2010 Summary

Tomatoes

• Matt's Wild Cherry - tiny, early, sweet.  They get overripe, are hard not to pull the skin off when you pick so it's hard to save for a day.  Give it lots of space because it overgrew a plant 18" away.  I got tired of it, but the kids love it
• Sungold Cherry - a standard.  Grow it again
• Yellow Bell cherry - tasty, but plant withered away.
• Black Cherry - tastes like bigger cherries. Hard to tell when ripe.  Planting again
• Garden Peach - a novelty for looking/feeling like a peach.  tastes ok.  Grows well
• Rose de Berne - large, ugly with good taste
• Tiffen Mennonite - large, ugly good taste.  Grew well
• Beefsteak - large, ugly, not many
• Brandywine - Not too many, overwhemed
• Speckled Roman plum - good eating, prolific, tasty.  Grow more
• San Marzano - the standard plum.  Not as many as Speckled roman.  Tiny, determinite

• Little Leaf Cuke - succumed to cucumber beetles.
• Waltham Butternut - Always good.  Need to add buttercup
• Trombocini - summer sqauash in summer that's better then zuccini.  Winter squash at the end of the season.  Slightly stringy.  Sprawls.  Worth growing.
• Need to grow zuccini 
• French Breakfast Radishes - did nothing to ward off squash bugs.  Grows fast!  Good stir fried w/ garlic & onion.  Have lots of seed.

Beans

• Canelinni - got enough to plant next year.  Really need to trellis.
• Romano type - need to plant & trellis.  Missed them this year
• Dragon beans - enough to plant, but need to trellis
• Bush beans - didn't pick, but the rabbit liked them.

• We love Peas.  I planted 4 types & can't remember which types but can remember which ones I liked best :-(  We didn't shell any so a sugar snap or snow type is best
• Carrots did ok.  I need to plant many more

• Beets - chiogga does well & I like both bulbs and leaves
• Beets - Detroit red did well
• Brussel sprouts disappointed.  Defintely a 2nd season
• Broccoli disappointed.  Nothing until fall.  Bolts faster then we can pick
• Cauliflower disappointed - also fall
• Fairytale eggplant - did well.  we didn't pick too well.
• Rocket Arugula - easy, and excellent
• Mustard Green Wave - easy, but too sharp
• Fennel - Awesome.  Need to plant again
• Lettuce - need to figure out how to do.  Something near the house & away from woodchucks.
• Need to do a cabbage
• Celery - not so good on growing from seed, but transplants do well.
• Peppers - used transplants, did well
• Watermelon was great!
• Muskmelon did ok.  We can do melons!
• Basil - started easily from seed.  Need to do a non-peppery type.
• Dill did well & I saved lots of seed.  No cukes for pickles though
• Sweet corn - very tasty.  Lots of borer worms.
• Broadbeans/Fava did great.   Good soil conditioner.  No a large yield, but early season.  It'd be good for 1st season, then plan beets or carrots or cauliflower.

Potato

• I didn't get a good yield this year, probably due to lack of watering.  And fingerlings.
• Will do a large All Blue with water next year.  In-laws love the ones I did for them & they had a better yield.

Flowers

• Zinnias did well. Want to do more
• I wasn't able to get Marigold seeds going
• I need to do more flowers.  Rows.
• Never got going with sunflowers.  The tiny muliticluster ones I did do we just a seedhead.

Frost is coming and fall is running out

With the plastic mulch, drip irrigation and covering walkways there's not any weeding or watering to do.  At the beginning & end of the season, there's always lots to do.

One of the in-law plots had cukes, potato and tomato.  The tomatoes were not yielding that much.  So I pulled it all up, coiled the drip irrigation up and rototilled any remaining weeds up.  I wasn't able to put plastic down so there were lots of weeds!  I'm hoping some weed seeds will germinate and I can rototill again before they go to seed.

In my own garden I've dug up the potato plot & I rototilled it.  I'm planning on planting garlic there, but I'm worried about having enough sun.

I pulled up all the squash, cuke, watermelon, radish, corn and beans.  Tomatoes are still up except some vines that had died.  I've left the irrigation out to try to germinate some weed seeds.  After the frost I'll pull tomatoes and till everything in. All the walkway covering is off and much of the plastic.

I haven't touched the new area to the right.  I've decided it's too close to the current plot.  I'm thinking of a new plot to the left with a nice wide walkway between the two.

There's still more to do.  I didn't get enough dry beans to eat, but certainly enough to plant.  If I want a good amount of beans, I need to plant much more with a real trellis.  Rabbits get after it if it's low, but once it's high enough, pods can form higher.

I've gotten lots of dill seed for next year.  I started squishing some tomatoes for the seed.  Speckled Roman, San Marazano, Sun Gold, Black Cherry, Yellow Bell and a nice sized small red tomato that I can't id.  I was very happy with the Speckled Roman.

Too long since the last post!

It's October.  I'd like to say I've been busy in the garden, but...  I don't weed, the watering is automatic.  Mainly, I harvest.

The cucumber beetles killed the cukes with mosaic virus I think.  The Trombocino & butternut squash got hit with it & recovered a bit.

Squash bugs went through a generation.  I hit them with organic pyrenthium/rotone a few times during the season and that seemed to help. The in-law garden didn't have bugs this year.  My neighbor didn't have them in his garden 50 yards away.

I harvested the squash last weekend.  I filled 2 milk crates with butternut and overflowed a 3rd with some butternuts and trombocino.  Probably another crate of damaged butternet.  Some frozen, some eaten, some given away.

I also dug potato.  I think I broke even with the weight I put in.  the in-law plot did better.  I think my plot didn't have enough sun.  Neither plot got watered and I think I should've with the dry summer.  Oh well, next year!

Peach Harvest

The woodchuck was able to go under the fence I put out.  Next year I'll have to do better.  I saw 1/2 the crop disappear overnight.  So I picked them.  28 peaches.  The one in the top upper right is the single one (of 2) from a 4 year old tree I planted last year.  It's a gift to get one so soon.

The one nectarine disappeared overnight too.  It was real high and I didn't think the woodchuck could get it, but the branch was sturdy.

So far, this is the best yield ever.  And they taste better then any other peaches I've ever had.

Next year I need to do something different with the fences.  Something that prevents crawling or digging under.  That I can mow around.  And take up after the season to trim or roto-till.  I'm thinking 2'-3' of wire cloth laid flat on the ground around the outside.  With landscape staples to keep it flat.  And tiewrap the fence to it.

Garden progressing

From 7/26.  The squash bugs are tolerable.  We're getting Cherry tomatos, cukes, and trombocino squash.  We finally got an eggplant too.

More harvest & pictures

The usual shot from the deck.  The corn is starting its tassels.

Squash bugs are barely in evidence.  A few eggs, a few mites and one adult I missed squishing tonight.

This is the Trombocino squash I grew instead of the Black Beauty zucchini I had last year.

I harvested this one tonight.  Ann did the breaded cutlet thing with them for dinner.

She pronounced it a success.  They taste a bit more delicate then the zucchini.  They're a bit denser with less water too.  I'm not sure they'll be as good on the grill.

I'll be planting the zucchini next year for sure.  The Trombocinos sprawl almost as bad as butternut.  I'll still plant them, but the zucchini fit in the garden better.

This watermelon is looking good.  I have 2 others about the same size and some smaller.  Plus lots of blossoms.  We love watermelon!

It's hanging from the fence between the garden & the annex.  I need to think about trellising more.

Looking to the right of the watermelon shot, you can see the weeds/grass on the ends of the rows.  The butternut should out compete it.  The watermelon should do ok.

I never said my garden was weed free; I just don't *need* to do weeding.

After the harvest I'll till it all in & put down a cover crop.  Next year maybe I'll put down clover on the margins.

There are more radishes.  I planted them densely and got to pull grown ones out.  We're not that into them raw.    Ann cooks them w/ butter + garlic and we like that.  Mostly, they're to go to seed & scare away the bad bugs.





And there is one sticking up.  Do they keep the bugs away?  I'm not going to give them credit for the squash bugs.  The in-laws plot had as many last year as I did and they have none this year.

I have *lots* of cucumber beetles, ants, crickets, spiders, japanese beetles and a few species of dragonfly.  The yellow sticky traps have lots more.

I don't think the radishes did anything.  But it was nice to have something up quick while we were waiting for everything else besides peas.

Muskmelon

Last night, I picked & cut up the muskmelon. 

And just in time it looks like.   Some bug put a smiley in it.

Unfortunately, it wasn't quite ripe :-(  I wrapped it up & put it in the fridge with hopes it'll ripen a bit.  I'm not hopeful.

There are more blossoms on the plant and it is growing well.  I'm hoping there will be another fruit. 

Harvest is trickling in

We've started getting harvest!  The muskmelon is ripe.  I've seen 4 watermelons on the way and there are lots of squashes growing.  Purple beans and yellow beans are starting to produce.

The peas have had their run.  The garlic needs to be harvested.  Dill is coming up and just starting to flower.  I'm hoping to have lots for dill pickles.

Tonight, we got 2 tomatos which my daughter promptly ate.  She had pointed them out also.  It's only fair.  I found (they love to hide) 5 cucumbers.  They might be a bit riper then I'd like.

Two nights ago I thinned my beets.  Mostly, it was the greens with tiny beets.  I like both.  My son got a carrot that I thinned also.  by thinning, I mean I plant too tightly and pull the largest ripe ones and hope that give room for the ones left behind.  It works well for the radishes.  Not so much for beets and carrots.

The trombocino squash looks like it finally has something ready to harvest.  I picked 2 at my in-law's garden.  I think my fear of squash bugs got the better of me.  I haven't seen any at their plot even though they had the same overrun I had last year.  I've seen a few, but hand picking has kept it reasonable.  I also know better then to let them go!

My tomatoes have fruit and blossoms.  The corn is growing.  The peaches are doing well.  Ann even found a nectarine or two high up on the tree.  Perhaps we'll finally have one.

The eggplant had blooms, but I'm not seeing any fruit :-(  I planted Fairy Tale based on our CSA but they're not doing as well.  I have a broccoli that's yet to fruit.  Crown?

That's about it for now.  I don't have pictures for this post, but next post, I'll have a muskmelon.




 

The Tomatoes are coming; the tomatoes are coming

The story begins with the seed catalogs. As the long stretch of winter seems to have no end in site, the seed catalogs arrive and fill us with the memories of the warmth of the summer. Tom scrutinizes each of the catalogs, takes lots of notes, develops a game plan, and then revises it again and again. He looks like he is writing a dissertation as he puts so much of himself into this work. He emerges with a list of seeds that he wants to order. He explains why each one is important and tries to get me onboard with him.



I pretty much stay out of his way and let him order whatever he wants making sure that my favorites are on the list. When you see him, ask him where the black zucchini are growing in the garden. Answer: they're not! He humored me into believing that he would plant some, but was so discouraged by the squash bugs last year, that he avoided them altogether this year. He is growing some type of replacement, but I am not convinced that they will be worthy. Tom has a tendency of telling me what I want to hear and the garden is no exception. Last night, I asked him to show me the black zucchini; instead he showed me some quasi-zucchini plants. They are growing and are resistent to squash bugs, but the real test will be when we take our first bite.



As for the tomatoes, there are so many on the way. I have a funny feeling that we are going to have 50 pounds of tomatoes all in a week's time. So far, the children has eaten the few Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes that have ripened. Our daughter was really angry last night when she couldn't have a second tomatoes because there was only one that was red. Soon she will be in tomato bliss as it won't be long now.....

Father and Son

Last night, my heart was warmed as I watched our six year old boy helping Dad out in the garden. Often he is too busy playing video games, watching television, and just plain being lazy. (Before you pass judgement, let me be clear that his video and tv time is limited).

Last night was different and was special. They were side by side pulling out a few weeds, snipping off some of the runners on the tomatoes, pulling up some radishes that NJ proudly presented to Mom, and just sharing whatever it is that boys share.

I got some much needed time alone as our daughter was taking a nap, but I couldn't help sneaking a glance or two at the boys being boys.

Tom is a great Dad. We started the garden so that our children would have a love for vegetables. We envisioned the children helping to plant, weed, harvest. They do enjoy grabbing the peas and tomatoes while outside, but until last night, we hadn't seen much help with the legwork.

I know that someday our son will get a lesson in the irrigation system and the weather monitoring that Tom has carefully set up. NJ's engineering mind will be fascinated with the technology and with making it better. I love to hear our children telling the neighborhood kids all about the vegetables. We now have a neighborhood of chive and mint loving little kids who love to sneak a few bites and think they are getting away with something. The other night, our 5 year old neighbor and I were comparing tomato plants. You could hear the pride in his voice as he was talking about his father's garden.

Modern families have missed the boat by not gardening. They are missing a fabulous opportunity for families to share something so important. To know that you planted the seeds in April, watered them religiously indoors and then brought them outside to face all that nature delivers, you are truly preparing your children for life in general-the ups and downs, the successes and the failures, and the joys of work done well! So, bring on the zucchini!

Fruiting around the garden

Peaches 5/26 lookin good.

And on 7/12.

The potatoes 6/26 are flowering.  No pests in site and nothing seems to be eating them.  They're outside the fences right on the deer path.  I've seen fisher cats, woodchuck, rabbit, fox, turkey and squirrels walk across where they're planted.

Of course I need to plant something else there for the next 2 years.  Maybe I'll just put in clover.

There's at least one muskmelon on its way.  This is where I 1st found the cucumber beetles, inside the blossoms.

This  was  a transplant from Verrill Farm.  I've ordered tomato transplants there for the last 3 years, even as I do my own seedlings.  I also got some off the lot.  All of the tallest plants in my garden are from Verrill.

This is a Matt's Wild Cherry hybrid from Verrill.  I don't have a seed source so I ordered 2 this year.

Mr. Verrill also has a tomato grower's class every spring.  I learned about staking every other tomato with the string around the outside there.

As you can see, the tomatoes are at the top of the 6' ladders.  I got them from Gardener's Supply Company for Father's day.  They have 3' extensions available.  I might want to think about them for the indeterminate tomatoes.

I love beets.  I think these are Detroit Red.  I also planted Chiogga.  I usually steam the greens & eat them like steamed spinach.

The basil next to it was planted from seed on the same day.  Yet another thing you should plant from seed instead of transplants!

Finally, a Trombocino Squash is starting.


Seeing how late these are running compared to the Black Beauty and the reduced squash bug population, I'll have to plant Black Beauties again.  Maybe some of each for an early/late combination.

Compare this

It's way easier to take pictures then upload them.  So I end up with 3 weeks of photos & then I only want to write about the new photos.  Today I have photos from 6/26, 7/11 and 7/12.  This is supposed to be a diary so it's good to see some time lapse.

This 1st photo is 6/26 from the front.

This is from 7/12.  The tomatos have really grown up.  Up front are the trombocino squash (a zuchinni that's resistant to squash bugs). They're advancing over the cukes on the front row.

Amongst the trombocinos are French Breakfast Radishes.  I was hoping they'd help keep the squash bugs away.

No such luck.  I've been finding eggs on the Waltham Butternut Squash in the back left.  These eggs are on a tomato leaf.  I even found some nymphs today.

I think I'm keeping up on squashing them though.  I'm not seeing too many adults (20?).

My big issue now is cucumber beetles.  I have yellow sticky traps up.  I need to put the lure on them.

I also sprayed the squash leaves with pyrinthium rotone - an organic pesticide.  It will kill bees so I'll want to be careful when things start to flower.

The peas were productive 5/26.  I planted amish snap peas, snow peas, and 2 other kinds I can't remember now.  The snaps taste the best.  The snow peas are noticely less tasty and are tougher.

Today, they're at the end.  There are still some but it's probably time to take them down & plant pole beans.

This is 7/11 overhead.  And 7/12.

July Already?

I was busy (& late) getting my plants in.  I was also doing my In-law's garden.   Anyways, I have everything in.

As you can see the tomatoes look pretty good.  The cherry tomatos have green fruit.  The Tiffen Mennonite have some too.  I've been pruning and I think that's making them healthier.  For father's  day I got tomato ladders from Gardener's Supply.  I like them even though they're expensive.  They'll last a long time.  They have lots of interesting stuff in their catalog, especially for container gardening.  Recommended.

I have cucumber beetles again.  This is inside a cantaloupe flower.  I've been squishing every one I can find.  They like to mate in a flower or cup of leaves like at the left of the flower.

I've been finding them on the zucchini, butternut and the cantaloupe, but not on my cucumber plants.

I've ordered some yellow trap cards to put up.

The zucchinis are doing well.  No blossoms yet.

I've been finding the dreaded squash bugs around.  There is usually one near the base of any squash plant.

I've been squishing them too!  And finding fewer each time I go out.  With luck, I won't have as many this year.With luck, I won't have as many this year.

I planted radishes around all zucchini even though I'm not a fan.  We have lots of them and I've been plucking them out to thin them.  I heard that radishes gone to seed can minimize squash bugs so here's hoping.

I tried doing the Three Sisters thing.  Corn for a stalk for the Beans with Squash providing shade.

I see it as a way to tuck some beans & corn amongst the squash.  If you want lots of corn, I think rows are better.

The annex section is going well.  My father-in-law gave me some fencing.  I had a fence 1/2 way around and the rabbit and woodchuck seemed to stay out, but I feel better with the full fence surrounding it.

Just beyond the annex you can see some wood.  The celery I put in there has been mowed down while the 1/2 fenced annex was untouched.

We've been harvesting peas, garlic scapes, fava beans and radishes.  I'm looking forward to the carrots and beets.

Progress in early June

I've been rushing, trying to get everything in.  Here's the start of June.

Closest is Trombocini Squash surrounded by radish.  It's like Zucchini, but it's supposed to be squash bug resistant.

I've read that radishes left to go to seed can help keep the squash bugs away.  I dont really like radish so it sounds good to me :-)




Some celery and other plants.

I planted seeds about a week earlier & it's already coming up! This is corn.

The potatoes are doing well.











The pecan tree is doing especially well.  Last year it had 2 branches.

Peach Blossoms on 4/24

I love peaches!

The above had a flash.  This one I have the camera wide open, blurring the background.  But the blossom doesn't POP at you.

Again w/o flash.  Lots of blossoms on the peach in the front & the nectarine in the background.

I've never gotten a nectarine but I'm hoping I will this year. 

Other plots

I was going to remove the he square foot, but I think the trellis is useful for beans and peas.  I'll see how the rotation pans out.

Here's lettuce from the square foot plot I removed.  It's feeding the rabbit or the woodchuck for now.

I'll move the rest of the soil to the main plot addendum when I cover the rows & fence it in.

The Fava beans started coming up 5/1.  I took the clippings from the 1st mowing in to mulch.

Mulch is the key to keep weeds down.  It will also break down to feed the soil, a good reason to leave it on your lawn instead of bagging.  I don't care about my lawn as it's healthy enough to mow every 7-10 days.  I'd rather mulch.

Garlic on the left, fava on the right.  Chives are the green in the middle.  It probably would've been better to plan an herb garden.

More of the favas.  The mulch will also conserve water.  I'm not going to irrigate this plot so that's important.

You can see mint in there too.  It's going to take over this plot and it's spreading on the lawn.  It's a good reason to plan herbs - they spread.

You can see the garlic is doing well with the chives.

More main garden technique

It's been too long since the last post.  I had gardening to do of course and a vacation I just got back from.  I brought everything to blog, but just didn't have time or motivation.  I need to get caught up with photos.

This is the finished main garden.  I ran out of cardboard so I used "10 year" weed blocker in the walkway instead.  One of the Big Box garden centers had 220' rolls at a reasonable price.

It is much easier to put down, uses fewer landscape staples and doesn't require dirt on the edges.  I think I'll save cardboard for lasagna gardening to prep new plots.

It looks better then the cardboard as well.  I'm hoping I can roll it up for next year.

The Technique

The 1st year, we dug holes, planted transplants, put Miracle Grow Organic in and mulched with grass clippings.

The 2nd year, I read The Square Foot Gardener and made 2 squares.  But it wasn't enough for my ambitions.  I expanded the original plot next to the clubhouse, added 2 30' rows for tomatos and eggplant and 3 20' rows for squash and zuccini.  And I added drip irrigation.  I'll go into more detail later.

The 3rd year, I created the main plot.  I added plastic mulch with drip irrigation under it.  More detail in another history post, but suffice to say, it worked well and was much less work then year 2 with lots more produced.


This year (4), I'm taking pictures and showing my work.  These are finished rows.  The plastic is 4' wide.  In between the rows are large scraps of cardboard I saved since christmas.  I cut them down to ~ 2' wide.  I like narrower walkways.

There is 1/2" line up one side of the garden.  For each row, I run 2 lines of 1/4" drip hose to the other end.  I'm using .5 gph every 6".

I have a 1/4" valve on each, in case I want to slow down a row, but I never used it last year.  I might want to stop watering a row that's done.

More Potato

I cut the potatoes into chunks with at least 2 eyes, dusted the cuts with sulfur and let them set overnight.

Saturday, I put them into the trenches about 12" to 18" apart.  That's probably  too tight, but potatoes are forgiving.

Notice I have double the number of trenches from last week?  20 lbs of seed potatoes take lots of space.

I put 2.5 pounds of potato per row.  I put 1 pound of fingerlings per row.  Each row is 20' to 25'.

I put 2 chunks in each spot.  I have 2.5 pounds of All Blue from
Fedco Seeds' Moose Tubers.  Last year's crop was excellent.  The texture of Red Bliss and they keep well.  Plus they're blue all the way through, even after cooking.

I had ordered 2.5 pounds of Carib but Purple Viking  was substituted.

I also have 2.5 lbs of All Blue plus 2.5 pounds of Green Mountain for the In-law garden at their house.

 I've never had fingerlings so I got Fantastic Fingerings which have a pound of 5 different types.  I had some extra for the In-law garden.

I just drag a bit of the dirt I turned over back across the chunks for a light cover.  Later in the season, I'll pull more of it over to mound up the potatoes.