I can’t believe it’s the end of August! Time is flying this season here on the farm and good things have come thus far. We’re all in great anticipation for fall when we’ll have broccoli, cabbage, greens, and other root veggies and cool weather as well. After fertilizing and weeding our celeriac and leeks today in the cool, moist morning, I became excited for all these fun veggies that will grace our paths this fall. We’ve again filled up our greenhouse with tons of flats with cubes of soil and little seeds waiting for their time to emerge. We’ve got bunching onions, more leeks, broccoli, cabbage, kale, collards, chard, lettuces, and much more fun stuff in the greenhouse. But, don’t fear, our summer crops will hang in there for a while longer. Our tomatoes are greeting the most recent wet spell with dismay; they’ve caught the dreaded wilt. Next season, I’ll be trying more hybrid varieties with resistances to such diseases and trying some later successions for this time of year. I hope you’ve enjoyed them this season! But, while the departure of the tomatoes is saddening, our peppers, eggplant, okra, basil, soybeans, and pole beans are all thriving. We’ll also have more garlic and winter squash very soon.

Most farmers typically take a break from their CSA shares in August. I was contemplating doing this, but since we still have so much food coming in, I think we’ll forgo this break. With the transition of the seasons our shares may decline in size a bit, but no fear, once the cool temps of fall arrive, the shares will be more than bountiful once again. Excitingly enough, today we just seeded over 600 feet of greens, radishes, and sweet turnips. Can’t wait!!

Farmer Paige and the crew

We have a guest writer today from one of our wonderful worker share members. I hope you find it entertaining, and find good information in what she has mentioned. A backyard garden is a great idea, for sustainability, for exercise, for education, and for tasty food. Whatever we don’t grow enough of for you, you can grow yourself to supplement your share (or perhaps you already do!) Thanks for your information Dianna!

Hi! I’m Dianna Anderson and I’m a volunteer at Serenbe Farms. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity this summer to help on the farm while gaining invaluable knowledge and experience with organic farming. I’ve been using this experience at home to continue with my passion for gardening in my own backyard. There’s nothing like the satisfaction of planting and growing your own food and it’s not as hard as you think. All you have to do is set up the garden, plant the seeds, water the plants and watch them grow. You could easily do it yourself!

If you’re limited on space like me you’re probably wondering how you’re going to fit a vegetable garden in your own yard. There are several options available ranging from row gardens to raised gardens to container plants. I’ve personally had the most success with a raised garden, which simply consists of four boards nailed together and filled with dirt. Of course you can build to suit your own needs with other materials such as decorative stone to fit in with the landscaping of you own yard. A raised garden is not only easier to reach, but it also makes gardening much simpler by reducing weeds and eliminating the need to dig up that hard Georgia clay and rock. I’ve also found that my dog Lucky can’t “water” my plants over the raised sides!

Still sounds like too much work? Try container gardening. Use potting soil and be sure to get a big enough container (even a trashcan works), so the soil won’t dry out so quickly. A disadvantage of containers is the need to water almost daily so don’t plan on leaving town unless you have a very good neighbor willing to water your plants!

With either method, once you’ve established your garden, the only real work besides watering is picking the vegetables and eating them!

Some crops I’ve had success with are tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, bush beans, peppers, onions, radishes, leaf lettuce and herbs.

Some helpful tips:

Crop Rotation. To avoid diseases and pests, never plant the same crop in the same spot within three to five years. I ran out of room in my garden to rotate crops this year so I planted my jalapeno peppers with my zinnias and snapdragons in my front flower garden. They fit in so nicely with the flowers that nobody ever realized it was actually a vegetable garden!

Companion Planting. Some plants are beneficial to each other. Mixing flowers and herbs in with your veggies can prove beneficial in repelling some bad insects and attracting some good insects. I’ve had success with planting radishes with my cucumbers to repel cucumber beetles. Marigolds and catnip are also beneficial in repelling a variety of pests while also making your garden look attractive. You can find many more companion plants through research on the Internet or in organic gardening books and experiment for yourself to see which ones really work for you.

Having a garden in which you grow your own food can be a rewarding experience for you and your family. Children love to “help” in the garden especially when its time to pick the produce. It’s also great to be able to step out your back door to pick some fresh basil to add to the lasagna or to pull some green onions and radishes for the salad. So give it a try and enjoy the rewards of your own garden.