Fall Garden Prep, pt 1

I know.

It’s July 12.

How are we even remembering there is such thing as a "Fall” when it feels like we will literally dissolve into a puddle of our own sweat at any minute?

Even still … time waits for no garden.

Pick a super early morning, before the cloak of humidity has the chance to wrap itself around you, or a late evening after enjoying an ice cold Rose spritzer (yes, my favorite way to enjoy wine), and set your mind to it. It’s time to ready the garden for our fall plantings.

But we’ll take it slow. All I want you to do today is reflect on the current growing season - what worked? what didn’t work? and assess what needs to be done before September.

Here are some questions to ask yourself AND WRITE THEM DOWN. This will be invaluable next Spring. Personally, I like to use the Day One app to journal about the garden.

• Did the size of my planting space serve me well this season?

• If not, should I expand? Should I reduce?

• How well did I do eating/canning/gifting what the garden produced this year? Was it too much? Was it too little?

• In zone 7b, we can grow a multitude of plants in the Fall and Winter. What would you like to have available in your garden from September - March?

That’s it! Not too hard, right?

Next week we’ll jump into planning, designing and our beloved seed catalogs!

Until then … I’m going to go drink that spritzer!