Duhast - everything looks very healthy, glad to see that your garden is turning out great.

EG

WOW! Looking good! I'm not used to gardens looking like that this time of year. I need to get my timing between northern and southern gardens down pat...I could be in AZ right now with a garden that looks like that!

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

It looks beautiful! I especially love the marigolds in the cinderblocks. Awesome!

Great job - we have the same plan - we used cinder blocks too but I haven't planted anything in the center of the block yet. Marigolds are very pretty so I will definitely try them in the Spring.

I didn't realize a cinderblock bed could look so good! Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

Yes, I believe all squash need to be pollinated. Get some flowers in the edges of the blocks that attract bees, though, and you won't have to worry about doing it by hand forever.

I took Carolyn's advice today and used a Q-tip to hand-pollinate. Wow, did it ever work like a charm and made it very easy and quick to do.

Blessings,
Angela

The one zuke I have I Q-tipped.

There's a bee problem in SoCal,....maybe even more. They sort of disappeared for a couple years now. A virus is suspected. There are bees around, just not very many of them.

Oooooooooh... I had no idea...

As for the spinach, try germinating the seeds with the baggie / paper towel method and only plant when you seed roots sprout. You can definitely test the viability of the seed this way....

Blessings,
Angela

First of all I am very jealous that you can still grow stuff at this time of the year. Plus the fact that you have warm weather where stuff actually grows.

We have such a cool cloudy climate that we would never see growth like that in 30 days.

But then I would get to miss (NOT!) fun stuff like this...

Second you are not the only place where the bees have disappeared. I am kitty corner to you in North America and we also have seen an absence of bee's.

We have this purple strife on the garden property(invasive alien species) that the bees just love.

A couple of years ago there would be 100's of bee's in this all the time. Now you just see the odd one.

I think that is why my pumpkins did so poorly this year as they just did not pollinate properly.

On the news a while back there was a local producer of bee's wax products who was complaining about not having enough places to put bee hives and I have been thinking about talking to him and seeing if he is interested in putting a hive out at the garden property.

I didn't see any bees on my property until September. I attribute a lot of that to my lack of flowers...they were removed to make room for the veggie garden, so nothing other than marigolds were blooming. I plan to rectify that next year, and plant some that should attract bees.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Hmmm...I had tons of bees all season, and the growth around our property is ideal for them. There are honeysuckle vines, wild blackberries,etc.....I feel very fortunate, and will try my best to take care of their health (by not using harmful chemicals). Sorry for everyone's dilemma......

EG

There is a wide spread North American problem with bees called "Colony Collapse Disorder"

Per Penn State University website:

Since last fall, beekeepers in more than 20 states including Pennsylvania have lost tens of thousands of honey bee coloniesÂan estimated 30 to 35 percent of the nation's pollinator stock. Nobody knows why.

Here is a link that might be useful: What's killing the honey bees?

Spinach likes cooler soil to germinate. We had very poor germination in September but the seeds I planted a week ago came up in 5 days. The nights have been in the 50s and the days in the upper 70s or lower 80s.

I've noticed the basil and salvia blooms really attract bees. Consider planting more of those. They really like the Thai and pineapple basil and the cinnamon too.

Shebear, that is hilarious... you were describing your temps recently, and I was thinking, "Wow, that sounds just like here." Then, I saw you and I are neighbors! LOL

I'm in Midland, where might you be?

I'm definitely going to try again on the spinach now that I read what you wrote! Thanks for the info.

On the bees... maybe the "killer bees" were scaring everyone, and they oversprayed.... why not spread the conspiracy... sounds feasible to me... LOL

Blessings,
Angela

angelady I'm over in D/FW area.....Plano to be exact.

Yep I really kept track of the fall garden this year because the spring garden was so bad. I think I've determined how to work around the crazy springs we have. I need to get some frost proofing and collect some milk jugs. I think I'll be wrapping the CRW cages with frost proofing and using water filled milk jugs to start the tomatoes really early. The soil seems warm enough but the cold spring winds wreak havoc on the plant itself. And I think I'll try using shade cloth too this summer especially for the bell peppers. They don't seem to like the heat as much as the jalapenos but the ones in my yard that got some afternoon shade did alright.

You might want to plant some baby pak choi too. It can be harvested in as little as 22 days from sprouting. It can stand cold so just put some frost proofing over it if the nights get too cold. It's good fresh or cooked.

Shebear, I cannot for the life of me get my pak choi to grow!! I love the stuff, so it would be awesome to grow it, but I must be doing something wrong.

First off, great pic of your bed. I had to share the photo with my wife. She was just as impressed as I. Love the execution of the flower and herb holes! Great idea.

As for bees, I've seen buptcus for bees. Well, I've had bumble bees, but no honey. And yes, I keep bee loving flowers near the fruit trees that need pollination. I thought bees would be attacted to marigolds but I never saw them around. Looks like I need to put some flowers in my garden area to attract more bees. Keeping the wasp nexts at bay helps to promote bee traffic too. hehe

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's Garden adventure