Applestar's 2016 Garden

[applestar]

Is that related to your soil-bourne disease issues? Have you tried growing in the tub with tomatoes? I planted my carrots with peas this year, and they seemed to be good companions. Now the peas are done and vines have been sharp-yanked to leave the roots and root nodules in the soil.

[applestar]

Today


Blueberries were not photo'd -- DD's ate them all.

[applestar]

Subject: Applestar's 2016 Tomatoes (& peppers & eggplants)

I'm having problems with tortoise beetle infestation in the potato foliage. These two beds were pretty badly affected, and the potato foliage had been demolished, so I decided to pull the plug and put the beds to good use.

I'd already robbed some of the tubers before -- harvested this much more today:


Planted the remaining hot pepper seedlings here where it's NOT fenced, hot and dry:

(Maui Purple, Fish, Czech Black, and Hanoi Market were overwintered from 2015)

...and remaining sweet peppers here in the Sunflower & House where it is tree-shaded in the morning and tends to be more watered:

... Of course I found two more that I forgot to plant ...

...so, that means I planted the pepper seedlings elsewhere and this didn't happen, though I did plant the sweet potatoes as planned.

More garlic harvest sitting in front of a fan on standard size webtray turned upside down.



One full-size elephant garlic...I think I'll dig up the rest in couple of days. Thinking of planting sweet potatoes in the SFHX bed and rest of the pepper seedlings in the Outer Apple Guild bed after the garlic are harvested.

Apple Guild garlic harvest has been delayed because we had some rain and the ground there was still so wet. I need to build up both inner and outer Apple guild beds so they are raised mounds >> more compost and fall leaves this winter... OR since I have to come up with an alternate crop to plant after the garlic is harvested... Maybe some kind of cover crop? The outer Apple guild is tricky because it doesn't have a protective rabbit fence.

What late summer-fall crop can be planted here without rabbits munching on them? All I can think of are nots -- not beans, not peas, not greens, not broccoli/cauliflower, not carrots, not beets.... Hmm I just had an idea -- broccoli, etc. need to be sown/grown under protective insect tunnel so that might protect them. I did think about trying fall-sown onions here, but do I want to follow garlic with onions?

[sweetiepie]

I always love seeing your garden photos. You do wonders in such a little space. Sorry no idea about the rabbits. I have a fence around mine but am now fighting pocket gophers. Terrible little creatures, just like on the cartoons, sucking your plants down from under ground. Anyway back on topic, love your garden pictures.

[applestar]

I want to show you my West Garden Gate

-- I realized the Triple Crown blackberry canes grow long enough to be like a "climbing" rose, so I decided to let it climb over the arch trellis.

View from inside the garden and from the driveway:

[applestar]

Harvested the Outer Apple Guild garlic. This is about the best condition to harvest. You can see how firmly the garlic roots have grown into the clay (there was at least one earthworm in each rootball of the garlic ). If I let the soil dry more, I would have to chip away at the clay. Absolutely no way I could harvest garlic by pulling on the top.

[nltaff]

OOooh, lovely arch over the gate! Love the pathway approaching the gate. Inviting for a slow stroll down the path, and it looks so protected and...cozy.

[applestar]

Something has been eating the chickpeas. I was blaming the baby bunny but I managed to exclude it from the Spiral Garden enclosure -- this morning it was dashing around under the Ostrich Fern -- but just now out of the upstairs window, I saw the real culprit ... A chipmunk climbing around on the chickpea foliage

Tomorrow our indoor kitties are going to have a rare garden exercise hour ...not that I expect them to catch it, but to leave their scent all over the garden.

[applestar]

Some random photos....

Spiral Garden and Sunflower House area



All the melons are up and growing. Only one of the unlabeled saved large watermelon seeds seem to have made it but it looks like it's a MOON AND STARS!



I actually did this a couple of days ago, but waited for the pruned foliage to dry up to take pictures -- I opened up the skyview and airspace as well as shrubby growth along the fence behind the Spiral Garden. I felt the cucumbers needed a bit more sun and airflow to avoid getting fungal issues. The Highbush cranberry viburnum nudum "Winterthur" needed it, too, so it can hurry up and grow up to replace some of the ROS. Removing excess ROS sucker growths and exposing the white fence made the area brighter from reflected light as well. All the mulberry and Rose of Sharon clippings went on the ground as mulch.




Today's harvest including 2nd harvest of ready to dry Marrowfat soup peas

[lakngulf]

Looking good!

[Toxic1979]

You certainly keep very busy in the garden, and all the hard work definitely shows.

[applestar]

Thank you!

[applestar]

Mine is definitely a backyard garden. I do like that we have fresh harvest of something practically every day, even if it's small quantity

TL: First fig among blackberries, a strawberry, and some tea Jasmine blossoms
TR: baby and young carrot thinnings, Hari eggplant, Butta zucchini, chickpeas
BR: ...these onions are kind of runty...

BL: ...these are the last of the soup peas -- Blauschokker Blue. Between these and the two Marrowfat harvests, there should be enough for some soup. ...but I'm finding it hard to really grow enough quantities of peas, so fresh or dried, home grown peas are only special treats. I have renewed respect for those frozen bags of peas we have been casually buying and consuming....

I AM going to try growing some for fall harvest this year.

[applestar]

I found onion maggots just starting to burrow into some of the onions today. I was out there peeling all outer layers and rinsing off the maggots from these. The necks had already collapsed on them. The maggots were tiny, some just hatched, and not far into the onions yet.

I think I'm gonna pull the biggest best ones in the next couple of days and process them for freezing. I don't even want try to cure/store them -- inspecting every single one and cutting out any iffy parts.

[Toxic1979]

If it helps at all... they look real tasty!

[applestar]

Thanks so much I think they will be fine once cleaned up and then frozen for taking out and cooking. I've been told that it's best to vacuum seal them in useful portions to minimize onion odor permeating throughout the freezer.

````

- These are the last three Giant Russian Marble Purple Striped from SFHX -- I keep saying last garlic... then remember more that I forgot to dig up -- price of planting them here and there

- A blue pail half full of blackberries this morning, but they looked more impressive in the wire colander after rinsing I believe this is a little more than a quart -- maybe 3 pints. I gave 1 qt to my parents

- I harvested some more onions. These had bent necks but not entirely collapsed yet. Some just hatched maggots in some of them, and others with marks where I believe eggs might have been oviposited. I cut those parts away. Two good sized Butta zucchini. The plants are loaded with female blossoms, but I'm not counting my eggs. SVB's and leaf-foots are here.

- one of Maid of Orleans Arabian Jasmine has been loaded with blossoms every morning. I'm continuing to put the fresh blossoms in with my 1/2 full special canister of organic green tea from Japan in the freezer. As of this morning, the canister is full, so I'm going to have to start forcing fresh blossoms in, crumbling the frozen blossoms, OR move them to a larger container....

[Toxic1979]

The blackberries look so good! I'm not sure if they'd grow up here... wish they would!

...I'm thinking a blackberry cobbler! mmmm

[applestar]

Hmm... I can't remember what it's called, but there is a species of viburnum that ONLY grows up your way in the north, and according to a well known wild forager, it's the best tasting out of all the viburnums. I always wanted to try it, but of course right at this moment I can't remember what it's called....


...I looked up some blackberry cobbler recipes...

[applestar]

Blackberries blushing on the front side of the fence between garage and West Garden Gate.


Onions on picnic table bench and cleaned and ready to bring inside in a 2 gal bucket
(I'm satisfied with doing it this way but... those dratted onion fly maggots (grumble ) )

-- These are Ailsa Craig, Red Torpedo Tropea, and WallaWalla.
Ringmaster White Spanish are not ready, though I may HAVE to pull them anyway.
They were mostly planted as transplants on 4/17)



Started a nursery seedbed patch of mixed brassicas under a pop up mesh protector

[applestar]

Kandy Korn x Glass Gem F1 in the itty bitty VGB bed are going bananas.



...due to the tight space and crowded conditions, only three stalks seem to be growing to their potential, but these three each have three silks emerging per stalk.
They are way too tall for me to attemp hand pollinating. Contenting myself with shaking the stalks and flapping the tassles. The runty stalks have their purpose though, they are just the right height to flap the tassles at the lowest silks.

In the Sunflower House, Kandy Korn x Glass Gem F1 are the tallest in the front-right quadrant of the bed. Here, I'm collecting pollen from any tassles I can reach and pollinating any silks I fancy, though I mostly concentrate on silks on the outmost stalks as well as secondary silks low down on the stalks and blocked by overlapping leaves.

__first Mirai 350BC cobs are almost ready

__the Mirai 350BC which were the first to start silking are completely "contaminated" in the secondary silks. Haha. I'll probably randomly save a couple of these to mature and see what kind of seed kernels I get.

[applestar]

[applestar]

Stinkbugs are HERE En Parade -- Harlequin on broccoli, Green on corn silk, Leaffoot or Squashbug on cucumber, Brown Marmorated on blackberry ...

[applestar]

Rice paddy is doing well -- good tillers forming. I need to hoe between the rice clumps again to keep the weed pressure down.

This year, there are only a few of these imposters -- Japanese millet that look exactly like the rice except for the tell-tale red stem base (I pulled those out right after taking the photos )

[applestar]

Harvest updates


(Duplicate vegs, one photo with cucumbers, etc. one with fig and onion)





...yeah 3 Butta zucchini plants pumping them out now...

[applestar]

...tried a different kind of collage today...

[applestar]

Someone said their “okra is taking off”
Well, I found out what that meant

I noticed they were growing more – Yesterday? The day before? – and some flower buds were starting to form… Today, the okra leaves are HUGE! The blue 2.5 qt pail is 7-½ in. diameter.



The fact that the Roselle and Okra are related is evident when you see them side to side, especially since my Okra are red stemmed Burgundy or Jing Orange (or both). Roselle are not as big as okra, but are obviously on same timeline and getting ready to bloom. Too bad I didn't get to grow Cotton this year as well – they also have similar appearance and would have been lovely as well as fun to see all three in full bloom with their hibiscus-like flowers.

---

Two Kamo eggplant fruits -- I recently found out the purple color is response to sunlight just like antho tomatoes, so I removed some of the leaves shading the bigger fruit.

[applestar]

One of the two Butta zucchini plants that have been struggling for about a week now had collapsed overnight. SVB has struck as expected:



The other three plants are looking huge and lush, and one of them had another big squash for me today, but as you can see, they are already on borrowed time:



This mystery squash had a good run with third fruit forming, but it's already affected as well.



And the Kakai bed is also doomed

[applestar]

...on a lighter note -- This morning, I put some No.3 Kyoto barrel Chinese cabbage seeds in a paper coin envelope, folded it over several times and then put it in the coin pocket of my gardening jeans. But when I went to sow them under the insect screen protected nursery bed, I realized It had fallen out somewhere. It was already 11AM and getting hot, and I still had to wash the harvest, so I gave up on trying to find the envelope -- luckily I only brought out as much as I wanted to sow, not the entire packet. Well, now, it's been drizzling for about 1/2 hour and it occurred to me that I'm going to get to soak and pre-germinate those seeds after all (I hope I find it tomorrow )

I sprayed the battered tomato seedlings and some of the VIP maters and eggplants, peppers, etc. fungal susceptible plants with my standard mix of willow branch steeped tea and milk/yogurt/kefir this morning while the dew was heavy on them. The good bugs that survived the day had all this time to stick on, so this little bit of rain shouldn't faze them at all. I love spraying with milk. I was thinking that when I was taking some pictures and smelled the fresh milky smell as I crouched down next to the raspberries behind the '16 Cherry Lane tomatoes that I had sprayed.

[applestar]

This morning, one of the three Butta zucchini plant is doing this: BER on the medium sized fruit and female blossoms not developing and browning

This is the 2nd plant of the three to be doing this and the first one has dramatically stopped growing and is failing to develop fruits even though it was loaded with female flower buds just a little while ago. I think these are likely to be more signs of the SVB induced decline. The other two that I took out were doing this a week ago.

I might just harvest the femal flower buds as baby zukes tomorrow and take out all three lush green-looking living dead plants. At least I could then use majority of the plant matter as compost ingredients -- I just have to inspect, extract the SVB's, bag and discard damaged parts just in case I missed any.

[applestar]

Today's harvest


Stevia and Applemint on the bottom left

[applestar]

Today's harvest




Random photos from today ...

[applestar]

Well, Butta zucchini plants are still trying to produce --



But the volunteer squash outside the garden fence wilted overnight, so I decided to pull it. It didn't get a chance to grow a female blossom -- not even a bud, so I never found out what it was. Oh well.

I hunkered down in the hot sun and dissected the basal stems so I could take pictures and post.



After finding 5, I began to wonder what the heck I was doing -- it was nearly noon and miserably hot, ...so I called it quits, fed those to the goldfish , and bagged all the suspect parts and composted the upper good portions -- not even one diseased leaf. What a waste.

-- you can see near center of the bottom photo where I cut the vine and found evidence of burrowing further up the vine (to the right) so I cut a little further up to where the cut was clean. There were TWO SVB's in that little segment. Also notice in the left middle photo there is a leaf with brown evidence of burrowing in the leaf stem. You need to watch out for those, too.

[applestar]

Today's cucurbit gallery:

- There was an open female blossom on the Thai Kang Kob cross, but when I went to get a male blossom, it was occupied by 2+ bees and they wouldn't leave even though I clipped it off and carried it to the female blossom... and the female blossom was occupied, too, so I simply placed the male blossom over the female blossom. The bees can sort it out.

- There was a maxima buttercup type fruit clinging to the VGE fence. The blossom had already shriveled so hopefully it had been pollinated by the bees and is set to grow.

- When I noticed this female Orangeglo watermelon blossom, it was closed and so were the male blossoms, it seemed late - 11AM -- for them NOT to have opened yet, so I thought I might have missed them while they were open. In any case, I hand pollinated it -- with any luck, this will work

- Butta is still producing



- A proper harvest sized Shintokiwa cucumber
- completely overgrown and already starting to yellow Shintokiwa (see below)
- my Kikuza x Tromboncino F1 C.moschata cross fruit is starting to yellow. It needs to turn completely buff color to be completely ripe.


...HOW is it that cucumbers are so good at hiding? I noticed this cucumber TODAY for the first time. It had already started to yellow so I decided I might as well let it mature completely for harvesting seeds since I have multiple plants. I was pretty sure this is Shintokiwa, but it's actually shorter than it should be and it has set fruit WAY earlier than the other Shintokiwas.

_ center photo shows that it's larger than the Butta zucchini I harvested. right photo shows a Shintokiwa at correct harvesting size.

[applestar]

Oh! I forgot this -- first Apple Melon blossom! ( it's a male of course, but it's an auspicious START )

[applestar]

[applestar]

This little Apple Melon plant is already promising two female blossoms -- one on each of the two side shoots that just started to elongate.

[applestar]

L: Thai Kang Kob cross seems to have set fruit. (Note the long finger-like tips on each of the calyces -- I think they are cool.)
R: Orangeglo watermelon also seems to have set fruit.

[Lindsaylew82]

get ready for runners!!! Those Apple melons are running everywhere!

[applestar]

Here's a fun new project
I hand pollinated a Mirai350BC with pollen from this super dark, short runty corn which I'm reasonably certain is Double Red Sweet corn. Harvested this cob for seeds today and when I shucked it, it looked like this

[applestar]

Yeah the Apple Melon is making me very happy -- Hand pollinated a first female Apple melon blossom today
Top Left is my Kikuza x Tromboncino F1, looking like its about ready to harvest



Bottom Left - Thai Kang Kob x -- although it doesn't say on the label, "#2 on bucket" means this should be the cross with Kikuza as the pollen donor.

Bottom Right - This is Thai Kang Kob (possibly crossed with Seminole) (possibly crossed with Tromboncino). Right away, it's showing the spots characteristic of TKK.