Looks like roasted veggies are for dinner tomorrow :)
Lots and lots of green tomatoes on the vines, none ripe yet! Cukes are doing great, harvested just 2 so far but there are many more that are almost ready waiting on the vine!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
July 25 harvest
Today's harvest:
Looks like roasted veggies are for dinner tomorrow :)
Lots and lots of green tomatoes on the vines, none ripe yet! Cukes are doing great, harvested just 2 so far but there are many more that are almost ready waiting on the vine!
Looks like roasted veggies are for dinner tomorrow :)
Lots and lots of green tomatoes on the vines, none ripe yet! Cukes are doing great, harvested just 2 so far but there are many more that are almost ready waiting on the vine!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Cukes & tomatoes
Some cucumbers that survived Chuck's hungry rampage through the garden:
Early Girls coming along:
and Yellow Pears just getting started ...
Of course, even my Early Girls didn't outpace my nextdoor neighbor's Big Boys. They have already eaten 15 or 20 beefsteaks! At least I can hope for the first cukes on the block ... haven't heard of anyone else growing any :)
OK ... off to work!
Early Girls coming along:
and Yellow Pears just getting started ...
Of course, even my Early Girls didn't outpace my nextdoor neighbor's Big Boys. They have already eaten 15 or 20 beefsteaks! At least I can hope for the first cukes on the block ... haven't heard of anyone else growing any :)
OK ... off to work!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Bell pepper & baby tomatillos
One of my bell peppers is getting pretty big!
and here's a baby tomatillo:
and here's a baby tomatillo:
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Groundhog day
I have a problem with a groundhog.
I have heard the neighbors with gardens complaining about a groundhog who lives on my block. I'm going to name him Chuck for the sake of this blog. Well, Chuck kept eating my lettuce to the ground as soon as it came up, until eventually (in desparation) I planted something else in its spot. I thought he subsequently found a new mealtime locale. My next door neighbor, who has a large kitchen garden, patrols his garden daily. He has been making frequent groundhog sightings and has updated me a few times on the groundhog's most recent reported "meals". Well, I'm reporting now that Chuck LOVES cucumbers.
Just on Sunday I took pictures of baby cucumbers growing on my seven plants. I probably counted 50 babies. Well, today I counted 5. Every other tiny cucumber had been eaten right off the vine, flower and all! Occasionally Chuck had the audacity to leave about half of the cuke on the vine.
Today I spent my lunch break researching groundhog prevention tactics. Recommended strategies included
- Scare tactics: scarecrows, owl statues, pinwheels, automatic lights, etc.
- Fences: which need to be 1 foot deep and 3 foot tall to prevent digging and jumping
- Smelly stuff: one recommendation was combining 1 tsp hot sauce with 1 gallon water and spraying it all over the plants. Someone else suggested planting mint at the perimeter because groundhogs don't like the smell. I'm certainly not planting mint at the perimeter, it will take over the garden!
- Moving groundhog's home: trapping, blocking his tunnel, etc.
I may try the hot sauce technique to preserve my few remaining cukes and perhaps my sweet peppers in case he might be interested in those too. I did happen upon this article from the Humane Society: Getting Groundhogs Out of Gardens.
Is "humane harrassment technique" an oxymoron?
I have heard the neighbors with gardens complaining about a groundhog who lives on my block. I'm going to name him Chuck for the sake of this blog. Well, Chuck kept eating my lettuce to the ground as soon as it came up, until eventually (in desparation) I planted something else in its spot. I thought he subsequently found a new mealtime locale. My next door neighbor, who has a large kitchen garden, patrols his garden daily. He has been making frequent groundhog sightings and has updated me a few times on the groundhog's most recent reported "meals". Well, I'm reporting now that Chuck LOVES cucumbers.
Just on Sunday I took pictures of baby cucumbers growing on my seven plants. I probably counted 50 babies. Well, today I counted 5. Every other tiny cucumber had been eaten right off the vine, flower and all! Occasionally Chuck had the audacity to leave about half of the cuke on the vine.
Today I spent my lunch break researching groundhog prevention tactics. Recommended strategies included
- Scare tactics: scarecrows, owl statues, pinwheels, automatic lights, etc.
- Fences: which need to be 1 foot deep and 3 foot tall to prevent digging and jumping
- Smelly stuff: one recommendation was combining 1 tsp hot sauce with 1 gallon water and spraying it all over the plants. Someone else suggested planting mint at the perimeter because groundhogs don't like the smell. I'm certainly not planting mint at the perimeter, it will take over the garden!
- Moving groundhog's home: trapping, blocking his tunnel, etc.
I may try the hot sauce technique to preserve my few remaining cukes and perhaps my sweet peppers in case he might be interested in those too. I did happen upon this article from the Humane Society: Getting Groundhogs Out of Gardens.
Burrows
Groundhogs hibernate from October through February, and their breeding season begins soon after they wake up. If you must evict a groundhog from a burrow under your house, porch, or other building, do so shortly after they've emerged from hibernation or wait until late summer, after the young have been weaned and are living on their own.
These humane harassment techniques will encourage groundhogs to move along:
* Partially dig out the entrances to the burrow (there are usually several) and clear away surrounding vegetation.
* Put urine-soaked kitty litter (the clumping kind works well) inside all burrow entrances. The strong odor often causes them to vacate the premises.
* Place a one-way door at the main entrance to the burrow. This lets the groundhog safely exit but not return.
After the animal has left the burrow, loosely pack the entrances with grass or similar material. If it remains undisturbed for three to five days, you can assume the burrow is unoccupied. Permanently close it by excavating the areas around the entrances and burying square sections of heavy gauge welded wire at least 1 foot deep across all entrances.
Is "humane harrassment technique" an oxymoron?
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Garden Progress 7/10
I pulled 9 days' worth of weeds today that accumulated while we were on vacation. The garden exploded in the warm weather while we were away. Here is a "before" picture from June 25, just before we left:
and here it is today on July 10:
Here is the progress of my various plants thus far:
Carrots (Danvers Half Long): Direct-seeded 5/31; sprouted in 2 weeks; greens about 8-10 inches tall now.
Green onions: Harvested 14 so far, all good to eat; planting sets continuously to replace harvested onions.
Radishes: Harvested 16 so far; 10 were good to eat and the others were woody or the roots never bulbed out. Replanting continuously to replace harvested plants.
Beets (Ruby Queen): Soaked seeds overnight and direct-seeded 6/14/10. Not too impressive so far, perhaps 4-6 inches tall.
Eggplant (Gretel): Many leaves, no flowers. Transplanted from nursery 6/13.
Eggplant (Ichiban): 1 flower. Transplanted from nursery 6/20.
Tomatoes (Roma, Early Girl, Yellow Pear, Valley Girl, Rutgers): Transplanted the Early Girl from the nursery 6/10. All the others were grown from seed, started indoors on 4/3, and planted out 6/13. All of the tomato plants have flowers, but only Early Girl has fruit so far. Surprisingly, my Yellow Pear tomato has overtaken the Roma as the biggest plant in the garden.
Pepper (Chili Red): Transplanted from nursery 6/13. Flowers, no fruit.
Pepper (California Wonder): Started from seed indoors 4/3, planted out 6/13. Flowers, no fruit.
Pepper (Bell Boy): Transplanted from nursery 6/10. 2 fruits developing and many flowers (see yesterday's post for a picture).
Pepper (Cayenne): Transplanted from nursery 6/20. 2 long thin fruits growing, plus several flowers.
Tomatillo: Started from seed 4/6, planted out 6/13. I have 2 plants and both are flowering. I need both to survive the summer because they are apparently self-infertile, so you need a minimum of 2 plants. They have cute little yellow and purple flowers all over. Today I saw some bumblebees visiting them!
Cucumber: Direct-seeded in garden 5/31. I have 7 plants in the back of the garden and while they don't take up much space, they try to take over by lassoing the other plants. It's too bad I was away and could not train them up the trellis as well as I'd have liked. Today I carefully unwound their tendrils from neighboring tomatoes and shrubs, and tried to weave the plants gently through the trellis instead. I don't want to do anything too drastic because there are baby cukes everywhere!
and here it is today on July 10:
Here is the progress of my various plants thus far:
Carrots (Danvers Half Long): Direct-seeded 5/31; sprouted in 2 weeks; greens about 8-10 inches tall now.
Green onions: Harvested 14 so far, all good to eat; planting sets continuously to replace harvested onions.
Radishes: Harvested 16 so far; 10 were good to eat and the others were woody or the roots never bulbed out. Replanting continuously to replace harvested plants.
Beets (Ruby Queen): Soaked seeds overnight and direct-seeded 6/14/10. Not too impressive so far, perhaps 4-6 inches tall.
Eggplant (Gretel): Many leaves, no flowers. Transplanted from nursery 6/13.
Eggplant (Ichiban): 1 flower. Transplanted from nursery 6/20.
Tomatoes (Roma, Early Girl, Yellow Pear, Valley Girl, Rutgers): Transplanted the Early Girl from the nursery 6/10. All the others were grown from seed, started indoors on 4/3, and planted out 6/13. All of the tomato plants have flowers, but only Early Girl has fruit so far. Surprisingly, my Yellow Pear tomato has overtaken the Roma as the biggest plant in the garden.
Pepper (Chili Red): Transplanted from nursery 6/13. Flowers, no fruit.
Pepper (California Wonder): Started from seed indoors 4/3, planted out 6/13. Flowers, no fruit.
Pepper (Bell Boy): Transplanted from nursery 6/10. 2 fruits developing and many flowers (see yesterday's post for a picture).
Pepper (Cayenne): Transplanted from nursery 6/20. 2 long thin fruits growing, plus several flowers.
Tomatillo: Started from seed 4/6, planted out 6/13. I have 2 plants and both are flowering. I need both to survive the summer because they are apparently self-infertile, so you need a minimum of 2 plants. They have cute little yellow and purple flowers all over. Today I saw some bumblebees visiting them!
Cucumber: Direct-seeded in garden 5/31. I have 7 plants in the back of the garden and while they don't take up much space, they try to take over by lassoing the other plants. It's too bad I was away and could not train them up the trellis as well as I'd have liked. Today I carefully unwound their tendrils from neighboring tomatoes and shrubs, and tried to weave the plants gently through the trellis instead. I don't want to do anything too drastic because there are baby cukes everywhere!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Welcome to the jungle!
We were traveling this week and have just returned home after 8 days away. The plants got huge! A plant-sitter came by and watered the garden and it looks like he kept just about everything alive. I'm pretty pleased because it was very hot and sunny the whole time we were gone!
The cucumbers and tomatoes have really grown. The cucumbers each just had a few leaves when we left, and now they each have many leaves, flowers and baby cucumbers. There are also some baby tomatoes and peppers.
Minor weeding and grooming may be necessary tomorrow, but altogether not bad progress during our vacation.
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