Blue Moons

The mailman left fall garden seeds in my mailbox this week - sugar snap peas, cabbage, beets, radishes, and carrots.  I decided this afternoon that I'd better get busy preparing the soil for planting. 

Right now, my garden is about halfway toward being a mess (or, for the glass-half-full folks, it's 1/2 clean).  The front 1/4 was recently plowed and disked and is ready for tilling.  At the far edge of this strip stands a double row of the scrawniest rattlesnake bean plants you ever saw, plants that have only made one pickin' of beans all summer.  I decided to let them stand, having had, in past years, sickly plants suddenly spring to life with the September rains and bear until frost.  My intention is to plant the sugar snap peas right beside them, so that the peas can use the existing string supports.  On the other side of the bean trellis are several rows of beans, peppers, and tomatoes.  It is all over-grown; the tomatoes have fallen over, cages and all.  Beyond these rows are three immaculately clean rows of purple hull peas that are just starting to grow, a grassy row of scraggly tomatoes, and three more clean rows of purple hull peas. 

The task I set for myself this afternoon was to (1) apply lime and fertilizer to the front 1/4 of the garden and till it into the soil, and (2) plant the sugar snap peas.  All I actually accomplished was applying the lime and fertilizer, and tilling the soil one row wide on either side of the bean trellis where the snap peas will go.  As I was tilling, it occurred to me that we're about to have a blue moon.  I think I shall wait until Friday to plant the blue-green, moon-shaped seeds.  ;)

The broccoli and brussels sprouts that I started from seeds a couple of weeks ago are ready to go in the garden.  They're going in the front 1/4, once I prepare the soil.  I planted the cabbage seeds indoors yesterday.  I don't know whether they'll grow in time to make heads before winter. 

I still haven't decided what to do about the carrots and beets.  I've not had much luck with root vegetables.  This clay soil is just too hard.  Fellow gardeners have suggested that I mix some sand into the soil, but online sources say that it takes a lot of sand - a truck load for a big garden - to help clay soil.  But I've had another idea.  I saw a 10-ft.-long livestrock feeding trough in a farm supply ad.  I could fill it with half soil and half sand and plant the seeds there, and it could happen in my very own yard (instead of across the road in Nanny's yard), where I can keep a watch on the plants.  I'll let you know if it works!

Fall Gardening

The summer garden is getting tired, and I am tired of fooling with it.  Yesterday, I decided that it was time to get rid of some of the most troublesome and least-producing areas.  I pulled up some tomatoes that weren't earning their keep.  The Husband cranked up the tractor and plowed and disked the front third of the garden, which was mostly sunflowers, scraggly tomatoes, and weeds.  So far, I've managed not to kill the broccoli and brussels sprouts that I started 3 weeks ago.  They have been transplanted into plastic drinking cups (just try and find peat pots or pellets around here this time of year) and are now living on my front porch.  In a couple of weeks, when this heat lets up, I'll move them to the garden.

Today, I made two more batches of pepper jelly.  I gave away at least half of the first batch.  It's kind of fun to make new pepper jelly converts.  Those who have never had it will crinkle up their noses and say, "Pepper jelly?"  But once I give them a jar and they try it, they're hooked.  Today's second batch also has onions in it (I was a tad short on peppers).  I haven't tasted it yet, but it smelled delicious while it was cooking.