Peas!

I picked a bowl of peas last night. Small, but still, enough to make me feel like I succeeded with them.

And some garlic is starting to come up. It's a relief since, once again, it looked like something had been digging up the bulbs. But obviously nothing bothered them.

Peas and no Kale

Peas! Despite the recent heat, I discovered pea pods. There will be some ready to pick in a few days. The only problem is that there probably won't be enough for a meal at any one time. Next year I guess I'll have to plant more (and also support them better---plastic posts just don't do the job).

The kale, however, are still being eaten. Presumably by rabbits, or by whatever seems to be making holes. I fill them in, but can't quite figure out where they are coming in from. Unless they got under the dug-in hardware cloth. Grr...

Still producing and raspberries, too

Well, it has gotten cooler, but the tomato production was slowing even before it cooled off. And it's still in the 80s during the day, anyway. But something is eating the tomatoes once they get reasonably ripe (not rabbits, as the high ones are being eaten as well). I'm now picking them as soon as they show a little bit of red, and that seems to provide enough that we still get them for the garden, plus we had extras with the CSA.

We are also still getting a few small bell peppers, and a fair number of hot peppers. Whatever is eating the tomatoes is eating the hot peppers as well, by the way.

Also signs of rabbits or something digging into the garden. They've eaten the tiny kale and kholrabi plants that I planted a month ago and had started to (slowly) grow. I've put in more, and hope that the rabbits (or whatever) either get blocked out or slow down as it gets cooler.

One good thing--the raspberries have hit another peak production. Looks like enough for raspberries very morning with my cereal, with any luck until we get frost. Mmm...

Animal Update---now they are attacking the fertilizer

So I went out last night to check on the garden. There is a small plastic cabinet on the deck that I use to keep tools, seeds, and bags of fertilizer and soil amendments in. The door was open, which is not unusual---I don't always close it completely. But the weird part was that some animal had gotten into the cabinet and dragged out a bag of fertilizer. Tore it open, too, and spilled most of the contents onto the deck.

What could possibly attract an animal to fertilizer (organic, yet)? And why don't I get a shotgun?

Too many tomatoes

We've gotten to that point of the summer. This means success, of course, but also leaves me wondering how to use up what I've grown. Last summer I tried canning them, but I wasn't satisfied with the result. I thought the home-canned tomatoes were actually kind of bland, so I don't want to do that again.

That leaves us on a search for tomato recipes.

I pulling up the dead/dying zucchini plants today. This was not a very successful season for them---once again, only a few fruit grew. Why don't I get more zucchini? The cucumbers may also be on their last legs.

Of course, the continuing seasons mean that new things are happening. I've planted some more kale and kholrabi. The first plants have come up, very spotty germination, however, maybe because of the heat? Peas are also coming up, but also somewhat disappointing germination. Still, with any luck we should get some peas this fall.

I also picked some hot chili peppers. They are drying under low heat in the oven. Should be plenty for chili this winter.

Big Harvest

Well, I went out today just to make sure nothing needed to be picked. And here's what I got:


Not bad. Four cucumbers (they keep hiding until they get too big), lots of cherry tomatoes, and plenty of regular tomatoes as well.

As I already had a load of tomatoes, it was time to make fresh tomato sauce. Recipe follows:

1. Lots of tomatoes.
2. Some basil

(If you want exact measures, try a cookbook. Besides, the purpose of this recipe is to use up whatever tomatoes are around. Don't try it unless you have at least 15 or so ripe tomatoes, however, as it cooks down a lot.)

Peel the tomatoes and remove the seeds. Chop them up and then drain them in a sieve (I just discovered this step, it reduces the cooking time a lot).

Mince the basil. Note: you could also add sauteed onions, garlic, oregano...whatever you like. Or you can even omit the basil for purity.

Simmer tomatoes and basil in a large saucepan until most of the liquid is gone. You want lumps of tomato. This might take an hour depending on how many tomatoes you have and how large the saucepan is.

Serve over pasta. Parmesan is good on this, but not completely necessary.

The harvest continues

The dribble of one or two cucumbers each day means that the vegetable drawer in the fridge is filling up again. If this keeps up, I will eventually make dill pickles. For now, however, we are planning a cucumber-mango salad for a potluck that should put a dent in them.

The tomatoes are producing, although kind of slowly. Part of the problem is that I still lose more than I like to insects and other things of that sort. It is disappointing to see a tomato that was ripening go bad before it can be picked! Still, we are getting more than enough, and plenty of cherry tomatoes.

Getting a few raspberries, as well. There should be lots soon.

Still only a zucchini every week or so. They are very discouraging. Maybe I should give them up.

The pea plants have shown up and are starting to reach the trellis. And there are tiny kholrai and kale plants. I suppose next week I should try to plant some more, since I'm sure this heat isn't the best for them.

I am spraying Seranade like crazy (twice in the past week). I think I am losing to the powdery mildew, but at a slower rate than in the past. Next year, I'll have to try spraying earlier.

Thunderstorms...

Why can't I get supports for the tomato plants that don't fall over during thunderstorms? Happens every year.

Doesn't help that the hard soil about 8" down tends to bend the ends as I try to push them in.

The squash took over

Last year I let some volunteer ornamental squash grow over the pachysandra. My reward was a bunch of nice new ornamental squash that helped decorate the sukkah. So when I saw a couple of plants growing in similar places, I thought, why not?

So I found out why not. These things grew like crazy. So this evening I went out and hacked a bunch of them away to make room for peas and kholrabi and things. Don't worry---I left plenty (although I might well have fatally trimmed the plants, who knows).

Keeping ahead of the mildew

I sprayed the zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes once again. The tomatoes don't get the powdery mildew, but they do get early blight. The same spray is supposed to work against both.

In fact, I think I'm barely keeping ahead of the mildew. It is still spreading, but not as fast (I hope) as the new growth on the cucumbers and zucchini. The cucumbers keep producing, at least. The zucchini, not so much. I'm not sure that's a mildew problem, however. I just don't see a lot of zucchini flowers.

It will be time to plant the peas soon. Not sure how I am going to do this with the heat. I suppose I'll have to do it in the evening.

Tomatoes at last

I guess tomatoes are the basic vegetable. If somebody grows one thing, it will likely be tomatoes. If that is true, ripe tomatoes must be the basic sign of a successful garden.

Every year I wait for what seems to be a very long time until the tomatoes ripen. I finally picked the first one the other day. Success! It seems like it took longer this year than in the past. But it always seems that way.

Cucmbers, cucumbers and some more on rabbits

The cucumbers are producing, one or two a day. I used eight of them to make sweet pickles, but I've already picked three or four since then. This is good. I think. The problem, of course, is that I either get nothing or a lot. There is just no way to plan to get a cucumber each day just when we need it for the salad.

The rabbits have discovered the garden gates, it seems, and have made a couple of holes under them. I've blocked them, and so far it seems to have worked. Before I found them, however, the rabbits got to a couple of cucumbers that were growing on the ground. They can't get to the ones that are up six or twelve inches, however.

Tomatoes still aren't ripe...except for the cherry tomatoes. And a few zucchini are growing.

I've been spraying to dry to stop the powdery mildew, but it's not clear yet if I've succeeded. At least the plants aren't dead.

Yet Another Garden Problem

At least it was easy to identify. It is powdery mildew and it is all over the zucchini plants. Aargh!!! Turns out this stuff I bought for the tomato early blight is also supposed to help against it, so now I've sprayed the plants.

But why am I suddenly learning so much about plant diseases and pests? I would have preferred ignorance.

Cucumber!

But just one. It was hiding in the plant (they do tend to do that) and I got it at just the right time. But nothing else, and still not a light of signs of male flowers---although there had to have been one.

Also picked the first summer squash, and it looks like some zucchinis are starting to grow. There are tomatoes, but just starting, and still green.

Alas, the birds finally discovered the blueberries.

A cucumber question

Why isn't my best cucumber plant producing any male flowers? The tiny cucumbers behind the female flowers are dropping off for lack of interaction with their opposites.

Raspberries and Rabbits

Can I start with some good news? I didn't cut down all the raspberry canes last year, and I've been rewarded with major raspberry action. I got almost a pound two days ago, and another 10 ounces today.

This may complicate things in the fall. Since they obviously bear on year-old canes, I will have to decide which ones are too old, rather than just get rid of all of them (which is what I was doing). But I have lots of raspberries.

Meanwhile, the war with the rabbits continues. I discovered that they were getting in under the side fence! So last Sunday morning I got up early, to get going before it got hot, and dug a 92 inch long trench next to the fence, then cut hardware cloth to fit and stapled it on. No rabbits can get in that way.

So I came out to the garden in the afternoon, and, yes, there it was...a large rabbit in the middle of things. Grr. I chased it to try to figure out where it was coming in, but we did the around the garden thing until I lost track of it. So I went to pick the raspberries. When I finished I walked toward the garden gate---and there it was, trapped in the cul-de-sac next to the gate. And breathing heavily. All I had was a bowl of raspberries, which are not, by any means, a useful anti-rabbit tool. I tried to open the gate and the rabbit jumped past me and back into the garden.

At this point I lost it. How did it get in? At first I thought maybe it was trapped, but I haven't been able to rouse it in a couple of days of trying. So I assume it found a way out. Maybe under the other gate? I will have to try to seal that off, too.

&^%*# Rabbits

I keep meaning to post about the rabbits...and more keeps happening. I wondered why I saw a rabbit in the garden a little while ago. What happened to my rabbit-proof fence? (You have to bury it far enough in the ground to keep the little so-and-sos from digging a hole underneath. Which I did, all along the bottom of the porch.)

Once the kale and kholrabi (K&K) were gone the rabbit didn't seem to be doing much damage, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to plant beans, peas, and more K&K until I got rid of it.

A week or so ago I saw it again, and chased it...and found the hole it had dug. Under the steps, it found a weak spot in the rabbit-proof fence. I dropped a concrete block over the hole and thought, OK, that'll hold it for a while.

Then I saw it again. I chased it and found...that the entire south fence is probably a weak spot. The rabbits can dig in from the next-door neighbors' driveway. Looks like I will have to extend the rabbit-proof fence all the way along this area if I want to keep them out. So frustrating!

I don't have time for this right now...and it looks like I've lost the two weakest tomato plants. Plus some onions. Who knew that rabbits like onions? (Or tomato plants, for that matter). I've tried some anti-rabbit juice that didn't work very well before. It sure stinks to me.

A shotgun would be too good for them.

Rabbits

Yes, they found a way in. So much for spring kale, peas, and kholrabi. I wasn't too hopeful anyway, because I think I planted these too late.

I went around sealing up some places where they might have gotten in, and I'm hoping for better luck in the fall.

Getting the plants in

It's been sort of hectic what with traveling and now an operation. But I managed to get the tomatoes planted---they were growing too big under the lights for their pots. Then we got a couple of days of cool, rainy weather. Most of the plants are doing fine, but a couple that were fragile to begin with may not make it. I may have to buy a couple of plants, since I don't have any more cherry tomatoes.

Oddly, while the tomatoes germinated quickly and grew fast, the cucumbers and zucchini have taken a lot longer. In fact, the zuccchini are only now germinating, and it must be a month since I planted them. I'm not sure I will even be able to use the plants I started, since they are so late. The cucumbers are a little better, but have been growing very slowly. I'll probably try to do more planting soon.

I've had to leave a lot of things undone this year. For example, I cleared the planter on the side of the hummingbird attracting plants (I saw one hummingbird there over the years) to plant herbs. It needs about a yard of soil, but it's just too much trouble right now to figure out how to fill it. So I'm going to plant annual herbs this year, and will try to get the soil over the winter, maybe in conjunction with putting in a raised bed (another project I want to do) where it is difficult to dig because of roots in the vegetable garden.

Sprouting Report

Tomatoes are coming up, although I've lost a few of the plants. Good thing I put three seeds in each pot. A couple of cucumbers or zucchini have germinated, too. Next weekend should be good for some preparation.

Seed Starting Stuff

So I started the tomato seeds two weeks ago...I wonder why the seed packages claim they take six to eight weeks. The seeds had germinated by the end of the first week, and are now growing under the lights. I expect to have plants ready to go by the middle of May without any problem.

Last year, I started the tomatoes in March, and had to replant a bunch of them...and even then they got too big.

Today, I started the cucumbers and zucchini. Unfortunately, the kale and kholrabi don't seem to be doing too well. Not much germination, although enough to provide some nice plants. But there is a big if---if it doesn't get hot too quickly for them. I think I should have planted the kale earlier.

Only about half the peas I planted germinated. Maybe it doesn't pay to use last year's seed for peas? It worked for tomatoes, though.

At least the onions and garlic seem to be doing well. As are the weeds. I'm going have to do something about the weeds before planting.

Spring Again

Time for a new post...I've completely neglected the blog over the winter and promise nothing this year.

Snowmaggedon is long gone, and last weekend gave me two perfect days for getting the garden in shape. I had done a few things over the winter...like pruning the blueberry bushes. (Should be done very year. I had never done it. There will be more next winter, I suppose). But mostly, I just left things.

So this weekend was a bit of a flurry of activity, although there was a lot less to clean up than last year. Or maybe I just did less. Anyway, I got things organized, and got the first planting in. This consists of:

1. half a row of kale (red and green)
2. half a row of kholrabi
3. Some peas (an experiment)
4. A row and some more of onions.

I planted the peas where some of my cucumbers will eventually go. I am not going to fight the cucumber blight any more. Instead, I am going to plant to put in a couple of plants every two months through July (when the beetles should be gone) and just let the early plants go. At least we should have cucumbers all season.