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!

Monarch Butterfly on White Buddleja davidii

I was able to get several great photos of a Monarch today.  Look closely at the next few photos and you will see a Honey Bee trying to land on the flowers.

I watched the Honey Bee try several attempts to get to the flowers but the Monarch kept him away until...

he circled around the flower and the butterfly and landed on the right side.  This buddleja davidii is loaded with flowers so I don't understand the need for them to both be on the same one.

Shortly after the Bee landed on the flower the Monarch took off and headed upwards landing in the Black Pine tree.

I am just now starting to see a few of the Monarchs.  I have seen the Swallowtail drinking nectar for the last few weeks.  Around this time the flowering plants are loaded with butterflies, but we have had less this year.  Might be the changes in the weather patterns we have had this summer. I also saw a few Mission Blue Butterflies last week, they are difficult to photograph being so small.  They frequent the Blue Cape Plumbago flowers which I am growing on the East bank. 

“I dance above the tawny grass

In the sunny air,

So tantalized to have to pass

Love everywhere

O Earth, O Sky, you are mine to roam

In liberty.

I am the soul and I have no home,

Take care of me.”

From The Butterfly, by Alice Archer (Sewall) James

August Tomato Update 2014 and Plans for the Winter Garden

I spent most of yesterday morning pulling up the tomatoes along the driveway.  With the heat, wind and drought this year I didn't get the production off these plants that I had hoped for.  The tomatoes at my community plot also had low production.  We had a total of  23 plants plus 4 cherry tomato varieties between the two locations.  Oh, we had plenty to eat, but I was expecting a mother load from all these plants!

For some reason the 5 plants, plus the 4 cherry tomato plants I have growing in the grove are still doing very well, with no signs of blight.  They reached the top of the 8 foot cages in July, began growing over and towards the navel orange tree which grows behind their bed on the east side.  I will leave these in and continue to feed and water them.  We may still be picking from these 5 plants well into December.  Not sure how long the cherry tomatoes will produce with the sun moving more towards the southwest side of the house, and that may be a problem.  I don't think it will shine on them for more then 4-5 hours.  We will just wait and see what kind of weather we get moving towards fall.  Soon, I will need the raised bed space that these tomatoes are using for my winter garden.

I read on a local garden site that many gardeners had the same problem with their tomatoes; probably due to late season blight.

I did harvest enough tomatoes to freeze 6 quarts of whole, oven roasted tomatoes, some sauce and a few jars of salsa, but that was it.  I still have enough green tomatoes on the counter that will continue to ripen from what I picked off the vines yesterday.

Moving on: I am now planning my winter garden and have started planting in my seed starter trays already this morning. The moon is almost full and a perfect time to start more seeds.

I ordered these seeds from Botanical Interests Seeds, I have a link to their site on the right side of my blog.

I still need to order from Kitazawa Seeds,  I like the Asian greens varieties they have. Plus, they are out of CA which is nice, the order will come quickly.

 Do you save all of your old catalogs?  I do, I actually order online but I love to browse through the pages and I also cut out photos of what I am growing each season and paste them in my journal.  Yes, even though I blog I still keep a garden journal.  I keep it with me when I am out in the beds so I can make notes on what I am planting and what is doing well or not.  Also I am getting old and forgetful so this helps me when checking back from year to year.

Breakfast on the Mexican Patio

We had a beautiful morning, temperatures are a little cooler now that the humidity has left us.  I decided to slice up a bunch of my colorful heirloom tomatoes, toast some homemade Kalamata Olive Bread, squeeze a couple of grapefruits from the tree and head out to my little Mexican patio! 

This bread is one that I make often and it turns out each and every time; I usually use part wheat flour as I did in this loaf.  You can also add a bit of oregano or rosemary to the dough right at the end of mixing.

Gorgeous plate of a few of the heirloom tomatoes we grew this year.  Green Zebra, Big White Pink Stripe, Henderson's Ponderosa, and Dr. Wyche's.  Also a few cherry tomatoes tucked in here and there.  I 'buttered' my toast with some of my pesto sauce, added a bit of arugula and pretty much finished off this plate of tomatoes all by myself.  I know, a lot, but I am a tomato addict and the season will be over soon. 

Saint Francis in the Schefflera, watching over all the little ones.

Our bougainvillea is not as lush as it normally is, the drought and or the extended high temperatures are even tough for this drought tolerant plant.

Siesta Time

My plumeria in bloom and getting bigger each year.  I think it is going on 2 plus years now. 

Time to Harvest Some Galangal!

It has taken just about 2 years for my Galangal (Alpinia galanga) plant to grow just under 3 feet, and produce enough rhizomes so that I can cut a piece to use in my cooking.  The rhizome, when sliced is that odd, round, firm piece that you find floating in a true Thai Curry dish. It looks a lot like a chunk of ginger root.  It is also an ingredient in curry paste, there is no substitute for it in a recipe.  

Here it is in flower, I didn't notice a fragrance to the flower but the leaves have a mildly aromatic scent. Galangal is a type of ginger and the flower does look similar to a ginger plant that I am growing.  You cut a piece of the rhizome once it begins to flower or just as it buds.  I wanted to wait for the flower to appear since I had not seen one before.  It is spectacular, although small and does not last long; might be the heat we have here.  In Southeast Asia this plant can be grown in the sun but I didn't want to chance that and have planted it where it receives shade most of the day.  It does get filtered sun from the tree overhead and a bit shines on it very late in the afternoon.  We also don't have the humidity found in its homeland, notice the tips are brown, probably from the lack thereof. 

Here is what it looked like when I bought it on June 3, 2012; the one in the center with only one rhizome shooting up.  Now I am off to find a very special Vegetable Curry Recipe!!

Sunset After the Storm

Storm Ending
Thunder blossoms gorgeously above our heads,
Great, hollow, bell-like flowers,
Rumbling in the wind,
Stretching clappers to strike our ears . . .
Full-lipped flowers
Bitten by the sun
Bleeding rain
Dripping rain like golden honey—
And the sweet earth flying from the thunder.

-Jean Toomer

Cloudy With a Chance of Rain, one hopes

Looking East, enjoying the sound of thunder and a few light sprinkles. The air is cool, damp and smells of sagebrush, it feels wonderful. We have had a couple of nice showers, hope it continues through the day.

Today on my list to do:  roast off some tomatoes and get those in the freezer.  I don't feel much like heating up the house, but at least I can keep the windows and doors open. Yesterday I cooked up a huge batch of random tomatoes and made 4 quarts of juice. 

Zucchini spears soaking in salt water.

 Later on  when I get some time I will post recipes to A Table for Rue, Please  for these Zucchini Pickles and the Panzanella Salad pictured below.  The pickles only take a couple of days in the refrigerator and with the daily harvest you and I probably get it is another way to use them; they taste just like dill pickles but without the wait.

Heirloom Tomato Panzanella Salad