year, we had such a drought in the Fall, that my Winter pea seeds and turnip seeds hardly germinated at all. Those that did, were so late that the first night below zero killed them all.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 30, 2017 17:09:13 GMT -6
Here is a photo of my knee-high, Autumn corn crop taken early this morning, just about sunrise. It was 61 degrees; awesome Fall weather for gardening! I can actually enjoy being outside on mornings like this! There were two young Scissor Tail Flycatchers out there when I walked up. You could tell they were this season's chicks by their short tail feathers. I enjoyed watching them swoop in and out of the okra rows looking for bugs to eat for breakfast. My water can is in the foreground as a reference to how tall the corn has gotten. Two weeks ago it was barely 6" to 8" inches tall. It was only planted four weeks ago... Corn is amazing stuff. My scarecrow is still on patrol. You can tell by the smile on his face, there were no crows in the garden this morning! No cows either! Even better!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 3, 2017 16:05:27 GMT -6
FALL SQUASH !!! When I came home from Church today, three of the squash plants in my Fall garden were already blooming! They've grown a lot faster than I thought they would during these shorter days and are absolutely bug-free because they were planted so late in the year. I'm anticipating fresh yellow squash by next weekend from the looks of these blossoms; the baby squash are nearly two inches long. My squash plants are taller than my water can now, and are finally filling out enough to cover the row and shade out the weeds.
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