Applestar's 2015 Garden

[applestar]

MELONS!!!

[rainbowgardener]

Beautiful ! !

[BU54]

MELONS!!!

image.jpg

Cantaloupe? They look delicious!!!

[applestar]

...aaaand here is a winter squash that climbed up a trellis and set fruit about 4ft above the ground....

[applestar]

I don't know what variety these winter squash are.

They are C.moschata variety that started to take over after Kakai (C.pepo) finished maturing fruits and/or went down from SVB. Maybe Black Futsu? But they originated among the Kakai so either stray seed that sort of looked like a Kakai or one or more volunteer(s). The plant I *thought* was Black Futsu turned out to be Kikuza, so I did intend to grow them this year.

There's one more that hopefully set fruit.

[applestar]

I was referencing this:
Subject: 2014 Spiral Garden Garlic Onion Pea Corn Squash Cuke Beet

[...]

In the Spiral Garden, there are two Thai Kang Kob (maybe Seminole) and one volunteered in the compost pile Tromboncino fruits growing at the moment.


[....]

...later, it turned out that the top left is a seminole and bottom left is a Thai Kang Kob (you can see how much TKK changed as it developed later in that thread)



I'm thinking the mottled color Of my mystery squash looks like Seminole and the initial shapes as seen in the one on the bucket look more like the Seminole, but the developing size, flattening shape, and the ribbing on the bagged one looks more like Thai Kang Kob. I wonder if I'm growing a bee cross of the two this year....?

[applestar]

Oh! I forgot to mention! I might have another cross in the making.

The center bottom photo above is a Kikuza female -- she was blooming all by her lonesome on the struggling vine with no males to be her mate. So I gave her one of the mystery squash male to play with.

Not too hopeful though, since I really thought the Kikuza vine kicked the bucket long time ago....

[applestar]

9/10 Harvest

- More figs, apples and 1st Prok persimmon!
- Basil (VGDPSRB). Decided to harvest pretty severely since the Patio container basils are starting to suffer Basil Downy Mildew.

- Also first MR x ZCMWF, F1 #1F ...it is small grape shape and appears to be pink or purple. #1F plant is tall and rambling -- really hoping this is a Maglia Rosa x Coyote cross with flavor to match!
- CHERRY TOMATOES:
- - A double cluster Champagne and small cluster of SIP Petite Pomme Blanche is again looking paler ivory color.
- - Single yellow cherry is from Iva's Sweet White.
- - Large yellow grape cherry is Sweetie. (I thought that was going to be red, so will need to look it up.) Sun Bell
- - Gotta love the cute antho-calyx sun print on the Amethyst Cream (It would be worth planting in much sunnier spot just for that but the flavor might suffer from overwhelming antho overtones....)
- - Large red cherry is Sun Gold not.
- Dwarf Red okra from Blane and Burgundy okra from Burpee
- Armenian cucumber (VGB)
- 2nd Captain Lucky White had multiple skin splits due to all the rain we had.

[applestar]

These okra were a bit oppressed while Trucker's Favorite White corn were looming over them, but now that the corn stalks have been removed, they seem to be visibly trying to make up for lost time. I'm loving the color combination with the Sedum 'Autumn Joy' starting to bloom behind them.

Burpee Burgundy in the foreground, (harvested the pods today after taking the picture). Dwarf Red in the back – that big pod was the very first of all of these to set. I'm leaving it to mature for the seeds to see if it's possible. I did the same thing with Louisiana Green Velvet.

If leaving the very first pod to mature, sacrificing production on that plant, still isn't enough to save mature seeds, I'll just give up and stop trying.

[applestar]

Harvest photos from last few days. Not as much volume per day, but interesting assortment that adds to our table. Kids are eating raspberries, figs and persimmons for special treats as well as filling up on apples for their snacks every day now

...forgot to include today's apples

[applestar]

With heavy rains in the forecast, I took these photos of the side yard garden before harvesting all of the blushed to fully colored tomatoes and the red ripe apples.

{Espalier Fence Row, "Haybale" Row, "Sunflower House" and SFHX (Sunflower House Extension), Spiral Garden and SGAX (Spiral Garden Annex)}

Today's Harvest

[applestar]

Wow, haven't updated this in over a month!
I've been wanting to post a group photo of the winter squash harvest, and haven't had the chance. ...not much to tell especially since I've been dealing with health issues for the past couple of weeks.

Finally started feeling better and got my garlic planted. Half of them earlier in the week, and the last of them today. I picked two beds where I haven't tried growing garlic before. I hope they work out. It's so late -- I should have planted them two weeks ago. -- but the 10 day forecast shows we're going to stay above freezing, so hopefully they will get a chance to settle in.

With such a long lapse, there were (ARE! ) tons to be done out in the garden, too.

[applestar]

Thanks to the extended frost-free temperatures we have been having after that hard-freeze weekend in October, I found all these lovely greens that were begging to be harvested today

Two kinds of lettuce, a bit of snow and shelling peas, pea shoots and blossoms, cilantro, and baby Tatsoi (?), plus some baby carrots in the salad spinner basket... Red Russian Kale, Green Tatsoi (?), Red Choi, Red Mustard greens.

Initially, they filled the 2 gallon bucket. I sorted them into salad greens and cooking greens.

[applestar]

So of course it went down to 29°F with heavy frost this morning.

Went out and built a low poly tunnel for yesterday's garlic bed since that one is at the Northeast corner and bottom of the slope of the backyard. The picket fence to the front yard acts as a windbreak, but winter north and northeast winds sweep across the open front lawn, and it's one of the first areas along there to get frosted.

I picked this bed because it's also one of the few areas that the house shadow doesn't quite reach and cast a shadow until later on (when the sun is at its lowest, even that area gets caught by the roof peak shadow).

[applestar]

I'll post this here since it's *still* 2015 and my garden has managed to produce another harvest

I went outside in a long sleeve T-shirt over a short sleeve shirt in the 54°F misty rain and harvested these:

...initially I went out to get some kale because that's one veg that most often overwinters in my garden and even manage to offer some good leaves to harvest even when temperatures fall down to down to the teens, but it's been so warm that they are growing very well. Since I'm planning to make some lamb meatball soup, I thought kale would go nicely.

But in addition to kale, I found celery and cardinal chard, blood-veined sorrel, parsley, and even some broccoli side shoots and teeny little runt of a cauliflower.

[lakngulf]

That's quite a good late season find. Good job

[imafan26]

Wow. Great!

[applestar]

Subject: Applestar's 2015 Garden

I'm thinking the mottled color Of my mystery squash looks like Seminole and the initial shapes as seen in the one on the bucket look more like the Seminole, but the developing size, flattening shape, and the ribbing on the bagged one looks more like Thai Kang Kob. I wonder if I'm growing a bee cross of the two this year....?

I cut open the #2 Thai Kang Kob (bucket one) today