And What To My Wondering Eyes Should Appear

But miniature melons and three tiny eggplants.

I leave the garden for four days and oh the changes I can see.

Yes I have to show you all those baby melons.

I wouldn't want to miss any.

And the corn has started to tassel.

The first snap bean is forming.

The Painted Lady runner beans are in bloom.

And best of all. No not the dying nasturtium. But the reason I let my nasturtium die due to aphids. Can you see all four in this photo?

There are so many ladybug larvae that I even found it in my harvest basket with no aphids in sight. I hope they eat white flies as I found an infestation in my tomatoes. Whiteflies don't live up here in the north, but are brought in on plants from greenhouses. I didn't bring any in. I'm sure they flew in from someone else who wasn't careful with their plants.

The first peppers are forming.

The pepper bed looks pretty good. I had to pull a lot of leaves off again, but not like before. One plant bit the dust and had to be pulled. I'll spray it again this week. Probably tomorrow as I watered today after ripping any infected leaves off.

And just because I can. Here is a photo from my trip. The only marble dam in North America is in western Massachusetts.

Chores

I'm slowly getting my remaining chores done. Earlier in the spring I would work for hours in the garden to finish things up. Now life is easier. I go out for a short time and do a couple of chores each morning. Nothing takes too long.

The first order of business yesterday was to get my potatoes contained. Potato foliage can get really large and then flop over into my path. My paths here are very narrow to give space for actual growing, but I need to be able to walk down them. So I cut six of my 8' poles in half to get some really sturdy 4' poles. Then I strung some twine around them. I still haven't put the top layer on, but I don't know if I'll need one that high or not.

The next order of business was to stake up the eggplants. Like the stakes near the pepper plants, I'm hoping they become necessary. I really hope they grow. Last night was cold though and not really conducive to those warm weather plants. We hit 45 last night. My melons must be shivering right now.

The last chore was to harvest all the lettuce on one side of my lettuce bed and then replant with my summer lettuce. In a few weeks the other side will be done. I did not follow the pattern I had on the other side. I'm doing a summer lettuce trial and wanted the different lettuces to have about the same conditions. The garlic really does shade a lot of the lettuce bed, but not in the back. So I started each row at the garlic and went out to the edge. As usual I planted way too close together and will pull every other one when they get bigger. Though I planted five types, I'm really only trialing three. The other two are Deer Tongue and Red Sails. Which are my tried and true lettuces. I've got Red Sails going down the hot outer edge of the bed. I hope it grows fast to shade that section. The lettuces in the trial are Jericho, Manoa (from Mac), and Anuenue (from Mac). I was going to trial them last year, but with the house move it never happened. The first is an Israeli lettuce and the last two are Hawaiian lettuces. So far I've found Jericho a very slow germinator and grower. But maybe it grows slow, but well in the heat. I'll find out.

Today's chores are to water the rock wall garden and to reseed the beans that aren't germinating.

The Best of Intentions

The plan for today was to seed those all my tomatoes and my one eggplant. In addition I needed to get the bok choy and the Fun Jen into the garden as they were all hardened off. For the rest of the day I could just rest. My body aches. This morning my husband asked me if something was wrong. He claimed I was walking funny. I just don't heal up like when I was younger. I'm getting old (now quit laughing Granny).

Well anyway that all happened. I got my tomatoes in. I have Amish Paste (from Emily), Cherokee Purple (from Dan a year ago), Black Cherry (as I didn't like the chocolate cherry last year even though I did the year before), Heinz 2653, Market Miracle, Sungold, Sungold F4 (to be named GabrielleAnna as I'm only growing one), and last but not least Purple Calabash. The last one was all listed as Pruden's Purple on my planting sheets. I haven't a clue why. Emily sent me Purple Calabash not Pruden's Purple. And we can't forget Galine Eggplant. It is a varitey I'd never heard of before. Fedco described it as good tasting as Rosa Bianca but a lot less fussy and one that produces well in our short season. It isn't as pretty as Rosa though since it is an all black eggplant.

Then it was lunchtime. I figured it was time to go out and pick my first spinach. I went out basket in hand the first time this spring. And stopped short on my doorstep. I had a package. My blueberries from the St. Lawrence Nurseries had arrived. These are all bareroot dormant plants that should be planted right away.

Scott (my townhouse mate) was leaving with his wife to go somewhere and I asked if he was free to help plant this weekend. He said he was free Sunday. So we made plans for Sunday morning. I went in to open up the package and get the roots a bit of a soaking before putting them in the basement.

I just couldn't do it. I soaked the roots really nicely. But some of the buds were starting to open on a couple of the plants. They were crying to me to be put in the ground. So I just had to. Now I know this is the second time in a week I've told you that my plants were talking to me. I'm not crazy, I'm just a gardener.

I went out again, shovel in hand and planted all 15 of them. There are six Northblues, six Northskies, one Northcountry, one Friendship and one Patriot. The first three kinds are hybrid lowbush/highbush blueberries. So they grow between a foot and two feet tall. Northcountry can get a bit bigger. They will surround the currently nonexistant dwarf peach trees.

Doesn't it make my front yard so pretty. OK yes you can't even see them. All you can see is where I watered, but they will grow. It is a step up from the bamboo stick garden I had marking the spots where the blueberries would be planted.

I really did have the best of intentions to rest today. I won't get to tomorrow either as I'll be out walking with some friends. I guess I'll have plenty of time to rest when I'm dead, but now it is gardening season.

2009 Overview Pineapple Tomatillos (and Eggplants)

Pineapple tomatillo after planting

This year I grew pineapple tomatillos (really more of a ground cherry than a tomatillo) for the first time ever. I love growing strange plants that I've never tried. These are true to their name and do taste like pineapple. They made some great fresh salsa over the summer. Since tomatillos can keep for months if left in their husks I could collect the little bits they gave over time and combine them.

Timeline:

• April 3rd, seeded in soil blocks, used heat mat to germinate
• April 14th-16th germinated - only half germinated
  
• May 14th transplanted
• July 26th first harvest

I had two plants and harvested 2.6lbs of fruit for an average yeild of 1.3lbs per plant.

I've found all tomatillos attract cucumber beetles to the garden. That is the bad news. The good news is that they make a great trap crop. I hand pick them every day during the height of the cucumber beetle seasons. If you plant them on the other side of the garden from your cucumbers, the cucumbers will be ignored. My biggest pest were the chipmunks. They love tomatillos. Bird netting around the plant discouraged them, but didn't totally prevent loss of fruit. I probably lost half of what they produced. They got no diseases and grew very well.

My biggest mistake with them is to let them sprawl. They can grow several feet from the main stem if you let them. Caging would have been much better. It would have raised the fruit up so I could see it better. It would allow me to see the ripe fruit better. The fruit is ripe when it falls to the ground, but they get knocked off easily when rooting through the plant for ripe ones.

I probably won't grow this again anytime soon. I liked it, but I have limited space in the solanaceae bed. Next year I'd like to grow a couple of real tomatillos (P. ixocarpa instead of P. pruinosa).

As for eggplant, I didn't think it deserved its own post. I'm not going to grow them again I think. I didn't even eat the ones I got from my plants. I gave them away. I'm not an eggplant lover. Last year they did so much better. This cold wet year was not the year for eggplants. From four plants I got barely got over a pound. Part of the problem was that my pole beans on the other side of the path had started shading the plants so I ripped them out at the end of August in hopes of spinach. The solanaceae bed will be better used for tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos.

Time for Eggplant?

Slim Jim and Lavender Touch Eggplant

I always debate with myself over when to plant hot weather crops. We have a cool climate. Our average high temperature in June is 77°F(25°C). Our average low is 55°F(13°C). This is not particularly hot. It is fine for my tomatoes and my chili peppers, but eggplants aren't as forgiving of cool temperatures.

Last year I started my eggplants on June 1st. The ground was mulched in black plastic. I added a plastic hoop tunnel. I put water jugs in between the eggplants to collect heat. This year is more problematic. I'm growing carrots between my eggplants. The carrots should be out of the ground before the eggplants need that space, but carrots don't like heat. All the heat collection that I did last year would either kill my carrots or make them bitter. So this year the eggplants got nothing. No plastic of any kind. I love the look of the garden without all the plastic, but will they grow?

Yesterday I noticed two things with the eggplants. They are getting a bit root bound and they were being attacked by insects. I hand picked the flea beetles off before they went in the ground. Then I rubbed off all the aphids. These poor plants have been through so much and their leaves look a bit chewed. Previously they had a caterpillar when they were younger. Then I put them next to my tomatillos and they ended up with cucumber beetles. Sigh. They still seem to be holding their own.

Even though we might get some cooler weather this week, I felt they had to go in. Nothing stops a plant faster than getting root bound. I think most of the times that people recommend for growing transplants are way over estimated. They let the plants get too root bound. Yes with paper pots the roots do tend to get air pruned, but it still slows their growth down if they aren't planted in a timely manner.

They were placed about two feet apart from each other in the row and about 18" apart. They got supplemented with some bonemeal, coffee grounds and lime. I hope they survive all the travails they had in their youth and grow up strong. Hmm maybe I should surround them with some soda bottles to pamper them a bit. They could use a little pampering.

Solanaceae Crops

I have three main beds in my garden. I've already talked about my three sister's garden. The other one is the greens garden which will also have onions, brassicas and some herbs in it. The last one that I've yet to talk about is my solanaceae family bed.

I love all the solanaceae. Well the wild nightshade that grows around here I could do without, but the rest is delicious. In the past I've grown mostly tomatoes and chili peppers. Last year I added on eggplants. This year I'm adding more. I liked Slim Jim eggplant. I'll plant that again, in addition I'm going to plant Lavender Touch. I haven't figured out what tomatoes I'm going to put in. It might be all seeds saved from my Sungolds. Or it might be plants from Verrill Farm. They sell about 30 varieties of seedlings in the spring. But I can make up my mind later.

In addition to tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. I've decided to grow potatoes for the first time in years. I ordered Kennebec from Pinetree, which is a nice all purpose potato. I wanted French Fingerling too, but I really don't have room for more. And yes they didn't grow well when I planted them before. I've mostly forgot the pain of it all. So time to try again.

The potatoes come in a 2 1/2lb unit. They claim this plants about 15 square feet, or to me that would be a 4'x4' area. I have about a 20'x4' area for all the solanaceae crops. I need at least 10' for my tomatoes and peppers, 4' for my eggplants. I don't have room for another 4'x4' area. But I do know what other plant I want.

I've grown tomatillos before too. They used to be a staple in my garden, self seeding every year. A couple of years ago they died out. I hadn't saved seeds. Why bother when they grow themselves? So this year I'm going to buy them again, but with a twist. I'm not growing the regular tomatillo, but a pineapple tomatillo. This sounds more like a ground cherry to me than a tomatillo but what's in a name anyway? What I do know is that it says they get to 3' across and spread. Hmm maybe I need more than the last two feet. I'll probably grow them next to my potatoes and when I harvest them they tomatillos can grow into that space.

The one problem with the solaneceae family is that they don't do exceedingly well here. Last year when I pulled my carrots I found nematodes on the roots. Not horrible, but enough to slow down growth. These nematodes are also bad for tomatoes. So this year I'm going to have a slightly different set up. On the north side of my 4' wide bed will go the tomatoes. At the front will go the chili peppers. In the middle I'll plant the carrots and dotted around will be marigolds.

Marigolds are supposed to be good for lots of things, but one of their best properties is nematode control. Pinetree has a variety just for this purpose, called Ground Control. I've planted marigolds at the edges of the tomato beds before, but this year the carrots and marigolds will be in the middle of the bed all mixed up. Hopefully the companion planting will succeed. I wonder if I can fit in a couple of basil plants too. It is also a nice companion to tomatoes.

Busy in the Garden

There was lots to do in the garden today. I ripped out my eggplant. Since all of the little eggplants were picked and the weather is cold, I'm sure no more will set. So they went into the compost pile. I thought about putting in a cover crop, but it is probably too late for that.

While I was at the compost pile I noticed that I got another load of grass and leaves to add. When they mow the yard usually it is just grass, but one of the joys of autumn is that some of the leaves start to drop early. So there is just enough leaf in with the grass to make a good composting mixture. Grass by itself has just about the perfect amount of nitrogen to compost, but its flaw is that it compacts to easily. If no air can get in then it can't compost and it just rots. So I add leaves when I compost it, but now I don't even have that chore. I just fork it all right into the compost. I did notice the pile was too dry. We haven't had real rain in a long time, so when I get a chance I'll take the hose to it.

Then the bean tepee needed to come down. It was creating too much shade for my greens and it is greens season, not bean season anymore. So I ripped out most of the beans. I left one plant chopped off to about a foot tall. I want to leave it there since it makes a good slug hunting place. The slugs love the bean plant more than the lettuce. I'll hunt a few more nights until the population is under control again.

You can see the left over bean plant in the upper right hand corner of the photo. The ruby chard looks very sad, but in reality it is thriving. Well the bottom most one is sad. The one before never thrived, so I pulled it out. Then planted another and it is still small. But the top two plants were picked yesterday and the next one down about a week ago. That one has really almost filled in again. I think in another week I can pick again. And they are getting tastier. The ones from yesterday were so much sweeter than the leaves from the week before. It must be the cooler weather. The rest of the greens are all lettuce. The onions in the middle are the green onions I planted early in the spring. I've been eating and thinning them ever since. I don't use them a lot, but when I need them, they are always there.

The best part of the day was picking the first carrots. I didn't pick them all. I picked the ones that filled out widthwise. The short ones are Danvers and the long one is Big Top. Big Top is supposed to get upto 8" long, but mine is only 5 1/2". It sure looks pretty though. One of the Danvers forked terribly. I thought I had most of the rocks out of this bed. It was prepared pretty well for carrots, but maybe not. It could be rocks or could be nementodes. I'm not sure how to tell the difference. I know they both cause forking. But whatever caused it, they are still quite tasty. My carrot envy has been appeased.

Garden Update

Under the light of day I did find some things wrong with my garden, but none that I could have avoided even if I were here. My pumpkin vine is dead. The leaves are all brown and shriveled. The poor pumpkin is only half ripe. I kept holding out hope that it would have time when I first saw it, but I knew it was not likely. I'll leave it in the ground for a while longer, but how can it ripen without any leaves to make energy?

The bed that I've been renovating for my garlic and onions have developed holes. I suspect voles, but I suppose it could be chipmunks too. The holes are large enough for a chipmunk to squeeze in. I think even if the rodents are using that area I'll be ok. Most of them aren't into the allium family. Usually you are told to plant them around the garden to repel rodents. So they probably won't be taking bites out of them. But you never know. That one chipmunk did insist on tasting my chili peppers. . . once.

Though the tomatoes are still going, especially the Sungolds, the rest of the summer crops are about done. I started pulling up the Kentucky Wonder beans today. I'll finish it up tomorrow. They were planted to shade the lettuce, which was great in the summer, but now it is slowing the growth of the lettuce down by too much. There is so little sun here in September anyway. They need to get ripped out.

The eggplants look pretty, but they have no fruit left on them. Now that the nights are so cold, I don't think anymore will set. So tomorrow I'll pull them out too.

Overtaken by Shade

This is a photo of my garden at about 1pm in the afternoon. The bed on the left hand side is all in shade. Those are my tomatoes, pepper and eggplants. In the mid summer they are in sun after about 11am, but as the sun sinks lower in the sky, the huge oak tree in my neighbor's yard becomes more of an issue.

Seventeen years ago when we moved into this house and this garden was first conceived, it was all in sun. But trees grow and the garden changes. I still get plenty of produce out of it, but if I had it to do over again, I would remove the maple tree in the front yard and move it all forward.

Those poor crops in the nightshade family don't see much sun at all right now. There is some later in the day, but not much. The cucurbits are pretty happy since they are the ones in the bed on the right side of the photo. The sun hits the zucchinis fairly early and stays all day long. The beans are doing well too. They are in the middle bed and their tepee sticks up above the shade, so they get plenty of sun. And they have really started producing. The Kentucky Wonder beans have been producing for a long time, but the Fortex has been slow. This last week it has finally taken off and has been pumping out beans.

I can't keep up with the supply of beans so today I started freezing. First I blanch the beans for a few minutes then plunge them into ice water. Then I put them on a cookie sheet to freeze. The light green beans are the Kentucky Wonder. They are almost yellow in color. The darker ones are the Fortex beans. These are the most beautiful beans. Long and straight. They didn't start really producing until the rains quit. I guess they hate the rain. I'll be growing these two beans next year too. I only used six beans for each when I planted. I have plenty left.

Eggplant Explosion

Well the eggplants have been in overdrive, which is wonderful. Though today I only picked one. But it is definitely the season for them. I keep reading blogs asking what to do with them, or giving recipes. Today I made curry. I usually don't follow a recipe with curry. I tend to throw things in when I cook, but I can give you a recipe that is approximately what I do - though it will change depending upon my mood. Today I had zucchini, eggplant, beans and jalapeños from the garden and that made a wonderful curry.

Curried Vegetables

• Olive oil
• 1/2 onion, minced
  
• clove of garlic grated (yes I don't squish or mince mine, I grate it through a small- medium grater)
  
• T fresh grated ginger
• 1 jalapeño
  
• 1 red pepper (I had a strange one from the farmers market, sort of sweet, but a little picante)
• 1 zucchini
• 1 eggplant (mine is very small, more than I had would be better)
• handful of green beans (not a usual addition to my curries, but really any veggie is good to throw into curry, in the winter it will be winter squash and sweet potatoes)
• 1/2 can of diced tomatoes (I'd used fresh but all I have is cherries and their skins make a terrible texture)
• 2t curry powder (I use Penzey's curry powder)
• 2t cinnamon
• 2t garam masala
• dash of cloves and allspice
• crushed coriander
• salt
  

Sauté the onion in the oil until translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and jalapeno. Sauté a minute more. Add everything else except the beans (I like them crunchy) and simmer for 15 minutes. Add a little water if necessary. Add the beans and cook for 3 minutes. Eat.

Most recipes will have you sautéing each vegetable separately until brown. I don't like to do this. Olive oil breaks down in high heat, and will oxidize. So even when I sauté the onions I won't let it get very hot. Simmering is easier on the oil and on the veggies. Not to mention I'm a really lazy person sometimes and just don't want to do it.

I also confess that I had some left over roast beef in the freezer. It was 6 months old and really needed to be eaten. I minced it finely and put it in. I know it is a little sacrilegious to eat cow and curry together. It really should have been lamb or chicken. But lunch always tends to be the meal of what I need to eat (leftovers, what I picked in the garden, or the package that got shoved to the back of the freezer), so I ate it. Along with some cucumber salad and cottage cheese (not a yogurt fan, but it serves the same purpose).

Curry really is my favorite way to eat eggplant now. Eggplant Parmesan comes in a close second. Yumm.

And since it is eggplant season, you just know that the current hot question from the search engines is "When do I pick my eggplant". I have to laugh if they get my other blog posts that say I pick it when it hits five inches. That is just for my variety. Mine tend to increase in size really fast for me. I really don't want them to start developing seeds so I pick them when they slow down in their growth. This is usually five inches for me, but sometimes four or six. Most people say pick them while they are shiny and before they turn dull. Once you hit dull you are too late. You can never be too early, they taste great young.

My eggplants have tons of fruit on them, but sadly they are tending to wilt. I watered today to see if that was the problem, but no. They are wilting even with the water. I hope they will be ok. They have been a surprise hit for me, since I haven't eaten them since childhood. Now I just wonder if I like them because they are totally non-bitter from my garden. Or maybe my tastes have just changed.

Tomatoes and Ratatouille

I'm no longer getting even cherry tomatoes from my garden due to the chipmunk. So I'm at war with them. I really hate doing it, but they must go, or at least have a lower population. So I netted my tomatoes. This will not prevent them from getting the tomatoes. It just makes it harder for them. And I set out a trap. I have to confess it isn't my tomatoes that are forcing the issue. It is the raspberries. They are starting to get heavy with the fall raspberries. It looks like I will have a huge crop. I got a lot of spring raspberries until the chipmunks found them, then I got none at all. I really want to have raspberries on my cereal again every morning. I like taking my bowl out and filling it up to eat a minute later.

I'm solving my tomato problem with help from some friends and a local farm. Busa Farms is two miles from my house. They do a weird CSA. They sell discounted "Busa Bucks" in the winter and spring. I tried to convince some friends to split the CSA but I had no luck, though I did have two friends (a couple) that signed up. It turns out they had too many to use, so sold some to me. Yeah.

With Busa bucks you can pick your own produce in the fields for half price. I really liked this deal. So I went this morning. I picked about 2 pounds of tomatoes (? maybe) and it cost me two Busa bucks. Their set up is - hmm how do I put this delicately - amateur. They have no maps of the farm. They have no baskets to give you to collect things or knives to cut things off the plants. I did ask where things where and got a little hand waving. I found the tomatoes without much trouble. I'm not sure what varieties I picked, since nothing is labeled. With all the rain lots of them were cracked and spoiling. Any that were touching the ground were of course rotting. There were not a lot of big tomatoes that were ripe, but there were a huge amount of orange cherry tomatoes that looked nice, so I got mostly those. I found a few other tomatoes that I'll let finish ripening on my counter. The red and orange striped one looks so pretty.

Since I picked eggplant from my garden this morning, I figured it was time to try to make ratatouille. Though it was only in the high seventies today, it was humid, so I didn't really want to use the oven. I made it in a sautée pan instead. I had no sweet peppers from the garden, so used a jalapeño. I also used the orange cherry tomatoes from the farm. It turned out quite well. Though I can't say I loved it, it was ok. The smell was fabulous with all the garlic and garden fresh thyme. But it was a little too rich for me. I think I'll cut back on the olive oil. I actually thought it would make a fabulous soup with the addition of chicken broth and kidney beans. I'll have to try that when soup season is upon us.

More Eggplant Coming In

Friday I picked my first eggplant. I debated how to cook it, but settled on eggplant parmesan. I usually don't like fried food. Well I like the first few bites then it makes me sick. And I mean literally sick. My stomach will hurt for quite a while. So I eat very little fried food.

Eggplant parmesan is a fried food, but it can be made baked too. So I did. I sliced then covered the eggplant in egg and then coated it in breadcrumbs spiced up with seasonings and baked it in the oven . Then I added sauce and cheese. It was another good recipe from Allrecipes.com. And the best part was I liked it. I didn't taste anything bitter in it at all.

Since that eggplant experiment turned out so well, the next time I'll have to do a stir fry just so I can taste the eggplant. I did taste a little bit of flavor that wasn't cheese and sauce and breadcrumbs, but it was subtle and not bad at all.

And I have plenty of little eggplants coming in. They are growing so quickly. The first photo all the way at the top was taken Saturday morning and each succeeding photo was taken one day later. You can see how quickly they are growing by looking at how far down the front eggplant is compared to the branches.

First Eggplant

Today was a fabulous day in the garden. The little chipmunk only decided to eat one cherry tomato. And (drum roll please) it was the day to pick my first ever eggplant. This is not the first eggplant of the season, but the first I've ever grown. Slim Jim produces a small little eggplant, only about 5" long and just over an inch thick. Such a pretty purple. There are so many more to come. This is a photo of one of the plants. Currently it has set four more eggplants and the blossom cluster has many more blooms on it - not to mention the other clusters of blossoms that are open. Not one flower so far hasn't set fruit, which is surprising. These poor plants were totally shredded by the June hail. Two of the four are now robust and fruiting. One is almost recovered and one is on its last legs.

My problem is what to do with it. I don't eat eggplant - yet. It is another crop that I feel I ought to learn to like. Since I've never cooked it, which recipe to pick? Eggplant Parmesan is probably the safest. All the coating and the sauce and cheese would cover up anything, so I stand a good chance of liking it. But the little eggplants are the right size for a stir fry. Hmm I'll have to think about it. I may go for safe. Eventually I'll have to try ratatouille, which combines both zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes - at least if my chipmunk lets me eat any of the big beefsteak tomatoes.

My beans are producing like crazy. I really like having them on a tepee since you can see the beans easily to harvest. Next year I'm thinking of a three sisters plot, so I won't have the ease of a tepee anymore. I'll miss it.

The photo is of my Kentucky Wonder beans. My Fortex beans just aren't producing at all. I've gotten a few beans, but not much. And we won't discuss my asparagus beans that have pretty much died. I'm so glad I planted more than one variety. I get more than I really want to eat from just the Kentucky Wonder. I put the extras in my pickle juice after blanching, then eat them in my salad the next day. I should add some dried beans for a three bean salad, however the one bean salad is doing it for me, even if I do cheat by adding sweet onions and bell peppers.

I also got to pick a tatsoi. It really was full size already. I sometimes pick the outer leaves, but with the slugs, they go for the outer leaves and leave the middle alone. So I've been growing them full size then pulling the whole thing. I'll eat it slowly over the next week in my salads.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

I failed to write a blog post yesterday. I was a little depressed when I went out to the garden and found yet another green tomato missing, one of my Aussies. I found it this morning on the other side of the garden with chew marks all over it. The chipmunk had destroyed yet another one, along with another zucchini female flower. The good news is that the first flower it ate had already set. So the zucchini is growing.

But that wouldn't have stopped me from writing. I actually had a wonderful harvest that morning: 5 cucumbers, peas, beans, basil, hot peppers, cherry tomatoes, and a frilly boc choi. The eggplant is almost ready to pick and more tiny ones are on the way. It hit the ground a little while back, but is still getting longer. Right now it is 4 1/2" long and it is supposed to be 4-6" so I will probably pick it tomorrow.

So there is plenty of good news in the garden too. What got me really down was my Chinese cabbage. I had two ready to pick. They were heavy and huge. I confess I was worried about them since they were filled with holes. The last one I picked, the outside had holes, but the middle was perfect. This time, not so much. I not only had slugs attacking it, but I had earwigs all the way through. Their damage is a little different from the slugs. They make tiny numerous holes, while the slugs holes are bigger. I cut away the outside slowly, trying to find the yummy middle, but it was all shredded. I really hate earwigs. They freak me out a little. Usually they just go for my marigolds, but this year they have left the marigolds alone. Instead they eat my cabbage. I really would rather lose the marigolds.

So I came inside and consoled myself with tea, made from herbs from the garden: chamomile, lemon balm and chocolate mint. It was a good herbal remedy.

Solanaceae Crops

This year is not my best year for the solanaceae crops. Their location really sucks. My major planting area is in three beds that are on a three year rotation. Each bed is four feet wide and they vary in length from about 15' to 20'. This year they are in the shortest one. In addition it is now in partial shade until around 1pm. In late June and early July the sun is high enough in the sky for them to get full sun, but now as the sun gets lower in the sky each day they get less and less. I have one little eggplant that has set and it is now 3" long and touching the ground. I don't know if I should pick it or if I should let it grow longer. It is a mini eggplant anyway - Slim Jim variety. Its eggplants only reach 4-6". I hope they are getting enough sun to set more. They are such beautiful plants with the soft purple leaves.

My jalapeño peppers are the worst off. I almost didn't plant two of them in the spring because of the sun situation. They are right up near the fence, so not only does the tree shade them in the morning, but the fence shades them in the afternoon. You can see the four jalapeños that I have all in a row. The ones on the left are half the height as the one on the right that actually see a few hours of sun each day. But they are all setting fruit. I'm really surprised they could pull it off. I've harvested two jalapeños from each of the two tiniest plants.

As always my Super Chili peppers are doing the best. These are the prettiest plants I've ever seen. They hold their multitudinous fruit upright above the foliage and when the pepper turn red they are stunning. I eat a few of them green, mostly pickled, but the strength of the peppers is when they are red. They are very hot and dry extremely easily.

What I wish I could grow was sweet red peppers. But for some reason sweet peppers don't like growing here. They tend to rot out before getting ripe and since I'm not a green pepper fan, it just doesn't seem worth the space. I wish I could however since it is really hard to find organic red peppers in the store.

Back from Camping

Well I'm back from a fun three day weekend of camping. This is the first time I've left the plants this summer. I always go out every day to the garden. So Friday I got up early (5:40) so I could water the plants before I left and pick.

On Sunday I was out in the garden that evening picking and making sure everything was doing well. I had a lot of cucumbers, peas and beans. Surprisingly only one zucchini (for a total of 5 summer squash in my fridge - two of which I ate for lunch) was ready. Then it was over to the nightshade crops. I have one chili pepper that is just starting to turn red. Go pepper. I dry the super chilis and use them as cayennes.

Even more exciting was my first little eggplant. It had set. I was shocked. I figured the first flowers from these plants would fall off. They have been through a lot. The hail we had earlier shredded their leaves. Then the flea beetles set in. I pick flea beetles off the leaves every couple of days. I can't get them all since they hop around so much, but I've gotten pretty good at catching them. The trick seems to be not to shade them as you pick them off. Once I have them, I plop them into a little container of soapy water. The only thing that is good about the eggplants getting flea beetle is that the beetles seem to overlook my tomatoes. They like the eggplants so much more.

The variety of eggplant I'm growing is "Slim Jim". I chose it because it was small. I'm hoping the fruit don't get too big. First because the eggplant is only about 3" from the ground. I figure when it gets that long, it will have to be picked. The second reason is that I haven't staked the plants (does one stake eggplant?). The main stem seems sturdy enough, but the plants have just started sending out side shoots. I'm afraid fruit on them may break the branch off.

Right now there are so many flowers on the eggplants. I have four plants. Two in the back are not doing well. The flea beetles leave them alone, so that is not the reason. The two in the front are growing quite well. One of them is over 18" tall. That one is covered in flowers. Though its lower leaves are totally covered in flea beetle holes, it keeps sending out new pristine leaves. I ought to have fruit set on that plant soon too.

Random News

Blooming news

Lots of my second round of dill (dill that germinated late or dill that was eaten to the ground by my swallowtails then grew back) was starting to flower this morning. I will have more than enough seed from the first round of dill plants that have been flowering for a while. So I harvested it and some chilies. I made it into more pickle juice in anticipation. It turned out to be way more than I thought, so I just dumped the rest into a freezer bag. I haven't a clue if it freezes well or not, but it can't hurt. I have nothing else to do with it right now.

I had other blossoms starting up today too. The first eggplant blossom opened up. Hopefully it will set. My yard long bean was also in flower this morning. I wish I had a photo. I went out later to take the picture, but alas, it must not flower during the heat of the day. It was all closed up. If you remember from way back when, I complained that my yard long beans haven't grown and weren't climbing the trellis like my other pole beans. And indeed they still aren't growing. The little plants really have no right to flower now. How is their bean going to grow? The plants are only about 6-8" high. Even if my yard long beans only get to a foot long, they would be dragging in the dirt.

My other beans are doing just fine. I have to pinch them out when they get past the end of the bean poles. They have been sending out lots of side shoots from the bottom that are starting to wind their way up the pole. I actually picked the first five beans today. They are covered in blooms. Soon I'll be inundated with them.

Insect News

The "moth" that was wondering what it was, is not a moth. It is a netwing beetle. Thanks WhatsThisBug.com. So I looked it up. It is a pollen and nectar eating beetle. So it is unlikely to be bad for the garden.

During the last couple of days I've been seeing black swallowtails in my garden. Are these my baby black swallowtails? I'd like to think so. I hope I'm not picking dill with swallowtail eggs on it. I don't see any, but then I've never seen any and haven't a clue as to what they look like.

I have green bees in the garden. Ok I had one green bee in the garden and had trouble getting a photo of it. It wouldn't stand still long enough for me. But his back is beautiful metallic green. I've also seen some blue bees in the garden, but haven't been able to photograph one.

I was very worried about the bees earlier this year. I really hadn't seen many except bumble bees. But now they are out in force. Where I had only seen one honeybee by the middle of June. Now I see them everywhere - on the mallows, on the coreposis, on the cilantro. Though I still find that my zucchini does better if I hand pollinate it and the only yellow squash I've gotten was from hand pollination. So I've taken to it again despite the bees. The positive aspect is that I can pick all the male blooms and eat them if I like.

Miscellaneous News

My carrots have come up. Their germination is a little spotty, but not too bad. I may have to sow more seed in a week, but maybe more will come up before then.

I planted some Sugar Snap Peas and Mammoth Melting Peas behind my carrots. I'm hoping they grow fast before the fall. I've never tried growing fall peas. At 70 and 75 days until harvest, it will be well into late September before I get any. We usually don't have our first frost until the end of October or the beginning of November, so I'm hoping I can get a month and a half of peas before the frost kills the blossoms.