the garden is winding down

I have to pick beans several days in a row now, to get enough for a side dish. 

Pulled the last of the carrots this week. I think next year I won't do the short 'n sweet ones, they are just too much trouble to clean and peel.

Soon the beets will be done too. Tomatoes are still holding on, I've started trimming out dying foliage so its looking more barren but easier to pick the tomatoes! Chard and collards perking up and looking better with the cooler weather now and my asparagus looks amazing but I didn't get a photo of it yet.

Rosemary is doing grand- 

and the two pots of hyssop nice.

I cut back the chocolate mint on the deck and that one is sprouting new leaves, looking better now too. Basil is starting to be done for the year, parsley never took off, and I've eaten most of the scant summer savory. Still have plenty of thyme and chives though!

the beans

are coming on quickly, more and more. I have to pick every few days to stay ahead of them!

I do have one cherry tomato plant- I thought both had died but this one was just smaller for a while and then it grew up winding among the others so I forgot it was there. It's not very productive. However the sweet 100's and the cherokee purples, are my only tomatoes that are doing well at all.

All the big ones seem afflicted. The skin feels thicker or coarse and grainy, and some have dark cracks and when I slice them hoping to just cut away the bad half, too much inside is rotted black to save any. There are small dark stink bugs about, I am not sure if they are the culprit.

And something has done away with nearly all my swiss chard! I swear I had six plants on that side, and then one day it was down to three- I assumed the others had got rotted or eaten by the insects, rabbits. Today I went out there and there's only one. Not even a root stump remainder of the others.

Odd thing is- the leaf beet chard in the other bed is untouched- well, except for a few bug holes. I cut a whole bunch today for a dinner recipe, and half the bed is still green.

Collards are also doing poorly, between whatever is turning the blue leaves purple (a deficiency I think), whitefly and cabbage moth caterpillars riddling the leaves. I cut a bunch to eat the other day anyway, just wash it well and cut out the worst of the insect damage.

Cut a lot of the small young leaves as well, just to get them ahead of the bugs!

We are finally putting up the garden fence. Got the posts in today, before it was too hot, and then thunderstorms came through. Will have to finish setting the wire on another day. I've been laying cardboard and mulch over more of the grass paths, after cutting it short as possible. It's starting to look purposeful.

purple green beans

I guess I was just not patient enough with my purple-podded green beans. Started picking some last night and found plenty! Well enough for a good side dish. I've grown these in years past but still get a kick out of watching them turn green when cooking. It's like a little magic trick. (Doesn't impress anyone else here anymore though).

green onions

First cutting. Not many- I only have three onions growing there. But cutting them is supposed to encourage the bunching growth, and this was just enough to sprinkle over some portabellas cooked in a tamari sauce for dinner.

We're continuing to eat carrots from the garden almost every other day- because that's what I have the most of, that's doing well out there. Beets once or twice a week, chard about as often now. Their regrowth has slowed down, I think because of the heat. I somehow lost half my swiss chard patch last week- there are only three plants on that side remaining. Were a bit smothered by some of the carrot foliage falling over- did the shade and heat do them in? or bugs got it, I don't know. 

The peas are done. The tomatoes are slowly coming on- my sweet 100's completely died (dunno why) but I have a handful of cherokee purple cherry tomatoes every few days, and larger ones too- beefsteak and others. I pick them when they are just starting to turn color and then finish ripening on windowsill, otherwise the animals/bugs get them.

Had a second helping of turnips, once again cooked with peas and salmon. My husband really likes that dish so I definitely have to grow more turnips next year. Seems like such a homely vegetable, but it does so well without any care! Cut the first lot of collard greens to eat tonight- the leaves are on the small side, and not great-looking. I've read that the purplish hue is probably from potassium deficiency in the soil, though they're still fine to eat. Funny, I planted more blue collards than yellow this year- because in the past I have preferred the blue ones. But the yellow ones are looking much healthier, so I should have done it the other way around!

A few purple podded green beans. I picked a small handful (enough for just one serving) last week, and only two ready-sized beans today. Missed half a dozen the first time around that are now too fat with seed maturing- so I will leave those to dry on the vine and be my seed next year. But now there are no new beans forming. I'm not sure if this is because of heat stress, or because my leaving some pods to ripen made the plant think its job is done.

Lost one small asparagus plant. Two others are doing great (so far as I can tell) and the third is half the size of the others. 

Nothing else to report. We're having hot days in the upper nineties again. On the days where I happen to wake up too early- at five or six am- instead of trying to go back to sleep I get up (even though still tired) and go out to the garden before it is hot. I have just enough time to put out the compost, weed a few beds, harvest food for the day and water the garden with the hose, before temperatures rise and the sweat starts rolling down my back just standing still.

first turnips

a few days ago, actually. They are small- little bigger than golf ball I think. But I didn't pull them too early- the texture was smooth, the flavor mild even sweet. I liked them better than turnips in the past. Couldn't find my recipe notes but remember how to cook them- diced small, sauteed in butter with peas and dill. Served with rice and salmon. Even the greens were pretty good. So easy to grow. I should do an entire bed of just turnips next year.

Have also been pulling more carrots. I have to say, the short ones that come up so stubby and feel a pain to prep with the peeling- at least they pull easy! The ones in the middle section have nice long straight roots but some of them the tops break off and even digging around exposing half of it I can't get a grip and I broke a few in half, the lower end is still in the ground. 

We're having a terrible heat wave- over a hundred degrees the past few days- and I've been out watering the garden with hose every morning at 7 or 8am. Gathering food for the day same time- but when the soil is damp those carrots cling.

Pulled beets today for dinner. They were great. The greens also, cooked in avocado oil with garlic.

My first purple green beans are forming- but I have to keep my cat from chewing on them. The stems grew all up the deck railings and she sees it as free salad! I propped up some acrylic panels to actually barricade off the green bean leaves- don't care if she nibbles a few of those but if she bites through a stem everything above it will die. It looks silly.

cat damage

It is still just cold enough at night that I bring my tomatoes in, or keep them in all day round the clock- they've grown so tall no space under the cage so I had to prop it up on children's building blocks. Must be really happy in the mini greenhouse, because other tomato plants that have been in the coldframe right next to it, half the height and a bit yellowing on lower leaves. Unfortunately, my cat Eliza won't leave plants alone. Even the pot of wheatgrass I have just for her, I have to keep out of her reach and give access too just for five or ten minutes every other day- she chews it down to nothing. She's been sticking her paw through the cage bars, pulling the green bean stems towards her, and eating the leaves off!

Half of these had leaves. It's very frustrating. I had to put plastic panels against the cage sides to prevent her from ruining all of them.

I've also had to re-think my garden fence plans (no it's not built yet). It was going to border the lower deck in a way that would allow the cats access to the ground there, under the deck and through the garden. Now I'm going to just fence a loop around to the edge of the stairs, and access the garden myself from under the deck (I don't think a rabbit will go in via that way, the squirrel might?) Cats are confined to the deck only- and the gate at top of stairs. I've put short fencing around the lower railings so they don't lean out so far- always afraid they might try to jump one day.

They really enjoy being out there and Eliza begs sometimes, pawing the glass and meowing hopefully.

timing

I was delighted and surprised this morning to find that one aspargus seed has germinated! It's so small the camera can barely focus. 

Also my green beans are emerging. Lined up under the mesh boxes on my window bench now.

This is a problem- it might be too early. They could get too big before it's warm enough to plant out. I'll have to see. I can't plant the green bean seed straight in the ground (as is usually recommended) because the squirrels watch me, dig them straight up and eat them. I have to sprout them indoors, plant outside as soon as they have first true leaves. It's tricky, but has worked for me in the past.

Here's hoping we don't get another hard frost predicted. Supposedly that was the last one, earlier this week.

And my asparagus are way late. I should have sowed them in Jan or Feb, ready to plant outside in March or early April latest. Now it's going to be May or June when I set them out and could get too hot for the young plants, but I'm not sure I haven't grown these before.

one more sowing

Probably the last one of the year. Pole beans straight into pots in the greenhouse. Summer savory, basil and hyssop in starter trays on top of the fridge. Sage just pressed onto the top of seed starter mix, lidded with plastic and set by a window.

Outside, I dug up the smaller of my two lovage plants to take to swap next week- one plant is really far more than I need, and the bigger one sure is thriving. In its place I put the two smaller dill plants that were still in their little pots. (So now there's two in the garden and two in a large pot on the deck). Come fall I might dig up the larger lovage entirely, move it to be more centered in the bed. Right now it kind of crowds the edge.

things got eaten

By the bugs! My favorite, amaranth 'calaloo', I have totally been unable to keep ahead of the beetles by hand-picking them every morning like I used too. Every morning far more are riddled with so many holes and spoiled by frass, not usable. I've finally sprayed with insecticidal soap (second dose today) but don't know if the plants will recover enough to be worth picking from again. Half them got pulled and tossed already.

Here's the beet and turnip-rutabaga bed in the foreground- not much better shape. Most of the beet foliage ruined- I think from whitefly or leaf hoppers. 

Turnip-rutabagas are definitely getting damaged by whitefly. I've sprayed them, too. The roots are all still quite edible, though- but I miss not being able to use the greens, and I'm sure I'd have bigger, healthier beets and rutabagas without the damage.

My collards have also been swarming with whitefly, and harlequin bugs (took me a while to find those culprits). And all are getting munched by slugs too, I think.

All the actual turnips rotted. I had to empty most of that bed and throw them away. 

But the cowpeas on the other end of the bed are doing grand, I just hope they actually give me some beans to eat (planted out kinda late this year)

And in the next bed over, the yellow summer squash is amazing! I took this picture several weeks ago, it's now sprawled large enough I can't walk through the aisle between the beds. Getting one or two nice-sized squash per week out of there. Very little sign of disease, no bug damage I can see!

Swiss chard

and leaf-beet chard are faring okay. Some leaf hoppers spreading disease, but when I start to notice symptoms, I cut out what I can eat and cut the rest down to the ground, bundling most of insects away with all the anemic foliage to the trash. The chard grows back quickly if watered heavy again, gets kind of a fresh start for another week or so.

Tomatoes- eh. They don't look great. The cherry and purple cherokee tomatoes are discolored, the larger varieties small sized and lots of leaves look unhealthy. It didn't seem like aphids, probably some kind of virus causing wilt- I cut out a lot of sickly foliage again and redid the mulch.

Kind of a blah year, aside from the squash, and the herbs which mostly seem unbothered. I'm wondering if next year I should grow more new varieties of things (as the yellow squash and cowpeas have done so much better than zucchini and green beans for me), or just scrap the garden altogether and do a solarization to kill pathogens in the soil . . . 

it's been a while

I kind of lost interest in keeping this blog going- I don't seem to have many readers, and nobody to talk about plants with. Didn't feel the need to track when things get started for the right timing to go in the ground and such (as reminders to myself) anymore. And then I had a setback, minor car accident, sprained ankle, on crutches for three weeks- so things got shoddy out there. Overgrown, neglected. 

However today I finally was able to go out again (my ankle strapped, I'm allowed to do "light walking" now) And there are things to note.

First, here's a picture from months ago. After our spring heat wave, it cooled off again and I actually got a decent amount of lettuce. We had fresh salads for weeks, plus I gave some away. The heads were beautiful thick green rosettes in the garden.

Where the lettuces came out, I planted the tomatoes. They had waited too long, some lower leaves were wilting so I pulled those off. And then remembering a tip from a gardener I read, removed more lower leaf petioles, planted the tomatoes deeply, burying half the stem. Watered on planting, then left them alone for ten days. This encourages stronger root system and what do you know, I think it worked. I have only been out to water once since (due to being laid up) and the rain has been enough- the tomaoto plants look fantastic. I tied them up once to some poles, they are sturdier than usual too. Either the deep planting and witholding water at the start helped, or the soil was richer than usual.

My turnips are also doing great. We've been eating them- made a new dish just last night. Turnips simmered until tender, mashed with onions and a bit of sugar, stirred w/eggs and baked in the oven. Surprisingly good. It's the first year I've actually had good turnips- not dry or tough. Even the bigger ones I pull are tender when I slice them up, almost buttery. And they're still not bothered by much, out in the garden!

Can't say the same for other things. I went out to cut greens for dinner and instead cut and heaped most of the entire bed of chard into the compost pile. It was all mottled pale sickly from leaf hoppers. (Why are such aggravating pests so darn cute? This year they're dark grayish purple with bright blue or red eyes). I could only keep the youngest unblemished leaves to cook with, but hope that a lot of the leaf hoppers got removed with the mass of chard foliage, smothered under leaf mulch and grass clippings in the hot compost pile!

My beets are swarming with whitefly. I cleaned up the worst pale and dead foliage, doused them with soapy water, but need to go get some actual insecticide. In the next bed over, garlics have all fallen over, and scapes are reaching tall. But I don't think they're ready to pull yet. Not enough watering? Too much heat? 

I removed all the pea plants- saving some for next year's seed. Of the shelling peas, there was only enough for one meal. However, they were really good! Into those empty beds today I planted out the cowpeas (to grow up the trellis), bush beans (only two, the rest succumbed to heat and neglect while still in pots), two yellow summer squash, and a third of the amaranth 'calaloo' seedlings. The rest are still too small for transplanting. 

Then planted out on the sunny sideyard my few tithonias for the year. And I only have three cardinal climbers, which is sad. A few weeks ago my husband saw a hummingbird come by and scout around the deck. But my cardinal climbers weren't planted out, and I think the black and blue salvia isn't flowering yet either, so there was nothing here for it.

It is nice to still see the wrens, robins, sparrows, cardinals, blackbirds and grey catbirds busy around the yard and garden. And the skinks! They come upon the deck. I only have one cucumber plant that survived the period of neglect, it's in a deck pot. My carrots aren't doing too great in pots, they keep drying out if I am not able to get out and water. My sweet peas died. 

But I am glad that the rosemary and stevia survived the winter, and this year the fenugreek I planted is doing well. I have it by the sliding door to the deck and often bend to catch its scent when going in or out. Summer savory in the deck planters is doing great, and parsley- have been using both. Most of the herbs have come back well- thyme came through the winter indoors, sculpit and tarragon out in the garden have grown, I did plant one new sage because the old two didn't survive the transplant when I added broken rock to the perennial bed. And my green onions all failed. The older ones never regrew this year, I started a few new but they died.

I like the catmint (not same as catnip) in the garden, so this spring when I had to trim it back (sprawling all over into the space where collards grow) I stuck a bunch of cuttings into little water jars to try for new plants. I had over a dozen cuttings, but only three actually grew roots. The rest just got moldy. (I did change the water out, but probably not often enough). Those three got planted today too- two against the fence between the patch of joe pye weed and the row of shiso (which is looking nice). At least I think it's shiso. Maybe this year I'll get brave enough to try eating it. The third one I put also against the fence but in the back, between the yarrow (tall and floweirng now!) and my kinda sad camellia. 

It was nice to see a bright glitter of blue skittering around- the small brilliantly colored wasps that frequent my joe pye weed, and are predators of japanese beetles.

One of my jacob's ladder plants has grown so much, doubled in height! and it had the most beautiful sky-blue/violet flowers. But the other one is overshadowed by yellow salvia spreading out from under the skirts of hydrangea nearby. I thought it had died but found it getting smothered. Pulled out some of the salvia to give it room. I'm going to have to start thinning that stuff more.

That's my update.

blanketed

This past week I did the final work putting the garden to bed for winter. Turned the compost pile- there was less than before, only the bottom fourth or barely third was finished material, but it was very finely done, with a clear demarcation. I put six wheelbarrow loads on eight garden beds, the rue and perennial herbs just got leaf litter mulch. On top of the compost layer went four wheelbarrow loads of finished leaf mould from last year's pile. Started a new one. While it feels quieting to see all the beds flat and dark with their winter mulch, it also feels restful and I sure was satisfied, happy even, to find the rich darkness at the bottom of the piles. It still feels something miraculous and wealthy, to dig up all this goodness from heaps of waste and blanket it over to feed next year's plants. Only green in the garden now are a few leeks, sorrel, winter savory and lavender in the perennnial bed, rue and some volunteer borage on the back wall that brave the cold a little longer. 

All the vermicompost went on the front lawn, when I emptied out the blue bin a few weeks ago (don't think I mentioned it here). The worms were looking a bit poorly but now with fresh bedding and regular feedings again (I had ignored them lately) they're looking better.

The green tomatoes I picked and put on kitchen windowsill didn't ripen, they just got moldy and tossed. Should have tried making fried green tomatoes! Half the cowpea pods I picked just withered icky-looking too, but the rest I am waiting for them to dry and see if the seed inside is any good. Next time must watch the weather reports more closely, and pull them all before the first night the drops below freezing. We've had a few now.

some garden things

A tiny bug with warning colors. I don't think it's a wasp, though?

My cantaloupe definitely crossed with the zucchini. It will probably taste bad. Or at least bland. 

The cowpeas are thriving! It's lovely to see how healthy they are. In the same bed, barely noticeable, are the few bush green beans, their leaves sickly looking and wilted from whatever pest or disease gets them every year. Cowpeas are a win. So far, my family all likes eating them cooked as tender young 'beans'. And the few I miss when picking keep growing- there's several deep in the mass of plants dry and near to rattle now.

More tomatoes 

some picked early to ripen on the windowsill.

The cat sat with me on the garden bench.

garden to food

Picked the first few cowpeas. Young pods. They grow out very fast, long and straight, sticking up at an angle from the stems, so easier to see on the plants. I don't have many yet.

The vines are also getting a lot longer, I'm thinking to try and train lines up to the deck for them to climb, as none of my poles are tall enough. 

Getting more short fat zucchinis. I really think the speckled skins are pretty.

Cooked a shrimp stir-fry with homemade sauce. Included from the garden cowpea pods, sliced zucchini, green onions, ginger mint. The cowpeas were too few and smothered in sauce to get a taste- but added a nice crispness as I hadn't simmered them long enough to be soft.

green and purple

My regular bush green beans aren't producing much. Last two pickings all I got was enough for one serving. I made a new recipe with it, book borrowed from the public library. It's nicely tossed with a tiny bit of butter, garlic, and fresh herbs. The recipe calls for dill but suggests other herbs. I tried tarragon- now that I have a plentiful supply! pretty good. Would like to try with chervil too but mine's long spent.

Cowpeas are finally blooming! Pretty lavender color. Doubt I'll get beans mature enough to save as dried, just hoping for ones to eat as fresh 'green beans' now.

Benne would be a pretty plant, if mine wasn't so damaged by insects. I like the flowers. They now have fat, oblong slightly fuzzy pods on the stems. Intriguing to see them develop as I haven't grown this plant before.

My hollyhock mallows have gotten taller, and the flowers are more visible- makes me think they might be worth growing in the front bed next year.

I have one small cantaloupe!

and have eaten one more zucchini. Nice size and great taste, just wish there were more. Which is a really funny thing to say about zucchini.

from garden to table

No cowpeas yet, but I'm still impressed at how healthy these plants look. Barely touched by the insects, while I'm picking leaf hoppers, stinkbugs and cucumber beetles off the green beans right next to them. Still no sign of little beans yet, but they've begun to send out thick runners. I put up a few poles but will need more- and taller!

One huge cucumber, and a short but very fat zucchini. 

Baked it with tomatoes from the garden! 

 Also made this lentil dish, finally cracking open one of my cookbooks. (The cucumber slices were added as an afterthought, not part of the recipe). Lentils cooked with (among many other things) peppers, bay leaf and ginger mint from the garden. Fresh basil garnish. So the meal had seven things I grew.

My kids were not too keen on the zucchini boats, but they liked the lentils! It was work to prepare but definitely worth repeating.