There are some changes being made to my garden for next year. This past summer was so hot and so dry . . I know . . it’s SUMMER, but this summer was miserable and with heat and drought, I spent way too much time outside watering. We used self wicking mineral tubs for some of our tomatoes in Texas and we’re going back to that.
Here’s a picture of the early garden our last year in Texas. I think we had about 30 of those tubs there but I had way more space there. According to the 2020 blog post, there are four tomatoes in each tub. I may use three or I may use four. I really can’t remember how big those tubs are. No, I didn’t bring them from Texas. I’ll have to get more. I’m not sure how many tubs we’ll set up here. I told Vince today I wouldn’t mind if we just graveled the whole back yard and used it all for garden space but I doubt that will happen.
I’m still aggravated about the freeze we had about a month ago. After having highs near 100, we had a low of 24 and my squash all died, squash that I had worked so hard to get to grow with the horrible squash bugs. I could have covered it but the weather indicated we were going to have quite a few more freezing nights and we didn’t. Still haven’t had a night below 40.
I had been asking Vince if he would build a “frame” around some of my raised beds. I can use the frame to protect plants from those few cold nights before winter sets in for good. I can use the corner posts to make a trellis for growing things that climb. I can staple chicken wire around the posts and make a “fence” of sorts to keep sweet potato vines from taking over the neighborhood. Only three of the beds needed the frame and Vince got out and got that done today.
I hadn’t asked for the frame around the top but that will help stabilize it all. On cold nights, I’ll probably throw plastic sheeting over the frames and then cover them with old blankets. See all the green spots around the beds? That’s sweet potatoes that have popped up. There are sweet potatoes there but we have more than we will ever eat so I doubt I dig them up. They’ll be gone after the first frost. The scrappy looking plant in the middle bed is horseradish. I’ve dug up part of it and used it but I like to wait til a good freeze and the top dies back. I think I’m going to replant the horseradish in a mineral tubs too.
Otherwise, there’s cabbage, Brussels sprouts and broccoli growing. There a lots of potatoes that have popped up that were missed when harvesting the potatoes. I doubt they’ll produce before a freeze gets them.
Hopefully we’ll get some Brussels sprouts. These are very loose and we need some cooler weather to get tight, crispy Brussels sprouts.
Tee says
I have a raised bed with supports on each corner and I put eye bolts about 18 inches from the ground, then ran wire through them, making a frame with the wire. I can throw blankets over the wire on cold nights. It has worked well this year.