garden notes 2007/2008 comparisons

I have canned 40 quarts of tomatoes since Sept 1st. I am done (hallelujah!) basically other than whatever Amish paste tomatoes remain. Having taken a good look at the garden this morning it was clear that the Brandywine and Cherokee Purple are done producing as is the zucchini. Our peppers that appeared to fail early on and give us little to nothing in the way of edible fruit have suddenly decided to grow and produce! So, I will get a few peppers before the season is over.

The weather has been weird this year. Yeah I know we say that every year, but this year I mean exceptionally weird. August has been crazier than any August I can remember. All month the weather has jumped from high to low, with say two days of high heat and humidity followed by a week of fall weather with highs in the 60's. That's the trouble with gardening, you never know what the weather will bring or what you're going to reap in the end.

I decided to do a quick 2007/2008 garden comparison. I've highlighted a few things we've tried or learned.

• In 2007 all my plants were homegrown from seed and pretty small when they were planted. Plant time in 07 was the first week of June. I was canning tomatoes in July. The 2008 garden was planted the weekend prior to Labor day so we got it in a week to a week and a half sooner this year plus all my plants were commercially grown and much bigger and more established so you'd think they would have produced sooner, wouldn't you? They actually produced 2 weeks later and this year, even with the timely planting it was August before I had enough of anything to can. I think things started out slowly because the cool spring weather kept the ground colder longer than normal. Later things slowed down again a time or two due to unseasonably cool spells.
  
• 2007 peppers went crazy, both hot and sweet. This year all my beautiful pepper plants lost their blossoms and withered up...until now that is. We are wondering now if they just didn't get pollinated so the blossoms died rather than bearing fruit. Just a thought since the honey bees are scarce these days. Maybe it was the cooler weather, can't say for sure.
  
• Last year we planted San Marzano paste tomatoes and had a problem with blossom end rot on just this bunch. This year we planted Amish paste in the same location and had no problems. BUT, when we planted we added a scoop full of crushed egg shells to the holes before setting the plants in. So, was it the calcium in the egg shells that prevented blossom end rot or were the Amish Paste less susceptible? I'll be darned if I know, but I'm going to do the egg shell thing again next year just to be on the safe side.
• In 2007 we were bombarded with horn worms in our tomatoes. This year we planted a patch of dill just beyond the garden to attract beneficial brachonid wasps (which it did very nicely) and had little to any problem with horn worms. Coop found one large horn worm but it was covered in wasp larvae so we left it alone. That's what you want to see!
• Cucumbers and winter squash started out well both years and then dwindled out before they could produce a real good crop. Vine borers are the culprit. Considering injectable nematodes next year.
• We had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year, far more than last with fewer plants. But this year we mulched the tomatoes and were sure glad we did especially with the number of dry spells we had. Also last year we turned the garden soil then tilled it again just prior to planting. This year we chose to turn the soil by tilling much more shallowly to lessen the disturbance of the ecosystem and doing so early, giving nature time to re-establish its natural eco-system before we planted. We then then did a shallow hand cultivation just prior to planting so as not to destroy it. With less disturbance it was natural that we saw a lot more earth worms inhabiting the soil when planting. Despite the wacky weather and blossom loss on the peppers we actually had a better garden than last year with overall higher production.
• Beans....last year we planted Blue Lake green beans in the main garden and they did beautifully, producing nearly all summer. This year we planted Contender and they did well but not as prolific as the Blue Lake. Later in the year we planted Blue Lake in our secondary garden next to cukes. Bad idea!! Now we know that the cucumber bugs like green beans as well and never to plant the beans so close to cukes or squash.

In addition to repeating the procedures that seemed to be beneficial and not repeating those things that were detrimental, next year we'll add flowers directly to the garden to attract pollinators.

Also, before I end this let me recommend one book that helped us identify some problems and should be in every gardeners library, "The Organic Gardeners Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control" from Rodale Press. It's an invaluable reference.

the big and the small of it

This Brandywine weighed in at 1 pound 11 ounces.

Don't these look like miniature watermelons?
They are Mexican Sour Gherkins and appropriately named as they have a real tartness tasting almost as if they were already pickled. When ripened they fall off the vine.
A unique addition to fresh salads and so darn cute!

Recently canned tomatoes here and another 14 quart canned today.
These ones are seasoned with herbs.

Sunday pickins from the garden...

I'll be canning again tomorrow but I'll be posting soon about our day trip this past Saturday to Serpent Mound.

a little garden tour

The Brandywines are coming along and just now a few are beginning to ripen. The plant to the right is taller than me. I'm 5'3".

The Amish paste have been coming on gradually and as they are I have been drying them. They are growing in clusters like grapes. Lots coming on for canning!

The Cherokee Purple were the first to ripen so we have been enjoying those a lot. There will most definitely be no shortage of tomatoes around here!

The Hungarian peppers are doing great as usual. However this year my other peppers (sweet and hot) have had problems with the blossoms and leaves falling off and little if any fruit production. Others I have spoken with have had similar problems, so the weather may factor in a lot.

The Marglobe tomatoes are coming along nicely, also.

Bush Queen Acorn squash.
I usually plant Butternut, but Coop likes acorn the best so this year we decided to go with that variety as well as a few unique varieties such as Guatemalan Blue and Potimaron. These Bush Queen really do grow in nice bush like formation.

The volunteer polyheaded sunflowers grew to over 10" this year!

There's definitely a lot more going on than what I've shown here, but wanted to share with you some features from the main garden.

How Our Garden Grows

Looking down the length of our main garden

Hungarian Hot Pepper

Cherokee Purple Tomato

South end of main garden - Cherokee Purple tomatoes, green beans (minus what the deer ate), peas, acorn squash, spinach, snow peas, Brandywine tomatoes. A little section on the far right of the brandywines is home to green onions, ground cherries and sunflowers. On the north end (sorry no pic) we have zucchini, golden peppers, green peppers, Hungarian hots, jalapeños, hot block peppers and Amish paste tomatoes.

Ground Cherries

Brandywine

hodge podge

We recently learned that our Amish friends, Sam and Fanny are expecting their first child. They have been married seven years. We found out through the grapevine….news does travel relatively fast in our rural community. Last week when Coop stopped by their home to get eggs and milk, he congratulated Fanny. She happened to have a young girl of about 13 with her, helping her out around the place since she had not been feeling well. She spoke something to the girl in German and the girl left the room. Once the girl was out of hearing range, Fanny explained that they do not speak of such things around children or those not yet married. Coop of course apologized, but Fanny said there was no need for that since he hadn’t actually made known what he was referring to. Having lived around the Amish and taken their presence for granted the better part of our lives, Coop and I both have developed a bigger interest in their ways. Again, something new we’ve learned about their customs.

Yesterday I cooked up a pot of rice and veggies in chicken stock. Nothing better on a damp, windy day than a bowl of hot soup and a chunk of wheat bread.

There are no hard and fast rules to making this. Just start off with a pot of chicken stock, add some chopped celery, onion, carrots, and cook, seasoning with a little parsley, savory, adding salt or bouillon to suit your taste. Add some brown rice (we like Basmati best for its nutty flavor) last and cook until tender.

Today is a beautiful day and much of it I have spent outdoors. The past few days have been windy and wet, keeping me from planting my lettuce patch. I decided that instead of flowers in the bed at the front of the porch I would grow my lettuce there…very convenient. So today I seeded that bed with Cimarron, an heirloom red romaine.

Coop has tilled up what many years ago used to be the area where we grew the root vegetables, and then later a strawberry patch. During the years since we’ve been away from this place, Arnold (the previous tenant/owner) had turned that area back to yard. I believe now that it is additional garden space I will plant my beets there and perhaps some cucumbers or squash.

I also spent some quality time today with my seedlings by transplanting the extras. Some pots had one or two additional seedlings that came up so now they are all in their own pots. Total plant count is as follows:

39 Brandywine tomatoes

24 Purple Russian tomatoes

20 Duggin White tomatoes

6 Green Sausage tomatoes

16 (or possibly 24 since I’m not sure if the other 8 are the same or not!) King of the North sweet peppers.

12 Romanian Hot peppers

15 Jalapeño peppers

Keep in mind I’ll be sharing some of these plants with my daughter…who by the way, seems to be doing extremely well on her natural path to overcoming c. diff. Yay! More on that in due time.

Coop busied himself this weekend putting together a work bench in the garage. The top part came out of the ranch up the road. The rest he constructed from scrap lumber. Photo was taken yesterday before he finished things today by bolting two vises to the top, one on each end. Why two? Simply because he had two. :)

So, how has your weekend been?

Growing Challenge…goodbye winter!

I’ve kind of lost track of whether I’m up to date or not on my growing challenge reports, but regardless, here’s the latest…

Finally, the ground has become dry enough, the weather cooperative enough for us to get a little more serious in working towards our garden goals. This past week Coop tilled the compost under in preparation for planting.

He also surprised me by expanding the depth of the iris patch alongside our garage wall and resetting the stepping stone path that leads off the patio.

What would I do without the man?! I’m so fortunate to be with a partner who loves this kind of work. And I get such a big kick out of his child like pride when he completes a well done job. (Don’t tell him I said that!)

My babies are coming along. A few seeds here and there did not sprout, but enough other plantings brought up more than one per square so I’ll separate and transplant the tender young things before long. I planted a few leftover Hungarian pepper seeds from last year’s seed stock, but to no avail. Not a one came up. The story is the similar for the tomatillos. They were planted from seed purchased last year and I think one, possibly two have sprouted. :(

Here’s a shot of my growing place. Nothing fancy, but it works. Grow my babies, grow! There’s just a few more weeks til hardening off and planting time! Grow strong and tall and make mamma proud!

In related news, a package of 10 baby trees came from the Arbor Day Foundation in Friday’s mail delivery, plus a bonus lilac. Yay! I firmly believe one can never have too many trees or lilacs. There’s just not a lot any more splendid than the scent of lilacs and a big bouquet adorning the kitchen table or the coffee table, or better yet, both! Who can resist burying their nose in them when passing by? I for one can’t! Let’s not forget the peonies either. Another wonder-full gift the season brings. The other day I noticed their new growth coming up from the earth.

And finally, look who paid us a visit and finally allowed me a quick photo opportunity. Believe me, you just don’t know how many times the Eastern Bluebirds have evaded the camera.

growing challenge & talk of chickens 4-14-08

The Brandywine tomatoes are about 3” high now. The Jalepenos are up as well. Still not much action with the Kind of the North sweet peppers, although the Romanian hots are starting to peek out.

Rather than till the entire garden space, this year we are seriously considering doing a low till planting. Given the high cost of gasoline we are thinking our wisest choice may be to till just where we plant and simply keep the areas between rows mulched. Plus I’ve read (somewhere) that the less you disturb the natural ecosystem of your garden area (prior to planting) the better, that tilling too much or to deep does more harm than good unless you allow adequate time between tilling and planting to allow natural restoration of the ecosystem.

Amidst garden planning and discussing we are also looking at chicken breeds and coop options. We definitely are considering a few laying hens and preferably heritage breeds that are brown egg layers. I am leaning towards a few buff orpington as well as barred Plymouth rock. Fortunately we have a hatchery not far from us and they have a variety of heritage breeds. Hubby Coop (not chicken coop, lol!) wants to build a chicken tractor which would be ideal. We’ve been kind of hooked on the idea for awhile. So, the real possibility of a whole new adventure awaits us…a chicken adventure.

barred rock and buff orpington picture by cnewman00 at photobucket

growing challenge 4-5-08 ...and then there were plants!

Tomato, tomatillo and pepper seeds were planted 3-31-08. Yesterday a half dozen or more Brandywine tomatoes had popped up. Today I noticed a couple purple russian, duggin white (substitutes for the white tomesol ordered) and a couple tomatillos had joined the party. Yay!



The timing of the planting gives me just 8 to 8 1/2 weeks until planting time, so these little ones need to grow well and strong. I have them upstairs in a small greenhouse, with just one plant light hanging above. I have been alternating them daily so that all can have their fair share of the light. I also have a small space heater on low inside the green house so they keep warm. Our Ohio weather is still quite cool, so this was necessary since I don't heat the upstairs. Once the days grow warmer and the sun is present more often, they will get light from both the south and west windows as well.

When I see the first seedlings sprout in the spring I feel a sense of wonder and hope. This new life will bring us an abundance of sustenance and so, on a daily basis I talk to my plant friends. I tell them how wonderful and marvelous they are and most of all I thank them for the gifts they will bring to us.

Growing Challenge

I received the remainder (and majority) of my seeds this week from rare seeds. They were out of the lemon summer squash I ordered, dang! Otherwise the order was complete.


My seed savers order came a week or so ago. They subbed the blue jade corn I ordered for black Aztec. Odds are I won’t plant it because I only ordered the blue jade for its uniqueness. It’s a miniature heirloom variety I was planning on growing in containers. We don’t generally raise corn because of the space it takes up for the yield produced and despite the fact that I love good corn, it doesn’t agree with me at all.

Now that I have ordered from seed savers and rare seeds for the first time, here are my observations.

Seed Savers was quicker to ship by about a week. I also love their informative seed packets. Each packet describes the product, how long until harvest and how long for seeds if applicable as in the case of cilantro. The packets give good planting instructions as well as seed saving instructions.

Rare Seeds included a free gift of sunflower seeds and lemon cucumber seeds in lieu of slow shipping time, which was very nice of them. And they refunded my money (in cash!) for the out of stock item. I was only somewhat disappointed in their packets which give no information aside from the seed name, quantity, lot number and price. This doesn’t rally pose a problem for those familiar with planting and spacing. However, for the novice gardener who might depend on this information being handy at planting time, this might pose an inconvenience. Just my thoughts on that. I know that I personally like to reference the seed packets for days to maturity, vegetable size, etc. Seed Savers gives the same basic info on the packet as they do in their catalog. I like that!

Southern breeze
What a tease,
You make us yearn for more…

But all the while,
We reconcile,
You are worth waiting for.

picture by owlwytch

I jotted down that little rhyme yesterday as the southern winds taunted us by bringing temperatures into the mid 60’s. The snow has melted, the creeks have risen but this morning it seems we are back to winter, with glassy patios and walkways shimmering in the predawn glow of the security light.

A package of seeds arrived in yesterday’s mail, testimony that spring really is around the corner…just a little longer (sigh).

I’ve seen the red winged blackbirds
and heard the Robin sing,
and know full well the harbingers
indicative of Spring.

Yet, each year I grow anxious
when the season’s near at hand,
to see the greening of the grass,
and growth upon the land.

But, like the earth herself,
patient I must become,
for spring cannot be fully born
until the winter’s done.

Well, there you have another little rhyme that “sprang” forth from my mind just as I was writing this blog post. I will busy myself with household duties today while dreaming of garden and flowers and green.

garden talk-the growing challenge

Fresh, ripe, juicy tomatoes are just about my favorite thing from the garden. For big, luscious slicing tomatoes to eat fresh I love Brandywine the best. Who doesn’t? They have the old fashioned flavor I remember from childhood. Rarely a summer meal is served without a plate full of Brandywine slices or wedges being set on the table.

This spring I will be trying a couple new varieties from rareseeds. I thought it would be fun to grow some truly unique tomatoes. For instance White Tomesol and Green Sausage.

Another summer favorite of ours is squash. This spring’s newest addition to the garden in the summer squash realm will be Lemon Squash, a the shape, size and color of, you guessed, a lemon!

Last season we raised Swiss chard and beets. This year I’ve decided instead of taking up garden space planting chard I will add more rows of beets. Beets serve a duel purpose. Not only do we get to eat the root, (yum!) but the tops are just as tasty as chard. I really can’t tell much, if any difference, which makes sense as chard is a member of the beet family.

That’s my weekly post in relation to the growing challenge. More garden talk to come in the weeks ahead.

The Growing Challenge

I came across elements in time the other night and decided to take the growing challenge. The rules are simple; you must grow one additional type of fruit or vegetable than you did last year, and grow it from seed and you must blog about gardening once each week. I figure that's not much of an obligation as my seeds are ordered and I'll be planting all kinds of new things this year, and like last year I'm bound to talk about it here on a regular basis. The main thing is the benefit tome and my garden. I think it may encourage me to be more conscious of my garden...to take more notice in the day to day changes occurring there. I figure anything that encourages one to be more conscious and to prioritize what matters is a positive.

My seed purchase this year was entirely heirloom. The only old familiar standbys I ordered were Brandywine tomatoes and zucchini. I can't wait to get them and look through all the packets of potential. I am anxious for Spring...aren't we all who relish the thought of getting their hands in the earth? It won't be terribly long until I will be gathering my seed starting pots from the shed and setting my table and light up to begin the process.

Here's a look back at last years gardening efforts.

Old CDs and a string fence worked to help discourage the deer.

Can you say peppers?

a variety