Starting FALL GARDEN 2011 in Zone 8

I am dreaming of my fall garden ... kale ... broccoli ... lettuce ....yummy !
I am tired of this incredible heat. I really don't want to break any historical record here !
Today I started from seeds indoor:
BROCCOLI
CHINESE KALE (Similar to broccoli, but with sweeter, more succulent flavor. Nutritious and delicious - I tried those broccoli/kale last year and fell in love), here the seeds: http://www.botanicalinterests.com/products/index/srch:Kale%20Chinese%20Kailaan%20White%20Flowered%20Seed
Moon dates:
today from 11am to tomorrow at 5am = perfect to saw "FLOWER" crop (like Broccoli and Chinese Kale)
tomorrow August 7th = perfect to saw "LEAF" crop from 6am to 8pm, so I will seed: CAULIFLOWERS and BRUSSEL SPROUTS (yes they are considered a LEAF crops) and KALES.
The Moon planting calendar I am following is the one by Maria Thun.

Next good planting dates for FLOWER CROP will be: Sunday August 14th from 4am untill Tuesday 16th at 1am.
Next good planting dates for LEAF CROP will be: Tuesday 16th from 1am untill Thursday 18th at 1am.

I have used the ROOT ORGANICS seed starting media, which is amazing.

My goal will be to be able to plant out at the beginning of September.

Good luck with your Fall garden. Ours is underway too. I planted rutabaga, parsnips, three kinds of cabbage, arugula, cilantro and collards. I am waiting for kale, mustards, rapini, turnips and fennel (trying that blasted veggie again) but will be putting in chard, beets, spinach and carrots within the next week. I've got broccoli, cauliflower, more collards and some other stuff started in seed trays. As for the fennel...I've decided to wait and watch my dill flower and then plant the fennel at that time. Since they are related maybe the temperatures and water will be right for fennel when the dill begins to go to seed. That's my plan anyway. I'd like to try favas now but I'm out of seed.

Well, so far I've only sown beet seeds for fall. Have flats of broccoli, collards, Chinese cabbage, Brussel's sprouts standing by to set out and will most likely cover them to keep the cabbage moths off them.

My late summer beans are now flowering, and the deer have their eye on them, too!

Will broadcast kale and other misc greens more towards the end of August.

Shoe (running from the heat already. Ugh!)

Here is my set-up.
I bought this great metal shelf at Lowe's last year, ON SALE !! Maybe just $53.
I have 3 floors so far. I could do 4 if I need to.
I have my expensive T5 lights on the top shelf and the shop lights on the lower two.
Everything is connected to a timer.

Here is a close-up of one of the shelf.
I just started those seeds.

Pretty fancy!

DrThor - where did you get those fabulous mini-greenhouses? I would love to have something like that!

drthor, your set-up looks great andI appreciate your giving the details on what you are sowing and when. I'm typing this while on vacation and won't be back home for another two weeks, so I will be getting a later start on things -- just hope it won't be too late to get a good garden in.

Since the temps are brutal here right now and I'm not at home to water, I've officially given up on my spring/summer stuff. I only had a few holdouts (peppers and a little chard, mostly) and I'm pretty sure it will all have given up the ghost by the time I get back. But out with the old, and in with the new. I will be working like a crazy person in the garden as soon as I get home.

Cindy_GA
I made those "fabulous mini-greenhouses" ... like you said
For years I have used the 1020 black trays and they kept braking ... so I did a research and with the help of some DG members I found those Perma-nest trays:
http://indoorgardensupplies.com/permanest-plant-tray-11x22x25-p-686.html?osCsid=16c534645ef79acbb3ef5a66887b9739

On the top I bought a larger plastic dome (at my regular local garden supplier).
I normally just lay down clear plastic wrap ...but this look so much professional ... also i think it will be great in the winter when I will start the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants to have that larger dome.
I bought 4 domes each months, so I could use the store discount.

My growing shelf is in my laundry room and since it is a part of my house ... I like to be nice.

The plastic dome is like this one:
http://indoorgardensupplies.com/clear-plastic-vented-dome-8x12-gs812-plant-tray-p-915.html?osCsid=16c534645ef79acbb3ef5a66887b9739
but mine is thinner plastic ... I wish I saw this dome before I bought mine.

By the way the seeds that i started 3 days ago are already 1/2" tall this morning. I will post pictures soon.

LiseP ... it is good that you are not home ... my heart is just craying every day ... hoping for rain.
The most important crop to start as soon as you will get back are Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli.
Brussels Sprouts take long time to produce. Broccoli are amazing in the fall, also as soon as the main head is harvest they will start to produce millions of side shoots (in my opinion better taste than the main head) untill february or untill they will get remove to give room to the tomato plants.

Thanks DrThor - those are really nice domes and trays. I also have an indoor "greenhouse" which is a bathtub and bathroom corner that have been "re-purposed". I have a hodge-podge of trays, pots, etc. and would like to get this a bit more standardized to simplify it all! Thanks again!

My seedlings are growing really well.
Here are Bok Choi I seeded 8 days ago

I was out of town for four days and I was so worry about my seedlings, but everything went ok.
Here you can see the kales are staring to develop the first set of "true leaves".
I seeded them on August 7th

I had excellent germination in most of my seeds and soon I will thin them a little bit.

They look great. What temps are you germinating your seeds at?

My laundry room is very warm, especially with the lights. My soil termometer read 85-88 F.
I also use a fan to cool down the room.
I never use any fertilizer on my seedlings untill they are outside.
The ROOTS ORGANIC medium is just amazing. It is very reach and plants grow really strong.
I just look at the soil when it turns a light color it is time to water (always from the bottom).
I never have dumping off or any problem growing my seedlings.

I just dream of cool weather.

Drthor,
Your seedlings look great! You have very powerful lights, too. Oh, and that term is "damping off".

Hugs!

Linda

Only one is a T5 light, all the other ones are regular Home Depot Shop lights.
yeah ... I know I write funny English ... giggle ....

ARUGULA surprise ....
Today I went to my favorite Italian food store in Dallas called "Jimmy's".
Next door there is a little piece of land where a very nice gentleman grow "gourmet greens" for upscale restaurant.
I always pop my head to see what he is growing and I was so surprised when I saw he had 2 huge beds full of fantastic ARUGULA ... OMG and it is not bolting.
He told me that it will be ok to sew Arugula now .... so I will do soon ... I am going to wait for the next "LEAF" day and some rain.

drthor - I sowed Arugula 5 years ago, and it has re-seeded itself every year since. I don't care much for lettuce or spinach, but I love the pungent taste of Arugula in my sandwiches.

We grow arugula almost year around. We still have a few volunteers in the garden but pulled all the ones we planted in late winter. The fall arugula is already up and I dry the plants after they go to seed and use them as dried flower arrangements. Then I "sweep" the ground where I want arugula to grow and lay the dried stalks down as a mulch. In just a few days, with some water, it will appear everywhere! I grow it between the cabbage, in the winter squash bed and alongside the peppers. It's my favorite weed because it germinates in warm and cool soil. We grow so much that we make whole salads with arugula as the only green. I cook with it too.

Your seedlings are looking great Drthor. I lost most of my tray started ones while we were away but we have arugula, red and green cabbage, collards and other greens coming up in the garden. Of the seedlings in the trays that survived I was happy to see some of the radicchio is still okay. I'll plant more.

My Arugula also reseed itself ... but I was so surprised to see so many at this time of the year ...

Here're my mustard and collard greens seedlings!

And, broccoli!

Brussels Sprouts!

Cauliflowers!

I have cabbages, too, but no pic, yet. These sprouted while I was away, so they got a bit leggy. But, they're beefing up nicely. I'll start uppotting some this weekend, as they have at least one set of true leaves already!

I have a total of 130 seedlings...

This message was edited Aug 17, 2011 2:23 PM

How old are you seedlings?

Drthor,

My Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbages and Cauliflowers were sowed on Saturday, August 6th. They were up by Monday evening, August 8th, in 2 days!

The mustards and collards were sowed on Sunday, August 7th. They're growing the fastest, and will get potted up this weekend.

Too bad I wasn't home to put them under the lights immediately, but, they'll be ok!

Drthor,
I just read up on your ROOTS ORGANIC, and I think that's where your success is coming from. But, it's a bit pricey for my budget, so I'll have to work with what I have. Also, that ROOTS has a lot of added nutrients, so you don't have to add external fertilizers until much later.

yes ROOTS ORGANICS is a fantastic product. I buy it locally, so I don't have to add shipping.
Even if it is more expensive of other mediums, it works like magic .. and at the end I think I save money on planting seeds in a medium that make them dye and give me a big headhache ... so hurray for Roots Organics medium !!

I returned from 3 weeks' vacation this afternoon and, well, I'll be starting my garden from scratch.

The good news is that I don't have to dither on whether to pull old plants or not. They're history now, so out with the old and on with a totally clean slate and a few packs of seeds.

Everytime I clean my vegetable garden and start a new one, I lay down a layer of COTTONBURR COMPOST.
I will do that as soon as my seedlings are ready to go out.

Thanks for that tip, drthor. What, an inch or so? Or more? I'm assuming you dig it in, or do you keep it on top as a mulch?

It's now on my shopping list for the next time I go to the store.

Lise P, no I don't dig. I just throw the Cottonburr compost on top of the soil.
I don't want to disturb the microbial activity in the soil underneath.
I put down a lot, maybe 3-4".
Here in DFW I can get 10% discoutn if I belong to the Howard Garrett club and for teh Dallas Arboretum membership.

It seems to work and it makes the soil look so nice and clean.

Update after two week from starting.
Everything is growing well ... maybe a little slow ... I dunno.
This is Broccoli ... starting to push out the first set of true leaves.

This message was edited Aug 20, 2011 9:42 AM

Cauliflowers growing really well.
I will thin them out later, picking the best one.
You know I follow the Moon calendar, so I will need to do anything to the "LEAF" crop during "LEAF" days ... and the next one will be in about a week.

here baby cauliflowers

Here is BOK CHOI, growing like crazy.
Does anybody know if I can grow more seeds close together like this?
Leaving 4-5 plants near each others?
or shall I thin them out to one plant for pot?

PAC CHOI, starting to show the red veins