Here we are, one month into the fall season, and the weather is polar opposite of this time last year. We have sunshine, albeit breezy, and temps in the 70s during the day. This year, my fall garden is so much better than last year. Some things I learned is to have most of the fall veggies in pots/buckets in order to be able to move them quickly into the green house, in the event the over night temps drop into the low 30s. Otherwise, I leave them outside over night, for any rain or dew. One thing to watch for closely are bugs that want to lay eggs in the soil. One way to cut down on this is to sprinkle DE (diatomacious earth) that is "food safe" around the plants onto the soil. This will kill and/or detract most bugs. Also, watch for leaf miners that lay little white eggs on the under side of the leaves. The culprit looks like a house fly. But, the eggs, as they hatch will take all the nourishment from the leaf, causing it to look like a slug crawled over it.
So far, the bell peppers (in the green house 24-7) are still producing cute little peppers. The strawberry starts all took and are looking great, as the older berry leaves are turning red and brown. The oregano has slowed its growth, but we can still harvest any that we want.
Fall plants, carrots, spinach, garlic and cilantro are knocking it out of the park this year. Could not ask for a better bunch of plants. I have planted a second fall start (fingers crossed) of spinach and lettuce.
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| 30 carrots in a container |
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| Topdown carrots |
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| Fall Cilantro |
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| Fall Leaf Lettuce |
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| Fall Strawberry Starts |
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| Fall Spinach |
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| Leftover Bell Peppers |
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| More Bell Peppers |
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Three of the four Welsummers are in full moult, while one continues to persist laying an egg every other day. She seems quite proud of herself. The Rhode Island Reds are continuing to lay three eggs per day for us, so we are plenty in the eggs this fall. Considering that there are only about 11 hours of daylight per day, and we have yet to put any wattage into their coop yet, I am in no hurry to take the electricity out there, just yet, while they continue to lay an egg per day.
The Freedom Rangers are 10 weeks of age, and we will process them next weekend. They are good sized. I speculate that they will each weigh about 5 - 6 pounds processed. There are three cockerels and three pullets. The cockerels are crowing every morning and every evening... they seem most intrigued by the hens in the other coop, since the pullets are not mature enough for mating purposes.
