"Fall Gardening" - Grow Appalachia

August 19, 2021 Fall Gardening:

What to Grow in a Fall Garden
Extending the Season
Low Tunnels
Cover Crops
Seed Saving – Open Pollinated/Heirloom

Doug brought some beautiful flowers with fresh Rosemary to share. Thank you so much Doug!!

Seed Give Away: Swiss Chard, Rhubarb, Kale, Peas, Carrots, Radish:

Seed Give Away: Swiss Chard, Rhubarb, Kale, Peas, Carrots, Radish,

Hand Outs: Saving Tomato Seeds, “So you’ve heard about heirloom seeds and want to try to saving your own? Here’s how: This article talks about Open-pollinated vs Hybrid, Choosing Tomatoes to save, Fermentation, Storage and Crosses.

More information is available from the University of Tennessee Knoxville Seed Library program – https://libguides.utk.edu/seedlibrary

Fall Cover Crop Selection and Planting Dates

“We’re always talking about extending your growing season with floating row covers, low tunnels, and hoop houses. These all protect your plants from frost.”

Tracie Goodman and Doug Stephens gave a great presentation on building low tunnels. Watch Tricia build a low tunnel (also called a low hoop house) over one of her raised beds.

Fall Vegetable Gardens: Proper planting times, maintain moisture during germination and care for fall gardens properly.

Composting Material

Rain Barrels Make Good Sense/ Building a rain barrel using a 55 gallon drum

Installation of rain barrels

Squash Pickles

4 pounds of summer squash
¼ cup of canning salt
1 quart of vinegar (5%)
1 cup of water
Dill seed (1 teaspoon per pint)

Yields: 5 pints

Fill boiling water canner half full with clean water. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water, rinse with warm water. Treat flat lids according to manufacture’s directions. Keep jars warm until filled.

Wash and slice squash. Pack dill seed, and squash into jars, leaving ½ inch headspace

Bring vinegar, water and salt to a boil: simmer 5 minutes. Fill jars ½ inch from top with boiling hot liquid. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids.

Place jars on rack in canner (water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches). Add boiling water if necessary. Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process in boiling water bath canner for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and remove lid; wait five minutes before removing jars.

Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage plants were given. One of the participants brought okra to share!