August 22, 2018
I transplanted three kale plants onto an empty watermelon mound, so that it wouldn't be barren all winter, and they wilted down to the ground in less than an hour, in spite of their being in the shade. I've never seen anything like it before. It looks like someone stepped on them. The soil that they were in was very fluffy, with lots of compost and little dirt, so I suspect they were in need of more clay in order to keep the fine root hairs from breaking free..
I've never heard the expression " too much compost", but in moving plants it may be a problem. Too much clay can be a problem also because when you move the root ball you can compact it and prevent water and air from reaching the roots. The plants die a slow death and you keep wondering what's wrong with them until the end of the growing season when you pull them up and find a tight ball of constricted roots on a stunted plant..
August 24, 2018
I'm having a love affair with my watering can. I've been hand sprinkling all my transplants, and the original rows they came from, every day now. I also water the rows of carrots, spinach, Swiss chard, kale, peas and beets. Now that I'm not wasting my time weeding the pathways, I get to spend time doing what I enjoy. There are so many corn patches scattered about, in various stages of pollination, that my use of overhead sprinklers is limited..
My soaker hose is taking up the slack and is really doing a great job. The cracking soil around my beet rows reminded me of how effective dirt can be as a mulch. I dug out my old three prong cultivator, that I had forgotten I had, and scarified the soil around them to break up the surface and prevent evaporation by osmosis. Lots of small dirt clods on the surface shade the ground just like bark chips..
August 25, 2018
I'll have one less barren mound in the garden this winter. My son brought over some Kohlrabi seeds and insisted I plant some in case his didn't turn out. He has lots of shade which shortens his gardening season. A fall crop of Kohlrabi should be planted 10 weeks before the first frost. The first few frosts will sweeten them..
They taste like a cross between cabbage and turnip except milder and sweeter. You can use the tender young leaves in salads. The bulbs should be picked when they are no larger than 2" in diameter and can be used like turnips roots..
