From The Hammock
In the Cool of Early Morning
By ROBIN LOCKWOOD
August is upon us, the temperatures are rising, and the humidityis enough tomake a preacher swear! The very idea of being in the garden seems unreasonable. Bugs, itchy things,weeds, all add to that heat and August is typically the time of yearwhen even the most seasoned gardeners abandon ship, so to speak.
However, a bit of early morning tending and the garden will be ready in the last week or two of August for planting some cool weather crops that will grace your fall table quite nicely.
It is time to pull out all spent vegetable plants and pull all the weeds. In those areas which are now bare, turn in an inch of good compost. In other areas of the vegetable gardening, keep harvesting and keep up with the weeding.
Hopefully notes were taken at the beginning of the growing season so a record is kept where everything was planted originally. This is an important log to keep year after year so crop rotation can occur and keep the bugs down for next year. For the newbie gardeners, there is a great Web site www.yankeegardener.com. Its Garden Resources section has a Crop Rotation Chart which makes the planning very simple.
Plant sugar snap peas, spinach, kale and lettuces after the cleaning and composting are complete. August 26th is known as Turnip Planting Day. Rutabagas can be planted at the same time turnips are planted. Radishes have not proven to be a good fall crop here, but it is time to plant garlic for spring harvests.
Now is also the time to consider what has worked well in the garden. What crops failed or what growing issues were discovered this year? These questions make great topics of contemplation for the hammock time after all the work, if one can stay awake long enough.
Robin Lockwood lives in the southwest section of Williamson County and is a founding member of the Leiper’s Fork Garden Club. She is also well known as an herbalist and her column “Robin’s Remedies."
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