Fall Planting Time

It's Fall planting time here and I've read that it's much easier for unskilled gardeners to have a successful crop this time of year. I'm hoping my life to death ratio is much better this time around because, let's face it, it really can't be much worse. We won't have any frost concerns until next year, so at least I can cross frost off my list of possible culprits when the inevitable happens. I'm not sure what's easiest to grow in October, but we chose some things that were recommended to me on GardenWeb and some things that just seemed like they'd be fun to try from the Fall planting list.

Of course I put my two slave laborers to work. Both of them enjoy a good muck about in the garden and we only managed to step on a few plants while involved in a crazy stint of extreme hoeing. I am a firm believer in extreme hoeing, both as a gardening philosophy and a workout plan. On to the plants.

1. Eggplant - we got one eggplant from Home Depot because the boys saw it and were intrigued with it. Sadly they both seem to think it will produce eggs at some point. We don't really eat eggplant, but since we've never had the issue of actually growing a plant until it produced fruit before, that didn't seem relevant. The boys grabbed it off the shelf and put it in the cart, so it's now in the garden. I assure you that if the damn thing actually grows an eggplant, we'll become eggplant connoisseurs right away.
2. Mr. Stripey tomato - Aidan was quite excited about our original Mr. Stripey tomato plant when we purchased it and planted it several months ago. But Mr. Stripey (may he rest in peace) was one of the many plants that met and untimely death during the floods of Tropical Storm Fay. So when we saw another Mr. Stripey at Home Depot, Aidan was so excited to give the cool stripey tomatoes another shot.
3. Peas - I purchased some "Alaska (Wilt Resistant) Peas" and planted about 3 rows of them. As is my custom, I held back about 1/2 the package incase these ones don't make it. I was just happy to find some seeds that said they were resistant to anything so I bought them. Everything we bought in the past must have said "resistant to growing" in fine print and I just missed it.

4. Green beans - These are "Burpee's Stringless Beans" that I ordered from
Seed Savers Exchange months ago. Oddly enough when I first planted these beans this summer they grew so well so fast… and then Tropical Storm Fay came and drowned them all and the rest is history. I had 1/2 a package of seeds left so I thought we'd try again.

5. Giant Musselburgh Leek - These are also from Seed Savers Exchange, but it's my first time planting them. I didn't manage to hold any seeds back because they were so tiny and Aidan was helping and next thing I know the whole packet was dumped out. My confidence level is quite low with these leeks since I've read that there is some sort of bulbing thing to be done in January-February that I have yet to understand. I planted them next to our peanuts, which seem to be growing quite well, with the hopes that some good karma will rub off on them from the peanut plants. I do quite like the humor factor of having leeks and peas in the garden. There are so many fun gardening jokes to be said about taking a leek… having a pea… yes, we're 12 years old thank you.

6. Radishes - much like with the eggplant, we aren't big radish eaters. But I've heard they grow quite well and they grow quite fast so I thought it'd be worth a shot. I planted two short rows of radishes and have over 1/2 of the packet here for next time.

So there you have it. Six poor defenseless types of vegetables that you will probably see soon on my R.I.P. list in my sidebar. If the peas and green beans actually grow, I'll have to figure out some sort of trellis system. My friend at Our Engineered Garden has some killer trellises he's built for all sorts of climbing plants, but I know mine won't look like that. Expect some sort of McGyver'd contraption involving plant stakes, coat hangers and duct tape.