From looking at my harvest I should been solarizing all summer. My garden did not recieve a lot of TLC, but it did not earn what little it did get.

Larry

Larry,

I should have too. Opportunity lost.

Jo

Mine looks like it was solarized anyway.

I feel like i was microwaved.

In our garden the vegetables look like they were solarized, microwaved, fried, roasted, and dehydrated, but the weeds look like they have all been given TLC, water, and fertilizer.

Suzie

It isn't just our garden either that has been 'solarized' with no effort on our part. Our pastures, meadows, woodland and swamp look roasted, fried and dehydrated too. The lovely soil-less mix in the containers that once held flowers has been baked into hard, brown soil cakes. The water from the ponds, creeks and swamp has "boiled" away, leaving bare former wetland areas looking brown and toasted.

Even the Johnson grass that invades everywhere is cooked, although I bet it won't die anyway, and will come back bigger and stronger next year.

Wherever I've watered to keep the lawn, trees, shrubs, and perennials alive, crab grass is thriving. Like Suzie's place, our weeds have thrived if they were in areas that received some irrigation. Out in the pastures full of native grasses and forbs, you can count on one hand the plants that still have some green to them.

I'm ready for 2012, but only if rain falls sometime between now and then. Lots of rain.

Dawn

I made that remark to my husband just recently...after it turned cool. Too late now.

The 6"+ rain we got in Aug. has really helped the pastures but did not do much for the garden, it just came too late.

I am in the process of cleaning every thing up and trying to get ready for next year.

My peppers are still producing, okra, very little, peas about to finish. I hope to remove squash and some tomato plants today.

About everything gone but the memories, wish they were gone also.

Larry

We're cleaning the garden too Larry. Taking out the Clemson's Spineless okra and pepper plants that the rain killed. (I know that sounds funny, but it rained and they died.) Also taking out most of the tomatoes, with the exception of Early Girl, Better Boy and Rutgers. Have one plant of each left and all have small green fruit. So I am watering in hopes that the first frost holds off. Am also watering one banana pepper and one bell pepper and a couple jalapenos that all have small fruit. (Note to Bill This is called "hijacking the thread." Sorry, but Larry started it. ;) Otherwise only sweet potatoes, a few Stewart's Zeebest okra that look fabulous and are just now bearing like crazy, and loads of green southern peas Ky Red, these last two courtesy George aka Macmex.

Sorry, Bill, I got carried away.

Larry, where are you, that you got 6" of rain in August? We got NONE. None at all to speak of, since May. Looks like we missed yet another potential rain today, too.

TomatoWorm, I am just south of Ft. Smith AR.. We had a long dry spell before AUG. Looks like we may be in another long dry spell, we have had no rain in at least 2 weeks and its as dry as a bone now. I am trying to clean the gardens and till in the healthy plants. I have to water the garden before tilling to keep the dust down, and after I get it tilled it is like flour. I don't like doing the soil this way but I need a cover crop to gave some organic matter for next year. I often use grass clipping to till into the garden, but I think I could have put all my grass clippings in a shoe box this year.

If I had not had any rain since may, my ground would be cracked knee deep. We had the wettest Aug. I can remember, the hottest summer I can remember, and the coldest winter I can remember. I am afraid to try to guess what will happen next.

Larry