As I briefly alluded to in my previous post, our fall garden bed (chard, beets, turnips, carrots) was overrun with pests that ate off the top of all the tender seedlings. Generally, I'd assume September is too late to start all over again, but I'm going to ride the wave of this crazy climate year and hope our last frost doesn't hit until the end of October. I've replanted the chard, beets, and most of the carrots. I'd run out of St. Valery carrot seeds as well as all turnip seeds.
To ward off the pest, I've already treated the bed for slugs, and I also sprinkled ground pepper over everything. I read on Garden Web that ground pepper is a deterrent for mice, voles, and other crawly critters. Hopefully, this will keep them away until I can get some row covers purchased and installed.
The beets and chard rows are covered with wet burlap, and the carrot rows are covered with boards to help speed germination and stop the ground from drying out so fast. I will try to be diligent - I'd really like some fall/winter greens and root vegetables.
Do you take any special precautions with your fall garden?
An on again, off again journal of my gardening exploits. Starting on an apartment balcony in 2009, we created "Gross Farms" in our backyard on a small lot in Wauwatosa, WI. 2014 and 2015 were successful years for Gross Farms 2.0 in Oconomowoc, WI. Now we live in the tiny town of Kroghville, WI and are embarking on Gross Farms 3.0—bigger and better than ever!
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