I don’t like to live by the mantra of the title of this edition of the blog however, I think the following submission (admission) will probably qualify.
I have big plans for my humble half acre, and ever since I moved onto it there have been significant yearly increases in garden space. There was no garden space to speak of when I purchased my home and so each year new patches are established. However, the focus has been on the main growing season and setting up gardens where that will work (enough sun and so forth). And although I’ve figured out where the best locations are to locate fall and winter gardens, I’ve yet to build the gardens in those locations.
Instead, I’ve planted where I have available space. This is partly me trying to be efficient, and partly out of necessity (since I have no area set aside for the fall garden). And furthermore, while I preach that the sun changes it’s angle in the sky, the daylight hours are less, and generally you may very well need a completely different location of garden, I have nearly failed in my fall garden plan this year due to not heeding my own wisdom!
My fall/winter garden is in two locations, both summer garden areas. One area will likely yield a decent crop of brassicas while the other receives only a few hours of sun every day in the fall; far from the minimal amounts required for decent growth. The presence of large trees, and the dropping angle of the fall sun drastically changed the feeling of my hot summer garden into a rather dark, and cool fall garden very, very quickly back in September. I had a feeling this might happen, but I planted the garden anyway! No big deal, right?
Not exactly. It’s taken at least twice as long to get enough greens to make a salad. And some plants just didn’t get the start they needed and so there’ll be no crop to speak of! September is a critical time to kickstart a large chunk of the growth of those fall veggies due to the (relatively) longer hours of sunlight, and warmer daytime temperatures. So, it’s important to have the garden located where it’s going to get that head start especially because we all know the days get colder and shorter (in terms of daylight) as fall progresses. If you’re fortunate enough to have south facing exposure and no large trees or structures to block or reduce sun from reaching the fall garden, good for you. If this is not your garden, then there’s a good possibility that you may need to have your fall/winter garden located in a completely different location than your summer garden. And there’s a wealth of crops that can be grown throughout the fall and winter seasons (particularly in coastal locations) so it really pays to do your homework, and not just put those seeds into bare patches of soil because that’s where the available room is!
Study your growing areas and potential growing areas throughout the year to identify the best places to grow your various crops. It’ll pay off with loads of greens when everyone else has gone back the grocery store. Alternatively, you could plant in pots and move the pots to prime locations. Trust me, next year I will have the fall/winter garden plot constructed and I’ll be eating salads regularly, eating snow peas off the vine, and making Popeye proud with handfuls of spinach.
West Coast Foodscapes 