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Frill Free Zone Newsletter
August 01, 2024

It's the dog days of summer, and the season is winding down. Or is it? Have you heard of succession planting, or fall planting?

August 1 2024

That's when you continue to plant into areas you've harvested - this is perfect for controlling bugs, as you'll plant something different into those spaces. The critters that loved your spinach won't be able to find what they prefer to eat (spinach) and will starve, or fly off to the neighbors place.

If you didn't want to plant another crop, at least get rid of the debris left behind after harvesting. This can prevent an infestation by removing an overwintering place for pests.

Plant a cover crop to cover the soil and prevent erosion. The rainstorms we get are torrential and will wash away the sandy or clay type soil here. You'll often see the ditches running red with runoff from the fields.

If you can't grow a cover crop, then mulch with whatever you can find; wood chips, grass clippings, straw, even hay if you can find some good grass hay without any contamination in it from weeds.

Apart from all those tasks, watering is super important for that last crop; tomatoes and cukes need water to continue their growth into September, when you'll be picking the last stragglers to freeze and make into delicious pickles.

The compost pile loves this time of year as there will be a lot of plant matter from mowing the lawn, harvesting your crops and so on. Cut the stalks of large plants into pieces before adding them to the pile. I'm loving my stacking composting system which has worked way better than I even imagined.


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