Beginning of another year

Here's hoping that you had a wonderful New Years and this year is your most productive one yet.  As we inch into the new gardening season, one has to take stock of where you are in order to guide your efforts to an even more glorious harvest.  For me, this year, that means many things.
First off, I have decided to forego my ususal routine of growing most of my own vegetables from seed.  I have decided to purchase most of my plants from two or three growers in my immediate area.  My reasoning for growing my own plants was that the growers were not offering the plant selections I liked to grow.  There was a paucity of heirloom plants available and an overabundance of the usual hybrid varieties.  For me, there is nothing like the taste of the heirlooms.
After visiting the various plant sellers throughout last year, I noticed that between three of the them, I could find almost all of the varieties I wanted.  And, to make it all the better, they were at very affordable prices.  It appears that the growers have finally caught up to me and other gardeners in regards to the superiority of taste of the heirlooms.
I still do need to take stock of my seed inventory which I will complete this week.  An indirect result of the aforementioned decision to curtailing my growing efforts will be a much smaller seed stock and, of course, less purchasing.  I just need to be sure I have the seeds for the various plants that can be started directly in the garden.
All of this will allow me the luxury, if you will, to concentrate more efforts in building my soils to peak richness.  Last fall I planted winter rye in all three of my beds to overwinter them.  I have written several times last year about the benefits of this which I firmly believe in.  The beds are in great shape given the weather we have had recenlty.  Two weeks ago we had wind chills in the negative 10 degree range and have just entered another colder than normal period this week.  It's supposed to right itself by this coming Friday.
Here are the beds as of last week.  I think they look great and the rye is actually holding up much better than I would have anticipated.

               

I will be waiting until probably late February to cut the rye down to the soil level.  Then I will wait for the cuttings to rot for about a week or two.  Once rotted, I will work them into the soil with either a fork or a light roto-tilling.  The object is not to distrub the roots or the sub soils.  This serves many purposes.  The cuttings will act as an immediate green manure, the roots as nutrients for the plants over the growing season as they break down and the light rototilling will not introduce imbedded weed seeds to the sun and warmth required for them to grow.
After I do this, I will need to add a mix of composted horse manure and compost in order to build the necessary fertility and structure in the soil.  One has to be careful to be sure that the manure does not have wood chips or shavings in it as those are detrimental to vegetable growth.  People sometimes use cow manure but that is courting disaster with pathogens if it is not composted correctly.  My choice is to use the safer horse manure.  I will be researching various local suppliers of this as I like to stay as local as possible.
I also have a new 8X6 greenhouse to place in my gardens.  Not quite sure where but my guess is at the end of my beds at the southernmost end.  This will, by proxy, be a reason to reset my beds.  I am thinking of getting rid of my blocks and do a more intensive planting scheme.  I am still playing with various alternatives so I havent really come to any hard choice although I will need to do so in a short time.
Well, that's all the news in the gardens at this time.  Just begining to piece it all together one step at a time.  So, until next time, Happy Gardening to everyone!       

Where the gardens are today(Part1)

I have been fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to assist two other gardeners in my area with setting up new garden areas for them.  I say fortunate because it is a compliment of sorts to have people ask you for advice let alone trust you to plan and implement their gardens.  It has been quite busy time maintaining my garden while working with these folks on their gardens all the while holding down a job too.  But it is very rewarding too.
My gardens' activity has been pretty hectic to date.  I expanded the garden area and made several decisions to make the garden more productive with food we enjoy eating and also to allow for foods that can be put up in the fall.
Last year I planted 4 paste tomatoes thinking I'd get enough from them to put up a few jars worth in the fall.  Just to try it out.  It was, to say the least, a huge disappointment.  I have spoken to several gardeners who all related that their tomatoes were off last year.  So this year, I bought 20 paste plants thinking an area of 81 sq. ft would be enough.  Not quite as it turned out.  Given last years crop issues, I did some research and found out that I have actually been crowding my tomatoes.  Seems the ideal spacing is 2 ft. between plants in a row and 3ft. between each row of caged plants.  So, I spaced mine so that I could get 15 plants in the isolated area where they wouldn't be impacted by any other plants issues.  Here's a picture of the plot so far.

The large boards on either end of the rows are set up so that I can tie them up in what is called the Florida weave method.  I have never used it before but decided it lookd easier (in the long run that is) than staking and/or caging the plants.  I do not like the cages that are sold everywhere as they are much too low height wise to handle plants that can grow to 6-8 ft. tall.  I never really understood why they were always manufactured to such small heights.  May have to do with the thin wire they use to construct them.  

The Florida weave method entails running a string alternately around the plants at 10 - 12 inches from the soil line and then every 10-12 inches upwards to give them the support they need.  Here is a picture of my first attempt at it.

You start at one end and weave the string on opposite sides of the plants as you go down the row and then loop back and weave the string to the other side of each plant.  This kind of cradles the plant as can be seen in the picture. When they get to 2 ft height, I will then do the weave at that height.  This will continue until they reach full height.  I am by no means an expert so this will be an experiment. We have had some windy weather and the plants seem to have had no issues yet.  

On another tomato note, I have 10 plants of various hybrid and heirloom plants in the ground that all seem to be doing very well too.  After researching why I had so few tomatoes last year, I learned thateither the hybrid tomatoes or heirlooms seem to do well each year but one always outperforms the other type.  As I had predominately heirlooms last year, that may have been the source of my issue. So, this year, I have it almost split down the middle.        

The two plants in the bowls are for my father in law for Father's day.  He used to have a garden but has given it up for various reasons.  I will put a cage around them for additional support.  I will use a mix of the cages I have and poles for support once they overgrow the cages.   All he has to do is water them at this point.

Speaking of experiments.  Last fall I grew out lettuce and carrots in a covered mini greenhouse.  The carrots are still growing and I have replanted the lettuce to see if I could continue to grow using the structure.  Here is where it is at as of now. 

I have two rows of leaf lettuce that are growing quite well.  I continue to water the plants and need to pull some of the carrots to see if progress is being made or we are at a standstill.  But, to have leaf lettuce this far into the season is a bonus.  

I planted a row of Buttercrunch lettuce about a month ago and covered it under woven vegetable fabric.  As can be seen below, it also is doing very well given the lateness of the season.

There are 7 heads of the lettuce in the row and they seem to all be growing very strong.  We're going to be having some nice salads soon enough.  

I also have a bed of 16 Bell Pepper plants that are doing ok given our decidely cooler weather we have been experiencing.  They are all healthy as can be seen in the picture below.  I love peppers but I really do think I over grew yet again this year.  I will probably end up giving some (alot actually) if they come in like last year.  We shall see how that turns out.  

I've also planted 6 cucumber plants.  I have them trellised on my DIY structures.  A local garden center closed about 2 years ago and I bought their onion set displays.  Here is how they ended up looking in place after I painted them and added screening.

They are really sturdy, wind resistant and somewhat compact.  When I bought them, my wife was skeptical as was I.  But, the cucumbers are starting to grow to a point where they are climbiming unto the screening.  I will see how they fare as they climb.
In the backround of the same picture are three interconnected wire "ladders" that I have converted to yet more cucumber trellises.  These were repurposed from being protective coverings for plate glass windows that were being delivered to the company where I work.  I wired them together and then attached them to rebar I pounded into the ground. they held up 5 cucumber plants - cucumbers and all through some windy storms.  These were being thrown out so I asked for them and was told if I can get them in my car - they were mine.  And they were.
With the weather turning much warmer in the next week, the various plants should begin to become more robust.  I will have to naturally watch them as the higher temps can cause issues.  You may leave in the morning and come home to plants wilting right before your eyes.  Don't stress!  This is natural as the plants wilt to preserve moisture to survive.  Just give them a good drink of water and watch them rebound.  It doesn't appear to cause any long term damage.  But if this happens repeatedly, that's mother nature telling you that you need to step up your watering game.
So, there you have the latest, greatest from my backyard.  In part 2, I will recap what has been happening in one of the gardens that I am assisting the people into becoming full on gardeners.  I will give all the details in the next week or earlier.  Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone!!!!   

Harvest time!!!

Yes, it's that time in the garden.  You know - the time when you go out to the garden with a little bit of wonderment of what all your diligent work in the garden will reward you with.  Last night, due to other activities, I wasn't able to get to the garden until around 8:15 pm.   I knew I had vegetables to pick and after inspection, I decided to water them down and then pick them in the morning when they would be their freshest.  So, with headlamp on to see what I was doing, I watered the garden down.  I know my neighbors, if they were looking, must have had a chuckle.
But, this morning I woke up with anticipation of what I had spied last night.  I picked a bunch of the various cherry tomatoes I planted along with a beautiful (in my eyes at least) Mortgage Lifter tomato. It's a Heirloom tomato with quite a story behind it.  It dates back to the 1930's when a gentleman by the name of MC Byles, with no experience of plant breeding, bred 4 different varieties of the largest tomatoes he could find at the time and developed this plant.  Legend and his recorded story has it that he sold enough of these plants to pay off the mortgage on his house.  Good for him and thanks for such a wonderful tomato I say.
So, here's the first Mortgage Lifter of the season.

I find that the first fruits from this plant are a little smaller than they should be.  I will let the next ones sit on the vine a little longer to see if maybe I was a little over eager to pick this one.  They can get close to 2 lbs each and are consistent producers throughout the season.

I also picked a bunch of the various cherry tomatoes I planted this year.  

This is about the 3rd set of these I picked so far this year.  I have eaten some and given away more to various people I know.  Last year I was asked repeatedly if I had them when in fact, I didn't grow any.  Never knew people loved these so much so I guess I will have to grow them due to the demand. 

Lastly, I also picked two cucumbers.  These come from seeds I bought in Italy years ago.  

These are some of the best cucumbers I have tasted.  I'm going to have to do a little investigation as I need to either save the seed if possible or get new seeds.  I ran an experiment with these two cukes. The one on the top hung from a trellis and the one on the bottom was laying in a melon basket as seen below.

Not sure if this will affect the taste or the amount of seeds in the cuke.  I will find out when we cut it open in the next day or so.  My guess is that there will be more meat to the basket cuke.  We shall see!  

So there you have it.  We are in the throes of quite literally "reaping what we have sowed".  I hope your garden is producing in excess so you too can share with others in your life.  If you have anything to discuss or need some help, please leave a comment and I will be glad to share my experience with you.  Until then, happy gardening everyone!