Judith's garden plans, records, results, hopes.....

 When do you plant rye and winter peas? I seem to have my timing off  

Joylynn, I try to have both on hand and start planting them when the rains begin, usually in November.
The rye grain gets a bed all to itself and planted earliest.

The peas success is different every year so I plant some by the handful, thrown hard onto bare soil, whenever it rains from early november into december...usually near a fence because they love to climb but also in some beds in the main garden.
I have not found the right grain to grow with them or the right timing so that the peas don't cause the grain to lodge?  I tried oats one year and the oats froze and the peas with rye did not work for scything later....maybe rye grass would have worked better.

I really like the rye grain for surpressing weeds and then scything for some great mulch,
It seems to deter most growth except beans and sorghum...probably other things will grow in the stubble that I have not tried.

We buy 5#organic rye berries and 5# organic hard winter wheat  from Azure from the food section,..pretty economical I think.  We get the peas from our local feed store by the pound ..10# is usually enough.
The wheat will go in same as rye....Steve likes to turn it under young and green.

Still dry but the cooler weather is wonderful!
The well is maintaining a steady amount for daily watering...will cut back on some things as cold weather nears.

It's the time of year where I keep walking into spider webs everywhere.

Starting garden cleanup for winter cover crops....have the beoadfork stuck in the ground ready but the soil is still too dry to work.

It's probably time to dig sunchokes before grubs have their way with them.

Checked on a couple hills of sweet potatoes...no vole damage yet so going to leave as late as possible before harvest.

A meteorologist mentioned in today's video that this region has been seeing rising temperatures in September and 7 out of 10 years is very dry in late summer. I couldn't get oat covercrop to germinate. Rye will do if there's rain in November but the biomass will be minimal.  I am considering moving fall sowing into July next year if this is the new normal.

May,
It seems like the window for planting rye grain is smaller than other winter cover crops.
If I plant too early it just sits, like your oats are and I run more risk of the birds enjoying it.
I have good luck if I plant during a rainy spell to quickly germinate and then it grows as it likes warm days over the winter....then takes off late winter so it's a nice scythable 'straw' by the time I need the bed.
Of course anytime I think I've got something figured out weather happens😊

I've tried oats and found, although they germinated just fine, all but a few odd clumps here and there winter killed.

I aim for august for planting fall greens and am always late....I never have space ready so end up planting flats for ease of watering but I still don't have space ready for setting them out.
for me, I think this is the equivalent of 'my eyes are bigger than my stomach' applied to growing food🙄

Good rain in the forecast for here....I hope you get some too!

See how this sakurajima daikon is exploding! I read a research paper saying that it has higher level of trigonelline than coffee beans, a vitamin B3 derivative that is beneficial to the vascular system. I planted one this spring too and the root grew to soft ball size before flowering. Then the June flood killed it. I should've planted spring root crops in raised mounds or furrows.
First significant rain in three months is finall coming next week but frost is on the horizon. I've never realized how crazy the weather is in the Ozarks until I started gardening.

May, that daikon is wonderful!
I rarely get the timing right for them in order to have nice large roots but when it happens they are so good for a fermented pickle and stir fry...maybe next year?

We got a 3" rain on October 2...nothing since but having this well water available has given us the chance to start some beds of fall greens if I water them twice a day.
Eighties and nineties most days and cooling off into the fifties overnight...lovely fall weather.

I see a forecast of drops to 41F and 39F at the end of the week (after a possible rain) so will probably try to cover sweet potatoes to give them a little more time in the ground.
Here on this creek bottom our temps can be a few degrees colder than just a few blocks away.

Ground hog is still fattening up for winter...the ashes keep him(her?)from eating most of the vines other than the growing tips....he/she did a number on the peanuts though so we'll probably dig them before the rain.  
It's odd to me that ground hog is not eating other things...like moringa?

There was a good chance of rain today but I watered my seed beds anyway...good germination if I water twice a day every day🙄

We are gradually digging sweet potatoes and peanuts...both disappointing harvests so far.

I doubt we grow peanuts again...they were not happy in our clay soil.
I'm determined to grow sweet potatoes though.
I think the ones in the garden bed did better than last year...still small and they were mostly purples....other years have had very large ones.
The orange ones, I grew most in tubs so I would be sure to have some good ones to grow slips from next year but they are smaller than usual and have scurf.

I hate to lose either variety but won't use the tubs again for them (because of scurf) and need to get some fertility back in the garden soil before next season....wood ashes helped but not enough..

Still getting several long beans a day....will definitely grow more next year on our two hoop houses that we don't cover with plastic anymore, just, sometimes shadecloth.

nice young chicory leaves and soon some thinnings of kale, turnip, mustard and arugula....have not got the beds ready for transplants....these were sown directly.

Time to see if the sunchokes made...some years the grubs leave us a few to ferment.

It's that time of year where spider webs are everywhere....this one is in a spot we sit regularly on the front porch and almost everyday I walk into it...then she patiently restrings everything by the next day😊

Still dry but according to this map we are in an oasis of ' not a drought' just 'very dry'.

We received the much needed rain of 2", thankfully. The drought is hurting local economy and ecology as well. A repeat of last year, wet spring delayed haying till July then the pastures failed to regrow facing summer drought. Only get one cut of hay a year while many places are over stocked with cattles. Trees are slowly dying, even oaks.  I see fewer wildlife as well, from the amount of road kills I encountered.

My garden bounced back when temperature went down below 90 two weeks ago, so I am going to try keeping the warm season crops going longer. I still have over 100 figs, lots of green tomatoes and young chayotes to save.