The Fall Garden

I'm told I'm a little early in this part of South Carolina to be starting the fall garden but I am well into the process. More Earthboxes have arrived and more look-a-likes. I have been transplanting seedlings and starting others. In the midst of it all, we are attempting to figure out how to make the best use of our tiny space.

Our first strategy for this fall is to go vertical. Though I am talking about fall, some of these plants are only going to survive until the first brush with cooler temperatures. One of those is Malabar spinach. I started it from seed and it seems to be doing well in its EB. Before long, it will be climbing the netting that I still need to add to our newly designed support structures. Yard-long Chinese red noodle beans and yard-long asparagus beans have moved next door to the Kentucky pole beans that I replanted.

We've also got vertical structures constructed for the Waltham squash and the Seminole pumpkins. I did that with the watermelon and cantaloupe this year and they did not seem to like it so I shall see how the pumpkins and squash manage.

At last count, we will have approximately 43 different edible plants growing in our little postage stamp area before long. Some of the "lighter" plants I will mix in a single Earthbox - such as dill, cilantro, cumin, etc. We just don't have enough room to give everyone their own home. I've got the seeds started now. The peppers - red, purple, yellow, and banana peppers are busy producing as are the eggplants. One variety of eggplant that has baby eggplants with purple tops has now topped 4 feet high. Even the summer squash I started took off and started producing like crazy.

One thing we did differently in the design of our boxes for this fall was to improve upon a prototype from spring. The EB is integrated into the support structure so that if we have to move the EB, the plant won't impede the process and nor will we harm the plant in doing so.

I will try to post pictures once we get everything placed in position. One cute comment that came up today when I spoke about my plans for the pumpkins was to have a farmer exclaim that I couldn't grow pumpkins in containers. I said that could be the case but that I had already done so earlier this spring and harvested my pumpkins that did grow in containers. Evidently, judging by the look on their face that was quite a surprise! EB containers are the only place I can really get anything to grow!!
HJM