Row by Row Episode 203: What You Need To Be Doing In The Garden Now
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It's HOT down here in SW Georgia. We've been harvesting a lot lately and fighting the high temperatures but we are thinking about our Fall gardens and what we should be doing in the garden now!
Garden Chores
While chore lists may not be everyone's favorite, this is one chore list that every gardener needs!
- Stay on top of weeds/pests
- Harvest/Preserve
- Pruning of Spring-Flowering Shrubs
- Continue fertilization schedule
- Mulch your garden beds
- Water plants deeply and regularly
- Replenish/Amend Soil
- Remove Plant Debris
- Plant uncovered spaces with cover crops/tarps
- Buy seeds for fall - at Hoss Tools (of course)
- Succession planting
Zone 9 - What You Should Be Doing
Your first frost date of when it will really start to cool down is typically around December 10th on average. If you are planting fall tomatoes and peppers you should start them in the seed trays in mid-August and you can then put them in the ground in mid-September. Tomatoes and peppers have a 75-day maturity and you should be able to harvest in November before your frost. Our favorite tomato varieties for the fall (heat set) tomatoes are Hossinator, Florida 91, or Homestead. Field peas should be plated from September 1 through September 15.
Zone 8 - What You Can Grow
November 22nd is the average frost date for Zone 8, which means you should start tomatoes and peppers on July 1st to transplant into the ground around August 1st. They should be ready to harvest around October 15th. Field peas will be planted on the first of September since they are around 65 days to maturity. We are going to plant sweet corn in August for the fall garden.
Zone 7 - Growing for the Fall
If you are wanting to grow tomatoes and peppers for a fall crop, you want to go ahead as soon as possible and start those seeds in the greenhouse. You can also plant beans and squash now! Zone 7's first frost date is November 15th. If you want to plant field peas, you can plant them around the same time as Zone 8, which is the first of September.