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.

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.
  

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.

Vacation's Over. Time to Get to Work.

The Garden: April 19th

Less than 12 hours back from our wonderful vacation to Italy, I was on my way to Merrifield to buy some plants and get with the planting program. My eyes are always bigger than the space in the backyard so I had to contain myself while I ran up and down the herb/veggie aisles like a kid running through Toys R Us.

My first task was picking out tomatoes. I knew I wanted to grow four varieties. After last year's huge success, I wanted another patio tomato plant. The plant grows bushy rather than tall and thus makes it nice for a small growing space. I picked out a big boy variety tomato and a supersweet 100 tomato breed. The supersweet is a small variety that resembles a cherry tomato. I think this would be great for salads and caprese. The fourth tomato I want is an heirloom tomato. Heirloom tomatoes are very oddly shaped but very delicious. I couldn't find any heirloom plants, so I'll keep looking throughout the week. The garden center gets shipments almost daily.

After the tomato draft, I grabbed my standard herb varieties. Sage, oregano, rosemary, and basil all made it into the shopping cart. Before I knew it, I was elbow deep in potting mix and planning the layout for the garden.

Get the plant deep into the pot...

A good tip for planting your tomato plants: bury them!!! When you set it in the pot or ground, you want to stick it deep in the ground so the roots will be further down. Deeper roots makes it easier for the plant to find water and nutrients in the ground. I bury almost half the plant under ground. Don't worry if you cover some of the young branches. They'll find their way back to the top.

...and then fill the potting mix halfway up the stem

I also planted a jalapeno plant. I include two stakes in the pot to help support the plant when it gets large and begins to bear fruit. Adding stakes/support when you FIRST plant is key. Once the plant gets too big and has no support, it is too late to try and add a stake. Trying to jam the stake into the soil through the roots is not easy and harmful to the plant. So have a little forethought and put the stakes in early. As the plant gets bigger, you can tie it to the stakes.Thank goodness we got all the backyard work done on Sunday because the skies have opened up today. Perfect timing for rain if you ask me.