🌱 The Garden

💧 Watering — Sun Sep 20, 5:43 PM

Past 7 days: 0" rain vs ~1.42" plant water use · next 3 days: 0.07" (17% chance) · Open-Meteo for 749 Walker Rd. Rule of thumb: the garden wants ~1" a week; raised beds dry out faster than the pallet ground.

How to water: early morning, at the base, slow and deep (a 5-gal bucket per 4×8 bed ≈ ½"). Skip the day if you see "HOLD — rain". Finger test beats any forecast: dry 2" down = water.

📋 This week (09-18 → 09-24)

Nothing scheduled this week — water if the cards say so, weed 10 minutes, pick what's ready.

🧺 In harvest right now: Pole beans (summer)

Still open from the last 3 weeks

📅 Next 45 days

🗺️ Where things go

Square-foot layout, 1 square = 1 ft². Tall crops on the north end so they don't shade the rest. Pallets lean toward the south sun; the planting strip is the 12" of ground at their base.

🌿 The crop plan (how, when, care, harvest, reset)

Dates are keyed to our average frost dates and shift automatically each year. Every crop below has its buy → plant → care → harvest → pull-and-reset steps in the calendar.

• Snap peas (spring) — Pallet 1 — Peas → Pole beans
  🌿 Direct-sow sugar snap peas along Pallet 1 (last frost -45 d)
  🧤 Guide pea tendrils onto the pallet slats (last frost -20 d)
  🧺 Snap-pea harvest begins (Pallet 1) (last frost +25 d)
  🔄 Pull spent peas from Pallet 1, compost vines, re-mulch (last frost +60 d)
  ⚠ Peas fix their own nitrogen — no fertilizer needed
  ⚠ Stop picking when pods go starchy/white in June heat
• Pole beans (summer) — Pallet 1 — Peas → Pole beans
  🌿 Direct-sow pole beans (Kentucky Wonder / Rattlesnake) at Pallet 1 (last frost +60 d)
  🧤 Tie pole-bean leaders onto pallet; side-dress with compost (last frost +85 d)
  🧺 Pole-bean harvest begins (Pallet 1) — pick every 2–3 days (last frost +120 d)
  🔄 Pull pole beans after first frost; leave roots, compost vines (first frost +0 d)
  ⚠ Japanese beetles hit in late June — knock into soapy water in the morning
  ⚠ Water at the base; wet leaves → rust
• Cucumbers — Pallet 2 — Cucumbers & melon
  🌿 Direct-sow cucumbers along Pallet 2 (Marketmore / pickling) (last frost +14 d)
  🧤 Train cucumber vines up the pallet; mulch 2–3" straw (last frost +40 d)
  🧺 Cucumber harvest begins (Pallet 2) — check DAILY (last frost +65 d)
  🔄 Pull tired cucumber vines from Pallet 2; sow fall snap peas (last frost +110 d)
  ⚠ Cucumber beetles: yellow sticky trap + row cover until flowering
  ⚠ Bitter cukes = water stress — never let them wilt
• Sugar Baby watermelon — Pallet 2 — Cucumbers & melon
  🌿 Sow 1 Sugar Baby watermelon hill at the end of Pallet 2 (last frost +21 d)
  🧤 Sling watermelon fruit in old t-shirts tied to the pallet (last frost +55 d)
  🧺 Sugar Baby watermelon likely ripe — check tendril + thump (last frost +95 d)
  ⚠ Stop watering the week before harvest — sweeter melon
• Snap peas (fall) — Pallet 2 — Cucumbers & melon
  🌿 Direct-sow fall snap peas at Pallet 2 (where cukes were) (first frost -75 d)
  🧺 Fall snap-pea harvest begins (Pallet 2) (first frost -10 d)
• Tomatoes — Bed A — Salad & Sauce bed
  🌱 Start tomato seeds indoors (3 plants: 1 slicer, 1 Roma, 1 cherry) (last frost -42 d)
  🧤 Harden off tomato + pepper seedlings (7 days outside, more each day) (last frost -7 d)
  🌿 Transplant 3 tomatoes into Bed A north row; cage same day (last frost +10 d)
  🧤 Mulch tomatoes 3" straw; start weekly sucker-pruning (last frost +30 d)
  🧤 Side-dress tomatoes with compost/Tomato-tone at first fruit set (last frost +45 d)
  🧺 Tomato harvest begins (Bed A) (last frost +80 d)
  🧤 Top tomato plants + pull new flowers so remaining fruit ripens before frost (first frost -14 d)
  🔄 Pull tomatoes & peppers after frost; DON'T compost diseased vines (first frost +0 d)
  ⚠ Hornworms in July — look for black droppings, pick by hand (kids love this)
  ⚠ Blossom-end rot = uneven water, not calcium — mulch + steady watering
• Peppers — Bed A — Salad & Sauce bed
  🌱 Start pepper seeds indoors (4 plants: 2 bell, 1 jalapeño, 1 banana) (last frost -56 d)
  🌿 Transplant 4 peppers into Bed A row 3 (last frost +14 d)
  🧺 Pepper harvest begins (Bed A) (last frost +75 d)
  ⚠ Peppers hate wet feet — Bed A drains well, don't overwater in May
• Basil & marigolds — Bed A — Salad & Sauce bed
  🌿 Plant basil + marigolds between tomatoes and peppers (last frost +14 d)
  🧺 Basil harvest — pinch tops weekly to stop flowering (last frost +45 d)
• Lettuce & spinach (spring) — Bed A — Salad & Sauce bed
  🌿 Direct-sow lettuce + spinach in Bed A south half (round 1) (last frost -35 d)
  🌿 Lettuce succession sow #2 (Bed A) (last frost -21 d)
  🌿 Lettuce succession sow #3 (Bed A) (last frost -7 d)
  🧺 Salad greens harvest begins (Bed A) — cut-and-come-again (last frost +5 d)
  🔄 Pull bolted lettuce/spinach; sow bush beans in their place (last frost +50 d)
• Radishes & carrots (spring) — Bed A — Salad & Sauce bed
  🌿 Direct-sow radishes + carrots in Bed A south end (last frost -30 d)
  🧺 Radish harvest (Bed A) — pull at ping-pong size (last frost -2 d)
  🧤 Thin carrots to 2" apart (Bed A) (last frost +5 d)
  🧺 Carrot harvest begins (Bed A) (last frost +50 d)
• Bush beans (summer) — Bed A — Salad & Sauce bed
  🌿 Sow bush beans in Bed A where the lettuce was (last frost +50 d)
  🧺 Bush-bean harvest (Bed A) — 2–3 week window (last frost +105 d)
• Garlic — Bed B — Kitchen bed
  🌿 Plant garlic in Bed B north end (8 sq ft, ~36 cloves) (first frost -10 d)
  🧺 Cut garlic scapes (Bed B) — pesto or stir-fry (last frost +45 d)
  🧺 Garlic harvest (Bed B) — when lower 3–4 leaves are brown (last frost +75 d)
  ⚠ Stop watering garlic 2 weeks before harvest
• Onions — Bed B — Kitchen bed
  🌿 Plant onion sets/plants in Bed B (short-day/intermediate — Candy, Texas 1015) (last frost -30 d)
  🧤 Feed onions (blood meal / fish emulsion), keep weeded (last frost +30 d)
  🧺 Onion harvest (Bed B) — when tops fall over (last frost +90 d)
• Broccoli (spring) — Bed B — Kitchen bed
  🌱 Start broccoli seeds indoors (8 plants) — or buy transplants in March (last frost -56 d)
  🌿 Transplant broccoli into Bed B (8 sq ft) (last frost -21 d)
  🧺 Broccoli harvest (Bed B) — cut the main head while beads are tight (last frost +35 d)
  🔄 Pull spring broccoli from Bed B; sow bush beans (last frost +60 d)
• Zucchini — Bed B — Kitchen bed
  🌿 Sow ONE zucchini hill in Bed B south end (last frost +10 d)
  🧤 Wrap zucchini stem base in foil / check for squash-vine-borer eggs (last frost +40 d)
  🧺 Zucchini harvest (Bed B) — check DAILY, pick at 6–8" (last frost +55 d)
  🔄 Pull zucchini when it succumbs to borers/mildew; sow fall carrots (last frost +100 d)
• Bush beans (Bed B summer) — Bed B — Kitchen bed
  🌿 Sow bush beans in Bed B (after broccoli, round 1) (last frost +25 d)
  🌿 Bush bean succession #2 in Bed B (last frost +60 d)
  🧺 Bush-bean harvest begins (Bed B) (last frost +80 d)
• Fall carrots — Bed B — Kitchen bed
  🌿 Sow fall carrots in Bed B (Danvers / Nantes) (first frost -80 d)
  🧺 Fall carrot harvest begins (Bed B) — leave them in the ground, mulch, pull all winter (first frost -5 d)
• Kale & collards (fall) — Bed B — Kitchen bed
  🌿 Transplant kale + collards into Bed B (8 sq ft) (first frost -70 d)
  🧺 Kale/collard harvest begins (Bed B) — outer leaves (first frost -20 d)
  🔄 Clear winter kale/collards from Bed B; top with compost for spring (first frost +90 d)
• Fall broccoli — Bed B — Kitchen bed
  🌿 Transplant fall broccoli into Bed B (8 sq ft) (first frost -75 d)
  🧺 Fall broccoli harvest (Bed B) (first frost +0 d)
• Fall greens (Bed A) — Bed A — Salad & Sauce bed
  🌿 Sow fall lettuce + spinach + radish in Bed A south half (first frost -50 d)
  🧺 Fall salad greens harvest begins (Bed A) (first frost -15 d)

🔁 Reclaim & reset — the rhythm

1. Pull spent plants at the soil line (roots feed the bed). Bag anything blighted or borer-infested — don't compost it.
2. Feed 1–2" of compost on the freed squares; a handful of balanced organic fertilizer if the next crop is a heavy feeder (tomato, squash, brassica).
3. Replant the same weekend — an empty square in July is a weed square by August. The calendar pairs every "pull" with a "sow".
4. Mulch 2–3" straw or leaves; water it in.
5. Winter: November put-to-bed — compost + 4" leaves on the beds, cardboard on the pallet strip. Garlic, carrots, kale and spinach stay in under mulch.

💌 How you'll hear about it

• Friday 7 AM "Garden To-Do" email to [email protected] & [email protected] — the weekend's tasks, watering verdict per bed, what's in harvest, a tip.
• Monthly calendar invites — on the 1st, each weekend work session (Sat 9–11 AM) for the coming month lands in Google Calendar for both of you. Accept the ones you'll do; move the ones you won't.
• Subscribe once: Google Calendar → Other calendars → + → From URL → http://disneyfarm.com/garden/calendar.ics.

💡 Ideas to make it worth April's while

Sources: UT Extension "Growing Vegetables in Home Gardens" (PB 901) planting dates for Middle TN, NOAA 1991–2020 frost normals for Bedford County, Open-Meteo rain/ET forecast. It's a plan, not a promise — the garden always gets a vote.