Potato Harvest

A few days ago I shared a photo of one of my poor fabric grow pots that was being eaten through by mice, along with much of the foliage.  While it wasn’t quite time to harvest, I reluctantly did just that today to end the destruction and salvage what was left of my tots.  To my surprise, I found a nice little harvest after I removed the foliage and dumped the soil onto a plastic tarp.

Here’s how some came out as I pulled up the greens:

And here’s the whole harvest from this grow pot:

Not the most impressive lot, but I’m pleased to have this many considering the rodent issue and the premature harvest.  Luckily I have one more grow pot in another part of the backyard with my highly anticipated blue potatoes.  So far that one is rodent-free.

April Garden Update

Here’s my great Lifetime Raised Garden Bed bursting with heirloom tomatoes, golden beets, lettuce and Cosmic Purple carrot seedlings along the left perimeter.

The other day I planted some marigolds in and around my veggie beds.  I’ve read that  annual marigolds can be used anywhere to deter Mexican bean beetles, squash bugs, thrips, tomato hornworms, aphids and whiteflies. They are also known to repel harmful root knot nematodes (soil dwelling microscopic white worms) that attack tomatoes, potatoes, roses, and strawberries. The root of the Marigold produces a chemical that kills nematodes as they enter the soil.  Plus they add a pop of color!

Now that Spring is in full swing and the soil is consistently above 50 degrees, I am direct sowing seeds into the garden.  In this bed I have various tomatoes, lettuce, Di Cicco broccoli, golden beets and some cabbage that is ready to harvest.  The other half of this bed is below:

The Sharpblue blueberry at the bottom of this photo is doing very well since I planted it in January.  Above it along the vertical trellis are lemon cucumbers and pole green beans.  In the middle of the bed are edamame and broccoli.

My Persimmon and Pineapple heirloom tomatoes that I purchased as seedlings are doing well in terms of growth, but are both experiencing blossom drop and early blight.  Damp, cool weather can create a fungus on tomatoes called early blight, which looks like small dark spots on the lower leaves.  I’ve never dealt with this issue before, but after some research, I have trimmed the most infected lower leaves and sprayed the entire plant with an organic copper solution.  I also sprayed a calcium spray on the flowers, which is supposed to help prevent blossom drop.  They could also be dropping due to damp conditions.  So much to know!  Once the weather corrects itself, so the speak, the tomatoes may pull out of it.

Here's one other tomato falling victim to early blight. You can see how I've trimmed out the lower effected leaves.

I’ve also been battling significant potato problems.  I had my heart set on growing sweet potatoes this summer, but we’ll just have to see on that.  Maybe next year!  I thought that a rodent of some kind was gnawing  the foliage due to the significant breaks on the stems, so we put chicken wire around the grow pot.  The no avail, it’s still worsening.  I went out last night to check out the situation, hoping to catch the varmint and only saw slugs.  Could they be doing all of this??  I will probably have to prematurely dig up my potatoes.  I’m not sure how they can survive this.  Hopefully it’ll at least be a small crop since they’re been growing since December.

All within the last week I’ve planted from seed:

• Moon and Stars Watermelon
• Charentais melon
• Red Warty Thing pumpkins
• Fairytale pumpkins
• Jarrahdale pumpkins
• Sunburst yellow / Peter Pan green pattypan scallop summer squash and ………drumroll please………..
• Alpine Strawberries!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve heard that growing strawberries from seed can be trying and difficult (they take 3-4 weeks to even sprout!), but when I saw their seed packet today at the nursery, I could not resist.  I asked the garden specialist what she knew about growing them from seed and she laughed, saying, “We don’t even carry them.  You may want to just but a six-pack.”  Then I showed her the packet in my hand and she was shocked!  It’s the first time I’ve ever seen them in any store.  They’re already out in the garden, working their magic.  I’ve got a good feeling!

I Am Officially In Love

In the spring garden I find myself appreciating life’s sweet simplicities.  I am out in the garden so much now, that I’ve contemplated pitching a tent, which would also help me get the snails and slugs in the middle of the night.  No, not really!  (Well it may have crossed my mind.)  Watching my vegetables and fruit grow day by day is a true simple pleasure.

As spring gets into full swing, I can’t help asking myself if I’m growing everything my little heart desires.  With the new bed, I can really sink my teeth into this whole veggie gardening thing this year.  Here’s a list of the fruits and vegetables that are currently growing in my garden:

1. Broccoli
2. Potatoes ( Yukon and Blue)
3. Sugar snap peas
4. All Season Butterhead Lettuce
5. Cosmic Purple carrots
6. Cucumbers (Lemon and Persian Baby Green Fingers)
7. Golden Beets
8. Green beans (Rattlesnake, Purple and Blue Lake pole)
9. Edamame
10. Heirloom Tomatoes (Rainbow Cherry, Black Krim, Persimmon, Old German, Pineapple, Purple Cherokee and Brandywine)
11. Grapes (Green Thompson Seedless and Purple Thompson Seedless – both of which won’t fruit this year!  Bummer.)
12. Burgundy Plum (will not fruit this year)
13. Double Delight Nectarine (will not fruit this year)
14. No Name Peach
15. Diana Fig
16. Various herbs

Oh! And don’t forget sunflowers (Teddy Bear and Giant Mammoth)!  I am definitely planning on collecting and roasting those sunflower seeds…and maybe leaving a few for the birds.

One of the many Mammoth Sunflowers seedlings that I planted along the back perimeter of the south-facing bed.

Hmmmmmm.  After seeing that list, I’d say my heart has nothing left to desire!  Being the practical gal that I am, I strive to grow things that my family eats on a regular basis.  There are so many unique veggies out there, but with my limited space, do I really want to use up room on Bok Choy that I’ll have no idea how to cook?  (Please don’t get me wrong, Bok Choy lovers).  I’m sure down the road my wandering eye will motivate me to try new things, but for now we’ll stick with the basics.

In about May my pumpkin seeds will go in the ground.  I am in love with growing pumpkins!  I’ve got all new kinds this year that I’ve never tried before.  Red Warty Thing, Big Mac, Fairytale and the mystical blue Jarrahdale.  It’s difficult to save the space for them as I’ve been planting so much lately, but the garden is teaching me about succumbing to the present and trusting in tomorrow.  It’s crazy how philosophical I am these days.

My recent seed purchase. They are both stringless with great eating and baking quality!

Springy Stuff!

Things are really shakin’ in the garden!

I got some flack (and rightly so) about only planting 4 toms in my new raised planting bed. So, I relented to the masses and sowed carrots and planted yellow beets and lettuce seedlings along the perimeter. You were right!

One of my 4-5 Sequoia strawberry plants grown from bare root. Most of the 12 or so plants initially took off, but only 4-5 ended up going on to produce a true plant. Not bad for 2 bucks.

My many varieties of second planting seedlings are close to being ready for the earth. I graduated these lemon cucumber seedlings (foreground) to larger containers because I wanted to wait a few more weeks when the weather is a scoash warmer. Plus I've found that the larger you plant 'em, the less likely they're eaten by little rodents.

The yukon gold potatoes are robust and beautiful. I continued to fill these grow pots with soil as the plants grew taller. Now I'll just wait until the foliage begins to yellow, which will signal harvest time. Hint: these guys love coffee grounds.

These potato leaves are slightly different, since I have my blue potatoes in here.

I forgot to take a before pic in the excited haze of pulling out my exasperated woody scented geranium (don't worry, I have cuttings!) to make way for enlarging my smaller plot by 45 square feet! I am so thrilled with it. My husband extended the chicken wire and even buried it down a few inches. This wire keeps out our silkies, wild rabbits, errant soccer balls, toy lawn mowers and hopefully a few fat rats that can't fit through the holes. I know that mice can still squeeze through, but hey.

Another view. I made sure to really work in the bagged amendment about 18" and not compact the soil treading all over it after I was finished.

Here's a new resident in the newly appointed bed. Don't know what it is? It produces a green pod with 3-4 beans inside which make a great appetizer for sushi. Edamame!

A few of the girls feeling out their enclosure. I posted about this a few weeks back. It's some nice metal coated fencing that fits together in sections. I easily remove one section for them to roam the entire yard 1-2 times per week. Most days they stay in here and seem pretty content. They have been vocal a few times this week, which told me they needed their grass time!

Is that a blue egg? (And other happenings)

The blue Ameraucana egg compared to my silkie egg. (Daffodils providing the backdrop). Honestly these photos don't do the blue color justice.

My friend who gave me my silkies recently came over and had in her hand something quite awe-inspiring and amazing.  A blue egg.  Her lavender Ameraucana just started laying them and she happily gave me the egg.  My mouth dropped open and I was intrigued.  Then with a twinkle in her eye she said that she has some chicks of the same breed that she could give me.  She’s so bad!  Part of me wants to take one, but I’m just out of room in my coop.  I can’t let my backyard get TOO overrun with fowl!!  Having those blue eggs sure would be awesome, though.   Hmmmm….

How cool would it be to use these blue eggs for an Easter egg hunt? The lettuce provides a nice hiding spot.

My newly planted Double Delight Nectarine has opened it's first flowers. I love this time of year! My Burgundy Plum has yet to leaf out or bloom.

I think I heard that you're supposed to nip the fruit off the first year so the new tree can establish it's roots. That'll be hard to do!

One of my potato grow pots. These potatoes have taken off! Soon I will be covering the majority of the plant with more soil to encourage a plethora of potatoes.

The green seedless Thompson grape is about to show it's first leaves!

Here's my seedlings!

One or two nights a slug and a snail snuck into the container before I put the lid on and placed it in the garage for the night. Needless to say I was a teensy bit upset (understatement). I lost a few seedlings, but diligently planted more a few days later. I’ve got carrots, broccoli, heirloom tomatoes, basil and lettuce in here so far.

New Winter Life

Growing strawberries has traditionally intimidated me and I’ve never tried them!  I have visions of snails, slugs, rats and mice always beating me to a harvest.  Seen as though that was my same reason for not trying to grow vegetables, I knew it was time to take a stab at one of my favorite fruits.  The local home improvement warehouse had bags of a few bare-root varieties.  They were super cheap, so I thought I’d give it a go.

I decided on Sequoia, primarily because it does well in my area and because it’s ever-bearing.  This refers to the fact that it bears over a longer period of time (Spring through late Summer) than the more prolific yet short 3 week harvest time of the June-bearing type.

Life springs forth from the bare-root Sequoia strawberries.

These bare-root plants looked pretty pathetic and brown when I removed them from their package.  I ended up separating about 14 plants ($3.95!!) and planted 2-3 each in 5 pots.  Since their planting about 3 weeks ago, I’ve got a pretty good growth rate: about 12 have new leaves.  Once they begin to mature, I’m planning on dividing them to 1 per pot.

New life.

The second exciting happening in my garden is something I posted about a week or so ago, and that’s my potatoes!  The potatoes in the ground sprouted and grew leaves faster than in my grow pots.  I’m guessing it has something to do with the deeper planting depth in the grow pots.  Now the leaf sprouts are coming up everywhere!

These grow pots are only planted at half their depth.  As the leaves reach toward the sky, I will continue to mound up more soil to create more underground potatoes.  I’m waiting until about a 6″ height before doing my first mounding.

As you may be able to tell here, this second grow pot contains my blue potatoes. I'm so thrilled that their leaves also have a bluish tinge to them!

My in-ground potatoes have a head start to the others. I'm enjoying their attractive foliage and hearty nature.

Early January Garden

Even in these slower times in the garden, fun things still seem to pop up.

The first signs of life from my seed potatoes! The ones I put in the ground are sprouting faster than the ones in the fabric grow pots. I even dug up one of the potatoes in the grow pots to make sure they hadn't rotted. They're fine...just taking their time.

The Sharpblue highbush blueberry I planted a mere 2 weeks ago is already sprouting lots of new leaves. YES!

A pretty broccoli flower. Side shoots have started to develop off the stalks that have already been harvested.

Our awesome silkie hens are getting in the groove of things (although still slower than the warmer months will provide). We collect 1-3 eggs per day. I think there may still be one or two hens that have yet to lay.

Lettuce is really the star of the garden this time of year.

Potato Present

Over the weekend at our local farmers market I talked to a vendor who makes and sells potato growing kits, among other things.  She told me that due to San Diego’s weather, you can really plant potatoes even now, as long as they don’t get too wet with a series of storms.  She showed me her sample burlap bag with 3 week old potatoes growing up, beautiful green leaves and all.  She didn’t have enough seed potatoes for me that day, so she agreed to bring more this weekend and sell me some.  They are certified organic and she buys them from www.groworganic.com.

Today as I’m perusing the pantry for a nibble, I notice that my organic yukon potatoes that I bought a few weeks back to make mashed potatoes out of are sprouting!  Cool!  They are large, so I cut 2 in half, making sure to include at least two eyes on each piece.  This will be one type of potatoes that I attempt to grow and then I will return this weekend to the farmers market to buy the All Blue variety for my other fabric grow pot.

First put 4-6 inches of organic soil in your pot.  Then place potatoes (if cut, then cut side down) on top of the soil.  Some say to wait a day after cutting to allow the potatoes to scab over, but I’ve read that this isn’t necessary.  As long as the potatoes stay damp and not wet, they will grow just fine.

Put another couple inches of soil on top of the potatoes, a little less in the colder climates.  At this point my grow pots are only about half way filled with soil, which is perfect because once those leaves emerge, I will continue adding soil in stages.  More on that when it happens!  Since the grow pots are fabric and only filled halfway, the sides were flopping all around.  To allow the most amount of sun to the potatoes, I rolled the sides inward all the way around the pot.

My little blog marked it’s 600th hit today.  Yippee!