Today I started my cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash indoors.  Well, they are in pots, but they are all out on the deck.  So technically, it isn't indoors.  

Cucumbers:
   Sweeter Yet
   Sweet Slice
   Sweet Success
   Barese - novelty
   Mexican Sour Gherkin - novelty

Pumpkins:
   Musque de Provence - new this year
   Naples Long - new this year
   Jill-Be-Little - new this year
   Blaze - new this year
   Long Island Cheese
   Harvest Time
   Casperita
   Baby Bear
   Hooligan
   Wee-Be-Little
   Jack-Be-Little
   Some Jacks (seeds saved from previous years)

Squash:
   Barq
   Papaya Pear (I only had one seed left.  My favorite seed companies don't sell this variety anymore.  Hopefully, my lonely little seed will come up.)


   

I moved my seedlings to bigger pots this week.  I ended up having about 50 extra tomato seedlings and a few hot pepper seedlings that I gave away to friends and family.  

I purchased some compost for my garden.  This year, I'm using Oakdell compost.  I  didn't add anything last year, and the two years before that, I was unhappy with the other company we purchased compost from.  One year, it had a ton of weed seeds in it, then the next year it didn't seem like compost at all because it looked like sand.   

So now, I'm just waiting for it to stop raining and to dry out enough to get this all tilled in.  Then I want to get my plants in the ground in a few weeks.  Where I live (zone 5), the last day of frost is considered to be Mother's day.  Sometimes my plants go in before that, sometimes after...depending on weather.  This year doesn't look like it will be an early planting year.   The night temperatures are still in the 30's.  But I'm so excited to start.  I'm wondering if I should try the wall-o-water...but then I roll my eyes at what that would cost me for as much as I grow. Probably not cost effective, for the first year or two (maybe even 3).  

Prior to moving the seedlings to bigger pots, I used a 4-12-4 Miracle-Gro seedling fertilizer, diluted by half.  They looked good and were not as 'leggy' as they get without this fertilizer.  Just remember, seedlings don't need as much nitrogen.  They need phosphorous, which should be at least double the number  of nitrogen. I will say here too, that 'leggy' tomato plants are okay as far as I'm concerned.  They do just fine once they've been moved into the garden. They settle in, fill out, and live up to their potential. 

I'll be starting my cucumbers, zucchini, and pumpkins in the next couple of weeks.

Some new varieties I'll be giving a trial run are:
   Naples Long - these sounded fun to grow
   Musque de Provence
   Jill-be-little
   Blaze

I'll also be growing Long Island Cheese.  The taste of these are my favorites.  They are so sweet and wonderful.

Sunday, 16 April 2017

Wow, it's already that time of year.  In the process of redoing my kitchen, I got a late start on my seedlings (but at least I got them going.)  However, I started them the week before I left on vacation.  I asked a cute little neighbor girl to keep them watered....I'm not entirely sure that happened.  They looked pretty parched when I got home.  I didn't have my usual success rate with the seeds this year, but I always start way more than I need.  

Cherry Tomatoes
As always:
   Pink Bumblebee - new last year
   Sweet 100's
   Sweet Million
   Yellow Pear
   Sun Sugar
   Sweet Gold
   Sugary

New this year:
   Snow White (this was a free trial)
   Sun Gold


Determinate Tomatoes
As always:  
   Yaqui
   Heinz 1370
   
New last year:
   Skyreacher


Indeterminate Tomatoes
As always:
   Lemon Boy
   Celebrity
   Superfantastic
   Early Girl
   New Girl
   Goliath
   Jetsetter
   Porterhouse
   Delicious
   Big Zac
   Mexico
   Parks Whopper
   Parks Beefy Boy
   Better Boy
   Big Beef
   Burpee Supersteak


New Last Year:
   Country Taste
   Big Boy
   Beefmaster
   Ball's Beefsteak

New This Year:
   Cherokee Chocolate (free trial offer)
   Costoluto Genovese - I found the seeds for these and wanted to give it another go.



Peppers
   Anahiem
   Ancho San Luis
   Mucho Nacho
   Guajillo
   Pasilla Bajio
   Holy Mole
   Mulato Isleno
   Garden Salsa

Ornamental Peppers:
   Chilly Chili
   Medusa


I dispensed with the herb garden this year, but I did plant a whole bunch of basil.  I love pesto. 

Sunday, 2 October 2016


I saw these at Alyeska Resort while in Girdwood, Alaska this summer and I want to grow them.  They were stunning.  I'm going to plant them at the cabin near the creek.  I'll try a few where I live, but it is probably too hot and too dry where I live.  

GOLDEN QUEEN

Trollius chinensis Globeflower

I'm also in need for some full shade perennial ground cover next spring.  I'm thinking:  
Spotted Dead Nettle - Beacon Silver

Partial Shade Ground Cover:
Purple Rock Cress/Aubrieta


Full sun perennial ground cover:
snow in summer

Sunday, 28 August 2016

I tried a new variety of cherry tomatoes this year.  It's called the Pink Bumble Bee and overall, I liked them and will grow them again.  They are bigger than regular cherry tomatoes, but they are unique with yellow stripes.  I also tried Mexican Midget since this variety failed last year.  I don't think I will grow those again.  Even though they produced well, they are so tiny...I mean tiny...that I felt I'd spent 10  minutes picking them and hardly  had enough for a salad.  There are other varieties that also produce well and are more substantial.  My favorites are the orange cherry tomatoes because they are so sweet, but I like to grow a variety for salads because I like the look of the different varieties when I throw them all together.  So this year, I grew:

Sun Sugar
Sweet Gold
Sweet 100's
Sweet Million
Sugary 
Yellow pair

and I pretty much grow these every year, but now I'm adding the Pink Bumble Bee to that list.

Some of the new varieties of regular tomatoes that I tried this year, didn't make it.  There were too many variables going on that didn't provide a safe transition to the garden.  Part of that was my effort in trying to move (which we ended up not doing in the long run).  So they all went into the garden late but before that, in the process of showing my house, I kicked all my plants out to the deck and many didn't survive the wind, my dog, and neglect.  Sometimes, plants are so finicky.  

Two new things, I am trying this fall is one, a worm farm, and two, I'm making a tumble type compost bin.  My garden needs nutrients. I didn't do anything this year to amend the soil before planting and it has showed in plant production.  I will post pictures of these things and hopefully my soil will benefit from these two endeavors and share that with next year's crop.

Monday, 11 April 2016

I started almost 100 tomato plants from seed (only 6 didn't come up).  I've included my old favorites that I ranted and raved about last year.  

Celebrity
Superfantastic
Lemon Boy
Better Boy
Big Beef
Yaqui
and others


This year I'm trying a few new varieties that I haven't ever grown. They include: 
Country Taste
Skyreacher
Gaillo de Summer
Balls Beefsteak
Big Boy
Beef Master

And one that I tried last year, but it didn't survive so I'm giving it a second try is Garden Peach. If it proves to be too delicate and doesn't make it this year, it won't be getting a 3rd third try.

I also started a tray full of hot peppers.  They also came up well.  I didn't do any herbs or flowers or sweet peppers this year.  I'm in the process of trying to find a new house so I kept things to a minimum.  I hope I find something soon or I will have to give away all my seedlings.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed though.  

I will  post pictures (hopefully soon) of my cute little seedlings.

2016

So, it is a new year and I have already been going through all of my seed catalogs.  I still plan on continuing my gardening quest. I am hoping to move this summer, so I'm hesitant as to what I need versus what I want.  I don't know what I will have space for.  I feel blind and that maybe I need to take a leap of faith.  Hopefully, I will find a new house soon. I just want an idea of what type of space will be available to turn into a garden.  

I have a few new seeds picked out for this summer, but I think I may have to stay with what I know and what I like.  I hope to place my orders within the next few days.  

Here is a picture of the pumpkin I grew.  I usually have lots of them, but this year, I only had 5.  This was the biggest one.  It was a fun one.  My son weighed it for me and it weighed in at 47.5 pounds.

I have already received the bulk of my 2016 seed catalogs and have already began choosing the new varieties I want to grow.  I can't wait.  

Friday, 4 September 2015

Yay.  I have more pictures.  Harvesting is the best part of gardening.  So rewarding.


Below is a picture of my Super Fantasics.  I think these are beautiful.  They are blemish free, disease resistant, and uniform in size.  The flavor is also great and they make a great slicing tomato.  This is my first year growing this variety and I'm liking what I see and liking how they taste.  I grow Celebrity every year.  It has always been my favorite regular tomato but this may well be a tie.

  SUPER FANTASTIC

=======================================================================

Here is a picture of my Big Beefs.  These taste great as well.  It is hard to determine the productivity of these.  I have neighbors who help themselves and these are right by the fence we share.  Next year they will be grown in my other garden....far far away from greedy hands.  So I can measure productivity more accurately then.

BIG BEEF

=======================================================================

Here are my romas.  These Yaquis are amazing, wonderful, and just plain fun.  Both pictures are of the same variety.  The tomato on the left is "store" normal.  The one on the right is so much

larger and is the biggest one so far this year.  While this variety grows many "store" size tomatoes,

it also grows many larger ones.  The one on the left is just one of the smaller ones.  

YAQUI (romas)

YAQUI (romas)

=======================================================================

This picture is one of the new varieties I tried this year.  It is a Speckled Roman.  It is kind of pretty with the yellow streaks.  While this plant isn't even in the ball park of productivity as the Yaquis are, these were quite tasty as far as romas go.  I will try these again next year.  Maybe we will have a normal weather summer.

SPECKLED ROMAN

========================================================================

I've also picked some Big Zacs too.  I love the taste of these beefsteak tomatoes.  They are wonderful and probably my favorite as far as taste goes. This variety is also one of the biggest varieties I grow.  I usually take pictures when I pick them, but when my husband or my children pick them, they all go into one big bowl.  Then I don't know which is what.  

Jetsetter produced tomatoes earlier then the majority of my other plants.  However, they didn't produce a bumper crop.  I question the weather or if that is normal for this variety.  I will grow those next year as well.