Decisions submissions

It's about that time. Yup, time to order my seeds for the new year. I've been scouting, circling, pondering. How many tomatoes? Where to put the mesculn mix? Potatoes: yes or no?

I have made a few finite decisions. The layout of the garden will be in quadrants with the fence remaining on the east side of the garden. And, I will improve my seed starting setup with more shelves, better lighting, and better starting mix. That's where it ends, allowing indecision to take hold.

Tomatoes

No more than 8-10 plants. Last year I had at least 12 and it was crowded. They will be planted on the north side of the garden to prevent shading. The garden is
15'x15'. I'll plant two staggered rows. Along with the tomatoes, I'll plant the peppers, basil, and possibly carrots.

Now what varieties? I will keep my hybrid: Big Beef Beefsteak. It was prolific an decent tasting. I might go back to the Super Sweet 100s as my cherry. I grew Black Cherry last year and although they tasted really good, it wasn't a heavy producer and split a lot. I have seeds for Indian Stripe and Granny Cantrell. I think I'll buy Costoluto Genovese and Depp's Pink Firefly.

Peppers

I want to grow four sweet pepper, a few jalepeno peppers, and one or two hot peppers. I need to decide soon. Varieties include: King of the North and Odessa Market (sweet peppers). For the hot ones, probably the Black Pearl and White Habanero I tried to grow last year, plus a jalepeno variety. These should be started indoors 8-10 weeks before last frost. That means I need to be ready by February 23rd, 10 weeks before my last frost date of May 4.

Carrots

I want to use a different kind this year. Last year's Royal Chantenay were nice, but had a big inner core which tasted very earthy/woody the longer it stayed in the ground. St. Valery from Baker's Creek looks good to me.

Peas

I'm sure I'll be able to get a good spring start on the garden this year, weather always permitting. I'll try out the Lincoln Garden pea.

Greens

I really want to expand this area of the garden. I'll continue with the Rainbow Chard and Jericho Romaine. I want to add a Mesculn Mix and Spinach.


Those are the big decisions I need to make. Throw in there cukes, beans and maybe a squash plant. Add a dash of potatoes and eggplant plus a hint of herbs and I may have a complete garden.

Baby roots

The radishes are spicy! I yanked a carrot to see how they've grown. Curiosity got the best of me.

Potato Blossoms

I was terrified to see blossoms on the potatoes! I thought they had gone to seed and I lost the chance to harvest any potatoes this season. Some frantic Google research reassured me that blossoms mean little tubers are starting to form (hopefully deep under all that soil). Today, the blossoms seemed more benign and innocent. I wonder if they are edible.

Bonus Pic: Carrots

Roughing the storm

The garden has been coming along very nicely. On Mother's Day, we (my husband, really) constructed the tomato support (cedar studs and pvc pipe) and a hog fence trellis for the cucumbers and beans. We then ran the soaker hose from the rain barrel along the beds. We were about 4' short, but short where the soil stays fairly wet and has more shade.

The Brussels sprouts and broccoli are noticeably larger. The broccoli still hasn't put on any big leaves or a bud. I'm concerned the summer heat will set in before they have a chance to produce. There are also about 15 clusters of potato leaves. I kinda-sorta half-assed hilled some soil around the stems. It's not nearly enough as I only started about 4" deep. I need to go buy soil and completely cover the plants. Hopefully this weekend.




Carrots have been springing up in their crooked little rows over the past few days. I went out there to thin them. What a job! I made it through about half a row before I gave up. There are too many. Sounds like my Saturday morning is filling up.




I had a dilemma Monday: Should I plant a few tomatoes or wait until after the days of rain headed our way. I took a chance and planted three of the tallest: Big Beef Beefsteak (hybrid), Berkley Tie-Dye (heirloom), and Black Cherry (heirloom). Today, big storms moved through the area, whipping the wind and pounding the ground with rain. I sure hope those little guys make it.

Progress

Last time I mentioned the garden I was a little disgruntled. My spirit has been lifted the past few days. The weather has been warm, although extremely windy. It's a strange combination. It's as if a storm will break out any moment, then it stops suddenly and you begin to feel the sun bear down on your skin. This nice break in weather has given me an opportunity to be out in the garden. I've removed dead leaves, I've watered, I've loosened soil, I've reseeded, and I've planted.

Out of the original 16 tomato plants I seeded, only half remain. My lack of careful watering during those crucial sunny days a week ago cost me dearly. All of the Opalka and Husky Gold tomatoes withered and died. I've reseeded roughly 10 new plants, including two new varieties: Pork Chop and Granny Cantrell. Here are pictures of some of the survivors:



All of my hot peppers bit the dust as well. I reseeded some of the Hot Pepper Mix as well as some very hot peppers from a friend of ours: Black Pear, Yellow Mushroom, and White Habanero. I don't have anymore jalepeno seeds. Hopefully I'll get some out of the Hot Pepper Mix. I couldn't differentiate between the seeds in the packet.

Out in the garden today, I stripped the plants of withered and dead leaves. Almost all of the original leaves I set the plants out with have died, mostly by breaking (we've had some pretty strong winds lately). Fortunately, almost all of them had serious new growth. Even the dill has put on it's true leaves and I've found new parsley. I dug out a 5' by 3' section of a bed to plant potatoes. I dug down as far as I could, planted the seed potatoes "chits" up, and covered with about 3" of soil. On the other side of the bed, I made roughly four 48" rows and planted carrots, loosely covering them with soil. After I cover the potatoes again, I'll most likely plant some radishes or beets in the center section of the bed. I also directly sowed lettuce in the planters.

Sweet Matina Butterhead

Jericho Romaine Lettuce

Diablo Brussels Sprouts

Red Seed Potatoes

Tomorrow my husband I put together the watering system.