It's time to get the fall beds forked up and ready for planting. The brassicas are scheduled to go out Sep 17th if this heat wave breaks. 108 heat factor this afternoon. Carrots, turnips and daikon radishes as well.
I started on the worst bed yesterday. It's near the grape fence and a crape myrtle so fibrous roots of both creep in under the bed sideboards and it needs to be dug up every spring and fall without fail. It was done this spring but every forkful was still a challenge and I ended up with a big 15 gallon bucket 3/4 of this stuff after a long hard slog.
Last Sunday two beds of beans and one of peas were planted. That's about two weeks earlier than I usually plant but I was rolling the dice, hoping that Dorian would bring rain. Nope. Just heat. The bean beds:
So I kept the beds wet down to help cool them off and help germination. It took about 8 days and I was getting worried but this is what I found yesterday, a very welcome sight!
Meanwhile the Red Ripper field peas are going nuts! They were planted right in the old corn rows which had a lot of fertilizer input when they were growing so I sure didn't add any at pea planting. I hope they'll actually produce peas and not be just all vine. That's happened before when there was too much fertilizer.
And finally, we know fall is coming when the grapes get ready. Time to make muscadine jelly.
