Fall plantings

Today we put in some fall plantings. In the big bed, I scattered some oats seed that will be used as a cover crop/green fertilizer. I called Tom Peterson at Appalachian Sustainable Development to see what type cover crop they recommended for this area. Not only did he tell me about oats but he also set me up with some from his personal stash on his organic farm here in Abingdon. He also told me about Merci Farm, an organic gardening and farming supplier in nearby Lebanon, VA. Very nice of him.

In addition, we also did a planting of garlic. It's a white, soft-necked variety that I got from Ellen Reynolds at Beagle Ridge Herb Farm in Wythe County. That's where I've been going for classes as a part of the Virginia Master Naturalist Program. The garlic bulbs should be ready for harvesting sometime in early July.

The spinach and lettuce that went in the cold frame have begun to sprout. It's so fun to see green growth as everything else is dying off. The leaves, however, are gorgeous this year.

Lady Bugs not just a bad Rodney Dangerfield movie

Abingdon has been invaded by lady bugs/beetles (take your pick). These are good for aphid control, I'm told but apparently, this batch has confused my house for a giant aphid as they are swarming all over the outside. We have to be quick to open and close doors or they get inside. Others in town are noticing the bumper crop we're having as well and it has been a topic of much conversation. So far, there's no organic or natural way that I've come across to diminish their numbers. I figure they're doing their job in the food chain so a little more diligence about doors is a small price to pay.

Something to crow about

We had another strong frost again last night but that's not the most significant thing that happened (or maybe it is). I was outside mowing this afternoon when I spotted a dead bird, a large black crow, just across my property line in the town park next door. I'm pretty sure he wasn't there yesterday or I would have noticed. Nor was he scavenged or decomposed that I could tell (from a healthy distance). Last night's cold must have put him in the deep freeze.

Since we've all heard about how West Nile virus often shows up in birds, I decided to notify someone. First, I called the Town of Abingdon but got directed to a department that was only interested (to put it mildly) in removing the carcass from the park, as if I were reporting a litter problem. I decided to push further and called the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VGDIF), the state wildlife agency. They directed me to the extension of their staff veterinarian but his voicemail said he's out of the office for two weeks and not checking messages. Finally, I got some results from the Washington County Health Department where I reached Scott Honnaker who was very helpful. He called their Richmond office to confirm that they are still testing for West Nile, even though it's late enough that the mosquito population that carries this disease is mostly dead or dormant. With last night's freeze, there was a good chance that the tissues were still preserved enough for testing. Unfortunately, on a Friday afternoon, they had no one to come collect it until Monday. My wife (and me too, I must admit) wasn't too keen on keeping a potential biohazard bird in our freezer over the weekend so we struck a deal. I carefully bagged and delivered the crow to the Southwest Virginia Department of Health Lab (just down the street by the hospital) where they will freeze it over the weekend and send it to Richmond on Monday for testing.

UPDATE: I never heard a word, despite calling a couple of times to inquire about the results. I guess that means everything is ok.

No E. coli in my spinach!

National news lately has focused on the e. coli spinach outbreak in California's Salinas Valley. I love a good spinach salad and decided long ago that I would try to produce a fall/winter crop this year. Using the new cold frame that I built last weekend, I planted some Rembrandt Spinach from Cook's Garden today, along with some lettuce. We'll see how it does with the onset of cold this week.

First Frost

We awoke this morning to the first frost and it was a doosey. The ground was well-covered and the thermometer read 24 degrees F when we awoke. Luckily, we had brought in the remaining pepper plants that were in pots on the deck as well as the mums. Looks like Fall is now here.

Gearing up for the winter

I cleaned out the main raised bed last Saturday (9/30), leaving only one pepper plant that is yet to turn. I don't know if it will since the nights have now turned much cooler. I also constructed a crude cold frame, using some scrap lumber, lexan plywood (1/4") and an old case window that I bought from a local antique dealer for $5. The lexan, some foam sealer, and the hinges to attach it brought the grand total somewhere around $30. A coat of paint on the outside to protect the wood was the final step. I'm planning to use it for a planting of fall/winter spinach and lettuce as soon as the seeds arrive from Cook's Garden in the mail. The rest of the bed will be planted with a cover crop, probably some type of rye grass, to fix some nitrogen in the soil for next spring. I'm also planning to put in some garlic bulbs this month to grow over the winter and harvest in the spring.