I’m returning to this blog after a disappointing 2011 harvest season with a fresh outlook and the hopes for a more successful vegetable garden this year. Gardening is a challenge and a reward in many ways, and last year I learned more than most other years. Among other things (many other things) I learned that I had located my beds in a new home in the wrong location where they didn’t get enough sunlight, that newly picked carrots cannot be stored in the refrigerator without turning overnight into shrivelled looking things, and many ways to fight off deer/birds/rodents. I often felt like Mrs. MacGregor from the Peter Rabbit books. Is it bad that I now sympathize with them instead of with the Rabbit family? I also learned that I should plant and plan for many more seedlings than I think I need. Yet again, I was foiled again in my quest to grow tomatillos… Two beautiful seedlings were hardening on my deck, and then one broke, a casualty in a wind storm. Which meant that I had to start some direct seeded. But they were on different times, and by the time that both plants were flowering, I only was able to harvest a few before it got too cold.

There were also successes. I had the best cucumber harvest I’ve ever had, and we continued to harvest many cucumbers into October. I grew many varieties of plants I’ve never grown before. Most of the new plants were located in beds without enough sunlight, and so I didn’t get to harvest many of the vegetables, but overall, I enjoyed seeing some progress and learning about the different plants as a whole. Some of the varieties, I will grow again in a better location and see what happens. Some, I will take a break from this year, unless I’m moved to plant a few at a later date.

So, when I started planning for this year, especially remembering the feelings of disappointment I felt most of the growing season, I felt a little apprehensive. Seed catalogs have sat on my dining room table untouched. I’ve put off planning and really looking at the changes I need to make this year. What will this season hold? I’m late to start my seedlings (from my personal schedule) and am daunted by the task of relocating my garden beds to the north side of my house, digging up some bushes, and then putting up a deer netting contraption that will also let me easily access the garden beds (I have yet to finalize these plans). But yesterday, I decided to move forward, to learn from the experiences of last year, and begin anew. Which is what gardening and spring is about to me. A new beginning. Working your own patch of land, dealing with things that you don’t always have control over, and hoping for the best. Seeing what fruit will come of your efforts, in essence. I brought my husband into my plans for relocating the garden, and garnered his help when the ground warms up a little to move one of the raised beds to a sunnier location, as well as his help in digging up some azalea bushes and roots. I ordered my favorite tomato seeds (with the birds, and with our eating habits, I’m doing only a few varieties this year, mainly plum and cherry types), and also went ahead and ordered some blueberry plants. Between my husband and daughter, we go through SO MANY blueberries every year, and I’d love to be able to grow some of our own. (Did I mention we have deer that regularly visit my garden? Am I crazy?) So with the plants ordered and shipping in March or April, I’ve committed to action, and begun again. The unseasonably warm weather makes me itch to get out in the garden again, and serves as a reminder of the promise of a new gardening season. Hopefully, truthfully reflecting on the learning experiences of last year will help me plan better for a successful harvest.

Changes

You know Spring is in the air when thoughts turn to garden planning and you  are really having a hard time not starting your seeds. The weather has been unseasonably warm and it is hard to believe that the last frost date for my area is May 4th, and not just around the corner. However, I am biding my time before it is safe to start growing some seedlings indoors by watching gardening videos of those gardeners that have started planting in the south, and by plotting on how I am going to construct my veggie garden this year.

2010 was a wonderful year for myself and my husband with many changes. We had our first child towards the end of April last year, and in February (yes, in the blizzard) moved from our townhome into a single family home with room to grow into. I joke that if we were still in our townhome, the baby would have had to live in a dresser drawer. I loved my old home, and the layout of the garden was easy to plan, but I love this house much more. I am excited to get back into gardening after taking a year off. Last summer, I went into major gardening withdrawal. I didn’t have the time to plant as the baby kept me much busier than I expected, but how I did miss being outside, and I really missed the homegrown tomatoes, cucumbers, Swiss Chard, and everything that I had grown the year before. Now in May, she will be one, so I expect to start teaching her to love the garden and where food comes from. Right now doesn’t need to be held 24/7, can play on her own for short periods of time (with supervision) and absolutely loves the outside as well as getting into everything. I am spending time protecting a Swedish Ivy I’ve been growing for years, although she tries to get it on an almost daily basis. My sweetie loves plants and flowers, but she is rough and gets upset when I won’t let her grab and yank the leaves.

In any case, that was a bit of a tangent, but just one of the challenges I’ve been thinking about when it comes to gardening….

My yard is not flat. It consists of three narrow tiers, and currently there are bushes and trees that are wonderful shade, however limit the area in my yard that gets good sunlight. That’s one challenge. Where do I put my planters? Do I create a raised bed, and where do I put that? Should I remove any of the bushes that are here in order to plant a veggie garden? These are the questions I am currently thinking about. Plus, the other major challenge which I am going to face this year…. What do I do about the deer? One of the things I love about our new home is that it is near woods and parkland, and that sometimes, we can feel like we aren’t really in the suburbs of DC. In the summer, we often see deer almost every day walking outside our yard. In the recent snow, we saw deer tracks all over our front yard. Our yard is fenced in, but deer can easily jump over the fence. Right now, they are rarely in the yard, and our dog is a deterrent, but I know that when I start growing basil and tomatoes, and other plants, that the jump will seem less of a risk. So I will keep on planning, and will post as I establish a new garden, face new foes, learn many more lessons, and hopefully, enjoy the harvest.

Come on Springtime! I’m ready for you!

Garden TLC

In the garden today, I:

1) weeded a little (need to do more)

2) tested soil in the containers I’m growing tomatoes in (based on purpling veins in the leaves and no more flowers, I think it is low in nutrients) – I couldn’t read the nutrient testing, but my soil is a neutral pH.

3) fertilized tomato containers and pepper container with Tomato-tone organic fertilizer

4) set up mesh trellis for peas and switched out the solid one that kept falling down due to rain or squirrels

5) went crazy at the local nursery– no better sign than “All seeds – 40% off!”

6) decided to plant pumpkins and some winter squash (acorn and hubbard) based on sale seed purchase

7)watered the raised bed and other planting areas with compost tea.

8)came inside and lay down, pestered by dog and went for a walk.

My new favorite gardening quote: “A good gardener doesn’t have a green thumb, she has brown knees.”

Happy gardening!

A bit of beauty

Hosta Flowers

Sea Oats

Garden Watch: July 24th, 2009

Well here is a quick update about the other veggies growing in my veggie garden:

My peppers continue to do pretty well. The peppers (except for Holy Mole) are small, but the plants still seem to be growing bigger. I have eaten 3 jalapeno peppers. I had to throw out a Carmen pepper which looked great, except the back started to rot. I was very upset. However, the plant seems to be doing even better now that it is not concentrating on ripening its fruit. The Gypsy pepper is pale yellow, and I’m waiting until it turns red to eat it because I heard it is better when red. I am also doing similarly with Holy Mole, which is supposed to turn brown. It is now a dark green glossy color kind of like a pasilla.

Pepper Container

Holy Mole

Small Bell Pepper

My cucumbers were doing quite well. I did notice and kill a few cucumber beetles and squash bugs (horrible, horrible, pests that kill plants and won’t die–look them up, they are the bane of the squash gardener) although was never able to get pictures of them to pass on. Look them up and fear. Anyway, I got quite a few cucumbers but today pulled the last on one vine that looked like it had pretty much had it. I also pulled all the zucchini plants. I kept fighting but finally admitted that it just wasn’t working. I’ll add some pictures. I licked the first problem – yellowing and browning leaves, everything was looking good and I got about 3 zucchinis from the plants, then came horrible powdery mildew which spread very quickly and stopped production of the zucchini. I was out of Neem and some anti fungucides, and really was pretty tired of fighting with the zucchini plants. Plus, frankly, I had a horrible infestation of squash bugs last year and with the appearance of a few of the little buggers, I wasn’t really willing to continue to fight with zucchini that just wanted to die. So I pulled all the zucchini plants and am taking donations from my neighbor, whose zucchini, like most people’s zucchini, produces more than they ever want or can consume. I planted some suyo long burpless cucumbers in their place and in the place of the cucumber vine I pulled. I figure I have time for a harvest of fall cucumbers, and the squash bugs should actually be gone by the time these vines are flowering. So, hopefully I will win. Just a note, if you are container gardening and have an infestation of squash bugs, GET RID OF YOUR SOIL. Among other evils of this bug, they overwinter in mulch and soil. So really if you have an infestation, you shouldn’t grow squash plants for a few years. I happened to have gotten rid of my soil, so it wasn’t too bad, but chances are if I had kept my soil, I would have been fighting squash bugs daily. Another of my burpless vines has just started to really blossom, so I’m looking forward to it producing fruit which it hasn’t yet.

First harvest - cucumber 5.6 oz

Another cucumber

Baby zucchini - one of the few

Powdery Mildew - believe me it got worse!

Powdery Mildew again on another zucchini plant

New blossoms on a burpless variety

Cleaned up cucumber container

Beans & Peas:

Awesome! Getting a few beans every day and now just letting them grow so maybe my husband will get a few too. The pea plants have been growing slowly in the heat, but have just put out pods this week. I plan on planting a pea crop in late August to try and get a fall crop:

First pea pod

Yellow bush beans

Eggplant:

No harvest yet, but they are definitely growing. I’m not sure how large Ichiban eggplants are supposed to get, so I should look that up. But it is definitely a beauty. And my fairy tale eggplant slowly is getting bigger.

Ichiban eggplant

Fairy tale eggplant

My tomatillos are also…slowly… coming along. It’s actually starting to drive me crazy. Grow faster!!!!!!

Tallest tomatillo plant

Potatoes:

I’ve never grown these before. It’s been about 3 weeks since I planted. Some shoots have come up. I’ve had to add compost to one plant. Wondering when and if the other seed potatoes will come up or should I put compost over the entire can? Hmmm. Definitely a learning experience….

Can 1: 1 growth, covered with compost

Empty potato can

Potato Can 3: 1 shoot

Fingerling potatoes planted in raised bed

2nd growth in raised bed

Other crops (in other words, fun with the hoop house):

In my raised bed, I’ve planted radishes which are going gangbusters! I think I may be able to harvest some in a couple weeks. I’ve also planted cabbage and broccoli, and am succession planting greens (planting a row of greens every week). For fun, I also put in some garlic cloves that have sprouted. Although I don’t think I’m going to let these grow into bulbs (I have more coming in October, which is a more appropriate time for planting), I’m going to have fun eating and using the garlic greens for cooking, which apparently taste (surprise) like garlic! I’m also salivating at the mustard greens….

Mustard green seedlings - 7/8/09

Mustard Greens

Radishes - 7/12/09

Radishes today

Cabbage seedlings - 7/8/09ish

Cabbage - first real leaves have emerged

Broccoli plants

Garlic

Nevada lettuce seedlings

Chard - first seedling spotted!

Hoop house I made

Tomatoes Gone Wild

It’s the end of the July in Maryland, and what a weird growing season it has been! I am finally seeing “real” sized tomatoes ripening in the garden. Although it has been a tight race and I thought that the Cherokee Purple was going to win, it looks like true to name, “Early Girl” is going to be my first ripe tomato. However, it looks like the birds had started finding the Cherokee, so I pulled it when I saw what looked like a beak mark so that the fruit can finish ripening inside. For the past week or so, I’ve been enjoying my cherry tomatoes, although my husband has been teasing me because the cherry tomatoes that have ripened have not made it into the house except for yesterday. I’ve been getting a few ripe ones a day, anywhere from 3-5, so they have just been eaten standing in the garden (the best way to enjoy a tomato). The cherry tomatoes I grew this year are “Sun Golds” and taste very sweet. I would say they are definitely a hit. The plant is full of them, and they are awesome. I’ve also been snacking a bit on my green beans and getting a few of those daily. I’m now going to wait to harvest them until I can get a good 2 servings. I think I may be pulling them a bit early, but boy have they been good! (Worth all of those nights slug hunting, let me tell you).

But in any case, I wanted to do an update on my wild surprise tomato plants. The one growing in the rocks (See my post called “Life finds a way”) has definitely thrived. I caged it, and it now has it’s first fruit. I can tell by the fruit that it was one of my favorites from last year, the “Juliet” tomato. As an added bonus, this plant and the new wild ones growing seem to be the healthiest plants growing this year! I’m loving it. I haven’t mentioned it, but I also have a wild “tomato bush” growing near where I kept my vines and rotting plants from last year. The bush is really about 3 different tomato plants that I’m just letting grow wild like the vine it is. And they are starting to produce fruit as well. I’m hoping to be up to my ears in tomatoes this year, and happy that I decided to start canning this year. Mmmm homemade tomato sauce and salsas!!! 🙂

Here are some pictures of the tomato plants:

My Wild Tomato Plants:

Wild Tomato Identified...

...As a Juliet plant

Another tomato vine growing in the rocks...

What kind of plant will you be?

My Tomato Bush

With Type 1 fruit

...and Type 2 Fruit

And for tomato lovers… Tomato Porn (enjoy):

Sun Gold tomatoes

Juliet

Pink Girl

Early Girl

Lemon Boys - starting to turn yellow!

Brandywines continue to grow bigger

Celebrity Tomatoes

Cherokee Purple-- a much abused fruit

Mr. Stripeys

San Marzano plum tomato

I’ll post when I pick and weigh the Early Girl!

An attempt at potatoes…

Well, I’ve had a busy week in the garden. I am going to try to grow my first potato crop!  Today I planted the seed potatoes in a trashcan  (see this page for a quick overview). I am trying to grow three different varieties– Butte, Cranberry Red, and Apple Blossom Fingerlings. I figure that they will be ready to harvest in late October, and hopefully I have just enough time to grow a good crop. I definitely plan on trying to grow them in the spring, when more varieties of seed potatoes are available, and when they really should be started. Tomorrow I plan on finishing a new garden bed that I have made, which will grow more fingerling potatoes for now, and then serve as a fall and winter garden that I have planned! I’ll have pictures and a general garden update soon, but I am very excited about trying to extend the harvest season. I’ve even bought and am reading a great book called Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long by Eliot Coleman. Along with online articles and youtube videos (yes, youtube gardening videos!) I’m learning quite a bit about creating hoophouses, and what crops grow well in the colder weather).

Another interesting bit of news is that I have found out that Montgomery County’s lawn recycling is composted and then packaged for sale at most local nurseries. I’ve purchased “LeafGro” which is labeled as a soil conditioner, but actually is the lawn clippings composted with no additional additives added. It seems like really good compost, and I am excited to see how it works to grow various things. Plus, it was pretty reasonably priced. I am using straight compost with a little seeweed/fish fertilizer to grow the potatoes, and in the raised bed, have combined the compost with manure compost, vermiculite, and peat moss. According to Square Foot Gardening methods (see this site), the  mix should be 1/3rd compost, with 1/3rd vermiculite and 1/3rd peat moss. My mix is definitely more compost, but I think it will work well. We’ll see! My next step is to start composting myself, and am learning a little about that as well.

Veggie Voyeur

I think my obsession has reached a new level.I have embarrassed my husband twice by going up to people’s fences or front yards and looking over them to better see their plants. Due to veggie voyeurism, I now have discovered that one of my neighbors grow grapes, figs and persimmons, has a terraced garden in the back yard, and makes their own compost! And another neighbor grows some sort of melons in their front garden near their marigolds and azalea bushes. Who would have known?

I just feel better that apparently this happens to many people who throw themselves into this hobby. Who wouldn’t want to see other ways to trellis and support tomato plants?!!! 🙂 Feel free to look over my fence anytime. I consider it a compliment.

Tomatoes! (And other growth in the garden)

What a busy week! Since my last posting, all of my tomato plants (except for my Brandywine) have started producing fruit. I have so many little tomatoes popping up every day in the garden, that it is a pleasure to walk out and see what has happened each day. I am also taking bets on which of the full size tomatoes will be the first to ripen. I personally think it will be the Early Girl, but my Cherokee Purple (the beauty) is putting up a good fight. In addition, most of my peppers now have little peppers (and one not so little pepper), and are looking like it may be the best crop I have had (I’ve had bad luck with bell and sweet peppers the past couple years). After many weeks of worry about my zucchini plants, and so much research about various mildews and blights they could have I’m almost embarrassed to admit it (never did figure it out, by the way), they seem to be doing better. The leaves have become greener, there aren’t the rust colored spots, and more importantly, the leaves are staying green and not turning yellow then grey and decomposing! On the 19th, I spotted my first female zucchini flower so am looking forward to seeing a little baby zucchini starting soon. Today in the garden, I saw the first flower on one of my slug muched green bean plants. [Important note to anyone dealing with slugs out there: Keep up with the deterrant methods. My coffee grounds had been working great (you’ll see pictures below) but I didn’t reapply and the slugs and sow bugs got at them again two nights ago. After reapplying coffee grounds, they seem to be back on track. Oh, and I found an organic slug bait solution at my garden store and applied that to my pepper plants, around my beans, and around my hostas. The real reason to apply it seems to be the sow and pill bugs, as they don’t seem to be deterred by coffee grounds and aren’t as bad drunks as the slugs.] But back to garden progress: My cucumber plants have also continued to grow well, and are starting to reach the top of my trellis, so I’ll need to find a way to extend the support soon (I want as many cucumbers as I can get). There are many on the vine, and many other blossoms. It’s looking so much better than they did last year, when I didn’t trellis them at all. Also, my Ichiban eggplant has a few blossoms now. With all the rain and cooler temperatures, I decided to try and see if I can eke out any peas even though it technically is either too late or early to plant them. They started sprouting on the 19th and one plant is now about 2 inches tall, but it remains to be seen how they will do and if I will get any peas. I am also starting to plan for a fall/winter garden and will update you as my plan takes shape.

Enjoy some of the pictures I took. These were all taken on June 19th and you can definitely see some growth since just a week ago!

Sun Gold cherry tomatoes

Juliet Tomatoes just starting... can you see it?

Pink Girl's 1st fruit

Early Girl

Celebrity

Cherokee Purple...the cutest tomato in my garden 🙂

Sweet Havana Pepper

Holy Mole Pepper

Baby Jalapenos

Gypsy Pepper

The first bell pepper has started!

Cucumbers on Trellis

The first eggplant blossom

Happier Bean Plants

Life Finds A Way

Mystery Tomato

I spent about an hour outside weeding today. Although in the past, I have found this one of my most dreaded chores (probably because my mom enjoyed sending me to prune or to weed as a punishment when I was in my tween years), I found it quite meditative and soul satisfying today. I went outside without headphones or music, and set to work. It was a gorgeous day–one of the few days we’ve had without rain. As I threw myself into the work that I had let build up, at first I found myself thinking negative thoughts– “God I really slacked out here… That weed barrier sure doesn’t keep any weeds out!… Ugh. I hate weeding.” But as I settled in, I started noticing the bird song. The birds seemed to be celebrating the good weather and were having a good chat around my yard. I saw a squirrel do his high-wire act from trees to fences to power lines. And more than that, I noticed how quiet it was. Despite bird chatter, I couldn’t hear any noises of cars, or people shouting, or sirens, or anything like the usual jarring and busy soundtrack to my life. And as I noticed the quiet and natural sounds, I also seemed to find the work itself quite satisfying. I moved between each container removing all the weeds that had emerged, including this ground cover from the neighbor’s house I can’t seem to get rid of, as well as grass, etc.

As I was working along, I also noticed something funny– I found weeds that looked like tomato plants. And I kept finding them everywhere. And then… between two containers and amidst a ton of other weeds, I found a real tomato plant growing. I have left this one alive to see how it goes. It strikes me as quite a funny looking plant– a tomato vine standing upright among river rocks. It shouldn’t be here, but it is. And I thought about all the tomatos that had been eaten by ants, or fallen off the vines. I had been a little lazy last year, and left quite a few tomatoes just to rot or dry out on the outside of the containers. I hadn’t given it much thought. And here, after winter, because a tomato lay fogotten on the ground, here emerges a new plant! I have no idea what type of plant this is. But I look forward to seeing it flower and grow, and to see if it can find it’s way to bear fruit among the rocks. For some reason, this little plant has given me hope. Maybe we can all find a way to live and thrive amongst the rocks in our own lives.