September: Where Did It Go?

Here's what is happening in our garden beds at the end of September.

Our hoop house #1:  Salad greens grow behind the peppers which are still going
strong in the front of the space.

An overview of some of the outside beds.  You can see the bright greens of
 lettuces going strong in the third row from the rear.

Arugula is one of our favorite crops.

A close-up of some recently planted broccoli transplants.

Just one more day left in the month of September and then we will be moving on to October when it truly becomes fall here in Middle Georgia.  Wow!  Where did it go?  Of course we are already having cooler nights and milder days, but it still gets into the middle or upper 80's pretty regularly.  However, I must add that these small changes and the shorter days have already made a difference in the way things grow and thrive in the garden.  We are starting to say our good byes to many of summer's treasured crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers and okra, as they slow down and we are welcoming the fall favorites (lettuces, kale and collards) as they begin thriving with the cooler nights and milder days.

We have had an unusually rough time with the transition from summer to fall here at Elm Street Gardens with unusual onslaughts from insect pests (the result of the unusually mild winter here???) and unusual weather patterns that have inhibited germination of the fall crops.  (It probably falls into the misery loves company department, but I was perversely gratified a few weeks ago to read a post on FaceBook by a prominent organic grower in Georgia on her need to sew some of the fall crops a second time after the first seeding had failed.). But the fall crops seem to be humming right along now; we may be just a tad later than usual with some of them.

But such is life in the garden.  If it all worked the same way each year, it would be unnatural.  And not nearly as interesting.

Suzy