Summer Squash. 7.9.14

Yellow Summer Squash.  7.9.14

Belated posting.  These were the first of the summer squash.  Like zucchinis, the squashes form very quickly.  Zucchinis are equally productive as of today.  These yellow summer squash are so delicious.

Kitchen Garden. 6.8.14

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In the kitchen garden.

A basket of ripe strawberries.  Photo not very good.  via ipad.

A Portugal Red chili pepper.  This is from the battleground raised bed.  Some of the other varieties have fruits beginning to form.

Zucchinis and other squashes have a growth spurt.  They got a dose of organic nitrogen boost today.

Potatoes are nice and green.  Ditto on the nitrogen, last time and not much.  They also got some slug pellets, organic type. 

Yesterday I cleared out the herbs and weeds around 2 caged fruit trees, both plums.  Then a layer of waste paper - food packaging and newspaper.  On top of that, grass clippings, to hold down the paper and hide it.  That will last until fall, I think.

Tomatoes are blooming.

Lots of snowpeas.

Puttering. 5.25.14

Ning's wildflower meadow.  5.25.14

Redmond Linden growth.  5.25.14

 Puttering.

The first of Ning's wildflower meadow gardens is blooming with the first of its flowers.  Pretty nice.  There are a few bees - bumblebees and honeybees - harvesting nectar.

Redmond American Linden is growing nicely.  I gave it some organic nitrogen this winter.  I tried not to overdo it.  There are flower buds on this, but not on the Greenspire European Lindens, even though they are much bigger.  The Redmond Linden has much bigger leaves, compared to the Greenspire Lindens.  The flowers, for honey, were why I planted these.

Deer have not eaten any of the lindens.  I have protected the bark from rabbits and gnawing rodents, using hardware cloth.

Redmond Linden.  5.25.14

Sourwood new growth.  5.25.14

Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) has taken off and growing. I wondered.  The lower branches died during the hard freeze.  During Spring rainy season, the new growth developed what looks like the fireblight that appears on pears.  Now it's coming out of it and growing nicely.  Sourwood is not native here, and there aren't a lot of them.  So it's an experiment.

Tamara rose, grown from cutting.  Moved to Battleground in 2012.  Eaten by deer, and now surrounded by some sort of yellow flowering weed.  It's actually doing well.

Most of the top-killed fig trees are coming up from the roots.  I'm debating whether to give them some organic nitrogen.  I don't want them to grow to vigorously, and be winter killed next year.  I would like some decent growth.

I planted 2 new palms.  The first, Trachycarpus fortunei (Windmill palm), is a species I've had in my front yard in Vancouver for 15 years.  It's pretty hardy.  The label states hardy to 20 to 10F.  Last winter the tree in my yard survived 8F.    The second, Chamaerops humilis (European fan palm), is labeled as hardy to 6 degrees.  "Extremely slow grower".  This palm is more a bush, than a tree, with clusters of palms.  I read deer and rabbits don't eat them.  Battleground is a bit less gentle climate, compared to Vancouver.  If they don't survive, that's OK.  If they do survive, that's even better.  They will also provide something green to look at when the grass turns brown, and in the winter.

Sourwood new growth and some leaf damage.  5.25.14

I planted the Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash, and Scallop Squash, seedlings that I grew from seeds a couple of weeks ago.  There are some additional seedlings still to plant.

I mulched around the new apple trees, using newspaper and food package cardboard as the bottom layer - to kill grass - then covering with grass mowings deep enough that you can't see the bottom layer.  I cut fencing to complete the deer cages, but it started raining so I did not fasten in place. 

Smith fig regenerating from roots.  5.25.15

Trachycarpus fortunei planted 5.25.14 

Chamaerops humilis planted 5.25.14

Tamara rose amid irises and weeds

Sunroom nearing completion.  5.25.14

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.

Today's harvest

 

 

 

Today's Harvest

I was happy with today's harvest.  A zucchini, a cucumber, a nice batch of tomatoes, pole beans, and the first two okra, ever.  Tomorrow:  Barley / tomato soup with home-grown okra, home grown garlic, and home grown onions.

Kitchen Garden.

Zucchini

Blueberries

Now picking a couple of zucchinis a week.  We've eaten 4 nice zucchinis.  At the moment, all of the flowers are male.  The yellow ones are more tender.

Blueberries are in full season.

Mulberries are near the end.

Shiro plums are in full season.

We are getting a few figs a week.

Starting to get more Sungold tomatoes.

It's nice.

Pole Beans. Zucchini. Butternut Squash. Watermelon. Borage. Tomatoes.

Tomatoes

 Tomato fruits are setting.  The plants are growing.  I don't know how they will do in the Battleground raised beds, but I think OK.  They need some mulch.

Zucchini

Polebeans

Borage and Butternut squash

Watermelon "Petite Yellow"

Zucchinis are living up to their reputation for fast growth.  There are small flower buds.  I think starting them in containers then setting them out in garden works well.

Pole beans have replaced garlic - 2 weeks ago - and I installed deer / rabbit fence last weekend.  Easy job, just have to do it.   Ditto on the container starts.

If not for fatigue I would have done a lot more.  I'm good for about an hour at a time.  New raised beds will have to wait.  If I can construct the sides this month, then filling them won't be so bad.

Borage and Butternut Squash growing nicely where I cleared out a pile of leaf compost a few weeks ago.   Borage seeds were planted directly. 

Small watermelon plant replaced Inchelium Red garlic.

This is the first year growing vegetables at the Battleground place.  So everything is new. 

If only I had some energy.  I could do a lot.

Kitchen Garden. Strawberries and Snowpeas. Planting zucchinis and squash.

Strawberries and Snowpeas

Getting more strawberries and snowpeas.  The individual harvests are small but good enough for two.  We have had several harvests of both, for 2 weeks.

Also a broccoli spear.  I wondered if it was worthwhile to grow my own broccoli.  It is.  More tender and flavorful than grocery store broccoli.

Zucchini seedlings

I planted zucchini seedlings, yellow and green varieties.  Also a butternut squash.  These are seeds I started about 2 weeks ago.  Covered with chicken wire.  Loose.  They grow fast.  I'll have to come up with better protection in a week or two.

I didn't have the ambition to build another raised bed.   So they are in the native soil, plus some steer manure compost.   I have been collecting molehill soil from around the yard.  There should be enough for one or two raised beds, in a couple of months.

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.

Strawberries and Zucchinis

Today after stopping homework I watered the containers and the newer fruit trees, and picked strawberries and zucchinis. The biggest of these are "Seascape" Strawberry.  These were planted in containers this February. They are bearing nicely and still blooming well.

I also pruned back the Stanley plum to get it into a low branched bowl shape. The lead had reached about 7 feet. I pruned it back to the lowest point that had good branches in each direction, about 3 and a half feet tall.

Kitchen Garden Log. Time to Start Some Veggies

Today,

1. I pulled several buckets of weeds from the rose bed / peach bed / raspberry patch. A lot of the weeds were young raspberry plants. They are spreading like crazy. Chickens got benefit of all of the weeds. I need to do some research - I don't know what some of the weeds are called.

2. I spread fresh straw for the chickens. Their eggs have been too muddy, I have to wash them. Today's eggs were clean. Since they are eating so much greens, I threw in some shell calcium to keep the eggshells strong.

3. I planted seeds, Cucumber (Early Pride Hybrid and Palaace King Hybrid Asian Cucumber) and Zucchini (Sweet Zuke Hybrid) and summer squash (Butterstick). I blogged on these earlier when I bought the seeds. I planted the seeds in compost-based potting soil.

4. Transplanted a couple more eggplants into the barrels. Im not sure how these will do, they are not thriving. Probably started too early.

Seed Catalog Order

Not exactly the same as planned, but it's exciting to look ahead. I ordered from Burpee this year. I liked their user reviews of varieties, accessible right on the variety description. It looks honest - varieties that are labeled as user favorites, and featured prominently, are not necessarily the ones that won the reviews. For example, most thought that Tomato variety "Red Lightening" was tough-skinned and not flavorful. Much less expensive, and much older variety, "Supersweet 100" had a much higher rating for flavor, but complaints about splitting - exactly my experience. "Brandy Boy" was panned by many who grew it - so I changed my mind and went to old reliable "Better Boy", which has that old growing-up-in-the-midwest flavor, is reliable, disease resistant, and bears many big juicy tomatoes. I also added Black Truffle hybrid due to rave reviews, but kept Northen Exposure and 4th of July despite so-so reviews, as an experiment due to early bearing properties and reported tolerance to cold.

Photo Thumbnails from Burpee.com (note - they aren't paying me anything at all to post, or giving me any special deal or product - this is just my garden log. But I hope it's OK to include them in this discussion. Full sized photos can be seen at the Burpee website)

55103A Bush Bean Roma II 53 days - 1 Pkt. (2 oz.) 1 $2.95




83139 Burpee Booster for Beans and Peas - 1-3oz. Pkg (40' row) 1 $8.25

53512A Snap Pea Super Sugar Snap V.P. 64 days - 1 Pkt. (200 seeds) 1 $3.95

52936A Tomato Fourth of July Hybrid 49 days - 1 Pkt. (40 seeds) 1 $3.95




56663A Tomato Northern Exposure Hybrid 67 days - 1 Pkt. (30 Seeds) 1 $3.95

56812A Tomato Cherokee Purple (Heirloom) 85 days - 1 Pkt. (50 seeds) 1 $3.95

52027A Tomato Super Sweet 100 Hybrid (Cherry) 70 days - 1 Pkt. (30 seeds) 1 $2.95

67265A Tomato Black Truffle Hybrid 75 days - 1 packet (30 seeds) 1 $3.95




50724A Tomato Better Boy Hybrid 72 days - 1 Pkt. (30 seeds) 1 $3.95

62120A Tomato Black Pearl Hybrid 65 days - Packet (30 seeds) 1 $5.25

65005A Bush Bean Eureka 55 days - Packet (2 oz.) 1 $3.95




54460A Eggplant Millionaire Hybrid 55 days - 1 Pkt. (30 seeds) 1 $2.95




65025A Eggplant Fairy Tale 50 days - Packet (30 seeds) 1 $5.25

54148A Hot Pepper Big Red Hybrid 70 days - 1 Pkt. (30 seeds) 1 $3.95

63770A Pepper Red Popper 55 days - Packet (40 seeds) 1 $4.75

56020A Costa Rican Sweet Pepper 70 days - Packet (40 seeds) 1 $4.75




57109A Zucchini Sweet Zuke Hybrid 48 days - 1 Pkt. (25 seeds) 1 $3.95




53231A Zucchini Butterstick Hybrid 50 days - 1 Pkt. (25 seeds) 1 $2.95




62810A Cucumber Palace King Hybrid (Oriental) 62 days - 1 Pkt. (30 seeds) 1 $4.95




62802A Cucumber Early Pride Hybrid (Slicing) 55 days - 1 Pkt. (30 seeds) 1 $2.95

91056 Seedling Heat Mats - 1 Mat - 10in.X20-3/4in. 1 $36.75

This seems like a lot of expense, but I take the following into account:
1. It's a hobby.
2. Given the evaluations, and my past experience, I'm confident that most of these are high-potential varieties in my yard. I chose for early yield, reported disease resistance, and either my personal experience of reliability or multiple reviews. With storebought, it's more difficult to do this.
3. For tomatoes, varieties that turn out well - and a few are already proven performers - this is a 3 or 4-year supply of seeds. Some are admittedly experiments - 4th of July due to reported very early yield, Northern Exposure for reported good bearing in cool short summers. I usually experiment with a couple of new types - I love the black varieties, so will try Black Truffle. Cherokee Purple has always done well for me, as have Better Boy, Supersweet 100, and Lemon Boy. I'll see if my old Lemon Boy seeds sprout, if not see if some are locally available, since Burpee doesn't carry them. They should do fine, they are only 1 year old seeds.
4. For the beans, this will be enough for about 20 meals for two. Plus, when the plants quit bearing, they are fed to the chickens and become eggs. Both the Romas and the yellow beans are excellent, better than anything from the store.
5. For the zucchinis and cucumbers, two plants of each variety will be enough for many meals and snacks, plus some to give away, plus some for the chickens.
6. The pepper seeds may also last 4 years or more. I'm not sure about what to expect, but experience tells me they last longer than that.
7. The eggplants are listed as early bearing varieties. In fact, among the earliest. That's needed here, because they start late and bear late.

The seed mat is part of my master plan for peppers, especially, but also tomatoes and some of the others. Warmer start means faster start, and maybe even more seeds will sprout. It should last a long time. One year I used a heating pad - it seemed to help, but not recommended, they are not made for that.

What's up in the Kitchen Garden?

I'm so excited! The peaches are getting bigger and more colorful. This is Honey Babe. It fully recovered from the peach leaf curl of 2008, and the preventive measure last winter was completely successful. How cool is that!

We ate several Lemon Boy and a big bowl of Supersweet 100 this week. I added some high nitrogen organic liquid feed last week, based on advice from the Davis Calif garden show. I neglected to feed them in May, so most of the plants are smaller now, compared to last year. Even so, it looks like there will be a good crop of tomatoes and peppers this year.

The zucchinis are also starting to make up for lost time. These are the easiest crop of the garden.

Grapes are not even close to ripe yet. This is Price grape, trained over a gate. The vine is about 6 years old. It will be the best crop ever for this vine. I watered deeply, twice this summer. Otherwise it's getting its water from deep in the ground. I read that grapevines can send roots incredibly deep, so they shouldn't need much water from above.

I like the tower method of training cucumbers. We're getting about 1 cuke daily now. These are chinese cucumbers. By the end of summer, these cukes will reach the top of the tower, 7 feet. Training vertically reduces risk for mildew, and the cukes are easy to find and pick. Plus, it's a very small location, and the tower makes the best use of this garden niche.

Kitchen Garden

We have been eating lots of cilantro. This was sown by crushing old flower heads from last year's cilantro, letting the seeds scatter on the mulch. The flower heads were saved by leaving them in the garden shed over the winter, unprotected. The cilantro is flavorful and tender. This method fits into the "cheap+lazy" gardening philosophy. I putter around far too much to be considered lazy, but "virtually no effort" takes up too much room in the labels.

The strawberries hold a lot of promise. The most blooms, ever.

The Inchelium garlic looks like corn plants. No scapes yet.

Several of the tomatoes have flower buds, even though they are only about 9 inches to a foot tall. I've started pinching out the lower branches, to maintain a cordon shape. One grouping had pale leaves - uncelar why, but this area did not get as much chicken compost. I added fish emulsion and added some epson salts for good measure (Mg and sulfur) and the leaves ARE greener today.

I hate to say it, but I planted some 'orphan' tomato plants in an area that is frequented by the cat for her litter box. These ARE larger and greener than the others. I guess this is OK - they are fruits, so the food part is not near the cat's 'products'.

We've been eating lots of scallions, both of the 'potato onion' type (my favorite) and the "Egyptian walking onion' type. And some of the 'I don't know what they are' type, that just happened to be left in the ground from previous years. These are perfect for the "cheap+lazy" gardener, since each onion produces sets for next year, at the top of the plant. These can be planted in the fall for early scallions, at zero cost and little effort. If you ignore them, they'll fall over and plant themselves, which is esentially zero effort for the gardener.

Today I planted another set of Ning's beans. In addition, I planted bush zucchinis. Something ate the prior seedlings. I planted new cucumber seeds, for the same reason.

veggies

At this time I've barely had time to keep them watered. Still, with large amounts of organic matter added to the soil over the past several years, and a compost mulch, they are producing pretty well. Lots of tomatoes now, plus zucchinis, cucumbers, some cayenne and hungarian peppers. Also, I've been eating about 1/2 pound of grapes daily for the past week, and they are just starting to ripen. First was Interlaken, quickly followed by Venus and Price. Price has the largest grapes, with a 'grapey' flavor, and I don't mind the seeds. Interlaken is the sweetest, but being seedless they are smaller than Price. Venus is interesting - I can't decide how much I like them, but they are not fully sweet yet and they are bigger than Interlaken. Canadice hasn't started to ripen yet. Looking forward to them.