Seeds and Sunshine

Back Again! Summer 2010

2010-08-19T16:40:00.019-04:00

This summer the vegetables on my back deck are flourishing - the hot weather and sunshine has made it easy to take care of the plants and they are growing better than ever. I planted less variety and concentrated on my successes from last year. Lots of tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumbers. I have done very little maintenance on the plants except watering, of course. (I never even fertilized...) Now, we're eating salads every night and having regular batches of basil pesto.

My herbs - Basil, Thai Basil, Rosemary, Marjoram, and Nasturtium.

Waiting on the Big Boy to ripen - can't wait to try them!

I'm growing the heirloom San Marzano to try something fun. Look at the unique shape! Will these be as good as the ones grown in Italy? Is my Miracle Grow Container Mix equal to the volcanic soil at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius? One authentic Pizza Napoletana coming up. (Hopefully.)

Here is the surprise and mystery of the summer - the plant tag said I would be harvesting long red chili peppers, and instead these strange bulbous green things appeared. What to do?

There have been a couple disappointments - zucchini that flowers, but never makes a fruit and just flops around half-dead on the deck.

Another problem - one of my sungolds is actively dying from an unknown disease. Luckily I have another very healthy plant.

Lettuce! Love this container variety (Garden Babies Butterhead) - thanks Mom! It started out a little slower than the others, but soon caught up. It grows into a nice lettuce shape and looks very appealing in the container.

This Simpson Elite is a really nice looseleaf lettuce that tastes great on my (B)LTs.

And here we have the Burpee Bibb that grew very well, but just doesn't have the charisma of the Butterhead Babies!

Here is our new patio set shaded by the white pine.

A complete list of what I have growing:

2 Sungold

1 San Marzano

1 Big Boy

1 Celebrity

2 Serrano Peppers

2 Bulbous unknown peppers

4 Boston Pickling Cucumber

Basil

Thai Basil

Marjaram

Nasturtium

Zucchini

Cilantro (failure)

Garden Babies Butterhead Lettuce

Simpson Elite Lettuce

Burpee Bibb Lettuce

Lantana

Marigolds

Date of planting - late! About the third week of June. However, the plants seemed to catch up to last year without a problem.

Weather - nice! Hot and sunny.

Watering - consistently watering when needed - about every other day and sometimes every day.

Fertilizer - osmocote when planted.

No insecticides or fungicides sprayed.

Vegetable Garden - Transition Into Autumn

2009-10-21T13:55:00.001-04:00

This grapevine wreath is decorated with an abundance of Chinese lantern plants that I cut the other day. It was really easy to just weave the stems through the wreath and it makes a colorful fall decoration for the front porch. Fun!

I used the pots and soil left over from my vegetable container garden this summer and planted a seasonal display on the back deck.

Parsley, Rosemary, and..........Pie Pumpkins. These might end up in a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, and then again, they might not.

I wish we could eat gourds. They look so tasty. They also look nice piled up in plant pots with some English ivy.

Summer Garden Wrap-Up/2010 Garden Plans

2009-10-20T23:28:00.004-04:00

My vegetable container garden project this summer was a lot of fun, and more importantly - successful! Almost all my plants survived and grew to great heights. My vegetable harvests were abundant with some plants, and not so much with others. My favorites were Sungold Tomato and Boston Pickling Cucumber. We also enjoyed having fresh lettuce for salad throughout the summer. The basil was great for large quantities of pesto to enjoy with pasta and bread. So here is a summary of which plants thrived, and what I plan to grow next summer.

The Winner for "2009 Best Container Vegetable Plant" is Sungold Tomato!

Best Tomatoes: Sungold and Husky Cherry Red. These cherry tomatoes had a wonderful sweet flavor and produced large quantities. Next year I need to plant them sooner to take advantage of a greater harvest at the end of the summer. Husky Cherry had some tomatoes with blossom end rot.

Brandywine only gave me about 3 tomatoes before the weather got cold, and the texture was a little mushy. The flavor was just okay. The patio and bush tomatoes produced a better harvest, but the taste and the texture were fair to poor.

Eggplant: Dusky eggplant gave me 2 very nice eggplants that were delicious. The Japanese eggplant only produced one stunted fruit. The other eggplants were not planted early enough to produce.

Peppers: California green pepper planted in the front yard was the best with 3 small peppers that tasted wonderful - crisp and flavorful. The yellow pepper never produced and the plant was diseased. The chili red and cayenne hot peppers were great with lots of peppers to harvest. The jalapeno was good and produced well for being planted late. Overall, the pepper plants stayed very small and didn't need a very big pot.

Strawberry: A huge disappointment with not a single berry produced, but the plant flourished with large green healthy leaves and a multitude of runners sent out over the deck.

Peas: Fun to grow, but didn't produce much for the space they took up on the deck. However, they were very tasty.

Carrots: These took a very long time to grow, and when harvested were small - about 1/4 of the size that I expected. They tasted quite good, but it was time consuming to clean off all the dirt.

Radishes: Fun to grow because they can be harvested so quickly, but didn't taste that great.

Lettuce: Little Gem and Buttercrunch were the best varieties and lasted for a long time because of our cool weather. They were a little bitter at times, but still delicious. I liked the head lettuce better than the cut and come again varieties.

Cucumber: Produced large quantities of crisp non-bitter small cucumbers with tender skin. They had sharp spines, but these came off easily.

Basil: Sweet basil was delicious and flourished all summer long.

Cabbages, Kohlrabi, and Bok Choy were a complete failure in the front yard, either not producing, or being eaten up by bugs. The turnip plants are still growing and may yield a good number of pretty small turnips. (Will we actually eat these?)

The pot sizes I selected were adequate for the plants for the most part, except the peppers and the cucumber did not need much root space. The tomatoes seem to take up whatever space is provided for the roots, but they did not seem root bound, except for the 4 gallon pot. The peas did not need such a large pot. The amount of sunlight and placement of the plants was good. The weather was way too cold and rainy! Luckily, the blight (if it was truly lat blight) did not kill my tomatoes possibly because of the copper that I sprayed. The plants were affected at the end of the summer with some leaves turning brown and a few stems dying off. The blight did seem to affect my Japanese eggplant and yellow pepper.

2010 Plans:

2 Sungold Tomato

4 Boston Pickling cucumber (2 plants per pot) planted in succession

1 Dusky Eggplant

2 California Green Pepper

1 Jalapeno

1 Chili Red hot pepper

Little Gem/Buttercrunch Lettuce planted in succession

Basil - 6 plants in the same container

Oregano, curly parsley, rosemary, chives, (thyme and Italian parsley should come back next year in the front yard)

Nasturtium - plant alone

New plants to try:

3 new tomato varieties

Mint

Garlic chives

New strawberry variety

Other things to think about:

Planting herbs that survive longer into fall in the same pot.

Growing ornamental kale and other plants for decorative fall pots.

Placing pots out in the yard in sunny areas to grow more vegetables.

Wild Blackberries

2009-08-25T13:43:00.002-04:00

Due to a recent boundary survey of our lot I discovered that we own a wild blackberry bush in the back corner. I picked a handful to eat, but they didn't taste very good. They were pretty small and a little bitter, although they might be nice in a blackberry cobbler. Or I may just leave them for the birds...

Eggplant and Garden Growth

2009-08-24T09:00:00.005-04:00

The garden has grown very tall this summer, providing a nice foliage screen on the deck. The radishes have been harvested and pulled out of the pot to make way for more lettuce. The peas are finished, and the tomatoes are just beginning. Lettuce and basil have been plentiful this summer, with fresh salads every night and lots of basil pesto. Just one cucumber plant has provided us with almost more than we can eat, although we make sure that we eat every single one! However, we do have more chillies than we can possibly consume, but I just leave them growing on the plant and they are available when needed. So far, the largest harvest as compared to plant size has been the cucumber. The peas were so sweet and delicious, but they took up a lot of room and the number of peapods was pretty limited. We are now looking forward to carrots, eggplant and tomatoes - the long awaited tomatoes!

Gardens from the Past

2009-08-19T16:47:00.001-04:00

We visited this beautiful mansion on a hot summer afternoon. It was built to resemble an extra-large English cottage, and is filled with many valuable antiques and fine art. Now it is a museum that chronicles the daily life of those who once lived here.

It sits on a huge estate with a view of the lake.

There is a formal rose garden with fountains and stone pathways.

Green lawns and huge, ivy-covered trees create a peaceful, quiet setting.

Hole Puncher Pest

2009-08-19T08:15:00.000-04:00

Despite lots of searching on the internet I was not able to identify this interesting insect. Look how it punches holes in my eggplant leaf.

Can you find the culprit? It is very well camouflaged by carrying brown material on its back. (Is this digested leaf matter? Yuck!)

I tried to pry it off the leaf with a piece of bark and it was like velcro.

Here it is - a tiny green caterpillar with a unique form of camouflage!

Gray Tree Frog in the Garden

2009-08-18T08:22:00.002-04:00

This little frog was sleeping very comfortably in a vertical position right by our back sliding door. He's a gray tree frog that lives in woodlands, or marshes and swamps with standing trees. Large sticky pads on his toes enable him to cling to the side of the house like this. The gray tree frog eats insects and his call is a musical trill that can be heard at night. Welcome to the garden, little frog!

Today's Harvest - One Spoonful of Vegetables

2009-08-13T18:36:00.006-04:00

Each day I get a little bite of vegetables from my garden. Today it was a handful of peas and a tiny carrot.

Homegrown Salads

2009-08-10T10:00:00.009-04:00

We've been eating salads like this every night. There's plenty of lettuce in the garden now and a few cucumbers. These tomatoes aren't from the garden, but they are from Michigan, since I got them at the local farm stand.

We should have tomatoes soon - here's my sungold. Should I pick it today or not?

Japanese Eggplant Disease

2009-08-08T18:29:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure what is wrong with my Japanese Eggplant. The leaves are turning brown in the margins and curling up. I still have blossoms, but more and more leaves are turning brown. I've been spraying the plant with copper sulfate at the same time I treat my tomatoes (for late blight). I'm not sure what else to do at this point except wait, and hope to get an eggplant later this summer.

Indian Cooking: Dal Recipe (with green chilies from the garden)

2009-08-07T09:30:00.002-04:00

Dal is a very common dish in India that is often served with rice, Indian breads, and different curries. Dal are lentils, peas, or beans that have been split in half. There are many types of legumes used in dal curries, but this one is masoor dal, which is a type of red lentil. Dal can be compared to a thick pea or lentil soup, but with a spicier flavor.

I made a double recipe - the leftovers reheat really well.

Here's what you'll need:

Notice the green chilies from my garden!

(Substitutions: You can use yellow split peas from the grocery store, and you can also use butter instead of ghee.)

First, rinse the dal a little bit. Pick out any debris.

Add the dal, water, and turmeric to a pot. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes or until soft.

1 cup dal

2 1/2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

Get together the next group of ingredients:

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 cup chopped onion

1-2 cloves garlic

1-2 green chilies

1 inch piece ginger

Pour the vegetable oil in the pan and heat it pretty high. Then add the seeds. Once they start to pop (watch out!) add the rest of these ingredients.

Stir-fry until the onions are soft.

Now add the tomatoes and some salt and cook for a couple minutes.

1 cup tomato

1 teaspoon salt

Add a little ghee for flavor.

1-2 Tablespoons ghee

Now the lentils should be ready. Taste it to make sure it is soft and then mash it a little with a large spoon - add water if needed. Add the other ingredients to the pot and mix together.

You can serve the dal with some steamed basmati rice, vegetable korma, and naan. Mmmmm - healthy and delicious!

Julie's Garden

2009-08-06T11:23:00.005-04:00

I visited a friend recently and had to post some pictures of her charming garden. On one side of the yard she has a nice sized vegetable patch protected by a picket fence. I can see basil, beans, carrots, lettuce, and parsley growing inside.

The fence is lined with chicken-wire type material to keep out those woodland creatures who like to feast on our veggies. At the back end of the patch she has the wire fencing covered with climbing sweet peas, which are doing extremely well and should soon be blooming.

Moving to the other side of the yard is a very natural looking rock wall that edges a raised bed. This is where the tomatoes are planted. Once again, we have the cute picket fence detail to tie it all together. Also, notice the thyme growing over the rocks - it's doing really well in this location! When Julie needs to tend to her tomatoes, she steps right on top of the thyme and it releases a wonderful scent as she does her chores. Afterwards the plant bounces back into its original shape. Pretty nifty!

Wait, there's a new addition to the yard! A lovely fountain which sounds like a babbling brook (or a strong rainstorm) just outside the back door. Leading up to it is a beautiful sandstone path lined with perennials. I think Julie's outdone herself this year!

Cucumber!

2009-08-06T10:53:00.003-04:00

A nice crunchy cucumber to enjoy today!

Notice the hummingbird feeders in the background? There's a hummingbird war going on for the red and yellow one. I heard a really loud huuuummm/Bzzzzzzz and saw two of them fighting in mid-air over the feeder. This is why I have 2 feeders - I read that they were territorial. These hummingbirds need to learn how to share!

Progress in the Garden

2009-08-04T10:32:00.004-04:00

I'm almost ready to pick my first cucumber - this is Boston Pickling cucumber.

The cayenne peppers are turning red. We already tasted them in a spicy omelette the other night, and they are definitely hot.

The first pea pods are forming. Who says that you can't plant peas in mid-June? Here in Michigan the hot weather may never arrive, and you can have peas all summer long!

The Dusky eggplant has blossoms...

And there are plenty of green tomatoes, but I'm still waiting for one that I can eat!

What is going on here?

2009-08-03T09:31:00.005-04:00

I came home after a couple days out of town and found this! There were two smaller tomatoes with the same problem. It could be tomato hornworms, but after extensive searching on the plant, I can't locate the actual worm. Tonight I will go out there with my flashlight to see what is happening. This is a lot of damage so I know that whatever it is, it's BIG!

Tomatoes at the Roofline

2009-07-30T23:15:00.010-04:00

So, my tomatoes keep growing taller. I've already expanded my staking system once - you may remember that I had to exchange my 5 ft stakes in the Ultomato staking kit for 6 ft stakes. Now my plants are reaching 7 ft, so I ended up adding an extension to the top. Sungold tomato is the tallest with Brandywine not far behind.

I used zip-ties to attach a thinner stake to the ones already in place.

Then I added side supports with this soft wire.

Now the plants can climb up to the roof!

Bunches of Basil

2009-07-21T09:40:00.005-04:00

What should you do with all that basil in the garden? Make basil pesto, of course - it's easy and well worth it! The scent given off by the basil as you prepare this dish will fill the whole kitchen with an intoxicating aroma. And enjoying fresh pesto is absolutely a treat to savor. I could eat it plain, by the spoonful, because it's so delicious.

The ingredients are:

2 cups packed basil

1/3 cup pine nuts

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan (or similar) cheese

salt and pepper

Blend 2 cups (packed very tightly) of basil and 1/3 cup pine nuts.

Add 3 cloves of garlic. Blend.

Add 1/2 cup olive oil a little at a time. Blend.

Now add 1/2 cup freshly grated cheese - parmigiano-reggiano, parmesan, romano, etc. (If you plan to freeze your pesto, then don't add the cheese - you can add it directly to your dish later, or combine it in the blender with your pesto once defrosted.) Blend.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Blend.

Basil Pesto!

Now have a snack before dinner...

Are you still hungry for dinner?

For a variation on this pesto, substitute 3/4 cup sundried tomatoes for 1 cup of the basil and you will have a delicious sundried tomato basil pesto recipe. It is also delicious mixed with pasta, or spread it on sliced bread for a mouthwatering treat.

Bamboo Teepee

2009-07-20T10:06:00.000-04:00

My pea plants were not able to climb the stakes that I originally had in place because they were too big in diameter. I was using 6 ft green plastic stakes. After I replaced them with these very skinny 6 ft bamboo stakes, they were able to grab on and start climbing. I made a teepee out of 9 stakes and tied the plants to the stakes to direct their growth. So far, so good!

Garden Log #3

2009-07-18T11:38:00.008-04:00

The front yard garden bed was planted on July 12 with the following vegetables.

Seeds:

Kohlrabi Purple & White Vienna Blend (Brassica oleracea)

Radish French Breakfast (Raphanus sativus)

Turnip Purple Top White Globe (Brassica rapa)

Bok choy White Stem (Brassic rapa Chinesis Group)

These vegetables were chosen because of their short growing season and the limited amount of time left in Michigan before frost.

I also planted these transplants:

9 Cabbage Bonnie Hybrid

1 Sweet Banana Pepper

1 Mammoth Jalapeno

1 Jalapeno

2 California Green Pepper

3 Black Beauty Eggplant

1 Japanese Eggplant

28 Little Gem Lettuce

Butterhead lettuce transplanted on June 30

Herbs planted July 16:

Lemon Thyme

Silver-Edged Thyme

Chives

Greek Basil

Dill

Italian Parsley (4)

Rosemary

I also planted a variety of annual flowers in the bed including impatiens, marigolds, petunia, allysum, and vinca.

All transplants, except the lettuce, were fertilized with a sprinkle of time release fertilizer in the planting hole.

"Clean-Out-The-Fridge" Easy Vegetable Stir-Fry

2009-07-17T20:05:00.011-04:00

This is the easiest stir-fry to make and it has a lot of flavor too. Very comparable to your favorite chinese dish at the local restaurant. I make it when I need something quick for dinner, or when I need to use up an assortment of vegetables in the fridge. It will be a nice way to enjoy some of the peppers, eggplant, cabbage, and bok choy that I planted in the garden.

Here's what I found in my vegetable bin - but you can use anything that you have.

The seasoning is only 3 ingredients.

Stir fry all the veges in some oil until they are crisp-tender. I start with the onions, then the harder vegetables, then the softer ones.

Now add some hoisin sauce, a little chili sauce (be careful - it's hot!), and soy sauce to taste.

Voila! Dinner is served!

Go Ahead! Plant Vegetables in your Front Yard.

2009-07-17T10:15:00.008-04:00

Having a container vegetable garden on your deck is a fun and convenient way to grow vegetables, however, the space limitations are one drawback to this method. Some gardeners may be compelled to start expanding their garden out into the yard so they can grow a greater variety of vegetables.

I found that it was easier to plant more vegetables in the garden beds that we already had in place, rather than creating a new area, and this happened to be in the front yard. It takes a little more consideration for design and plant type, but vegetables can be an attractive way to greet guests as they come up the walkway to your front door.

As you can see, we already had our foundation plantings in place - very respectable Stella d'Oro daylilies and evergreen shrubs. To liven up the area, I added a few stepping stones, some herbs and a variety of vegetables, and mixed it all together with some brightly colored annuals. Now, from a distance everything is pretty, and up close you can see that a gardener lives on the premises!

For a complete listing of what I planted see Garden Log #3.

Oh No! Late Blight.

2009-07-16T08:54:00.002-04:00

We have a serious problem here. Late blight has struck 3 of my 5 tomato plants. Some sources say this means certain death, but I'm going to play my odds and try a copper fungicide spray. It's an organic spray, but can be damaging to the soil. Since my vegetables are in containers I'm not as worried about it building up in the soil. Late blight has been a huge problem this year due to the cool, damp weather and possible contamination of plants by "big box" stores. Unfortunately, I bought some of my plants from "Big Box Lowes". Next year I will definitely buy my plants from local greenhouses or start my own seedlings at home.

Anticipating Cabbage from the Garden

2009-07-16T08:33:00.008-04:00

Baked egg rolls are a good way to use surplus cabbage from your vegetable garden. The baked version with olive oil is much healthier than the standard deep frying method. They won't be quite as crispy, but it's definitely worth trying!

Can you find the Hummingbird?

2009-07-15T09:58:00.011-04:00

This is a female ruby-throated hummingbird at my new feeder. It only took three days before they found it on my deck, flying very close to my back door. They don't seem afraid of the close proximity, but disappear in a flash when I try to take pictures.

Notice the hummingbird's long bill, inside of which is a long tongue they use to lap up the nectar. They certainly need the energy because in early fall the ruby-throated hummingbird migrates to Mexico and Central America flying at least 500 miles nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico. Whew!

Activity in the Garden: Blossoms, Buds, and Baby Fruit

2009-07-14T19:27:00.010-04:00

Here are my cayenne peppers - lots of long green peppers.

The nasturtiums have been so bright and cheery with lots of blossoms.

Sungold tomato- can't wait!

Lots of chili red peppers growing straight up in the air.

A female cucumber flower waiting to be pollinated by bees. You can see the fruit at the bottom of the flower, which means it is female. The male flowers are on the same plant and provide the pollen. Once this is accomplished by the pollinator (me?) then the flower will fall off and the cucumber will develop.

A yellow bell pepper flower. The plant has really not grown much, but it looks like I may have some peppers anyway!

Plucking Radishes and Lettuce Thinnings

2009-07-13T10:11:00.011-04:00

Pulling those little radishes out of the pot was really a lot of fun and very satisfying. I enjoyed it tremendously and can't wait to do it again!

I finally got around to thinning my Little Gem lettuce, and the thinnings provided a nice amount of lettuce for dinner. Then I transplanted a bunch into the front yard garden bed, which has become my overflow vegetable plot.

Favorite Summer Harvest Lunch

2009-07-12T14:46:00.007-04:00

If you need something delicious to make for an easy lunch during your gardening break, then you might try this combination. Bagels, hummus, fresh basil leaves, tomato, and aged provolone cheese. I toast the bagel, put it all together, and then melt the cheese a little. Delicious with a glass of iced tea out on the deck. This will also be a nice way to enjoy your summer harvest of homegrown tomatoes and sweet basil.

Eggplant Harvest (not yet)

2009-07-11T07:57:00.006-04:00

I'm making plans for later this summer when my eggplant and tomato will be ready for harvest. Here's a baked stuffed eggplant dish with tomatoes and lots of fresh herbs. It was delicious with sauteed crimini mushrooms, zucchini and spiced rice. Thanks to my mom and dad for the summer tablecloth birthday present!

Garden Break

2009-07-08T07:07:00.000-04:00

Not everything delicious grows in the garden...

Mmmm... crispy around the edges and chewy in the middle, warm from the oven.

Garden Log #2

2009-07-07T07:59:00.006-04:00

It has been awhile since most of my vegetables were planted, so this is an update on how they are growing.

Weather: It has been a cooler than average summer this year, with temperatures often in the 50's at night. Even now, we still have the heat on at night in the house! We have also received plenty of rainfall, and watering has not been necessary every day. We just turned our sprinklers on the first week of July. Sunshine has probably been less than average.

Pests and Diseases: Earwigs are the biggest problem, attacking the eggplant and the basil. They have also eaten oregano, nasturtium, and yellow pepper. I have trapped around 120 of these in the tuna can/vegetable oil trap. Flea beetles are a moderate problem. I have not taken any measures to control these yet. They have attacked all the tomatoes, and leaf damage is noticeable on the older leaves. The apple mint had rust colored residue on the undersides of the leaves. I pulled it out of its pot and threw it in the back field. I have had a small number of green aphids on both eggplant varieties. I picked them off manually with a toothpick and dropped them in soapy water. There was a cocoon on my sweet basil which I threw in the back field. I have just begun to find leafhoppers in my black seeded simpson with signs of some plant damage.

Wildlife: I have observed wild turkey regularly. There is also a red fox which I spotted twice in the backyard. There are many squirrels, but they have not come onto the deck. Many songbirds and crows. One hummingbird. Occasional deer. No rabbits.

Fertilizer: The potting soil contained a slow release fertilizer. On July 6 I used Miracle Gro tomato fertilizer for the first time at the amount recommended on the package. I did foliar feeding and root feeding in the evening. I fed the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and strawberries. It seems that there may be a small amount of fertilizer burn on the foliage of the Japanese eggplant and the brandywine tomato. There are brown edges on some of the leaves. Next time I may use half strength fertilizer.

Growth:

Tomatoes - all growing profusely with many flowers, sungold has 2 small fruits. Plant height is:

Brandywine - 36 inches
Sungold - 36 inches
Patio - 24 inches
Better Bush - 18 inches
Husky Cherry Red - 21 inches

Eggplant - New leaves have been appearing, growth is just beginning in the last week

Japanese Long - 11 inches
Dusky - 17 inches

Yellow Bell Pepper - Very minimal growth - 10 inches tall
Boston Pickling Cucumber - Strong growth, climbing support, no flowers, 19 inches tall
Everbearing Strawberry - Growth is not impressive, there have been 3 very small somewhat deformed berries, runners have not migrated to bottom holes of pot.
Hot peppers - Some growth, many flowers, many green peppers have formed, no red peppers yet

Cayenne - 17 inches
Chili Red - 14 inches

Early Perfection Peas - About 6 - 8 inches high, are climbing each other but have not attached to the support yet.
Carrots - Have all sprouted with first true leaves. Plants still very small - about 2 inches.
Radish - Very strong growth (about 6 inches tall) with small radishes forming. Many plants did not take root well and while the plant is still alive, there is no radish root forming. I can only figure that this is due to the heavy rain which occurred shortly after they sprouted, and possibly uprooted the plant. There are no signs of insects or worms in the soil.
Lettuce - All growing well, butterhead thinned, still need to thin Little Gem (this is overdue). Harvested mesclun mix. Spinach is still small. Leaf lettuces are about 4 inches high. Head lettuces about 3 inches. Butterhead lettuce planted in front yard is growing well.
Herbs - Sweet basil growing profusely, nasturtiums very strong with flowers just beginning, chives, thyme and parsley growing well, rosemary and oregano growing moderately.

Pictures: Taken June 19/July 7

Gardening: Not all Pretty

2009-07-05T15:11:00.003-04:00

The total earwig capture is now at 73, which is really a lot of earwigs to have right outside your back door. This is not a pleasant thing to thing to discover. I also got 1 large ant, some gnats, and two water beetles. I feel sorry about the water beetles.

Cut And Come Again Lettuce

2009-07-05T12:47:00.008-04:00

I love the name of this type of lettuce. They could have called it replicating, or regenerating, or duplicating lettuce. But instead it's a simple "cut and come again", which tells you exactly what to do. You cut it. You come again. You cut it. You come again. You cut it. You come again. Yep, 3 times.

This is the mesclun mix that I planted early on in the same pot as my brandywine tomato. I planted it June 6 so it's been about a month. It was a little early to harvest since the leaves were not as big as I would have liked, however, they were getting pretty tall and leggy. Next time I will plant them in a separate container rather than with the tomato. The salad I ate last night was pretty good, but a little stemmy. (In case you didn't know, this means that there were lots of lettuce stems in my salad. Probably more than would be considered desirable. )

Cute Cucumber

2009-07-04T08:41:00.003-04:00

Successful Earwig Traps

2009-07-03T09:52:00.003-04:00

Warning! Disgusting picture below...

I had to take drastic measures to protect my basil and my eggplant last night. The operation was very successful. I took a tuna can (unrinsed) with a little tuna in the bottom, added about a 1/2 inch of vegetable oil, and then placed it between the plant pots that I wanted to protect. When I came out this morning, this is what I found - 17 dead earwigs. I'm going to keep doing this at night until the number of casualties dwindles. Needless to say, my basil looks pretty good today!

Ultomato Tomato Support Ultimately too Short

2009-07-03T08:47:00.008-04:00

It's been about 4 weeks since I planted my Brandywine tomato and 2.5 weeks since I put Sungold in the pot. My Ultomato support seems like it will be too short for these tomato varieties this summer. The plants are already halfway to the top. So I decided to revise them by replacing the provided stakes with the tallest stakes (6 ft) I could find. I also added another set of the cross-pieces. Unfortunately, I had to buy another Ultomato to get these cross-pieces since they don't sell them individually. This gives me another foot of space at the top, and my plan is to attach smaller stakes to the very top later on, if needed. My Husky Cherry Red tomato isn't growing as tall so I left the original stakes in place. I'm trying to plan ahead for my huge late summer harvest!

Basil Harvest for Dinner

2009-07-01T22:41:00.006-04:00

I think that we will be eating a lot of basil this summer. This pasta dish uses a fair amount of it and is easy to make. The ingredients are: pasta, sun dried tomato, garlic, onion, jalapeno, crushed red pepper, olive oil, salt, black pepper, pine nuts. Simple and delicious!

Daily Turkey Sighting

2009-07-01T13:43:00.004-04:00

Seeing wild turkey in my backyard has become an everyday activity. I see the female with her two poults the most often, but the male is around as well. They are in the yard almost every day, and very often 2-3 times daily. It's always exciting to look up and suddenly see such a large bird casually walking down the middle of the lawn. They seem to be out at all hours of the day. I can tell that they have very good hearing and eyesight, because any sound or movement from me sends them walking quickly for cover.

45 Salads/Thinning Lettuce in a Container

2009-06-30T20:16:00.007-04:00

My Buttercrunch lettuce was getting crowded so I thinned it to about 5 inches apart like the seed packet suggested.

Unfortunately, this didn't leave me very much lettuce. I could only fit eight little seedlings in my container. I hated to harvest the little ones this early so I looked around my yard for some space. And there was room right by the front steps. Lots of room - enough for 37 seedlings! This means that we will soon be eating 45 salads.

Creatures of the Night

2009-06-29T08:34:00.008-04:00

If you have a problem with an unidentified insect eating your vegetable plants, it may be a good idea to do a little investigation. Every morning, upon examining my garden, I noticed large holes in the leaves of my Japanese eggplant and my basil. So, I took a flashlight and went out there after dark to find the mysterious predator. As you can see, these earwigs were not too hard to find and didn't seem concerned that their midnight meal was being watched under a spotlight. They just calmly kept munching on the tasty eggplant leaves, making large holes, and destroying the plant. Now, multiple sources have told me that earwigs do not eat green plants. Hmmm... I think they're wrong.

Origami Peas

2009-06-25T07:33:00.013-04:00

When the pea seeds sprouted and came up through the dirt, they emerged with their leaves perfectly folded. As they started to grow, they opened up into intricately designed origami patterns. It's not a Japanese crane, but maybe a peacock?

The carrots have finally come up also. They are very fine, but if you look closely you'll see them. These seedlings took much longer than the others that I planted.

580 Pounds of Rocks

2009-06-24T15:36:00.012-04:00

We've been working on a garden project over the last few days. The front bed needed some attention.

As you can see there were plenty of weeds. We found out that our infestation is a bad one called horsetail. It has long underground roots and pulling it out just encourages it to grow bigger, stronger, and more aggressive... or so I've read on the internet.

But, we pulled it out anyway.

Then we put some rocks along the edge of the bed to prevent all our topsoil from washing away. Here's the Before and After. Now we just need some flowers. I'm going for a cottage look eventually. We have another problem with a half-dead Rose of Sharon tree, and some half-dead spirea shrubs.

Wild Turkeys on the Lawn

2009-06-23T19:56:00.012-04:00

I was sitting out on the deck this evening with my computer, looking up vegetable gardening tips, when I glanced up for a second and saw this...a wild mother turkey with two little turkey babies. In my backyard! Yes, we do have a few trees in the yard, and there is an empty lot nearby that is very natural, but wow! Apparently, wild turkey in Michigan have been increasing in number over the years after a successful reintroduction program. They had disappeared from the state due to over-hunting and habitat loss in the early 1900s. Now they are showing up more often in backyards and suburban areas. They also have exceptional hearing and eyesight, and can run 15-18 mph, and fly up to 55 mph! However, when they saw me they just started walking a tiny bit faster toward the empty lot. I hope to see them again soon!

Support for a Container Garden - Cages and Teepees

2009-06-22T06:56:00.004-04:00

I am using a few different supports for my containers. The first one is called the Ultomato tomato support and I am using it for three of my tomatoes - Brandywine, Sungold, and Husky Cherry Red. The stakes are 5 ft tall and have adjustable side clips. Once placed in the pot they offer about 4 ft of growing space.

The second support is a teepee made of five 6 ft stakes. I planted the peas in this pot and they should have almost 5 ft of climbing room.

The third support is a regular tomato cage. It is a heavy duty 54 inch cage, but I trimmed the legs down in order to make it fit into the pot. I am using these cages for my patio and better bush tomatoes, both eggplants, and my yellow bell pepper.

And the last support is a decorative metal spiral support for the cucumber. It is 41 inches tall.

I used the largest tomato cages that I could find for my pots because they are made of thicker wire and seem much more sturdy. But they were also much too tall for a container, so I cut the ends with a bolt cutter. The bottom ring is now resting on the soil which also adds stability. Now I'm ready for those tomatoes to really grow! High winds and thunderstorms should not be a problem! (If you do this, be careful with the bolt cutter because the metal pieces really fly off once they are cut - I just closed my eyes and turned my head out of the way. Some people may not agree, but I've noticed that the elements of excitement, danger and high adventure are definitely present in gardening!)

To make the teepee for my peas I fastened the stakes together at the top with a black zip-tie.

Here you can see most of the containers, and how it all looks together.

Seedling Update

2009-06-21T17:44:00.002-04:00

Lettuce!

Radish!

Pot Toes

2009-06-21T07:27:00.003-04:00

Pot toes are these small plastic pieces that can be placed under containers. They protect your deck (or any surface) from water damage that can occur. In the past at the end of the season, I've found multiple dark brown rings staining the deck from my containers, so I decided to try these little gadgets this year. Another function they have, which is very important, is to help the pots drain excess water out the bottom holes. I don't want any root rot this summer! I also like how they are pretty unobtrusive and don't interfere with my design.

Marigold "Special Forces"

2009-06-20T06:55:00.001-04:00

An operation to deter the movement of aphids and other insect pests into my backyard territory began with the planting of French marigolds. These strong smelling flowers are supposed to prevent pests from attacking tomatoes, eggplant, and other crops. Although it is difficult to find really accurate information as to whether this is truly beneficial, marigolds have been used as companion plants to vegetables throughout history. The stronger smelling varieties are said to work the best, and it seems that they should be planted quite liberally throughout the garden. I decided to add a few to my pots in the hopes that I won't get aphids. Plus, they look so cheerful and cute mixed in with my vegetables! I planted Safari Yellow and Safari Mix which are varieties of French Dwarf Marigolds. They are also on the short side (8-10" tall) which will work better in a container.

Can't Resist Buying Lettuce

2009-06-19T12:04:00.018-04:00

There are so many varieties to choose from...

I found a good selection of lettuce here:

And there was more lettuce here:

Soon we will see lettuce here!

Garden Log #1

2009-06-18T11:31:00.022-04:00

Before planting any vegetables I recorded the amount of sun on my deck over the course of one day. I watched the sun from 9:00 am - 6:00 pm and made a picture each hour of the location of direct sun, part sun, and shade. Then I added up the hours of direct sun. The numbers below list the hours of direct sun for the corresponding location on the deck.

Here is a record of everything I planted:

Sungold tomato
Brandywine tomato
Better Bush tomato
Patio tomato
Husky Cherry Red tomato
Dusky eggplant
Japanese Long eggplant
Boston Pickling cucumber
Yellow Bell sweet pepper
Cayenne hot pepper
Chili Red hot pepper
Little Gem lettuce (Seeds)
Buttercrunch lettuce (Seeds)
Black Seeded Simpson lettuce (Seeds)
Silvia lettuce (Seeds)
Mesclun Mix lettuce (Seeds)
Baby's Leaf Hyprid spinach (Seeds)
Short 'n Sweet carrot (Seeds)
Burpee's A#1 Hybrid carrot (Seeds)
Petite 'n Sweet carrot (Seeds)
Rudolf radish (Seeds)
Pink Beauty radish (Seeds)
Dark Seeded Early Perfection peas (Seeds)
Everbearing strawberry
Sweet Basil (6 plants)
Greek Basil
Basil Siam Queen
Kentucky Colonel Spearmint
Parsley
Apple Mint
Nasturtium - Tip Top Mix
Lemon Thyme
Chives
Oregano
Rosemary

I measured the amount of potting mix that would fit into each container. My container types and sizes are as follows:

One 24 gallon fiberglass container (24" diameter x 22 " tall)
Six 13 gallon fiberglass containers (20" diameter x 17" tall)
Three 8 gallon wood containers (19" diameter x 12.5" tall)
Five 7 gallon terra cotta containers (17.5" diameter x 14" tall)
Three 5 gallon plastic windowbox containers (8" deep x 35" long x 7" tall)
One 4 gallon terra cotta container (15" diameter x 12" tall)
One 4 gallon terra cotta strawberry pot (9.5" diameter x 16" tall)
One 2 gallon ceramic container (11.5" diameter x 13.5" tall)

Here is what I planted in each container:

24 gallon - peas
13 gallon - sungold tomato, brandywine tomato, husky cherry red tomato, cucumber, carrots, radish
8 gallon - sweet basil (6 plants), chili red pepper, herb assortment (rosemary, thyme, siam queen basil, oregano, nasurtium, chives)
7 gallon - dusky eggplant, Japanese long eggplant, cayenne pepper, yellow bell pepper, better bush tomato
5 gallon - all the lettuce varieties
4 gallon - patio tomato
2 gallon - mint and parsley

In each pot I used Miracle-Gro Potting Mix which contains the following ingredients:

Forest products compost
Canadian sphagnum peat moss
Perlite
Wetting Agent
Slow release fertilizer (Nitrogen .21%, Phosphate .07 %, Potash .14%)

Planting Dates:

June 6, 2009 - mesclun, spinach (seeds); patio tomato, better bush tomato, brandywine tomato, cayenne pepper, chili red pepper
June 14, 2009 - strawberry
June 15, 2009 - herbs, yellow bell pepper, dusky eggplant, cucumber, husky cherry red tomato
June 16, 2009 - peas, carrots, radish, all lettuce except mesclun (all seeds); sungold tomato, Japanese eggplant

Plant Location (Hours of Direct Sun):

7 hours - sungold tomato, brandywine tomato, husky cherry tomato, better bush tomato, cayenne pepper, Japanese eggplant, basil, herbs, strawberry
6.5 hours - cucumber, yellow bell pepper
6 hours - patio tomato, peas, parsley, mint
5.5 hours - chili red pepper
5 hours - dusky eggplant, carrots, silvia lettuce, black seeded simpson lettuce
4 hours - radish
3.5 hours - buttercrunch lettuce
3 hours - little gem lettuce

Gardening in our Nation's Capitol

2009-06-18T07:13:00.014-04:00

I came upon an interesting method of gardening last month on a trip to Washington D.C. Take a look:

Here we are outside the Smithsonian Castle where the gardeners are at work on a sunny spring morning.

Apparently those purple flowers just aren't right for the site.

And those tulips should go too.

The end result: is it better? Well, the soil looks very fertile and of excellent quality. But, I really liked those cute purple flowers - they were in full bloom and looked rather perfect. I wasn't the only tourist watching and wondering about our nation's gardening methods. Would you do this in your garden?

I never found out what they eventually planted here since my plane was leaving...

Drowning Herbs

2009-06-17T17:35:00.006-04:00

My parsley pot is very unhappy after the huge downpour today. We have a flood warning in effect. Maybe tomorrow it will bounce back and be its old sprightly self. There's a mint plant in the pot too.

Tasty Snack

2009-06-17T09:07:00.008-04:00

Somebody enjoyed a big eggplant leaf salad last night. I'm suspecting the earwigs that I've seen scurrying around.

Clipping Basil and a Country Greenhouse

2009-06-16T22:38:00.012-04:00

Today it was already time to clip the tops off the basil and oregano so they don't go to seed. The taste of the basil leaves will be compromised once the flowers emerge, so I need to stay on top of this.
Then I needed a couple more things and I ended up here - quite by surprise. I was also driving on a lot of gravel roads. I'm getting in touch with my inner farmer, I think. I even listened to one country song on the radio.

Well, Gramma didn't have what I was looking for in her greenhouse so I moved on. I eventually found it - more sweet basil and a sungold cherry tomato. Not to mention the Japanese eggplant. It was a good day.

Is the Garden in Yet?

2009-06-15T18:06:00.010-04:00

Almost. The vegetables that I had from the garden center are all planted. Tomorrow I'll put in the seeds. Then I'm sure I'll need to take another trip to the garden center - there may be room to squeeze in one more cherry tomato plant. And maybe an eggplant? The time consuming part of a container garden seems to be the transporting of the potting mix. It's quite heavy to bring from the car, around the house, and up the stairs to the deck. Then the soil has to be scooped into the pots until the bag is light enough to pour. I may have to think of a different plan next year to save my back.
Here's the lineup of pots. Tomorrow I'll give all the details about what is actually planted.

Here are the herbs, the strawberries that you already saw, and in the background will be the English peas climbing up the teepee. There's a chili pepper there too.

Spring container vegetable gardening has its challenges - time to relax!

One Strawberry Pot, two tiny strawberries

2009-06-14T20:01:00.009-04:00

I planted Everbearing Strawberry plants into this 4 gallon strawberry pot in the hopes of having a few berries on my cereal each morning. This strawberry plant is a perennial that is supposed to produce all summer. Strawberry pots are designed to be planted mostly at the top. Then the plant's runners travel down to the openings in the pot, where they form a new plant that sprouts out the side. Conveniently, the berries hang right out there just waiting to be picked. I decided to help the pot out a little, since I'm getting a late start this spring. I bought three 4-packs from the garden center and put some of the plants in the upper holes, and 4 little plants in the very top. I'll let the bottom holes fill in by themselves. Maybe these plants will last the winter and next year I'll have early spring strawberries.

First Salad?

2009-06-13T10:06:00.012-04:00

Mesclun Gourmet Greens Mix planted in half of a large pot with a tomato plant on 6/6/09. The seed packet says 7-10 days to germination and mine came up in 3 days.

Baby's Leaf Hybrid Spinach planted in the other half of the tomato pot on the same date. It says 7-14 days for seedlings and mine came up in 6.

I planted these seeds at dusk on a very chilly evening after returning from the store. The seed packet is promising me 30 days to harvest for the spinach and 40 days for the lettuce, so each day counts! I'll be planting more lettuce soon - probably at certain intervals over the summer to guarantee fresh, green, delicious salads all season.

Spring Planting

2009-06-12T10:59:00.010-04:00

There's a lot of work to do today! I'm starting a vegetable container garden on the deck in my backyard in Michigan. It has been cold this spring, but I'm hoping that it's still early enough in the season to get a good harvest later this summer. We plan to grow tomatoes, cucumber, yellow bell pepper, chili peppers, eggplant, strawberries, English peas, radish, lettuce, carrots, and herbs - with lots of basil.

I started out by making a sun chart of the deck. Each hour I recorded the areas of direct sun, dappled sun, and shade. Then I counted up the hours for each area and selected the proper plant for the site. Seven hours of direct sunlight is about the most I'm going to get on the deck, but I should be able to grow tomatoes and other vegetables with high sun requirements. I chose to put my vegetables on the deck because growing in the yard presents some big problems - the sunny sites are in areas that just aren't suitable for a garden, and the lawn is decidedly non-organic!

Then I went and got my pots - that was fun! I tried to select the largest pots since I've heard that the vegetables will do much better. This way the roots have room to grow to their full capacity, the soil will retain moisture, and there will be more nutrients for the plants. In my selection I was a little limited by my aesthetic preferences - there are plenty of really big containers that would be great for plants, but I prefer have something that will look pretty! For the largest pots I went with fiberglass because it's lightweight and it looks natural. I also have terracotta and wood. I prefer not to use plastic if possible, but did buy some long plastic window box containers to hang on the railings - these will be for different varieties of lettuce.

Now it's time to go out and have some fun!