Working in the Rain

Yesterday it was raining on and off and I figured I'd been out in the garden enough so I wrote yesterday's blog post. Well somehow I got outside again. OK I know how it happened. I knew the day before I needed to pick the broccoli, but I had forgotten. So out I went. As I was walking by I noticed this.

The first cucumber of the year. So yesterday had the first cucumber and the first tomato. Finally my cucumbers are setting and sizing up. It took them forever. I hope I'm inundated in a week. Maybe.

Then for some reason I decided to check on the front yard and saw this. The first strawberry on my Seascape everbearing strawberries was ripening up.

I think I'll pick it tomorrow. But since I was starting to get ripe strawberries I had to put on some protection for it. I covered the row with bird netting. It isn't firmly attached, but I hope it is enough to keep the pests away.

Back in the back yard I decided I had to deal with the compost pile finally. It was getting a bit out of control after taking the favas down earlier in the week. I keep the compost behind the reed fencing. It is a pallet compost and has four compartments. The working compost didn't have a pallet in front of it since I'm still missing one. So I moved the pallet from one of the leaf compartments. I could pile most of the leaves in that section into the other leaf compartment. So we haven't quite gone through half the leaves I collected last fall, but we are getting there. The interesting thing is the leaf pile itself is warm. Not hot like a real compost pile, but it is breaking down quickly enough to generate some heat.

Then today I finally got around to finishing the tomatoes. The bottom leaves have all been removed. It was way too windy to spray (with Serenade) and way too hot to be covered head to foot and wear a mask so I'll do that tomorrow morning. I wonder how many times I've said that so far this week. It is always hard to find the perfect time to spray. But I'll have to whether it is windy or not tomorrow. The bacterial spot on the peppers is picking up again. They really need to be sprayed once a week and not once every two weeks.

I had one more chore that I did today and that was tying up my melons. I put them in slings of netting. I hope it works. I didn't have any pantyhose like EG uses, but I have lots of netting and string.

Rain, Rain, Rain

We are finally getting a good rain today. So far only a third of an inch, but I'm hoping for at least another third. So once again I put off spraying. Not good. But we do need the rain. Tomorrow sometime I have to get to it especially with the rain spreading disease around.

But there was one thing I could do in the break in the rain. I could get my carrots planted. Yesterday I made carrot tapes to plant out. I was asked how I make them so I'll show you.

I take some toilet paper and cut it into four strips the long way. Then I put on dots of glue every inch and put one seed on each dot. I hang them up to dry on my laundry lines in the nursery. Granny likes seed mats that are made from paper towels, but I like doing them in rows better as I find them easier to plant.

I measure out rows four inches apart and put down the tapes. Then I make sure they are barely covered with fine soil. The covering is why tapes are easier for me. I have trouble covering a whole area evenly with fine soil. But a narrow row is simple. If you leave part of the paper out of the soil it will act as a wick and dry everything out. Especially in the heat we have been having. After they are covered I tamp them down.

Then I cover them with burlap. Usually I'd water well after this, but with the rain before and after there was no need. In fact I had to hurry to finish as I was getting rained on at the end. Everyday I'll water the burlap a couple of times at least if it is hot and sunny out. And I'll check every day after Tuesday to see if there is any sign of germination. If there is I'll take the burlap off. But until then the burlap will shade and protect the soil and help them to get up. I ought to use boards at this time of the year, but my soil has a lot of damping off issues, so I'm going to stick with the burlap if I can.

And while I was out I saw this little gem. My first Sungold tomato is ripe. No other plants are showing any sign of ripening. Last year I harvested my first tomato about 10 days later than this, but the plants were put in about three weeks later than I planted this year. And last year I had many of the varieties come ripe at once. I think last year's heat really drove them to produce quickly.

Oh and yes I ate it right after its photo was taken. It was yummy. Not as good as later ones will be, but still quite good. I can't wait until I have so many I can't eat them all. I'm hoping that won't take too long.

Today's Work

I went out in the morning to finish cleaning up the tomato plants. I couldn't however. It had rained last night and the plants were still soaking wet. So that and the spraying will have to wait. Hopefully tomorrow will be drier. At the very least it is going to be in the 70s all day tomorrow so I can always do it in the afternoon if I have to.

While I was out I did a little hand pollinating of both the zucchini and melons. Then I picked some chocolate mint. I decided it was big enough that I could dry it. And indeed it filled up my dehydrator just fine. I put it outside to dry. I have an outlet by my front door. The scent of the mint wafted into the house all day long on the wind. What a wonderful small.

Then I decided if I couldn't work outside in the garden because of the dampness. I'd go into the nursery and finally pot up my broccoli. The plants were getting really crowded in their little blocks.

They were much happier in their new newspaper pot homes. As soon as these are ready to be planted I'll rip out the old broccoli, which despite the heat is still giving me some good side shoots.

Since my hands were dirty, I made a whole flat of soil blocks. Then immediately filled them all up. I put in five rows of a kale mix. I put one seed in each block. I only need about 18 plants, so the thirty blocks should be more than sufficient. I was afraid of doing more than one seed though since it was a mix. I might pull out the weaker looking ones and end up all the same variety. Or I might leave some of the weaker ones and find out that they were actually week seedlings. I think before these get planted I'll be able to tell them apart a little bit more. At least I'm hoping. I haven't a clue what kind of kale is in the mix.

There are twelve rows in a whole flat (6 blocks per row). So for the next three rows I put in some bok choy. I don't get big ones during the heat, but little tiny ones will grow. They are so cute when they get pulled. They won't grow nearly to the size as in the spring or the fall.

The last four rows were lettuce - Red Sails, Deer Tongue, Little Gem, and Jericho. I propped the flat up so it would be close enough to the light.

In the middle of this somehow I got outside. Don't ask me how. I haven't a clue. But it was after I had made the flat of blocks, but I hadn't planted them up yet. I was probably thinking I needed to thaw out some of the seeds in the fridge. I know I did that. I have a tenancy to flitter from one thing to the next before the first one is finished. It is how I go out into the garden for 10 minutes and end up there for hours.

Anyway I noticed the ends of the tomatoes were dry. So I started to clean the first couple out. But sadly once I got to the third one it was still wet as it was closer to the middle of the jungle. So once again I went back inside. I'll get to it tomorrow. I know I want to spray now, but really we will have some rain in the forecast for the next couple of days so I ought to hold off until Saturday anyway. That way it won't get washed off.

Lunch was a very simple meal. Some lettuce with homemade French dressing. Some carrots. I didn't even bother to chop them up. Some left over grilled snap peas from last night (they are amazingly good cold the next day). And some cheese. I was going to eat my zucchini lasagna for lunch but I decided to have leftovers for dinner. I'll eat the lasagna and my hubby will eat some pulled pork.

In the afternoon I made some little slings for the melons out of bird netting. The melons really need support soon. I'll get it up in the next few days. And still to go this afternoon I have to make some seed tapes for the carrots.

Things I Got Done and Things I Didn't

I meant to spray my tomatoes and peppers but somehow that just didn't happen. I went out in the morning to pick. The chamomile came first. I had tons, but the plants were looking a little ratty, so I decided to cut them back by about half.

Then I went over to the fava beans. They all looked ready, but I couldn't get to some of them. I decided pulling them up would make my life easier. But then look what I found on the backs of so many leaves.

Ladybug eggs. And there were a lot of larvae hidden in there. And a lot of ladybugs. My aphid forest had really brought them out. The ladybugs were easy since they would just fly away to another plant. The larvae I searched for and put in my tomatoes. The leaves that had eggs were scattered all around the garden. There were probably 20 bunches of eggs that I found. And probably more that I didn't. I felt so bad because I knew I had destroyed a lot that I didn't see. And I saw egg casings that had hatched, but not nearly enough larvae. I'm sure some of those got composted too. I even saw a solitary lacewing egg and an adult in the foliage.

Now I have a spot to plant up. I think more carrots are in order. I need a lot more carrots to make me happy this fall. Hmm maybe some more cilantro too. Though I might have enough space in the far end of this bed for that.

Heinz is setting a lot of tomatoes.

Before spraying the tomatoes and peppers, I had to open up my tomato plants and get all the diseased foliage off. I only succeeded in doing eight of the plants. I'll do the other nine in the front of that bed tomorrow.

I did however get the extensions put on the cages that needed it. Soon some of them will be too tall for me to reach. I really need a garden stool that I can use to sit on too. I've been taking my old small cooler out to sit on. It works, but I can't stand on it. It is too tippy.

By 9:30am it had hit 85F degrees so I was chased inside the house. I'm a real heat wimp and we are in the middle of a heat wave right now. Heat waves in Boston are designated as three days over 90F in a row. This will be our third today. And it will be our eighth day above 90F for the year. Which is more frequent than normal. I so hate hot summers.

So I didn't finish the tomatoes. And I didn't spray. I didn't finish weeding. But there is always tomorrow.

Zucchini Lasagna

Yesterday I had a lot of zucchini in the fridge. I gave a couple to my townhouse mates. I gave a couple to my CSA. Then I still had zucchini left. I decided to use it up all at once. I'd never made zucchini lasagna before, but it sounded delicious. And it sounded like it would use up a lot of zucchini.

There were a lot of recipes out there, but I sort of followed the Food Network recipe. That isn't to say things went exactly. I used what I had and what I liked.

Zucchini Lasagna

• Whatever zucchini I had (no measurements done)
  
• lots of olive oil
  
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 whole sweet onion (1/4 seemed way too little to me)
• pint of home canned thick tomato sauce
• 1/2 t dried oregano
• 1/2 t dried thyme
• clove of garlic crushed
  
• lots of fresh basil
• 1 egg
• 1/2c lowfat cottage cheese ( I only had a half. If I'd had more it would have been a cup)
• 1 c shredded fresh mozzarella
  
• 1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 t flour (I should have used twice as much, maybe three times)

Slice the zucchini the long way about a quarter inch thick. Fry up the zucchini in olive oil. Set aside. Fry up the meat and the onions and drain. Add tomato sauce, oregano, thyme, and garlic to the meat mixture. Simmer for 15 minutes. In a bowl mix up the egg, cottage cheese, 3/4c mozzarella, Parmesan, and flour. In a casserole dish put in a third of the meat mixture. Top with a third of the zucchini. Cover the zucchini with a layer of basil leaves. Add half of the cheese mixture. Do another layer of meat, zucchini, basil and cheese. End with a layer of meat and zucchini. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Add the last 1/4c of mozzarella to the top and cook for 10 minutes more.

I wish my husband would eat something like this because we would have had it for dinner. I knew I couldn't eat it all myself. As it was I invited my townhouse mates over for lunch. I still have leftovers for the next couple of days.

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.

Harvest Monday - July 4 2011

This is another week where I haven't been home to pick my crops. I'll be home later today and respond to any blog related questions that I've missed since Thursday.

I seem to have fallen into a pattern of picking my chamomile blooms once a week on Mondays. I won't get to pick them today, but I'll do it again tomorrow morning. Above were picked last Monday. And dried for winter tea.

Then the peas. I brought out a big bag again, but alas I didn't really need it. The snow peas were in a definite lull and the snap peas don't seem far behind.

This basket was picked because I planted some fall veggies. Though the shorter maturing will have one more harvest before the real fall season. I'll seed more of them later. Last year I direct seeded the short maturing fall crops. Maybe I'll do that again if there is a lot of free space at the time.

The first of the pollinated zucchini were picked. Three plants seem to be producing well. The fourth is being slow about it all. There was also another zucchini picked but it didn't get photographed. I also picked some sideshoots of the broccoli. One I picked too late and tossed. Blossoming flowers aren't going to do anything under a row cover.

I needed some lettuce for my sandwiches while I was camping over the weekend. So I picked one of the Anuenue. It is a Hawaiian lettuce that Mac sent me. It is obviously a crisphead, which I haven't grown before.

And last but not least the peas again. I usually pick them twice a week. The Golden Sweet are starting to put out more peas. The Blizzard snow peas didn't have any peas on them, but I can see a new wave of flowers coming in. I hope Cascadia is ready for another wave, because I'll really miss them when they are gone. I usually rip my peas out on July 15th as they give up the ghost then and it gives me time to plant fall carrots in their place. Some of the pea leaves are starting to turn yellow and some are getting powdery mildew, but I expect to get one more wave of Cascadia before they have to go. The peas from successive waves aren't as pristine and tend to be a bit more deformed, but they still taste good. Pea season is just too short.

• Broccoli 0.48 lbs
• Cucurbits 1.84
  
• Greens 2.32 lbs
• Herbs 0.14 lbs
• Peas 1.83 lbs
  
• Weekly Total 6.59 lbs
• Weekly Spent $0
  
• Yearly Total 94.04 lbs
• Still in the hole $-157.13

Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to show off, add your name and link to Mr Linky below.

A Sunny Day In The Garden

I took these a few days ago and just haven't had a good post to put them up, so I thought I'd just do it now. Thursday was a lovely day. There was an nice cool breeze and it barely got into the 80s. I was coming in from watering the rock wall garden. And saw this.

The garden is really starting to look nice.

And it is almost jungle worthy now. Soon the beans will all be leafed out and every third bed will have 7' tall foliage. The above view is from my front door peeking around the corner over the mailbox.

Doesn't This Look Better?

Yesterday my neighbor brought out his trimmer to knock the weeds down that line his driveway. These weeds line my garden too. In past years he has always used herbicides to take them down, but this year he hasn't. I think he is trying to avoid killing my garden. I have such nice neighbors.

But I figured I ought to weed out my eyesore too. This spot hasn't been fixed up since I want a shed in the corner, but since there is no mulch it grows tons of weeds. I'm dithering on the shed. I would like a pretty wooden shed. My handyman will make it for me for $1200 but dang that is a lot of money for a shed for a couple of tools. I can get an OK plastic one for $300-400. It has a place for tools on one side and a place to put fertilizer on the other. I'm thinking I might go cheap this time.

Yes I do believe it looks a lot nicer now. Eventually I'll want to put some plants for the beneficials in this corner too. Something perennial so they have a place to overwinter. I am so in need of beneficials this year.

Bees

At my last garden I could go out in July and close my eyes. I could hear the buzz of the bees. Three were so many and so many different varieties that it was more of a steady hum than a real bee buzz. If I close my eyes in my current garden, I can occasionally hear individual bees, but usually only if I'm near the flowers and the weather is very nice.

Bees have been slow to find my garden. But a few are showing up. Above made me really smile. I don't think it pollinates any of my vegetables, but I do love metallic green bees. I had two types that showed up regularly at my last garden. This is the first and only that I've seen here.

Bumble bees are always the first to show up in the spring for me. Both here and at my last garden. They are busy workers and a real boon to my vegetable garden. They especially love my tomatoes and I'm happy for that.

No garden is complete without honeybees. One year I saw barely any, but this year they seem to be around. I can usually find one somewhere on a sunny day.

Many bees are just bees I don't know their names of like this small bee.

And some aren't bees at all but hoverflies. They are bee look alikes.

I'm guessing this is some kind of hornet. It isn't one that visited my last garden. I had white faced hornets there. I even had a nest near my raspberries one year. Luckily white faced hornets are pretty peaceful creatures. I hope this one is too. I've only been stung twice while working in the garden. Once a tiny little bee got stuck in my hair. I couldn't get it out. I was hoping it would work its way out before I went inside. Nope it worked its way to my neck. I was really shocked it could even sting me it was so tiny and its sting wasn't very bad. The second was digging in the soil with my hands planting something. I rarely use a trowel. Hands are my favorite tool. Well I ran into a solitary wasps nest. Ouch. That one hurt, but at least I didn't have to look for a stinger. I was sad to have disturbed it though. I count on wasps to help me out.

In my last garden, when the herbs bloomed especially coriander, my garden was flooded with small and large wasps of all kinds. When I had tomato hornworms they were usually found parasitized with wasp larvae. They really kept the bad guys down. Here I've seen exactly one yellow jacket (my least favorite species of wasp). I'm a bit worried about that.

Addendum. After writing this post I found some of the blue black wasps I've seen before. I'm happy they found the garden, but the coriander blooms brought them in. Taking a photo of them is hard. They never want to land, but just buzz about all day long.