The July Report

Well it has been a while since I last posted. It just never seems like there is time to sit down and write. The time since may just flew by!

We are at that stage now that is most interesting. A great deal of the vegetables are growing nicely but it remains to be seen how well they form up. Will some bug or blight make an attack on us! The weather lately has been perfect for blight so I have been spraying with Bordo Mix & yes it is considered an organic application. Bordo is a mixture of copper sulfate and hydrated lime & sodium carbonate. I just hope I started spraying soon enough!

The spinach season this year was spectacular if I do say so myself. It has taken me quite a while to learn to grow spinach with success and this year was the pinnacle. Sadly with the warm weather the season is almost over and I have been cutting back the plants and putting the spinach bed to rest for the season. I will once again attempt to plant in August for fall spinach. I have never had any success with this but I am told it is the best spinach ever if you can grow it!

We are now in the lettuce/pea season. This looks like it will be a short season for the peas. The heat has caused them all, even the later beds to form peas quickly. I have had to pick and refrigerate as they just cannot stay on the plants until next weeks distribution. There appears to be a good amount but it will be a quick blast I think. Lettuce took forever to come on but it is on now with strength. The reddish Sangria, the green Buttercrunch, The Lolla Red, the green Black Seeded Simpson the glossy Vesey's Bright Mix & Hope Seeds Mesculan Mixture are all up and doing well. These usually stand up well in the heat and I have new beds planted to keep the lettuce season prolonged. The Romaine is just beginning to form heads so it should be in distribution soon.

The carrot season is just around the corner. I have picked a baby carrot and it was delicious! The early Broccoli has not yet started to form but it should be soon. Tomatoes are in blossom but no fruit is set as yet. The celery and celeriac are both looking good so far but still a long ways to go for them. Green beans are looking very good but not in blossom just yet. Peppers are in blossom but still a long ways to go. Onions look very good and we should have sometime in August. Cucumbers are so so. I have had trouble the last 2 years and not sure why. They are coming but it has been a struggle . The zucchini plants are getting big but no blossom as yet. Cabbage is coming along but has quite a ways to go. Kohlrabi is almost ready to start picking and beets are forming but need a week maybe two. Some of the Buttercup squash has started to blossom and the Butternut squash should start soon. We transplanted basil plants last week so should have basil in a while. The eggplants are doing quite well but it remains to be seen if we will have anything to show.

The washouts have been melons and regular turnips are very spotty this year. I thought the parsnips would be a washout also but some are coming so we will have a taste.

I just finished planting the mid season garden yesterday. Green beans, carrots varieties of lettuce, late broccoli (going to try anyway) radish (iffy if this heat continues) and will plant some purple top turnips after this rain subsides.

So I am picking, hoeing, feeding, watching, mulching and mulching, killing potato bugs as we have a few but it will get worse, trust me! Slug searching and snail hunting. Well okay it my not sound like fun to you but nothing warms the cockles of my heart more than a bucket full of dead slugs! Well a pot full of potato bugs is also heart warming. What, play golf and miss all this? Bite your tongue, or even better a crunchy juicy purple top turnip yummmm must run out to the garden.....

If you want to see more pictures of the gardens go to http://furlongfoto.blogspot.com/2010/04/vegetable-garden-2010.html

the link is on this blog.

Wow! Where did May go? Just a blur of planting and tilling and mulching and planting and tilling and now...weeding and hoeing and planting and etc etc...

Things are looking pretty good. Carrots are up which is always a challenge. The green peas and the snow peas are climbing. Broccoli and cabbage and kale and kohlrabi are all at the right stage. Bok Choi looks promising. Spinach is on quite well as some of you are getting some now. Lettuce is slower than expected but Leaf and Buttercrunch and Romaine are all coming up. Purple Top Turnips are coming along. Potatoes look very good and are well on their way.

Green and yellow beans are planted. Beets and Radish are up!

Just starting to plant tomatoes and will plant some squash and maybe melon tomorrow. Cucumbers, Zucchini and Pumpkin are in the ground.

Celery is planted and celeriac probably tomorrow.

So all in all everything is looking promising but Mother Nature can change things at any time!

My one downer is the eggplant seedlings are not looking too good. Infested with aphids and just not looking promising.

So far we have had rhubarb, spinach and herbs. Rhubarb has been picked very heavy so will hold back on more for a week or so. Hopefully lettuce & chard will pick up the pace and be ready in a couple of weeks!

It Is A Little Busy Out Here!

May is rocketing past and there just does not seem to be enough hours in the day. The house is full of seedlings waiting their turn to be hardened off for outdoors. Just watering and feeding the inside plants is quite a little job!

Some of course have outgrown their original planting trays so need to be re potted into larger pots.

Out in the garden planting, watering, feeding and mulching are in full swing. Also more tilling to be done. Peas, beets, purple top turnips, radish, onion, garlic, leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, buttercrunch lettuce, spinach, mizuna, joi choi, arugula, kohlrabi,chard, cabbage, broccoli & kale are all up out of the ground! The first red potatoes are starting to show. Carrots have not come up as yet. Bunching onions are not up yet.

Much more planting to come however. In fact more of just about everything plus of course the peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, celery, celeriac, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins.

So if all goes well today I will be planting broccoli seedlings, onion seedlings and watering, feeding and mulching and......

Where Did April Go!

April was a very busy month. The soil dried out much earlier than usual which allowed for earlier than usual planting. In some cases I am almost a month ahead of normal.

Peas, Spinach, Pak Choi, Arugula, Beet Greens, Chard, Leaf Lettuce, Mizuna & Garlic are all up and coming now.

Broccoli, Cabbage, Purple Top Turnips, Onions, Kale, Kohlrabi, Romaine Lettuce, Potatoes, Mache & Peppergrass are in the ground.

Seedlings in the house are growing rapidly and some will soon move to the shed.

The recent wet weather has slowed down further garden preparation work until things dry out a bit.

It's a good start. Perhaps the best since we started this project but as Mother Nature gives, she takes away. After all she is a woman and reserves the right to change her mind. Anytime she wants to!

April Update

Well do not let this current typical mid April weather alarm you. Peppers are popping, broccoli & cabbage are up, onions are shooting for the sky etc etc.

Of course this is all inside stuff. The early fine weather allowed me to begin work on the garden beds and I took the risk of planting some peas, spinach, leaf lettuce and some other cold weather greens. It is the earliest I have ever planted these items so a bit of a risk.

The worse case scenario is that the seeds do not germinate and I have to reseed. The soil temperature a couple of weeks ago was a surprising 50 degrees F so in theory cold weather crops will germinate. If it works we may have some early greens which is worth the risk!

In the mean time I have been hand tilling beds in preparation of the season and picking up supplies like, alfalfa meal, dolomite lime, gypsum, kelp meal so when the outside frenzy hits I am ready to go.

The hoe is sharpened, the rakes are ready and so far all is looking promising for the 2010 season. Once we get over this little cold snap the real growing will begin! Stay tuned

Let Me Egg You On!

This is a second kick at the can for eggplant. Not something I want to talk about much. A dismal failure last season. I achieved one blossom and it dried up and fell off. So I have no expectations this season but to make another valiant attempt.

This is a harder than most vegetable to grow. Loves heat and potato bugs love them! I have to plant them some distance from potatoes this year.

I am starting 24 seeds in trays which once they get 2-3 inches tall I will transplant into pots.

Then on some warm balmy day in June I will plant in the garden and watch and hope!

Picking A Peck of Pickled Peppers!

Ahhh peppers. Sweet and crunchy or hot and spicy, peppers are a true treat fresh from the garden. I will not kid you, I am far from an expert pepper grower. We get a few each year and I keep experimenting with different varieties. I would only describe my success as modest at best.

Peppers take a long time to develop. Are heat loving yet will drop their blossoms if it gets too hot on the wrong day! A little finicky and time consuming but that is the challenge!

Today is pepper starting day. The varieties of sweet peppers we will try this year are Carmen, King of the North & Healthy. The hot pepper varieties are Hungarian Hot Wax, Boldog Hungarian & Jalapeno.

It seems that as many gardeners as there are is the number of techniques used in growing peppers.

I will start mine in 3" peat pots using an organic starting soil I buy by the bag.

I moisten the soil with very warm water and plant a couple of seeds in each pot. I then put the pots in a plastic freezer bag and twist tie it. This forms a mini greenhouse effect. I then will put them on the "OSSD" (official seed starting device a.k.a a old wooden bookcase) in the kitchen. It stays quite warm in the kitchen which the peppers need.

Once they sprout I remove the plastic bag and put them on a shelf in the kitchen window. (we are very high tech here at Furlong's Folly) Once they grow their first true leaves I cull out the weakest one in the pot.

There they will stay and grow until it is time to take out side to harden off. The shelving I use is plastic with a lip so to water I simply pour water in the tray and the plants soak it up from the bottom. If they get a little leggy I will take them outside very briefly to shock them which will slow the growth and thicken them up a bit.

Sometime in late May I will take the plants to the shed and begin to harden them off. Then after a week or so, weather permitting, I will plant in the garden.

Often I will use a tomato cage and shroud the plants with a plastic garbage back for another week or two. I have had some success with using a black plastic mulch on the ground to absorb heat.

When planting in the garden I use a natural fertilizer mixed with organic manure and crushed eggshells in the bottom of each hole. Not to much nitrogen as this may cause the blossoms to drop.

Once they begin to blossom I pick off the first blossoms which allow the next ones to be larger and more uniform.

From then on it is keep them well watered, weeded, mulch, feed and wait. And wait. And wait!