The August Monthly Update

It has been way too long since the last posting. The main reason: the new addition to the house. No, not a kid. But just as taxing: a puppy. Our buddy Truman is a non-stop attention grabber. This hasn't necessarily taken away from my time to tend to the garden, just to the blog.

So here is a quick update on the garden.

It is dang hot and humid out. The plants, for the most part, do not enjoy this extreme heat and lack of rain. The tomato plants have slowed down fruit production and are killing off branches and leaves not supporting the fruit. The cucumber plant is struggling, the salad is long gone, and due to Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Truman, the acorn squash plant is no more. The squirrel ate half the squashes and Truman came right behind and pulled up the plants. I wasn't too upset because the squashes weren't very big and the plant was struggling.

What are doing well are all the pepper plants, the herbs, and the fruit vines. It's no coincidence, I guess, the pepper plants enjoy the hot weather. I have so many jalapenos, New Mexico Chiles, and Romanian sweet peppers, I've resorted to freezing them for later roasting.

The raspberry and blueberry vines are spreading quickly and that will be good news come next spring.

That's all I have time for. I'm sure Truman needs to go outside to do whatever he feels he needs to do. Somewhere has to be a stick or pine cone to grab... or a small child to chase.

Cracks in the Armor

They may not be Jon and Kate or Reggie and Kim, but a good sized bunch of tomatoes are breaking up. Ironically, our problem is occurring just about everywhere except on our celebrity tomato plant.

As you can see, many of the tomatoes (mostly on the heirloom plant) have large tears or cracks in their skins. What causes this problem? There are a few possibilities.

1)Alteration in the growth rate- The fruits may not grow at a steady rate. They can go from a slow rate to a rapid rate. In doing so, the cells in the tomato may not be able to stretch quickly enough for the skin to grow in accordance with the rest of the fruit (kind of like stretch marks on a pregnant woman).

2) Fast growth- With the high temperatures and humidity here to stay, some fruits grow very fast, and again, the skin of the tomato can't stay with the rapid growth.

3)Fluctuation in temperature- In the hot sun the fruit heats up and cools off during the night. If it's a substantial change in temps, it causes a lot of expansion and contraction. This will cause the skin to crack during those cycles.

4)Uneven nutrient levels- Plants with high levels of nitrogen and low potassium are more likely to crack.

5)Change in watering cycles- If there's a dramatic change in the cycle the plant receives water, cracking will occur.I have a feeling that a couple of these could be my problem, but I think the main issue is #5. When I went on vacation, the watering cycle changed from every other day to whenever my neighbors could water. Don't get me wrong...for two weeks of no rain, my garden stayed healthy thanks to their efforts.

But the transition from a very wet spring to a dry summer has altered the water cycle of my plants. It was just a matter of time. If the rains had been even throughout the seasons, we may not have had the problem.

The good news about cracking is it doesn't make the tomatoes any less edible. Good thing because I need a good snack while surfing the celebrity gossip websites for all the new Hollywood break-ups and drama.

The July Monthly Update

The Garden: July 23, 2009

It's a few days late, but I finally have a chance to sit down for the monthly update. This farmer spent the past week back in the homeland of Colorado. It has been a very wet (unusual) year in the Centennial Sate. But temps stayed cool longer and gardens got a late start. All the rain was doing wonders, but a severe storm packed with hail and high winds this week did extensive damage to gardens and crops across the Denver Metro area.

Back here in Virginia, Mother Nature turned off the spicket several weeks ago. The temperatures and humidity have gone up and so has the need for water in the garden. It figures this would happen the same time I leave town. Thankfully, the Mrs. did a great job of watering followed by our neighbors. Was the garden as healthy when I returned? No. But it could have been considerably worse.The Harvest After Our Colorado Trip: Tomaotes, Cucumbers, Jalapenos, Romaian Peppers and NM Chiles

• Acorn Squash-Probably suffered the most in the heat and decrease in water. Many leaves died off and the squash have not grown in size the past few weeks. I'm hoping that the plant recovers and produces great squash in its prime fall harvest season.
  
• Albatross Bell Peppers- See Romanian Sweet Peppers....because it doesn't appear we ever had Albatross Bell Peppers.
  
• Jalapeno Peppers- Wowser. This is clearly El Hefe of the garden so far. The poppers (see previous blog post) have been the hit if the season.
  
• Romanian Sweet Peppers- I thought we had one Romanian plant and one Albatross pepper plant. Well, it looks like someone mislabeled some plants because the "albatross" looked identical to the Romanian. Either way, we've already had some ripe and delicious looking peppers. I cut three off just this morning
  
• New Mexico Espanola Chiles- The chiles are growing nicely and we picked our first batch this morning.
  
• New Mexico Heritage Chiles- Along with their Espanola cousins, the Heritage are putting out a lot of peppers. Being away for a week allowed some peppers to turn red instead of a green-color harvest.
  
• Bush Whopper Cucumbers- No surprise the cucumber plant is doing fantastic. The cucumbers are big and tasty and the plant has maintained a compact growth pattern.
  
• Celebrity Tomatoes- The birds had a field day with the celebrities. With the mesh and Oswald in place, we're getting a chance to eat a lot of big, juicy tomatoes
  
• Mr. Stripey Tomatoes- By the looks of it, the Mr. Stripey's might have been mislabelled as well. The tomatoes are a solid yellow color and appear fully ripe. No stripes in sight.
  
• Patio Tomatoes- Birds had some patio 'maters, too. But the plant keeps putting out some tasty tomatoes.
  
• Supersweet 100 Tomatoes- The name fits the bill. These little red beauties are sweet and delish.
  
• Finger Carrots- I thinned out the carrot box and I think we might have some edible carrots.
  
• Lisbon Onions- Ready to use. The onions are a cool season crop, so they won't last long in the heat.
  
• Dwarf Gray Sugar Peas- After a plentiful harvest (two frozen bags worth), the heat killed the vines quickly. I pulled all the vines off the trellises.
  
• Rutabagas- Thinned them out and looking better. Still pretty small.
  
• Salad Mix- The salads we had were great. But again, the heat does this plant no favors. See you in the fall, Salad Mix.

The herbs are blowing up except for the dill and cilantro. Those are finito. Oh well, they made a good run.

The fruit plants are...well....there. Although the blueberry vines are spreading fast. Could be a great sign for next year.

Pole Positon 'peño Poppers

You have a big NASCAR race party and can't think of a killer appetizer? Have a basketful of jalapenos fresh from the garden sitting around?
Here's a recipe that will qualify you at the front of the pack and quickly lapping the #7-Layer Dip car. I pulled this recipe from a The Food Network, as submitted by some guy named Joe Rao. I changed a couple things to give it a little more horsepower (but not heat).

Ingredients:

• 20 large jalapeno peppers
• 1 package of cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/2 cup of shredded mozarella
  
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder (or 4 garlic cloves minced)
  
• Chopped fresh basil leaves
• Pinch salt and fresh ground black pepper
  
• 10 strips of bacon cut in half
  
• Skewers or toothpicks soaked in water (so not to burn on grill)

Preheat you grill. Cut tops off jalapenos and make a slice down one side of each pepper. Do not cut in half. Take a small paring knife and clean out all white flesh and seeds from inside the peppers (this is where all the heat of the jalapeno resides). Combine cream cheese, mozarella, garlic powder, basil, salt and pepper. Mix until creamy. At this point, put the cheese mixture in a pastry bag. Most folks don't have a pastry bag, so put the mixture in a ziplock bag, squeeze out all the air in the bag, and cut a corner off. Voila...a redneck pastry bag. Take slice of bacon and wrap around each pepper. Once wrapped in bacon, take each pepper and fill inside with cheese mixture. Poke skewers through each pepper (I put five peppers on each skewer).
If you have a grill basket, hang skewers on basket so that jalapenos sit upright. Grill on high heat until bacon is cooked. Remove from grill and let cool for 5 minutes. Crack open your favorite brew, devour, and watch Dale, Jr. suck once again (the only place he wins is the souvenir stand).

It's as simple as that!!!

It's The MOTHERF#@&ING Birds!!!

Although he is an accessory to the crimes (seen yesterday eating pieces of tomatoes), it is apparent the main culprit of the tomato killings is not Mr. Squirrel. The bandits are from above. And here is how I know:

Assuming that Mr. Squirrel was causing the problems, I erected 3 ft. high fencing around the plants. This prevented the furry rodent from climbing into the pots and grabbing the tomatoes. But this afternoon I walked out to the garden to see two birds fly out of the patio tomato plant. Sure enough the red tomatoes, untouched this morning, were damaged and clearly done so by a bird beak.After screaming in anger, frustration, and sadness, I rushed back to Home Depot to finish the protective fortress I started yesterday.

Upon my return, I wrapped the tops of the plants with a plastic mesh designed to keep birds away. With plastic ties, I secured the mesh to the plastic fencing and (hopefully) created a barrier between bird and tomato.My security plans do not end there. A good fortress needs a good guard.

Meet Oswald. His wicked stare could give anyone the heebeejeebees. Let's just hope the birds buy into the fact he guards those tomatoes with his life and is willing to take theirs' to do so.

His permanent replacement is almost ready to stand guard....but you'll meet him later.

One more thing: Don't think this crime went unpunished. I returned the favor by destroying the bird nest in our front gutter. Don't mess with the gardener or you'll get the hose.

No More Mr. Nice Gardener

Dear Mr. Squirrel,

To say we don't have the greatest relationship is putting it mildly. Despite the fact there are hundreds of yards in the neighborhood for you to dig your holes and bury your peanuts (from the old lady down the way), you have chosen to do all your excavating in my garden pots this spring. I will be honest, this greatly bothered me when the plants were still young and developing. You've ruined a few carrots, damaged the raspberry plant's roots, and disrupted the basil plant.

As the days grew longer and the plants grew taller, I let my frustrations go. Hey, we all can forgive and forget.

But today, all my goodwill was destroyed. Gone for only three days, I returned to find cold-hard evidence that your holiday weekend feast was several patio tomatoes. We're not even talking nibbles. You devoured most of the tomatoes. And to rub it in my face, you hopped over to the Mr. Stripey tomato pot and dug a hole big enough to bury Jimmy Hoffa..... again.

So consider the truce over, my furry friend. You just purchased a one-way ticket to Youregonnadieville.

Sincerely,

Your Worst Nightmare: A Pissed-Off Produce Grower

So Sorry, Safeway

Do you know the absurd amount of tomatoes I buy at the grocery store during the non-growing season? I know the produce code for vine-ripened tomatoes by heart. #4774.
Well guess what, Safeway shoppers? My fingers won't be tapping that number for the next several months.

Today I harvested the year's first tomatoes...and they are beautiful. In fact, I can't recall tomatoes from years past being so big and healthy. I picked two beasts from the Celebrity plant, two from the Patio plant, and three from the Supersweet (the name is fitting, too).
Nothing better than starting a Tuesday off with fresh garden tomaters.

Mulch Ado About Nothing

So much for spring. Now that summer is officially here, so are the hot temps and high humidity. My lawn isn't one to enjoy this time of the year, but the garden is flourishing. That is, as long as I stay on top of things and give it all the attention it needs.

Drooping Leaves on The Acorn Squash Plant Means It Needs Water

The culmination of heavy early season rains, high temperatures, longer days, bigger plants, and fruit on the vines has the garden very, very thirsty. No longer can I go a couple days between watering. In fact, this week the garden is almost needing daily water. Although I don't mind getting up fifteen minutes earlier everyday to yank out the hose, I need to find ways to make the water go further. (Remember, the best time to water your garden is in the early morning!!!) And with vacations coming up, I'm not going to be around everyday to water.

So here are some steps I took today that may help our plight to quench the garden.

1) Continue to prune- I cut away some low-hanging branches, yellow-colored leaves and branches, dead vines, etc. By eliminating these dying parts, the plant no longer must worry about providing for these leaves. It can focus water and nutrients to the healthier plant parts and developing fruit.

2) Pick mature veggies/fruit- If there are veggies ready to pick...do it. Again, this is one less thing the plant must provide for and keep its attention on other developing fruit.
3) Add more potting mix- Over time, some of the potting mix can erode away from watering and things like squirrels digging holes in the pots. As the plants get bigger, I also see small roots exposed from the soil. Adding more mix raises the soil level, adds support for the roots, provides more nutrients, and cools off the older potting mix.
4) Feed the plants- It was time for the garden to get its two week feeding. With the fresh potting mix layer, the nutrients will not filter to the bottom and eventually out the pot. The new mix will hold the nutrients and give the plant roots more opportunity to utilize the nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous.
5) Mulching- This is the big step. I'm hoping this will solve most of my watering and heat problems. Mulch is extremely valuable in the garden. First, it keeps soil cool in the summer heat and warm in cooler season temps. Second, it helps keep moisture in the soil from evaporating in the daytime sun. Third, it holds water and slowly dispenses it into the soil or ground. Knowing this, I ran to the garden center and grabbed a large (but cheap) bag of shredded wood mulch. Make sure when buying mulch not to get stuff treated with chemicals or a colored-dye.
After the new layer of mix and feeding, I spread a thin layer of mulch in the pots with the larger plants. I showered the mulch down to cool it off and keep from absorbing any moisture and nutrients underneath.

Mulch can provide other great duties such as preventing weed growth and warding off pests. Plus, it looks nicer than dried up dirt.
My suggestion: get out in the garden now and spend a good, long morning preparing your garden for the long and hot summer season. Trust me, a little work now can save you a lot of work down the road.

Batten Down The Hatchs !!

Yeah, yeah... you're telling yourself, "Hatches is spelled wrong, dummy." In this case, I intended to not spell it with an 'e'. When I write, 'Hatchs', I mean hatch chiles. And authentic hatch chiles can only be found in one place: Hatch, New Mexico. Brought from South America, chiles evolved around the turn of the 20th century when New Mexican ranchers and horticulturists interbreeded different pods to create a heartier and tastier chile. They're used for many things and in many recipes. Green chile stew is my favorite.

Enough with the english and history lesson.

With the plants growing to full size and fruit forming on branches, Mother Nature and gravity will start taking a greater toll on the plants. I've found pepper plants need the most help in supporting their own weight.

When I first potted the plants, I inserted long stakes for support. This allowed the roots to grow around the stakes rather than the shock of jamming stakes into mature root systems later on. Now that the plants have grown, this weekend was my chance to utilize that support.

I use twine to wrap the stalks and large limbs to the stakes. It's pretty simple to do. I prefer to use a figure-8 method. Just wrap the twine around the stalk, cross it, wrap around the stake, and tie a knot. I think it provides good support but won't strangle the plant to the stake. It also allows room for the stem to grow bigger.

It's not plastic surgery, folks, but it does a pretty darn good job of keeping things from sagging.

The June Monthly Update

The Garden: June 19th

Can someone please tell the Guy upstairs to go ahead and turn off the water spicket for a couple weeks...at least until we go to Colorado for a week in July?

I always enjoy a good rainstorm. Being a kid from Colorado, I always welcome moisture. Drought is all too common in the Southwest. But this wet spring has been a tad ridiculous. It's starting to hamper the garden. Sure, it loves water, but the garden needs sunlight to use that water in photosynthesis. Here's the monthly update on the plants.

• Acorn Squash-A handful of blossoms popped up a couple weeks ago and last weekend I found the first squash forming. It was a very light green color; a stark contrast to the deep green color of mature acorn squashes. Maybe the color changes, but I worry the lack of sun may be an issue.
  
• Albatross Bell Peppers- Fruits have also developed on Albatross. But something is amiss. They are a very light green color and look almost dead-on similar to the fruits growing on the Romanian sweet pepper plant in the same pot. Is it a sunlight problem? Was I duped by a misplaced label at the garden center and bought what I thought was a bell pepper plant? Does the presence of another pepper plant cause this plant to change attributes and mimic its neighbor? There will be some investigation into this.
  
• Jalapeno Peppers- A half dozen peppers are fully mature and taste great.
  
• Romanian Sweet Peppers- The plant has grown nicely and has several fruits growing quickly.
  
• New Mexico Espanola Chiles- The Espanolas are quickly growing up. Several blossoms have developed but I pinched them off. Yesterday's mid-day storm was too much for one plant to handle and the force of the rain knocked the plant over. It doesn't appear the stalk was damaged. So this weekend will involve tying all the plants to their stakes.
  
• New Mexico Heritage Chiles- The plants look very healthy. I pinched the blossoms on the Heritages as well. The plants are still too small to support large chiles.
  
• Bush Whopper Cucumbers- Some blossoms have popped along with a few extremely small cucumbers. I expect in the next week or two to be making cucumber/feta/dill salad.
  
• Celebrity Tomatoes- There are a couple HUGE tomatoes chillin' on the vines. The celebrity uses more water than the other tomato plants so far. I'm guessing some warmer weather this weekend will get the ripening process started on these whopper -sized 'maters.
  
• Mr. Stripey Tomatoes- The plant potted last has now become the tallest plant in the garden. It is about a foot taller than the tomato cage. Early this week the first fruits appeared.
  
• Patio Tomatoes- Still bushy, still growing tomatoes.
  
• Supersweet 100 Tomatoes- Did I get the runt of the litter when I bought this plant? I can't figure out what the deal is with the supersweets. I see a ton of blossoms, but very few fruit. It doesn't look sick, but not all that healthy either.
  
• Finger Carrots- I clearly overplanted the carrots. I probably need to pull half the crop out for any chance of decent sized carrots this season.
  
• Lisbon Onions- Doing their thing. Probably overseeded.
  
• Dwarf Gray Sugar Peas- It's the tail end of the harvest for the peas. I had about 5 days of solid picking of pea pods. There are two full Ziploc backs of sugar peas in my freezer. The vines are quickly dying in the heat. I give the peas two more weeks before they completely die. I'll reseed sometime in August.
  
• Rutabagas- Now slugs have moved into my rutabaga boxes. These have been a lost cause. I may pull 80% of these this weekend and see if there's any hope of saving them.
• Salad Mix- We've had some great salads with this lettuce. The leaves were huge and had a slightly bitter taste. But it tasted great with some homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

The Fruit File

• Blueberries ('10 Harvest)- Growing the fastest of the two berry plants.
  
• Raspberries ('10 Harvest)- Still growing nicely.
  
• Strawberries- Had two little strawberries. Not much to offer this year.
  

The Herb Honor Roll

• Basil- I've really kept my eye on the basil. Daily pruning of buds and blossoms has kept the plant healthy. The basil has been outstanding this year.
  
• Chamomile- Still going.
  
• Chives- I've cut this plant way back. Haven't used it much lately.
  
• Cilantro-Had a couple nice cuts from it. It has grown tall and flowered. Doesn't look at all like the stuff in the grocery store.
  
• Dill-Very healthy looking and really tasty. This is prime dill time.
  
• Lavender-Zzzzzzzz
• Oregano- The oregano is going great and providing a great taste for a weekly homemade pizza.
  
• Parsley- Looking good and nice to have for recipes.
• Peppermint-Doing great...may have to make some iced tea
  
• Rosemary- Haven't used it much, but the rosemary looks good.
  
• Thyme-Continuing to grow thick. May have to try it in some scrambled eggs this weekend.
  

Muy Caliente!!

Look what Rosetta Stone has taught me to say!!!

My first batch of jalapenos is raring to be harvested and used in a batch of guacamole (along with some cilantro over in the herb aisle next to the parsley). Last week I plucked my first pepper to taste. The surprising part of the first 'peno was its tightly packed seeds and white flesh. The seeds were much smaller than what I've seen in grocery store peppers. I do know the heat of a pepper is packed in those seeds and flesh.

I bucked up and tried the first bite seeds, flesh, and all; might as well find out how hot a punch they are packing. The first five seconds were intensely hot...but it quickly calmed. I thought the flavor was great. The rest of the pepper ended up on some homemade nachos.

So the only lesson I can give here: if you don't want the jalapeno's heat, cut out the seeds and white flesh before consuming. Me? Let's get some chips and avocados and have us a fiesta.

Channel Your Inner-Barber

There's nothing like a clean shave or haircut to get you feeling good and put a little bounce in your step. Well, think of it the same way for your garden plants. Sure we want our plants to be one with nature, be in harmony with mother earth, etc. But let's not go overboard into the dirty hippie category.

A great garden is a groomed garden. The weather is warming up so the plants are taking off and sprouting all new directions. Now is the time when you have to start putting a lot more effort into keeping your growing plants looking sharp. Did I say sharp? What a great segway into...

Tip #1: Have a sharp set of garden/kitchen shears. Personally I have a set of Wusthof kitchen shears from my knife set. They are sturdy and perfect for the garden. I think they cost about $30. A good pair of shears makes pruning and harvesting very easy.









Tip #2: Look low. I find it's important to keep your plant well groomed at its base near soil level. The lower leaves and branches can be a nuisance for a couple reasons. Pests and disease can can live on the ground. If your plant has leaves near or touching the surface, that creates a freeway for unwanted entities to hop on your plant and cause problems. Second, more leaves and branches that exist on the plant make the plant work harder. By cutting off weak or diseased leaves, the plant can focus on sustaining the stronger leaves and production of fruit.









Tip #3: Look high. As plants shoot upwards, look for things like suckers growing on tomato plants. Same with the bottom leaves, eliminating suckers and other damaged leaves allows the plant to focus nutrients towards the strong leaves and fruits. As for root plants, you want to clip off the tops of the plants. For example, with onions you want to clip the green shoots to about 3 inches in height (below pics). Clipping the tops tells the plant to focus on the root system, which in the case of onion plants is the actual onion. The same can apply to other root veggies.









Tip #4: When it comes to herbs and leaf plants....pick, pick, pick!!! The more you cut or pick off your plants, the faster and larger they come back.

This weekend I went to town with the cutters on the plants. I always comb my tomato plants for new suckers to pinch. I trimmed the base of all my pepper species (middle pics), cut off the white blossoms and stunted bottom leaves on the basil (top pics), sheared off half the onion tops, and picked a ton more sugar peas. Jalapenos are growing fast, the tomatoes are getting bigger, and the cucumber/squash plants have blossomed.

It's a fun time in the garden!!!

The First Pickin' of Peas

Forget Waldo, Where the Peas?

Just before the skies opened up and Noah floated down the Capital Beltway tonight, I ran out to the garden and harvested our first batch of gray dwarf sugar peas. It was only a week or so ago we saw the first purple blossoms drop in favor of very small pods. But tonight, there were almost two dozen pods looking to burst at the seems.

Picking peas can be a bit of a task. First of all, there's a very short window for prime plucking. If you wait a day or two too long, they may lose their sweetness. They get starchy and lose that yum-yum taste. Like most other plants, the longer you wait, the slower the plant will take to grow new fruits. My garden bible (The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch) says the opportune time to pick the pods is when you can feel full-sized peas inside and they do not feel hard. If the skin of the pod is smooth, it's ready to pick. Some peas are picked when the pods are full sized but still flat. But in the case of our sugar peas, the peas have to be full and round.

I didn't pick enough for two servings at dinner. But I'm hoping by tomorrow afternoon we'll have enough to secure a healthy portion on our dinner plates.

Ghosts of Gardens Past

Nature always finds a way. 

I've spent countless hours and dollars cultivating the ideal environment to grow the veggies and herbs. But sometimes I ask myself if these plants REALLY need the royal treatment.

I bring this up because over the past few weeks, I've noticed a few unexpected additions to the garden. Maybe a better term for them would be "old friends".  They've popped up in the rocks and crevices between my pots. They being tomato and dill plants. My only guess about their emergence can be they grew from seeds of tomatoes dropped by last year's plants. The location of the little plants would suggest so. The dill may have come from the wind blowing seeds off the flowers of last year's dill plant.

Think about it, this is how nature did its thing well before there were any gardens. Tomatoes are simply seed carriers and provide a vehicle to drop those seeds for plants to grow in the future. The dill plant is no different than any dandelion or other weed that uses the wind to spread its offspring.

As cool as this is, I still plucked them with the weeds. Sorry, there's no pension plan or social security in this backyard. I have enough on my plate providing for this year's plants. 

Munchkin Munchies

This morning I finally saw the beginnings of sugar pea pods on the vines. We had seen countless purple blossoms open in the past couple days. One blossom on Wednesday turned to three on Thursday, seven on Friday, and almost two dozen by this morning. I only assumed the pods were soon to follow. Sure enough, two pods have begun to form next to each other. If I had to guess, there are probably other pods tucked away in the vines that I have yet to discover.

The fingernail-sized pods join a handful of celebrity tomatoes to make their debut in the garden this week. I had been pinching blossoms for the past week or two on the tomatoes and peppers in order to prevent fruit from forming so early. I know that seems a tad counter-intuitive to be stopping the plant from growing fruit. But early on in the season it's a good idea to do so and allow the plant to focus on growing bigger. I guess the celebrity tomato got a couple past me. But the good news is the celebrity plant is the largest and healthiest in the garden, so I think it can handle fruit development.

In the case of peppers, the plant adapts to pinching the first generation of blossoms and the next round will produce peppers with stronger walls and more flavor.

After Pinching the White Blossom on The Romanian Pepper Plant

For all those gardeners out there, I stress the importance of looking over the plants and keeping them well groomed right now as they grow. That means pinching suckers off the tomato plants, cutting small branches less than an inch or two from ground level, and pinching blossoms on very young plants.

Happy Memorial Day!!!

The May Monthly Update

The Garden: May 19th

It's always nice to look back and realize how far our little ones have grown over their short lives. And like good parents, it's always important to let loved ones know what our little bundles of joy have been doing since we last put out the family newsletter.

Okay, seriously, who really likes getting the family newsletters at X-mas time? There's more exclamation points in those things than old Batman episodes. Kerplow!!! The dog got fixed in April!!! Bam!!! Zing!!! Bobby got his first haircut in June!!!!!!! Whoosh!!!! Pow!!!!!

But part of the purpose of this blog is to update what the plants have been doing in our garden. And since the last pic I have of the whole garden was April 19th, I figured I should update everyone on the plant progress on the 19th of every month. So Grandpa and Gramms, Aunt Suzy, Uncle Jimmy, and Cousins Billy Joe and Chantelle....here it goes.

There has been a permanent dark green blob floating over our house on the weather doppler for the past three weeks. We have had a ton of rain this spring coupled with sometimes hot, sometimes chilly temps. I forgot to pull out the plugs on the bottom of the planter I used for my cucumbers. One morning last week, I went out to find the cuke plant was swimming in three inches of water. The soil was soup. Five days later, the soil is still soaked. But the plant still looks healthy.

• Acorn Squash-Still going strong. The vines haven't begun to spread, but it won't be long.
  
• Albatross Bell Peppers- Slow and steady growth...some buds have already appeared.
  
• Jalapeno Peppers- Getting taller with bigger dark green leaves.
  
• Romanian Sweet Peppers- See bell peppers.
  
• New Mexico Espanola Chiles- These NM chiles are slow out of the gate. Unfortunately the squirrel dug a hole right next to one of the Espanola plants and damaged the stem. Today, I dug up that plant and inserted another Espanola plant I had growing to the side.
  
• New Mexico Heritage Chiles- This chile is also slow to take-off. The positive sign is the stem looks a lot thicker and the plant continues to sprout new leaves.
  
• Bush Whopper Cucumbers- I may have to go by arm floaties for the Bush Whopper plant after last week's drowning. But so far it's doing well and continues to grow.
  
• Celebrity Tomatoes- Three times its original size. I already have three small fruit on the vines. I'm trying to pinch a lot of the buds so the plant can continue to focus on growing and developing those first early fruit.
  
• Mr. Stripey Tomatoes- Was a late addition, but is growing at a nice pace. It's behind its brothers and sisters, but it will catch up soon enough.
  
• Patio Tomatoes- Doing what it does best: Growing thick like a bush. I expect to see some fruit developing soon.
  
• Supersweet 100 Tomatoes- The thinnest of the tomato plants, the Supersweets are doing just fine. Like the other tomaters, I've been keeping a close eye on suckers. Also, don't forget to cut off small branches within an inch or two from soil level.
  
• Finger Carrots- Hard to tell how these are doing...but they're thick and the green tops look healthy and tall.
  
• Lisbon Onions- Slowly plodding along.
  
• Dwarf Gray Sugar Peas- These things shot up like a rocket. But so far...no pods. I had to take the cage lid off the strawberries and use it for another support for the vines to grab onto. At the base of the stalks many leaves have gone yellow and died. Today, though, I saw one purple blossom on a stalk. Could pods be in the near future?
  
• Rutabagas- I most definitely overseeded the rutabagas. No way will I get decent sized 'bagas unless I thin out the pots. But I'll be honest...this was not my most anticipated crop.
  

The Fruit File

• Blueberries ('10 Harvest)- Developing nicely. I have some stalks coming out of the ground that are developing healthy leaves and a spiny stem.
  
• Raspberries ('10 Harvest)- Like it's berry cousin next door, the raspberries are growing and looking good.
  
• Strawberries- Mr. Squirrel has done me no favors by digging holes throughout the strawberry pot. I'm down to two healthy plants. The jury's out on the strawberries.
  

The Herb Honor Roll

• Basil- We've ravaged this plant already. Found one caterpillar on the plant having a feast. But he's dead and our caprese salads live on.
  
• Chamomile- I guess it's doing fine. Don't have much interest in it.
  
• Chives- This is the nuclear bomb of the garden. It has exploded. A couple weeks ago, several purple flowers bloomed. They are pretty and tasty.
  
• Cilantro- It has slowed recently and some leaves have died off or lost color. I should probably make some guacamole and thin it out.
  
• Dill-Still young but looking good.
  
• Lavender-Dead. Next.
• Oregano- Can always count on oregano to be healthy and plentiful.
  
• Parsley- Used it in a couple dishes this weekend and looks healthy.
• Peppermint-Growing out of the depths of last year, the peppermint looks like it will be strong again this year.
  
• Rosemary- Doing alright. It will take off soon.
  
• Thyme-Both the garden center plant and the plant grown from seed look great.

Let's Hope This Espanola Chile Plant Takes Root

All-in-all, we're pretty darn happy about progress. This weekend will be the first time I feed the plants. The nutrients combined with warmer weather will probably do wonders. By June 19th, we could have a jungle on our hands.

Pick Your Fairy Tale Reference For This One

I guess I could get cutesy with something from "Jack and the Beanstalk" or "The Princess and the Pea." But forget it...I'm not feeling so Hans Christian Andersen-inspired tonight. It's pouring rain outside...again....and I rushed out to cover my New Mexico chile plants. They're struggling to grow because of over-watering (on my part..not Mother Nature). And for my efforts, I'm pretty soaked.

But I can feel good in knowing my sugar peas are doing wonders over in the back corner of the garden. I started them from seed, or pea, and quickly they have ascended upwards, grasping on to my A-frame trellis.

What's the fairy tale secret? Well, it could be this magic potion suggested to me at the garden center. In the botanical world it's known as garden inoculant. It contains stuff that I could not begin to spell or pronounce. Simply, it's a bacteria that gathers nitrogen. And we all know that nitrogen is a good ally in our garden kingdom.

I followed the instructions and soaked the seeds in inoculent and water before planting them in my pots. The inoculant helps fertilize the soil and promote better growth and yield.
Well, after a month or so, I can safely report the plants are quickly shooting for the sky and grasping onto anything they can. That is why I built the A-frame trellis. One close look shows you how the vines wrap tightly onto anything for support. The trellis so far has done the trick, but last week I had to add an attachment for the plants not close enough to grab onto the original frame (It's also smart to sometimes gently "guide" the vines to wrap onto the support). Within a day or two, the new piece was swallowed up in vines, stalks, and leaves. I'm betting by this weekend, the pea stalks will reach the top of the A-frame.
I haven't seen any pods.But when I do, odds are it will be underneath the trellis. The vines start producing mature peas at the bottom first. So I'll keep my eyes "pea"-led for some in the next week (sorry).