Tomato, Cucumber and Squash Seedlings. 5.9.2021

 About 3/4 of the seedlings are in the ground now.  This is it for planting seeds in containers for the year.

I wanted Pink Banana Squash but none have germinated.  I bit the bullet and ordered a packet on line.  Postage was significant for one packet, but this is the last chance to try to germinate some of this variety for the year.  I found them on the Victory Seeds website, which is a company that I'm coming to like.  They sent the seeds out the next day and I got them two days later.  We'll see if they germinate.

Some of the squash and cucumber seedlings.  Also some Chinese Chives.  These pickle seeds are form ones that I saved last winter, great germination but who knows what the cucumbers will be like, because I didn't isolate the plants or flowers and I don't know if they were hybrids.  Squash seedlings quickly outgrow these little containers.  I planted the Gete Okosomin and one of the Yellow Zucchinis in the garden yesterday.  Others to follow, and giving away a couple of zucchini plants.

I've planted most of the basil but there are still a few to go.  Same with peppers.

A few of the remaining "Extreme Bush" tomatoes.  I'll give away a plant and find a location for the rest.

The Soyu Chinese Cucumber packet was from 2016.  I planted about 6 seeds.  So far, one has germinated.  That's good enough but a few more would be better, so I planted another container.   I'm glad I saved the old seed packets.  This summer I can let one go overripe for seed saving.  [Edit - that photo was yesterday.  This morning I saw that two more seedlings have emerged.]

The rest of the cucumber seedlings.  I planted more than I want, because I didn't know which ones would grow.  Varieties are Alibi hybrid, a Bush type that doesn't designate if hybrid, another Bush type that is F1.  I think I'll plant all of the hybrids together, and try to isolate at least one of the Bush type for saving seeds.  Maybe the ones that I grew form saved seeds this year, and the other Bush type that does not state Hybrid.  These should be ready to plant in the garden in two weeks.

Kitchen Garden Update. 6.11.2020

There has been a lot of rain, so not easy to get into the garden for hoeing and weeding.  It's warm, so stuff is growing fast.

Outside the deer fence, I've been planting things that the herbivores usually don't bother.  So far so good.  Most are moved from other locations in my garden and yard.  Mostly herbs and some flowers.  So far, chives, garlic chives, oregano, artichoke, cilantro, swiss chard, mesclun, a couple of smaller irises, marigolds, horse radish, poppies.  I recently planted some zinnia seeds and moved some volunteer Four Oclocks and cosmos to this area.

The first crop of sweetcorn.  Small, but I think that every year about this time.

Fence on other side of garden.  Similar idea.

Looking west from the east gate.  We've been eating lots of greens.  Squashes have female but no male flowers.

Also looking west from the east gate.  Those tomatoes were kind of a response to concerns for food shortage.  There will be a lot of potatoes this year.

Snowpeas in bloom.  These are Oregon Spring.  The Taiwan Sugar variety has white flowers.

Bush beans.  That row was mesclun and radishes.  As soon as they were gone, I planted beans.

Jalapenos are a bit small but growing.  I started them too late.

This bed was a mess.  More Chinese chives, and irises, and a lot of weeds.  Now it's those jalapenos and Chinese Pink Celery, little seedlings.  On the north edge, some slicing cucumbers that will get a trellis.

I have the posts in place for slicing tomatoes and cherry tomatoes.  Down the center row, radishes are almost ready.

Cages are in place for sauce tomatoes.  I will try to keep them upright better this year.  Starting to put out flowers.

Yesterdays root crops and salad greens.  Red radishes, Japanese Wasabi radishes, Japanese white turnips, swiss chard, some pea shoots, mesclun, mustard greens, chives and lettuce.

Old raised bed, was strawberries and garlic chives, neither doing well.  I removed those, transplanting them into fresh soil.  Added some lime, and compost.  Now it's compact pickle cucumbers, some dill and cilantro.