More preparation

Sunday 28th September

Sunrise in Oklahomegrownvegland

Its a misty start to the day but temperatures are due to get pretty high.
Today I'm planning on getting Plot 2 thoroughly dug over and supplimented with a bag of home made compost. it's hard work as the day gets hotter and hotter but I managed to get it done.

I then got the lengths of rebar hammered into position ready for the plastic cover supports.

I have the plastic sheet ready but I'll erect it next week I think. I'm planning on putting my Brussel Sprout plants in this bed and the temperatures are rather high at the moment so I'm leaving the bed uncovered a while longer. Sprouts are one of the hardiest veggies around and can stand low temps, frost and even a little snow. A lot of people say that these veggies actually taste better when they have had some frost on them. So, no rush as long as I get the plants settled in and established before night time temperatures drop.
Plot 5 fall veggies are looking good as shown in the picture below..................

I've lost one Cauliflower plant, no idea why. The rest look healthy, as do all the Cabbage and Kohlrabi. I intend to mulch this bed with straw during the next week and give the whole lot a good feed of Fish Emulsion fertilizer. I've already given it another dose of Iron Phosphate as I'm determined that those pesky Woodlice will not ruin these plants.
I had a nice suprise awaiting me when I made a trip to our local Garden center.........

..................Northern Lights Chard plants, all looking for a good home. I picked up two and they are now in the vacant space at the end of Plot 5. My efforts at growing this veggie from seed failed, probably due to the plants going out too late. Chard doesn't like too much heat and I think it retarded the growth of the ones I planted. Well, I'll see how these go on and if they look to be doing well I'll make a return trip to the garden center and pick up a few more of the smaller plants that they had on offer. That way we can enjoy a few fresh greens when the hot weather finally comes to an end. I also picked up another yellow Chrysanthimum to replace one which died in the ice storm

The red 'mum which did survive that horrific cold blast is now beginning to open out..........

......and what a great display it's putting on for us too.
All the catnip has been repotted and has now found a new temporary home.................

......at the front of the house under the kitchen window. The Sage however has been moved........

.........to a warmer location and is now drying inside the house. Us Brits like to have our turkey dinner at Christmas so as a way of a change we have purchased some lamb for our Thanksgiving dinner. Our homegrown sage will be used to enhance the flavour of this wonderful meat.
The tomato fest continues. I still pick a few every other day but things are slowing down. Some of the fruits have been splitting due to the temperature fluctuations and these have been saved for their seeds. The good ones are being used in Spinach Salad, homemade burgers on the grill and ..........

..........wonderful Tomato and Basil soup which is then frozen and kept to be enjoyed on cold winter evenings later in the year.
It's really hard to believe that it's almost the start of October, this year has flown by. Summer is behind us now and the joys of cooler weather, Autumn colours, hot comfort food and log fires are on the horizon. I'm really looking forward to it.

Here's two guys who are looking forward to a spell of cooler weather too. Wilson and Tommy know exactly where the air conditioning vents blow and like to enjoy a cool, relaxing snooze together on the bed.

Autumn preparations

Sunday 21st September

Rising at 7-00am.
Alvin calls to tell me he's left my breakfast on the patio, a large dead field rat.

I dispose of it when he's not looking and boil a couple of eggs instead.

Hey, is it that time again, already?

Sadly, yes. It always seems to be that time in Oklahomegrownvegland these days.

Mumping and grumping wont help though, you've got to "Gidder Done"

Ok, its done......

....and back to golf course standard (almost).

Then a little tidying up around the garden. I move the sheet back which is covering some top soil and this chap gives me a dirty look.

"Hey, I'm trying to sleep here!" I replace the sheet and leave him to his rest.

One of the Willow Tree cuttings seems to have taken.

Now, all I have to do is nurse it through the winter.
The chrysanthemums in the front garden is covered in buds............

....and will be a blaze of colour in a few days.

This was the plant that froze solid in the ice storm at the beginning of the year. I'm sure that if it can survive such a hard winter it must be here to stay.

I also chopped a couple of lower limbs from one of the Persimmon trees.

They were very heavy with fruit and their weight was adding to the rather worrying list it's acquired since the ice storm.

Around the back of the house, in the field adjoining our property there's wild flowers in abundance giving a colourful display of Mother Natures finest.

Free floral display.

I planted more fall veggies on Monday evening and they seem to have settles in.

(L to R) Cauliflower, Kohlrabi, Cabbage.

The Brussel Sprout seedlings are still indoors but will be going in within the next week or so.

Meanwhile.........................

........the Tomato seed storage continues.

The Coriander seeds are still drying in the kitchen.

The Catnip plants are getting quite tall and will need repotting, a little job for one evening next week perhaps.

I decide to give Tommy a little sniff of the plant to see if there's any reaction.........

.......and the results are quite startling. He turns into a savage beast......

......for almost 2 seconds. Then it's business as usual.

To be honest, up to now I've seen no reaction with any of our cats from this herb. Oh well.

Less heat, more rain.

Sunday 14th September

Rising at 8-00am to....................

Skies of beauty and wonder...............................

....and a sunny but refreshingly cooler day.
Oklahomegrownvegland received heavy rain all day yesterday and most of the night too so the Happy Gardener had to resort to inside work such as.....................

.....tomato seed collecting/cleaning/soaking/drying/labeling/storing. And admiring the seedlings growing indoors......

.....such as the Catnip shown here.
But today, outside work is possible, though the soil is very heavy due to the rain.
Plot 5 gets dug over and hoed level. This plot has been covered over since last weekend so the soil is comparatively dry. I then plant my first 6 plants of the fall.
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(L to R) Cauliflower, Kohlrabi, Cabbage. I then replaced the plastic cover but left the ends open. When I took the cover off this morning to work the soil it was pretty hot and muggy under there. Hopefully, leaving the ends open will allow the air to circulate. The plot was then sprinkled liberally with Iron Phosphate to deter my friends "The Woodlice" from taking over.
I then dug over Plot 2

This plot had not been covered and the soil was far too heavy to work so it received a light turning over and weeding. It was also clogged with roots, really thin and straggley ones which I presume are coming from the trees and creepers which grow on the border of the property. I need to dig this more next weekend if the soil gets to dry out a little.
The volunteer Tomato plants in Plot 4 are doing well. I'm going to have to decide on what sort of support I'm going to give them soon......

....before the fruits start weighing them down. My aim is to keep these plants short and bushy so perhaps stakes will suffice.
Here's a small reminder that messy times are approaching...........................

....and these few leaves will soon be followed by a whole lot more. I never rake them from the grassed areas of the garden, preferring to leave them in place. Many insects find shelter under them during the winter and this in turn gives a supply of much needed food to the birds when other sources are low.
I do however seem to get a huge collection of leaves accumulate at the northern end of the house and I want to collect some of these to use in the plots next year. So I made this................

The Happy Gardeners Patented Leaf Storage Bin. ™ © ®
The cardboard at the base is to try to deter weeds and grass growing through the bottom. Now when the annual mountain of leaves collects in the usual place I can gather them up and store them in here.
A quick stop to admire............................

.......the companion Marigolds in Plot 6. They have really thrived this year and added wonderful colour to the garden.
The African Blue Basil..............

.....is once again covered with Honey Bees just as it was last year around this time. These plants will always find a home in my garden
Darkening skies of beauty and wonder...........................

.......and time to eat.
What could be better than some.....................

.....Homemade Tomato and Basil Soup with warm crusty bread and butter.

The recipe for this delightful dish is available from http://cookingdunkinstyle.blogspot.com/

I highly recommend that you try it.

Preparing for Fall

Sunday 7th September

A lovely sunny day here in Oklahomegrownvegland, a day to lift the spirits of the Happy Gardener and inspire him to start preparing for the coming Fall.
I already have a number of established seedlings in the growing room but I need to prepare somewhere for them to grow outside.
The chosen place to start is Plot 5 where the potatoes were.
I'd pulled the remaining spuds a couple of days ago and today I gave the plot a really good digging over and a thorough weeding. It then got a liberal sprinkling of Iron Phosphate to deter any woodlice.
Then I was off to the local lumberyard to pick up a few things for the covering.

I purchased 4 pieces of lattice, 1.75" x .25" x 7ft and some screws. I already had some clear plastic sheet left over from when I last did some decorating. It was only medium thickness but I thought I'd give it a try. The plastic sheet was 12ft x 12ft approx.

Two opposite edges of the sheet were sandwiched between the two lasts and then screwed together.........

Here's a bit closer view.

The framework is simply 18 inch long pieces of rebar driven into the edges of the plot then 7ft lengths of plastic piping (which I already had) bent over in an arch and pushed over the rebar....

.......as shown above.
The plastic sheet is then laid over the supports..........

.....like this. The lattice strips makes it easier to roll the cover up when you want to remove it for planting/weeding/watering etc. I'm going to leave this plot covered like this for a week then dig it over again before transplanting any seedlings.

While I was out there I checked out some local wildlife..............

This friendly Garden Spider refused to pose for a snap and ran for cover in the tomato plants.
But, these guys were too busy working to bother about me and my camera...............

Honey Bees, there must have been around 30 on the Basil plants, a heartening sight indeed. They were joined.............................

.......by a number of Carpenter Bees.

Next, a project I began last weekend
I've started saving seeds from the tomatoes and here is how I'm doing it...........

Take your chosen tomato and slice it in half across the middle (its "equator").
With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and their gelatinous "goo" into a clean cup or container. Add a couple of tablespoons of water to the seeds. Cover the container with a piece of plastic-wrap and then poke the plastic-wrap with a paring knife or pen point to put a few small holes in it...this is to allow for air-transpiration. (A little fresh air needs to get in and out of the cup to help foster fermentation.)

Place the container of seeds in a warm location (I use the top of the refrigerator).
Now you must wait for fermentation to start and this usually takes a few days. Each night remove the plastic-wrap, stir the seed and water mixture, and then replace the plastic-wrap.
After a few days you get a scummy film form on the top surface..............

............as shown above. This helps destroy many of the possible tomato diseases that can be harbored by seeds. Take the container of fermented seeds to the sink and with a spoon carefully remove the scummy surface. Then pour the container's contents into a fine kitchen sieve and rinse well with running water. Shake to remove as much moisture as possible. Put a coffee filter paper onto a plate and spread the seeds evenly onto it. Leave to dry thoroughly, about a week, then store in paper packets.