#57 Time for the Perseids

                Wow! It’s time for the Perseids, the madman’s favorite meteor shower. It’s not the most prolific of the year, but it comes at a time when the weather is warm. The madman imagines some ancient gardener saying, “the heavens are showering, time to plant the fall crops.”

                If you were fortunate enough to keep the woodchucks and their ilk out, you might begin to notice that neighbors, friends and relatives seem to be disappearing when they see you approach with a basket of red and green. Guess they have limited recipes for tomatoes and zucchini. So, why would any sane person be considering planting more?

Plants Don’t Produce Forever

                Just remember that those plants that have been giving you and your neighbors plenty of produce are about ready to burn themselves out. And there’s plenty of time to plant a second generation of vegetables and flowers. Not sure about this?

                Well, at one time we planted only in the spring. By September, we lamented the fact that we had very few fresh vegetables. Then one day fellow master gardener Jim Woodworth told the madman about an organic farmer along the Connecticut River who planted tomato seedlings in mid-July. This gave him a crop of fresh tomatoes to sell at his stand at the end of summer. What a great idea.

More Ideas

                Then Tim Grilley, another of our master gardener friends, told the madman that he planted garlic at Halloween, harvested it on the fourth of July, and immediately planted zucchini in the bed. According to Tim, there was enough time to get a harvest before frost. And, the bugs were few and far between.

                The clincher came when the madman read an article that suggested planting seed potatoes August 1 for a harvest in mid-October. The madman’s fall planting ideas became a reality and every year we plant a fall garden.

Plant For The Fall

                Lots of other people plant for the fall, so we’ll just tell you what we do. Remember, the best gardeners experiment a lot – in fact we always say that if you haven’t killed a plant or two, you aren’t a true gardener. Anyway, we will just tell you what we do.

                I’m sure you don’t remember our blog on seeds and seed catalogs. Basically, all seeds have a time-to-harvest built into them. Seed sellers know this so on every packet of seeds, they note a “days-to-harvest” number. You can use this number to figure out when you can plant and still expect a harvest. Just count backwards from your first fall frost date and give yourself a week or two to enjoy produce. For us, the madman uses a last fall frost date of Oct. 15. For a more specific date for your area, check out this site.

Warm Weather Crops

                Our system isn’t foolproof, but it usually works for us. To extend the harvest of our warm weather crops like tomatoes and zucchini, the madman likes to get these plants in the ground by mid-July. For tomatoes, the madman uses determinate varieties. Most of these tomatoes will mature in 65-78 days from transplanting time. Unfortunately, it’s too late for you this year, but there is always next. Just remember to keep the plants moist. Zucchini, on the other hand, has a shorter maturity date, around 50 days, so if you have extra seeds, you can plant them now. Remember that the days for zucchini begin to accrue when the seeds pop through the ground.

                Bush beans with their 50-60 day growing window also can be planted now, as well as cucumbers (55-60 days). Winter squash takes too long, 80-90 days, so don’t bother planting it. The same goes for eggplant and peppers.

Greens

                Lettuce and other greens are easy vegetables to grow and they don’t mind the frost. Since they grow fast, they can be planted every 7 to 10 days from now on. We have the best luck with loose head lettuce, but others do quite well with head lettuce. You have time to experiment. The madman likes to play around with Asian greens like Tat Soi, Mizuna and Pak Choy. These come in a variety of colors, shapes and textures. Along with interesting tastes, they are very quick to mature.

                Some of the brassicas, like broccoli, also scoff at cooler temperatures. Direct seeding broccoli in the ground now will provide you with some nice heads in October. Maturing sooner than broccoli, kohlrabi and kale with its infinite varieties will do just fine if planted now. You will take your chances with cabbage and cauliflower because they take a little longer to mature.

Root Crops

                Finally, root crops. These guys grow underground and aren’t at all bothered by the frost. The three most common are beets, carrots and radishes. Turnips and parsnips are worth trying, especially if you have never tried them before. Just remember to plant in a loose soil and keep them watered.

                While you are thinking of seeds to plant, don’t discount flowers. Annuals you plant in May can also be planted now for a nice fall display. The madman’s favorite annuals, zinnias and cosmos, are right on the edge – they actually need about 75 days to produce flowers. Sometimes he plants them in time, sometimes he doesn’t.

Safer Flowers

                Safer annuals are marigolds, nasturtium, bachelor’s buttons, alyssum and sunflowers. These are the more quickly maturing varieties, producing flowers in 50-60 days.  I, on the other hand, am not in favor of a second planting. Instead, I prefer to cut the annuals off by about ½ to encourage new growth and a new flush of flowers. I know that I sacrifice blooms for about 7-10 days when I cut back, so I do only sections at a time. After all, I don’t want to deprive my pollinators of their nectar.

                Although technically these are not seeds, I do like to plant fall Crocus and Colchicum in August. They add a burst of color and a touch of spring in my fall garden. The crocus species look like the spring varieties, but are often devoured by voles. My favorite is the Saffron Crocus (Crocus sativus) which produces the culinary ingredient saffron.

                Colchicum is related to the lily and is not as appealing to voles in our garden. This plant is often referred to as the naked lady because the blooms just show up with no foliage (that comes later, the following spring). When ignored by the wildlife both the Crocus and Colchicum will naturalize quite easily.

                The key to summer planting is water, lots of it. Neither seedlings nor newly planted rows of seeds should be allowed to dry out. The madman spends lots of time bringing water to his newly planted seeds – this gives him a chance to spot and pull weeds that might steal nutrients.

Eyes to the Sky – Looking For A Different Shower

                As night arrives, I find him checking the skies. For the first time all summer, he’s not looking for a rain shower. He’s hoping for clear skies on August 11, 12 and 13 as he prepares to go on meteor watch. As we told you at the beginning, the Perseids is his favorite meteor shower. The shower is caused when the earth passes through the dust trail left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle. You wouldn’t think that dust particles could put on such a show, but one year the madman saw well over 300 meteors shoot by (believe it or not, he counts every one).

                Best time for viewing is from 2-4 a.m. Not the best time for lemonade, so we’ll skip it this time.

                Good luck planting your seeds – and do look at the night sky.