![]() ![]() ![]() The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast tackles this need head on, with regionally specific growing information written by local gardening expert, Ira Wallace. The write-up says “Growing vegetables requires regionally specific information-what to plant, when to plant it, and when to harvest are based on climate, weather, and first frost. Ira Wallace, from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and Acorn Community, has written the Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast. (People looking for gifts for gardening friends, take note). On a more cheery note, here’s two books to look forward to before next season. Perhaps we have a giant raccoon that uses its butt to keep the door from closing while it eats the bait? One trap was open and on its side – have the beasts figured out how to turn the trap and get the food out without springing the trap? The other was closed but emptied. This morning both raccoon traps had the bait eaten, but no captives. (Two whole sections 6 rows x 60ft with a plant every 8 inches, plus serious inroads in three other sections.) We’re looking at installing an electric fence, but several crew are unenthusiastic, foreseeing problems with the fence shorting out on the grass, and inconvenience working around it. We’ve probably lost close to 2000 ears of corn to these pests this year. Yesterday we caught our eleventh raccoon in the sweet corn. “Prioritize planting during the planting season!” is one of our mantras.Here in central Virginia, the planting season runs from mid-February to the end of September (ignoring the garlic planting in November). Our next priority, after harvesting, is planting. Many mornings the dew is heavy, so we start our shifts with some hoeing (if the soil and the forecast are dry enough), or carrot weeding (most days). Fungal diseases spread easily when it’s warm and wet. And naturally, it’s very important to do it! After all, why grow food if you don’t harvest it? An added challenge this year is that for most of the summer crops (tomatoes, beans, eggplant, squash, cucumbers), it’s better not to touch the plants while the leaves are wet. At this time of year, harvesting takes a lot of time. Every day involves a juggling of priorities. Too bad.įarming is completely non-linear! You don’t finish one task, then start another. probably we’ll have to draw a line in the mud and give up on the lower part of the carrot patch. Meanwhile, other timely tasks are going begging. We’re about 40% down our 265′ long carrot rows (15 of them), weeding, but the weeds are now bigger than the carrots. It means the weeds are growing too well, and there is no chance to hoe: the soil is too wet, the weeds won’t die, just re-root. ![]() This week has come with a lot of rain, which has restricted what we can do in the garden, but saves me from running irrigation systems. ![]()
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