Summer Update #2

The rain has eased up a little, but still enough to keep the garden and lawn (and me!) happy.

Broc/Caulifower: Pulled 'em up mid-summer. Got a couple of small broc heads, but nothing worth putting in extra energy towards maintaining. The cauliflower was forming one big head, which ended up almost "mealy" underneath. The plants were otherwise healthy, and took up much more room than I was expecting.

Beans/Peas: Goodness all around. The sugar snap peas made it to about 7' tall (thanks to the tomato cage twin trellis), and are about burned-out now. Will pull everything, reseed and see how it likes the cooler weather of fall. Yellow beans were the best bush beans ever, due I think to the support (1' and 2'). Picking a nice handful every 2-3 days from just 6 plants! The green beans on the antenna trellis are also productive (and 6'+), but they did take a hit from the Japanese Beetles, and I didn't apply any herbicide... just hand-picked the critters every day during the worst of it.

Tomatoes: Had the expected "Blossom End Rot" on the earliest Viva Italias due to torrents of rain; main crop unaffected. Have the biggest Amish Paste I've ever grown, seems to like being sheltered by the sunflowers. All the 'maters are doing well. We've had grape tomatoes coming in for a few weeks now, the Early Girl came in last week, and the first Romas and Viva Italias are ready for this week as well. Was worried when I saw just how much shading the sunflowers caused, but the tomatoes seem to be OK despite (because of?) it. Certainly less of an issue with sunscald! Tomatoes were mulched with grass, which was ~~~. Will make a point to lay shredded leaf mulch next year.

Sunflowers: The 6 Mammoth are still screaming for the sky, the tallest hitting the 10' mark. One has already decided "it's time" and bowed its head to work on the seeds... others are just opening their faces now. The bees (of all sizes) went nuts with these guys, and I think I'll have to include sunflowers as a regular feature in future gardens. One of the Mammoths is serving as the natural trellis for a cuke plant, and appears to be unfazed. Plus of course the cukes are clean, straight and yummy. The other two "volunteer" sunflowers are most of the way to ripe already, and 2 pickle-cuke vines are about 3' up on their journey. Planted these cukes a bit late in the season... have to see how they fare.

Ribes: The gooseberries are still doing great. Never did the mid-season trim... should still get that done. The red currants in containers also doing great, still plugging along and appearing to like about ½-day of sun. Black currant progress is going very slow but it is positive. One in the ground for several weeks is "leaving" well (looks healthy at least). The other (still in container) that was baking on the s. side of the house has recovered in the mostly-shade, but sending up leaves S-L-O-W-L-Y!

Squash: Zucs were fine and harvested several until the wine borers got to them. Never saw so many in one plant before! Delicata died out about a week later. Still believe they prefered full sun, or more-sun throughout the day as opposed to ½-sun and ½-shade. Planted some yellow squash in the barrel... see if we get anything in the fall. Started another delicata around the time the borers first hit, and have it now in the s. bed. Squash did GREAT there last year; hope to get at least SOME Delicata this year. The Butternut in the barrel is still hangin'-in there, but the dynamic growth just isn't there.

Jerusalem Artichoke: 5-gallon bucket with a fairly rich organic mixture. Planted one whole tuber. Now about 3' tall. Not expecting much because of the late start but will learn from it regardless.

Berry patch: Great! The blackberries are really coming into their own... a little too much actually considering that I provided minimal direction for their growth directions. Will have to be a stern taskmaster when the leaves drop. Cleared out about a third of this season's raspberry canes already and will get the rest... sometime. The newer raspberries have incorporated very well.

Onions/Garlic: Onions are loving every minute of it. Will probably pull the Cippolinnis this week. The LT Storage onions are not far behind. Ran out of room for the Red Torpedos; tried a couple bewteen the tomatoes and the peppers in the middle bed... they didn't like one of their neighbors evidently. With bigger beds next year shouldn't be a problem.

Garlic: Crashed and burned. Really must focus on getting a good fall planting accomplished!

Greens: Going great in the portable window box. Shaded under the trampoline on the hottest days. From ebay got some mini Siberian Kale, and have 4 starts. Will transplant to the beds in about 2 weeks. Also got some New Zealand Spinach seeds; first attempt in pot in garage was no-go; suspect ambient temps were too warm. Will re-seed and move to basement. Swiss Chard going bananas! Have to decide if to replant one or two from seed or just give a Marine Corps close trim.

Blueberries: Healthy, but growing slowly, especially the one solidly under the grape trellis. Will have to do some strategic prunning next year. Have a 4th in a pot (survived the winter outdoors in a pot), doing better with more leg-room now. Haven't figured a permanent home for it yet.

Grapes: The S. vine has been ripening about 2-3 weeks ahead of the n. vine, and has already been getting raided. Thinking of getting a trap from Rick's. Flavor is great!

Cabbage: Two growing well on e. side of s. bed. Getting a feel for growth habits, size, etc. Sauerkraut here we come!

Roots: P;anted Turnips, beets, radishes and parsnips in the longest bed where the coles were. Just in time for the summer heat wave. Probably much to warm for the parsnip to germinate... we'll see. Others OK.

Peppers. Great growth but low production in the middle bed. Production but not much grow from small finger bed. Whaszzup wit dat?

Container growing: Snap Peas, J. Artichokes, Blueberry, Red Currants. Getting the hang of it! Biggest difference between now and the past (failure!) has been proper mulching. Containers don't dry out as quickly with a goo top coat of organic mulch!

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I REALLY need to expand the raised bed area for next year.

Excalibur dehydrator came in last week... time to fire-it-up and start preserving some produce!

Summer Update #1

Continues to be a wet season. Weather folks saying we're approaching being one of the wettest years in the last centruy!

Broc-Caul: Lots of leaves on the brocolli, but few heads, all small. The cauliflower is going nuts, and I'm hoping for good things there, but disappointed that only one head per plant.

Beans/Peas:Twined up the antenna pole, and the green beans are at work, about 2' up now. The yellow bush beans in the middle bed are leafing well, but true to form have already been nlown down once already. Sugar snap peas about 3' up in the container; still no flowers but very healthy.

Tomatoes: Going nuts! Interplanted again with Borage to draw bees. I'm being aggressive this year in trimmung back the borage so it doesn't compete for space with tomatoes in the cages. Have flowers already on most of the tomatoes. Haven't tied the cages to the fence yet... must do that before the plants get too much bigger.

Sunflowers: Six Mammoth, planted between the tomato cages. About 2'. Have a volunteer Black Oil Sunflower on the e side of the smallest finger bed, and planted pickeling cukes there. Hoping the sunflower can be a good support for the vines.

Ribes: The gooseberries are still doing great. Will probably do a mid-season trim to encourage slightly more vertical habit. The red currants in containers also doing great, but a branch or two broke on each several weeks ago during exceptionally high winds. Seemed to recover. Black currant progress is going slow: one of the two planted in the west bed simply did not come out of dormancy. The other is sending up baby shoots from ground level. For the other two co-planted later in the same container... looks like the same story... one is sending up shoots from soil level, the other is looking kaput.

Squash: Already harvested a small zuc. The delicata and butternut are spreading according to plan, but I do believe the growth is a little less full than if they were in full sun. Results is what counts though, so we'll keep watching.

Jerusalem Artichoke: Came back from the Energy Fair with a pound of korms from the Jungs in Stevens Point. Will give a couple to Doug, and plant the rest singly in 5-gallon buckets. Learning experiment.

Berry patch: Looking great. The mix of raspberry types will be especially appreciated.Melanie already picked a couple of early growers a fre days ago. Expect the main batch to come in over the next few weeks.

Onions/Garlic: Onions looking super happy. Garlic leaves yellowing, indiciating some kind of deficiency. Will read up on that and try to address tomorrow. The garlic plants are also smaller than last season. If there's anything I've not paid attention to this year its the garlic.

Planted an eggplant and another bell pepper in the smallest finger bed, next to the sunflower/cuke experiment.

Greens: Pulled all the endives when they started to bolt. Stopped harvesting from the window box and switch to the greens in the middle finger bed. WONDERFUL stuff! Have also started snipping from the Swiss Chard. Have to look at what to plant in the place of lettuce for the worst of summer.

Blueberries: Doing well, all setting fruit. Looks like 2-3 weeks to pick.

Spring Update #2

Tomatoes: x3 Viva Italia, x1 Amish Paste, X1 Roma, X1 Grape, X1 Early Girl

Onions/Garlics: Scaling back from last year. ~20 Storage, ~20 Cippolinni, 7 Red Torpedo. Have the sweet onions in a pot waking up, deciding on where to plunk them. 90% of garlics doing well. A couple have corkscrew greens which I presume is a virus or some such... have to check that out.

Greens: The endives are awesome; will start harvesting this week. Don't know what will replace them... maybe kales. Spinaches crowed-out by the endives... lesson learned. The window box with asst lettuces also about ready to harvest. Have reloads in the middle bed.

Peppers: 1 each Purple Bell, Mini Bell, Long cayenne in the middle bed.

Cole: The broccoli are starting to head. Lots of leaves, but nothing from the cauliflower yet. Still haven't planted kale.

Peas/Beans: Will planted green beans in regular spot again this weekend. Sugar Snap Peas starting to peek in 3-gallon pot w/integrated cage on north side next to window well.

Berries/grapes: The blueberries are dropping their blossoms and starting to set. The x2 gooseberry shrubs are fully awake and exploding; will have fruit from both this year already! The x2 red lake currants are also very happy in their 2-gallon pots while waiting for a permanent spot. Don't see any flowers on either yet. Ordered x2 Black Currants from Jungs; planted both in shaded bed on w. side; both still very dormant... will see if they wake up! The heavy pruning of the grape vines seems to have paid off, with vigorous growth from both and many more clusters than last year. Will still do extra stem pruning on both towards the ideal of one main stem at each trellis. All x3 Nanking Bush Cherry woke up, in pots on the s. side garden, waiting for me to get a clue.

Asparagus: Only half as many spears up as normal, with none harvested. Hmmm....

Squash: Since all the blackberries in the ½-barrel froze, I'm switching it to annuals. Planted a zucchini, a Delicata, and a Butternut. The zuc will grow forward into the yard; the other two will trellis on the picket fence... delicate towards the asparagus, Butternut towards the west. Trying out the permaculture idea that squash are suitable for moderate light what with their large leaves and all (I have seen them VERY happy climbing up in the canopy of fruit trees).

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After the wonderfully wet first half of spring, things have been a bit drier lately. Nothing in the last week, and nothing substantial predicted for the next. Will do the first lawn watering of the season this weekend.

Spring Update

Not only an early spring, but a very wet one as well...

Last frost reached out to Mother's Day, so couldn't make too early a use of the warmer days.

Gooseberries in place (1 on s. side, 1 just north of Comfrey plant along fence). The Red Currants are in containers now (both woke up just fine) with exact homes TBD, and the 3 Nanking Bush Cherries are in Azalea pots wondering if they were ordered impulsively.

Order 2 "Ben Curan" Black Currant shrubs from Jung's yesterday, after realizing over the last 2 weeks that BCs are among the most shade-tolerant Ribes. Will try them along the fence in the high-shade area under the pine overhangs.

Lagging on getting the Red Torpedo onions in, since I made a point to give the garlics enough room this year, plus I have Broccoli and Cauliflower at the other end of the bed. Might put the Torps in the middle of 7 tomato spots... need to decide very soon. Have 20 Cippolini and 20 LTS onions in and growing.

The Elliot Blueberry I purchased last year and never planted is still hanging in, and actually doing well considering it was completely above ground all winter. Will at least re-pot it to a larger container.

The lettuces are doing well, have the smallest bed co-planted w/spinach.

Started 6 massive Sunflowers to interplant between the tomato spots, and will (try to) use as bean towers.

Done with frosts now, so plan to get squash planted in the next week or two. Think I'll try 3 varieties in the ½-barrel: zuchinni for spilling forward into the year, Delicata to trail on the fence towards the Asparagus, and Butternut to trail on the fence towards the west.

Have done NOTHING with the middle bed yet. Will probably be home to pepper plants. Has the chives now, and a straggler Blackberry coming up!

I see lots of worms by flashlight when I come home at midnight-thirty and check on the yard. Looks like they're happy.

Early Spring 2010

Wow, what an early spring we're having this year. Getting report of local apple orchards that their trees are averaging 2 weeks ahead of sched.

The home and garden centers are packed to the rafters with plant starts, even though it is still most of a month until the last frost date (Mothers Day)!

I put in a 3rd blueberry plant ("Chippewa") at the north end of the existing grape and blueberry plantings. This variety is supposed to stay a little shorter than the 2 "Blue Ray" plantings already there; needed shorter growth so as not to block late day sun to the raised beds.

Have 3 sesame plants started... we'll see how long they last. Just received the shipment of Onion starts from Dixondale Farms; same variety as last year. Will contact Rick and Roy to share.

Ordered some fruiting shrubs from Gurnee's: 2 red currants, 2 Pixwell Gooseberries, and 3 Nanking Bush Cherries. Hope I can find homes for them!

Here we go again in 2010!

Started 4 each broccoli and cauliflower on 3/6 in organic potting soil.

being HEAVILY distracted by thoughts of permaculture by Jack Spirko on "The Survival Podcast". http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com

Will start sesame soon...

In the fall, bunnies eat...

In the fall, bunnies eat...

• Carrots tops and carrots
• Red Beet Tops
• Spinach
• Blueberry bush branches

They didn't touch the turnips or radishes.

Note to future self: after first frost, protect remaining greens with wire mesh, etc.

White German Beer Radishes

Pulled on Nov 3rd. I didn't know what size to expect. The bodies were about 3" long (not including the tap root, and about 2" across. Brought them to Rick who said the ones he's used to in Bavaria were about three times the size. These were healthy but small.

These were planted in the same area as the onions, which were heavy feeders. Will make sure to amend the soil more heavily next time, as well as start earlier in the season.

Turnips Rock!

The turnips were FABULOUS! Peeled 'em, cut them up like fries, and baked them. Flavor like a cross between sweet corn and sweet broccoli. Gave 2 to Kuehns, kept the rest for us. Havested between Oct 16 and Nov 01.

Urgh!! Early first frost!!

And again I say "Urgh"!!

1-2 weeks early, and not just a light kiss of frost. Nope, it went hard core on the first visit.

Oh well... that's global cooling for you!

I dug up the orange bell pepper as well as the cayenne pepper plant, to give myself the opportunity to decide if I want to try to over-winter either of them (if I get permission from the "boss"). Can't do it if they're dead.

Winding down for the season.

The snap peas are about 3.5' tall; no sign of flowers yet. We are expecting the first frost this weekend, so am anticipating covering them.

The turnips and white beets are doing very well... in fact the turnip greens are so huge that they're covering the red beets in the next row, from which I am now expecting not much.

Delicata squash: Harvesting a total of eight, seven of which are cut from the vine and curing outside for a few weeks prior to a move to the garage. The eighth squash was invaded in the middle by some creature, and rendered unusable. For future squash plantings, I have GOT to get off my butt sooner and have vertical support ready for them when they need it (not after).

All four pepper plants are still doing well, though the mini bell never seemed to really gear-up into production. The orange and green bell peppers did very well once the floods stopped and some decent late-summer heat kicked-in. The cayenne is doing OK, but was shaded by the green pepper as well as an aggressive borage I let grow in the tomato bed to attract bees. If the forecast for frost holds true, I'll pull the peppers this weekend, but I still need to decide if I'm going to try to over-winter one of them.

Still have to figure out how to prune the grapevines, or next season's harvest will be even smaller than this one. Also on the to-do list: order garlic to get in the ground between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Tomato Harvest Time!

Since the tomatoes were all weird this year, and many held on to the plants, I did the squooshing in just one session. From the squeezin's, I estimate that I'll get 6-7 quarts of sauce. Won't try any paste this year, nor am I making any stewed tomatoes or anything with pieces.

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Siberian x1: Third and final year. Just not a good producer for me. Every tomato was small and scarred. Vegetation sparse and gangly.

Opalka x1: Prolific producer of bowling-pin shaped fruit, which held on tight to the plant this year, Also the most vigorous growing plant. After it topped the cage, I let it trail out to the sides on top of the adjacent cages... would have hit at least 8' vertically.

Viva Italia x2: Decent sized plant and adequate fruit, but subject to a LOT of blossom end rot.

Roma x3: In the end, not sure they were all Roma. One was for sure, since I started it from seed from a packet. The other 2 were from a store bought 3-pack, but their form was much more like an Amish Paste; lots of fruit but lots of disease. The Roma-for-sure was very prolific.

Sugar Sweet x1: Exceptionally prolific, very sweet, VERY subject to splitting. Hardly used any.

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The Roma and Oplaka I started early from seed was very healthy, very bushy, very productive plants. Given how cool and wet this year was, they seemed to appreciate the good start. Throughout the midwest, all tomato growers had problems this spring/summer.

Tobacco: Positioned the tobacco-in-container next to the Roma at the west end of "Tomato Row". Possibility that since tobacco and tomatoes share some diseases that my maters were more apt to get hit. Will try tobacco next year on south side of house, and hope I didn't do anything permanent.

Turnips too tall!

Planted the red beets next to the turnips... too close it seems. The turnip greens are already almost a foot tall, yet the beet tops are only a few inches long. Since the rows are so close, the turnip greens are shading the beets. Must remember that for next year!

2009 Onions are in!

Of 75 originally planted, ALL the starts survived. Have about 65 onions now, since I've already given away about 9-10 of them.

Ready to braid as soon as I can get the time and a horizontal work surface coordinated. Thinking that this Sunday afternoon after church might work.

Sad about the Cippolinas though... they are the ones that were (inadvertently) allowed to bolt; their central stems are strong and hollow, and will work against being worked into a braid. :(

Late summer squash fail...

The straight-neck yellow summer squash recently planted did not germinate.

Trying in their place (12" container") some of Jung's "Tricolor Bush Bean Blend" from seed box (which I am heavy purging today... found seeds from 2002).

Seed packet was marked for 2005, so hopes are not high, but they listed "52 - 56 day" from seeding, so it is possible. Since they're in a container, if we have possibly frosty nights, I can move them into the garage. Grew them successfully at Sackchewsky's back in 2007.

01049 - Jung's Tricolor Bush Bean Blend
(52 - 56 day) Enjoy a variety of beans from one packet. Our special blend includes green, yellow and purple bush varieties providing lots of good eating over a long harvest period.

Squash vine borers!

Discovered signs of entry at base of each Delicata squash plant... looked like a pile of wet sawdust on the main stem about an inch or two up from the soil. One stem was already mush... I slit the other open and discovered (and removed the grub).

Didn't check regularly because of all the rain. Won't make that mistake again.

SQUASH VINE BORER

"The squash vine borer is a key pest of winter squash, gourds and pumpkins in Kentucky. Unfortunately, it is usually noticed only after it has done its damage. Symptoms appear in mid summer when a long runner or an entire plant wilts suddenly. Infested vines usually die beyond the point of attack.

Sawdust like frass near the base of the plant is the best evidence of squash vine borer activity. Careful examination will uncover yellow brown excrement pushed out through holes in the side of the stem at the point of wilting. If the stem is split open, one to several borers are usually present. The caterpillars reach a length of 1 inch and have a brown head and a cream colored body. Winter squash, particularly 'Hubbard', are most susceptible to damage while 'Butternut' is somewhat resistant.

The adult squash vine borer is a stout dark gray moth with 'hairy' red hind legs, opaque front wings, and clear hind wings with dark veins. Unlike most moths, they fly about the plants during the daytime, appearing more like a paper wasp than a moth.

This insect overwinters as a full grown larva or a pupa one to two inches below the soil surface. If it has not already done so, the larva pupates in the spring. Adult moths begin to emerge about the time the plants begin to run, and moth flight continues through mid August.

The small brown eggs, laid individually on leaf stalks and vines, hatch in seven to 10 days. The newly hatched larva immediately bores into the stem. A larva feeds for 14 to 30 days before exiting the stem to pupate in the soil. There are 1 to 2 generations per year in Kentucky.

Management
The key to squash vine borer management is controlling the borers before they enter the stem. Once inside the vine, insecticidal control is ineffective. Poor timing of sprays is the usual cause of inadequate control. Adult emergence occurs at approximately 1000 degree days (base 50F with a Jan 1 biofix) in the early summer. Use 950 degree days as the time to begin monitoring plants weekly for initial signs of the borer's frass at entrance holes in the stems. This usually corresponds to mid June as the start of the adult flight. Very early signs of larval feeding indicate that other eggs will be hatching soon. Use two insecticide applications 7 days apart to control newly hatching larvae and continue to monitor for additional activity. Sprays need to penetrate the canopy to cover the vines to be effective.

Home gardeners may have some success with deworming the vines. At the first signs of the sawdust like frass, vines are slit lengthwise near where the damage is found and the borers removed. The stems should be immediately covered with earth. Sanitation is also important. After harvest is complete, vines should be removed from the garden and composted to prevent the remaining borers from completing larval development. Burying a few nodes along each vine will encourage rooting at these nodes. This will lessen the impact if squash vine borers girdle the base of the vine."

Fall Sugar Snap Peas

Pulled the burnt-out remnants of the non-vining Blue Lake pole beans from around the antenna support pole and planted Sugar Snap Peas, which were very successful container-grown this spring/summer.

Hoping for a decent crop before frosts set in, since they like the cool weather. The pole and peas would be easy to wrap against frost if an early frost comes to visit (always does, thanks to our micro-climate).

Yellow summer squash

Planted 5x Straight-neck yellow summer squash in 12" pot.

Said to have 42-50 days until harvest... right now expecting approx 55-60 days until first frost.We'll see how they do!

2009 Tomatoes

Planted:

3x Roma (1 home-start, 2 store-bought)
2x Viva Italia (1 home-start, 1 store bought)
1x Siberian (Home start)
1x Opalka (Home start)
1x "Super Sweet" cherry-type (store bought)

VERY wet and cool spring... lots of rain! Would normally set out tomatoes weeks after last frost, which was Mother's Day this year (2nd Sunday in May). Waited until June 05... still cool and wet, but wanted to get the plants out.

Onions

2009 Plantings. Used only starts from Dixondale Farms.

Ordered 4 bundles: one each of Red Torpedo, long-day storage, long-day sweet, and yellow Cippolina. Gave someof each to Vehlows and Kuehns.

Planted 30 Red torpedo, and 15 each of other varieties today. Red torpedos as a block in 6' long bed, and all the rest in a row in front of the tomato cages. Figuring that most (if not all) of the onion green growth will occur prior to the tomatoes growing large enough to block much light.

Added much extra organic material, compost, and fertilizer to onion planting areas; heavy feeders.

Hoping to get good (and enough) onions for braiding. Inspired by post on Frugal Squirrels website: Harvest: Braiding Onions Step by Step!