The Yardstead

Here at the yardstead we are planting our fall garden.  Many people believe that after the summer vegetables have gone that they must wait until next year to plan their next garden.  Yet there are many cold hardy vegetables we can plant now to carry us through to the next spring season.  In some cases this requires heavy mulching or using a row cover but in most cases it requires no special protection at all.

In the panhandle of Florida and in much of the south east it is time to plant broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, collards, kale and kohlrabi.  These vegetables need to be planted 3 months before the first frost to ensure good production.  Carrots, turnips and beets can be planted from now until approximately 8 weeks before the first frost.  In September, begin planting spinach which will germinate well for a fall harvest and up to the first frost for an excellent early spring harvest. Shallots, garlic, and onions can also be planted now for the spring and early summer harvest next year.

With springtime just around the corner we are in full preperation mode here at the Yardstead.  We have a few veggies in the garden already with plans for many more.  Kathleen has a stack a seed packets ready to go but I havent looked yet to see whats on the menu.  She does all the garden planning and I just provide the labor.  She helps with that too of course.  Anyway, since Im the head of the yardstead labor department I am always looking for ways to minimize tedious labor intensive tasks.  Number one on my list of tedious labor intesive tasks is pulling weeds.  I have always hated pulling weeds since the first time I can remember doing it.  When I was a kid my father always kept a garden going in our back yard.  I always wanted to help with whatever my dad was doing in the garden, especially if my big brother was helping too.  I remember seeing my brother on his hands and knees "playing" in the garden along a row of eggplants.  I asked if I could help and he gave a quick lesson on how to pull weeds without bothering the vegetables.  The weeds were easy to identify because the eggplants were well established so ther was no danger of me accidentally pulling up veggies and   I soon started working down my own row.  I don't think I made it past even three plants before I promoted myself to watering.  I was still just a little tyke so it was a few more years before I actually got assigned weeding as a chore.  I have been trying to get out of it ever since.
There are many ways to control weeds in the garden and I have tried several over the years and have yet to find a labor free technique.  Its not that im anti-labor, after all, gardening and yard work constitute my entire exercise routine.  I do hate weeding though, and there are many occasions when work or other resposibilities keep me out of the garden for days on end.  In our part of the country with the abundant sunshine and frequent rains, thats plenty of time for a small band of weeds to stage a coup, and  whole sections of the garden can be taken over.  So we've tried many ways to prevent weeds in the garden without having to constantly vigilant. 
The first weed blocking technique......

Here at The Yardstead we like to get a jump start on our spring garden.  We are in north Florida so we have spring like weather  as early as February and Kathleen and I get very excited about the spring garden.   We like to get our veggies in the ground as early as possible, but we have to be careful.  Although there are many warm sunny days here in February, we still have some cold days and night as well.  We had a couple of hard freezes in February this year.  In order to get our plants started as early as possible and protect them from the weather.  We start many of our plants in peat pots, peat pellets, or seed flats.  This allows us to leave the plants out on sunny days and bring them inside when it gets to cold. 
There are several other advantages to starting your vegetables in containers and transplanting them to the garden.  Starting the seed......

 For the last 4 or 5 years we have at least one powdery mildew infection in our vegetable garden every season.  Last year we lost all of our zucchini and squash plants to powdery mildew, and the year before that we lost all of our pumpkins to powdery mildew.  The powdery mildew usually sets in after our plants are well established and fruiting.  We have successfully treated vegetable plants in the past that made a full recovery, and we have also lost many plants when we failed to treat them quick enough.  I expect this year will be no different, but I plan to be prepared to react at the first signs of the white powdery spots.  We may also try some preventive measures this year and of course we will be sharing our results with you. 
It is easy to recognize powdery mildew in your garden.  It usually affects the leaves and shows up as white powdery spots on top of the leaves.  If left untreated it will quickly spread to the surrounding vegetables.  Although the powdery mildew does not usually attack the fruit itself, it can kill the plant or otherwise weaken and diminish fruit production.  We have found in the past that fruit from plants that have recently become infected can be harvested with no problems, but once the powdery mildew is established new fruit production stops and the infected plant soon wilts and dies.   
In my research into methods to prevent and treat powdery mildew, I have found several suggestions for powdery mildew prevention.  The most common suggestions ..........