Update, Pictures, and Wacky Weather

It is official!  My 'plant indoors' list is complete and I have already gotten part way through my 'plant outside' (direct sow) list.  The next few weeks should be pretty busy, depending on the weather of course.  It seems that no matter where you are in the world this spring (or fall) it is either too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, too unpredictable, too windy, or all of the above!  It is rather nerve wrecking and I think I speak for all of us when I say, "Cut it out!".  This week started with temperatures in the low 60's, followed by a leap into the low to mid 80's (today and yesterday).  We will end this week with days of rain and below average temperatures in the low 60's, upper 50's.  We should return to 'normal' by the middle of next week, but who knows how long that will last!  And yet I still feel lucky, because I know there are many gardeners and farmers who have lost everything to this crazy weather.  Every time I go to shake my fist at the sky I temper my frustration and send positive thoughts to those hit by tornadoes, flooding, and all other destructive weather so far this year.  It also makes me want to work extra hard to grow the best plants I can as a sort of symbolic share-cropping.  Here's hoping it works!

As my post title implies I have photos to share!  I shall use them as my update guide.

I put in some edging around my strawberries in a  hap-hazard fashion.  I mainly just want to keep them from spreading and I think it will do the job.  Or at least make it easier for me to cut the runners as they try to escape over the edge.  The ground wasn't exactly level, so that is the main reason the edging is a little 'off '.  I put it in on May 1st (date of the photo), and it is still in place.  Those bricks are no longer there, so it is basically on it's own.

My first outdoor plantings in the actual garden were beets, carrots, and radishes.  I used the radishes to mark the rows and they were already coming up on May 6th (photo at right).  I only planted one row of each with the plan of planting more in a week or two.  When I checked yesterday, there were beets pushing through the dirt and I suspect the carrots are close behind!  The soil was a bit dry yesterday, but I resisted watering, because of the coming weather.  Even with the high temps in the afternoon sun, the seedlings looked fabulous!

Other progress that was made in the garden yesterday, consisted of me getting the bean trellis set up and then planting the beans.  Hopefully this new position will not over shade the strawberries.  I think it will be fine, but we'll see!

Next I decided to work on removing the old fence posts that are currently where I plan to put tomato plants.  These posts were there when we moved in and since we expanded the garden this year, they are now in a bad spot.  We discovered that at least one of the corner posts is there to stay.  It is actually in an OK place, so that doesn't concern me, but the ones that are not in an OK place need to come out.  So I dug and dug and dug until I found the end of the first one.

Turns out the darn thing was about two and a half feet in the ground and so rusted that it bent rather easily (bottom stake in photo).  While working on the next one, I was about two feet down when it just wouldn't let me dig anymore.  I was hitting rocks and the soil was also a clumping clay at that point.  So I just broke it off and left the end in there.  And because there was so much clay, I added organic matter when I re-filled the hole.  After all that, I decided to wait on the others.  Two down, three to go! Ugh.

Before heading inside I took a look at my oregano.  As you can see, it looks rather... Dead. (Above)  Upon closer inspection, however, you can see that it is slowly coming back and will likely take over the entire container this year! (Pictures at left)


I have both Greek and Italian oregano in there, but I honestly couldn't tell you which is which anymore.  They even taste the same to me.  I have read that Italian oregano is supposed to be stronger and have a more pungent flavor, but as I said, they taste the same to me.  Even Tom can't tell the difference, so I wonder why they say that.  If anyone knows, please feel free to enlighten me. :)

Inside we go!  Here are just a few photos of my seedlings from May 6th and yesterday (May 10th).  First up is one of the Legend variety tomatoes from May 6th.  One of these will be in my parent's backyard. However, I do have extras.

Keeping with the 'parent's backyard' theme, we have the Sungold Cherry variety.  This photo was also taken May 6th, so this little guy is even bigger now!

Italian Heirloom tomato

Bhut Jolokia or Ghost Pepper catchin' some rays.

Habañero; short but HOT

Jalapeño peppers before I transplanted one of them.  They are enjoying their new found space.

Jack-o-lantern pumpkin on May 6th.  There are two in the pot now.

Mini overview of some tomatoes and peppers.  The tomatoes obviously like to show off their fast growing speeds. (May 10th)








One of two trays in my kitchen window.  All transplanted tomato and pepper extras.

And finally one of three trays sitting in the family room, sliding door window.  I drew an arrow pointing out how insanely big the Jack-o-lantern pumpkins have gotten in just four days.  The tray also includes Sweet Pie pumpkins, watermelon, and more extra tomatoes and peppers.  Did I mention I have a few extras?  Maybe a few isn't the correct terminology.  How about an abundance.  Whoops!  ;-)

Here's hoping the weather is tolerable wherever you may be.

Tomatoes and Sunflowers

As my 'start indoors' list gets shorter and shorter with each thing I plant, the weather outside gets crazier and crazier.  I would seriously like someone to come stand in my backyard wearing Spring appropriate clothing and attempt to convince me that Climate Change is not real.  I will watch from inside, as it is SNOWING out there, and see how long they last.  Snow has fallen in April here in the past, but it is not too common, and further North they are getting way more winter weather than is normal for this time of year.  Winter weather warnings complete with 6-12 inches of snow are NOT normal for spring!  I feel the worst for the Canadians as it appears Spring may skip them this year!  Here's hoping we all get to experience summer at least!

Though the weather can't seem to make up it's mind outside, inside the seedlings are oblivious to the temperature roller-coaster and constant change in form of precipitation.  Inside they live a relatively pampered life with constant warmth and plenty of light and water.  I know they will have to brave the elements at some point, but not until that white stuff stops falling!  And the tomato and sunflower seeds I planted a few days ago, have demonstrated their ignorance quite well.

I finally got the tomatoes and sunflowers started on April 14th.  I had hoped to get them started on the 10th, but first life got in the way, and then I discovered I only had about 2/3rds the amount of seed starting soil I actually needed.  I don't see this 'late' start being too big of an issue as most of the sunflowers and a good number of the tomatoes have already started peeking their heads out.  It started with a single sunflower three days ago and has progressed rapidly from there.  Out of the 33 cells, 18 already have sprouts.  The sunflowers are winning this race with ten of the 18, but I know the tomatoes will catch up!  Tom was rather surprised at the speed of the new plantings, but I guess the peppers sort of threw him off with their long germination times.  Still, that one sunflower may be on steroids! I'll have to have it tested. ;-)

This year's mix of tomatoes has a 'canning friendly' theme.  Since I ended up buying a good number of roma tomatoes from the farmer's market last year, I thought it might be a good idea to grow some of my own.  I went with Amish Paste, and discovered something rather amusing.  When I was planting the seeds, a large majority of the Amish Paste seeds were stuck, or "pasted" together.  I couldn't help but wonder if the term 'paste' was a little more literal than assumed.  They are one of the eight sprouts, so I don't think the stickiness is interfering with their germination.  I must say it is still rather humorous!

The second type of 'canning friendly' tomato I planted is an heirloom variety called Italian Heirloom.  It originates from Italy and produces fruits weighing over a pound each.  They apparently have a lot more flesh than seed, so there is little waste when used for canning.  Even the photo on the seed packet demonstrates this characteristic. (I bought my seeds at the Garden Expo, but you can get them too at www.seedsavers.org)  So basically, if the Amish Paste plants are a bust, there should still be plenty of canning worthy tomatoes to go around!  And although they are supposed to take 7-14 days to germinate, one cell of these already has a sprout too!

Now let's move on to the 'not-so-canning-friendly-but-super-fun' tomatoes.  The last couple of years I only planted tomatoes that I thought looked fun and yummy.  But after two years of canning experience, I thought I had better grow some varieties that worked better for that activity.  That doesn't mean completely getting rid of the fun ones though!

Fun choice number one is a relative of Mr. Stripey.  I have tried unsuccessfully two years in a row to grow Mr. Stripey.  I don't know why, but the fruits just didn't want to ripen, and took forever to get started in the first place!  The plant itself did fine, though the first year it fell prey to Late Blight despite being considered a somewhat 'resistant' variety.  My choice this time around is another heirloom,Tigerella.  Like Mr. Stripey, Tigerella is red with yellow stripes, has a rich delicious flavor (says the seed packet; I'll let you know), and has that wonderful habit of growing to a height of 8-10 feet.  One of the big differences between the two though, is that Tigerella produces medium sized fruits instead of large and does well even in cool summers.  That will be a plus if we get the amount of rain we got last year!  (*Cough, cough* Climate change!)

Next is the mystery pack!  I bought an heirloom mix packet with 30 seeds in it and planted two seeds in each of eight cells.  I don't have room for sixteen plants, but I wanted to make sure I got at least one plant per cell.  And maybe there will be even more pots full of random veges on my porch this year... (Don't tell Tom! ;-D )  Here is what may or may not come up: Aunt Ruby's German Green, Black Brandywine, German Johnson, Giant Oxheart, Mortgage Lifter, Pineapple, Watermelon, Beefsteak, White Wonder, and Yellow Brandywine.  I hope I end up with at least a few different colors of tomatoes, so that I can convince my mom that a tomato doesn't have to be red to be delicious.  Regardless of outcome, I think I'll do pretty well with any of the above!

And speaking of my mom, I have two different varieties started for her and my dad.  The first is a cherry type called Sungold that my mom picked out, I assume, because it says they are "so delicious you won't even believe you are eating tomatoes!".  And because she really like cherry tomatoes!  The second variety is one I picked out called Legend.  I have never tried it, but I picked it because of the following descriptors: Early to ripen; Excellent late blight tolerance; 4-5 inch glossy red fruits that are amazingly sweet; Determinate, so will do well in a container.  The Sungold was the first tomato to come up and the Legend variety broke through today.  My parents are well on their way to enjoying the literal fruits of my labor.

That leaves us with the sunflowers.  I really enjoy sunflowers, and was disappointed that I didn't get any started last year.  So this year I planned ahead and got some started so that they will be plants and not yummy seeds when I get them outside.  Nothing worse than planting sunflower seeds only to have them carried off by a scavenging rodent or bird!  And I should mention these are not edible-for-humans varieties, so they will not be inside the garden.  I went with two tall types and one short.  The short one was actually a free sample at my local garden store, so that is a plus.  Who doesn't like free seeds?  That variety is called Teddy Bear and actually resembles chrysanthemums more than the traditional sunflower.  No seed face surrounded by petals, but rather a pom-pom type look.  They are golden yellow, and only get to 24 inches in height.  I may put them in front of the taller ones, or in a completely different area.  I have yet to decide!

The taller varieties are Autumn Beauty and Orange Mahogany Bicolor F1.  Autumn Beauty grows from 5-7 feet tall with blooms in shades of lemon yellow, subtle bronze, rich wine, and bicolor combinations.  And if you let them go to seed, they apparently can be harvested as food for wild birds.  The Orange Mahogany hybrid produces 5-6 foot plants with orange and yellow bicolor blooms.  Unlike the Autumn variety which blooms in late summer/ early fall, the Orange Mahogany blooms all summer long and into the fall.  That means I will have plenty of beauty throughout the growing season!

Looking over my 'start indoors list', I am feeling pretty satisfied knowing that there are only three items left to go.  On May 1st, depending on the weather, I will start Watermelon, Pumpkin, and Pok Choy indoors.  That will complete my indoor list and we will hopefully be on our way to a great summer.  So weather, you had better get with the program!

Peppers- One Month On

Today is the one month anniversary of the 'Planting of the Peppers'.  Well all the peppers except Bhut Jolokia, Cayenne, and Hungarian Wax; The planting of which occurred just two days later on the 20th.  And although it can take from 10 days to 5 weeks for sprouts to appear, a good number of them showed their faces rather quickly.  In fact, by March 31st some of my seedlings managed to come up, then subsequently die due to damping off.  This sort of thing is rather upsetting in normal circumstances, but it is particularly maddening to me.  

The first year I started my garden, I also started plants from seed.  I was off on the timing, used regular potting soil as starter in peat pots, and did not 'correctly' harden off my plants before transplanting.  Everything I did was "wrong", and yet most of my plants lived and thrived!  There were no cases of damping off, and the only real issue was the late planting time.  

The next year, after doing research, I planted my seeds in a recommended seed starter mix and consulted my new "planting time" list.  I used peat pots again, but followed proper hardening off procedures.  When the plants were at the point where I was able to leave them outside 24/7, a large number of them mysteriously died.  I was sad and confused.  I took a few dead looking seedlings to the garden store, and was told the bad news.  I had lost my plants to damping off, and they weren't coming back.  The advice I was given to prevent the problem from occurring again was to use plastic instead of peat pots in hopes that that would stave off any lingering fungus and possibly reduce excess moisture.  

So this year I used seed starting mix in plastic containers.  I started everything at the correct time and have been careful not to over water.  And yet I STILL had seedlings damp off.  And they aren't even outside yet!  Very, very maddening!!!  From an action and consequences stand point, I have learned doing everything correctly is a bad idea, and doing everything 'wrong' is the way to go.  I think the damping off this time may have been due to a lack of air circulation, but that is no different from the last two years either.  There is some good news to report however!

On March 31st, I replanted the seeds that damped off.  This included two of the Peter Pepper cells, one Habanero, one Garden Salsa cell, and all the Yummy Blend.  I also planted the remainder of the Peter Pepper, Yummy Blend, and Bhut Jolokia seeds in round pots for an experiment.  I read in two different books that using chamomile tea water to water your seedlings was a way to help prevent damping off.  So I made chamomile tea, diluted it, and then let it cool to room temperature before using it to water the seeds in the round pots.  Then I waited.

And waited....

Notice the barren cells in the middle. (You can click the photo for larger view. )

I was pretty much ready to give up hope of ever seeing the replanted peppers emerge.  In fact I was so concerned about the Yummy Blend, which was planted for my parents, that I went to the store and got another sweet pepper variety and planted that just in case!  Everyday I woke up and went to bed staring at dirt.  Not seedlings emerging, but dirt. Then on April 16th, I looked at the round pots and my eyes got large.

The replanted and experimental Yummy Blend peppers had come up!  Only one of the three seen in the photo at right came up on April 16th, but that lone Yummy Blend seedling was soon joined by two friends.  And as you can see, they are doing pretty well.  I took the photo this evening after the sun went down, but you can see that I probably should have turned them one more time before sunset.  They are Leaning towards the light. 

The next pepper to "rock my world" was the Peter Pepper.  A single sprout came up two days ago, but I admit my excitement was not AS intense.  The main reason for that was because there were in fact Peter peppers from the original planting in one lonely cell of the pepper flat.  When the two barren Peter Pepper cells continued to remain that way, I moved two of the three seedlings into those cells.  Of course one of the contenders is pictured at left.  It has actually been like that, with the seed skin still attached, for several days.  It may or may not make it.  That would be why it is a good thing the back up(s) has sprouted!

And that leaves us with one round pot to go.  Now when I received the Bhut Jolokia, or Ghost Pepper seeds, all I knew was that they can be very difficult to grow and that they need it to be HOT, even more so than their counter parts.  Upon picking up another book on chili peppers (the only plant specific books I own), I found out that the 5 week germination time applies to Capsicum chinense.  Which is the species of chili pepper Bhut Jolokia falls under. (Other familiar members include Habañero and Scotch Bonnet.)  So the fact that I hadn't seen any Bhut Jolokia was understandable.  However, with the whole damping off debacle I was getting nervous!  My Habañeros had come up with the rest of the peppers and only had that one incidence of damping off.  (One of the Habañero seedlings is shown above.) The replant of those in the regular pepper flat did not come up, but similar to the Peter Pepper situation, I was able to move 'extras' to the empty space.  With the Bhut Jolokia, I planted ALL the seeds I had and so far had nothing to show for it.  

So when I peaked into the mini greenhouse today, my expectations were low.  I removed the cover, and saw.... something!  Is that?  Is that a SPROUT!?!?  Still in disbelief, I had to get closer.  This involved removing the cellophane I had wrapped around the Bhut Jolokia round pot only, to give it even more heat.  Upon removing that it became clear.  Houston, we have a SPROUT!  :-)  Of course my label for the Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper), made the event even better, because it was indeed as

though something 'dead' came to 'life' and said, "BOO!" to me.  It was the perfect start to the day and a great Earth Day present!

Here is a LARGE close up of the Bhut Jolokia seedling.  SEE!  It does exist! < -------

And so I leave you with some pictures of the rest of the peppers. 

Here you can see the entire pepper flat. (4/18)  The early risers and also the ones that didn't damp off, are much taller for obvious reasons. The cayenne and Hungarian wax are on the far left. (Click on photo for larger image)

Close up of the "tall" club.  This includes from left to right, top to bottom: Peter Pepper, Habañero, Mariachi, Garden Salsa (of which the replant came up), Serraño, Jalapeño, Super Chili, and Roster Spur.

Cayenne Pepper

Super Chili Hybrid

Some Like It Hot

There are many people out there that enjoy the sweetness that a Big Bertha, Fat 'N' Sassy or Pimento can bring them, but there are also those who like it HOT!  And of course by 'some like it hot', I mean peppers, not the 1959 movie starring Marilyn Monroe, though perhaps she enjoyed hot peppers as well.  And if she did enjoy hot peppers, she would have been very good friends with me.  Or at least with my produce!  I received my Google Calendar notification earlier this week, that informed me it was time to plant the peppers, so I obliged.  And while there are a few of the 'sweet' variety in there, most of what I planted is in the medium to burning range.  Because, well, some like it hot!

At the beginning of this week I made a confession to Tom.  I informed him that I ordered more seeds.  He responded with, "Is there room in the garden?"  (What a silly question, I say!)

"Well, no... But that is what this pot that I also just bought, is for!"  I answered while motioning to the pot.

He just laughed.  Every year the porch gets more and more crowded with pots of  "overflow" seedlings, so I think he is getting used to it!  These particular seeds were an impulse buy (something I rarely do outside the gardening realm) for a friend.  And while some like it hot, there are also those who like it BURNING.  I am not one of those, but my friend Jesse, absolutely LOVES all things fire.  So when I happened across some Bhut Jolokia seeds, I jumped at the chance to get some.  Which I admit, is a bit insane!

Bhut Jolokia peppers are also known as Ghost Peppers or Naga Jolokia and have a SHU (Scoville Heat Units) rating of about 855,000.  They were once rated as the hottest chili in the world by Guinness World Records, but have since fallen to third place.  For a comparison, Jalapeños normally fall between 2,000 and 5,000 SHU; and Habañeros between 200,000 and 500,000 SHU.  So we are talking about a fire in your mouth, don't touch without gloves type pepper.  Just what Jesse loves.  However, I have heard these peppers can be difficult to grow, so I am crossing my fingers that they make it from seed through fruiting.  I will keep you informed as to how it goes!

At left you can see the pepper flat that I planted this week.  Included in the flat are (in no particular order): Habañero, Peter Pepper, Rooster Spur, Super Chili, Jalapeño, Serraño, Garden Salsa, Mariachi Hybrid, Yolo Wonder, Fat 'N' Sassy, Sweet Hungarian mix called Yummy Blend (for my parents!), and the sticks with a ghost and the word BOO on them, are where the Bhut Jolokia peppers will go.  You may notice that there are four empty spots with no sticks on the far left.  Those may end up being more peppers.... Once again, NO there is no room left in the garden.  However, I received free seeds with my Bhut Jolokia order, and I hate to let the cayenne pepper seeds go to waste!  Yes, I think I need to join an over-planters anonymous group.  Or maybe start one!

And speaking of planting, (or was it over-planting?), the next items on my list to get started indoors are celery, leeks, and red cabbage.  That is a task that should be completed by Monday at the latest.  You may remember that I have had green onions growing now for a few weeks, and you are probably wondering what is happening with them.  Well, I am not entirely sure.  At first they were doing REALLY well!  Standing up straight and enjoying life to it's fullest.  Then, they fell.  Just bent over and took a nap.  I thought maybe I over watered them, so I stopped all water and vented the tall lid that is on them.  I have been watching them, and they have started making second leaves and those leaves are once again reaching for the sky (or ceiling as the case may be).  So did I kill them?  Are the coming back to life?  We shall see.  I am hoping they rebound and do well, but I fear I may have messed this one up.  This is the first time I am growing onions, and I know they can be difficult, so that may be what I am coming up against.  Here's hoping they make it!

Onions and Seed List

There was sun streaming in the windows all day today and it caused the kitchen and living room to get up to 76 degrees!  Even though it is still rather cold outside, it felt a bit like summer inside, and that is something worth celebrating!  It also gave the furnace a break since there was no additional heating necessary.  And of course, the onion seedlings rather enjoyed their sunbath.  I hope they aren't too disappointed when the sun disappears behind the clouds once again in the coming days.  I have been doing the 'sun' dance, but I guess it only has minimal effect.  Our forecast for the rest of this week consists of rain/snow mix followed by snow and then a 'chance' of snow.  Winter just does not want to give up quite yet!

Regardless of the current weather outside, I am still forging ahead with my garden activities inside.  My onion seedlings are doing very well and are actually quite a bit taller now than in the photo at left as they have since 'unfolded'.  I had to replace the lid that was covering the seedlings with the tall dome lid, so that they would have more upward growing space.  Hopefully they will not out grow that before I can leave them uncovered.

In other seedling news, I finally figured out when to start my peppers indoors.  Last year a few of the varieties I planted almost didn't fruit and ripen before the cool fall temperatures crept in.  To combat that issue, I want to start the peppers earlier.  After consulting the "starting time" list for my area that I got from my local garden store, and then doing some frost date research online, I have decided that March 15th would be a good day to plant.  That is earlier than the list I have suggests, but I followed the list date last year and it obviously didn't turn out too well!  I figure if nothing else, I will just have larger than normal seedlings ready for transplant.  I would rather have that 'problem' than under-developed plants!

I also thought I should put a list of what I am planning on planting this year on my blog, so that all of you know what I am in for!  Here it is:
Basil - Large Italian Leaf; Always a useful herb, and rather tasty!
Beans - Climbing French, a pole variety.  They are also 'stringless' and I love green beans.
Beets - Detroit Dark Red.  I may get another variety as well, but I haven't decided yet.
Cabbage1 - Red Acre.  I did tried to do cabbage last year, and it didn't turn out as planned.  This year I am investing in row covers to keep out the bad bugs and also the tree debris that plagued my cabbages last year!
Cabbage2 - Pok Choi
Carrots - Scarlet Nantes.  I was excited when I received these in the mail from the Seeds of the Month Club. They are a shorter variety and apparently are "tolerant of mismanagement".  I'd say you can't go wrong!
Catnip - I have to plant this because our cat Simon refuses to even touch store bought catnip.  However, he LOVES the stuff I dry from the garden.  He is the ultimate catnip snob!
Celery - The variety is called 'Utah'.  Also from the Seeds of the Month Club.  I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about growing celery, but I decided to give it a go.  Hopefully it will be a success!
Cucumbers - Boston Pickling.  I was excited to get theses in the mail as well!  I confess; I don't like cucumbers.  However, I do LOVE pickles and was planning on picking up some seeds for pickling cucumbers.  It is like they read my mind!
Dill - Because you can't have pickles without dill!  Well you can, but they wouldn't be dill pickles.
Leeks - Giant Musselburgh.  They get to be 9-15 inches in height and up to 3 inches in diameter.  Hence the name Giant.
Lettuce - Several types.  I really liked the variety from my local garden store that I planted last year, and the container I used seemed to work out well.  I will probably also plant the two varieties that came in the mail as well, because I enjoy a diverse salad.
Onion - Tokyo Long White.  A green onion.  Good by themselves or in recipes!
Oregano - The massive oregano octopus should come back again this year.
Parsley - Also already out there, though not an octopus.
Peas - These may or may not be used.  I haven't decided.  The issue is that I am not too fond of peas, and have found that they are not like cucumbers.  You can't just pickle your way to something better.  There are people who really like peas though, so I may grow some for them.
Peppers - I am now going to list all of the different pepper varieties that are making it into the garden (or in pots on the porch) this year:  Serraño del Sol Hybrid, Early Jalapeño, Yolo Wonder L Bell Pepper, Sweet Canary Bell, Super Chili Hybrid, Peter Pepper, Burning Bush Hybrid (Chichen Itza variety Habañero), Rooster Spur, Garden Salsa, and maybe Hungarian Wax.  I will obviously have to decide here pretty quick if Hungarian Wax will be making the cut.
Pumpkin - Sweet Pie for sure and then it is between Jack -o- Lantern and Batwing.
Radish - Round Cherry and French Breakfast.
Rosemary - I have some indoors at the moment, but I may replant some outside.
Spinach - Tyee Hybrid.
Squash - Spineless Beauty Hybrid (amusing name!), and Costata Romanesco, an heirloom variety zucchini,  thanks to a fellow gardener and blogger Gardening Jones.  (Thanks!)
Thyme -Lemon Thyme.
Tomatoes - Once again there is a list, though not as long as the pepper list: Amish Paste (Roma), Tigerella (See previous post for detailed info), Italian Heirloom, and a few seeds from an heirloom mix I got.  The heirloom mix is 'for fun' since I have no idea what will come up.  The Amish Paste and Italian Heirlooms are for canning, though I am sure there will be plenty left over to eat as well!  And the Tigerella is a 'for fun' that I know will be delicious!
Watermelon - Sugar Baby!  Once again I was super excited to receive this in the mail, as I was going to buy some anyway.  Cut back on my to-do list.

There is one thing that I would like to try growing again that is not on the list.  That would be Spanish peanuts.  The only thing is, I am thinking it would be better to grow them in a container, like potatoes, so that I can have some really good soil for them.  The soil in the garden is not the best for peanuts and I think that is what caused my peanuts not to do too well last year.  They didn't branch out much and would do better with a looser soil.  If I decide I have to have them, I will get a container such as a garbage can and put them in there.  I will let you know!

And last but not least, I listed no flowers.  There will be some though, so I will update you on that as well.  This post is already long enough without taking you through the list of flowers!  They aren't going to be directly in the garden with the vegetables anyway, so I guess they can have their own post.  Now to see about some more sun dancing!

Garden Expo And Garden Graph

This last week started with a great visit to the Garden Expo, continued in an upward direction with warmer temperatures and melting snow, and has ended with.... FREEZING RAIN!  Ugh!  Well at least there was one bright spot in this thing we call winter.  The freezing rain is expected to turn into snow over night and everything outside already has a nice coating of ice on it making for some sparkling twigs!  But we mustn't focus on such chilly things, so let's see what is happening in the land of gardening!

I finally got a graph made.  You can click on the photo at left to see a bigger version of the finished product.  I can't say it is 100% "the" finally layout that will be in my garden, but it should be pretty close.  Upon viewing the graph, Tom's first comment was, 'what are you going to put in the big space on the right?'.  Well, that is technically for the vines that will eventually want to take over the garden, but I may put in some beets in the beginning so that there isn't a giant empty spot.  No one likes wasted space in a garden!  And since the vines will take a while to grow, there should be plenty of time for some beets to mature.  You may also notice that the garden looks much more rectangular than last year.  With the new fence that we installed, the garden is finally more normal in shape, and I was able to safely make a rectangular graph!

As I mentioned, we did make it to the Garden Expo. It was my first time going, and I definitely will plan to go again.  My main focus for the trip was to see if there were any interesting seeds I may want.  Of course there were TONS of seeds, and I did want most of them.  However, I had to focus and only get a few, since most of the garden was already spoken for.  I zeroed in on hot peppers and heirloom tomatoes for possible treasures.  I was not disappointed!

There were several different choices and the difficult part was not grabbing every seed packet that looked interesting.  Since I already had some of the standard hot peppers, I decided to get something that I haven't tried before.  After going back and forth between Thai peppers and a variety called Rooster Spur, I decided on the Rooster, because it has purple leaves which will add a fun color to the garden even before any fruits form.  The peppers themselves are only two inches in length and turn red when they are ripe.  I expect they will have a bit of a bite, as the seed packet describes them as HOT.  Should be good for adding to chili and possibly salsa and hot sauce!

Next stop was the tomatoes.  After looking at several different kinds I picked out an heirloom variety called Tigerella.  As the name implies, the fruits are red with orange stripes.  It neglects to say how big the fruits get on the seed packet, but upon investigating the world wide web, my suspicions were confirmed that it produces a medium sized fruit.  So not a beef steak size like the Mr. Stripey tomato.  Apparently the two are very similar, especially in taste, and with a predicted plant height of 8-10 feet, I can see the relation!  I can always trim it down though, so we will see.  Nothing like using a step ladder to harvest your tomato plant!

Satisfied with my Tigerella choice, I turned to leave the tomato section when something caught my eye.  "Italian Heirloom"  I had to check it out as my dad is Italian and anything Italian and food related makes me think of my dad's side of the family.  My Italian grandmother did not have a garden, but she was quite the cook, and I think she would have liked these tomatoes!  The seed packet reads like a salesman after my own heart.  "Outstanding heirloom from Italy"; "Fruits weighing over a pound!"; "Ideal for canning" with "very little waste and easy to peel".  Had I not been in a public place with several strangers within earshot, I would have said, 'Sold!' out loud.  I then decided I had better leave the tomato section before more packets made their way home with me!

I did pick up two more vegetable items before ending the seed search.  Giant Musselburgh leeks and Climbing French beans.  I needed to get some green beans as it was, and the Climbing French variety looked good.  I also decided getting leeks again would be fun, but this time I got big ones as is indicated in the title.  And not to be outdone by their edible cousins, I got a few flower choices as well.  I am still pretty determined to turn our steep hill into a prairie.  We will see how that goes in year two of the mission!

And finally in this never ending post I get to some plantings!  I planted some green onions which can be seen at right (there are more, but I decided to crop the photo).  You may be wondering what all the pictures in the rest of this post are of, as I just sort of threw them in there with no explanation.  Starting at the top after the graph photo we have what I like to call, 'preparation'.  You can see the plastic seed trays I have purchased so far, as well as seed packets, my garden notebook, and some measuring devices.  The next photo down is of the long table I purchased to put my seedlings on.  Four trays will fit comfortably, and as you can see, they will get some good sun light!

Next we have the 'planting room', aka the laundry room, where I planted the onions and will do the rest of my indoor plantings.  The pot in the photo is an old pot I use to mix the soil with water, so that it is moist when I put it in the trays.  And yes, I do keep my seed packets in a box in alphabetical order, with an index card (baring the correct letter of the alphabet) separating each section.  If only I was that organized in all areas of my life!

And that last photo before the plantings is more fir fun than anything else.  I was just overcome with joy when I saw GRASS!!! that I had to take a picture.  I will be referencing that photo often in the coming days as I wait for the grass to re-appear.  Before it got dark tonight, that spot in the photo was already freshly covered with a thin, but most likely persistent, layer of snow.  Repeat after me: Spring is coming!  Spring is coming!

Planting Time!!!

After neglecting my blog for months (oops!), I am back!  Now we'll see how much time I leave in between this post and my next post to determine if I really am "back".  :-)  And since mostly nothing in the way of 'gardening' has occurred since my September post, I feel just fine moving on to the here and now!  So here goes...

I can tell it is 'that' time of year by the commercials on TV advertising commercial grade herbicides and other similar products.  And by 'that' time of year, I of course mean planting time!  But Sara, have you looked out your windows lately?  Particularly after the HUGE snow storm that hit and is now pummeling the East Coast?  Yes, yes I have.  And as I stare out over the 4 foot snow drift that sits on my back porch, I imagine green grass and vegetable plants heavy with ripe fruit.  And I know that some day, months from now, I will no longer have to imagine it, because it will be real!  But not without some careful planning, and that begins now!

So far I have collected several seeds, mainly from joining a seeds of the month club.  The club has been providing me with four packets of seeds a month! (Seed Club which I highly recommend!)  I have also purchased Jiffy 5063 Seed Starting Mix - 16 Quart Bag, some plastic trays, and a long skinny table that will sit behind our couch in the sun with the seed trays on top.  In addition to these items I picked up some hot pepper seeds (they do not send hot pepper seeds from the seeds of the month club), and plan to get some more items next weekend at the Garden Expo!  (http://www.wigardenexpo.com/)  And last, but probably the most important for the planning process, I have made three graphs of my garden plot.  I have yet to fill them in, but at least I started the process!  I made three graphs so that I can change my mind and not have to cross things out.  The graph making process involved going to the store to get a yard stick, because my 12 inch ruler wasn't quite long enough.  And that was making each foot of my garden only half an inch!  I wanted to make each foot a whole inch, but it turns out my paper isn't long enough for that.

I hope to have pictures up as soon as I plant my first seedlings.  That should be within the next couple of weeks!  Until then, happy gardening!

Autumn Approaches

Although autumn has not officially started here in the Northern Hemisphere, the signs that it is just around the corner are everywhere.  The weather is cooler, trees are starting to turn colors, and hibernating critters are frantically collecting as much food as possible for the coming winter.  The plants in my garden are showing signs that they are wrapping up for the winter as well.  Some dieing, others ripening the remaining fruit on their branches, and still others kicking into high production gear.  Everyday I head out to the garden now is a bit of an adventure, albeit in a different way from Springtime.

Once again, I neglected to post on here in a speedy fashion, and have actually been thinking about posting for quite some time.  I told Tom that it is almost like delaying a homework assignment, only there is no due date!  I guess my procrastination is showing.  How embarrassing!  Good thing I don't apply the same tactics to my garden work!  After the trimming of pumpkin leaves in my last post, it came to my attention that I should probably do a LOT more trimming.  So all of the pumpkin vines and both remaining zucchini plants got a major leaf cut.  After I was done, my garden looked naked.  Tom asked if everything was going to die because of all the trimming, and I assured him that things would be O.K.  He gave me the, 'I'm not so sure' look.  Everything has survived since the event though, so I think I am safe!

I did have to remove one of my zucchini plants today, but it was due to wilting leaves, not lack of leaves.  Basically it had the look of, "I'm done!", so I listened.  There is still one zucchini plant left in the garden, and it still has fruits growing.  I'll leave it there until it too tells me it's time.  I really hate pulling plants out, but I know it is for the best.  When they are done, they are done, and if they have diseases on them that is all the more reason to get them out of there.  With that in mind I also removed the Tumbling Tom Tomato plant that was out in the garden.  That poor little plant not only seemed to have stunted growth, but it also had a terrible case of septoria leaf spot.  All of the fruit it had produced ripened and was picked and it wasn't making any more, so I figured it would be best to remove it.  Especially since I still have healthy tomato plants out there with green fruits.  And my Tumbling Tom plant on our porch is doing great, so it wasn't really a loss.  I also trimmed a bunch of branches from the giant Mr. Stripey plant.  Basically I was hoping that by trimming some of the branches, it would force Mr. Stripey to focus on ripen his fruits, not continuing to get bigger.  No word on the success of said experiment yet, but I will keep you posted!

A funny thing happened when the temperature starting consistently being below 80 degrees Fahrenheit; the pumpkin flowers opened wide and stayed open, all day.  It was somewhat shocking to me, since I was only out in the garden at a time of day when it was hot out, but it does make sense.  Of course I expected to see many new pumpkins starting, but that hasn't happened.  There are a few more watermelons in the making, and many new flowers on both vining plants.  I am hoping that the pollinators stay around long enough, and the temperatures stay high enough for both plants to bring more fruits to maturity.  Pumpkins are a fall crop, so there is still plenty of time for them.

With lower temps, I figured the hot peppers would start winding down.  However, they are still producing new flowers!  That happened last year too, but I planted late last year, so it was expected.  This year, I guess I am just lucky.  I was very impressed by the Habañero pepper that started ripening just as the temperatures decided to dropped into the low 40's at night, and continued to ripen fully.  I have read that Habañero plants ONLY ripen in hot, hot weather with full sun.  Turns out they can ripen in 'cold', cloudy weather.  Of course I have only had one ripen so far, so we'll see if my theory holds out for the rest of the peppers.

My cayenne plants, which have had green peppers hanging on them for quite some time now, have decided to express-ripen.  Everyday I go out, there are more cayennes ready to be picked.  I am a little disappointed by this behavior, because my mom and I could have used these late bloomers a little earlier!  We made a batch of hot sauce that called for hot red peppers.  Well, I didn't have enough cayennes at the time for even a half batch, so we ended up making whatever-hot-pepper-was-around hot sauce.  And although we only used enough ingredients for six half-pints worth, we somehow ended up with ten!  Oops!  It was a fun experience though, and I am thinking this recipe will turn out better then the one we used last year.  We also got to use my great grandmother's sieve that she used to use to make apple sauce.  I hope she doesn't mind that we made hot sauce instead!

All of the other pepper plants, the jalapeños, Hungarian wax, Tabasco, Nu Mexico Big Jim, Peter pepper, pimento, and green bell, are still making flowers and new peppers.  One of the jalapeño plants and two of the Hungarian wax, seem to be done, but who knows.  A couple of the Tabasco peppers finally ripened as well, so I am just waiting for the rest of the 200 or so remaining Tabasco peppers to follow suit!  My two bell pepper plants on our porch are doing great as well.  The tequila pepper plant is still producing peppers, though I have picked quite a few.  The other plant has finally revealed its true identity.  I knew its mature color was not supposed to be green, so I have been waiting and waiting for at least one of the peppers to change color.  Turns out they are Hershey bells!  It only took them all summer to work that out.  I figure it is worth the wait though, and there are several peppers on the plant at the moment.  Soon I will have a bunch of purpley-brown bell peppers and nothing to do with them!  :-D

If you are still reading, I would like to say thank you.  Delaying blog updates is a bad idea when you like to elaborate as much as I do.  This would be an excellent time to get some popcorn or other snack if you have not done so yet.  A good snack might be peanuts; boiled or roasted.  To be more specific, Spanish peanuts.  In fact I may be able to help you in that regard.  Two of the three peanut plants I have in the garden appear to be doing what my little information card tells me is the signal of harvest time.  The leaves are turning brownish-yellow and upon digging with my fingers a short distance, I saw what appeared to be a mature seed pod.  Since I have never grown peanuts before, I want to be as sure as possible that they are in fact ready before digging them up.  However, I also don't want to leave them in the ground too long.  I have seen pictures of other people's harvested plants, and they have green leaves still.  This causes me more confusion and doubting.  I guess I should probably just dig one of them up and see what happens.  That way I will know for sure and can either harvest the other two plants right away, or let them stay out a bit longer.  I hate to harvest the 'tester' plant, and have it be not ready though.  Oh the dilemmas of new plants!

As far as interesting garden news goes, that just about covers it.  I did have the unfortunate experience of finding some sort of flying ant like insect swarming around one of my Chinese cabbage plants today.  I immediately stopped what I was doing and went to get my organic insecticide.  There was no way I was going to let those bugs have my cabbage!  Especially since the zucchini plants prevented all of my cabbage plants from growing earlier in the season, and they sat in limbo until I trimmed everything.  Now that they are growing correctly, I would like to be able to harvest them!  Still not sure it that is going to work out, but I can hope.  At least I know what not to do next year, and that is always useful.  And now I leave you to the pictures that I spent a great deal of time trying to par down, so that you didn't have an album of 300 or so to go through!  It may be my favorite part though!

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I'm Not Dead! ... And Neither is That Pumpkin Plant

I said to myself, "I will post to my blog tomorrow, I promise!"  Well I said that several days in a row and then I got sick!  That further delayed the posting.  But the good news is, I am not dead!

After reviewing my last post, I realize that much has happened in the way of the pumpkins since August 18th.  The harvested Sweet Sugar Pie pumpkin that sat patiently on my kitchen table, finally got used.  My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on the 22nd and got treated to a homemade pumpkin pie!  For this being my first time making a pumpkin pie from an actually pumpkin, I was trying to keep my expectations low.  Well, it turned out to be the best pumpkin pie I have ever eaten!  And to my surprise, the small pumpkin yielded one and a half cups pumpkin "gulp" (technically puree) in excess!  I essentially had enough for one and a half pies from that one small pumpkin.  Good to know, because the next pumpkin that will be harvested is slightly bigger.  Most likely a two pie pumpkin!  I may need to plan a dinner or dessert party.  Hmmm....

In addition to a possible event in my home centering around pie, I may have to find a bake sale or charity event (or all three!), because I keep finding more pumpkins that have gotten pollinated!  It is almost as if the plant knows that fall is just around the corner, and it has finally decided to start cranking out the pumpkins like there is no tomorrow.  And of course the Mega vine is still continuing its pursuit of garden domination, and has not only reached the fence opposite its starting mound, but it also continues to send out perpendicular mini vines!  I would not be surprised if it ends up using the entire garden space once the other plants have met their end.  The mystery remains as to how all these new pumpkin upstarts are getting pollinated, but I know it is not bumble bees.  I watched a bumble bee dance in front of two separate closed pumpkin flowers; smelling the nectar, but not being able to get to it.  Not to worry Mr. Bee, there are plenty of other flowers that are open and in need of pollinating in the garden still.  Though none quite so big and tempting.

There is one thing that may stop my Mega vine in its tracks and end its reign; powdery mildew.  The area around the pumpkin mound is well shaded and seems to be blocked off from most of the breezes that make their way through the rest of the garden.  This, combined with the wet and humid weather we have had all summer, has lead to what I call 'mosquito corner' and great conditions for powdery mildew.  In an effort to curb the spread and effects of the fungus, I trimmed a large number of leaves off of all three vines in mosquito corner, and sprayed all the other leaves with Bonide Copper Fungicide.  The rather short Batwing plant got the most dramatic make over, with almost all of its leaves gone.  When I was sick, my mom came up to help out.  One of the things she did was water the garden.  Although I was rather out of it, I was lucid enough to warn her that when she got up there, she would notice a TON of leaves were missing.  FYI, I did that, not an animal.  And not to worry, that pumpkin plant in the middle is not dead, it is just a little naked.  No plant resuscitation required!

And how about everyone else in the garden?  Well I have picked two of the three watermelons that were growing, and they are/were very delicious!  I highly recommend Sugar Baby watermelons, especially if there are a small number of people who will be consuming the fruits.  Since there are only two at my house, a large watermelon is just a bit too much.  In addition, my refrigerator can only hold so much produce, and we like to chill our watermelon before eating it.  They weren't joking when they said the Sugar Baby watermelons are 'icebox' size!  I think they would even fit well in a dorm fridge!  I am also happy to report that I have spotted two more watermelon fruit upstarts on the vines and flowers continue to pop up.  I am hoping they grow quickly and are able to beat the first frosts!

I also picked my first Nu Mexico Big Jim pepper, but have not tasted it just yet.  The rest of the pepper plants are pumping out more fruits on a daily basis, and are on my list of things to can next.  I also have several green tomatoes that are slowing ripening, and my zucchini plants just won't quit!  I await the yellowing of my peanut plants' leaves, which supposedly is the indicator of ripe peanuts, and suspect the color change will come with cooler days.  And despite what I have been told, my bean plants that were planted in May are still producing beans.  Apparently they are supposed to stop at some point before the end of summer and new plants are to be planted.  Well, two years in a row with two different species, I have gotten the same result.  Never ending beans!

And for those of you who are visual like me, Pictures!
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Gunner, Borers, and Mice?

Before I even went outside today, I was greeted by the neighbor's dog, who came on our porch and looked at me with his sad eyes through the sliding glass door.  This has never occurred before, so I was a little confused.  I started to wonder if any one was home next door.  I even went out and gave Gunner some water, because he looked thirsty.  It turns out that the neighbor was 'home' (well one of the two anyway), he just happened to be socializing with yet another neighbor, outside the fenced-in portion of our duplex lawn.  So basically, Gunner was simply looking for someone who could let him inside and he noticed that I was visible from the glass door.  This was the first time that the cats got a close up view of Gunner, and Gunner of them.  Zephyr was curious, but somewhat apathetic, and Simon was curious and defensive, though not as bad as when there is another cat out there.  Gunner didn't seem to notice there was anything alive in the house other than me.  I guess he probably figured the cats couldn't let him in.  Well Gunner, I really can't let you in either, but I would at least be better at finding someone who could!

After I figured out that Gunner was not alone and would be O.K., I went about checking on what needed to be harvested.  I picked one zucchini and a few peppers, and decided to let everything else keep growing/ripening.  The pumpkin that is out there is showing a tiny bit of orange, and appears to be bigger than the other pumpkin pie pumpkin I harvested.  I guess that is a good thing, though there are no other pumpkins that have started.  I have seen many more shriveled remnants, but that is it. :-/  Even with the addition of more pollinators via my flowering oregano, there doesn't seem to be an increase in pollination.  I am not even sure how I would hand pollinate either, because the flowers don't really open.  I guess the ants aren't doing their job!

The other thing I am up against with the pumpkins are squash vine borers.  I read something that said they should be done by now, but I think the article lied.  When I was out Monday, I brought up my insecticide to use on the zucchini vine.  It was at that time when I noticed an adult vine borer in the pumpkin area.  I immediately sprayed it in the face!  I then went along the entire length of all three pumpkin vines (including the Mega vine which is most likely 40 ft long), and sprayed.  There does appear to be some damage on parts of all three vines, though not like on the zucchini plant that died on me.  I can't really tell if the damage is due to age or something else, so that confuses the matter as well.  And all three pumpkin plants continue to gain length as well as hold their leaves up, so I am thinking I may have prevented any major damage.  I sure hope so!  There is an added bonus too that the Batwing pumpkin plant I have planted off the porch has NO damage what-so-ever, so if all else fails, I will at least have Batwings for Halloween!

And in other critter news, I put out more coffee after seeing some slug damage.  The rain we got last week washed what coffee was there away, so there was a need to re-apply.  I also got treated to the nice aroma of coffee when I went out in the garden today, two days after application!  Mmmmm, coffee!  I then went inside and drank tea as I am not much of a coffee drinker.  It smells nice though!

My update on the broken air conditioner, is that it is no longer broken!  The A/C repair guys came out Monday and got us back up and running.  When they were finished, one of the guys came and told me that the reason the A/C broke was due to the mice who had moved into our outdoor A/C unit and made a nest.  They also chewed several cords and caused refrigerant to leak out (the mice, not the A/C guys).  In my moment of surprise, I didn't think to ask what they did with the mice.  I realized later, that that was probably best, because I don't think I wanted to know.  I am hoping that when they went and got our hose, that they were using it to 'scare' the mice out and then seal any holes.  I did not go out and look at the unit after they left.  That was on purpose.  We will stick with the mice alive and scared theory.

And the obligatory photos, because I habitually take them!
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