From Winter, to Summer

I've been so busy with work, Captain and focusing on the gym, that I've neglected posting to the blog. Fortunately, I have not neglected the garden, or taking pictures of it. Here are a few pics of what it looked like about a month ago, back in late April, 2012.

The 8 feet tall Sugar Snap Peas, from seed,...and Captain.

Kohlrabi, from seed, I should have thinned.

Mache, from seed, young sweet baby greens, one of my favorites

Artichoke plants clustered together, came up from last seasons root transplant.

An entire winter of arugula (from seed). It's still good, even after it bolts. I just cut off the flowers and keep eating

The new compost pile consists of grass clippings, food waste, garden trimmings, and duck poop and her straw bedding.

5 heirloom varieties of tomatoes, from seed

Leeks, from seed

Spinach, from seed

Red Onions, from sets (small bulbs that were seeded last year, and will flower this year)

Garlic, 2nd year. I started garlic last year from a single clove and then used one of the new bulbs clove to plant these.

Lettuce, from seed

Yukon Gold Potatoes, from planting spuds

Container Strawberries, from rite aid lol. I don't start strawberries, and find it impossible. I should try again, but I haven't.

Rain, Rain...Grow Away!!!

As soon as it started raining last week, my veggies took off. They have been getting plenty of winter sun, but this is my winter crop, they don't LOVE sun, the LOVE water. So as you can imagine, they are pretty content with the current cloud burst. Here is what the garden is looking like, 5 weeks after laying the seed, with the exception of the artichoke. It came up from last years failed transplant from my ex-neighbors yard that never survived, I guess the roots did!

Totally new to me, Artichokes!

Radishes

Spinach

Kohlrabi!!!!

Growing into Swiss Chard, I missed you last season!

Pea trellis'

Carrots growing between the peas

A whole new crop of Arugula! 

Spinach

Yummy lettuce

Elephant Garlic, started with one of last years bulbs

Red Onions 

Yukon Gold Potatoes

Germinating 5 varieties of heirloom of tomatoes from seed 

The Waiting Game

All the hard work is done. I prepped the beds with worm and chicken poo. Tilled last years mulch under. Cleared out all the old dead plants from last year and thew them into the new hot compost pile. And laid the seed for my winter crop. Planted about 15 different patches of vegetables altogether.

It's been awfully warm around these parts, we have not had a cold or wet winter at all. Although my water bill does not appreciate this, it also makes for rapid seed germination. It's the waiting game at this point.

Ready. Set. Grow.

Most of the seed packs I used for Winter, not including potatoes, onions, peas and beans

Swiss chard

Pea trellis

Pea sprouts

Baby Carrots

Kohlrabi

Stella Bell the Duck

Radish

New gardening station/germination sun table for this warm winter. Germinating tomatoes for March transplant. 

Artichoke

New compost hot pile this year: All food scraps but meat and dairy, Stella's straw soiled bedding and grass clippings

Photobomb.

Side bed, arugula seedlings at base

Back yard raised bed

5 Elephant garlic, used the ones I grew last year to propagate new ones for this season

Red Onions, 60 of 'em

Good 'ol Yukon Potatoes 

Fallow

fal·low

adjective /ˈfalō/  (of farmland) Plowed and harrowed but left unsown for a period in order to restore its fertility as part of a crop rotation or to avoid surplus production - incentives for farmers to let the land lie fallow in order to reduce grain surpluses

SORRY ... I have not been posting, because since late August, nothing has grown and the garden has gone fallow. I decided not to do a fall crop because I was so busy with the new dog, Captain, but I am really looking forward to getting my fingers back in the soil this winter to start growing again. 

I just purchased my winter crop seeds. I am going to start out with mache, sugar snap peas, spinach, beets, turnips, rainbow Swiss chard, lettuce, carrots, and a few others that I may be forgetting. I would also like to start some garlic and potatoes, but I have not bought them yet. 

I will probably start prepping my soil in about 2 weeks. This will entail buying probably four or five '2 cubic feet' bags of high quality, organic vegetable gardening soil that has NOT been sterilized, and a bag of spent/composted chicken droppings. I will also be adding some 'black gold' or what non-farmers call worm poo. We made it right her at home and its ready to go into my soil this year, finally after a year of waiting. Lastly, I will just adding some of Stella Bell's (our duck) poop along with some of her straw bedding. Once mixed together in a wheel-barrel, I will simply add it to the top of my beds, and chop it into the existing soil with a shovel and hoe!

Starting to Wither - Late August

It's been a while since I posted because we have added a new addition to the farm. 'Captain' the Vizsla puppy has joined us and has settled in quite nicely. He's high maintenance and I have had to watch him closely in the yard, but so far, he has not torn up any of my pants, or Stella. He did make it behind the tomato vines once, but that was a fluke.

The garden is looking ok. The heat of the summer got the best of some of my younger plants, while the BLASTED WHITE FLY and Potato/Tomato Psyllids (Nymphs) enjoyed destroying some of the foliage on my 8 foot 7 inch tomato vines this August.

There is significant damage to the tomatoes, starting from the bottom, up. The vines are still surviving and producing the sweetest fruit though. At first, we used the Neem Oil, diluted with water and a little dish soap to keep it mixed up. After my homemade remedy proved to be less than perfect in the height of the infestation (it was gross) we went for a concoction that was store bought. I had been growing these flipping plants for 9 months! I was dammed if I was going to lose them now, right at harvest. We still went with an organic pesticide, Captain Jacks Bedbug Brew, ironically, my dogs name. After applying an entire 8$ bottle to our plants, it seems to have halted the infestation. I still see some flys kickin' it, but for the most part, the plant seems to be healthier. I hate bugs. Bees are cool.

New Addition: 'Captain',  garden dog

We have been getting lots of cucumbers from our vines. I've been pickling them in Vlassic brine and making the most wonderful crispy pickles. This is my new favorite thing to do this year. We are actually growing the pickling cucumber variety so it works out perfectly.

 2 zucchinis (left), 2 pickling cucumbers (right)

Here is a glimpse of what's been going on in the garden.

Standing on a standard height chair, measuring the Tomato vines @ 8 feet, 7 Inches tall

Largely still healthy, with the exception of the lower interior of the plant. Almost 9 feet tall!

My Brandywine Heirloom got over the blossom drop and started making LOTS of tomato

Visible pest damage from white flies and tomato nymphs - they eat the leaf, not the fruit

8 feet 7 Inches!!!! Healthier at the top

New sunflowers getting munched

Brandywine Heirloom (from seed)

Perfect crop to grow with tomatoes, just need a cow to make cheese

Lettuce gone to seed

Yummy sugar snap peas

The FIRST Brandywine Heirloom of the season, I ate it like an apple

Red onion from seed

Watermelon Vines

Pumpkin Patch, I dunno about this one, not seen one Pumpkin yet!

Captain enjoying his garden