Last night I was moving around our oscillating sprinkler in the front yard watering what little grass we have left when it struck me.
I walked out onto the grass into the moonlight, leaves crunching underfoot, the smell of smoke in the air. Woodsmoke? Grass fire? I dunno. But whatever it was, I knew it. Fall is here. She visited recently, but has now made her presence known.
In true Fall style, today we took out the popcorn stalks.
You may recall, they looked like this (only more dead now):
Haul
Chris shucking the popcorn ears
After shucking
Because this raised bed has been home to tomatoes, garlic, and then corn in the last 12 months, I think it needs needs a season off. So we busted out the cover crops: fava beans and clover.
After sprinkling a little powdered kelp on the soil to feed the critters (aside: does anyone else love the smell of kelp? ahhhh), I spread clover seed and pushed a zillion fava beans into the soil. Hopefully the raccoons don't steal all the fava beans like they did last year. There seems to be nothing more attractive to a raccoon than freshly planted beds. Thankfully, my ghetto raccoon proofing has helped this summer.
I've been looking forward to taking out the corn stalks to use as Fall decorations.
Related: I will never have a garden without growing 'Hopi Red Dye' Amaranth ever again.
After messing with the corn stalks and Amaranth cuttings, this is now my front porch. I love it.
October is my favorite month. ♥
Oct 3, 2009
Fall Garden Chores Puttering
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9 comments:
Looks great Katie! Feels like fall here in the Bay Area too. I hit the Master Gardener's fall plant sale today for my winter veggies.
Beautiful porch arrangement!
Have you popped the corn yet? How did you keep the raccoons out of it?!
I used your same 'ghetto raccoon proofing' system on my beds just yesterday after I planted garlic, carrot and spinach seeds. My cat seems to think that a freshly dug bed is just for him to make 'deposits' in. ;)
Wow, that amaranth is gorgeous. I do the ghetto-proofing too. I love the neighbor's cat but not his contributions to the garden. Bleah.
Yesterday morning, slightly cool here, had the cooler fan pulling in the smell of someone's fire. C'mon, people, it wasn't that cold!
Your porch arrangement is lovely. Did you get goldfinches on your amaranth? It looks like it would be great for them.
CeeCee - We didn't really do anything to keep the racoons out of the corn, I guess we were just lucky. Although the dog did chase one off once during the summer. Maybe he put some fear into them.
I popped a couple of kernels the other day, but I think it was still too moist. It is in the garage curing right now, so hopefully we'll have some good popcorn in a month or so.
Love the way that amaranth and corn look together. Also that corn looks great.
I love the corn... looks great. I stopped growing corn a couple years ago just becuase my yield per foot wasnt "putting out" like my tomatoes are doing. They just keep giving and giving and giving. With corn you get one or two ears... with tomatoes, some of my plants are at 15 pounds worth of tomatoes per plant... much better than the ear or two of corn. I mean I love corn, but this year I wanted the yield. Hmmmm... I probably should have corn though. I wish I did pumpkins too.
I had the Hopi Red Dye this year too and liked it a lot. I want to get it started a little earlier next year.
I had a hunch about raccoons and beans... I started my beans indoors last week. I'll plant them out when they get some size.
matt - Yes, Fall is definitely here. That means the black widows will be moving slower. Excellent.
CeeCee - Thankfully, the neighborhood cats go in our mulch and not in the raised beds. EWWW.
BrownThumbMama - This Amaranth is gorgeous! I can share seeds if you're interested in growing it too.
Chile - Yes, it's not THAT cold yet that people should need fires. Daily highs still around 80ish. The goldfinches left the Amaranth alone, but stripped all the sunflower leaves clean. Go figure.
Frustrated Farmer Rick - I was sort of surprised we had good germination with the corn, but we blocked them fairly close together. Not sure if I'd grow it again, but never say never!
1916home - Yes, corn takes up ALOT of space. Still on the fence about if we'll grow it again.
chuck b - Love the HRD Amaranth and will never have a summer garden without it again! Still crossing fingers that my ghetto raccoon proofing will keep them at bay until they've sprouted.
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