Potatoes

Today I planted a single row of potatoes in one of the beds. I planted one russet, just to try it, and the rest were yellow, I hope Yukon gold. 

The peppers and aubergines that I started ten days ago are up and out in the greenhouse. The lettuce and spinach are up, but no chard yet.

After the Ice

 During the week that our power was out, following an ice storm, I started more seeds. I planted celery, leeks, and onions. 

Out in the garden I sowed lettuce, arugula, Ethiopian kale, spinach, two kinds of chard, and three kinds of peas. 

The first lettuce and chard are in the greenhouse and doing well. The onions and leeks are now ready to put out there. 

Beginning

Today I started the first seeds of this year's garden. I sowed a six pack each of four different varieties of lettuce, plus arugula and Ethiopian kale. They're in the garage on the workbench, under an inverted plastic tub, over the heat mat. 

First Frost

Two nights ago we had our first frost, although the temperature only got down to 36. But with the colder temperatures coming, I pulled out most of the summer vegetable garden. 

I sliced and froze all the bell peppers, except for four, which I'll stuff for a couple of dinners. The zucchini had a few small fruits on it, so we'll have those soon. I have several jars of shredded zucchini in the freezer for zucchini bread. I have several aubergines, which I'll probably make into more ratatouille. 

When a substantial rain storm was predicted a couple of weeks ago, I picked all the tomatoes, mostly San Marzanos, which had any color on them. I put them in the guest room to ripen. I now have enough tomato soup for nine lunches, plus two trays of roasted tomatoes, with garlic, basil, and olive oil. I'm planning to use them on pizza, or maybe as a pasta topping. I had also canned 26 pints of cut up tomatoes. 

We still have lots of things in the garden for winter. I have a row of kohlrabi, a row of beets, a row of chard, and two rows of spinach. One bed has cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, several plants of each. I have about twenty bok choy plants, plus a few short rows of mache, arugula, and Ethiopian kale. And I have a row of turnips and rutabagas. There is still some lettuce, but I don't expect that to last much longer. I planted a few snap peas at the end of the strawberry bed. They probably won't produce anything until next spring. And of course, there are still several rows of carrots.

I got just four delicata squash, which was a bit disappointing. Next year I'll grow a vining one instead of the bush variety. I also have three small 'Honey Nut' squash, which may or may not make it. They're still not ready to pick. Again, next year I'll do a full size butternut vine.

Late June Garden Status

After a rather cool spring, things are finally warming up. There are small green tomatoes on all the plants. No peppers or aubergines yet. After the snap peas fell over in a strong wind, I removed them yesterday. There were lots that were huge and fat, so I shelled them and froze them. Next year I think I'll try short ones. And now the cucumbers will be happy because they've been living in the shadow of the peas.

The potatoes are blooming. We've had some strawberries, but now they're taking a break. We've been picking blueberries for about two weeks, but most of them are still coming. I guess they liked the fertilizer I gave them, because they're huge. Even the new one that I just planted this spring to replace the Chandler has a nice crop. After we found a couple of stink bugs on the raspberries, I've pulled them all out. We haven't seen any since. In their place I planted some melons. They should like the heat against the house.

Both pear trees have a modest crop. The peaches are a washout again. Maybe it's time to give up on it.

The broccoli and cauliflower were a disappointment, but the cabbage is nice. I've cut one head and will cut another soon for sauerkraut. I will try them all again in the fall.

I've been doing a lot of interplanting. I've planted lots of dry beans among the roses and tomatoes, and lettuce as well. I've also just sowed some bok choi in shady spots to see if they'll work in the summer.

I pulled most of the chard, since I was spending a lot of time patrolling them for leaf miners. I have one of each color, much more manageable.

Uncertain Times

With the unfolding of the coronavirus pandemic, I've decided to plant more vegetables. I went to Wilco today and bought starts of chard, onions, kale, bok choi, cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage. I've planted the chard, bok choi and kale in the bed at the side of the house, in front of the dahlias. The onions went into the center of the onion bed. The brassicas will go into their own bed with an insect barrier over it.

On the positive side, the peach tree is blooming (I'm hand pollinating just in case the bees don't find it) and the pear trees are close. The early blueberries are starting to bloom. I've started more lettuce, bok choi, and kale, including Ethiopian kale. I also sowed a row of carrots. All my earlier starts are doing well under a fluorescent light, except the aubergines, which are not up yet. I think the heat mat was too much for them. I've put some insulation between the six pack and the mat, so it isn't quite so warm. We'll see.

We've had several days of sun and 60s temperatures. Tomorrow it cools off and we have a week of rain coming. I'm happy to have a rest, and the new plants will appreciate the rain.

Feels Like Spring

I know it isn't close to being Spring, but the last week or so has given us a taste of things to come. We had several days of highs close to 60 and sunny. We even had lunch on the deck a few days ago.

Update on overwintered vegetables:
My fall plantings of lettuce and spinach are still there, and we've eaten many meals of them. However, we've had a fairly mild winter, so I won't expect that to happen every year. I still have some carrots left, mostly big split ones, but they're still good. The bok choi was good for a while, but it has now bolted. I left the plant to flower, hoping to entice some early bees. And we have seen one.

After some major pruning, the pear and peach trees seem to be fine and are close to blooming. With them being short now, I'm hoping to be able to hand pollenate them.


I started green onions and leeks indoors, and now they are in my greenhouse. Three days ago I sowed snap peas, but they aren't up yet.

Winter Garden

With our recent decision to sell our cottage in Tucson and stay home this winter, I've decided to try to plant some winter vegetables. It's a bit late, but I thought I'd try anyway, just in case we have a delayed winter.

I sowed mesclun mix lettuce, Red Kitten and Matador spinach, mache, and more bok choi and kohlrabi.

Starting Fall Cleanup

The weather has turned very fall-like with no prospects for any more warm weather. Today may be our last day in the 70s. So I pulled out the tomatoes, after picking any that were close to being ripe. I also pulled the aubergine, the cucumbers, and the peppers except for the Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter peppers are still green, so I'm going to give them a little longer in the ground before I pull the plant up and hang it upside down in the garage. I'd really like to get some to turn red.

Last week I pulled up the melons and dug up the rhubarb. We just don't use enough of it to justify the space it takes. We've also pulled out all the strawberry plants. I'll start new ones next year in a different bed.

I've left the zucchini for now, as it still has some squash coming. But without much heat they may not make it. The plant really looks ugly, covered with mildew.

I still have snap peas, lettuce, and bok choi, which has been a great success.

Status Report - July 23, 2018

Things have really been happening in the garden.  I've harvested the garlic and two of the potato plants.  We're now getting Stupice and Lizzano cherry tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, bell peppers, aubergines, carrots, chard, and kale.  The lettuce was very good (starts from Minto Island Growers) but have now bolted.  I've just planted the third sowing of green beans

and the last two rows of carrots.

 I also planted some cranberry beans.

 The leeks are ready but I haven't pulled any yet.

I started two Kale-ette plants from seed.  I moved them to the potato bed and put them under a shade cover because it's been in the 90s.

The herb bed has been a great success.  I'll do it again next year.

The rhubarb and squash bed is doing well.

The trough planter is really filling in.

 The new bed is filling in gradually.

 And the rose bed has been spectacular.

And last but not least we just picked all the pears on the Ubileen.  It was a bumper crop!

Planting in Earnest

Now that we are back from our two-week trip to Tucson, I can really start to plant things.  We had a blowout in the bed that I had planted some carrots in.  I'm giving up on the watering system in that bed, so I'll just plant a couple of squash that I can hand water.  I'll find another spot for the carrots.

My onion seeds did not do well, so I bought some starts, as well as leeks. 

The lettuce that I started a couple of weeks ago is coming along nicely. 

The strawberries are really starting to take off.

I bought four tomato plants and six pepper plants.  I've transferred them to gallon pots and will bring them in at night for now.

Spring!

Well for one day at least.  Tomorrow we have 100% chance of rain  But today it was in the upper 50s and sunny.  I planted my new Seascape strawberries. 

I also sowed some 'Cascadia' snap peas and lettuce.  And I started 'Talon' onions in a 6" pot.

As I was pulling weeds in the pea bed, I discovered a row of carrots that I had forgotten about.  These were planted late last summer and overwintered.  The tops were completely gone, but the carrots are fine.

Oh, and we had lunch on the deck.  We had to get a sandwich at Roth's because the electrician was working in the kitchen. David was actually happier than he looks.

Aftermath

After a good rain yesterday, the snow is finally gone.  Things are alive, but not everything looks good.

The carrots look great.

But the kale, chard and lettuce look a little beat up.

Autumn in the Garden

Things are coming along nicely out in the garden.  After a month of rain nearly every day, totaling over eleven inches, we've had some really pleasant weather so far in November.  The greens in the garden are looking really good.  They're growing, but slowly.


The Romaine lettuce, what's left of it, is getting close to harvesting size.

I picked a few of these tiny pink spinach leaves (Red Kitten) to put in our salad last night.

 

 

 The chard is still too small to pick, but I've been picking the kale for a couple of weeks now.

Even though the carrots have gotten really big, they're still very tasty.  This one was planted in June.  I roasted it yesterday, and it was really good.

Disappearing Greens

For the last week or so, something has been digging up, or rather cutting off, some of my salad greens.  I suspect the squirrels.  They've been very busy burying things in the nice open spaces in the garden beds.

This is the third Romaine lettuce plant that has been decapitated.  They've also taken out several chard plants.

More Salad Greens

I've planted another bed of salad fixings for over the winter.  From the right side there's Red Sails and Garnet Oakleaf lettuce and arugula; Red Kitten and Bloomsdale spinach; Evergreen bunching onions; purslane; and a double row of mache.  I'm not sure if all those things will do well, but it's worth a try.

Thunderstorm!

Last night we had a very exciting thunderstorm, completely unexpected.  We had .6" of rain and lots of hail.  Unfortunately, my tiny vegetables didn't appreciate it.  The lettuce and carrots in particular took a beating.

I didn't think the zucchini plants couldn't get any uglier than they already were, but I was wrong.

The yard waste can is full now, but next week the squash and tomatoes are coming out. 

We're Back!

We've returned from our cruise, and boy, have things changed in six weeks. There must be dozens of melons ripe or almost ripe.  And there are about thirty butternut squash.

The tomatoes and peppers are doing well, although I'm not impressed with the Berkeley Tie-Dye tomato.  It tastes pretty good, although no better than Cherokee Purple.  It has some blossom end rot and is nowhere near as prolific as the CP.

I sowed some kale and chard in the bed that had greens previously.  And I pulled the strawberries (because they looked terrible) and sowed carrots and Romaine lettuce.  I'll put garlic in there as well.

Off and Running

We've had two nice days in a row, so I was able to get most of the vegetable garden started. 

I planted Yukon Gold potatoes, and one bed with spinach, a few beets, and chard.  I immediately covered that bed with netting to keep the leaf miners out (I hope!).

I also sowed one bed with kale, lettuce, and arugula.  I also sowed some basil in that bed.  And I started carrots in the bed that still has some leeks and chard from last year. 

I transplanted the seedling leeks into the herb bed, although they seem really tiny.

Just about everything has started to bloom or leaf out.  The early blueberries are in full bloom, as are the peach and nectarine.  The apples and pears are a little behind, but coming. 

We're seeing several stink bugs a day, including in the house.  I even saw a young light green one. Sigh.

Winter Greens

I've sown some winter greens in the holes in the garden beds.  In the bed where the squash was, I planted parsnips, kale, lettuce, and spinach on September 26.  All but the parsnips are up.

 Lettuce:

Kale:

On September 29, I sowed arugula in another bed. It is also up.

I've started taking out the asparagus bed, but the roots of the plants are huge.  There's no way to get the plants out in one piece.  I'll just have to chop them out in pieces.

On another note, the stink bugs have gone into hibernation mode big time.  We're killing many dozen on the house every day.