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Apr 18, 2008 | 6:19 AM PST
Tags: raised bed , vegetable garden , veggie , tomato , eggplant , companion planting , seeds , last frost , plan , hostas
I have had a wonderful couple of days in the garden! All the planning that I did over the winter months is starting to come together and since our last frost date has come and gone (April15), I got to start planting!!!! HOORAY!
First thing I did was put in all the annual flower seeds for the bed I laid out around the porch:
It doesn't look like much now, but soon it will have (from back to front) Sweet Pea Vine, 2 Varieties of Sunflowers, Bells of Ireland, Nemophila: Baby Blue Eyes and Sweet Alyssum.
I also had a great helper:
Then, when hubby got home he was kind enough to help me plant and divide all my new hostas! (Its a bit hard to bend over these days at 9 mo preggers) HAH!
We divided up and planted a few different varieties of hostas and put some under the saucer magnolia:
And the rest in the evolving azalea shade bed:
I also moved a couple of hostas from the hydrangea bed over to the azalea bed. This will make for a nice collection and I think they will fill in very nicely. They were all actually easier to divide than I thought and I was able to save a lot of money that way!
But, perhaps the most exciting part of the afternoon was installing the veggie bed plan! Here is a pict of the master companion planting plan:
And the results:
I know, doesn't look like much...I started everything from seeds except the tomatoes, eggplants, bee balm, peppers, and strawberries. I am super excited to see how all of this comes together! Hope the companion system proves to be effective. The only thing that didn't get planted yet are the sweet potatoes. Still waiting on those in the mail. They won't ship them until after May 15th....apparently they only like REALLY warm soil.
The plants that I purchased are as follows:
Tomatoes: Yellow Pear, Husky Cherry Red, and Better Boy
Eggplant
: Black Beauty and Ichiban
Pepp
ers: Mexibell, Gypsy, and Yellow Bell
Strawbe
rries: Quinalt
All of the varieties of seeds can be seen by looking at a previous post and clicking here. I also added a sweet basil plant and Dark Opal Purple Basil to that as well as okra, but I forgot to jot down its variety :(
We finished up just as the sun was setting and I tell ya, it felt SO good! Especially to have this done before I have the baby :)
Now we will just water and wait:
Mar 29, 2008 | 8:21 AM PST
Tags: seed starting , tomato , heat mat
I am behind on my seed starting this year. Luckily, the heat mat I use cuts down the germination time and I already have tomato sprouts in just 5 days time. Since we are trying to figure out if we will be moving or not, I decided not to buy any seed this year and just try and use up seed from previous years.
Tomato varieties:
Fantastic hybrid (from Territorial Seed)
Super Marzano (TS)
Schimmeig striped hollow (TS)
Early Cherry (TS)
Feb 19, 2008 | 5:30 PM PST
Tags: seeds , organic , coconut husks , herbs , tomato , chile pepper
I planted some seeds this weekend and am curious about how they will do as some are left over from previous years. I used some new kind of starter pots, they are made out of coconut husks. This is what I planted on Saturday February 16, 2008.
2006 Beefsteak Tomato 8-10 days germ. 80 days harvest
2006 Yellow Pear Tomato 7-14 days germ. 70-75 days harvest
2000 Long Red Cayenne Chile Pepper 10-12 days germ. 75-80 days harvest
2008 Oregano - Greek (Organic) 10-15 days germ. perennial
2008 Cilantro - Coriander (Organic) 5-10 days germ. 30 days
2006 Dark Moss Curled Parsley 18-24 days germ. ?
2008 Rosemary 14-28 days germ. perennial
2007 Common Chives 7-14 days germ. perennial
2008 Winter Thyme (Organic) 8-10 days germ. perennial
2006 Sweet Italian Basil 5-7 days germ. ?
Oct 22, 2007 | 8:01 PM PST
Tags: tomato , pumpkins
There two big reasons I grow tomatoes in my garden. The first is my son - he likes the tiny grape tomatoes because they're sweet and he can pick them himself and pop them into his mouth like candy pretty much whenever he wants. Reason number 2 is my dad. He LOVES a good tomato. The last couple of years I've been growing only the cherry and grape and cherry tomatoes for my son, and salads, but next year I'm going to get some of that concrete reinforcing wire and build the big honkin' tomato cages that will hold up the big heirlooms like the brandywines. Those I'll be growing for my dad.
Yesterday my dad came by and noticed that several (okay a couple dozen) tomatoes had fallen off the vine because I'd been too busy to pick them. So he offered to come buy and "help me out" by picking some. I figured that he just wanted to "help himself" to my tomatoes, but he really did help. After he picked all of the tomatoes off the vines he cut them down and stacked them on the side of the bed. Now he's talking about getting a small bed at the local community garden in our town and he asked me if I'd be willing to give him a hand. Of course I said I would.
Meska asked me what I will do with all my nine pumpkins my son and I grew this year. They're not very big, but...
One is for my son to take to his mother's house (maybe one for her, too, if he wants to give one to her. we'll see.)
Two are for our house - one for me and one for my son
One each for my niece and nephew
The remaining 3 or 4 will probably go to the neighbor's grandkids. I'll let them pick them from the pumpkin patch. My neighbor was telling me that her daughter's husband had tried to grow them, but all the vines died. I guess he has an Agent Orange thumb or something. He planted corn last year - one long row. lol For those who know even less about corn than I do, this is pretty funny. Corn needs to be grown together in multiple rows so that the pollen can fall on it's own and neighboring cornstalks. If you plant it in one long row, the pollen just gets blown away and rarely lands on the silk and you get little or no corn! I forget what my neighbor said he did or didn't do with the pumpkin vines that they died, but he didn't get a single pumpkin either.
If the kids don't want them then I'll probably just cook them. I know they're not the super sweet pumpkins used for pumpkin pie, but if you roast them like an acorn or butternut squash, they're still mighty good. I had bought a few of the real small pumpkins (Jack be Littles ,or something like that) last year for decorations. I didn't cut into them or paint them or anything. And after Halloween I cooked them up - I cut them in half, scooped out the seeds, oiled a cookie sheet and roasted them in a medium oven with a little brown sugar. They got a little caramelized and the aroma was terrific. They came out of the oven hot, sweet and tasty. I put someething else on them, too , but I forget now what it was. It was like clove, allspice, nutmeg, or something like that.
I want to come up with a catch phrase to end my blog (no help please, I need to do this on my own.)
How about, "Until next time, keep those hands dirty!"
Nah, too corny. I'll keep trying.
Oct 21, 2007 | 7:51 AM PST
Tags: drought , mulch , figs , fig , pepper , tomato , green , fall
Well, we picked yesterday what I am pretty sure is the last of the harvest. We picked all the green tomatoes on the vine, since the temperatures have cooled off so that they won't ripen. Hopefully they will ripen on the window sill:
We continue to get lots of figs and enjoy eating them right off the tree! We also picked the rest of the peppers.
I had planted a bunch of fall seeds, but since I can't water....they will not grow :( So, I look at my pitiful patch of dirt in despair :(
But, the situation here is so dire, I understand.
I will focus next on mulching since thats really about all that can be done.
Oct 3, 2007 | 11:11 AM PST
Tags: Tomato , Brussels Sprouts , Radish , schefflera , spinach , lettuce , Purple Kolhrabi , Walla Walla , garlic , Sugar Snap Peas , Jade , Black Prince Tomato , Brandywine tomatoes , jalapeño , Cold Stratify , Rain
So, we have a new cam, so pics will be forthcoming. We have been getting rather a bit of rain (about time) but it is finally the end of the 'real' gardening season. If I can figure out a way to do it with minimal dirt (I know I should use at least a 5 gallon container but am willing to take a risk) I may cold stratify some of the tomato seeds I saved and start them up here in the office. That would be kind of cool, having some fresh tomatoes here. I kept some Black Prince and Brandywine seeds, although who knows what they will end up being as there were a few different varieties of tomatoes out there and I did not bag them so they are no doubt cross pollinated. I really don't mind, as long as they are fresh! I am planning on starting up some of the Jalapeno seeds I saved, I know it will do fine in a relatively smaller pot. I have all this sunshine here at my desk so I might as well take advantage of it, right?
On another note, my wife just started her new job (she actually is going to get paid to learn, and sign language at that, I am stoked as I have always wanted to learn to sign so she is going to have to teach me...and several other people in my office LOL) and she does have her own office so I have another project. Nice pots and some plants for it. She wants to take the Jade and I am all for it, but we will have to get a full spectrum bulb and lamp as she doesn't have any windows and that bugger needs some light! I have some cuttings I have taken from my office building and her old one of this corn looking plant that I still don't know what it is, but do know that bugger will grow in the dark, haha and some Schefflera cuttings I took from her old building that have all rooted up nicely.
My favorite story about Schefflera's...A pal of mine owned a hotel on the NC coast and the hurricane wall they had put in was coming down after a particularly nasty storm so the hotel had to come down. The people who were hired to take all the furniture and whatnot out and put it in storage really were not all that smart as they put all the plants in the storage unit as well. Three months later we opened up the unit, having already assumed the plants were living in the movers homes (nothing to quibble about, this all had to be done fast so the owner just figured a home is a home) and there they were. No water, no sun, three months...they were fine. They were Schefflera.
Time to get going on some winter gardening. I got seed for Walla Walla sweet onins, Garlic cloves, Purple Kohlrabi, Brussels Sprouts and Spinach so far. I have cleared the sugar snap pea bed so now all I need to do is take down the trellis (I used screws so it is basically collapsible) and recondition the little plot o'dirt and wait for the maters to finish up, collect the radish seeds from the early radish's that I let bolt and do that soil as well and I figure that I will let our youngest help (he will love to) since I already told him the one side is all his! He gets to plant the garlic, onions, (he wants them now but I had to explain that they will be in spring!) Brussels Sprouts and Kohlrabi. I thought that he would get a kick out of being able to not only garden while it is cold, but they are very neat looking plants. He and I are the only ones in the house who will eat Brussels Sprouts so we will be having plenty of them, haha.
I will plant the spinach and plan on several lettuce varieties for this fall and come early spring in my tomato and radish bed, yum!
Pictures will be soon, I promise!
ps~ this blog post has been Cut and Pasted!
Oct 1, 2007 | 3:32 PM PST
Tags: garden , tomato , zuchini , herbs , veggies , weeding , birds
I live in a condo and have a small garden which goes around 2 sides of my patio. I also have a raised bed container where I have all my herbs growing. This year was bad for Japanese beetles, they seem to love eating my basil and mint. I ended up having to coverup the basil with a light blanket I found at gardeners.com. I have a rabbit too, he likes the beets I had growing around the patio. I covered up the beets too.
Helen
Sep 28, 2007 | 8:25 AM PST
Tags: veggie bed , clean , fall , leaves , eggplant , white , tomato , pepper , red , roasted
Started cleaning up my other raised veggie bed this morning. I was planning on pulling out everything but the peppers, but on closer inspection, I noticed that the tomatoes are still producing, so I picked some and trimmed the plants back. I pulled out the rest of the eggplants and the tomatillos.
Before:p>
and after:
I realize it doesn't look a whole lot different, but you should see how much i pulled out of there!
I suppose in the next couple of weeks, I will get the rest of it cleared and ammended to add in more fall crops.
The peppers are still going strong though:
so fun that they are turning red!
I think tonight, i will make hamburgers and top them with roasted red peppers and white eggplant:
YUM!
The colors of fall are abundant in my garden and I am loving every minute of it!
Sep 24, 2007 | 9:56 PM PST
Tags: tomato , zuchini , beets , carrots , peppers
Well, it's Monday evening, and I am thinking about all I need to do this week. I didn't even set foot in the garden today, I had to catch up on other things. I have been itching to get out there and finish emptying the compost pile. I was interrupted in this task by unexpected (though not unwelcome) company. Another 20 minutes or so and I'll have it done.
This week is going to be a busy one in my kitchen and garden. I have enough tomatoes left for 1 more batch of salsa. The last batch I made I used habanero peppers, and it came out quite hot, too hot for some of the family. So for this last batch I think I'll use my Anaheim chilis, and it should be somewhat milder.
I still have at least a peck of habanero peppers, so I want to make some hot pepper jelly and some hot sauce for buffalo wings. I imagine that the hot sauce will be pretty much mine (no one is asking for it) but I have a few requests for the hot pepper jelly, so I think I'll get some little jars so I can give them as gifts for Christmas.
I have a bushel basket full of zuchini. I plan to make several batches of zuchini bread and freeze them. I think the baked bread freezes much better than the vegetable. At least that has been my personal experience. I plan to make mini loaves of both spice and chocolate zuchini bread, with a glaze topping possibly. Maybe not. We'll see. I have never froze them glazed.
Once I finish with the tomatoes, peppers, and zuchini, then I can concentrate on canning and pickling my beets. My hubby likes his pickled beets, especially in greek salads. He doesn't much care for regular beets, though. And then I can get my carrots up. Or I think I could mulch them and let them winter over, if we don't have a very severe winter. But that is unpredictable, so I better pull them. I don't know if I want to can them or not, I guess we'll see how many I get.
I would like to get all this done before the week-end. I plan to have my in-laws over, and would prefer not to have baskets of vegetables cluttering up the kitchen! Now lets see if I can get it all done!
Sep 11, 2007 | 11:28 AM PST
Tags: brussel sprouts , Walla Walla , Sweet Onions , tomato , compost , manure , cold frame , broccoli , Bloomsdale Spinach , kohlrabi , sugar snap pea seeds , early radish seeds , forced bolting
Got our youngest excited about doing some cold weather planting, now I just have to figure out what else to put in when the tomato's are done! I know I will be planting some Walla Walla onions in between the maters as they need to be there now, and then get some of the best sweet onions in the world come spring. But for G-man's spot, there are the sugar snap peas that are done, and I need to go pick the seed off of them and the early radishes I forced to bolt for next spring and clear it out. He will help, he seems to love it (YAAAY!). So, we will clear it, take down the trellis and stir in some compost and manure. I got him some broccoli and brussel sprout seed, and there was something else! And I can't remember! OH! YES! PURPLE KOHLRABI! He is going to love this, wanted stuff he likes that has odd appearances, these will suffice, hehe. As the tomatoes are finishing (I have time) I Will probably throw spinach in..fresh spinach, yum! I am on the lookout for some material to make a cold frame as that is move able, we may lease on for the next year but if not I want to be able to move it! That would be a fun one for our youngest, he would get a kick out of the early growers and fresh lettuce all winter, this little guy can't get enough salad and he eats brussel sprouts with me, no one ELSE in the family will, haha.
Aug 15, 2007 | 10:03 AM PST
Tags: Radish , Tomato , Cherry Tomato , Tiny Maters , Freak Radish
So, we had some odd weather a bit ago...got to like 90 in the day time then would shoot back down to 60 at night (our sugar snap peas HATED it) and it seemed to do some odd stuff...hasn't rained in FOREVER, my lawn (well, the RENTAL lawn, hehe) is so dead it is developing dirt instead of just the browned grass. The only watering that is getting done at all it the veggy patch and my little tree's, to hell with the lawn. Anyways, to get back to my point. The cherry tomatoes did the strangest thing, the first ones decided to just not grow. The rest of them did, but then they started ripening...I am looking at them thinking wtf? Either way I ended up with a few handfuls of the CUTEST maters EVER!
And, well...this really needs no explanation...
Aug 8, 2007 | 11:50 AM PST
Tags: tomato , green tomatoes , shut down , Mother's Day , baskets
Once again - I'm roaming the website, enjoying the various posts, adding a couple of my own and BOOM! It shut me down AGAIN! Gotta fix that folks! It's really annoying. I shouldn't have to write everything in Notepad and then copy and paste it into this website. You need to extend your active time frame.
Enough complaining ... I'd better type faster or I wont finish in time!
My single, precious tomato plant is actually producing young!!! I am so pleased. I thought I had just ended up with a lovely green bush. I followed someone's instructions about tickling the flowers ... and it seems to have resulted in offspring. Hmmm? Who woulda thunk it? Anyhoo, I've now got all these tiny, wee green tomatoes. I'm hoping we will get some extended sunshine so that they will have a chance to ripen and make it to my salad bowl.
I am very pleased that my three hanging baskets are looking healthy again. After I had to pull out those gorgeous white petunias it was looking like the surface of the moon on the top of the baskets. I added three pink Impatiens to each basket and they are coming along nicely.
I hadn't thought out my planting pattern very well this year. I didn't put as many plants into my baskets as I will next year. I am very pleased with the general look - dainty - but I want more of the same next year. I've written up my plant list already - so there wont be any confusion at plant buying time. I'll add a photo of my baskets as they are today on my photo section and you can see what I mean. I think they are lovely and delicate looking. Once the Impatiens on the top flesh out, they will look very sweet.
That basket my son gave me for Mother's Day has started to flourish. I'm so pleased. I had my doubts that I had rescued it once it landed all over the cement floor! It was really pathetic for a long time. Perseverance huh? I just love the bright green of the potato vine. I am thinking of adding it to my hanging baskets next year. Hope it wont look too heavy with the rest of the design.
Jul 31, 2007 | 7:48 PM PST
Tags: Telephone peas , Green feast peas , snowpea , rocket , lemon in pot , tomato
I browsed a different nursery this weekend and found rocket and garlic plants. I planted out the rocket in my peas bed. I didn't label which peas were which and they're developing at different rates and shades of green which is exciting! They are telephone peas, green feast peas and Chinese snowpeas and are now two months old and very resilient, despite several heavy frosts. They developed some rust-like brown spots on their lower leaves, but I can't work out whether they have rust or have been frostbitten. Anyway they seem happy as there are no predators in the winter and they're are wrapping their curly tendrils around the string supports I made for them.
I need to organize some shade loving plants and maybe companion plants for the grapes in the front yard. It is tricky though.. I live in an inner city area (if you could call it that - I don't feel that where I live could really be called a 'city'). Since I moved into this house, I've tried to keep the front yard as tattered and trashy as when I moved in, hoping to discourage thieves from taking a further look inside. This strategy didn't work as I was broken into a couple of weeks ago, so today I cleared away some of the rubbish that people throw over my fence. I'm going to give it the same love as the back yard, and take out some home insurance!!
Earlier in the week I visited my parents house. Last time I was there. I planted some tomato, chilli and eggplant seeds in pots for my mum. Their climate is warmer, and the tomatoes look great ! Chillis/eggplants are a little bit slower.
Jul 31, 2007 | 3:57 PM PST
Tags: tomato , purple , okra , kohlrabi , spinach , tomatillo , eggplant , beet greens , patty pan , squash
We have been consistently enjoying harvests from our garden. Its so fun to go out before dinner and pick some yummies to come up with something with for dinner! Healthy, yummy and cheap! Gotta love it!
Beet Greens, Patty Pan Squash and Tomatillos:
The much anticipated giant Cherokee Purple Heirloom ready for eatin':
Okra, Kohlrabi, tomatoes, patty pan squash, eggplant, spinach and tomatillos!
More maters!
The joys of gardening!!!
Jul 23, 2007 | 10:39 AM PST
Tags: Veggie , Compost , mulch , tomato , zucchini , flowers , gerbera , petunias , hardy hibiscus
I could not bring myself to do anything inside this weekend, so the dust bunnies are still hopping around my house this morning. Oh, well. I spent both days out in the flower beds and veggie patch. Watered early Saturday and got the holes dug for the butterfly bush and hardy hibiscus that I got. As I was weeding and deadheading, there were a lot of thin spots in the mulch. I went down and got about 10 bags and brought that home to spread around. I love new mulch. Covered all the beds and had enough to put back behind the pond.
Some of the other daylilies have put up scapes and have buds. Can’t wait to see them. The gereberas have finally decided to bloom again and for some reason the wave petunias have also gotten a second wind from the something and are flowing all down the side of the old stump, thick with purple flowers.
Hubby helped me finish the three sided slat fence to put around my compost pile. My pile isn’t very big yet but I am working on it. Chopped up the kitchen scrapes in the food processor and put them out there too. Bill got me a pitch fork this weekend. I was trying to turn the pile with a shovel. Wow what a difference that made. (Duh!)
Cleaned and weeded in the veggie patch and tied up some more tomato limbs to the trellis. I have two zucchini left that haven’t been hit by the vine borers YET. My cukes have climbed nicely all over the fence and there are dozens of fruit hanging down. They are so good and crisp.
We did not get the new raised bed up. Hubby brought home work for a project that he was under a crunch on, so it will have to be next weekend. Will go by the dump and pick up some compost (have to make do until my own is ready) and some topsoil down at the landscape yard.
Had enough tomatoes to make another batch of sketty sauce. Added a few of the yellow tomatoes to it. They did lighten the color of the sauce but it still tasted great. Used loads of fresh basil from the herb pots of the deck. Made some Penne, a tomato, cuke and pepper salad and had a yummy dinner. Only things not from the garden were the pasta and the bread. You just can’t beat that!Jul 22, 2007 | 2:56 PM PST
Tags: weekend , bed , compost , maple , red , creek , eggplant , kale , tomato , borer , squash , sunflower , veggie bed , back yard
I had a fairly productive weekend in the garden. Got more work done on my many ongoing projects. My hubby went to get me more compost for the new bed:
As you can see, Milo likes it :)
Just one more truckload and this bed will be ready to plant! I have a small red maple that will be the center. A pass along from my inlaws...
We also got some more work done on the creek clean out project. My husband cut down some of the BIG branches and trees. But, we had to stop when his saws all blade broke. But, it gave me plenty of stuff to work on getting to the curb for pickup!
Its amazing what we are uncovering back there...it makes all the work fun!
I really spent most of the weekend in the backyard and mostly did routine work in the front. I finally got around to weedeating with my new blade attachment and it is the best thing since sliced bread! no more string nonsense! Here are some picts I took along the way of the backyard and its progress:
Sunflowers
blooming among the veggies:
Inside the world of a tomatillo husk:
The first signs of a ripening tomato:
Baby eggplant! YEAH!!!
Kale seedlings coming up:
My attempt at a squash vine borer remedy... I slit the vine and covered the wound with compost...I do not have high hopes for this:
The veggie beds as of today:
The backyard as of today:
Hope you all had a great gardening weekend!
Jul 20, 2007 | 6:58 AM PST
Tags: veggie , Pond , Daylilies , Squash Vine Borers , Tomato , Cukes , Zukes , raised beds , Banana Peppers , dogs , racoons , birds
Still dry but we are supposed to get some rain this afternoon. I should have watered last night but was just too tired. Been fighting a summer cold and trying to convenience myself I am not going to catch it. I am sure it will sneak up and bite me sooner or later. I don’t have time to be sick!
Gave some more pond plants away. I potted up some off shoots of the lotus and four leaf clover, added some hyacinths, water lettuce and gave them to a co worker who just put in a pond. My pond is still full!! Loads of lilies still blooming, but nothing from the lotus yet.
We will get the new raised bed up this weekend and do the soil prep, to have it ready for a fall veggie planting. Want to do some peas and beans and more greens. My yellow tomatoes have been the best producers so far. They sure are yummy. The red varieties are producing, just not as big or as many. I think the vine borers have finally discovered my zukes, I have two plants withering that I will pull out tonight. L Cukes are still doing great and I have one with dinner every night. I think the heat is starting to get to the peppers. The banana peppers are curling. I have been checking to be sure that they have adequate even water. Any suggestions?
More of the new daylilies are getting ready to bloom. These should be the Crimson Shadows. I have to late season ones that I hope will bloom also. One is called Late Embers and the other Fall Pink Melon. The two blooming now are called Go Figure.
Have the inevitable weed pulling and deadheading to do as well. Been lazy about the weeds in the flowerbeds with heat we have been having. The black and white brigade has been promised a trip down to the lake in the morning, so we will be up before the heat and I will have no excuses after that. The boys will be good and tired after a swim and Briar will have a good long ball session. They deserve it after being put aside a bit while company’s been here.
Rob now has the timing of the raccoon family’s visits down. They show up on the deck at about 5am every morning now and he knows it. No barking this morning, he just sat at the sliding glass door to watch them eat their breakfast. The babies are growing fast. Got a couple of dark pix of them this morning and will try to get them posted tonight.
The bird feeders have been really busy in the evenings. I am seeing a lot more indigo buntings this year. Not sure if there are more than normal or I am just providing a better seed selection. Must make some more of Gene’s suet for the pileated woodies. They are now daily visitors too.
Jul 13, 2007 | 7:13 PM PST
Tags: edible , vegetable , squash , zucchini , tomato , Cherry Tomato , okra , kohlrabi , blackberries , Sunflowers , Eggplant , Bell Peppers , succession planting , success , failure , notes , season , companion planting , Growing Season , cardoon
Now that I am well into the summer here in my garden, I am starting to take note as to the successes and failures in my garden. There are, of course, many of both and most of them involve my edibles.
I grew all of my veggies from seed directly into the vegetable beds. I was kind of nervous about this as so many things suggest starting indoors before spring. But, every time I do that everything dies, so I took my chances and selected a lot of fast maturing varieties...to my suprise, that worked very well! I am finding great joy and satisfaction in producing food for my family. We are also enjoying a nice financial savings as well. I spent about $50 on all my seed varieties and I would say that I have dropped our grocery bill by about $20 a week if not more....I would say that was worth the investment!
Successes:
- Tomatoes: I am growing a purple heirloom and a hybrid red...all plants are bursting with green fruits now :)
- Tomatillos: Plants are enormous and husks are forming
- Sugar Snap Peas: One of my daughter's favorites so none have made it to the table...she just eats em off the vine
- Beets: Have done several succession planting and have had many harvests of both roots and greens. Hubby like greens better than root
- Eight Ball Zucchini: Very vigorous and enormous in size...has provided many, many dinners
- Patty Pan Squash: Also doing well and just so cute
- Sunflowers: First year that I have grown sunflowers and it is proving to be very fun. King Kong variety that is about to open
- Blackberries: Planted 3 years ago from root...this is first year that we had a very steady harvest.
- Okra: Plants forming very nice large pods and the flowers are beautiful!
Failures:
- Broccoli: UGH!
Things that have yet to succeed or fail:
- Eggplant: Just started flowering, I am growing a white and a purple variety
- Peppers: Also just started flowering
- Carrots: First crop got infested with something icky, second crop looking better
- Kale: Just put those seeds in 2 days ago
- Kholrabi: Not yet big enough to harvest, but looking good
Things I wish I had planted:
- Cherry Tomatoes: a no brainer, don't know why I didn't do these :(
- Potatoes: To provide our carbohydrate need and to have some for winter storage
- Lots of different kinds of beans: have really enjoyed the sugar snaps, wish I had done more
- Winter Squash Varieties: to have something else to store for winter
- Marigolds: For pest control and to add color to the veggie beds
- Egyptian Walking Onions: just so cool and great pest control
- Garlic: also good pest control
- Asparagus: needs time to get established, wish I had started that this year
- Artichokes: love em!
- Cardoon: not even really sure what this is, but I have seen it on some gardening shows and it looks super cool
I just got a companion planting book and am looking forward to incorporating more of that in my garden!
Its so helpful to think all this through and get in all on "paper"...will help a great deal with garden planning.
Other things I have learned this season:
- Annual Potato Vines really do need full sun
-
Mexican Heather always does well, I should just buy it each year and have a guaranteed success
- Petunias need to be bought larger than the little 6 pack size to really do well
- Lobelia likes partial shade
- Impatients didn't do diddly squat...must mulch and fertilize!
- If i see something in early spring that i want...buy it, they are all sold out now!
Jun 29, 2007 | 6:41 AM PST
Tags: zucchini , Cukes , elephant ears , Critters , Squirrels , July 4th , racoons , veggies , tomato
Went out to check the veggie patch and pull a few green tomatoes to send to my mom. They are still off vagabonding in their RV and she loves fried green tomatoes. I have zukes and cukes all over the place. Wow. I put in a few extra plants just to be sure at least a few would take well, all of them took well! Also now that everything in there has matured, I am seeing my errors of where I planted and being able to maneuver around in that fenced space is getting more difficult. I can hardly wait for next year, now that I have learned these important lessons I have big plans!! Hubby is probably going to grumble about building more raised beds but if we get them up now I can work on the soil in them for next spring, right? And…still might be early enough to have a fall planting…more ideas!
My elephant ears are going crazy with all the rain and heat they are loving it! I think I will put in a few more next year; they really break up all that brick from the wall of the garage.
Will get up early tomorrow and get the lawn mowed and things spruced up outside, do the regular housekeeping when it is too hot outside. The house full is coming and I can hardly wait to see them all!! Two of the kids are leaving California this evening and should hit Arkansas Saturday night or Sunday morning. They are going to switch off and drive straight through. One more kid flies in on Sunday afternoon and my best buddy from Seattle gets in Monday night. I am so excited I haven’t been able to sleep. Like a kid on Christmas Eve.
The squirrels and I have worked out a great schedule with the feeding trough. They come for breakfast every morning and are gone the rest of the day. This allows me to fill it the night before and it’s all ready for them when they arrive. Thankfully it has kept them out of my herb pots and other flowers on the deck.
The coon has been coming nightly and I leave him a treat of peanuts and apple slices and he stays out of my bird feeders. He does continue to use the bird bath as his wash bowl, so that must be emptied and refilled every morning. Plan to camp out in the dark diningroom by the sliding glass door and watch for him Saturday night while I am waiting for the kids to arrive. Hopefully I can get some shots of him.
The chipmunk that I have been feeding at the back of my pond has planted his seed stashes all over my flower beds. I am still finding sunflower sprouts coming up all over the place. No more sunflowers in the front yard please! So sadly I have stopped feeding in that area of the yard.
The black and white brigade will get their baths and frontline tomorrow morning too. They need to be pretty and clean when their kids arrive. Rob to this day goes nuts when he hears a VW Beetle drive by. He is so sure that his girl is coming to see him. I feel so sad for him when he finally realizes it’s not his Shannon coming. Now we are all just counting the hours till they arrive!Jun 11, 2007 | 12:52 PM PST
Tags: Black Prince Tomato , Brandywine , tomato , Farmers Market
I got two new family members and am so excited! My honey let me get a....wait for it...BLACK PRINCE TOMATO!!! WOO HOO!!! Not just that, but I got a Brandywine! She didn't quite get why I was all crazy when I saw them, so first chance I got I showed them (the actual tomatoes) to her (we were at our Farmers Market, the one in West Seattle ROCKS!) and then she got it. They are not the most attractive things but damn sure are when you are eating them. We bought a couple of Black Prince that were so wonderful, and I introduced her to a guily pleasure of mine for dinner, tomato sandwiches. Next it will be drizzled olive oil and herbs on halves, covered in mozzarella and a bit of breadcrumbs then Broiled, hehe...oh it is going to be grand to have REAL tomatoes this year!
While we were there I picked up a few things and our non veggie teen age boy is going to have a hissy fit tonight. I stopped and noticed I was arranging our dinner around His Tastes...oh dear, can't have that! So, we got garlic curls, sugar snap peas, baby bok choy and some broccoli and going to stir fry them up, hehe...
