July 11 2011 New Blooms and High Hopes

Pumpkin 'Rouge d'Etampes cinderella' Cucurbita maxima

Aurinia 'Basket of Gold' Aurinia saxatilis

Clematis 'Jackmanii' Clematis x jackmanii

Hummingbird Trumpet 'Mountain Flame' Zauschneria garrettii

Geum 'Lady Stratheden' Geum chiloense

7 AM this morning

Catmint 'Walkers low' Nepeta x faassenii

Salvia 'Nymph Coral' Salvia coccinea

Coreopsis 'Nana' Coreopsis auriculata

Bluebeard 'Sunshine Blue' Caryopteris incana

Thyme Thymus Vulgaris

7 AM this morning

Hollyhock 'Brilliant Miniature' Sidalcea malviflora

Hollyhock 'Chater's Double' Alcea rosea

Clematis 'Niobe' Clematis

Asiatic Lily Lilium asiatic

Squash, summer 'Patissons Panache Jaune Et Vert Scallop' Cucurbita pepo

Bean, pole Emerite filet Phaseolus vulgaris

Pepper, sweet 'Golden Bell' Capsicum annuum

Pepper, Sweet 'Purple Beauty' Capsicum annuum

Pepper, Mild 'Anaheim' Capsicum annuum

Eggplant 'Ichiban'

Raspberry 'Heritage'

Tomato 'Cherokee Purple' Lycopersicon lycopersicum

Tomato 'Juliet' Lycopersicon esculentum

7 AM this morning

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Puttering Around the Garden

Picked some peas this morning but all in all it is turning out to be a very disappointing harvest. They taste sweet enough it's just that we have had too much rain and they haven't grown as well as they usually do. Plus, they are just tiny.

Trimmed the Aster ‘Snowdrift’ to allow one of the petunia's more room. When I planted these two Asters in 2008 this space was going to be just the right size, according to the description I was given when I ordered it. Little did I know it would get almost twice as large. Nowadays, every plant I buy I allow for an additional 20% growth in width.

My Acorn Squash has sprouted. One out of three seeds isn't too bad considering these seeds were saved from a squash were purchased at a local farmer's market last year.

You may be wondering why I started it in a pot instead of just straight in the ground, well, I have to confess I had no idea how things were going to work out this year as far as what was going to go where and I didn't want to wait any longer in case it got too late. What with the terrible gardening weather we have been having lately it would not have been too late to wait until next week. So I decided to start a bunch of plants in containers and counted on the weather co-operating by they time they got big enough to plant.

Radicchio ‘Variagata di Chioggia’ has sprouted. About a dozen plants have broken ground and boy are they small. I can just barely see them but in no time at all they'll be big enough to eat. This is the second batch this year. The first batch was in a raised bed that was planned for the squash and pumpkins. Again the weather slowed things down.

The Butternut Squash has gotten large enough to go into a bed so I put it at the foot of a ladder trellis I built for this purpose. In all the years I have grown squash this is the first time I've tried it on a trellis. Normally I just let it spread out but I'm testing the 'vertical' theory this year. Hope I didn't get it too close to the pepper plants.

 Same story with the Pumpkin Orange Smoothie. Each pumpkin will only weigh around eight pounds so a vertical trellis should hold them just fine. They are not sitting on little hills but they will do just fine.

Gotta go check on my stem cuttings. This is the first time I ever took cuttings so I'm pretty anxious over how its going to turn out.

 

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Nature's Surprises

Today is a cold, rainy day. The only good thing I can say about this unfortunate condition is that there are no snow flakes falling. But, I did find another good thing about today. I discovered that I did not lose my lettuce and radish under last weeks one foot snow fall.

The snow has been slowly disappearing since that last awful storm came through and now that my raised beds are uncovered, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the lettuce and radish I planted two months ago survived.

Planting these was an after thought, I figured that since I had the seeds I would just toss them into one of the beds and see what happens. We got a couple of meals out of them before leaving for a week to celebrate Thanksgiving with family two states over. I have never planted any vegetables over winter so do not have a cold frame, hot bed, or even a simple plastic cage to set over plants for protection.

The day of the evening we were due back home, snow fell to over 12” and I just gave up hope of seeing these plants alive again.

Nature never ceases to amaze me at how resilient it can be. I pulled one of the radish and some lettuce for a taste and they are remarkable fresh. Hoe is this possible? I am thankful but still surprised.

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The Most Profitable Plants in Your Vegetable Garden

Here’s some interesting info from The Cheap Vegetable Gardener.

The most ‘produce-value’ per square foot are, not surprisingly, many of the leafy green vegetables/herbs (cilantro $1.92, lettuce $16.20, chives $16.40, dill $16.40, Swiss chard $6.14).

Next, comes the larger vine plants (tomatoes $9.50, squash $8.40, pumpkins $6.20, peas $4.50).

With root plants taking up the rear.

Another factor is the going rate in your area.

Now much of this makes sense where many of the vine plants grow on trellises and are allowed to spread, which I guess is sort of cheating the square foot rule but I will let it slide. Compared to the root plants whose production is entirely dependent on the space allowed in square footage they have to grow as well as these are normally inexpensive produce items to begin with.

Of course, the true value of anything you plant is based on how much of it you actually eat divided by the cost of growing it. But, at least now you know how expensive the stuff you are throwing on the compost heap is.

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Radishes are more versatile than I thought

I tossed some radish seeds in one of my beds about a month ago, along with some lettuce and spinach, with visions of an early winter salad and was able to harvest some of these delectable beauties just this morning. I must say they are quite crisp and tasty. Hmmm. I wonder if maybe the cold weather and recent snowfall has anything to do with that?

One of the varieties I planted, Helios Yellow,

an heirloom with creamy yellow skin, has an

almost sweet and mild taste without the usual

peppery after bite associated with radish.

The other variety, Purple Plum, has a darker reddish-purple skin

and offers the mild-peppery richness I look for in a radish. Both

varieties came from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds

collection.

Did you know they can be cooked? While I personally don’t have any experience with eating them in any other way than with greens in a salad, and of course alone right out of the garden, they can actually be grated into pasta or bean salads. Or mixed into a vegetable soup. Or, and this really blows me away, sliced thin and baked on a cookie sheet like potato chips! I’m amazed. I just have to try this.

One of my favorite cooking blogs, Kalyn’s Kitchen, came up with this recipe: Roasted Radishes with Soy Sauce and Toasted Sesame Seed. OMG. Doesn’t that sound simply delicious? Roasted radishes? Oh my! Kalyn, you are a genius.

There’s even a salsa recipe that uses radishes.

And as if finding all these wonderful new ways to use radishes wasn’t enough to send me over the edge, I learn that even the leaves can even be used. Yowza, what you can learn from the internet just never ceases to amaze me. The leaves can be sautéed in olive oil (or butter) with garlic, added to potato soup, added to bean and chorizo soup. My mind is simply reeling with new recipes.

Oh, and they can be pickled. I really don’t think I grew enough.

As far as storage goes, if there are any left after initially satisfying my unbridled and admittedly unashamed pigging out of these raw bejeweled prizes, they can be stored, minus their tops, in the chiller drawer of the fridge in a plastic bag for a few days. I’m not one to allow them to get very comfortable in their chilled surroundings just to see how long they will last, I mean really, they are for eating right? So, I don’t know for certain how long they will last but I have heard tales of them surviving for up to two whole weeks.

I looked up the health benefits of radish and was again blown away. On a website called Organic Facts I learned they are good for the liver and stomach. They help detoxify our body, cures inflammation and burning during urinating, cleans the kidneys, the list goes on.

This is one very versatile vegetable indeed!

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Seedling Update Week 3

Radish sprouts are 22 days old today. Just 8-13 days from being harvested. They are taking quite well to the bright sunshine through our south facing living room window.

Lettuce Little Gem is also 22 days old, just 23 days from harvest. Plenty of time to pick out a nice vinaigrette. Topped with a few homemade toasted croutons and shredded parmesan-reggiano and, oh my goodness my mouth is watering already.

Here’s a delight I wasn’t quite sure was going to work out. King Edward Tulips I had discovered hanging in a bag in the garage mid-January. I thought I would give them a try instead of letting them hang around. I didn’t really notice the markings when they were in the ground last year. This is the first time I have ever forced bulbs. I am pleasantly surprised.

Discovered some Crocus Four Color growing beside a stepping stone. This is a complete surprise. I planted these a couple of years ago about 12 feet from where they sprouted. I am at a total loss as to how they got here but they are very welcomed. If memory serves there should be some dark blue, lavender striped and a mixed lavender and yellow also.

Truly a day full of pleasant surprises.

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Update on Radish and Lettuce

These seeds were started on Jan 25th, so that makes them about 18 days old. They are coming along quite nicely.

Only six of the eight lettuce seeds sprouted but thats okay. I’ll start some more in a couple of days, the suggestion is to start every two weeks.







Radish Helios Yellow sprouted only four out of twelve, while the Radish Purple Plum sprouted eight out of twelve. A bit disappointing. But I’m going to start a few more in a few days. The string in the photo is used to separate the two types of radish.

Lettuce and Radish like the temperature to be a bit on the cool side and the room where these are growing is kept at 66F. This is, as far as I know, a pretty good temperature.

The only thing that I can think of that might have caused the poor germination rate is the soil I used. I didn’t use a seed starting medium, opting instead for regular potting soil. I figured if they could grow so well out in heavier soil of the garden they should do fine in potting soil.

Hopefully the second planting will turn out better.

Radish should be edible size in another 10-15 days and the lettuce will be ready in about 30 days.

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Starting is Simple, Keeping it Going is the Challenge

As the saying goes: “There is no better time to start than the present”. And so it is with home gardening. Many home gardeners grow their own food out of a love of just doing it, some others do it for the peace of mind that comes with knowing the food they take from their garden is not tainted with pesticides and chemical fertilizers. And of course there is the freshness that can come only from picking from your garden and having it on your dinner table the same day.

With our economy going the way it is, tightening everyone’s purse strings typically means more people are going to join us in the gardening world. If this is something you have never done, then the startup can be a bit overwhelming. I think back to when I grew my first vegetable, it was in a typically small space where some previous renter had previously grown something, so I was fortunate, and very grateful, that the soil had already been used for something other than grass. The one thing I did not know for certain was if the previous tenant used chemicals. I set aside my fears by reasoning that up until that point in my life I probably had already been exposed to chemicals in my food so worrying about what might have been was not going to stop me from planting. I knew I wasn’t going to add any chemicals, so off I went.

I was very much like every beginning gardener in that I chose tomatoes as my first crop. And as is typical of a first time gardener, I planted too many. Needless to say the neighborhood had fresh tomatoes for a time. I just know, as I write this, realized that even that long ago, just as today, very few of my neighbors had a home garden. But, as I mentioned previously, that will probably change. I do hope so.

I also grew some strawberries that first year. The crop that was produced exceeded my expectations and I was ecstatic at the sweet juicy berries we picked from those first plants. Ecstatic over the bounty of the strawberries and the tomatoes and ecstatic that I was actually able to succeed. That was a great confidence booster.

Experience, I have found, learned from your own mistakes and successes, will provide you with far better lessons than just reading about others’ mis-adventures.

The best way to start is to put something in the ground, even if it is unproductive the roots from that first growth will provide a starting point for bringing soil nutrients locked below the surface up to where future plants can take advantage of them. The most miraculous thing I have learned from gardening is that a plot of ground that seemingly will never support anything, such as hard packed clay, will grow healthy plants that will produce a monstrous harvest as long as you feed the soil.

Soil will quickly come to life with worms and microbes simply by tilling compost into it. By keeping the soil cool in the summer with mulch and maintaining a steady, somewhat constant temperature through winter, also with mulch, you will already win over half the battle of maintaining a healthy and thriving garden.

Worms work to aerate the soil and breakdown large chunks of compost into smaller ones that serve to keep the soil loose to allow air and water to pass through. This ‘looseness’ of the soil, called friability, will also aid plant roots in their search for nutrients. Worms and microbes basically keep the plot refreshed through their constant churning. As long as you feed them they will be there for you. The thing you don’t want to do goes against what may at first seem natural. You don’t want to over-till the soil. It is more beneficial to ‘work’ compost into the top few inches of soil with a pitch fork by gently turning over the soil. A mechanical tiller will tend to cut up the soil too fine and unfortunately cut up the worms as well.

Even if you will not live in the house you are in for very long, starting a garden will prepare the soil for the next person. Perhaps this will be just the encouragement that next person needs to grow their own food. Imagine for a moment if everyone was to do this with their current yard, before too long, grass won’t be taking up so much acreage on this planet, there will be a decrease in the amount of chemical fertilizers used to feed the lawn, and you will have helped in progressing the natural evolution toward a more organic world. After all, there is far more residential property than commercial property so each of us, when we start a home garden, will be increasing the total amount of farm land. Plus, every little bit you do adds to your knowledge base for when you do have space to grow that dream garden. Every new garden plot helps the global community.

Then, if you would post your results to your very own blog, or leave comments on someone else’s blog describing your experiences, both good and bad, you would be adding to the world’s knowledge pool and that is always much appreciated by the next beginner. Perhaps you will learn of a hidden talent that you can specialize in.

You really do not require a huge farm to grow everything you need. You can grow a surprising amount of plants in a very small space. If you have a neighbor who has a garden, ask if you can offer to help weeding or planting. You will gain valuable advice and perhaps even a few plant starts to get your own garden going. Gardeners are an endless supply of knowledge, some of which you cannot learn from books. And I have never met a gardener who does not want to talk about their garden or share advice.

Dig a hole in the ground, fill it in with store bought garden soil (compost can come later), stick a plant in the soil, feed it with non-synthetic fertilizer and watch it grow. You may not get a huge harvest from this first planting but, like every new undertaking, baby steps count. You will gain confidence to try something bigger next year.

If you don’t have a yard, use a container. Many plants do great in containers, you just need to feed and water them more often and make sure the container has good drainage.

Also, don’t be afraid to plant vegetables among your flowers. The added dimension and diversity will benefit both types of plants and prevent any bare spots that would otherwise invite weeds.

For more advanced tips on starting and maintaining a garden plot, see here.

I am willing to bet that once you gain a little experience you will want to continue growing your own food, even after the economy gets back on its feet and it is no longer a ‘necessity’ to grow your own food. So, if you do find you enjoy maintaining a garden maybe keeping it going won’t be such a challenge after all.

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Started first seeds indoors

I just couldn’t wait, so I started some radishes. These are not going to go outside, though.

These radishes are part of my recent order from John Scheepers, Purple Plum and Helios Yellow.

I started 15-18 each in a rotisserie chicken container from Costco. The coffee cup was used to sprinkle water on the soil, I closed the small opening in the lid so just a little water would come out. I always have a problem with pouring water on the seedlings and washing everything into one corner, so this worked out great.

The Purple Plum radish will be ready in 25-30 days, while the Helios Yellow won’t be ready fro 30-35 days.

I’m so excited. Woo Hoo!

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First seed order of the year

I’m determined to fill in every available space in all my beds this year, with anything other than weeds. And in achieving this goal and not putting off paying monthly bills, I placed my first order today.

I’m going to have to order a few seeds with each paycheck until I get all of what I want. Today, I ordered vegetable seeds from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds.

Carrot – Parmex Baby Ball: an improvement on the first “baby ball” carrots originating in France, Parmex graces booths in many farmers markets throughout France. Bright orange with silk smooth skin, it does not need peeling. This baby carrot takes up relatively little space, making it ideal for the backyard gardener – you can even grow it in containers. Parmex is loudly crunchy, reliably sweet and in demand by gourmet chefs worldwide. Harvest at around 1” to 2”, by pulling gently. Open pollinator.

Carrot – Yellowstone: Unusual, yellow Flakkee-type is an extremely productive, adaptable carrot easily grown in many soil types. The yellow roots have a fine taste and strong feathery tops. Pick Yellowstone smaller than its mature size of 10”. Open pollinator.

Bush beans – Jade green: a classic green bean of the finest quality, it has slender, rounded, 6” to 7” long, dark jade-green pods that are slender, sweet and absolutely delicious. It is the new favorite of demanding market growers. It has a truly great taste; produces high yields of premium beans; is disease resistant and holds the beans well off the ground on large, upright, 24” tall bushes. Open pollinator.

Pole beans – Emerite filet: a true filet bean from France, generously borne in cascading clusters on graceful vines growing to 8’. Produces heavy yields of uniformly slim, ¼” filet beans. Special breeding allows harvest at any stage, from teeny baby filets to mature filet beans at 7” long. Open pollinator.

Cucumber – Armenian: also known as the Yard-Long Cucumber, Snake Cucumber, Snake Melon or Uri, it is really a melon, but acts like a cucumber. Known as one of the best slicing “cucumbers”, this Armenian heirloom is rarely available for purchase. Thin-skinned, slightly ribbed and matte chartreuse, its crisp, mild flesh has a light citric finish with a unique sweetness. Open pollinator.

Radish – Helios yellow: named for the Greek sun god, this uniquely colored heirloom is pale golden-yellow with a plump, olive-like shape. Its white flesh is quite sweet and tasty. Open pollinator.

Radish – Purple plum: a plump, round, deep purple radish with firm white flesh. It has a mild, sweet flavor that holds all season without becoming pithy. Open pollinator.

Peas – Dakota shelling: this easy-to-grow shelling pea produces slender pods with eight to ten plump peas, borne doubly at each node. Dakota requires structural support with strings or netting secured to 2’ to 3’ supports. Good for freezing, they are also pre heaven when steamed and drizzled with butter. Open pollinator. Now how can you go wrong with these?

Fennel – Fino: Fino’s licorice-flavored tender stalks and aromatic verdant-green feathery fronds brightens salads with a fresh, crispy crunch and offer a mild, silky smooth taste when sautéed or baked. A prized bolt-resistant variety, Fino is a more compact plant wit succulent flesh that stays tender without ever becoming woody or tough. Open pollinator.

Potato – Red ruby: an early maturing, brilliantly red-skinned potato with a waxy texture; perfect for salads and fresh eating. Ruby Red keeps well. These gorgeous, all-purpose potatoes are yummy for potato salads, steaming or frying.

Potato – Russian banana fingerling: from Europe’s northwest Baltic Region comes this rich-tasting, “salad” fingerling potato with yellow skin and golden flesh. It is easy and dependable with a smooth, waxy texture, an incredible, sweet flavor, and can be enjoyed after steaming or boiling with no adornment whatsoever – not even salt.

Zucchini – Golden rod: this glossy sunflower-yellow Zucchini is the earliest yellow variety available. It produces long, cylindrical fruit that colors up early. It compact plants are open, making the harvest less of a treasure hunt. Pick Golden Rod when it is just 8” long for the most sweet and tasty flavor and to encourage its productive yield. F1.

Squash – Bennings green tint pattypan: lovely, little, early 1900s American heirloom, Bennings Green Tint is also known as “scallop squash” due to its round, flattened and scallop-edged shape. The Bennings Green Tint bush is 3’ to 4’ tall with a high yield of glistening, pale green-skinned pattypan. Its flesh matured to creamy white with a hint of sweetness and a tender yet meaty texture when picked at 3” diameter. Harvest this productive plant until frost as long as you pick it regularly and fully all season. These fruits are prized for quick sautés, steamed or served fresh with summer dips. Open pollinator.

Pumpkin – Rouge d’Etampes Cinderella: also called Cinderella, it is a slightly flattened and dramatically lobed member of the Cucurbita family. Rouge d’Etampes is a treasured heirloom from France with an intense auburn-red color. On average, each sprawling vine produces 4 to 6 pumpkins, averaging 15” in diameter and weighing 15 to 20 ponds. It is ideal for cooking the flesh is thick and firm, the seed cavity is small, and it has more flavor than most pumpkins. Open pollinator.


I have never grown any of these varieties so I have no personal experience to impart. I choose to copy the descriptions from the catalog. I must say the descriptions all sound pretty tempting. It was very difficult to narrow my selections to just these.

So far the only plant I buy every year is the Juliet grape tomato. Very profuse breeder and the tomatoes are typically the size of plum tomatoes. Very juicy and delicious. Maybe after growing some of these I will have new favorites to grow every year.

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Starting a Thanksgiving Tradition

The way I see it, global warming is becoming a boon to those of us who don’t want to say goodbye to the growing season just yet. And I have never been one to turndown a gift. What with Winter being pushed back a little more each year it seems Mother Nature is giving us a bit of a treat: time to grow more cold-weather crops.

So, I planted some Sugar Snap Peas a few days ago. It was such a beautiful Fall day that I just had to do something in the garden. And besides, those seeds were left over from Spring planting and just lying there doing nothing. A bit of left over netting came in handy to help keep neighborhood cats from using the patch for something other than my pleasure. With the number of birds that come around I can’t keep the cats away but I can at least keep them out of this patch.

After planting all of the Fall bulbs, I planted some garlic under my rose bushes. Last Fall I did this and when Spring arrived the roses had a few aphids on them early in the year and then there were none after that, for the rest of the year! So, I am now a big believer in the power of garlic as an aphid deterrent.

One of the dangers of this gift of an extended season is that it has been warm enough to coax the Lilac buds to swell and to draw out the Iris shoots. Hopefully the cold snap that is sure to come won’t be too harsh on these confused plants.

As you can see, the Parsley doesn’t want to give up either.








Too bad all the Zinnias and Cosmos couldn’t hang around a bit longer to enjoy these warm days.

We have been eating fresh carrots for awhile now and they can stay in the ground over winter. As long as the ground doesn’t freeze too hard for me to pull them out when needed we should be alright. The Thyme and Basil are giving up though.
Photo: Carrot Danvers Half Long 08-11-21 BB7M

Also, as part of the Fall clean-up ritual, I rubbed Linseed oil on all wood handles of tools and the wheel barrow. So, I guess we are pretty well set for the snows to arrive.

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Insect/Disease Update

With the change in the weather, there seems to be a decrease in the insect activity in my neck of the woods, except for the bees that is. I have several shrubs that they are going crazy over. Buddleia Black Knight and Caryopteris Dark Knight and Caryopteris Sunshine Blue.

In the latest Small Fruits and Vegetables IPM Advisory from Utah State University, trap counts of most insect pests in field monitoring sites were at zero this week except for beet armyworm.
Beet armyworm mainly attack cool-season crops like lettuce, spinach, broccoli, etc. They also attack peppers. So if you see fine strands of silk begin looking for this little pest because it can defoliate your plants.
Here's the adult. USDA Agricultural Research Service has a good description of its characteristics and life cycle here.



Cucumber beetles continue to feed on cucumbers, melons and squashes. Since the day length shortens and nights are getting cooler, they will begin looking for places to overwinter, such as under plant debris (clean up the area), in cracks and crevices of wood, etc. Signs of their presence includes chewed leaves, stems and blossoms, and scars on fruit rind. Cucumber beetles can also spread squash mosaic virus. The virus is only spread by the feeding beetle, or by infected seed, not from plant to plant. Symptoms are distorted, blistered leaves with light green/dark green mosaic pattern. Fruit can be distorted and have a mottled pattern on the rind.

I recently began harvesting pumpkins, these are Orange Smoothie, to enjoy them as pie and other deserts. The only thing that really bothers them this time of year is powdery mildew. It won’t directly affect the fruit but a bad infestation can cause a stem to weaken. If you have more self control than I did and are not going to harvest for awhile, consider an application of powdery mildew control.

The best control I have found is a baking soda wash:

1t baking soda, 1 quart water, a few drops of mild liquid soap, not detergent, or light vegetable oil to help the baking soda stick. Optional: add 1t light horticultural oil.

It is also a pretty good treatment for black-spot on roses.

Also, if you feel up to it, you can remove a few leaves to improve air circulation. Overhead watering, especially late in the day, helps to spread this fungus so try to water early in the day and if at all possible water beneath the leaves. I know it isn’t always easy to do so, so just make up some baking soda wash next time you need it.

Hope you are all enjoying the cooler nights and getting the garden all cleaned up for next year. Even though we still have a lot of gardening left this year, time flits by before you know it.

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Total Bee Magnet and Orange Smoothies

I have several plants that are advertised as attracting bees, but this Caryopteris Dark Knight must be the holy grail for bees. When this shrub is in full bloom it gets all the attention.



Every morning there are dozens of honey bees, bumble bees and very tiny bees that unfortunately I don’t know the name of dancing around in a drunken stupor.



Also, we picked our first pumpkins a couple days ago. These are Orange Smoothies. The largest one measures 21” around and they all matured at exactly the 90 day point, as advertised. There are several others that are going to go to my granddaughters for Halloween. Their smooth skin makes them perfect for painting on.

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