Overall
The fall garden this year struggled with the heat and droughts that plagued it through October. It also did not help that work there was impeded by Libby who was 1+ years old and an aggressive 60 lb. puppy. I also was dealing with Plantar Fasciitis in my right foot so going back and forth was difficult.
- We had poor germination on Spinach and cabbage.
- tomatoes grown from spring cuttings were late being put in the garden due to the drought and were pot-bound when they were planted. They did ok with small green tomatoes when the regular frosts began in mid-November.
- Two fast-maturing cucumbers bought from HOSS, Parisian Gherkin Cucumber and Max Pack Cucumber, did not germinate in the fall. Will try leftover seeds in spring 2023.
- Tendergreen mustard planted during heat did ok as the second planting came up but did not grow. Deer tracks were all around but they did not eat any.
- Winter squash germinated well and bloomed prolifically with small squash. The frost of 11/18/2022 killed them all. The Seminole was the only one that was far enough along to have several small imature squash.
- 6th row
- North end – Autumn Frost squash about 15 feet
- Center – Seminole Squash, about 25 feet
- South end – Betternut Squash – 25 feet
- 4th row – in the north end sowed 10 feet of Warrior Bunching onion seed. Did not germinate,
- 5th row – in the north end sowed 30 feet of Green Magic Brocolli. Soil may be too hot still. The remainder of the row is empty.
- 6th row
Weather – See Spring Observations for weather then.
6/29 to 7/31 – Last 2 days of June had about 1.5 in. of rain. Total rainfall for July is 12.27 in. Rained almost every day.
8/1 to 8/29 – Total rainfall was 19.74 inches. It rained almost every day and kept the garden too wet to cultivate. Knocked down the weeds with Glyphosate.
10/21 & 22 – The first cold mornings with a low of 32.9 on the 21st then 32.2 on the 22nd. On the 22nd the dew point was 32° so we had the first light frost.
9/17 to 10/30 No Rain since 9/17/22 except 0.53″ on 10/12. Drought was over with 2.39″ on 10/29-30th. That was 6 weeks with only 0.53 inches of rain.
11/14/2022 – First frost this year.
11/18/2022 – We have had several frosts but everything lived through them. Today it was 27 degrees at sunrise and a hard frost that killed the tomatoes, and squash in the garden as well as the periwinkles in the yard.
