I managed to do a first sowing of mixed mustards, lettuces, arugula, and spinach today. I even poked some nasturtium seeds around the beds, hoping to have a few flowers before frost.
Normally, I'd have started a bit earlier with my flats, but heat and dry weather (and recovery time) has kept me inside most of this month. We've had some rain and mild weather, though, the last few days, so it's a good time to make the effort.
There's plenty of time for fall greens, to be sure, and I'll be doing successive sowings in flats through late September.
I'm also planning to use my cold frame for season extension this year, too, and may even use a second makeshift coldframe with extra hay bales from my straw bale experiment. The straw bales have matured wonderfully well, and is a technique that I'll probably try again, although my experimental results were hindered by woodchuck foraging.
I'm not sure whether I'll be able to do the bed prep in time to plant many other fall crops, but I'm hoping to be able to pull the last early tomatoes next week, and sow some beets, chard, carrots, turnips, radishes, and transplant collards, broccoli, and brussel sprouts. I'm a bit reluctant to put them down in the satellite garden (a prime woodchuck foraging area) though -- I might as well just feed him/her directly! A fellow gardener suggested apples as a good bait -- it's worth a try.
