2014 Spiral Garden Garlic Onion Pea Corn Squash Cuke Beet

[Countryladiesgardens]

Wow your project looks so good applestar! Nice work!

[applestar]

Thank you! Lots to do right now because we finally have a break in the weather (higher than low 40's overnight) which of course means we're going to skip spring in typical NJ way, and jump right into summer -- high 70's and 80's/60's starting this weekend.

With rain forecast for later afternoon and overnight, I was determined to haul my unfinished compost across the backyard from the opposite corner of the property over to the spiral garden and get the central compost pile finished.... And I did, just as the first spitting rain started to fall

That white patch is the outer spiral segment for which I ran out of corn to sow. I'm going to amend and hill up that portion and plant the melon seedlings. So I have a sheet of bubble wrap over it to warm the soil up a bit.

You can see a bit of the covered bed in the back where the watermelon are going to go. I had potatoes in that (new) bed last year, so the whole area has been amended with sand and compost and is loose from looking for and digging up all the potatoes. All I need to do is add more compost for the watermelons.

[applestar]

From the left... Fence Row Espalier Orchard (pears, apple(s), persimmon, raspberries)... Haybale Row Bed (SVB vulnerable protected winter squash pepo and maxima vars., dry shell beans)... Sunflower House (perennial stinging nettle patch, Egyptian onion mother plants, Chinese/garlic chives patch and this year's snow peas, cucumbers, pole beans, tomatoes+)... SFHX (watermelons)... Spiral Garden (perennial elderberry, strawberries, monarda, anise hyssop, Egyptian onion mother plant, overwintered garlic, and this year's onions, snow peas, snap peas, cucumbers, corn, melons, winter squash moschata and mixta vars., bush beans, pole beans...etc.)

[applestar]

So today, the corn are 1 iPhone tall. (It's a unit of measurement right?)
Lots of sprouted weeds after the rain and warm night. Have to get at them tomorrow.

[applestar]

I mentioned this before but I love my $8 shedding rake (dog/horse grooming tool) for weeding around young plants/seedlings. It worked like a charm between/around onions, and I sowed some pre-germinated beet seed capsules where onions were more than 8" apart. Took care of the weeds around corn too.

[applestar]

I was weeding and sowing pre-germinated beet seeds again today, and just had to take some pics to show

You can get this close :)

After

The smooth edge is good for cutting the weeds below soil level, the teethed edge is good for breaking up the crusty soil. You can push/pull with either edge to scratch/stir up the surface to get at germinating weed seeds. Just be careful not to chop up the earthworms I disturbed a whole lot of them

[valley]

I have heard that if you cut an earth worm in half they will make two worms?

Your garden looks like a fun place to play in, not rough play but fun.

Richard

I just read a bit about worms they say no, the worm may survive but the tail won't grow a head, too bad.

but the Planarian Flatworm can grow a new worm from a sliver of the worm.

study this, I'm gona ask questions later.

[valley]

applestar, Is that a horse grooming wand, a curry comb, you're using to weed? You do a lot of fun and inventive things in your garden!

I like the Spiral Garden.




Richard

[applestar]

Yep!
I have a super sharp Japanese hand weeder with a triangular forged head for mass destruction of older weeds, but it's designed to be used at a specific angle and is useless in some applications. Also, because of the unforgiving shape and because the sharp triangular corners are below the soil surface while in use, it's easy to accidentally lop off the plants you are trying to weed AROUND -- you can't get too close. So I started looking for a better designed tool for close weeding, and came across something called "circle hoe" and a few others of similar design. Well, they cost $24-$36 depending on shipping etc. so I put them on my wishlist and thought about it.

Then while I had this on my mind, I went to a garden center where they sold pet/horse stuff next to the welded wire trellises, and when I saw the shedding/curry comb, a lit over my head

There were 3 or 4 designs, some fancy, but this simple brown one at $8 and pretty sturdy couldn't be beat. . I believe this one is sold as suitable for extra large dogs and horses. They sell smaller sizes as well.

[applestar]

I'm field crafting my pea supports until they grow tall enough to reach last year's modified Florida Weave tomato support strings, then I'll add vertical strings as necessary

Green Beauty snowpeas

Sugar Daddy and Sugar Snap snap peas

Added compost and mulched the melon segment of the Spiral Garden along with the SFH (rectangular -- this year's IND tomato bed), SFHX (extension -- watermelon patch) and the Haybale Row (raised mound bed -- protected winter squash patch)

The straw mulched row in front is the new raspberry patch -- I planted 4 Anne and 4 Prelude as bareroot sticks earlier in spring, and new shoots are starting to grow. I'll need to build a T-post wire support.

Not sure if you can see, but the strawberries in the center of the spiral are growing HUGE with big flowers! There must be plenty of residual nutrients from last year.

[applestar]

Winter Squash are planted

Surrounding the center spiral compost pile, I planted varieties that are resistant to SVB's (Squash Vine Borers) -- C. moschata Thai Kang Kob and Seminole, and C. mixta/angiosperma Japanese Pie and Jonathan White Cushaw.

I put their containers next to them to show how big the seedlings were relative to the containers when planted.

Most already grew the 2nd true leaf so I was feeling pressured to plant them before they were stressed. Here's a picture to show the extent of the root growth. They were all about at this stage -- just starting to grow along the container wall:

Mulched and done. Yeah too close to the corn, but unavoidable. I'm hoping they will just grow vines past the corn to seek out the sun and roots below the compost pile for nutrients. (I must have cut up at least two or more earthworms per planting hole.). I'll keep them from crawling over the corn or wrapping on the corn and dragging them down, and hopefully, the corn and squash will seek different root depths and won't compete too much... We shall see.

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[applestar]

Winter squash that are susceptible to SVB's were planted in the Haybale Row. They were C. pepo Bush Delicata and Kakai, and C. maxima Uncle David's Dessert, Red Kuri, and Guatemalan Blue.

I covered them with this insect netting row cover:

I have a second row cover and can expand coverage as they grow, and I'll think about how to protect them after that. If continuing to use the insect barrier, I plan to hand pollinate. I'm not worried about them crossing.

If any tasty morsels manage to sneak in, there is at least one resident spider, and she is carrying her babies around, so there will soon be even more hungry mouths to feed

[applestar]

High vantage view:

Melons are next!

Tomatoes and watermelons are next!

[applestar]

Beets have sprouted between the onions. They are so colorful and pretty!

Cucumbers have sprouted in a neat row behind the Green Beauty snowpeas. They are actually on the SE side. If this works, the cucumbers will take over when the snowpeas are done.

[applestar]

It seems like the squash is visibly taking off!
Does it look like the corn is keeping ahead? They are going to be in trouble if they let the squashes overtake them

...today's rain should help. The onion/beets segment of the outer spiral was getting dry. But the onions are already too tall to step over.

BTW can you see them? I threw out the remaining ungerminated squash and melon seeds in the centeral compost... well, they sprouted.

ETA: I just remembered I have a bit of Neptune's Fish left --I was under the assumption that I'm out of organic hi N ferts.-- maybe I'll go around from the path side and hi the corn with it tomorrow.... Also, I wasn't going to mulch the corn/path because I'm going to need to hill the corn later, but it looks like the anti-rain device is active again over my area. The storms literally part or go out of their way to avoid my garden. So maybe I'll start mulching with green-heavy mulch mixed with some browns. I'll just have to push them aside first when hilling.

[applestar]

Hm... Just remembered that research for the African Keyhole Garden project has shown the central compost basket to supply nutrients (and water) for approximately 6 foot radius. So if the corn would just hurry up and grow some more roots, there might be enough. Earthworms and night crawlers are making holes all over the surface of the entire Spiral Garden, too, fertilizing with worm castings 24/7.

[applestar]

BTW can you see them? I threw out the remaining ungerminated squash and melon seeds in the centeral compost... well, they sprouted.

...well, I looked again today, and -honestly- it looks like they ALL sprouted

[applestar]

I can't help it. Here's today's picture of the SG winter squash. It looks like 2nd from the left is different from 2nd from the right.

Johnathan White Cushaw — Japanese Pie or
Seminole — Thai Kang Kob — Japanese Pie or Seminole — Thai Kang Kob

Oh, look! Seascape strawberries are starting to set fruits

[applestar]

In the Patio Side Kitchen Garden, NOW the cucumber seedlings under the glass A-frame seems to be showing a slight advantage....

[Cola82]

This is all looking so nice. It also reminds me that I probably need to worry about SVBs too, now that I have squash out in the yard. Bird netting probably won't be sufficient. ;p

[applestar]

Thanks Cola Do you get SVB's? I thought I'd heard they are unheard of in Northern California, so maybe not in Oregon either?

I'm packing them in. My strategy is to plant them while I can, then collapse/relax and wait for the production to kick in

Today, I sowed pre-germinated Tiger Eye beans in the back 11-1:00 outer spiral in front of the snap peas. I soaked them overnight 5/17-18 and rinse/drained them 4 times yesterday... And practically all of them had germinated today. These are what's left in the sprouter

Christmas Lima, Old Mother Stallard, and Tiger Eye dry shelled pole beans

You can see one Tiger Eye germinated since this afternoon and a Christmas Lima is starting to germinate.

[Cola82]

That would be a huge relief if we don't. Aphids, PM, slugs, and birds are irritating enough.

[applestar]

Planted the melons in the Spiral Garden today. I wasn't sure if it's getting warm enough for them (I haven't even planted out the peppers yet) but they wre getting too big, and I prefer to only transplant them once -- to their final growing space.

So since I observed that the cucumbers under the makeshift glass A-frame did seem to benefit if only slightly, I took them from the cucumbers and gave them to the melons

Update of the Spiral Garden:

The spiral is starting to fill in.

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[applestar]

This has nothing to do with this year's Spiral Garden except that it's located where I grew these Tromboncino back then:

Subject: Tromboncino squash

Here are big ones I'm leaving to mature with one of our cats as size reference

I wish the Tromboncino seeds I tried to pre-germinate this year hadn't failed. They look cool

[applestar]

Updates:

Spiral Garden full ground-level view

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C. moschata and mixta/angeosperma and Corn Circle

Melons under glass A-frame

Last night's gusty rainstorm made some of the corn lodge. So as soon as it dries out a bit, I'm going to hill the corn with soil from the path, then I'm going to mulch and sow bush beans at the base of the hilled soil.

It looks like the melons are already outgrowing the glass A-frame, but -- ridiculous as this sounds after days of summer-like weather pushing us into turning on the A/C -- forecast for overnight low/tomorrow pre-dawn is 50°F. So I'll leave them in place for now.

[applestar]

Yes, yes, I know I posted an update just yesterday, but two days of rain and it seems like everything has doubled in size.

...and the Mother clump of Egyptian Walking Onions in the Spiral Garden are trying to "walk"

Of course all this rain came AFTER I had thoroughly watered two days ago (it probably wouldn't have rained otherwise) so the clay subsoil ground is holding the water. I released 2 feeder minnows in the inner spiral path "pond" and 1 minor in the shallower outer spiral path "pond" in case the mosquitoes decide to be active despite the sudden drop in temperature (it was 50°F this morning).

I watched a robin start hunting worms at spiral path 3:00, dash with head cocked this way and that, pecking here and there, all the way along the path -- 4:00 -- 5:00 -- down to 6:00 and then around to 7:00 -- 8:00 -- and then coming upon the waters edge at 9:00, switch gears and have a thorough bath before taking off.

[applestar]

The Seascape strawberries in the center of the spiral are starting to blush. They are huge and I've been looking forward to them ripening. BUT today, while I was stringing more support for the peas, a robin flew in and started packing at the barely blushed fruits

I yelled, but I had just wound the string around several poles and was holding the string taught while tying a good tight knot, so I couldn't let go. The robin saw me by looking away, turning one side of the head directly at me the way birds do, and... Instead of flying away, started pecking faster in a panicked kind of way. By the time I got there, one pale pink berry was completely ruined and another one was slashed.

So. I caged the strawberries with a currently unused suet feeder basket

Reddest berries are in the central closer mesh cage

[Countryladiesgardens]

Ugh! Stupid birds! Your garden looks awesome now btw..started following this thread last month, so happy I did, I really have enjoyed watching your progress! Keep it up Apple!

[applestar]

Do they look bigger?

PVC pipes >> see below

...and remember the great idea I had to use insect netting tunnel for the SVB prone squash? Well....

Squash are getting squashed under the tunnel

I have to hurry up and put up the larger tunnel. Their leaves are already getting crimped and will become susceptible to fungal issues. But since it rained rather heavily, I couldn't dig the holes for the PVC pipes today, nor expect the pipes to hold up in the soggy clay.

I'm going to try first thing in the morning, Just need the right tool to make pilot holes in the ground, and push those pipes in. I'll probably need to weed and am planning to spray with milk solution before covering them up again.

[Countryladiesgardens]

Yes! They do look bigger Nice work! Good luck with your netting too

[applestar]

Thanks! I got it done (...and I'm FEELING IT, too )

As seen from the Garden Overlook window after wearily hauling myself upstairs

Like most of my "tasks" in the garden, this has turned into a big project. There was a "knee fence" in front of the espalier orchard row that had become a nuisance because it was impossible to weed along it. Grass roots were entangling in the bottom of the fence and poison ivy had managed to sneak it's way in, making it even harder to do anything around it.

Once I got out there, I decided that the knee fence just *had* to go. It was incredibly difficult to cut through years of sod build up, avoiding the poison ivy, then once sufficiently cleared, removing every bit of it. But once done, I was able to really get in there and weed under the fruit trees, too. I'll put on some compost and mulch them another day.

Last year, I bought a post hole digging bar on recommendation from someone here. I think they use it to plant with, but I found the bar way too heavy for that. But it has been a joy to use for making pilot holes in the ground for bamboo stakes to T-posts -- much quicker than pounding a rebar (which is too thin to be really effective) into the ground with a hand sledge. But with my hard packed clay subsoil, it requires just the right timing: a day or two after good soaking rain is perfect. The ground becomes soft enough to accept the bar, but not too soft that things will keel over.

Even so, the clay prohibits deep holes -- no deeper than 15-18" or so. I had to balance using extra force to get the bar to dig deeper vs. judging if using all my strength to pull the heavy bar out of the clutches of the sucking wet clay was worth the effort it took for the number of holes I had to make.

You might have noticed that the new tunnel is NOT covering the entire Haybale Row. I couldn't get an appropriately sized net fabric by yardage. I ended up with a pre-cut fleece cover 12ft x10ft. I thought about supplementing the length with another fleece cover or maybe the insect tunnel fabric that I'd cut in half last year for the broccoli/cauliflower beds. But it was too difficult to think about how to seal the overlap. I really didn't feel like sewing them together. Luckily, I mixed the varieties up in the row, so it worked out -- more or less. kind of a bummer that the only Red Kuri didn't make it inside the protective tunnel though....

Updated Haybale Row map

Due to shortage of fabric, I had to come up with a way to close the ends with minimum waste -- I settled on making holes with the ground staple and making a running stitch with a string with taping the end like shoestring to make it easier to thread through the holes.

Last peek from the far end before pulling the cover tight and cinching closed

Stay out, SVBs!! (Bush Delicata and overwintered carrots end)

Sorry -- you're just going to have to fend for yourselves.... (Kakai, Uncle David's Dessert Pumpkin and Red Kuri end to the right with two volunteer sunflowers)

...It will be good to have some of the vulnerable (C. pepo and C. maxima) squash plants outside of the tunnel, actually, because they can be the "control" subjects in this experiment.

[applestar]

Snowpeas in morning shade and along the upper edge of the outer spiral path/swale (Outer Spirall 1:00-3:00):

These were sown late as pre-germinated seeds in April. Snowpeas are just starting to bloom

Snowpeas in the corner of the Sunflower House tomato garden in full sun and on high ground (tends to dry out ealier)

These were sown dry in late March. About a dozen pods harvested, not seeing any new blossoms, and vines/foliage are fading and starting to dry up

[applestar]

This morning, Kakai at the end of the Haybale Row and the Bush Delicata that didn't make it inside the tunnel were blooming

When when I looked inside the tunnel, the Kakai at the far end was blooming, too.

In side view of the squash protection tunnel

Do you see how much they've spread out already? Some of them were pushing on the sides. I weeded (mostly tomato volunteers), redirected the vines to grow towards the interior of the tunnel, and sprayed top and bottom of the foliage with 20% milk solution.

Oh, I took the male flowers from inside the tunnel, Nice thing about them I noticed is that they were very clean -- no fruit flies or ants inside the blossoms. So I ate them in my salad for lunch.

I didn't take pictures, but the SVB resistant squash vines in the Spiral Garden are starting to run and tendril too. I've been redirecting them and making the tendrils that have grabbed onto corn leaves let go. Two of them have snaked their way between the corn and out to the spiral path. I'm going to try to keep them growing along the base of the corn stalks on the inner spiral for as long as I can.

The melons are blooming too -- still only males, but they are running and I have to put up the trellis support for them. I'm concerned that it gets too wet along the far inner spiral which is bordered by both the inner and outer spiral path/swale and they would become prone to fungal issues if left to crawl on the ground. ...though I might let them grow along the outer spiral where the onions and garlic are.

The watermelons are currently running along their SFHX mounded patch. I need to cut the grass beyond them so they can go in that direction if necessary.

[applestar]

This week' s update photo. Harvesting snowpeas now, and have had to add more strings twice this week. The containers are overwintered hot peppers laid out to determine where to plant and to harden off.

Corn are standing 3-5 feet tall now. Waaay past "Knee high by 4th of July"....

Some of the garlic are starting to show their age in the lowest leaves, but they shouldn't be ready to harvest for a while still. They are sending up scapes and I've harvested some already.

[cdog222]

I didn't learn about scapes until my first attempt at growing garlic last year. I was ready for them this year - what a nice little treat! The rest of my family isn't quite sold yet, so more for me until they are. Almost all of my family gardens to various degrees, and yet none of them have heard of scapes. I guess the secret isn't out yet....

[applestar]

I barely got a fish net trellis up for the cucumbers in the Kitchen Garden in time. Only one day and they are climbing up and poking out of the openings in the net already

...I opened a scape and put the tiny flower buds in take out Peking duck noodle soup -- oh yum!

[applestar]

It's getting harder to walk the spiral -- I have to push the corn leaves aside and bend my head a bit. The squash and melon vines are growing wild and I have to re-adjust their direction every day. Snowpeas need to be picked daily, and the shell peas are starting to make pods - hopefully! this semi-sun location with plenty of water from the outer spiral path/swale will keep them going through the heat.

Spiral Garden

Japanese Pie Squash female flower bloomed, but there was no male open

Planted seven hot peppers -- mostly overwintered plants, but one from this year' started seeds -- along the front outer spiral between the onions and garlic.

The squash are really liking the Haybale row:

Haybale Row and SFHX

But the plants on the end NOT in the tunnel are blooming earlier -- more light?

I think this is Kakai

Another boxy looking Uncle David's (buttercup) female blossom

[applestar]

TODAY WAS THE DAY!

Very first female blossom opened INSIDE the tunnel. I took two males blossoms and hand pollinated, so hopefully it will set fruit.

First female blossom to open

There were some weirdness going on in there though...

Fused male blossom

The tunnel looks like this now,,,,

Every time I open it up, I redirect vines to stay inside, pull some weeds, and cut off and remove any yellowed leaves as well as any dropped blossoms. I started to cut off leaves that are impossible to push back in without crumpling them.

...fortunately, I don't think I need to worry about pollinating the blossoms outside the tunnel...

A bumblebee, busy at work

[applestar]

Found a female cucumber flower too, today.

[applestar]

Purple Milkweed started to bloom today....


Its a perennial in the Spiral Garden. I was so concerned that I might have accidentally uprooted or damaged it in all the Spiral Garden construction and planting activities, so it was such a relief to have it pop up in three places. This one is in the melon segment bordering the corn. You can see both foliages in the photo along with a volunteer Red Russian Kale.

...fully opened...

...and the 2nd one...

(Yes, I know... I'm incorrigible )