Garden Log

[Scott 2]

We moved the plants into a more shaded area, that faces east instead of west. The tomato survived and is growing, though slower than its peer.

I'd read container gardens are more sensitive to the sun. That seems to be the case. We have swiss chard that gets moved once or twice a day. It goes fully wilted in a couple hours, then bounces back overnight. The plan is to harvest it today, before a streak of hot days kill it.

My wife's been taking on most of the work. We're finding she cares about each plant, while I'm content to let the weak die. So she's intervened before I've even noticed a problem. It's likely I'd have a collection of dead plants by now.

[jennypenny]

I agree about the sunburn.


We expanded our garden to 46 beds. As mentioned upthread we decided to put in Birdies tall raised beds for several reasons ... less pest pressure, easier to manage as we get older, longer lasting, and (bonus surprise benefit) easier to do in-bed worm composting. They are EXPENSIVE, but we have enough in our kitty and didn't have anywhere else we wanted to invest our surplus cash this year.

We love the tall beds and don't regret the decision. We spend so much more time on the plants instead of the weeds. We also did them mostly in rows with cattle panels between them so we've really increased our vertical space. We grew tall snap peas in several colors this spring and now we'll train tomatoes up the panels. I'll do another round of peas and beans in the fall, planting in the spaces where the tomatoes conk out early.

I also have two rows of cattle panels propped up on cinder blocks and secured by t-posts. I planted beans in grow bags and old pots underneath the panels. If that setup works I'll probably do two more next year. It was a fast and easy set up for what I hope will be a ton of beans.

We also committed to doing all of the plants through our own seedlings or direct seed. This was easier and harder at the same time. It was a lot to manage and some plants got too leggy before I put them out. OTOH, as with all things ERE, I'm learning patience and tending more to the weak since the option to run out and buy replacements is gone. The herbs were the hardest ... a project to tackle next winter.



Do people really find it worthwhile to weigh everything? I've never done it. I've always judged by how long things lasted. Right now I'm down to two small bags of zucchini and one small bag each of carrots and onions (frozen). That feels pretty good for June 7 but obviously not good enough unless I want to live on lettuce and snap peas for a couple of months a year. Maybe it's time to start weighing what comes in.

[jacob]

Do people really find it worthwhile to weigh everything?

Here it increases the "recovery rate" of harvesting to nearly 100%. If we don't keep score, there's a tendency to leave things in the garden which kinda defies the purpose.

[theanimal]

I've found weighing things to be helpful for more accurately defining improvements in gardening ability and the soil. Not all of mine are precise measurements, as I just use a big bowl when harvesting and sometimes just measure the first batch, then add up the remaining in comparison to that for my estimation.

It also helps more clearly define how much of the year your supply would last, like you mention. If I'm eating 5 lbs of potatoes a week then I know I'll need 250 lbs of potatoes for the year and can better scheme how to configure my beds to meet that number.

[jacob]

Meh, so far this year has been worst out the past 4 (the trenching era). Instead of ramping up temperatures with free water from the sky, June immediately switched into hot and dry mode. Weeks with little rain. Only established plants like weeds and perennials like rhubarb and horse radish did well. The seeds in the ground all struggled to appear. Sofar, July seems to behave more like May/June usually does so maybe it's just getting a late start.

[jennypenny]

After I thought about whether to weigh everything coming in, I realized I do track what comes in but in a different way. I aim to freeze enough snap/snow peas for one stir fry per week, one tomato sauce per week, one pizza sauce per week, one zucchini bake sauce per week, enough carrots/peas/onion for one shepherds pie per week, etc. The weight isn't as important to me as the number of meals I've stashed. (I try very hard to put up meals and not just ingredients.) I store everything prepped and sized for a week's meal, so it's easy for me to count. (Part of the reason I do it this way is because I provide meals to MIL and sometimes DD and BF, so I like to stash meals vs. ingredients as much as possible.)
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We had trouble with pollination last year so I planted borage seeds in every bed. That seemed to do the trick. The garden is abuzz every morning during my walk. I'm also keeping some borage and blooming basil in pots that I can move near beds that need pollinators.


Tomatoes: We should have ripe tomatoes in a week or so. I have 42 types planted. The best looking plants are sun gold, clementine, rose, black krim, bread and salt, pineapple, and all the local (for us) varieties including all the colors of Brandywine, Paul Robeson, and some 'german' varieties (johnson, stripe, old, and tiffen mennonite).

Peppers: We've got some pepperoncini and shishimai that are almost ready to pick. The shishito plants don't seem very happy. Neither do the Jimmy Nardello. The cubanelles (which I plant the most of) look good. The Bridge to Paris are new to me and the plants are doing great, but no fruit yet. The sweet bonnets look so bad I might pull them and plant something else, which is weird since the Jamaican Scotch Bonnet are doing great in the hot pepper garden.

Zucchini: We've been eating zucchini almost daily for a couple of weeks now (cocozelle, dunja, black beauty, green machine). This week I'll be able to harvest Cube of Butter. I did three separate plantings of zucchini so they all won't come in at once.

Beans: We went through our first round of bush beans (I planted three rounds so far). Pole beans look great but no beans yet. We have a lot of green beans but I also made room for red swan, dragon tongue, wax and two kinds of purple.

Eggplant: I tried Kamo and Aswad and both are producing better than traditional types I've done in the past. I did do some black beauty in case the others didn't do well. For the second year the Rosa Blanca looks weak so I won't do them again.

Lots of other things ... surprise cucumber plants (probably marketmore) providing enough fruit for two batches of cucumber salad every week, four types of carrots that are almost ready, various vines where I stuck seeds into bare spots like cuca melon and noodle beans, and six types of basil that are going crazy now that it's finally hot and humid.

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Like jacob we've had issues with rain ... too little in june and too much this week. The raised beds are helpful when there's too much but we needed to water in june when there was too little. A water collection system is definitely on our winter to-do list for the garden.

[jennypenny]

After I thought about whether to weigh everything coming in, I realized I do track what comes in but in a different way. I aim to freeze enough snap/snow peas for one stir fry per week, one tomato sauce per week, one pizza sauce per week, one zucchini bake sauce per week, enough carrots/peas/onion for one shepherds pie per week, etc.

When I reread that, I realized it might be confusing. I don't mean I put away one serving each week of the summer. I mean that we aim to put up 9 months of food, which is 40 weeks, so I try to put up a total of 40 weekly servings each of peas, tomato sauce, zucchini bake, cobblers, eggplant parm, etc., to get us through the year.

[Gilberto de Piento]

I haven't actually tried this but it seems like a nice gardening idea. People can share their compostables with others if the don't have a compost bin of their own. https://sharewaste.com/

[guitarplayer]

Hi, I am exploring local council food strategy and there is a scheme where it might be an option to adapt council land into a garden.

I see there is one plot nearby, it is very roughly about 100m by 70m (a trapezoid rather than a rectangle). The thing is that is sits right against a motorway on a bridge or, well, elevated. It is maybe 10-15m high up [ETA: okay I was off with my estimate, it's about 2.5-3 double decker busses, passed under it today. So I would say maybe 7-10m]and with a protective concrete barrier, but nevertheless lots of traffic up there. Is it obviously a bad idea to try to grow something there, or otherwise please could you point me to a page on this thread where it was discussed, or elsewhere?

[Gilberto de Piento]

Is it obviously a bad idea to try to grow something there, or otherwise please could you point me to a page on this thread where it was discussed, or elsewhere?

What part of the situation are you concerned about?

At my house I have avoided growing food next to the road and in places where the soil is old fill from an industrial operation and next to the driveway because I'm concerned about chemicals getting into the vegetables. I've never researched this though so I'm not sure if this is a well founded concern. I'm also inconsistent. I have no idea how most of the food I eat was produced.

[guitarplayer]

Yes I also have those thoughts about the food I get from elsewhere, whenever I get an apple from South Africa or Basil from Tunisia or shallots from Kenia I am like 'I wonder what you have been through to get here and how you've been fed'.

I think I am primarily concerned by the exhausts of the cars that travel on the motorway up above as there are many cars passing by there. But the road is about 15m elevated and there is a concrete barrier between the road and outside the road. I am not sure what are the physics of car exhausts itinarary in this situation and if this would land on the plants or influence the plants. My guess is that if anything, washing should solve the issue as the soil is not affected.

[Slevin]

We have about 15lbs of Santa Rosa plums from our plum tree this year (which is a bad haul as the tree hasn't been fertilized properly for a few years). We aren't super set up for freezing / preserving yet so we are in "give plums away to everyone we've ever met" mode. Our peach tree was also in a bit of a bad state from before we moved in, so it is looking like <5lbs there as well. Forwards looking yields should be drastically higher.

[jennypenny]

Mental note: never vacation during the height of the summer season or you'll come back to a mess.

We actually couldn't skip this trip but I'll definitely avoid traveling during the summer months from now on. Things are overgrown, plants fell over in a couple of storms, and several critters moved into the yard to enjoy the buffet.

• My tomatoes are just sad this year. We'll get enough, but not the bounty we got last year. Not enough rain and too much sun. I'm thinking of investing in shade cloth for next year.
• Peppers are also not terrific. I won't have enough of these so I'll have to get some from the local farm. So disappointing.
• Cucumbers have been great. We eat them daily, either in a dill/cucumber salad or to eat hummus.
• Basil was terrific (rows of it) but I came back from vacation to find it all died while we were gone. It's all pale with black edges. WTF? I'm going to start new seedlings and hopefully grow enough in the sunroom to make the pesto I want for the winter months.
• Zucchini is great, which is a relief since last year we didn't get any.
• Beans are coming in now. It's wonderful to see the rows covered in flowers and bees. I was able to harvest a couple of gallons yesterday. I should get 10+ gallons before we're done.
• Hot peppers are almost ready. DH is going to make hot sauce.
• Carrots are almost ready to be harvested. I tried some different varieties. We'll probably eat them all. I'll have to get more from the farm to freeze. Ditto onions.
• One of the peach trees split in half. Very sad.

Gardening is really hard. Some things grow well one year, only to fizzle out the next. Or things happen like the great basil die-off that I don't get. The only reliable metric in my yard is that purple varieties of anything do really well -- peas, beans, carrots, basil, tomatoes, etc. I don't get it, but at least it's something (and a bonus is that those plants are the most attractive).

I'm going to be ruthless this week and pull anything that's about done. I'm going to try for a much larger fall garden. I've kept planting bean and zucchini seeds in the bare spots, but now I'm going to do larger plantings of spinach, lettuce, turnips, carrots, and peas. I'll also do one more round of beans. I'm trying not to do too much inside since we're having some construction during the off season so I'll only do the aforementioned basil which should be ready by halloween.

[jennypenny]

Garden notes mid-September:

• A late heatwave has brought on a second wave of peppers and tomatoes. I'm literally making a huge pot of some kind of tomato sauce every day to put up. We'll have plenty of peppers if the first frost holds off for another 3-4 weeks.
• The zucchini is done and I stopped planting more. The Cube of Butter zucchini was an interesting experiment. It's creamy tasting and the rind is thin. We loved Eight Ball zucchini. Fried it like eggplant to have on sandwiches and in a parmesan dish. I'll definitely grow more of that next year.
• The beans are still going strong. I'm going to try dry beans and lima beans next year.
• The late heat wave delayed planting the fall garden. I hope I have time to harvest something before a frost. We're considering getting some row covers.
• I've discovered a love for Tulsi basil.
• I've also discovered that ground hogs can climb into 30" high garden beds. That sucker is bigger than a cat and starting to piss me off.

We're discussing expanding the garden next year. I think our aim is to double the size. We might have to sacrifice some fruit trees, but I won't mind too much since our dopey new dog eats her body weight in fruit every day and is literally making herself sick on the fruit. She's also eating all the spoon tomatoes so I won't plant them again.

I figured out pasta making. GF pasta needs an extra egg, and thicker pasta is best. It also helps to freeze it before boiling.

[jennypenny]

Mid-October update: Still pulling in some beans and peppers but the garden is pretty much done. This week I'll work on potting up some herbs to bring inside for the winter. The hot sauce turned out great -- so great that it's almost gone. Like 1/2 gallon lol. We def need to plant more next year. I guess it was a good recipe.

We decided not to garden over the winter. We're very busy over the next three months so we thought the break would do us good. Then we watched Poisoned on Netflix. I already knew everything they disclosed in the documentary, but seeing (again) all of the crap in mass-produced food reminded me of why I've committed so much of my time to food production over the last two years.

So I sit here today thinking I should throw up some row covers, set up some shelves in the sunroom, and grow whatever I can. I hate being reactionary. I want to do things because I *choose* to do them and because I *want* to do them. I don't like doing things because I'm scared or fearful. I think I have enough food to get us through the winter, but shit ... it would be nice to have fresh greens all winter, and maybe some root vegetables. I could even do a few cabbages.

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Sometimes I wish I'd never found ERE, or learned about climate issues, or the problems in the food system, etc etc. I want to be able to turn off that part of me that's always keeping a running tally of how much waste I'm producing and how much energy I'm using. Every time I buy an avocado I wonder how many thousands of miles it traveled to get to my kitchen counter. We bought a souvenir plastic beer bat and popcorn bucket at the Phillies game last week and I felt terribly guilty afterward. [what's the mental version of an ear worm? idea worm? ha, probably 'conscience']

*sigh* Sometimes I just want to forget for a little while ... but tomorrow I'll map out plans for an indoor/outdoor winter garden and start planting on tuesday. At least with the beds/worms warm under the row covers I'll have a way to dispose of my food waste all winter (another thing I was worried about).

[thef0x]

Nothing crazy going on here: bit of veg we enjoy eating weekly, herbs and hot peppers

Golden radish, red pak choi, kale, cilantro, oregano, basil, thai basil, and lettuce. And 8 different pepper varieties with 4 from a breeder I met on reddit (Matt's Peppers) and 2 from a cheap "fill up a USPS box" order I made 3 years ago late season from a facebook farmer in PA, one Jimmy nardello (sweet) and one great northern bell pepper which finishes very quickly / grows well in the PNW.

I used to be anti bell pepper until I had the most astonishingly blood-red, stain-your-clothing fruity-sweet bell in St Jean De Luz. There's levels to bell peppers, y'all.

Located in the PNW, thus the insanely early start and with the needs-heat plants, they'll stay in pots all season as I shuffle them around like cats in sunlight.

I'll get going on various cherry tomatoes from last year soon and then in three weeks I'll get more veg going, probably zucchini and broccoli.

[sodatrain]

Hey folks - I'm long over due for getting some garden beds going! I'm excited to find this thread to share Garden stuff. I have my first bed growing - it's very small. I planted Lavender, Arugula, Cilantro, and Basil. I think my dog stomped all over the lavender so it's not growing. A bit of Arugula is growing, and apparently a couple other volunteers including a squash (according PictureThis app). It was a flower bed previously, so no idea where the squash came from. I'll get a photo tomorrow when it's light out again.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ofpFcwPWkPpr7Hu88

Removed the volunteer pumpkin (how in the world did that happen!) and spaced out/rearranged the arugula today.

[sodatrain]

Can we talk about fruit tree pruning (and health)? I'm in love with my lime tree. Two questions:

1) some leaves are yellow. Picture This app suggested it might be over watering. Which... It's the dry season here (Guatemala). Not sure that's right?!

2) I feel like I should prune it? What do you think of this?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TMH8vPPMBneBqvLb7

[Gilberto de Piento]

Can we talk about fruit tree pruning (and health)? I'm in love with my lime tree.

Once or twice a year I prune my fruit tree (not a lime). I follow a guide I found online published by my local university extension office. The general shape is already there and follows what the guide recommended. I am now just removing dead branches, branches that cross others, and branches that are not at the proper angle. I also shorten branches as needed to keep the tree small. I'd recommend you try to find a guide specific to your tree species and location to follow.

Regarding the leaves maybe the tree needs water if it is the dry season? Maybe you could find a local lime expert to ask.

[Gilberto de Piento]

Anyone try to propagate fresh herbs from the grocery store into new plants? I had some extra rosemary and thyme so I just put it in water to see if roots will form.

Update 4/16/2024: thyme got drier and drier, never formed any roots. Rosemary formed one root and one new stem with a pair of leaves on it like the first leaves that come from a seed but it also got covered in a furry looking fungus. I composted them both. I also heard on a podcast that propagating with grocery store plants could spread plant diseases if present. All in all given how cheap seeds are I wouldn't try this again.