Weekly Gardening Outlook

This will be a continuing series where we look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

The sunchokes continue to put on a show

Now that we know what sunchokes look like, we are seeing them EVERYWHERE.  They are on roadsides, field edges, even already growing in the "native" portion of our backyard.  We had them right under our noses and didn't know it.  Keep an eye out for them in your area, but remember to wait to harvest until after the first frost for maximum tuber size.

Learning Opportunity:

This Saturday, we will be attending a workshop entitled "Extending home vegetable production beyond Summer."  If you are interested in coming, preregister with Berni Kurz at 444-1755 or e-mail bkurz@uaex.edu.  There may or may not be any spots left, so contact him as soon as possible. 

Here's the information from the flier:

"The Fayetteville Community Garden Coalition, in conjunction with Ozark Alternatives and The Blackberry Farm Community Garden, will host a garden walk and workshop to discuss techniques that home gardeners can adopt to extend vegetable production beyond the summer months.

The Fayetteville Community Garden Coalition (FCGC) will host this event on Saturday, October 2 from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. at The Blackberry Farm. This event is free, though donations are welcome. All proceeds will help FCGC and Ozark Alternatives put on more workshops.

The workshop will feature a tour with Paul Chapracki, local farmer at Ozark Alternatives and manager of The Blackberry Farm Community Garden. Berni Kurz, Washington Country Extension Agent, will discuss cold frame and mini hoop house construction. Craig Andersen, Washington County Extension Vegetable Specialist, will discuss planting and mulches, and Calvin Bey, Washington County Master Gardeners, will discuss soil preparation. Finally, Patrice Gros of Foundation Farm will give an overview of hoop houses in the garden."

Our Garden:

The lettuce is loving this Fall-like weather

The bane of my beds (Bermuda grass) continues to be a problem

 Bermuda grass, seen in the lower right corner of the picture, continues to pop up amongst my lettuce.  Not wanting to use chemicals in the garden, physical removal is our best option.  Big hint:  When placing your beds, remove all Bermuda grass within 100 miles or at least remove the Bermuda grass from where the bed will be built.

The radishes are still a week or two away

With the cooler weather, the kale is growing, but it still has an off taste

The chard keeps rolling

It's a good salad addition, but we were reminded this week that it's not quite tender enough to be the only salad ingredient.  It's very good cooked, serving as a spinach substitute.

The tomatoes are spilling out of the beds with growth, but are not setting new fruit

The peppers on the other hand, are loaded with fruit and are still flowering

The purple beans are producing enough for 3 meals a week

We harvest every other day, picking any bean that is straight and smooth.  Any beans that have begun to bulge are left on the vine to mature into next year's seeds.

Weather outlook:

-Cooling down; mid to upper 70's early in the week, falling to upper 60's later in the week.  Dry with no chance of rain.
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:

-Green beans

-Peppers
-Chard
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs
-Apples