In The Garden

It is totally cool to be able to toddle into the backyard and come back with dinner. THAT'S food security.

It seemed like it took forever for the tomatoes to set fruit. Now, the plants are loaded with fruits. I've been harvesting paste tomatoes for a while now, but no slicers. Yesterday I spied my first Cherokee Purple nearing ripeness (not pictured here). Woohoo! (Next year: blow off school and get the garden in on time!)

I've started planting the fall garden. This is broccoli. I have more to put in, but nowhere to plant it! Time to expand the garden again.

It will be a race to the finish to see if the melons have time to ripen. I was feeling pretty confident until today, when I noticed some kind of borer damage in the melon patch. Go melons, go!

These Echinacea have had a hard summer. Something has been eating the petals. This was actually the first time I saw them more with petals than without since I planted them in late spring.

Homicide In The Garden

That's the title of the post I intended to write today. It was going to be a double homicide. And I was going to perpetrate it. In the end, though, I just couldn't go through with it. I hope the two near-victims appreciate the reprieve. More than that, I hope they redeem themselves; but I'm not holding my breath.

You see, last year was the first year I tried the much celebrated Sungold tomatoes. They produced well but, like most of last year's tomatoes, tasted watery because it rained all freaking summer last year (except the time I was away which was crazy hot and bone dry and, naturally, did in much of the garden. *sigh*). This year, I gave the Sungolds another chance. It's been a tense relationship from the start. They have severe B.O.

I tried to ignore it. I tried to be sympathetic. I hoped it would go away and be replaced by that lovely normal tomato smell. It didn't. It got worse. The other day when I touched one of the Sungold plants it made my hands reek. When I came inside, The Girl actually recoiled from the smell... after I had washed my hands twice. The relationship just seems headed down a dead end road. Even with the new garden bed, space is at a premium in my food plot. Everybody needs to pull their own weight and, I now realize, not offend the gardener.

But I couldn't pull them out. I haven't given them a fair trial. I would just be wrong.

So, I'll check freecycle for someone giving away hazmat gear and walk wide circles around this variety. I won't grow them again next year. And I'll no doubt spend an inordinate amount of time wondering what nutter of a plant breeder thought it would be cool to introduce to home gardens tomato plants that cause gardeners to smell like roadkill with a side of toxic waste.

Please also see Would You Eat This? I'm so curious to know!

Nature: 1, Gardener: Wha...?

I walk my garden every day. Several times. Weather does not deter me. So, I like to think I have a pretty good idea of what's going on in my garden, more or less, at any given time. But apparently this is yet another example of the human ability to delude oneself.

Today, as I was checking in on the original bean bed, I glanced over to the grape trellis and noticed the grapes are filling out nicely. I stepped over for a closer look.

See? Grapes. Plump and round, just like they're supposed to be. But what's that behind the grapes?

It's the nest of one clever bird! I'm sorry to report that I don't know who built this. I imagine whoever it was is probably done with it by now. But perhaps they'll be back sometime since they managed to find such prime real estate. This nest was built straddling the wooden top rail of the grape trellis. No shaking or weaving and bobbing in the wind. It is surrounded by grapes, which means the bugs come right to whoever is sitting on the nest. Plus, the giant grape leaves both shelter this nest and collect water right at the front door. I'm totally impressed! I have walked past this nest everyday- probably for months!- and had no idea it was there. Nature wins again!

RAIN!

Sometime very early this morning, the sound of the storm beginning worked its way into my still sleeping mind. By the time I got out of bed, it had been raining for perhaps a few hours. I was so relieved to look out the window and see my garden completely soaked. As I drank my coffee I thought about what a precarious life it is to depend upon rain arriving in a timely fashion for one's food crops to survive- the kind of existence the settlers lived, but also which many people around the world still live today. I feel fortunate to have the ability to turn a knob and water my garden when it needs it. But I also feel a responsibility not to abuse that ability. I've lost a lot of plants this year because I have refused to water that which I cannot eat.

In a way, this heat and drought has been an opportunity in the garden. This environment has forced plants to really fight for it and has made choosing which plants to save seed from far easier than it might be under more accommodating circumstances. For example, shortly after the first bean planting was up and looking good, some critter (bunnies, I suspect) went through the entire bed nibbling off all the leaves and chewing the stems to nubs. Only three plants were left with leaves on them. Fortunately, two of those were the Golden Rod Bush Beans I had planted the last of and hope to save seed from. A burst a hopefullness and the inability to force myself to look at the carnage again combined to result in me leaving that bed alone to see what would happen. Maybe some of the nubs would come back?

Miraculously, most of the nubs came back. Some of those plants have done ridiculously well and are now sporting beans. Those plants have been marked for seed saving because, honestly, a gardener can't ask for more from a plant than to survive and produce through bunny attacks, neglect, extreme heat and drought. Similarly, in the new garden some of the tomatoes are really taking off while others, like the Romas, are struggling. Same thing with the peppers, all of which I nearly lost to insect damage early on. So, while it is a worry and a pain to garden through a summer like this one has been so far, it is also a blessing to be able to select for seed from plants that are really outdoing themselves under these circumstances. And the best thing about it is the seeds are free, and no lab is required to produce them.

New Garden Weirdness

So. It's been so long since I've posted that I was actually too chicken to check and see when my last post was. Things have been busy here. Like much of the East Coast, we have been getting creamed by this heatwave. Lawns are brown and dormant. Even some of the trees appear to be going dormant- leaves turning brown and falling off, as if it was fall. That's a bit worrisome. But my garden is what's really been on my mind lately.

Because I put the garden in late this year (after finishing the spring semester and then digging the new garden bed), it was not well established when the heat hit. Oh, and then there's the "huh?" problem I had getting it going. Where I live, the soil is almost without exception a little on the acidic side. I mean, I had never seen a soil sample test alkaline... until problems in the new garden led me to test the soil. After finally getting plants into the new garden, they immediately started deteriorating. The leaves turned chlorotic. Bugs began devouring them. They didn't put on any new growth. It was bad. And, the few tomatoes on the Romas developed blossom-end rot.

Blossom-end rot is linked to uneven watering and calcium deficiency. I knew the problem was not uneven watering, so naturally, this pointed to a problem with calcium uptake. Often, BER can be treated by applying lime. On acidic soils, this really isn't often a problem. On alkaline soil, however, applying lime could cause trouble. Most plants are not fans of a highly alkaline environment, and liming decreases acidity. So it was a good thing I didn't rush out to the garden with my bag-o-lime, and instead decided to test the soil. Lo! It came up alkaline. This was such an anomaly that I had to repeat the test to believe it.

The alkaline test result presented me with a bit of a quandary. How to increase calcium and acidity...quickly? I suspected that, for some unknown reason, soil calcium was bound up rather than absent. A little research turned up the solution, which was to apply fertilizer intended for acid-loving plants. This variety of fertilizer is high in sulfur, which increases acidity.

Let me tell you... this was an almost miraculous cure. It took a few days to begin to see results. At first, the only sign of improvement was the hint that perhaps the bugs were devouring the garden less quickly. But over the first week or so, the leaves started re-greening. At this point, just about everything seems to be growing well, flowering, and setting fruit. The one big exception is the Roma tomatoes. While they did set some fruit, the plants themselves are barely hanging on. I'm not sure why either. When I transplanted the tomatoes, the Romas appeared the strongest. Unfortunately, they went downhill fast.

It's more than a little disappointing, too. I was relying pretty heavily on the Romas this year and now it looks like I'll harvest very little from them. The pair of San Marzanos I received from a fellow master gardener is doing well though. Not well enough to fill the pantry with jars of tomato sauce- but hopefully there will be enough "regular" tomatoes to still put up some sauce.

Oh well. The garden is always a "win some/lose some" proposition. What else is there to do but Keep Calm And Carry On?

Magic Beans

Jack and the Bean Stalk must have been written by someone as entranced by beans as I am. I always look forward to planting them because they always get right to business for me. I planted the bean bed 4 or 5 days ago. Yesterday, I was starting to worry that the beans had not shown themselves yet because they have traditionally popped up after 3, or sometimes 4 days, for me. When I looked up online how long they take to germinate, I was surprised to see 7-10 days! But, I figured there was no need to panic. This morning when I went to finish digging the new bed, the beans were peaking out. They looked like this:

 Sorry. That's sideways.

Just now when I checked the garden, it was obvious the beans had been busy today. Here is what I found:

Pretty amazing, huh?

This bed includes two kinds of beans. The majority are Empress bush beans (green); but I had just a few Goldenrod bush beans (yellow) left from last year that I planted here also. So far, it seems the Goldenrods might be moving a little faster than the Empress. Last year, I was gifted a handful of Goldenrod beans by one of my master gardener classmates. I really liked them, but then forgot to save any seeds! D'oh! This year, I'll have to mark them early so I don't forget. (In theory, if I want to save seed I should separate bean varieties to avoid cross-pollination. However, beans are self-pollinating and pollination occurs before/as the flowers open, so the likelihood of cross-pollination is low.)

What kind of beans are you growing? And if you are a new gardener (or not yet a gardener!), why not give beans a try? They're easy to grow, and you can't beat the taste.

In The Yard Today

I have been working on digging a new 12 by 18 garden bed in the sunniest part of our yard. I'm only half way there, so no pictures yet. It's just been too hot to work out there for long. But stay tuned- work progresses! It has to- I have way too many plants that need to go in the ground still! Meanwhile, here's what's going on in the yard today.

The front roses are blooming

The side roses are blooming

and so is the clematis

I've been patiently (not patiently) waiting for the onion flowers to open. Do you see the first two?

The first Roma tomato 

A Lantana that is usually bicolor

This riot is the Russian Red kale seed pods that fell over due to the sheer weight of the pods. This plant is massive and survived our crazy winter completely unprotected.

Marigolds

Hosta

Do you see the bumblebutt hanging out of the Hosta flower?

Yum!

We had these, fresh from the garden, with dinner tonight. I harvested a small bowl of strawberries several days ago. But today, The Girl collected quite a bit more while I prepared and planted the bean bed. Still more await picking in the strawberry bed. I derive a great sense of abundance from moments like this.

We planted the strawberry bed last year. You're supposed to pick off the flowers the first year so the plant can become established and not put its energy into making berries. But putting in that bed was a lot of work and I was determined to have a few hard won strawberries. Alas, it was not to be. I forgot to put netting over the bed and the critters ate every last one. This year, we were out in the near darkness netting that bed when I realized the berries were beginning to ripen! One of the best things about this harvest is I know exactly what all the ingredients are: soil, sun, water, nothing hinky.

Week Recap

Or rather, a Weak Recap. It's been a busy week, with too much to report and too little energy with which to report it. But first, since I have no recent photos to share, a quick trip down memory lane, inspired by Leigh's recent additions. (Felix update at end of post)
  

Young Felix snoozes, knowing sis Hatchi has it covered.

Teak wonders what he did to deserve this.

This week I have really been struggling to get the garden in. Early in the week, the temperature was perfect for gardening. Unfortunately, it wouldn't stop raining. Then, it stopped raining for a day and turned all "July heatwave" on us. And then back to rain. I did manage to pot up several volunteer tomato seedlings (to be replanted elsewhere, currently undecided) and get half of what will be the bean bed turned. I had really hoped to have that bed planted, but things happen. Or, don't. I had also hoped to have broken ground on a new garden bed and plant my now impressive collection of tomatoes impatiently awaiting transplanting. But that didn't happen either.

I did score big in the "it's fun to know master gardeners" category this week. One MG was giving away extra seedlings she'd started but couldn't find places for. I came home with a couple San Marzanos and a Purple Cherokee, plus two purple tomatillos! And today The Girl and I carted home a yard bag full of Sweet Box (Sarcococca), and a flat of Mondo grass, Japanese Painted Fern, and a type of ginger from another MG. Both these awesome ladies gardens will be on the county garden tour benefiting cancer research next month. How cool is that?

I really love visiting other gardener's gardens. It is always educational, often inspiring, and generally uplifting. And honestly, I have been trying hard not to be depressed this week. The ongoing oil spill really has me down. It is such an irresponsible thing to drill in a sensitive environment when you have no idea how to clean up or even stop a spill there. I am starting to feel like I did following Katrina, where I walk around plagued by the same recurring thought: How could we not have had a plan for this obvious possibility?! But I digress...

There have been setbacks this week. I have lost a huge oak to borers. It will have to come down so it doesn't fall down on our house or the neighbor's house. The tree guy says that will cost $800. Huh. Then, The Girl and I were out to do errands when we smelled a strong burning smell and then heard what sounded like roaring flames. Inside the car. The exact cause of this is not 100% known at this point, but it appears to be related to the electrical system. I could not be any less happy about this development and I have no idea how much this will cost to fix. I also have no idea where the money will come from. I have tried convincing Felix he is obligated to start laying golden eggs, but so far I have gotten nowhere.

Fortunately, however, Felix is our big success story of the week. Today's re-check at the vet showed his hematocrit at 32% (woot! inside the normal range!), his protein normal, and his weight up to 8.4lbs. Also, after restarting the doxycycline earlier this week, the respiratory problem is much improved (although not yet gone). The vet was thrilled with Felix's progress. We are finally able to cut back some more on the meds, and not re-check for two weeks (unless there's a problem). So that appointment was good news all around and I think that high note is a good place to close this post.