Winter Garden Update January 2015

More photos of my winter garden.  These are again from my garden at the senior community garden that we are so lucky to have.  Our plot is 18x20, a good size for just the two of us.  I fertilized all the plants today. Sadly, I had to pull out the San Marzano tomato plant that got hit by the frost over the last few days.  Now I have that space to the right of the photo above to plant more lettuce seedling.  I started them a couple of weeks ago and they will be ready to transplant by the end of the month.  The good news is that the tomato plant is the only one I lost to the frost and this week we will be warming up again.  Monday and Tuesday will be 80 degrees!  Nights will still be cool at the mid 40's.

Garden Update 2014 and on to the Winter Garden

 These photos are from our community garden plot.  The squash plants are the ones that I reseeded in July.  After harvesting a ton of squash from Patty Pan, Ronde de Nice and Crookneck, the plants were then attacked by aphids.  We finally gave up and pulled those out.  I am so happy to see that the new plants are looking healthy and so far no signs of another infestation.  I also had problems with the Japanese Cucumbers (soyu) that I planted back in March.  The new plants are looking good and are loaded with blossoms.  I think I forgot to get a picture of those so I will add one later on.

 Purple Bell Peppers are doing well, but they have been small.  Too much heat for them early on I suspect. The plants are looking better now and the fruit is growing larger before ripening. 

Yellow Bell Peppers

This is Max's Gold a Yellow Zucchini Squash from Botanical Interest Seeds, just coming in now.

Lacinato Kale looking sad in the heat, but still growing and we are picking once a week.  These two plants will continue to grow year-round for us and will get taller and taller; we pick from the bottom up.

 This is Kentucky Wonder pole beans, again I pulled out the plants from March and this batch was planted  in July.  We had the worst July temperatures that I can remember, plus high winds which really damaged so many of my plants.  Fortunately for us, the weather up until November and on into December will still be perfect for the newly planted seedlings to continue to produce for us.

 First of the Patty Pan I harvested from the seeds planted in July.

 The six Italian Basil plants had no problems at all for me and I have picked so much basil this year.  I cut half and leave the other half to flower for the bees.  Then when the other half grows back, I let that one bloom and so-on and so-on.  These plants are constantly serving up pollen for the bees. Someone somewhere will be getting basil flavored honey!

 More Kentucky Wonder pole beans.

 This is Cocozelle, the only squash plant that did not get infested with aphids or at least not enough that I had to reseed.  It is now beginning to vine and taking over the pathway.  As long as it produces I will let it go where it wants.

 Here is the second seeding of Crookneck.  I plant way to many seeds so some are being choked out by the larger plants, but I will let them decide who gets to take over.

 Here is the second planting of Ronde de Nice.  I should be picking in a couple of days.  See below.

 

I think this is another Cocozelle that I planted just in case the other one got infested.

 This photo shows an overview of the plot.  We took out all but one tomato plant and that is Cherokee Purple (not in photo here)  I have not seen many new blossoms forming so I may take it out.  We ended up buying 3 more San Marzano plants in early July, so far they look good and I have picked about 6 from those plants.  Still plenty of time for them to give us a nice crop.

Another view of the basil in bloom.

 I have started 3 flats of seeds for my winter garden.  This is just two of them. 

 

Garlic waiting to be separated and planted in a flat.

Winter Garden Plan 2014

Here is what I have sowed so far:

Lacinato Kale

Winter Red Kale

Broccoli Raab Rapini

Michihili Chinese Cabbage

Rocket Arugula

Mesclun Blend Lettuce

Butterhead Marvel of Four Season Lettuce

Freckles Romaine Lettuce

Butterhead Speckles Lettuce

Oak Leaf Blend Lettuce

Valentine Mesclun Blend Lettuce

Butterhead Buttercrunch Lettuce

Ruby Red Swiss Chard

Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard 

Still need to plant seeds in flats for:

Spinach

Cauliflower

Broccoli

Cabbage

Tatsoi

Bokchoy

Mustard Greens

Peas

Snow Peas

Brussels Sprouts

When we get to planting I will direct sow:

Early Wonder Beet

Turnip Purple Top White Globe

Rutabaga American Purple Top

French Breakfast Radish

Easter Egg Blend Radish

Garlic (from bulbs started in flat)

Spring Onions Sets

Have a beautiful day!

Winter Garden 2013

I am late posting photos of my winter garden plantings that took place a couple of weeks ago.  Of course had I taken the pics then there wouldn't be anything in the pictures but soil!  It doesn't look like much right now but when the little guys grow up the plot will be covered in goodies for us to eat all winter.

We are still using the area along the driveway this year and probably next year, since we used the adobe bricks from the raised beds for the labyrinth; I don't have that space to use right now.  This area gets a lot of sun and I can easily work the ground from both sides.  We used one of the tomato cages for the peas and green beans; I think this will work out pretty well and I can always add a tall fence around the cage to give the peas more room to spread and hold onto if need be.  I still have another section (past the kale) to dig up and amend the soil with compost, then I will plant more of the same things but a few weeks later. This way I am not harvesting all at once. Sucession planting!

Snow Peas and Green Beans on the cage, Easter Egg Radishes, French Breakfast Radishes and Round Black Spanish Radish.

Snow Pea shoots, in the back area there are onion seedlings.  I used the seed heads and just sprinkled them along  the parimeter of the row.  I will probably need to separate some of them as they get larger.

In this area we have a french Carrot called Parisienne  from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds that is short variety.  I also planted Cilantro, Parsley and Dill somewhere in the space. LOL

Same area, with Gourmet Baby Greens, Mesclum Sassy Salad Mix, and Arugula.

Lacinato Kale

Chioggia Beets, these are the red and white stripe beets and Gourmet Blend Beets, this mix has golden, orange, dark red and stripe beets.  I will do intermitant planting of all of the beets, onion sets and radishes, watching for areas that I missed and seeds that did not germinate. 

Last seasons Swiss Chard looking sad, but it will now do much better with the cooler nights. Also a section of onion sets in the foreground.  I planted many of these a month or so ago and then more on this day.

Bright Lights Swiss Chard and More of the Red Chard.

Mesclun and Salad Bowl Blend

Pencil Pod Yellow Beans, a bush variety.

A Girl’s Garden

Robert Frost (from Mountain Interval, 1920)

A neighbor of mine in the village

    Likes to tell how one spring

When she was a girl on the farm, she did

    A childlike thing.

One day she asked her father

    To give her a garden plot

To plant and tend and reap herself,

    And he said, “Why not?”

In casting about for a corner

    He thought of an idle bit

Of walled-off ground where a shop had stood,

    And he said, “Just it.”

And he said, “That ought to make you

    An ideal one-girl farm,

And give you a chance to put some strength

    On your slim-jim arm.”

It was not enough of a garden,

    Her father said, to plough;

So she had to work it all by hand,

    But she don’t mind now.

She wheeled the dung in the wheelbarrow

    Along a stretch of road;

But she always ran away and left

    Her not-nice load.

And hid from anyone passing.

    And then she begged the seed.

She says she thinks she planted one

    Of all things but weed.

A hill each of potatoes,

    Radishes, lettuce, peas,

Tomatoes, beets, beans, pumpkins, corn,

    And even fruit trees

 And yes, she has long mistrusted

    That a cider apple tree

In bearing there to-day is hers,

    Or at least may be.

Her crop was a miscellany

    When all was said and done,

A little bit of everything,

    A great deal of none.

Now when she sees in the village

    How village things go,

Just when it seems to come in right,

    She says, “I know!

It’s as when I was a farmer——”

    Oh, never by way of advice!

And she never sins by telling the tale

    To the same person twice.

Tomato Update 2013 and, Lots of Links from Past Years Summer and Winter Garden Beds

I was so busy with my kitchen projects that I didn't take a lot of photos of our tomatoes this year.

First of all, we generally only grow Indeterminate tomatoes. We built heavy-duty wood 8 foot cages a few years ago, see the links at the bottom for photos.

We only grew 9 tomato plants this year but boy did we have a nice harvest.  The only one that didn't do as well as the others was San Marzano.  This was a plant that I purchased at a local nursery and maybe it was marked incorrectly because it never grew that tall.  I have heard that there is a semi-determinate San Marzano and that may be what this plant was. It only made it half-way up the 8 foot cage.  It also could have been a hybrid instead of the heirloom or open-pollinated plants that I normally grow.  The fruit on this plant were much shorter than I have had in the past.  Most of them were not much over 3 inches and were not the 'pointy' long looking 5" San Marzano's that I am use to growing.   I also remember that most of the tomatoes came in at the same time which is why I think it was a semi-determinate hybrid.  I only preserved 5 pints of San Marzano this year.  Next year I think I will grow from the seed I get from Baker Creek Rare Seeds. 

All of the other varieties that we grew did very well.   

Goliath, was a real winner and produced all summer.  It is an early producer and a perfect size for canning or freezing.  The tomatoes are meaty,  4" + across and heavy, 1 to 3 pounds.  They have great flavor and a strong, upright tall indeterminate plant. It reached well over 9-10 feet, two feet over the top of our 8 foot cages; I had to let it bend over the top to the San Marzano cage next to it and it just kept on growing, producing more and more flowers as it grew!  Goliath is an heirloom variety dating back to the late 1800's.  Heavy plant, give it lots of room and support early on. This tomato will be on my list for next year.

Cherokee Purple, was another winner, this is always on our repeat planting list!  This plant was loaded with large, fabulous flavored tomatoes. We had many that were just under the 2# size.  An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre-1890. Indeterminate plant, heavy vines, give it lots of room and heavy support.

Gold Medal, is not a heavy producer but if you like the pretty yellow-red stripes on this tomato you will want to add it to your list of winners.  It always produces large, sweet fruit. Many reaching the 2 pound mark.

Dr. Wyche's, one of our all time favorites is another one that is a low producer but worth giving it space.  It is a huge, yellow, sweet tomato.   An Indeterminate, Heirloom variety.

Stupice,  is a small, salad tomato with fantastic flavor. This tomato is originally from Czechoslovakia, it is a heavy producer and an Indeterminate tomato. I still have this one growing as it shows no signs of stopping yet and the plant looks healthy.

Green Zebra, was a volunteer plant from last year that came up next to Stupice.  We decided to leave it and see how it would do. Good thing we did because this was the only green tomato that we had this year. I do love Green Zebra!  Indeterminate tomato.  Not a true Heirloom as it was only developed in 1985 but it is on its way to being America's favorite green-stripe tomato.  This one is still growing and is giving us tomatoes so we will leave it until the end of the month or if the weather holds out, both Stupice and Green Zebra will be still growing until December.

We planted two cherry tomatoes this year. One was an Heirloom Black Cherry and the other was a Super-Sweet 100 Red Cherry.  We loved the Black Cherry, it had nice size round fruit, super sweet with a grape or cherry flavor. Dark purple, it looks like mini Cherokee Purple tomatoes.  Super Sweet 100 was a new hybrid that had tiny fruit and the skins broke at the stem end as soon as you picked it.  This is not good if you want to store them in a bowl on the counter. It encouraged fruit flies in the kitchen.  I kept a bowl of cider vinegar next to the bowl to keep them away but with not much luck.  This one will not be on list for next year, but Black Cherry will definitely go on the list.

Except for Stupice and Green Zebra, we have pulled up the plants and are now preparing the beds for the winter garden. I would have liked to keep the rest of the tomatoes growing until December, but we don't have a lot of space.  I may need to devote more space to veggies and less to flowers in the future. With water costs rising all the time, we can't afford to grow roses! 

I bought 20 bags of organic manure and organic soil amendment Saturday.  We dug up the beds yesterday and put in all the goodies, covered the bed with plastic to warm it up and I will plant next week.  The Farmer's Almanac moon planting guides states not to plant seed today, so I will take the day off and relax and plan the gardens.

Here are some links to past years varieties and photos. Since I didn't take a lot of photos this year, these links will give you some idea as to how well tomatoes do for us.

2010 New Tomato Cages and Varieties ( these cages were the first ones we built for the raised beds)

2010 Tomato Photos and Review

2011 Tomato Update

2012 Tomato List

2012 105 Tomatoes in 2 Days

2012 Still Picking

New Cages for 2012  (scroll down to the bottom of the photos to see the new cages.  These are the cages I use along the driveway)

The links below will give you an idea of what we plant and harvest around here in the winter months.

2011 Winter Garden Beds

2012 Winter Garden Beds

2010 Winter Garden Beds

RED DRAGON FLY ON IRIS SEED HEAD September 2013

Winter Garden Beds

We spent this last weekend planting the raised beds with goodies for a winter garden.  We added more compost to each of the three long raised beds and also made a small square just for onion seedlings. I don't know what possessed me to buy a pony pack of onion seedlings because it took a lot of patience and time to pull them apart to plant.  By the time I planted ten of the sections with these seedlings I could hardly get up off the ground!  I ended up putting in a few clumps because I was just too tired to separate the remaining seedling.  I might go back down this evening and finish. 

I also put in over a hundred onion sets which should be ready in a month.  The seedlings will probably take three months since they are so tiny. It was a beautiful, peaceful evening last night when I planted them so it was worth the time spent.  I planted these seeds from Botanical Interest Seeds which I purchased at a local nursery. 

Arugula (Rocket and Wild)
Beets (Gourmet and Early Wonder)
Cilantro
Kale (Red Winter and Italian Nero Toscana)
Mache (corn salad)
Mesclun Salad Mix (Farmers Market Blend and Gourmet Spicy Mix)
Radicchio (Palla Rossa Ashalim)
Romaine (Parris Island)
Radish (Cherry Belle)
Sorrel (common seed)
Spinach (Bloomdale)
Swiss Chard (Bright Lights, Fordhook Giant and Ruby Red)

These I purchased at Home Depot.  They have a really good selection now and the sets were fresh; I didn't find one in the bag that was dried up. If you wait too long to buy these and plant them you will end up with a bag of dried up sets. I try to keep the bags in a cool place, but with our heat at this time of the year it is tough.  I need to make room in the refrigerator for the remaining sets.
Garlic (from sets)
Shallot (from sets)
Spring Onion (from sets)

Here are my raised beds for this years winter garden.  Not much to look at but in a month they will be green and lush with all sorts of goodies for salads.

The bed is made from the adobe wall we have in our backyard.  Seven years ago when we purchased this house a section of the wall was so worn we took that section down and replaced it with "slump" block.  Many of the old adobe bricks were still in good shape and we have used these around the property for garden beds ever since.  This weekend we dug out all the soil and lined the beds with chicken wire.  Then mixed in compost.  I also added bone meal, blood meal, kelp meal, worm castings and dolomite lime. I use about 1 part each, a little less of the blood meal, then mix and add to the soil when I am mixing in the compost.  If you use a lot of manure you probably would not need the blood meal.  I like the blood meal for this time of the year because it is fast acting and it seems to really help the fast growing lettuces.

These next two are also adobe bricks but are newer.  They are also narrower than the original bricks.  Adobe is getting difficult to find in our area now.  I had heard that the local property where these were being made was sold and is no longer used to make the bricks.

This one is again, the older adobe bricks.  Just pieces that were left over.  These bricks keep the soil warm in the cooler winter months.  We put up a fence of chicken wire just for last night to keep the bunnies out.  This summer we had a ground squirrel in the tomato beds.  I don't know what I can do to keep those guys out once they find the garden.  I will need to call on the hawks and owls to help me out!

We still have two Green Zebra Tomatoes that I grew from seed.  They have lots of tomatoes right now and with the heat planned for this week I might be picking some soon.  I also have some late plantings of zucchini (second picture) that are doing really well. 

Green Zebra Tomato (in the red cages)

Old zucchini plant still producing a squash, about two a week now.

I planted these three zucchini in late July from seeds.  I have picked a few, but not sure how well they will do with the cooler nights we are having already.  Saturday night we had a low of 56 which is cool for this time of year.

Next project will be to tackle the herb garden, again!  A gopher moved in about a month ago.  I did not lose that much but he has made a mess of the place.  He did eat a lot of my marjoram plant's roots but it survived. I may be lining this bed with chicken wire too.  Now that is a job I am not looking forward to.