Gardening Update. 5 Aug 2020.

I haven't taken photos of the harvests.  The garlic is all harvested, and we have been digging lots of potatoes.  Beans are doing well.

Here are some flowers.  This flower bowl with dianthus, petunias, and others, is doing well.

Many of the honeybee flowers are done.  The most activity now is on a few remaining poppies, oregano, and a few onions.  That's not enough to sustain the bees.  I planted the garlic bed, about 4 by 8 feet, with phacelia seeds, and a former iris bed, about 5 by 6 feet, with buckwheat.  I don't know if these well be helpful, or just serve as a cover crop.  I usually plant disturbances, such as molehills, with clover seeds.

I'm not adapting well to the change in the Blogger platform.  I will continue trying.  I may have to stop labeling, and just allow the search function.  The new label function is too difficult for me.

Sedum Planter.  No watering this summer, doing well.  Honeybees love the sedum flowers.  8.5.2020

I think the poppies start with a lot of pollen.  The honeybees mob the pollen - laden flowers, then when it's gone, that's that.  I'm starting to save seeds from these Shirley poppies for next year.

The oregano is one of the last flowers of the summer, that honeybees really love.  It's difficult to take a photo - these flowers are full of motion.  My plan is to divide them again this fall, for more plants next year.

These onions didn't do well at all, so I let them bloom.  Honeybees love all allium flowers.

These are garlic chives that finished blooming and are starting to set seeds.  Honeybees love these too, so the plan is to collect the seeds and plant more next year. 

Another Shirley poppy with lots of pollen for honeybees.

More photos. 7.29.17

 Some nice flowers are blooming now.   Now that the zinnias are larger, they seem less palatable for rabbits.  Maybe the leaves are dryer and more tough in the summer.  Even weedy flowers are nice when cut.

The Rudbeckias are second year now.  I'm glad they survived another season.

I don't know that bigger is always better, but the current batch of onions is the biggest I've ever grown.  The ones in the ground are even larger, but the tops have not fallen over yet, so I'm waiting to harvest them.  The brown-wrapper onions are the hybrid "Patterson".  The white ones, which are the largest and the biggest of those not yet ready, are Ailsa Craig.

Kitchen Garden. Summer Harvest Begins. 7.13.17

 I've been harvesting collar greens for a couple of weeks.  Nicest plants that I have grown. 

Started digging potatoes last week.  Had some hash browns and likely potato salad tomorrow.  Red Norland and Yukon Gold plants are turning brown, and getting some nice potatoes.

Some of the slicer onions are bending over.  I've dug some of those for use fairly quickly.  Tasty in all colors, red, white, yellow.

The absolute largest of the onions are the Ailsa Craig, that I started from seeds.  Those are huge, but not falling over yet.

 Based on my results this year, planting as early as possible is giving the largest onions, but even the later ones are sizing up.  Just not as huge.  Seedlings started indoors are as big or bigger than those started from sets or plants bought at the nursery.

Nice time of year in the kitchen garden.

Kitchen Garden. 7.10.17

Georgia Collard Greens and  Squashes.  7.10.17

Chili Peppers and Scallions.  7.10.17

 The kitchen garden is doing pretty well.  Collard greens got  mixes with squashes, when I had extra starts and didn't know where to put them.  They seem to be getting along together just fine.  Others are among blackberry plants and volunteer potatoes.  Big, beautiful leaves.

Chili pepper plants are small, but starting to take off.  Some are blooming. 

Vates Collard Greens.  7.10.17

Squashes.  7.10.17

Ripening Onions.  7.10.17

 Zucchini and summer squashes are looking good.  They are starting to bloom.

Sweet corn seems further behind this year.  The first two batches had poor germination, and I transplanted seedlings together in groups.  The later ones did better, even with rabbits eating off many of the plants.  There is still a good chance for some nice sweet corn later this year.

Both potatoes and onions are almost ready for harvest.  I dug some potatoes yesterday, and there are some nice ones.  I have also been using some of the onions, on an as-needed basis.

Tomatoes and beans are making good progress.  There are small tomatoes on some of the plants.  The pole beans are starting to climb.  I gave them some bamboo poles to climb on.

Sweet Corn, Various Start Times and Sizes.  7.10.17

Planting Potatoes and Onions. 3.1.17

First Potatoes Planted.  3.1.17

 The first batch of potato starts looked like they are sprouted enough to plant, so here they are.  I'm growing them in the ground the conventional way, and will hill up soil around the plants as they grow.  It's a bit wet outside.  Soil temp is 50F.

I also planted the first of my home-started onion seedlings.  The most sturdy were Ailsa Craig.  Germination was not great,  but there will be enough to see how they do.

The onion sets that I bought were in a plastic package.  I was unable

Ailsa Craig Onion Seedlings.  3.1.17

 to see inside the package until I opened it.  Many were already sprouted.  I prefer that they not be so far along before planting, but here they are.

Store-bought Onion Sets.  3.1.17

So the first of the onions are planted.   Meanwhile, the mesculn and arugula have germinated in their raised beds, the Chinese chives are growing nicely after I divided and replanted them, and ditto for the batch of Egyptian Walking Onions that I divided and replanted for early scallions. The garden is moving along nicely.

Early Growth of Divided Egyptian Walking Onions.  3.1.17

Early Growth of Chinese Chives.  3.1.17

Arugula Seedlings.  3.1.17

Kitchen Garden Update. 8.15.16

Peppers.  8.17.16

 Kitchen garden is at an in-between stage. 

Sweet corn is midway through the multiple plantings.  I have finished off the first to patches, 3 or 4 to go.

Tomatoes aren't as productive this year but we are getting a few every day.

The peppers recovered from what I think was planting too early in Spring.  They are lush and green and loaded with peppers.

Collards.  8.17.16

Red Stem Scallion Starts.  8.17.16

Okra Flower.  8.17.16

The okra plants are lush and vigorous.  I think the shorter row is Baby Bubba Hybrid, a more compact variety.  The taller ones were mixed, but I think most of the plants are the variety "Star Of David".  The first few okra flowers fell off without producing pods.  Maybe due to cool nights.  Maybe they didn't pollenize.  Yesterday I pollinated a few okra flowers.  The Pistol is dark brown, and the pollen is bright yellow.  It's easy to see the pollen on the pistol after I transfer it.  I hope that helps.

Lettuce, Cilantro, and Evergreen Bunching Onion Seedlings.  8.17.16

Peppers.  8.17.16

 I found a bunch of dried out scallions in a container garden.  These were grown from seeds in 2015, and the remaining plants abandoned due to lack of interest at the time.  They stayed alive despite no watering all summer.  I separated the plants and re-planted in the Battleground kitchen garden, 3 separate areas due to no room for all in one row.  They look droopy, but with a few sturdy green leaves.  I don't know what they will do, but no harm in planting them.

Summer-planted seeds have all germinated and all growing great.  We got a crop of radishes and a crop of salad greens.  More to come.  The turnips, Chinese radishes, carrots, lettuce, kohlrabi, and broccoli plants all show promise.  Definitely worthwhile project.

Fall Kitchen Garden Seedlings.  8.17.16

Turnips.  About One Month.  8.17.16

Red Stem Scallion Starts.  8.17.16

Some Old Botanical Illustrations. 12.26.13

These are selected images I liked from vintageprintable.com public domain downloadable images. The illustrate the topics very well.

Onion

Pelargonium, zonal geranium

Peppers

Red Mulberry

Fig

Kitchen Garden Plan

This is the plan for the kitchen garden for next year.  I used a high-tech method called "writing on an old mailing envelope using a pen".  Bio-powered system.

The three beds on the eastern side are planted as noted. When the alliums are done, in July, I can prep those beds for crop rotation, adding in compost and start fall-planted radishes, cabbages, turnips, mesclun. Another option is late-planted bush beans. I'll build the two late-winter beds next. That will give the coli/compost/supplement mix a chance to settle and "cure" before planting. Probably late feb. Those are fast growing. When they are done, the warm-requiring solanums (eggplant, chilis, tomatoes) and Okra can go in. The taller ones will go to the back. I can build the other beds through the winter and prep them in early Spring, March and April, before they need to be planted in May or June. By then I'll be tired of building raised beds and, especially, hauling soil to them. The soil hauling is heavy work.

One great thing about planning on paper is, I can continue changing it as I think of better choices.

The raised beds now. The soil pile and compost pile are in approx locations for two of the beds. I hope people don't think someone is buried there.

It's great to have company, even if they are sleeping.

Progress Report. Mostly Allium family vegetables.

No pics today. Today I built raised bed #3. Filled about 3/4 with soil/leaf compost mix. The top soil was muddy - not the best way to build a garden bed, but not much choice. I did not tramp it down, kept my feet off, and mixed in about 25% compost, so it should be OK. When it is filled, this bed will contain ornamentals that need fall planting. I noted last weekend that the Chinese chive seeds I planted have germinated, and are 1 inch tall. Not sparse. The germination must be approaching 100%. Issue now is will the seedlings survive winter? I'm betting yes. But I have more seeds to plant in spring, in case they don't. Yellow Potato Onions in the first bed are 100% sprouted. Most are about 4 inches tall. Yellow Potato Onions in the 2nd bed are about 50% sprouted. Egyptian Walking Onions in both beds are 100% sprouted, and about 4 to 6 inches tall. Inchellium Red garlic in the first bed is about 1/3 sprouted. German Porcelain garlic in the 2nd bed is 100% sprouted and about 5 inches tall. Some of the Dutch Shallots in the 2nd bed have sprouted. Three plants so far. So far none of the Safeway Shallots have sprouted. Cilantro seeds are also sprouting in the onion "bucket" planters. Planted at the same time as the onions. Not bad for late October.