Dick Martin
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Farmers must sign up before August 31, 2021, to get paid for developing a Voluntary Nutrient Management Plan. H2ohio sign up is handled on a first come, first served basis so farmers are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible.
Email questions about the H2ohio program in Richland County to H2ohio@richlandswcd.net or call 419-747-8686.
Richland Soil and Water Conservation District develops, implements, and assists landowners, government agencies and our partners with a wide range of natural resource conservation programs.
Programs and assistance of the Richland Soil and Water Conservation District are available without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, or veteran status. plant seeds again in mid-august for succession planting, and enjoy two crops with the second maturing at about the time your first fall planting is used up.
A second round of bush beans can be planted now too, and it will thrive and produce a good crop in early to mid fall, if, that is, you keep it well dusted with some general purpose pesticide. I don’t like using such on my garden, but the same weather that lets beans thrive also boosts populations of bean eaters, and if not controlled, your bean pods will be sprinkled with bite marks that make them unusuable. Then come carrots, another vegetable that can be seeded in at any time now. Carrots planted in mid-july and allowed to grow until mid-october or so will benefit from the cool, even chilly weather to produce a sweet and tasty vegetable that can be enjoyed fresh, stored in the refrigerator for weeks, or frozen for use all winter long.
What about peas? If you love fresh peas, so much more flavorsome than canned products, you’ll plant a row or two of these too, plant another row or so in 10 days, and a third in twenty days. Doing this will give you non-stop good eating clear until the first frost. There
are three succession plantings that I never fail to plant in coming days, and one is beets. I’ve been reading and hearing a good deal about these colorful root crops, and all that I’ve heard is good. In fact, some advertisements are selling beet juice with (they say) wonderful properties for good health.
I do know that fresh beets are tasty indeed, and can be pulled and used from sizes of a half dollar up to a tennis ball or better. And any beets that aren’t used by the first hard frost can be pulled and converted into pickled beets, a fine addition to any salad plate. The last two? That’s kale and turnips. Kale has a list of vitamins and minerals too long to list here, and it’s a tough and hardy plant that survives cold weather and even snow. Many a time I’ve walked out to my garden and kicked off snow from kale plants to pick a potfull, and enjoy well into November. It’s easy to grow, too. Just scatter seeds down a row and add a bit of fertilizer.
Turnips are even easier. For these I just rake up a spot recently evicted from some worn out crop, rake the ground lightly, and scatter seeds and fertilizer. A good frost makes these purple and white vegetables even better, crisp as an apple, and their leaves make fine turnip greens. How can you go wrong, and why not plant some soon?