SQWIB
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Re: Applestar’s 2018 Garden

Dam, how do you keep track of everything?
Looking good, love the front lawn.

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applestar
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Thanks SQWIB :D

To keep track of everything, I rely heavily on Numbers app. It’s originally a spreadsheet app, but has a fantastic scrapbook-like functionality. I don’t know if there are other apps that does this, but it works for me since I can create spreadsheet lists of growlists, seed starting logs, etc, in different worksheet tabs. I guess I’m using it like a mind-mapping visual-aid.
Screenshot of a portion of the South Planting Plans tab
Screenshot of a portion of the South Planting Plans tab
I usually crop to specifics because the jumble of information makes sense to me but probably to nobody else, but here’s almost the entire NE Planting Plan tab.
Screenshot of NE Planting Plans tab
Screenshot of NE Planting Plans tab
I have to periodically take screenshots to focus on specific areas and make a record since each tab is dynamic/fluid and ever-changing. The date/time stamp on the screenshot files, as well as re-framing in the collage-making app with watermark helps me keep track of the dynamics and progression during the season. I paste those in some of my verbose posts and in my written journaling app.

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One of my Bonsai wannabe projects....

Subject: Applestar’s 2018 Garden
April 7, 2018
applestar wrote:[...]
... oh, here are some more stuff — I think they’ve been demoted to B-team in my mind... but ...
Image
- in the foreground are some overwintered celery.
- Then my little seedling Japanese maple bonsai wannabe — I have red and green laceleaf shrub-type and a neighbor has red tree-type. These seedlings show traits that look like crosses. The brownish leaves to the left are actually the red-leafed ones but crossed with the green or maybe faded due to current insufficient light.
The poor things are barely hanging on. The littlest seedlings gave up, I think. :oops: I don’t intend the mini-Bonsai pot to be their training pot. Just have to provide them with better growing medium and pot..

Image

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Dam, my head hurts, I just use evernote, I have a "harvest" section with dates of seed starting, planting, first harvest and last harvest along with a photo and other notes. I'll reference this at the end of the year and see what I keep, what I get rid of (to make room for something else) and tweaks needed for that plant.
Then there is the recipe section with everything I grow.

I also have a notebook that is labeled "garden" that has a layout (in text) of what and where everything is planted by sections, I'll monitor the growth of everything and tweak my planting layout if needed.
I have a SUGA website for each year that I keep track of daily events, thats what I post here.

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applestar
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I’m still picking strawberries —

- the Wild ones are getting smaller and smaller and the first area that started to produce is not worth picking any more — the Berries are size of peas. So I was reaching far in for just one or two in the bed instead of going around and they fell out of my hand.

- then I went to the next area, and the wren caught me crouched under the birdhouse and yelled at me so much that I had to leave...

- then in the next bed, the only ones that looked good were growing with poison ivy...

- then at the last lush bed of Wild strawberries growing under the chickadee’s birdhouse, what I call “first” berries (earlier crop on each wild strawberry plant that are biggest in size) were shining red in the full sun, but the chickadees came back to feed THEIR babies — they Dee-Dee-Dee very loudly but unlike the wrens, they seem to be calling more in alarm than at me, but the trouble is the chicks, hearing their parents start to cheep, and their cheeps get louder and more frantic, the longer the parents Dee-Dee-Dee but stay away. Sun beating over my head and bent back, parents worriedly calling, chicks, cheeping sounding desperate ...I could hardly stay.

- THEN, when I was carefully scooping and rinsing the berries in the 2 gal bucket on the hot sunny patio, I sloshed the full bucket of water with the berries floating on the top — berries Everywhere on the brick patio. Ugh! You understand, when I pick these fragile wild strawberries, I never touch them — just the stems ...and when rinsing, I scoop the floating berries in my caged hands for minimum contact. So to now have to pick them up off the bricks by the berries one by one, feeling them squish if my fingers didn’t micro-caliper correctly was agonizing.

Image


...the Wild strawberries migrate and establish new beds from year to year. I find that some of the beds that used to produce well dwindle, but another newly established bed will produce larger berries in greater quantity. The quality of the berries are dynamic over their “June-bearing” season as well, since the ‘first berries” are relatively huge, but the berry sizes dwindle on each plant. I watch the beds as the berries start to ripen, and try to pick the best “first berries”. After that, as the berry sizes dwindle down to petit pois pea size, I leave them for the birds and animals.... Or at least that is the theory. Usually, I’m competing with catbirds and robins, and some other birds, as well as chipmunks, etc. (last year, the chipmunk predation was REALLY severe).

In addition to the chipmunks not being in the garden area this year (so far... knock on wood... I did see one run under the shed), I’m thinking this year’s excellent strawberry harvest could be attributed to some feisty little birds. Two of the most productive beds are under and in front of the birdhouses occupied by the wrens and chickadees.

(Technically there is a 3rd productive bed under ANOTHER wren house but it’s in the Front Yard Edible Landscaping Bed and I have been neglecting/kind of abandoned that this year, and this wren birdhouse is on the same fenceline, next post over from the chickadee’s, but facing to the front yard rather than the back yard — so basically within the wren’s territorial habits).

I think when the Catbirds and Robin’s try to raid the berry patches, the Wrens and Chickadees harass them and keep up their defensive behavior. Those little birds will actually swoop at the bigger birds and aggressively yell... constantly... and they keep yelling and following them until they are out of their territory. That’s probably why I have been able to pick fully ripened “first Berries” and fully ripened full clusters of berries.

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SQWIB, I have used evernote for years but NOT for garden notes. It's a mistake not keeping better records, altho seed orders, income and expenses are kept. DW and I spend hours the first few gardening days trying to figure out what we were doing the year before! I do refer to the forums for information on my garden and really appreciate HG search.

AppleStar, you do better than I did with my Alpine Strawberries. The strawberries started out in pots but "got away from me!" They have gone unused from almost the first season and only amount to something of an invasive in my lawn, these days.

About the birds. I had a few backyard laying hens during that time and expected them to delight in finding ripe strawberries in the lawngrass. No. Maybe because they were spoiled but I would see strawberries at their feet and yet, the hens seemed to ignore them!

Here's Wishing You the Best of Luck with your wildlife ...

Steve

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applestar
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Thanks digit’S. The strawberries — they are taking up so much of my time and energy ... I realized I’ve been harvesting about this much — 1/2 to 1pint in the beginning, then 1 to 2 quarts every day since May 25 when they started to trickle in. For the past week, I’ve been thinking this might be the last big harvest each day, only to find more.... but I really think today was the last really big harvest of the wild and Sweet Charley June bearers.

I was going to make strawberry syrup today, but between berry picking and planting some more, I didn’t have the strength — I managed to wipe out my back.


Planted today

TOMATOES — these are last of the in-ground tomatoes with designated spots... but I have more “backups” and container varieties....

DB Cooper (PL)
Dwarf Arctic Rose x Utyonok F2 W’17-18
Dwarf Blazing Beauty
Dwarf Chocolate <swordy>
Jack Frosts Early Love F5


PEPPERS
Aleppo Syrian
Giant Sweet Devil’s Horn
Oxhorn of Carmagnola

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applestar
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Finished planting the Kitchen Garden — almost. Just need to figure out what to do with the central strawberry jar, and *maybe* sow some cucumbers next to the lavender.

Image

...I should take an update photo of the lavender. The flower buds are starting to color — almost Ready to harvest.

The list:

Numex jalumundo ‘17 in pot
Chocolate cake
Numex Lemon Spice
Gochugaru yon gochu
Diamond
Hon Naga Nash
WS.FFS F4 short (Short wispy white elongated pointed cherry)
Fish supervar
Sweet Orange Doux
Doe Hill ‘17
Hanoi Market

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applestar
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Update of some of the Vegetable Garden Beds

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- I didn’t take a picture, but I planted Korean Melon in the north end of the little VGB bed, and yesterday, sowed some Priya Hyacinth beans, Pole Wax Goldmarie beans, and Shintokiwa cucumber seeds.

- I also sowed some New Zealand spinach in VGD.PSRB and some Calendula along the edge of the VGD bed with my experimental cross tomatoes.

- Today, Sowed Red Noodle beans and Gawar (guard gum) beans behind the potatoes in Haybale Row

- Sowed Greek Sweet Red, Tatume summer squash, Jaune Grosole Paris Pumpkin and Botelya Heirloom Squash/Bottle squash (might be gourd), Sugar Baby watermelon, Sweet Freckles, Rocky Ford, and Snow Leopard melons, Cornichon cucumber, and Blue Coco and Rattlesnake pole beans in the Sunflower House bed.


ETA - For once, I’m not pre-germinating these, but sowed them directly in the ground. Normally the temperatures should be high enough, but of course it went down to 40’s last night. :roll:

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Here are the lavenders. They look a little odd because I picked up the sprawling plant and stood them upright —- and now they are growing sideways. But those stalks will be cut as the flowerbuds develop, and then new shoots will grow upwards.

They were blocking the path as well as needing to be off the ground since they end up with fungal issues left hugging the ground.

Image

In the past, I tried ground layering them, but they rarely succeeded — I think I need sandier/better draining soil, and would be better off with more controlled propagation from cuttings.

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Image
Image

...I had a visitor...

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BTW — that broccoli leaf floating in the SIP reservoir bucket — I Put a comet goldfish in it the other day for mosquito control, so when I found a leaf swarming with mass hatching of cross striped cabbage moth caterpillars, I cut it off and float it in the bucket, caterpillar-side down :twisted:

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I cant get over how small your artichokes are, I have one that is just breaking 4', what variety are they?

This one in the upper left hand corner of the picture is being smothered, I need to open it up a bit.

pic is from 2 weeks ago.

Image

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Well, let’s see, did I start them earlier than you or later than you SQWIB? Remember, too, that I grew mine in the cold unheated garage once they sprouted, keeping them stunted in the 40’s and sometimes dipping down to 30’s while you showed yours getting huge indoors... then I was very VERY late planting them in the raised bed — it might have been as much as 3-4 weeks later than you did.

Subject: Globe artichokes
applestar wrote:Got my Emerald F1 seeds + other stuff. I’ll Start them tomorrow if I can get it done in the am.

From the front of the packet:
Thornless, meaty and astoundingly productive. Glossy, deep green, oval-shaped buds 5 inches across and 4 inches long have delicious leaves and a full heart. Robust, upright plants. Hardy to zone 7.
From the back of the packet:
Sowing Indoors—Start seeds in 4 inch pots in late January or early February. Transplant out 8 weeks
later when soil has warmed. Due to genetic make- up, about 20% of artichoke plants from seed will be
useless, so cull (pick out) smaller and albino plants at the time of transplanting.
Sowing Outdoors—Not recommended.
Subject: Applestar’s 2018 Garden
applestar wrote:Officially kicked off the 2018 Garden seed starting with artichokes and lettuce. I was expecting the lettuce but was surprised to see the artichokes starting to sprout today

Type, Variety_______ started_in_sprouted_days
—————————————————————-
Artichoke, Emerald F1...1/30...PP...2/3...4d

*PP=paper pot
Subject: Applestar’s 2018 Garden
May 01, 2018
applestar wrote:I still haven’t had the chance to plant the artichokes :roll:
...but they are greening up and looking less pathetic — either the warmer temperatures or the bit of fertilizer I gave them ... or both

Image
Subject: Applestar’s 2018 Garden
May 11, 2018
applestar wrote:Got the artichokes planted. :clap:

I decided to plant them in the two VG.PSRB’s (Vegetable Garden - Pallet Sided Raised Beds). These PSRB’s are pseudo-hugelkultur, with decaying branches and logs in the bottom, and are high enough to require some thought into what to plant: Shallow-rooted and moisture hungry plants are out. The swale/paths in front of them, as well as the neighbor’s side yard on the other side of the fence can get pretty swamped, so the moisture is available, but the plants need to be able to handle drier soil up top and grow long exploratory feeder roots that can also withstand soggy subsoil layers.

In the past, sunflowers, corn, and eggplants, as well as indeterminate and cherry tomatoes, luffah and cucumbers have done well here. Salvias, Nasturtiums, and Balsam are others that have adapted well in these beds.

This year, the Emerald F1 artichokes are planted, along with Swiss Chard (“5-color Silverbeet”). There is room for something else as well, I think, until the artichokes gain their foothold.

In the VG.SIP (Vegetable Garden - Sub-Irrigated Planter), I planted one artichoke to see if constant even moisture and high level of nutrients will make a difference for the artichoke, and also planted the remaining 4 Veronica F1 cauliflowers and some lettuce which will benefit from the moisture but probably won’t last long here where it is one of the first beds to get the direct sun and heats up fast.

Image

...

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So, in review, I think mine are just stunted. In fact, I was wondering about how mine didn’t have the divided leaves that yours were growing... and was wondering if it was a varietal difference, then they finally started growing the divided leaves, and I was feeling like they got their act together....

BUT!! Apparently, with all my thoughtful planning and scheming to trick them into thinking they’ve experienced winter and be COMPELLED to bloom THIS season ... PLUS the weird up and down spring we had, soaring into the 90’s in April and plunging into the 40’s in June — they have been THOROUGHLY SCRAMBLED because this morning, I noticed this:

Image

...when I examined all the 7 in the raised beds and the SIP, 4 of them had buds :o

Image
(forgot to check the 4 others in the sf&h but those are in more shaded area and not likely to be as advanced)

...not sure what to do now — from what you are saying, these are probably not big enough to grow full sized artichoke buds... I did give them full strength wormcasting tea......

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That's crazy, mine aren't near budding, I'll check tonight

I believe mine did get at least 10 days of 40 degree weather so I'm hoping they bud this year.

Feb 3rd - started seed
Sprouted Feb. 10th.

Feb 22nd
Image

March 23rd
Image

March 27th outside
Image

March 30th, planted
Image

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Thanks for the artichoke time-line SQWIB — I’m pretty sure there would be some varietal differences, but it’s also clear yours experienced different growing conditions than mine. I suspect ideal would have been somewhere in the middle since yours seem to have gotten a bit overgrown before being planted out, though you did keep up with them by uppotting them. It will be interesting to see and compare what happens later in the season as they develop.

I have a knack for (barely) keeping them alive and rely on that a little too much — meaning I tend to stunt them until I sense they are not going to be able to take it much longer and then plant them out. It generally takes them a while to recover.

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These squashes are another example — they were pre-germinated and sprouted, planted in starter containers, ... then got overgrown and stunted. They look like they are recovering though —

Apple Guild bed (AG) — My Thai Kang Kob cross that grew into a field pumpkin shape last year (normal TKK is a flattened kabocha-type)
Image
— little volunteer yellow peach tree growing just on the other side of the rabbit fence (trying to train it espalier style ... need to add 2nd tier wire support) ... not sure if you can see the green fruits (should have moved that green bucket :oops: )
— Enterprise Apple tree ... you can see some of the fruits which are already blushed red but they won’t be even greenapple ready until late August, and not harvest-ready ripe until late September, with fully ripe eating quality after storing until October).

Sunflower House Extension (SFHX) — Mrs. Aquillard’s Striped Cushaw in the middle surrounded by Nutterbutter butternut squash which has begun to bloom. Japanese Purple sweet potatoes on the other side of the mini-compost pile/worm tower.
Image

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Today was another day I didn’t get to do any of what I had planned for the garden.

I was picking the berries — raspberries and then a little bit of strawberries that are left in the Spiral Garden — when I realized that the little bunny had snuck inside the enclosure again. I knew where it had found access, and with the beans starting to sprout, it was just a matter of time... plus my stunted Applestar’s Medley #sweet# corn is taking their time recovering, and they are still small enough for the bunny to take down — in Fact, there had been one laying on the ground the other day that I had attributed to a cutworm, but it might have been the Bunny.

When I moved the piled up bamboo and wood stakes leaned against the suspected gate corner, and pulled the obscuring weeds, I realized the bunny’s access was really wide open and this area of the fence needed immediate attention. I had to remove the existing section of the fence and replace it with a more secure fencing — get the roll of chicken wire from the garage, fence post digger and driver from the shed ...wire cutters... and before a I knew it it had turned into a big project.

I ended up cleaning up the gate area and replacing the cobbled together gate panel as well. Boy oh boy do I hurt all over today, but upside is now I can actually use the gate, which had been inaccessible and unusable since last season.

Image
— if the bunny can get in through the gate fence, I’m going to have to chickenwire the bottom half of it.

Harvest —
Image

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I didn’t have the time to prep the bed for early spring planting and it sat idle, but the “Sunflower House” Bed is joining the party for the summer —

Botelya squash ( or gourd )
Image

Greek Sweet Red squash (C. moschata)
Snow Leopard melon (I believe this is F2 or F3 ...original commercial seeds are F1)
Image


Sweet Freckles melon
Rocky Ford melon
Sugar Baby watermelon
Image

...didn’t take a pic today but also 2 pre-sprouted and overgrown/stunted OrangeGlo watermelon that were planted out on 6/3 — starting to establish and looking better.

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Planted some of the micro-dwarf tomatoes in the main opening of the strawberry jar in the Kitchen Garden
- Jochalos
- Birdie Rouge
- Yellow Canary
Image

Some of the others are in small containers on this toddler bench on the patio (Kitchen Garden:Patio)
- Yellow Canary
- Jochalos+Pinocchio Orange
Image

Decided to plant drought tolerant herbs in the windowbox, also on the patio (Kitchen Garden:Patio)
- Rosemary (several years old...overwintered in Garage V8 Nursery)
- Sage ( started from seeds this year)
- Broadleaf Sage (started from seeds this year
...found a fuzzy caterpillar munching away at it where it was located before :x )
- Greek Oregano (overwintered in this exposed windowbox)
- Sweet Marjoram (overwintered on the Garage Shelf across from the V8 Nursery ...colder/near freezing)
- Garlic Chives (overwintered in this pot in a more protected location on the patio)
Image

Image

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Tatume squash has started to sprout and earned their place in the Sunflower House roster:

Image

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Well, these 4 artichokes are determined — at least two of them are already lining up a side bud :o

Image

None of the others -including these 2 in the same PSRB’s- show any hint of forming a bud. I guess it was some kind of environmental trigger, but darned if I know what it was... which means I can’t replicate it :roll: :|

Image

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Elderflowers are starting to bloom. The ones in the Spiral Garden entrance and in the back yard by the shed are suffering a set back from winter die-off, but the one in the Front Yard Edible Fence Row is going bananas. I suspect they do better with drought than when waterlogged. The FYEFR suffers from drought when dry, but also gets saturated when it does rain or when I over-irrigate, and the plants also have “access” to extra water from the HBR swale•path if they have water-seeking roots.

I picked enough flower umbels for a small batch of elderflower syrup. Tons more on the way, so I believe I can manage to harvest enough elderflowers as well as elderberries, if onion bag some of the fruit clusters to save them from birds, like I did last year.

Image

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Your artichokes are amazing.
How the hell do you have buds already?

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I wish I knew....

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Today’s harvest — garlic And garlic chives scapes, handful of yellow and red raspberries, 1/2 dozen Arabian jasmine blossoms, and a bouquet’s worth of elder flowers. :D

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Garlic scapes were frozen to be made into pesto with basil later. Garlic Chives scapes were minced, and along with “shredded” cabbage leaves, Swiss cheese, and Jochalos and Yellow Canary cherry tomatoes, were used for a garlicky green omelette. yum!

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I’m desperately trying to get the rest of my peppers planted so I can be done and relax.

I planted two more of the grocery bagged overwintered peppers. They were stunted from neglect and poor soil (barely nursed along by wormyworms, which I transferred to their new containers of enriched potting mix). Most of them were too difficult to separate without breaking their already limited root systems, so I group planted in inadequate community pots... but they are in far better situation than what they had been in. I believe I have one more grocery bagged pepper left, then the others are in containers but could be simply fertilized ...or Uppotted.

I got the last of the started-from-seeds-this-spring peppers planted in these black nursery pots in front of the KGP.SIP#3 (Kitchen Garden Patio Sub-Irrigated Planter No.3)

Image

...But there was a mysterious mischief-maker at large. The potting mix in the #3 had been all dug up, and 3 of the seedlings had been uprooted and tossed in a heap, though nothing was eaten (tomatoes, peppers, celery, chard). The fruit tree branches and twigs I am saving to burn later had been disturbed and almost laying on top of #3. The uprooted plants were not dried out — I Think this happened near dawn this morning — I remember hearing some crashing noise, but I had thought it was one of our indoor cats climbing around on the shelves of the Green Room, not right outside the window of that same room.

My immediate suspicion was neighborhood cat, but the digging activity didn’t look quite like a cat’s. Even so, I decided to add something to inhibit further attempts to dig in it — I needed something to make it uncomfortable to dig in the SIP. I needed citrus prunings... but I’d already pruned my citruses and most of them are de-thorned anyhow — I don’t like plants that attack me when I’m trying to take care of them.

Then it occurred to me :twisted: — my Trifoliate Orange ‘Flying Dragon’ needed to be pruned.... if you zoom in, that’s what’slaying on the surface of the potting mix. Flying Dragon has wickedly curved talon-like thorns. I also took some cuttings sinc eai’ve been meaning to try rooting them. I don’t know if this is the right time of the year, but I got them rooting in perlite now. We shall see.

Later, I realized that an old, lidless picnic cooler that is used to collect water (and had a goldfish in it) has been emptied of the water, although the cooler is sitting upright where it is supposed to be. (I’m not going outside to look ...it’s just possible the old cooler has sprung a leak between yesterday and today....) No way a cat would have been playing with the cooler full of water, even to try to catch the goldfish, I think? It would have to be pretty big to tip the cooler over and why would an animal push it back upright? A raccoon?

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I hav been trying different ways to supply the extra warmth that peppers, eggplants, and melons seem to lack in my garden.

In the last post and other recent posts, you can see that many of the peppers have been planted in the SIP’s and black containers and situated on the brick patio.

For the melons as well as this year’s later maturing and tropical-sourced squash, I’m trying something different — I have been covering the seedbed with low-hoop tunnels. I do think this might have helped them sprout and get growing faster despite the unusually low overnight temperatures we have had recently.

Since I don’t want them to get fungal issues, I’m not covering them tightly. And today, I upgraded their hoop structures and covers, and also put up a sturdy remesh trellis for the Botelya and Tatume squashes.
Image

Update photo collages of the SFH (Sunflower House) Bed and SFHX (Sunflower House Extension) Bed which are in cucurbit rotation this year:
Image
Image

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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

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applestar
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Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Harvested —

- Tronchuda cabbage, Solstice broccoli, and overgrown Veronica ronanesco cauliflower,
- Lemon balm, aka shiso (red perilla), carrot flowerheads (mostly pruned away from a tomato plant, but will use as garnish... maybe dry and see if useful as herb/spice like celery flowers.
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- Echinacea leaves, a flower bud, and a flower — making a whole plant extract/tincture this year — keep adding parts of the plants including stem, submerged in vodka (or everclear), then dig up some roots in the fall to finish the tincture ingredients
- Dwarf Moringa leaves — added these to a soup along with the Tronchuda cabbage and overgrown Romanesco — yummy!
- Yarrow blossoms and leaves/stems — will dry for later use
- a couple of small elderflower clusters which I added to already elder flowers soaking in cold water for making more cordial
- tea jasmine blossoms

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- Broccoli had a cabbageworm that had been finished off by braconid wasp babies underneath. I removed the cocoons and put them inside a cabbage.

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- I have 2 more tiny Veronica Romanesco that are starting to unravel — I don’t think they will survive this heatwave. I may be better off just cutting my losses and harvesting them at this stage.
- Do you see the Harlequin stinkbug? :evil: I didn’t notice until I saw the uploaded photo, but when I searched later, I did find 2. I have to see if there is an egg cluster.... :x

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- first of the named cultivar lowbush blueberries (I believe I have Elizabeth, Blue Jay, and Duke) as well as the Yellow Anne raspberries all of which I have been diligently bagging as they blush.

- But I discovered why I have never had good highbush blueberry harvest. I only have one and I assumed it was incompatible with the lowbush kinds, but this year, I supported the branches up to open them up more in case they were too shaded... and found a bunch of green blueberry clusters. Then they started disappearing. Even found a scattered cluster on the ground. I realized that the catbirds who always start visiting berry bushes and trees before they are ripe are “tast-testing” the conveniently higher placed high bush blueberries while they are still green and unpalatable. :evil: ...I bagged a bunch of green ones. I need to find more bags. I may have to go a step further and string fishing lines around the blueberries, but I don’t really want to injure them....

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Korean red pepper - Gochugaru yon Gochu
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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

First Thai Kang Kob x Seminole (pumpkin shape) female blossom. I hand-pollinated it just in case.

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Beds in my garden that can grow good garlic are limited because most of them are completely shaded by houses and/or trees during the shorter days of the year and they don’t get the chance to establish good root systems and leaves to support bulb development... or the area is low-lying and becomes completely waterlogged during the frozen winter until spring thaw.

This year, I found another location that is NOT suited to growing garlic.... :(

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SQWIB
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Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2016 9:21 am
Location: Zone 7A - Philadelphia, PA

Looking good

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applestar
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Random photos —
- Sunflower & House — Pink and Purple Mexican corn behind Shimofuri#2 F5’s which have less variegation but is taller and fruits were larger. Possibly indeterminate, but not sure yet. Last year, #2’s tasted richer than #1’s. Korean Melonnon the fence to the left of gate. Shimofuri#1 F5’s supported with Spiral tomato stakes to the right side of the gate/path. Japanese Striped Maize and Black Aztec in the back.
- Overwintered cabbage is the first to head up. Protected under insect screen tunnel.
- Blueberries (4 kinds) and Triple Crown blackberries. Yellow Anne raspberries.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

...I’ve been super-busy with some family stuff, snatching a couple of hours after dawn for gardening... just barely able to water and harvest before self-allotted time was up. Then some critter started raiding — starting with ALL of ripe and blushed micro-dwarf tomatoes. :evil: Then any tomato past color break in the Kitchen Garden, Patio, and Sunflower&House, ALL of the ripe raspberries and some of the blueberries... ripping through the organza bags intended to protect the berries from birds.

...I was frantic...

I spotted the culprit last week — a Chipmunk — and started out with 1 DIY bucket trap. Then got a 2nd trap. It had been sprung and bait taken a couple of times without success.

...MANY Shimofuri#1’s on the ground and with holes in the still attached fruits. This was getting serious, and I hardened my heart.

The traps were empty this morning. I was anxiously looking at all of the blushing fruits and stressing myself out. The big tomatoes are starting to color break and blush in the Spiral Garden....

That’s it. No more kid-gloves — I put dabs of peanut butter on the outside, and inside on the death-trap. I came back to the patio at 9AM after watering and doing various chores in the garden. I know I walked past the patio several times, so with me outside and in the area ... 9am, 1 dead chipmunk. RIP. O:)

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

It’s almost 5am... first light at 5:10 and sunrise around 5:45am. Waiting to see if it had in fact been safe NOT to harvest any of the halfway blushed tomatoes (mostly the determinate Shimofuri#1 and Jack Frost’s Early Love) yesterday....

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applestar
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Relieved find all undisturbed this morning —

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...I did see little Bunny-Bunny by the pond — have not been in the enclosed gardens and beds. There Are plenty of wildlife forage everywhere else because I’ve planted them for them to eat.

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applestar
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Vegetable Garden raised beds, etc. update —

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First Thai Kang Kob cross pumpkin-shape segregate:

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Gary350
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Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

The variety of plants that you have is amazing, it makes me wonder what all those taste like and how do you manage to keep up with all of it.



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