July 25, 2019
Fall planting starts August 1st for me when I direct sow a row of cauliflower and a row of broccoli. The plot for them is getting preped now. The second planting of corn is getting harvested and that's a nice open space for them. I'm cutting down the stalks as the corn gets picked and weeding as I go. I've even put compost down where the empty areas are. I'll soak the soil before I plant so I can just drag my finger along the ground to make a furrow..
When they are four inches tall, and thinned to four inches apart, three quarters of them will get transplanted out. The third planting of corn should be finished by then providing another open patch. Some will go on the vacant melon mounds and some in left over spaces from previous crops. It doesn't look like I will have room for them now but areas will be opening up for them as I harvest..
July 26, 2019
A fall planting of peas can go in two months before your first frost. I've got until August 15th to accomplish the task of putting compost along the pea trellis and watering it in. Peas don't like competing with weeds so now is a good time to clear them out. You can get the weed roots out without damaging the peas roots. Peas also enjoy ample water so having a trough next to them to fill with water helps you get their roots soaked without having water run off away from the plants..
You can use a soaker hose in the trough and get excellent results. Watching them grow is more fun than harvesting them, which seems to be the case with the whole garden now. The plants provide many hours of enjoyment with the harvest being only a brief moment in time..
July 27, 2019
You still have time to plant corn if you're in zone 8b and can get ahold of a pack of Early Sunglow Hybrid corn. Sixty two days to maturity makes this an excellent short season crop. Corn really doesn't take too much room because a 4x4 plot will yield 32 ears of sweet, tender corn on the cob. Being able to pick it before it reaches store bought maturity, and cooking it for one minute in boiling water, will reward you with an unsuspected subtleness of flavor that is well worth the plot of ground it took to grow it..
You might enjoy it so much that you plant multiple patches, spaced weeks apart, to get more than one harvest. You can't tell the difference between store bought zucchini and home grown zucchini, but corn on the cob, on the other hand, is another story..
