Garden Surprises

Found lots of great things in the garden this last walkthrough. A volunteer cucumber plant, jalapeno pepper, and two roma tomatoes. Chopped up the pepper and had it in our eggs this morning. Moderately hot and yummy!

Growing Good

What weather we are having here in central Indiana. The springs are more unusual by the year. It is raining at least three times per week and the temperature fluctuates from 90s one day to high 60s the next. Most people I know are sick of the rain, and I was too until I was able to plant the garden. Now, I say bring it on!

The Cherokee Purple is out of control. In fact, I did some heavy handed pruning today. It is the only one with a tomato growing. No, the Early Girl has one, too, but it's still in its infancy. I am excited to see the Black Krim doing well. Two years ago I tried a Black Krim and something ate it down to the soil line and it never recovered. The Roma is bushy with flower buds and the Pink Brandywine has two large buds. The poor German Queen was growing sideways and when I tried to stand her up, I heard a crack in the stalk. Forunately, it had another, smaller, stem growing out of the soil so perhaps that will take off.

Cherokee Purple
Pink Brandywine
German Queen

The peppers all look great for the most part. It looks as though birds are trying to eat the leaves. There are long tear marks in some of them. There are flowers on most and a few fruits starting to grow on the green bell. The melon has several flowers, most of which appear to be male at the point. Rosemary, thyme, and parsley are holding their own. Cilantro bolted immediately and my son finished it off when he ripped it out of the soil. *sigh* Three year olds. At least he didn't pick my tomato.

Melon

Progress in the Garden

In years past, we had a tilled area for the garden(roughly 15'x15'). I made makeshift rows or planted in patches. Weeds inevitably took control of the garden and the crowded plants were a jungle. This led to a jaded temperament on my behalf and failure in the garden. This year, we changed it up. We sectioned the garden off into four quadrants and boxed them in as raised beds measuring 6'x6', leaving a 2' walkway in between. Compost will be added regularly in order to build up the soil level. Once the soil reaches the tops of the board, I envision adding another board to really make some raised beds (and save my back)! Eventually, I'll add mulch or hay to the walking paths and perhaps a little picket fence around the garden.

Everything was bought from the store this year. I had too many time constraints with the pregnancy and delivering to focus on starting them all from seed. I am finding the 6x6 to be a bit large, having a slightly difficult time maneuvering around. That is why you see big empty spaces in the middle, which I am not happy about. I did have a zucchini planted with the melon, but something ate it. I want to give the melon plenty if room, so maybe I'll save that space for planting garlic in the fall. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Below are pictures of what I have planted for this year. Like I've said before, we are focusing on a "salsa" garden. Although, the cilantro bolted the day after I planted it. I lost the ID card for the melon, but it promised a bumper crop.

Harvests

The garden has seen exponential growth during the month of June. Good rains and warm sunshine boosted the warm-loving plants and bolted the rest. The paths are overrun with weeds: the mulch has mysteriously disappeared and my neglect for various reasons have not helped. The eggplant and potatoes are being devestated by flea beetles and I'm starting to notice aphids on the tomato plants. Ladybugs, where are you??

I've had a few nice harvests along the way. The only one I didn't capture on film are the Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes: the first, second, and third ripe ones were eaten in the garden.

May 5: Cilantro


May 15: Purple Plum Radishes


June 3: Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard


June 7: Strawberries from Waterman's Market (hand-picked)


July 3: Royal Purple and Contender Bush Beans


July 10: Costata Romanesca Zucchini, Delikatesse Cucumbers, Bush Beans, Odessa Market Peppers

C'mon Big Red!

I'm so proud I was able to accomplish everything on my list over the weekend. Well, truth be told I didn't go fishing. None of us did for fear of the brutal thunderstorms looming on the radar. The only fishing I did that night was fertilize the tomatoes with fish emulsion. As expected with Indiana weather, the rest of the night turned out to be beautiful with nary a raindrop fall.

I only transplanted six of the tomatoes: Matt's Wild Cherry, Green Doctors, Depp's Pink Firefly, Indian Stripe, Kellogg's Breakfast, and Big Beef. They survived a week's worth of hardening off, along with all six of the Odessa Market bell peppers. The problem lies with the others. Not only their leaves but the stems were damaged during hardening off. I left them outside overnight and perhaps watered too infrequently while I was away from home. One is an Indiana Red that I've been anxiously waiting to grow out and taste. Here are a few pictures of the damage.







There are a few developing suckers (one which you can see well in the last photo) that I will grow out to help it develop foliage and better roots. Maybe it's salvageable?

The tomatoes weren't the only plants affected. While the bell peppers have tolerated my negligence with grace, the hot peppers have been a bit nasty. The white habaneros dropped all but four of their leaves and the black pearl has been turning, well, almost purplish-black. They are now back under the lights following a good dose of fish emulsion. Not a one has died and all are sprouting new leaves.

Seedling Setup

One of my biggest failures last year revolved around seedling maintenance. Although I improved the situation over the prior year's South-facing window with a florescent shop light above the refrigerator, there simply wasn't enough room to grow everything out and maintain a close light-to-seed proximity. This year, I decided to buy a shelving unit and place a shop light on each shelf, allowing more lighting height flexibility and definitely more room. Following my husband's advice, I placed it in the laundry room. Not only does it fit beautifully, it always stays warmer than the rest of the house, and it is tucked away from the prying hands of a toddler. I have one more light to add for now, then more will be added as needed.



I started pepper and herb seeds a few weeks ago, February 13th to be exact. Dates next to variety are the date they germinated.

Odessa Market (Bell), 2/23
Dragon's Claw (Hot), 2/21
White Habanero (Hot), 2/21
Black Pearl (Hot), 2/21
Thyme, 2/18
Rosemary, 2/22
Cilantro, 2/22
Parsley, 2/23





The onions seem to be doing well. I was concerned for a bit because the tips were browning and curling up. I thought perhaps I kept them too close to the light or over fertilized them, although I only used a very dilute fish emulsion solution. They have all put forth another leaf (if that's what you call them) and appear vigorous. I have not fertilized them again. I've read to keep them snipped to 3-4 inches to promote better root growth. They'll be due for a haircut soon.

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.

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.

First Transplants

Yesterday I transplanted my Brussels sprouts, broccoli, romaine, and butterhead. I put them in 3" pots. They definitely needed it. They were all flopping onto each other and were running out of space. When I picked up the little guys, there were lots of healthy roots growing through the netting. I tried hard not to damage any, but a few were sacrificed. I took them outside on the deck, in the sun. I thought it might be good for them to harden off a little. I've been brushing my hand over the leaves to simulate wind while they've been inside. By the end of the transplanting session, they were all rather limp and unimpressive looking. I got them back inside, gave them some water and rest. Today, they are looking strong and happy.

A few of of my pepper plants are putting on their first set of leaves. They seem to be doing very well.