Gardening 2014 - Almost Ready!

About $50 from Lowe's

This year we upgraded our grow light to a four tube unit. It's made a solid difference in how our seedlings look.

Just potted up March 22

and moved to the porch today to start hardening off a bit:

April 13

There are 4 varieties in there: Cuore di Bue, Scipio Ibrido, and red and yellow currant tomatoes. The currant tomatoes will go into containers and the other two will be planted in the usual way.

Tomatillo - 1 or 4

We've also got tomatillos and Brussels Sprouts. The sprouts will go out Tuesday as long as it doesn't rain too much.

Soon my sweeties, soon...

The soil is still pretty wet but we've got the three main beds cleaned up and the drip system set up for the Bussels Sprouts:

4 drip lines for 4 Brussels Sprout plants. That part that looks dry is about 1/4" thick.

I'm not sure what will go in front of them yet. Maybe a few little rows of beets.

Last Year's Zucchini

The little area where the zucchini grew last year is being re-conditioned by a landscape company in a couple weeks. There was just too much bamboo root residue in there to make it practical for this old gardener to dig out on his own. That area will get the non-container tomatoes. They're also re-arranging things on the north, very shady, side of the house and adding a little herb garden area by the front door.

Zucchini will go in the front yard - it faces south west and with the layout of the street and houses it gets plenty of sun. We've also got several winter squash varieties and a couple types of peppers to find space for. Of course the lettuce rail we made out of a rain gutter will be filled again.

Gardening 2013 - Mid July Update

This has been a tough spring and early summer for the garden. We've had weeks of steady rain interspersed with merely cloudy weather. Last week was the first time in  a while when we've had even a few consecutive sunny days. Nevertheless, things are staring to happen...

San Marzano Tomatoes

The San Marzano tomatoes are finally coming along. They've made it to the top of the support frames at last and are beginning to set fruit. Obviously there has been no water stress this year. With plenty of eggshell mixed into the soil around each plant I'm hoping we're free from blossom end rot. So far there's no sign of wilt either.

Eggplant in cages

The eggplant has been slow to develop (and we won't mention the state of the peppers). I've been cutting off fruit as it sets to try to encourage more growth. I'm hopeful that a few sunny weeks will put them on track. We did harvest a couple that got away from me but for now there's nothing happening but (I hope) solid growth.

Cippolini Onions

As expected, the onions have pretty much all tipped over. I'll go out this evening after it cools off to weed and tip the ones that haven't. There are some beets and carrots in the foreground that need thinning as well.

Zucchini

The Zucchini was direct seeded in late May. This is the same variety we grew last year and it's doing rather well. I'll harvest that little guy in a couple more days.

Lettuce Gutter

This has been successful beyond my hopes. We've been making little salads a couple night each week and the lettuce just keeps coming. There's a drip line in there so in the event we ever go more than a few days without rain the lettuce will stay happy.

Gardening 2012: Summer Wrapup

Today's Goodies: Peppers, Carrots, Swiss Chard

It's the first day of Autumn so I thought I'd look back over the produce page and add up what we got from our 80 square feet of garden space this year.

• 19.5 lb of Tomatoes
• 17 lb of Eggplant
• 15.5 lb Zucchini
• 4 lb Peppers (so far - there's a lot still on the plants that sontinues to ripen)
• All Thyme, Parsley, and Basil we need

We also harvested about 6 servings (maybe 3 lb. or so) of Cima di Rapa and have lots of Swiss Chard that will keep producing well into winter. There's even 2 eggplants still producing. We have about 60 carrots we'll be pulling as well as new plantings of beets, Cima di Rapa, spinach and radishes. And there are loads more peppers. We're going to pickle a couple pounds this weekend.

The big mistake this year was underestimating just how hot and dry summer was going to be. We could easily have had 100 lbs of San Marzano Tomatoes if I had put in the drip irrigation system last spring. By the time I finally installed it the tomato plants were already badly stressed and beginning to succumb to (I think) fusarium wilt. Next year we'll have the drip system in place and we'll plant more than one variety.

We like eggplant a lot but next year I think we'll go with maybe three plants. We'll also grow a mix of sweet and hot peppers and stick with no more that 2 or 3 zucchini.

I've learned you can start beets indoors so next year we'll give that a try. We'll also plant way more peas. They're easy to grow, delicious, and simple to freeze.

The Alley - Future Home of Spring Peas

I think we can take advantage of a narrow strip of ground on east side of the alley behind our house. It's about a foot wide and I can use the 40 feet of it that's "ours" as a long narrow row. The old chain link fence on top of the retaining wall will support the plants.

Gardening 2012: Labor Day Update

Last Harvest?

Never underestimate the power of Italian vegetables! Just when I though the eggplant had finished, I ended up with another 2 lb 3 oz. We even got one last zucchini because I was too lazy to dig up the plants. We've harvested another 1 lb of little red Calabrese Peppers too. Back in the upper bed the Cima di Rapa is up and needs to be thinned and the cicoria and spinach are poking their heads up as well.

Saffron Bulbs

We also planted 45 saffron bulbs. This was a bit harder than it might seems due to the fact that the front area was still laced with old bamboo roots that had to be dug out before we could plant the little guys. Saffron is a fall blooming bulb and according to the directions we should have fresh saffron in a month or so.

We still have to plant root vegetables in the old lower bed and there are hundreds of peppers still slowly ripening. We might even see a few more eggplant.

Gardening 2012 - Onions!

Red Marble Cippolini

A couple weeks back the Red Marble Cippolini's tops started to fall over - the first sign they're almost ready to harvest. Since it's supposed to rain on and off for the next four days I decided to pull them this evening rather than risk having them start growing or end up so wet they'd rot rather than dry.

From the 80 or so I planted we ended up with about 60 of the little cuties. They'll dry for a few days on the front porch, then I'll cut back the stalks, clean them up. The plan is to can them "agro-dolce" style in pints. Stay tuned!

Gardening 2012: July Update

It's time once more for a gardening update!

Coming Along

San Marzano Tomatoes: They're exceding every possible expectation. The plants in the upper bed have reached the tops of the double height ladders and although the three in the lower bed are not as tall, they easily match the others for quantity of fruit. We got our first ripe tomato from the lower bed on July 3rd. and now there are quite a few beginning to color. I'm a little concerned about the wilting leaves, but the plants seem otherwise healthy.

I didn't think I'd start needing to buy quart jars until August...

Gardening 2012 - Thunderstorm Update

Rolled Zucchini

Friday evening we had the first real thunderstorm of the season. I managed to get the lawn mowed before it started and although there were a few flickers, the power stayed on. This morning I went out to see how the garden had fared, particularly the tomatoes, as they have gotten rather tall.

As you can see, the zucchini got sort of rolled over in the wind. Although a few of the male blossoms broke off, they're none the worse for the experience.

You can't hide anymore

And it was easier to trim off a couple unfertilized zucchini that were hiding underneath (they'll gradually decay if you don't).

Eggplant!

The eggplants don't seem to have noticed the storm at all. As you can see we'll be getting plenty of these purple beauties this year. The big one on the lower right is now in the kitchen awaiting it's fate.

Some of the pepper plants got knocked over. Since they're all a little on the spindly side, I took the PVC pipes we used early in the spring to support a frost cover and converted them to stakes.

Almost 6 feet tall

And then there are the tomatoes. These San Marzano plants are huge and are going to need some careful pruning. A couple branches were partially broken in the storm so they'll have to come off and a few other branches are intruding on the onions and Swiss Chard.

Gardening 2012 - Mid June Update

Baby Zucchini

It's been a rainy couple of days in Philly and the garden has responded with a veritable orgy of vegetative sexuality. The zucchini I set out way too early have had a gigantic growth spurt and we've already eaten more than a pound of delicious squash with another pound or so in the 'fridge.

Little Peppers

The  peppers are starting to set fruit. It's beginning to look like we'll have plenty to pickle. I have plans to stuff them with fresh mozzarella and tonno sott'olio and can them for future use.

The San Marzano tomatoes have apparently decided that our little garden is a pretty good place to raise their children. All six plants have grown past the 42 inch ladders and the ones in the upper bed (they get a bit more sun) are over 5 feet. All of them have set fruit.

San Marzano Tomatoes

The eggplants are looking sturdy and have lots of flowers. There are a few hints of fruit, but it's still way early, and the plants all look healthy so no worries there.

We got a few heads of cima di rapa from the second planting, but the warm weather resulted in most of the plants bolting. I still have a lot of seed, so I'll wait until mid-September to try another planting.