Finishing Fall Plans

Whew, I think I have the fall garden planned. Doesn't seem like it should be that hard, right? I'm not going to be as passive about the garden this year. I'm hoping for better yields now that the first year of learning and experimenting have passed. Not that I'm done learning, LOL, but I think I have the basics.

Here's a pic of my plans for fall...

Yes, the words are a bit small, but you can click on it to see it better. Only 2 boxes will stay the same - the strawberries and the sweet potatoes (which won't be ready until Oct/Nov). Jake hasn't decided what to do in his box, and I had to rotate the watermelons and am using the top portion of his for the cukes.

I got some seedlings started in the sunroom for the August planting. Still don't know what I'm going to do to water them while I'm gone on vacation.... I read a few ideas online. One is watering them well right before we leave then sealing them in airtight bags - propped up with straws or something to keep the bag from sitting on the leaves. Another is setting the peat pots in a shallow tray of water and allowing the water to be drawn up through the bottom. Jake and I discussed a drip system involving cups and strings. It is similar to when we made stalactites and you hung a string out of water and it dripped slowly for days. We're going to test it this week.

I also have made plans for more cages for my boxes since the raccoons seem to be here to stay. The other night I laid trellis pieces on top of the beds I'd prepped. They dug through the little holes and pulled out all of the kitchen scraps!! LOL. Gosh I would have loved to have seen them doing that. Wish they weren't so darned cute so that I could dislike them!

I have more seeds ordered; some herbs, purple beans, rainbow carrots, etc. I'm interplanting all kinds of herbs and flowers in the boxes (not on the diagram) to help controls pests. And I will probably mix up a bit more Mel's mix to top off a few of my boxes. With harvesting and rain and all that stuff they are sinking a bit low. I did 4 of my boxes earlier this year without the mix and I really do prefer the looser soil of the good mixed beds over just compost.

Alrighty, I'm off to get more stuff done today!