Autumn has finally arrived here in the Charleston, SC area. The temperatures are now in the upper 70s or low 80s during the day and in the low 60s at night. We had a cold front come through this past weekend, and yesterday’s low temperature was 46! Thankfully, it warmed up quickly, and I was able to spend the day in the garden, planting some more fall crops – more lettuce and kale, turnips, radishes, and cilantro. I also planted peas, though we’re not supposed to plant them again until January, but why not give it a whirl? Elsewhere in the garden, things are growing and looking a little more robust.
WHAT’S NEW:
My snap bean plants are growing their first beans. I might get my first harvest sometime this coming week.
Black Valentine green beans
Beurre de Rocquencourt wax bean
After a dry August, my garden received over 11 inches of rain in September! I guess that’s why I found these mushrooms in the pot of one of my key lime trees.
Mushrooms in key lime pot
IN THE GARDEN:
Speaking of my key limes, I have a wonderful bunch of them growing bigger by the day.
Key limes
My peppers are getting more and more flowers now that the weather is cooler. And look at all the jalapenos on this plant.
Jalapeno plant
While picking raspberries yesterday, I noticed that one of my canes has grown so long it’s intertwined with my eggplant.
Black Beauty eggplant & Caroline raspberries
I had to replant several types of lettuce yesterday. I think the strong rain after I originally planted them washed the seed away or something. However, the red sails lettuce germinated and is growing well.
Red Sails lettuce seedlings
My kale now has their first true leaves.
Scotch curled kale seedling with first true leaves
My escarole is growing so well, I’ll have to thin it soon.
Escarole seedlings
I found yet another pumpkin growing along my fence.
Baby Seminole pumpkin growing on fence
While I was harvesting the other day, I found this bumblebee on my pepper plant. I think it was injured because it seemed to be struggling. However, the next day, he was gone. I hope he was okay. We need all the bees we can get.
Injured bumblebee
On a happier note, I found this little guy crawling on a pumpkin leaf.
Carolina Anole on a pumpkin leaf
To see the Garden Bounty I harvested this past week, click here.
How’s your garden doing?
I envy your snap beans. My pole beans are struggling to come back. Next year I will follow your lead and plant snap beans to follow the pole beans. I pulled out all the raspberries, saving 6 to transplant in a less brutal part of the yard where I hope they will do better.
This is my second batch of snap beans. I planted them in August. I figured I could get quite a bit out of them before first frost.
As for rasberries – my bed is along my back fence which gets lots of morning sun and dappled afternoon sun. I think that helps during the intense heat of our summer.
That was my thinking also, about the raspberries. Their new home will be on the east side of the house rather than the west. I do miss my Heritage raspberries in Michigan!
I had Heritage raspberries first. They caught a disease from the strawberries I planted near them, and I had to pull all the canes last August. This spring, I planted Caroline raspberries, another everbearing variety. They are just as prolific, but the berries are larger.
P.S. They are a more disease-resistant variety, as well.