|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
The Fall Gardens
| Article
# : |
11180 |
|
|
Section : |
LIFE
|
| Issue
Date : |
10 / 1993 |
2,055 Words |
| Author
: |
Walter Chandoha
Walter Chandoha's pictures and articles have appeared in many
major magazines; and he has also written and illustrated
twenty-four books. |
After a winter of inactivity gardeners can't wait to start scratching in the dirt. With eager anticipation seeds are ordered from catalogs. A month later, sunny windowsills are crowded with seedlings in various stages of growth. Numerous trips have been made to local plant markets to buy more seeds, to buy plants, and maybe to buy still another shovel. Then comes the first warm day of spring and there's a lot of enthusiastic digging in the garden. In the next two or three weekends the entire garden is planted, and by June, other summer activities--picnics, boating, tennis, golf, swimming--take precedence and the enthusiasm for gardening starts to wane. There is a brief resurgence of interest in the garden when the first tomatoes are harvested in July or August. But the rest of the garden is fast becoming a jungle of weeds. The ardor for gardening that was there in the spring has withered. Unfortunate. Late summer and fall are great for growing many vegetables, much better than spring and summer.
ADVANTAGES OF THE FALL GARDEN
In the spring the soil is wet and cold, seeds are slow to germinate, then the tiny plants languish until some warmth reaches their tender roots. Or more times than not, the seeds rot. On the other hand, seeds planted in warm soil in late summer get off to a flying start. Germination is fast and the young seedlings make rapid growth. Warm days and cool nights plus periodic rains make for optimum growing conditions.
There are fewer vegetable-eating insects in the fall, thus lessening the need to use potentially harmful chemical pesticides. By late summer many bugs have gone through their life cycles and are no longer a threat. Those still around are likely to be eaten by the many more birds that fly in and out of the garden in the summer and early fall. Birds are probably responsible for the destruction of more harmful insects than insecticides.
And for families who might be victims of the shrinking job market, getting a second or even a third harvest from the garden can go a long way to help the food budget. The yield of any garden can be easily doubled if immediately upon harvesting spring-planted crops, the area is replanted with other vegetables.
In most U.S. gardens the growing season is approximately six months--180 days. In the south and in coastal areas gardeners are blessed with two, even three additional months of good growing weather. With many vegetables requiring only 40 to 70 days to reach maturity,
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
