Skippy's Vegetable Garden

my first potato harvest

2008-07-24T21:14:00.006-05:00

I dug my first first potatoes today.

I have a very large patch devoted to potatoes this year. About 5 x 15 feet. I am happy it seems successful so far.

The plants grew nicely, flowered, and then this past week or so they started to die back. With all the rain, they got soggy (rotten stems, etc), and so today I chopped off all the stems and cleared the patch. Before and after photos are above.

I pulled a handful of potatoes that were up near the surface. Some were partly exposed and some I found with a shallow search in the dirt. I found a mix of red and pink and white baby potatoes.

I was very happy to mix these with our evening vegetables (squash..). They were excellent. Fresh and yummy. I like to parboil potatoes a few minutes and then sautée in olive oil with a mix of garden vegetables. Basic stuff.

Something about the combination of potatoes and beans is very nice. It is interesting that vegetables that ripen at the same time taste great together. Garlic, onions, potatoes and beans are ready now and all are delicious together.

Recipe:
Chop into 1 inch pieces: fresh baby potatoes, pole beans, onions and sumer squash
Chop fine: garlic
Marinate: vegetables with garlic and olive oil
Parboil for 4 minutes: baby potatoes and beans
Sautée 2 minutes large skillet in olive oil: parboiled baby potatoes
Add to skillet: onions, squash and beans. Sautée until squash is tender and browned.
Add sea salt to taste.

soggy garden

2008-07-24T21:13:00.003-05:00

All right, already with the rain! My garden has had plenty of water. Turn off the faucet.

My rain gauge says I got 2.5 inches of water in the past 2 days. This has been going on for at least a week now. We get these incredible thunderstorms about 3 or 4 times a days. Today I was lucky to squeeze in a dry 1.5 hour visit to the plot to work. I ran into the house as the next downpour started. (Fortunately, I checked interactive radar weather site before I went out!)

It is unusual summer weather for this area. How can one plan for this? I am glad I have a wide variety of vegetable crops in my garden. Some are doing well, some are not... The tomatoes and cukes are not appreciating the constant moisture. Sad because tomatoes are mine (and everyone's) favorite crop. The lower leaves just are so soggy, they turn yellow and then brown ...

However many vegetables are doing great. My beets are great - Chiogga and Lutz. Yummy. Also squash is doing too good (I give bags of it to anyone who visits me - lookout). Carrots, beans, radish are good. Broccoli is great too. And fava beans. I have a super potato crop starting now it seems - though its still underground.

My flat of fall seedlings are outside on my stone pathway, "getting some sun". Not. But they're out there just in case the sun comes out.

For sure, a dry clear blue day would be appreciated.....

Skippy

2008-07-23T21:49:00.007-05:00

It was pointed out to me that I haven't been adding many photos of Skippy. And after all - its HIS blog! Well, here he is. He posed for a few shots at the community gardens, and a few shots caught him in action.

The last two shots show Skippy at the swimming hole. This brook runs near the community gardens and is full to the brim with all the rain we have had this week. Skippy had a great swim!

harvest

2008-07-22T20:53:00.007-05:00

Here's yesterday's harvest. Skippy and I went out to our community plot with a big empty bag and came home with it full!

At the very far left is a little bit of spring broccoli that is still producing florets. Then come some tricolored radish that I just started pulling. They are very pretty and perfectly spherical. The cukes, a pickling variety and a slicing variety called Rocky, and are coming in fast now, though they are still small. I try to pick the summer squash small before it gets out of hand. This harvest has two patty pan (Starship and Sunburst). They are nice and sweet. I'm starting to pull lots of carrots now (I had a bunch more that I didn't wash for this picture). This variety is Mokum, my early carrots. My two other varieties are still growing. There are two varieties of beets here: Lutz (dark purple) and Chiogga (pale reddish). I cooked them tonight with their greens and the Chiogga are especially tender and sweet. At the far right are onions that are starting to bulb nicely. And last of all, a nice bunch of basil.

Its actually been several months now since I've been in a grocery store. That's one of my favorite parts of growing a vegetable garden. I buy meat at the local farmer's market or fish monger, and our milkman (Crescent Ridge Dairy) delivers dairy products. We make an occasional trip to Cost Co and that's all. We just eat lots of fresh summer vegetables.

I haven't photographed my lettuce in a while, but I've been supplying our salad bowl since May 31 without any purchased lettuce. My challenge is to make it through the summer heat. Last year I couldn't do this and had to buy it mid summer. Right now all of my spring sowings of lettuce have bolted and this week we'll eat the last of it. I'm hoping my Summer Crisp Batavian lettuce will be ready to harvest next week. This is a heat resistant crop recommended by Gretta, my local CSA farmer.

Capucijner pea harvest

2008-07-22T13:19:00.006-05:00

Pisum sativum

grilled favas

2008-07-22T13:02:00.004-05:00

We have been eating the young beans whole and shelling the older ones. Marinate in oil, garlic and herbs. Then grill. Delicious!

Vicia faba

one of my favorite gardens

2008-07-21T21:23:00.003-05:00

Not my garden, but I wish it was.

I'm taking pointers from watching this gardener. Well spaced plants. Lots of soil covers. Beautiful varieties - great big dill, big purple eggplants.... And I LOVE the blue door. I'm always thinking of what to do with may garden next year, and here are definitely some ideas.

melons and winter squashes setting fruit

2008-07-21T09:40:00.022-05:00

I am having fun watching for baby melons. These are now setting fruit. I have heard that I should remove all but two fruits of the larger varieties.

The fruits above are large watermelon, Delicata squash, a large-fruited bottle gourd, Baby Pam pumpkin, Lakota squash and finally a Big Rock pumpkin.

The male flowers below are watermelon, a Big Rock pumpkin flower and a couple of bottle gourd flowers. The white gourds blossoms seem to open in the evening and the yellow melon and orange squashes in the morning. I suspect the white flowers are pollinated by moths at night and I know the bees frequent the melons and squashes.

FYI: I looked up some information tonight on the fruit set process. Of course, squash and melon flowers are either male or female. Female flowers have a baby fruit below the blossom and males don't. Pollination is needed for fruit set. Fruit set also requires a certain temperature range (not too hot) and a healthy vine. Fruit set occurs if the fruit continues to grow several days after the flower has shriveled and fallen off. If the female blossom was not pollinated, the fruit will not set.

Now that I have lots of baby fruits, I'm hoping for at least a few to set. Maybe I'll get a great big watermelon or pumpkin this year!

Here's a photo my dad sent me of a Delicata squash that has set and is growing nicely in his garden. Its supposed to be a very tasty heirloom winter squash. My neighbor gave me the seeds and my parents and I are looking forward to trying them.

grape arbor

2008-07-20T08:52:00.003-05:00

My grape vines have lots of fruit now. Unfortunately, I don't prune these, so we don't get edible grapes. I think, because too many clusters form, none of them fully ripen before falling off. (Does this make sense?)

I don't tend them because don't like the taste of them. The variety is Catawba.

However, the birds love them, especially the cardinals. And the vines make a nice shaded area above the grill on my patio.

From Johnson Nursery:
The Catawba grape dates back to the early 1800's being found along the Catawba River in NC. The red grapes have a crisp flesh that is very sweet, and juicy. Great for fresh eating, juice and a pretty pink wine. The vine is vigorous and productive. Zones 5-8

From Wikipedia:
Catawba grapes were introduced to wine-growers in the 1800s by Major John Adlum of Georgetown, D.C.. Grown predominantly on the East Coast of the United States, this purplish-red grape has a rather sweet flavor. It is typically in season from September to November and can be used in wines, juice, jams and jellies. Although usually classified as Vitis labrusca, Catawba is widely believed to have at least some Vitis vinifera in its background. The grape can have a pronounced musky or "foxy" flavor, which some aficionados consider inferior to the flavor of V. vinifera, though others find it distinctive and pleasant.

harvest

2008-07-20T08:49:00.001-05:00

This is what I brought home from the garden yesterday. Needless to say, we are eating a lot of squash these days....

honey bee in flight

2008-07-19T16:09:00.000-05:00

tomato supports

2008-07-19T14:50:00.016-05:00

While I was searching the community gardens for ripe tomatoes, I took pictures of all the different methods of supporting tomato vines that are in use in the plots. We have 100+ active lots now and its a great source of gardening information.

I think the best are the top photo. A traditional Italian design. (Its Gino's garden.) Simple. The wood posts hold the metal pipe and strings wrap around the vines. This is what I would like to try next year.

I always like the tepee structures too. The second large photo shows these. Someone has some very tall tepees. They look good. (They also have the white residue I assume is from spraying a fungicide.)

I can't quite figure out that the structure is in the third large photo. But the tomatoes seem happy.

Yes, those are my tomatoes in the last large photo. A rustic, make shift design. That's what happens when you start with tepees and then shift mid season to an upright design to let in more air and sun. Too much construction work. I'm looking forward to improving on this next year.

tomato check

2008-07-19T14:50:00.011-05:00

These are photos of tomatoes today in other garden plots at the Rock Meadow Victory Garden.

I have no red tomatoes yet, but I'm really looking forward to one soon. I took a walk around the community gardens today to see if anyone has ripe tomatoes yet. I found lots of green ones and one garden that has one beautiful big red that looks very close to ripe.

Here are photos of my green tomatoes:

Looks to me like there are all sorts of issues with my community garden tomato plants: white spots and black spots and brown spots, shriveled leaves and fewer tomatoes than I expected. My home tomatoes look healthy, but the plants are smaller.

My dad was telling me that one of my problems may be rust or leaf spot, common tomato fungal diseases. Here's what he wrote:

About the yellowing of the tomato leaves (talking now about the yellowing that starts with the lowest leaves in spite of having sufficient sunlight and nutrients)– I thought that some of that might also be due to rust or leaf spot. Questions 28 and 34 of this link tells you a bit more about it: Texas A&M. I was considering using agricultural poly film next year – because the spores are in the ground from growing them in the same place year after year and from composting the leaves and then rototilling them in also year after year. Tom sprays with Manzate 75% several times a season, picks of the infected leaves and has a heavy salt marsh hay mulch to prevent rain splash-up infecting and spreading the problem.

watching and waiting....

2008-07-18T20:13:00.011-05:00

The great tomato anticipation.

The count down on my side bar says this weekend I should have a ripe tomato. I'm not sure exactly why I picked this timing .... It seemed good. But I guess it was wishful thinking.

Last year, my first ripe tomato was July 31 2007 (a tiny split cherry tom on July 26 didn't really count). The previous year, the exact same date: July 31 2006.

There's no red yet in my home garden. I haven't been out to my community plot in a couple of days. Tomorrow I'll check. Ah, the suspense..... They were all green last I looked. But maybe, just maybe.

While I'm at the community garden, I'll take a look and see if any of the gardens have red tomatoes. Its very exciting to know that such a delicacy is just around the corner!

Solanum lycopersicum

sowing for fall

2008-07-18T08:33:00.001-05:00

I got some fall seeds planted this morning.

Lettuce, Red Summer Crisp, 1 6-pack
Escarole, Bionda A Cuore Pieno, 1 6-pack
Beets, Lutz, 1 6-pack
Broccoli, Green Goliath, 2 6-packs
Broccoli, Green Sprouting Calabrese, 1 6-pack
Dill, Dukat, 2 6-packs

a new crop of chile peppers

2008-07-18T08:03:00.001-05:00

It really must be summer! Chile peppers are a heat-loving, full-sun crop. I have young fruits on the plants of my cayenne and Anaheim chile plants.

I planted 5 varieties of peppers in big pots next to my house this year. A beautiful cayenne plant was raised and given to me by Amelia (of Gradually Greener). I sowed seeds for Anaheim, Poblano, sweet Canary and chocolate bell peppers. Lots of flowers, but no fruits yet on the last three varieties.

The photo on the left is cayenne, on the right is Anaheim.

apples on the tree

2008-07-17T20:46:00.003-05:00

I planted a nice little Fugi apple tree in my back yard about 3 or 4 years ago. It gets too much shade and I didn't think it was blooming at all. But today I noticed four small apples! I'd like these to ripen without bug or squirrel damage. Do they need a spray or net here in the NE US? Please leave me your advice!

rye seed heads

2008-07-17T20:39:00.002-05:00

I am enjoying watching some plump seed heads mature in my garden. I think these are probably rye, which I plant as a winter annual cover crop. I'd love to be able to prepare edible seed from these. I know nothing about grains, but they are interesting to watch.

overabundance

2008-07-16T08:08:00.004-05:00

Overabundance, excess, surplus, flood, overload, surfeit, glut, oversupply, extra, excessive, too much .......

I was able to keep up with my spring lettuce this year even though there was a lot of it. And there has been a lot of broccoli, but not too much. But the favas and the summer squash are another story. They just won't stop.

Vicia faba

cooking fava beans

2008-07-16T07:53:00.007-05:00

My favas continue to produce lots of beans! A prolific crop. I am experimenting with recipes to see what I like best. Here is my favorite so far:

--------

Favas, spring onions and corn

Prepare favas by shelling larger beans and cutting smaller ones into 1 inch lengths. Sauté favas in butter and olive oil until they start to brown, about 2 minutes on high heat. Add fresh corn cut off the cob and chopped green onions. Sauté another minute or so.
Vicia faba

my home garden

2008-07-15T20:34:00.005-05:00

I pulled a lot of weeds and overgrown crops yesterday. This makes room for planting fall crops. I pulled patches of bolted arugula, lettuce and endive. These are now nice patches of bare dirt, ready to go.

My peas are falling over. Only the purple podded Capucijners soup peas are left now. They will mature soon and then I'll harvest the pods and pull the plants. For now, I'm letting the vines and trellis do as they please.

Note: I added mouse overs to this photo. If you click on the picture then mouse over, the crop labels show up.

fall planting schedule

2008-07-14T21:59:00.005-05:00

I'm starting to think about planting fall crops. I'd like to try fall broccoli again (I planted too late last year.) Also lettuce, beets, spinach and radish.

I like this fall planting chart at Heirloom Seeds. It lists fall planting dates for vegetables according to your average last frost date.

For the past two years, my first frost has been mid November for my home garden. I'm sure the community plot will frost earlier. Probably mid October.

I'm thinking of the following schedule for fall planting:

Carrots and beets (community plot) sow by July 25
Lettuce (community plot) sow until Aug 20, (home garden) sow until Sept 20
Broccoli (community plot) sow July 15, (home garden) sow Aug 10
Radish (community plot) sow until Sept 10
Spinach (community plot) sow until Aug 15

The broccoli date is soon. Tomorrow!

I will only sow the carrots directly in the garden. The others will all go into seed trays and I will transplant into the garden when they are big enough.

summer flowers

2008-07-14T09:55:00.004-05:00

The pure white flower of the birdhouse gourd surprised me. So bright and ruffled! The vine of this plant has grown to the top of my 5 foot fence. I am looking forward to the fruit.

Another summer beauty is the hemerocallis or day lilies. These grow semi-wild in our community gardens and I have left several along my garden edge. A nearby gardener has over 50 varieties planted in his garden and new ones open daily.

The small purple-blue flowers are anise hyssop that I grew from seed this year. It has licorice scented leaves and the flowers attract bees.

My nasturtiums and other summer annuals have just begun to bloom. This year I planted flowering annuals as companion plants for my vegetables. They are believed to attract beneficial insects and repel pests. Maybe so, but they also add a nice bit of color to the garden.

cheers! the cukes are here!

2008-07-13T22:17:00.005-05:00

My first cucumbers are ready for harvest! This is a variety called Rocky. A very nice slicing cucumber. Also nice in a summer martini.

I hesitated to post this photo of my hand. It is too brown this year. And my nails are dirty and ragged. One of the consequences of gardening I suppose.

In any case, cheers! I hope you too are enjoying a good summer harvest.

Cucumis sativus

tomatoes

2008-07-13T21:57:00.005-05:00

Lots of green tomatoes! No red ones yet, but it won't be long now. The Big Beef and Purple Calabrese varieties are doing especially well in my garden.

I have always used a tepee structure in the past for my tomato plants, but in my new sunnier garden, I think a more traditional support stucture would give the plants more room. The plants are bigger and fuller than usual in my new garden. So, my husband has started to move the poles and make a box-like structure for the plants. This will give them more space and light as they grow taller.

The lower leaves of my tomatoes plants (and my parents' tomato plants too) have been turning brown and shriveling up in the past couple weeks. I remove the leaves as they die. I assume the problem is over watering. June was very wet. We have torrential downpours and thunderstorms nearly every afternoon. Not much we could do about this. I am curious if other gardeners have noticed a problem with tomato leaves?

Solanum lycopersicum