You Can't Raise A Fall Crop Of Cauliflower

My spinach transplants are doing great. The row from which I took them is dying. Go figure. Gardening is chock full of wonder and discovery..

Did I use the same compost on both rows? The only thing that was different was that the transplants got shaded several hours every day during the heat wave. The remaining row might have gotten stressed, and it compromised their immune system, which let soil parasites get the upper hand. In this case it was " move um or loose um "..

You can't raise a fall crop of cauliflower around hear without learning to pick off the cabbage moth caterpillars. I was surprised to find two on each of the plants in the greenhouse, and none on the ones growing out in the garden. The birds may be helping me out here, or some other predator that I'm unaware of. The outdoor plants have white flies congregating on the bottom of the leaves which is where the cabbage moths lay their eggs, so maybe there is an adversarial relationship..

The soapy water spray that I use on the white flies might interfere with the cabbage moths eggs hatching, or kill the tiny caterpillars. I can't imagine using a systematic insecticide to control cabbage moths on a small scale since they are so easy to hand pick. The soapy water works great on the white flies so insecticides aren't needed there either..

I'm having a hard time cutting back the water on the beets. I want them to stop growing so they have a better chance of overwintering without getting huge 5" fibrous bulbs. They wilt every afternoon so I know they need water, but maybe if I mulch them heavily they will survive. I really should plant a row of beets now for overwintering and go ahead and harvest these. I could also plant radishes since I've got plenty of room in the empty corn patches..

Our local extension office suggests planting garlic October 3rd. I think that may be good advice for the valley floor gardeners but I'm afraid if I get the plants too tall before the 22° nights that they will tend to freeze. It's tempting to try though because this spring I was chomping at the bit to get them out of the ground so I could plant corn..

Yesterday I found myself kneeling in the morning sun weeding one of my garden pathways. Just when I had decided that I wasn't going to, I've started doing them. Go figure. It's enjoyable now, and all the weeds are going on top of the weed barrier berm that is exceptionally functional. The trick is to keep putting more weeds on top, before any light can get through, and not try to do lots of area. Around the corn patch is 100% weed free. It has gotten the most refreshing..

Around the Brussels sprouts is about 80% because I haven't had enough weeds. Some of the weeds that I've put around the artichokes should have gone to the Brussels sprouts. Bare dirt still bugs me so I got a bag of fir shavings and spread them down the path. I like the way it looks. I think I've got a new Fall garden hobby..