Sunday, 17 January 2021

No posts last years.  It was a stressful year to say the least.  I still gardened and had a great tomato season but it was super stressful & busy...not only because of Covid but also my husband was unemployed for all of last year so I was picking up a ton of overtime at work because of that.   

I also spent a lot of time canning.  I was extremely grateful that I picked up extra canning lids over the years because there was not a lid to be found in any store in my area.  People really snapped them up because of the pandemic.  To add to that mentality, I noticed for this coming growing season when purchasing my seeds a few weeks ago, so many of the seeds I always buy at this time were already completely sold out.  So I suspect some seed hoarding going on as well.  That and there were a lot of new gardeners created last year because people wanted to be doing something productive....my neighbor being one.  When I'd get home from work, I often found her in my driveway with questions.  Crazy times.

I purchased my favorites like Yaqui, Superfantastic, Mucho Nacho, Blaze, and many more.

Some new varieties I bought were:

Ornamental Peppers: Onyx Red, Black Pearl

Pumpkins:  Autumn Crown, Flat Stacker

Tomatoes:  Granadero, Giant Belgium, Buffalosteak,

Peppers:  Carranza (ancho), Gigantia Jalapeno, Pequime (jalapeno), Sweet Sunset (banana pepper), Ancho San Luis, Inferno (Hungarian Wax), Golden Greek Peperoncino, Minero (Guajillo)

I also received some trial packets.  I don't always try these.  Many are not right for my climate zone and a lot of them are not as disease resistant as I'd like.  

I am excited about this growing season.  I'm not sure if we will be in a new house by then or not....so there are definitely a few balls in the air.  

  

Monday, 23 September 2019

It seems like every year, it is always something that is wonky.  This year it was a couple of things.  One was a major stink bug infestation. The  spring climate was different this year and apparently it was perfect for those little critters.  We have a local gardening show on the radio and every week, there were several calls regarding them.  These little green critters even made in onto the FB page of the show.  But this year I was better prepared for them because I already had a couple of homemade traps made from last year.

The other thing that was different is that I spent 4 weeks away during the peak of tomato season.  So the neighbors who watched the pets the first two weeks, really scored in the tomato department, as well as zucchini and cucumbers.  Then I left two of my adult children in charge for the last 10 days, and they managed to kill all of my flowers that were in pots on the deck, my basil, my squash, and my rosemary.  My peppers were hanging on by a thread.  Thankfully a different neighbor came and picked tomatoes  during that time because I knew my kids would NOT do that. 

In the spring, I neglected my tomato seedlings a little too much and several did not survive.  I ended up going to a local nursery to purchase my romas, and some other varieties.  This was a learning experience.  Now that the summer is over, I now know for a fact, (beyond any doubt whatsoever) that the Yaqui romas are by far superior to anything that is available locally.  The romas I purchased were so incredibly small.  They tasted great, but  the amount of fruits each plant produced paled by comparison.  

So Lesson #1:  don't neglect the little seedlings
Lesson #2:  Yaqui tomatoes rule.

The new determinate, Bella Rosa, that I tried this year, turned out great.   I'd plant them again.

I tried 3 new varieties of Green chilies.  I loved Sahuaro.  The were plentiful and of a decent size.  Numex Joe Parker and Big Jim did not impress me.  I will grow them next year and see if I get the same results.


The Lemon Drop hot peppers I'd definitely try again.  They were slow to start.  Patience is required though.  When all of my other pepper plants were needing to be  harvested, this one was not ready for that.  It was taking its own sweet time.  Eventually this little plant showed up to the party and it was a full on bush covered in these little green peppers that turned a beautiful golden yellow color.  They really were gorgeous.  And they weren't too  hot.  My son tried one right off the bush and he liked it.  

Here is also a note-to-self regarding petunias.  I love Tidal Wave Petunias.  They provide such a spectacular show every summer in my three tier planter.  I didn't have enough plants to fill my planter this year because of seed quality (a little more than half came up).  So lessons learned?

Lesson #3:  don't buy cheap seeds from an unknown seller
Lesson #4:  local nursery Wave petunias, are definitely NOT the same as Tidal Wave.  Such a dramatic difference.  
Lesson #5:  Don't leave adult children in charge of patio pots when I leave town.

So that wraps up my summer.  I will take pictures next year.  I need more pictures.

Monday, 18 March 2019

I started my tomato, pepper, basil and flower seeds about a month ago.  They are currently thriving.  I add a Miracle Gro  Quick Start fertilizer (4-12-4) every time I water them, which is daily because they are in the little cells for now.  They need  more water the bigger they get.

Tomatoes:
3 types of determinate
24 types of indeterminate regular tomatoes
11 types of cherry tomatoes

New varieties this year:
   Bella Rosa - determinate
   Chapman - indeterminate
   Amish Gold - indeterminate (free trial packet)

Progress:  Out of the 100 or so tomato seeds I started, only 7 didn't come up....all of the Cherokee Chocolate and all of the Big Zac.  I'll need to throw out the rest of those seeds before next year.

Peppers:
I only grow ornamental peppers and hot peppers.  At times I have grown the sweet varieties, but to be successful at it, I have to grow them in pots because I  have so many earwigs.  With our hot summers, it is too labor intensive for me.  I didn't start any for this year.

New varieties this year:
Sahuaro
Lemon Drop
Numex Joe Parker
Big Jim

One type of my ancho peppers didn't come up, but the 2nd variety (Mulato Isleno) did come up.  


Flowers:
I love growing Tidal Wave Petunias in hot pink.  I found a great deal on seeds this year from a new company I've never tried.  I was disappointed because only 29 of the 44 seeds came up.  However, I did also buy Easy Wave Petunias and all 36 of those came up, and I planted a few other varieties of petunias and had great success with those too.

I also started some Impatiens in 4 different colors, and only 4 out of 40 didn't come up, so I'm excited to try those this year.  These flowers remind me of the wonderful flower boxes on windows and patios when I lived in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.  

THAI COCONUT CURRY SQUASH SOUP

4 c. squash puree (about 2 ½ lbs.)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can coconut milk

2 T. Thai red curry paste

Juice of 1 lime

1 T. brown sugar

2 T. coconut oil

1 onion, finely chopped

4 c. chicken broth

Salt to taste

Saute onion in the coconut oil.  Add the rest of the 

ingredients and let  simmer for 15-20 minutes.  

(I use Knorr's Chicken Bouillon as my salt in this recipe, I 

also usually use water, instead of broth.)

Someone asked me what I did with my 60 lb. squash that I grew last fall.  In late November, I cooked up about 10-12 lbs. and I gave the rest away.  

I loved the mild taste of this Naples Long.  (Next year, I won't be giving so much of it away.)  The flavor wasn't overpowering and even my kids ate it.  The flesh was a vibrant orange.  It really was quite beautiful.  I should have taken pictures, I know.  Sorry.

This squash is considered a winter squash, but it had some slightly different characteristics than other varieties I have grown.  When I baked it, it generated a lot of liquid, sort of like a summer squash would.  It was also a little stringy but  that was just fine because I put it into my Cuisinart and made a puree.  I then froze the puree in 2 cup containers for later use.  

So far, I've made soup with it.  I loved the Thai Coconut Curry soup the best.  That was a winner with my family.  I also made a Sage Squash soup for Christmas.  I didn't care for that soup as much as the first one I tried.  I have 4 other recipes to try, but I loved, loved the first one so much, I think I may just stick with that one for a bit.  

I will be growing this variety again.   It definitely provided me with quite a bang for the buck.

I will share the recipe this weekend.  

New Seeds for 2018

Last night, I ordered most of my seeds for this coming year.  Not too many new varieties were on my radar, but I did manage to pick up a few (I'm an impulse shopper.)

New to me in 2018:
1. Five Star Grape - a grape tomato
2. Sunrise Bumble Bee - a specialty cherry tomato
3. Valencia - an orange heirloom tomato
4.  North Georgia Candy Roaster - heirloom winter squash (8-15 lbs)
5.  Cinnamon Girl - pie pumpkin (3-6 lbs)
6.  Early Giant - Jack-o-lantern pumpkin (30 lbs)
7. Mosquetero pepper - a poblano pepper
8.  Lemon Drop pepper - citrus flavored heirloom hot pepper
9.  Celebration Squash - acorn squash that is also decorative (so pretty)
10.  Cougar Squash - straightneck yellow summer squash
11. Cougar PMR - small Jack-o-lantern (10-12 lbs)
12.  Captain Jack - Jack-o-lantern (30 lbs)

I'm looking forward to trying these new varieties this coming year, as well as planting my stalwart favorites.    


Last fall after ripping out the existing plants, I tilled a tarp full of leaves into each of my two gardens.   Into one of the gardens, I also tilled in compost.  I should have done the other one too, but my husband only bought enough for one garden.  I'll add the rest this spring.  

From My Pumpkin Patch

Okay, my pumpkin patch is not all that big, but it is big enough to have something to use for decorations.  I love this time of year.  I love the weather, that canning is mostly over, the decorating, and the holidays.  

I'll use the little ones for decorating inside, I just wanted to show them in this picture.  The pumpkin variety that produced the most was Blaze.  Since this was my first year growing that variety, I'll make sure I grow them again in the future.  I like the look of the different varieties.  If I had more gardening space, I'd plant more.  My favorite eating ones are the pie pumpkins and the Long Island Cheese.  I'm looking forward to trying the Musquee de Provence.  One draw back of using them as decorations, is that I can't eat them until after Thanksgiving.

Reaping is the Best Part:

This past month has been a busy one.  My garden is winding down as the sunlight wanes and the temperatures drop.  I've been pleased with its production.  

I've canned many jars of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.  I didn't make salsa this year.  I should have.  I made a lot of pesto, froze many containers of peppers, made my own enchilada sauce and tomatillo sauce.  I feel 'done'.  I have more than enough of everything to last until next summer.  However, even though I may feel done with gardening, I'm still not done.  I picked 28 lbs of tomatoes today and just gave them away.  I also picked 26 lbs of tomatoes this past Saturday and gave those away also.  My husband says that next year I should plant only half as much.  As much as I enjoy canning and preserving what I grow, I also enjoy giving it away.  So I don't see my husband's idea happening.  

I grew a 60 lb. winter squash.  I have no idea what to do with it all.  I'm hoping it will taste good.  If it does, I'll share that as well with friends and neighbors.  

My 60.4 pound Naples Long winter squash.

My pumpkins did well this year.  I will post a picture soon.  I've picked several, but there are still some growing in the garden.  My biggest pumpkin weighed in at just over 28 pounds.  My cucumbers were wonderful.  I always feel I need to plant more of those because everyone in the family LOVES them.  


Notes for next year:
Grow one more hill of cucumbers
One hill of zucchini is enough.  
Grow more than 6 green chilies - try 8 or 10
6 Jalapeno plants are perfect
Don't grow Costoluto Genevese tomatoes:
  I thought they were cute, but I preferred the flavor of other varieties.
6 basil plants were plenty
Grow more mini pumpkins



The stink bug problem I had earlier this summer, was taken care of.  I made some traps from a Youtube video.  They didn't catch many adults bugs, but it did lure and trap tons of babies and adolescents.  I also started watering with a sprinkler once a week.  Many drowned, so hooray for that.  I haven't seen any during the last 5 weeks or so.  

Say Goodbye to Bindweed

I had the blessing of gardening without this noxious weed for about two decades, now it seems to be everywhere.  Sometimes this weed is referred to as morning glory.  Bindweed is in the morning glory family, but there is nothing good about this invasion and take over. 

This has been the first year that I have been diligent in dealing with it.  Here is my plan of attack.  First, I wait for the bindweed to get about 12 inches long.

Then I place a wide mouth drink bottle over it, that the bottom has been cut off of.  

I wad the plant up into the bottle from the cut end.  

Then I wedge the cut end into the garden soil.  I then remove the cap, spray in a bunch of Roundup coating the leaves liberally, and I replace the cap. The wide mouth bottle is preferred because it's easier to coat the plant from a large opening, rather than the smaller opening of a soda bottle.  

The bottle serves a couple of important purposes.  One is to contain the Roundup so it isn't splashing on the surrounding plants that I want to live.  The bindweed often grows very close to everything else.  I am able to coat the plant good and proper in this manner.  When I screw the cap back on, the bottle will also provide a very hot greenhouse effect for the plant....aiding in the demise of the weed.  

(The bottle with the bindweed and Roundup is nestled into the same cage as my pepper plant, but the pepper plant is completely safe.)


Now this obnoxious weed will grow back somewhere close by.  But if you are diligent in tackling that one, and the next, and the next, it will become exhausted and vanish.  (It doesn't hurt to keep your fingers crossed.)

There have been a few times where I've been unable to get a tight fit of the bottle into the soil.  When this happens, I just get a sealable plastic bag and wad the plant into the bag, spray in the Roundup, and seal it the best I can, making sure none of it can drip out. With either method, I leave the bag or the bottle on for a few days to let the Roundup and the heat work its magic. 

These efforts have really made a difference.  I hope to tackle the bindweed in my raspberry bushes next year.  This year, my pumpkins have taken over the raspberries and I can't even get to them.  

Curing Pumpkins/Winter Squash:

I have picked 5 pumpkins:
  1 Casperita
  4 Blaze
  

I have a few more pumpkins growing in the garden, but I'm not sure what they are yet until they are closer to maturity.  I have a few Be-Littles that I can identify.     

Once I cut the pumpkins from the vine, I leave them in the sun to cure so that they won't rot in storage. Curing them helps them to develop a tough skin that is essential if you are storing them for later use.  This takes 2-4 weeks of sun bathing.  After the curing time, I'll store them in the basement.  



I had two Naples Long growing but one aborted.  So now I have just one, but it is HUGE.  I may have more.  This variety, and some others, have infiltrated the raspberry bushes and there could be some hidden in there.  This big one though, will be a fun one to weigh.

Over the weekend, I picked 10 Garden Salsa peppers and 10 Jalapenos.  After I diced them, I had 3/4 of a cup of the Garden Salsa peppers and 1 cup of of the jalapenos.  Even though the Garden Salsa peppers are longer than the Jalapenos, the Jalapenos have a much thicker wall, so they take up more storage space.


Here are two pictures of my ornamental peppers.  One is a "before" when the peppers were just starting to grow and one is an "after" showing the striking colors combinations.

"before"

"after"

Tomato Woes Part 2:

On  Saturday, I finally picked my first tomato that did not have blossom end rot.  It was one of my romas.  This weekend, I've picked about 12 ripe ones.  I've managed to solve the blossom end rot issue.  My plants just needed more water.  However, in giving them more water, some fruits have split a little on top.  But only a few are affected.

The next problem to manifest itself is Cloudy Spot.  I need to get a picture of this.  My tomatoes are covered with tiny little yellow spots.  Apparently this means I have visitors called Stink Bugs that are feasting on the tomatoes.  Dang it.  I've gardened for such a long time and I don't ever recall this huge of an infestation.  My plants are covered with these little bugs.  

I've read up on them and have watched a few Youtube videos.  The answers are these:
Neem oil
Canola oil 1:4 ratio with water
Liquid dish soap mixed with water
DIY traps

I'm making 2 traps as an experiment.  I'm spraying half of my tomato plants in the canola oil and half in dish soap.  We will see how it works.    

The fruits are still edible, but they are not very pretty.  This is a problem that plagues many commercial growers, drastically reducing the value of their crops.  Affected produce is often only sold for processing.  

I'll still can mine, I just wish they looked better.  

Tomato Woes

I've picked about 30 tomatoes from my garden....all with blossom end rot.  A few things can cause this: not enough calcium being absorbed, not enough watering in the cycle, a period of drought, some varieties are more likely to have this problem, and just google this to get even more possible causes.  I'm guessing my problem lies within the watering issue.  I purchased soaker hoses for the first time this year and I don't think I have set it to the correct watering time to give these plants enough water.  It worked fine, when they were much smaller plants....and I haven't increased the length in watering time, since they have grown.  I also need to take into account the high temperatures.  It has been over 100 degrees for quite a few days this month. So, I have now increased the length of the watering time....we'll see if that corrects the problem. 

My cucumbers are producing very well.  I have been trying lots of new recipes containing cucumbers.  I may have to start canning them as relish.  My zucchini is also doing well.  I haven't canned any yet...but I have given several away. 

My pumpkins are looking cute.  I have also frozen several of my hot peppers.  I'll post a how-to soon.  

Baby, It's Hot Outside

A little cucumber vine sought shelter in the pumpkin plants, and this cucumber went unnoticed.

the 'Sweet Success' variety

Sweet Success also gave me my first cucumber of the season.  Sweeter Yet, though, has completely out produced Sweet Success and Sweet Slice.  

I picked my first jalapenos today.  
I made my third batch of pesto.
The tomatillos are plentiful. 
My cherry tomatoes are ripening (we've eaten a few already.)  All varieties will be ripening soon.

I have a lot of green tomatoes; two, however, are almost red (they are the romas). 

I have noticed the dreaded squash bug in my garden. That is so sad.  I stopped laying down the grass clippings because they seem to like that.  I don't use any pesticides so I have to be diligent in checking under the leaves for the eggs. I scrape the eggs off, crush them and put them in soapy water, along with any adolescent and adult bugs (which aren't many because they scuttle away fast.)  I use a turkey baster to suck them up, as I am a bit squeamish when it comes to touching bugs, even with gardening gloves on.

I've picked several summer squash.  I gave my neighbor three plants, and this variety, (Barq), is out producing her other summer squash.  It is definitely worthwhile to grow. 

SUMMER TOMATOES:

The earliest I've ever been able to pick a garden ripe tomato was on July 18th.  It doesn't look like I'll beat that this year.  But here are some pictures of my green ones.

Yaqui Tomatoes (roma)

Yaqui Tomatoes 

Costoluto Genevese Tomatoes

Today I picked 4 Garden Salsa Peppers, a zucchini, a cucumber and about 3 cups of raspberries.

Yesterday, I picked my first zucchini, my first cucumber, a bowl of raspberries (my kids and husband ate more than a few, but I managed to get a picture of what was left), and a bowl of basil.

I made some pesto, put the raspberries on a homemade cheesecake, turned the zucchini into zoodles and ate it with the pesto, and the cucumber went in today's salad.  

I also laid a thin layer of grass clippings down in the garden to help hold in the moisture and keep weeds away because it is warming up fast.  I will add to it, to make it a thicker layer, but I want to build it up slowly to give the grass time to dry out.  I don't want it rotting; I just want it dry.

I have fruit on my tomatillos, romas, cherry tomatoes, and my Holy Mole peppers.  I also have flowers on all of the pepper plants, one cucumber plant and my Barq summer squash and only male flowers on my pumpkins.

Pumpkin Blossom

Another pumpkin blossom

Some of these tomato blossoms are huge

Tomato Blossoms

Tomatillo Blossoms

The weather has been over 100 degrees three times at my house this month.  Most of the time the temperatures have been in the 90's.  I see lots of flowers, so I'm not worried about production. 

My ornamental peppers are looking cute with their little peppers jutting upwards.  So far they are small and only green.  I'll have to take a pic when they are in their full color glory.

We have had one day of 100+ degree weather so far this month.  Thankfully it was only one.  Usually, where I live, it doesn't hit 100 until the end of July to early August.  However, there are more hot temperatures on the horizon next week with the possibility of more 100 degree days.  (SIGH).  The problem with high temperatures so soon, is that the plants are not encouraged to set fruit when it is hot.  I checked my plants today, and many already have lots of blossoms on them, but sadly some do not have any. 


The four tomato plants I thought I lost in the snow storm, well it turns out I only lost one of them.  The three survivors are way behind in development than the other tomato plants, but they hung in there.  I was going to rip them out and put in some store-bought plants, but I thought I would just see how they did.  Below is a picture of them.  They are tiny plants 

(the three that survived the snow)

                                       (here are the sizes of the others)

I guess in this case, size does matter.  If the ones exposed to the snow were my only tomato plants, then ripping them out and planting new ones, would have been been the best idea.  I doubt the survivors will produce much.  By the time they are ready to flower, we will be in the middle of the high heat summer.  

  ************************

My zucchini did come up, but not the Papaya Pear.  All of my pumpkins sprouted except for Hooligan.  My cucumbers are present and accounted for.  

Here is the mound of my Jack O'Lanterns

The different types of pumpkins, squash, and cucumbers are all about the same size as the above picture.  

Okay.  We did get snow for two days last week.  I covered all the plants with a tarp (4 tarps to be exact).  To my rude awakening, I wasn't expecting so much snow.  The snow was so wet and heavy on the tarp causing the tarp to settle in the path on the back side, which pulled it right off of the back row of tomatoes, leaving them exposed to the elements.

Since I had to leave for work I didn't have a lot of time to fix the problem.  I brushed off the leaves and covered the row with a plastic sheet I found in the garage, 2 rain ponchos, 1 emergency blanket (the kind that looks like a piece of tin foil) and 2 extra large garbage sacks.  My garden was 'stylin'.  It may not have won any beauty awards, me either for that matter, but it saved the plants the next day from more snow.  Thankfully I only lost 4 (all on that back row).  

I lost:
my one and only Early girl
my one and only New girl
my one and only Beef Master and
1 Delicious

I have good news though.  The plants I thought I lost in the hail storm, actually came back.  They had the whole tops chopped off, and yet they survived.  So yay.  They are much smaller since they practically started over, but they are in fact alive.

My plants are doing very well in the garden.  This week, however, it is supposed to be in the 30's with a chance of snow.  I will be covering them at night with a huge tarp, to help trap the heat of the soil in.  I don't want them to freeze.

All of my cucumbers came up.  Two varieties of pumpkins didn't come up (Hooligan & Jack-Be-Little).  The seeds were older, so maybe that is why.  I don't plan on replanting those because they also didn't come up last year.  My Summer Squash also didn't come up.  Here again, the seeds were older than most of the others.  So, I'll have to get new Barq seeds next year.  My family won't miss it at all, but I will.  I will see what variety of zucchini my local nursery has and buy one or two.



On the north side of my house, is a lot of shade.  I cleared a space that was weed ridden, and planted the following:

Ground Ivy - hiedra terrestre - variegata glechoma hederacea
Snow in Summer - cerastium (this will get some sun)
Purple Chablis - lamium maculatum
Anemome Harmony Orchid 
Columbine Swan Blue & White
Bleeding Heart Pink
Creeping Jenny 
Woodland Phlox Blue Moon - phlox divaricata
Columbine Origami Red & White