The last few days have been fantastic for getting some cleanup and bed prepping done. Temps have been in the low to high 70s with frequently cloudy days making working in the middle of the day possible. I really can't remember having this near perfect weather in mid September down here. I don't know if this means a long cold winter or just a great fall but I am hoping for the later. Of course it could just be a fluke and the usual hot dry conditions could return but I'm going to remain optimistic. If it weren't for old age, arthritis and a bad heart I could spend all day in the garden.
Today I will have had my mustard and turnips in the garden for 3 full days. I should be seeing some germination any time now. It has been difficult keeping the ground moist because of the high winds blowing from can til can't so I've had to sprinkle the planted area two or three times per day to keep the seeds moist. I have also had the new seedlings outside to get more light because with the cloudy conditions they have tended to get a bit leggy and thin in the greenhouse but that has also been a problem because the wind dries out the small seedbeds so fast. The forecast is for it to return to the 80s today so everything may have to be put back in the greenhouse or on the porch in the shade to prevent any sun-scald to the small seedlings still popping up in the egg carton seed starters I like to use. Some of my broccoli looks like it is nearly ready to pot up so I may get started on that and fertilize my few remaining tomatoes and see if I can coax a few more out of the tired and sickly plants.
In the past two weeks I have also started some onion seed a little earlier than usual and have had good germination. I usually start onions in mid October but last year the seedlings didn't grow large enough and I had to plant out very small seedlings and a good percentage froze because they were just too small. I have never had so many onions lost to the cold and it was a very mild winter with only a few really cold days. By starting some earlier than usual I am hoping to have some larger sets to put out this year but I will also be planting more seed in mid October. It seems there is a delicate balance between having sets too large and getting onions with thick necks that won't keep well and having sets too small to survive a good cold snap.
I actually watched a mocking bird pecking one of my barely ripening tomatoes yesterday and shooed it off before it could do too much damage and picked the tomato to ripen on the screened porch. In the past week I have been able to pick three tomatoes before the birds could get to them thanks in part I am sure to the aluminum pie plates banging on the tomato racks where I hung them. They seem to be warding off some of the sparrow swarms that have been a problem the past month and my beans are recovering from all the pecking they received. The cucumbers I set out just before the storm seem to be making a nice recovery from the beating they took so all in all it is a fantastic start for fall.
Bill