Walking around. Kitchen Garden, Progress Report.. 6.26.16

Jerusalem Artichoke.  6.26.16

Bulb Onions.  6.26.16

 Jerusalem artichokes are growing the best in 3 years.  I have no idea why.  The first year, they barely grew, then were eaten by deer.  The second year, I did not see any growth.  This year there are 2 gigantic plants.  I did not plant them, so they were either dormant for a year, or I missed them last year.

2nd Scion Take, Chocolate Persimmon.  6.26.16

 The bulb onions are bulbing up nicely.  I have never grown them before.  These are a yellow variety, bought and planted the sets late winter.

The second graft of the Chocolate Persimmon looks like it took.  I don't expect much growth this year.   Maybe next year both grafts will take off and grow.

Collard Greens.  6.26.16

Deer Fencing.  6.26.16

 I think the limiting factor on Collard Greens, is slugs.  Since I put down slug bait, some are growing like crazy, others more slowly.  This is my first try for Collard Greens.

I've been worried that deer will take after the Carini fig and others in the row, that are looking so good.  They ate leaves of a fig tree about 6 feet away.  I finally added a strip of fencing.  This is a fairly protected spot.  The cost of deer fencing can be exhorbitant.  One of the most expensive parts of gardening.  This time, I bought plastic fencing.  Price is about 1/2 the metal fencing, it won't scratch me like 1,000 thorns, like chicken wire, and I think it should deter the deer.  They are not aggressive, just persistant to consume anything they can easily reach.

Methley plums are almost ripe.  We ate a few today.

Methley Plums.  6.26.16

Chinese Beans.  6.26.16

 The resurrected Chinese Beans look pretty good in general.  I hope they continue to grow.

The White Potato Onions, that I started last fall from sets from Territorial Seeds, are blooming.  Apparently, that is a rare event and should be treasured.  In Utah, Kelly Winterton has been trying to resurrect (another ressurection) the variety by taking opportunity of potato onion rare bloom events to collect true seeds.  There are several reasons-
Vegetative propagation of a variety over the decades - possily centuries - may weaken the strain due to somatic mutations ande viruses.  Apparently, growing from seeds can restore the genetic potential and eliminate some, if not all, viruses that do not cross the seed barrier.   The seed-grown onions may be much larger and more vigorous, than the division-grown onions.  Seed grown potato onions have potential to develop new varieties.    Since mine are blooming, I will see if they set seeds and if so, that will be a fun project.  At the very least, I hope I get nice big potato onions from the seedlings. 

Winterton speculates that potato onions are a natural hybrid from centuries ago, which have been maintaned ever since, by vegetatice propagation.  If so, he considers seedlings from this variety to be F2 generation, with a lot of diversity and unpredictablity.  It is also possible, they could be pollinated by other onions around the yard.  I have garlic chives in bloom - don't know of those can cross with potato onions.  I removed all flowers from other onions.

Nikita's Gift Persimmon is looking great!  Fruit are swelling nicely.  I did some thinning but not too aggressive, because there are so many leaves and so few fruits.  Still, it's possible there will be a dozen, maybe more, persimmons this year.  If the persimmon gods smile upon us.  This variety is vigorous, stout growth, very healthy appearing.  Saijo has a few potential fruits as well. 

The first wave of Sweet Corn, Trinity, is as high as my eyeballs.  The secone wave, Bilicious, is waist high.  The 3rd wave, also Trinity, is almost knee high.  Subsequent waves are smaller but growing.  The last ones, seeds planted last week, Bodaceous, have not emerged from the soil yet.

I tried to be creative with a tomato cage, made from bamboo and jute string.  I don't know if that will deter the damn deer.  The pictured tomato plant is a grafted Supersweet 1000.

Flowers on White Potato Onions.  6.26.16

Swelling fuit on Nikita's Gift Persimmons.  6.26.16

First Three Waves of Sweet Corn.  #1 = Trinity, #2=Bilicious, #3=Trinity.

Tomato Cage, maded from bamboo and jute string.  6.26.16

Last corn planted. First Zucchini harvested. Beans planted. 6.19.16

Today I planted another row of bean seedlings.  These are the Chinese bean seeds that are in the range of 10 to 15 years old.  Some of the seedlings had distorted leaves, and two were missing their first set of true leaves.  Most look OK.

I planted the final block of sweet corn.  I don't know if the season will be long enough, or warm enough for long enough, for a harvest of such a late planting.  But if I don't plant it, I could miss out on some sweet corn.  This is the first yellow variety that I planted, for variety sake.  This is a sugary enhancer (se) type, NOT GMO, 75 days to maturity so fairly early compared to some that are 100 days.

I take my I-pad to the store and research varieties that I'm curious about.  This is info on the sweet corn variety, "Bodaceous" via ufseeds.com:
 Beautiful, uniform, well-filled ear.
High quality yellow sweet corn that has large, mouth-watering kernels. Bodacious has 18 rows and 8" ears. Kernels are delicious, sugary and very tender. Bodacious is great for fresh eating, freezing and canning. A popular yellow market variety that holds well once picked. Tolerates cold weather conditions better than most.
 

Product Details

Breed: F1 Hybrid

Zones: 3-9

Germination: 5-7 days
Days to Maturity: 80-90 days
Ear Length: 8" inches
Ear Diameter: 2" inches
Plant Height: 84" inches
Ear Height: 28" inches
Color: Yellow
Genotype: Sugar Enhanced (SE)
Resistance: MS, MR
First Zucchini picked today.  Not bad, June 21.  

Beans from old seeds.  6.21.16

Corn Seeds Planted 6.21.16

Corn Seeds Planted.  6.21.16

First Zucchinin of the Year.  6.21.16

Sweet Corn Comparison, Ear to Ear. 8.16.15

Sweetcorn.  8.16.15

Until this year, I never attempted to grow sweetcorn here.  This year I planted two varieties.

Today was a good comparison of the two varieties. 

The Trinity plants were much taller, more than 6 foot.  The Early Sunglow plants were only about 3 or 4 foot tall.

Trinity made a much, much larger ear.  With larger kernels.

Flavor-wise, I think the Early Sunglow has a slightly richer, sweet-corn flavor, and the Trinity is sweeter.

They were grown on opposite sides of the yard.  There might have been a soil difference.  I planted the Early Sunglow about 2 weeks earlier than the Trinity.  The Trinity is just beginning to bear.  Early Sunglow is done.  Only a few ears developed on the Early Sunglow plants.  Each and every Trinity plant has an ear.  Some have two.

If I didn't have them here to taste side by side, I would think the Trinity is as good as the Early Sunglow.  Given the big difference in yield, Trinity looks like the more preferred variety by far.   The flavor difference is too subtle to matter.

This difference might just be in my yard, or might be that the soil was not good in the location for Early Sunglow.  It might be worth a try in a different spot next year.

Kitchen Garden. 7.26.15

Germinating Buckwheat.  5 days.  7.26.15

Trinity Sweet Corn.  Planted Seeds 5.12.15.  Photo 7.26.15

From / In the kitchen garden -

Today I dug up the garlic from the garlic raised bed.  Not pictured, needs to be cleaned up.  Not as productive and big as last year.  I was not up to taking good care of them through the winter, planted later, didn't weed as well.  Still there will be some.

Ning dug up his potatoes.  He estimates 50 pounds of red potatoes.

Buckwheat has germinated in the first bed.  I include buckwheat in kitchen garden, because it might be usable either as grain for us, or for the chickens.  We had a brief rainy spell which helped.  This week, 90s to 100 expected for several days.

Over the past week, I cleaned up 3 raised beds that were all weeds, plus the garlic raised bed.  I topped off the soil where it had sunk, with yard soil.  The sinking does not appear to be compaction.  The soil mix was about 30% or more compost, which is probably biodegraded now to the humic particles that maintain tilth.  It was easiest to pull the weeds by hand.  I managed to salvage some handfuls of shallots, that will get their own location. 

Early Sunglow Sweetcorn.  5.26.15

Trinity Sweet Corn.  7.26.15

Trinity Sweet Corn.  7.26.15

Summer Squashes.  7.26.15

I over-planted three of the raised vegetable beds with buckwheat seeds, watered thoroughly.  If it grows in the heat, that will give the four benefits of (1) organic matter for soil building (2) beaucoup flowers for nectar and pollen for bees, and (3) potential source of grain.   And (4) eliminate weeds by overgrowing them.   Never grew buckwheat before, interested in what happens. 

Had the first of the Trinity Sweet Corn today.  Might have benefit from another few days to fill in and expand the kernels but it was excellent flavor.  I estimated it would be ready in September.   This was a month sooner.  Early Sunglow sweet corn looks stunted in comparison- about 2 to 3 foot tall.  We will see what happens.  The second batch of Trinity, planted about one month later, is tasseling now too.

Lots of squashes.  No wonder they were an important crop for Native American communities.   Very productive and low maintenance.

Sweet Corn and Squash Progress Report. 7.5.15

Sweet Corn "Trinity Hybrid".  7.5.15

Sweet Corn on Hillside Showing Micro-Terracing.  7.5.15

 The sweet corn and squashes are growing rampantly.  I got to a late start, wondered how they would do.

The first batch of sweet corn is starting to form tassles.  No silks so far.

When I planted on this hillside, I didn't think ahead.  After planting, I saw the water run downhill when irrigating.  So I made micro-terraces, using a hoe.  Each row has a slight terrace, so water pools just above the plants.  Working nicely.

The squashes are blooming nicely.  Most of the flowers are male.   Enough female flowers to get some big zucchinis already, and heirloom yellow summer squash.

Summer Squash.  7.5.15

Squash Growing Rampantly  7.5.15

Walking Around. 6.28.15

Kniphofia.  6.28.15

First Zucchini of the Year.  6.28.15

Squash Vines Growing Huge.  6.28.15

 Lots of flowers blooming.   This Kniphofia is a named variety but I forget the name.   This is a one year old plant.  Bees are not going after the flowers.  The web info says they do, but my honeybees do not have internet access to read that.

This is the time of year when squash and corn grow really fast.  That zucchini must be one week after blooming.  It's always amazing how fast they develop.  I pollinated with a different squash variety, because the zucchini does not have male flowers yet.

First Tomatoes of the Year.   Sungold.  6.28.15

 Back when I planted the squash seeds I didn't have much energy and neglected to label them.  I am guessing the most vigorous is Pink Banana but it could easily be another type.  The vigor must be in part, due to the nitrogen boost I gave them, pee-cycling.  Ditto for the corn.  It's been 1:4 dilution, about every 3 weeks, over a 100 sq foot are.

Sungold is the first tomato this year.  They are so sweet.  Others have their first tomatoes growing rapidly.

I'm glad I planted nasturtium seeds this year.  They are very rewarding.  The leaves are very distinctive and tasty in salads, peppery flavor.  No pests.  All of the types are nice, this one is from a mix.   In full sun, some varieties get a little sunburn on the leaves.  That does not seem  to hurt anything.  When seeds start to set, I intend to save seeds for next year.

Nasturtiums.  6.28.15

Trinity Sweet Corn, started in containers on  5.12.15.  6.28/15

Squash and Corn Bed. 5.30.15

Fig, corn, and squash bed.  5.30.15

The original plan for this bed was to plant bee forage.  I have plenty of those.  I needed a place for squash and corn.  This is the warmest, sunniest part of the  yard, south of the house.

I also planted two rows of Asclepias syriaca, Common milkweed / Butterfly flower.  Those are for honeybees and local bees.  As perennials, they may not bloom until next year.

The fig trees on the left look healthy.  They do not need the space yet.  The small fig trees will not shade the annual crops, which are on the south side of the fig trees.

Gardening this area saves some mowing.  This has always been a difficult spot.  A fence, to the neighbor's field, is directly adjacent.

Corn and Squash Seedlings. 5.19.15

The corn seedlings and many of the squashes were ready to be planted outside. 

I planted next to the fig row where I had covered with black plastic for 2 or 3 months.  The grass was dead, there were no significant remaining roots, and the soil was moist and easy to work.

I watered with diluted fish emulsion, and sprinkled some old blood meal / hot pepper powder around each to repel rabbits.  I don't know if that will work.   It's too much to fence each plant.

Vegetable Seed Planting and Germination. 5.17.15

Image via vintageprintable.com

Sweet corn seeds are germinating.   Almost all of the containers have at least one sprout.  I still need to prep the garden bed for the sweet corn.

About half of the squash and pumpkin seeds have germinated.  I moved them from peat pots into slightly larger containers for root room.  Same as sweet corn, I need to prep the garden bed.

Today I planted melon seeds:

Petite Yellow  Watermelon 65-80 days

Blacktail Mountain  Watermelon 65-75 days

Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe - 60 - 75 days

Sakata Sweet Asian Melon - 85-95 days

Edens Gem Cantaloupe - 65-80 days

So far only one outdoor bush bean has germinated.

It's still early to on-time for all of the squashes, beans, and corn.  Corn was planted 5.12.15, beans 5.11.15, and squashes/pumpkins 5.11.15

More Seeds Planted. 5.12.15

Seed starting stand, sunroom.  5.12.15

This weekend and today I planted more seeds.  Now into the more warm-requiring types.

I'm not accustomed to planting squashes and corn indoors in containers.  That may be needed here due to cool spring season soil and temps.  Yesterday and today are cool and rainy.

I have planted most of the winter squash seeds, the summer squashes, green and yellow zucchinis.

Today I planted sweet corn, Trinity Hybrid, sold as a cool tolerant, early bearing variety that may work here.

LaCrosse Seed lists Trinity as "Trinity is a homozygous sugary enhancer bicolor with a clean compact plant, refined ear and good husk protection."  Purdue states, Sugar enhancer sweet corn "has a higher sugar content and is more tender than standard sweet corn" also "Isolation Requirements All sweet corn types should be isolated from field corn pollen by a distance of 250 ft. or by a tasseling date of 14 days. Supersweet (sh2 ) varieties must be isolated from standard (su) and sugar-enhanced (se) types by a distance of 250 ft. or by a tasseling date of 14 days. If not isolated, kernels of both varieties will be starchy instead of sweet.".  There is no nearby field corn.  I also have seed for Early Sunglow Hybrid which is an su type.  Continuing, "It is not essential to isolate sugar-enhanced (se) sweet corn from standard sweet corn: cross-pollination will not result in starchy kernels. However, isolation will permit the full expression of the sugar-enhanced traits. To maintain purity of color, white corn should be isolated from yellow or bi-color corn. Pollen from yellow or bi-color corn will cause some yellow kernels in white varieties. Pollen from yellow corn will lead to extra yellow kernels in bi-color varieties. Pollen from white corn will not affect yellow or bi-color varieties"  So I may decide to either plant the Early Sunglow 2 weeks later, or distant from the Trinity.  Complicated.

Kitchen Garden. Seed starts. 5.6.14

Today I planted seeds for:

Golden Zucchini.  From Seed Savers Exchange.  New seeds.

Squash Patisson panache, verte et blanc.  From Seed Saver's Exchange.  New seeds.

Sweet Corn, "White Sensation Hybrid"  70 day.  Lilly Miller.  Seeds from 2008.

Squash Waltham Butternut.  From Seed Saver's Exchange.  New seeds.

Beans Roma II.   Ed Hume Seeds.  From 2012.

Cucumber "Bush".  From Seed Saver's Exchange.  New Seeds.

Squash "Scallop Bush Mix.".  Ed Hume Seeds.  From 2009 I think.

Zucchini "Dark Green".  From Victory Seeds.  New seeds.

Some of those old seeds might not grow.  If so, it's best to try, and if they don't grow, throw them away.