August 7, 2017

 It is that time of year where serious thoughts about the winter garden is needed. Almost seems strange what with it being the first of August.

I am going to do some things different this year. Instead of starting my winter seedlings in the garden I will start them in the house. The last couple of years I have either harvester ants "harvest" the germinating seeds, caterpillars clear cut overnight,  or any number of other challenges. Germination to transplant-able is the stage that  veggies seem to be most vulnerable, besides they do not have very much foliage and loosing any of it will compromise the young seedlings. So in the interest of fully stocked beds the seedlings will be grown inside.

This could be the first year in a number that I hope to have cabbage.

Another veggie that I have not had great success with are parsnips. Parsnips are one of the most cold hardy veggies there is. It also does not like to germinate in soils much above 80 degrees. like with my summer peas (which are doing nicely) will grow in warmer soil than what they will germinate in. The last couple of years my parsnip bed has been maybe 25 to 30% stocked. Almost not worth the trouble. Parsnips are a larger seed and it is with great hope I will germinate them and then plant the seeds. Not sure how this will work but save for okra this has worked well. Parsnips are a very long crop to grow (120+ days). So to have decent sized roots they need to be started early. Up north these guys are sown in May and June for fall harvest. May and June are our hottest months and I would not think to start them then. We will see with an August planting with germinated seed. Another interesting thing about this crop, they are best harvested in the dead of winter when they are their sweetest. They need to be harvested before they begin new growth at which point they become tough as wood.

This change of seasons is really quite tricky (for filling veggie orders). First making sure there are beds available for the crops and then keep the summer crops going until the winter crops begin to be harvested. Usually fall is much easier than spring because there are a number of veggies in storage.

There have been some years where I have a nice mix of summer and winter veggies. It makes for a nice display at market.

So here is to the "ballet" of the changing of seasons!