Fall garden -- not much to see, yet

The photo of tilled soil, above, is pretty boring. This photo is from last week. I couldn't get out the last couple of days to take photos because thankfully, it was raining. I know gardeners all around our area were ecstatic because we have all been hoping and praying for rain for our lawns and especially our gardens.

I was just happy we finally had a good natural watering. It came just after we planted the majority of our fall garden. We had already added collards, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and broccoli plants and we then planted some root vegetables -- beets, garlic, carrots and different kinds of greens. We planted turnip greens, rutabagas, spinach and mustard greens, lettuce and arugula.

We still need to plant kale seeds but I can't find them anywhere! I have ordered some bok choy and red bunching onion seeds and they are supposed to be in the mail so I know we will plant them as soon as the ground is dry enough.

I really love the greens and I really hope we find some kale. I am thinking about ordering some heirloom kale seeds so that we can just let some of the kale go to seed, save the seed and plant our own. It is more economical. Usually Arnall's Grocery has plenty of kale seeds, but not this fall.

Most of the things we planted should withstand the winter. The greens, we should be able to pick before frost because they are fast growers. The collards should be really to pick around Thanksgiving or Christmas, at the latest.

The broccoli, carrots, beets, Brussels sprouts, and lettuce should survive over the winter and we know it is unlikely that we will get a harvest until early spring. If we plant some of these vegetables -- like the broccoli, beets and Brussels sprouts we should have a nice harvest after the first of the year. If we wait until spring, the weather will just be too hot for them and we won't get a harvest at all -- that is at least what I have heard and been reading lately.

We also have row covers, so if we get worried about a hard freeze, we will just cover our plants. I am always so excited about planting and I just hope this fall garden will be the best ever.