garden update

Niagara soil + southern exposure = gardening on crack!  My last true garden was in Thunder Bay which is Zone 3, and while I knew this is a better area for successful vegetable gardening, I was really truly unprepared for the explosion that occurred in the last month!!  I have tons of tomatoes, healthy herbs, scores of succulents on the staircase, peppers popping up everywhere and a bumper crop of brassica leaves (although no broccoli or cauliflowers yet)  Some areas of my garden are ready to harvest and other sections need love to continue flourishing.

Today I'll also be planning my fall crops and containers.  The first frost date for St. Catharines is Oct 17 - ten weeks from today.  There are many plants that even sown from seed will be ready for harvest in 8 - 9 weeks (subtract a week to accommodate for shorter fall days), and a number of these plants will tolerate light frosts, especially those with longer autumn harvest times.  I'll be planting the following vegetables in this order to get the ones with longest growing seasons started right away. You'll notice radishes are on there twice because I plan to get some started now and then again anywhere from 10 days up to even about 3 weeks from now for a continual harvest until the frost!

           Crop        Days to Harvest
Radishes     25 – 30
Carrots       85 – 95
Potatoes     85 – 90
Cabbage     80 – 90
Lettuce        70 – 85
Broccoli      70 – 80
Cauliflower   60 – 75
Peas           55 – 70
Beets          40 – 70
Spinach       50 – 60
Kohlrabi       50 – 60
Kale             40 – 50
Radishes      25 – 30