SQWIBS Urban Gardening Adventure 2018

[applestar]

Since I am desperate for some germination, I took the seeds that germinated on the paper towels and planted in some potting mix.

^^^ that’s exactly what I meant. Pre-germinating reluctant seeds is a good way to ensure they will actually sprout out of the potting mix, though there could be other factors even then.

[SQWIB]

March 12th - March 15th

I had a Tabasco pop the other day, Yippee!

I dumped all of my Black Beauty Seeds and California Wonder seeds that were in the germination towels into 4" pots, we will see
Nothing from my Poblanos yet

Stopped at Home depot and picked up some potting mix that luckily increased in price a few dollars since my earlier purchase, yippee again I also decided at the last minute to plant some cantaloupe in place of the watermelon this year, dammit, stay out of the seed aisle at HD, Well I am going to stop after work today and grab some poblano seeds.


Plants are doing well, even some of the Bok Choy came back from the brink of death.


I'll probably plant the Bok Choy two weeks later next year.


Back up under the lights for now, I really need to get these planted. These guys are really drinking up the water, I have to water every day and they are usually thirsty.





March 16th - March 18th

Installed my remesh for the Spaghetti Squash and Yard long beans, but first I needed to paint the fence where the remesh will be mounted.



Started my tomatoes Saturday, I am trying something different this year with my tomato seedlings, cells are filled with potting mix, mix is moistened, seeds are laid on top of the potting mix, seeds are covered with vermiculite and moistened with a spray bottle.Water is added to the tray.
I did pretty good not overplanting the tomatoes this year.

• 3/17 Tomato, Brandywine Red [HEIRLOOM]
• 3/17 Tomato, Cherokee Purple [HEIRLOOM]
• 3/17 Tomato, True Black Brandywine [HEIRLOOM]
• 3/17 Tomato, Rutgers [HEIRLOOM]
• 3/17 Tomato, Box Car Willie [HEIRLOOM]
• 3/17 Tomato, Matts Wild Cherry [HEIRLOOM]
• 3/17 Tomato, Sprite [HEIRLOOM]
• 3/17 Tomato, Gardeners delight [HEIRLOOM]
• 3/17 Night Shade, Cape Gooseberry [HEIRLOOM]
• 3/17 Cucurbit, Zucchini [Hybrid]

Cantaloupe popped after 3 days


Up potted my Peppers and Eggplants

[SQWIB]

March 19th - March 22nd

Note to self, start Bok Choy and Artichokes later next year!!!


Had a few tomatoes pop, Gardeners Delight and Rutgers, the Zucchini also sprouted.







Enjoying the apocalyptic ride home.


This is what it looked like when I got home Wednesday






The poor pond has seen better days.


Good morning, I guess my Bok Choy and Broccoli are dead!

[applestar]

How well were the bokchoy and broccoli hardened off? I think it might depend on if they got iced over first (we had mix falling here first ice pellets then snow). They might surprise you. I hope so.

[applestar]

@SQWIB — your bar/entertainment area under the deck — thats Not enclosed is it? I keep thinking that’s a great spot for initially taking out the tender seedlings to harden off — high level surfaces away from the cold ground and any nibblers ... start with getting used to air movement and temp swings... no need for direct sun for a couple of days, then put them in increasing hours of slanting patches of sun along the edge until they are out from the overhang.... —but maybe I’m picturing the area incorrectly.

[SQWIB]

How well were the bokchoy and broccoli hardened off? I think it might depend on if they got iced over first (we had mix falling here first ice pellets then snow). They might surprise you. I hope so.

No

[SQWIB]

@SQWIB — your bar/entertainment area under the deck — thats Not enclosed is it? I keep thinking that’s a great spot for initially taking out the tender seedlings to harden off — high level surfaces away from the cold ground and any nibblers ... start with getting used to air movement and temp swings... no need for direct sun for a couple of days, then put them in increasing hours of slanting patches of sun along the edge until they are out from the overhang.... —but maybe I’m picturing the area incorrectly.

That is where I harden off, one year they got flooded out a couple times but have since installed underdecking.


I even have a fan that can circulate some air right over the table if needed.




I just sit them on this table.

[SQWIB]

March 23rd - March 26th

The Artichokes, Maypops and Bok Choy really need to go outside.


Started my Kiwi Trellis



My Hardy Kiwi's came in




Redone of my planters using Charged-Coarse Bio-Char, Compost, Rabbit manure/bedding, Coffee Grounds, Wood, and a bit of clay soil. The wood sat in rain water and 10-10-10 for a few months.






Cleaned up the front yards and saw a bit of color, about time!!




All my tomato seeds hatched. Up Potted some tomatoes and peppers. Everything is potted up now. I could have waited another week to up pot some of the smaller guys that didn't have true leaves yet, but I was getting impatient.


Got the back pond started.

The Bok Choy is coming back.


Another week of rain!!!

[applestar]

Those drink cups sure look neat! How are you compensating for differences in height? Are you putting risers under the shorter group trays? I was wondering because I am currently playing what I call “Seedling Jenga”. The goal of the game is to keep top of the foliage as evenly across as possible.

Yesterday, I rummaged through my junkpile, discarded a milk jug lid, a juice jug lid, and finally settled on a large pill bottle lid as perfect riser for ONE pepper seedling container that was just 1/2 inch too short.... Once they are on individual risers, you have to remember that they can’t take up water when bottom watering the tray, and compensate when watering.....

[SQWIB]

Those drink cups sure look neat! How are you compensating for differences in height? Are you putting risers under the shorter group trays? I was wondering because I am currently playing what I call “Seedling Jenga”. The goal of the game is to keep top of the foliage as evenly across as possible.

Yesterday, I rummaged through my junkpile, discarded a milk jug lid, a juice jug lid, and finally settled on a large pill bottle lid as perfect riser for ONE pepper seedling container that was just 1/2 inch too short.... Once they are on individual risers, you have to remember that they can’t take up water when bottom watering the tray, and compensate when watering.....

Yeah. I call them my "Forever Cups".

I try to also match up colors for specific grouping of plants, it's a quick reference when dealing with the jumble of plants.

I don't sweat the height too much but, the smaller ones go to the far left end and then I tilt the light accordingly. Its actually pretty funny that the timing of my plants and the height of the peppers, the light is fairly level now.

I went with these 12 oz and 16oz cups because it gives me better watering control due to more potting mix.
If I forget about it for a day or two or go away for the weekend, they are OK.
I started with the smaller cups for my peppers and larger cups for tomatoes. The tomatoes in the larger cups are 3/4 filled with potting mix (about the same amount of potting mix as the 12 oz. cups) and if the maters get leggy, I just add more potting mix.

What is nice is these can go in the dishwasher at the end of the season.

Next weekend I'll be away for three days so I will water the trays about 1/4" of water Thursday morning and be back Sunday afternoon to check on them. I ask my wife to water but she gets worried that she will kill everything, she can bake but can also kill a plastic plant.


So far this year my planting schedule has been spot on, only took 3 years.

[SQWIB]

Planted the remainder of my Spinach and Sugar Snap and Snow Pea seeds to use them up, I wont grow spinach anymore after this, instead of the spinach I'm going to try Perpetual Spinach





The 10 day doesn't look too bad so I took out the Artichokes, Maypops, Bok Choy, and Cabbages to harden off. And now I have to watch the dogs like a hawk, of course they think this is a salad buffet, I mean Really! What kind of dog likes salad? Stupid dogs!!!






March 27th - April 4th

Well it's confirmed, Seedsnow made the mistake not me, now I have a ton of Bok Choy.

I Sent them this letter;

I wanted to drop you a line and emphasize my disappointment in your company.
In January I ordered Bok Choy, Waltham Broccoli, Red Acre Cabbage and Gardeners Delight tomato seeds.
Germination was great, however, the Broccoli I planted was not Broccoli it was Bok Choy, thinking I somehow messed up, I planted another flat of Broccoli, guess what ? More Bok Choy, I am very disappointed that I lost a year of Broccoli. I will no longer purchase from your company.

Sincerely yours
Disappointed customer




I ordered some supplies from Drip Depot to tweak my irrigation system.

This weekend was fairly productive. I got the Koi pond started and started repairs to the Faux Brick.





The back pond is finally clearing up a bit.



My daughter was home from college and I asked for her help, she finished painting the fence and front hugelkultur bed on the Koi Pond Patio, way to go Sam.





Planted the rest of the Bok Choy and giving my Artichokes a bit of sun.



Removing the pavers to add a drip line to the new planter on the side patio.





I'm also a bit surprised my Hyacinths are still alive, they usually flop over after a few days.



Testing Germination rate on my Oats, I'll be planting oats in half of my yard, I'll explain that later in this blog.



I'm having troubles with my Hardy Kiwi Collection from Bakers Creek, they sent out a replacement that I am watching like a hawk.





Also had one of my Yacon plants from Bakers Creek die (rear pot).



Sorting my plants for better light exposure. The dam Black Beauty Eggplant Plants exploded, and I was worried about them? lol.


I also noticed some of the soil almost completely dry on a few of the plants, I was a bit confused, because I have been on top of the watering. After closer inspection it turns out that I did not finish last years task of putting holes in the bottoms of the cups, this could have been disastrous if not caught before this weekend because I asked the wife to bottom water the plants while I was away. I am leaving Thursday morning and won't be back until Sunday afternoon.

This weekend will be a wash, I'll be canoeing Camping on the Delaware River.

[SQWIB]

April 4th - April 18th

Well, I never got to go on the canoe trip, Dad ended up in the hospital and I wasn't comfortable going away for the weekend.

I decided to refinish my Sons room, the poor kid has been asking me for two years to do his room. New paint, tore out the carpet, installed a wood laminate floor, new trim work, next up is the door, ceiling fan, closet space, furniture.

Sadly gazing at my garden from Stephens Room while installing the Laminate Flooring.


Anyhow the garden stuff was a bit on hold, I did get all my plants in Saturday but in retrospect, I should have waited for a cloudy day. I checked the 10 day and all looked good with the exception of one day being 39°F anyhow, two days so far have been 37°F low and Thursday-Friday the 19-20th, it's supposed to be 38°F for a low it even snowed yesterday for a bit. It really peeves me that the forecast dropped at least 5 degrees the day after I checked the 10 day.
I really don't like to put the plants in until the lows are at 40°F and above.





I think I lost all but one of my Asparagus crowns and I'm really down about it, they were on their third year. I ordered another 10 but they wont be here till May.

The turtles were out and about.


I hooked up a valve to the rain barrel.


Oh, wait, I did get to finish installing most of my irrigation. I tied the new planter into the line, replaced all the single drip emitters in the raised beds with drip lines and put a valve on every bed so I can shut them off individually.

I ran a line through my back retaining wall to feed the trellis garden. Drip line couldn't be on the ground because the turtles go in and out here.


Got to play with my canning stuff, Redesigning the pantry in the basement, I'll try and get better pics after I finish the shelving this week.







Yay! It hit 35° early this morning.



April 21st - April 25th

My brother and I headed over to the Fairmount Park Recycle Center and picked up some compost and triple ground mulch.

On the way home we stopped at Moms and topped off her Hugelkultur beds and picked up her trimmings from a few of the Arborvitaes she was cutting back.

When I got home I covered the rest of the grass on the top garden with cardboard, placed down Moms Arborvitaes trimmings and topped with the triple ground mulch. The grass really never grew here and I wasn't sure what to do with this area so I'm gonna try keeping it Mulched.




I ran an irrigation line from the hose bib in the front of the house, inserting the 1/4" line in the expansion joint of the driveway and securing with black silicone. It runs in front of the garage...


... then up along the side of the step and across the sidewalk...



...under the pavers and comes up through the bottom of the Hugelkultur bed... trust me it looks better than it sounds.



I then T'd off of the line from the Hugelkultur bed and ran another line to the planter.



I placed a shut off valve on each line.




I also emptied out the compost bin and done some mods. One thing I will be doing differently next year for composting is to cut back on the cardboard, I had way too much cardboard in the bin that didn't break down, other than that, everything looked good.

It has been a rough week for my plants with the weather dipping down to 35°F. I may have lost a few more tomato plants, I will confirm what needs to be replaced this weekend, what's odd is that almost all of my peppers don't appear to be adversely affected.

My Cilantro and Dill sprouted and are residing under the Grow lights for now.

All of my Hardy Kiwi plants came back, I will be starting a trellis for them this weekend, my Grapes are budding.

Laura picked some Bok Choy and we had Garlic Roasted Bok Choy.


This is a picture of my neighbors yard benefiting from my Hugelkultur beds, the area that is real green is where my yard drains into his, we are on a hill and the way the houses are designed is they all slope down to the next yard. I put in a retaining wall over 20 years ago and leveled the yard, the area that is real green is a cut out in my retaining wall. I built the wall then the fence because I got tired of sliding off the hill and getting stuck under the fence when mowing the lawn, that and the fact we had our first child and I didn't feel it was a good idea to have such a slope. I benefit from the runoff too because I ask for his grass clippings sometimes.




I recently got into canning in an effort to "hopefully" can some of my harvest and free up the freezer. It seems that I'm not diligent enough to rotate stock in the freezer and food will sometimes go to waste, well compost actually, hopefully canning will be a better approach. The Pressure canner came in Friday so I got some "practice" canning done, I'm a newbie at canning so I got much too learn.









I'm excited about this one "Buffalo chicken"


This weekends (garden) project are to;

Dig out the dead Asaparagus bed and dig down 18", and refill with compost, plant new crowns and remulch
Build the Hardy Kiwi Trellis
Run an irrigation line to the front of the house planter.
Install a doggie septic system "Dog poop Digester".


Some other to do items, purchase a larger planter for the Koi Pond Patio, pick up some compost and mulch from the recycle center, remulch the front lower garden, clean up the hill to make room for the Hardy Kiwi's, tighten up the compost bin with some stainless steel bolts, plant the leeks and do a final check on which plants need to be replaced.

[SQWIB]

April 25th - April 27th

The Canine Waste Digester idea is out, the hole failed the perc test, so I'll be filling in the hole with some house garbage, compost and other yard waste, I busted my n s digging out that clay, I'll be dammed if I put it back in there!!

Started digging out the Asparagus bed, I am going to dig 18" deep this time and add Black Kow, my compost and some city compost to the bottom. I set aside the top 6" of soil as it was good, the clay soil is going to my brother for fill. This crown pictured below actually had 2 sprouts, but I removed it anyhow. Purchasing the Black Kow is another thing that has me a bit peeved, my goal for 2018 was to rely on my compost and the recycle center ONLY!!


Hitting hard clay and granite.



I don't know if this is some kind of test or some higher power doesn't want me to be a happy gardener, but after I dug out the crowns and started on the sides I hit something hard, well it appears one of my turtles picked a bad place to hibernate, only the shell was left. I am wondering if it was due to him having a piece of his shell broken off in the front where he couldn't seal up tight. He did overwinter last year... very sad! His shell will be going to an environmental center for an educational display.

Turtle shell top left.

This morning before work, I picked up a new planter from Lowes for the Koi Pond Patio. I also grabbed some "Detroit Dark Red" Beet seeds. I hopefully will try canning some Red Beets this year.

After work, I stopped at Home Depot and picked up some Black Kow and Peat Moss for the Asparagus bed, I was really annoyed having to do this. My goal for 2018 was to not purchase any type of soil amendment, but with the death of my asparagus bed I had no alternative.

Started on the trellis, I'll be cutting the laterals Saurday but will "loose fit" them so they can easily be removed in the fall to be stained.


The horizontal 2" x 6" supports will be stained to match the fence, the upright 4" x 4" will be stained the same color as the Hugelkultur beds.


I had to get a bit creative installing the 10' 2" x 6" horizontal supports with no assistance.


The area under the new trellis will always be used for garden supplies and firewood as well as other miscellaneous stuff, but I wanted to be able to grow something in this spot, I felt the space was wasted from a gardening standpoint, hopefully the Hardy Kiwis will do well here. I need to reorganize the area under the trellis and get my Hardy Kiwi plants in this weekend.


Next up, reinforcing the compost bin with some stainless steel hardware.


Last week I installed a piece of "all thread" to keep the sides of the compost bins 6"x 6" sides from spreading, what was happening was, the weight of the compost was bowing out the sides of the compost bin (plastic part) and the wood below it as well. I'm debating if I want to leave the front open as shown, or cover it up, the jury is still out on that one.


Back to the asparagus bed, dug out a bit more, probably a little shy of 18" total, loosened up some of the clay soil.


Layered in some compost, wood ash/char, Black Kow, Sphagnum Peat moss and 5 gallons of rain water.


I have some more amendments, including some of my clay soil that I'll be adding this weekend, mixing real well and then topping with the original top soil that was removed. The Asparagus crowns are supposed to be here by Saturday.

Planted some Detroit Dark Red Beets. The small Planter is just Red Beets. Large planter has some beets around the perimeter, the center was a Sprite Tomato plant that died, I will be replacing with another cherry type tomato, hopefully.



Planted some beets with my Listada Di Gandia Eggplant...


... also around this tomato plant.


Planted some perpetual spinach the other day that seems to be doing OK, I tossed in a bunch of sunflower seeds in the Hugelkultur Beds for the wildlife.

Raspberries


Bok Choy



I'll definitely be growing this again, Laura cooked some the other day, sauteed with a tad of oil and garlic, and we both liked it, but she really liked it.


When I built this Hugelkultur bed last fall to replace the planter, I wasn't happy with it, because to be quite honest, it looked a little obnoxious. I was going to tear it out at the end of this season. After we added the uprights (other side, not finished yet), stained it, and moved the bench back to the edge of the patio and added a more proportionate planter it makes the area look much nicer. "Proportionate", lol, thats just my way of justifying a larger planter to plant more stuff. The new planter will be for flowers and leeks. Laura wanted flowers in the planter, I usually plant Leeks in it, so I compromised, I purchased the larger planter that will be half leeks and half flowers... see, I'm easy to get along with.



Phlox

[SQWIB]

April 27th - April 29th

Friday after work I stopped at Starbucks for some coffee grounds, they gave me a bag that was maybe 2.5 gallons worth, driving all the way over there felt like a waste, so I went in the back of the building and found another bag of grounds, maybe 3 gallons worth. I don't think I'll be getting grounds from Starbucks anymore, who knows.

When I got home, my Yacon replacements have arrived, I tossed them in the raised bed immediately then a little later the Asparagus came in. I dipped the asparagus bag in water and tossed in the peat moss bag for Saturdays planting. Then I worked on my Asparagus bed, Amanda had just finished cleaning out the rabbits cages, beds were amended with bunny poo, coffee grounds, then another thin layer of sphagnum peat moss.






Cleaning out an area for the Hardy Kiwi's, I original wanted to plant three but a few looked as if they had died so I contacted Rare seeds and they sent out a replacement set, anyhow after a few weeks they started to bud so now I need to get 6 in the ground, they're planted pretty tight.





Saturday was very productive and I knocked a few things off of my list.

Saturday morning it was time to hit the recycle center, my main goal this trip was to pick up the double ground mulch and remulch the two front gardens.


It was pretty busy today at the recycle center.


Loaded up and headed home.


Today's haul!




Mixed up the amendments and dug a trench and hilled up the center and tossed in the asparagus. Topped with some compost and the earlier removed top soil.


I closely inspected the old asparagus looking for a possible reason as to their untimely death, I couldn't find any insect damage or rotting. What I did notice was that all but three plants had hollow roots like straw, there were three plants that had very hard roots and upon further inspection looks like these three may have budded, I replanted these three and will see what happens.

Setting up my new planter on the Koi Pond Patio, the irrigation line comes up through the center.





I got all my leeks planted, those 2 larger leeks overwintered.


Mulched the entire front yard.

Planted my peppers in the Aquaponics, veggie filter.


Fixed my Landscape lighting out front.


Trying Perpetual Spinach this year.


Finished the Kiwi Trellis





Planted my Hardy Kiwi


I seeded half of my yard with some Oats in an effort to try and break up my rock hard soil a bit to allow for better ground absorption. Hopefully the neighbors wont call CLIP on me! I guess I should explain this a little better. The ground is so hard that hardly any water gets absorbed and it fills the yard up like a pond and sits there creating a mess, so I seeded half the yard with oats to hopefully loosen the soil, I'll be adding some sunflowers and alfalfa this weekend

The other half of the yard is grass but I have been seeding in white clover. For the last 16 years or so we have had a dog(s) and their urine wreaks havoc on the yard, I'm hoping both of these ideas work. I also had a pool that was put up in the summer and taken down each fall, this helped compact the soil even more. Grass has been the bane of my existence, planting seed year after year, watching it grow beautifully then be killed. In the front of my house and side, I removed all the grass and put in pavers and gardens.



2014

Dinner




April 30th

After work I stopped at Lowes and picked up some Mulch for Moms Flower beds, she wanted the Black bagged stuff so it's not for me. lol. I grabbed a couple 10 foot 2x4's to finish the fence and Koi Pond Patio Hugelkultur Bed.

While I was there I was looking for a decent hose, one of those springy ones, the one I have now is a "beotch", its about as flexible as black pipe!
Anyhow, when in Lowes, I came across this Zero G hose that I figured I would give a shot.




May 1st - May 5th

After work today, I stopped at moms and redone her flower beds, laid down cardboard and mulched. (She wanted the Mulch from Lowes so this don't go against my new strategy, lol.)
I planted some Alfalfa seed and Sunflower Seeds in with the Oats and some white clover in some bald spots in the lawn, we will see!
As the dogs kill the grass I'll be putting in White Clover.

Replanted a cape gooseberry in the Koi Pond Patio Hugelkultur bed and in the larger planter in front of the house. Replaced a Box Car Willie that looked near death, and replaced a Black Beauty Eggplant seedling with a Listada Di Gandia Eggplant seedling. Planted out all my parsley and a few Marigold seedlings.

Tossed an Imperial Star Artichoke in the back area of the pond, the "Tickled Pink Perennial" that I planted last year at Easter died.


May 5th - May 6th

I got a few small things done this weekend;

Saturday morning I got a little more work done on the Koi Pond Hugelkultur bed, this is mostly for Aesthetics, I didn't want a plain simple box out front so I tweaked it a bit.



We stopped at Lecks Nursery and Feeney's Nursery and picked up our flowers. I usually get my pond plants from Feeney's but the plants were horrible. My better half and I got the flowers in, we always get the bright red sunpatients, they really pop.






The Spaghetti squash has made an appearance


Laura was talking to our neighbor and she was saying that they were gonna hire someone to remove her shrubs, I said you go back over there and tell her well take care of it!!






This of course meant...



Sunday
Planted some Swiss Chard.


Tied in the front planters and the planter on the deck to the irrigation line.


I put a valve on every line to give me better control of the watering.


My other project I am working on is trying to restore my yard, half the yard is planted with oats, clover and sunflowers, the other half has been seeded with white clover. Once the dogs kill a spot, I drop down some compost, seed with clover then top with compost.



This week is cleanup week, I'm just trying to get everything back to normal, I decided to remove the small vertical garden.


Cleaned the Koi pond a bit, when we start getting some really hot days, I'll get in the pond and really do a thorough cleanup.





Plants are coming in nicely. Spearmint



Chives


Looks like its time for another chive omelet, pic was from 2016



Sage, Phlox, Horseradish, and Chocolate mint . The sage died back completely this year but last year it held onto its leaves all winter, very odd.

[rainbowgardener]

Very impressive! My kind of gardener . I always say gardening for me turns into being more about construction than plants. Feels like I have spent half my life working with stone, concrete blocks, fence posts, etc etc. And you are way more into construction and mechanics (e.g. irrigation systems) than I am. I still do irrigation with a hose and bucket. But your plants are looking beautiful.

[SQWIB]

May 25th 2018

Wow, its been a while since I updated this page.
Not much of anything has happened the last few weeks, it is sort of like watching paint dry.

Anyhow, I spent the weekend doing a section of the AT with a buddy, scrambling rocks, dodging snakes, getting soaked, you know... the fun stuff.






We finished up the trail a bit early and headed back to my trailer to reward ourselves a bit. We figured we burnt all those calories on the trail so we need to get them back.


And we did and then some!




OK...Back to the garden


Oats are doing well


I pretty much have given everything free reign to grow, I just chopped down all the cabbages and all but one of the Bok Choy and laid them out as mulch. I even let the weeds get to a decent size before pulling and placing back in the garden...nothing is removed!


Sage, Horseradish, Chocolate mint and phlox are all doing well.


There's always one knucklehead.



Last years leeks, I may save for seeds


The Cape Gooseberry in this planter is doing real well.


Something has been munching on the Comfrey, this was a good call planting the comfrey here, the turtles love hanging here.


Bad pic, but my first year getting Blueberries.


Training the Reliance Grapes


My only head of broccoli, about the size of a quarter, I will never try to grow cabbage, broccoli or Brussels Sprouts again.


Yacon, the only survivor of 4 plants


BeeBalm


No sign of my Jerusalem Artichokes.

The Box Car Willie is doing great. Parsley is doing well too, not sure about the Beets.



Snow Peas



Jalapeno, Jimmy Nardello and Poblanos in the Aquaponics veggie filter are doing well.


The pond plants are doing well.



Artichoke


Blackberries.


Table Dainty


Bok Choy for the pollinators


Training the Concord Grapes


Spaghetti Squash.



Artichoke.






Purple Thai Yard Long Beans, can't wait to make "dilly beans" this year!


Training the Hardy Kiwi's


Mater plant


Lovage


Chives


Pepper.


Yesterday when I got home I had a flooded yard, thank goodness the wife unit was home. I had a hose burst that feeds my irrigation, so that was the first thing on my to do list when I got home.

I planted a few more Table Dainty seeds and Cantaloupe seeds, all my cantaloupe plants died.



May 29th 2018

Friday my trellis supplies came in so I started work on my trellis for the concord grapes.








I was sick most of the weekend but I did get to try some stuff from the garden

Lovage, Chives including florets, perpetual spinach, eggs, american cheese, grilled chicken, topped with Feta. I would have added the Feta to the inside of the omelet but I was splitting the omelet wit my daughter and she cant stand feta, so I topped with feta for the photo then scraped it off for her. lol.









The omelet was dam tasty and the Lovage was really good, I was actually impressed, it was like a cross between celery and parsley (peppery celery) the perpetual spinach didn't taste too good raw but once cooked it was really good, it doesn't wilt quite like baby spinach so I added a tablespoon of water, wilted it down then added some olive oil and salt. A pinch of pepper flakes on the PS would have been nice but my breakfast guest doesn't like red pepper... yeah I know!


Cant wait to try some Frittatas like this.

Better shot of the Blueberries and Comfrey flowers.





Picked the broccoli to eat tonight, just starting to bolt.


This morning I was out in the yard at 4:30 am half naked due to the water line blowing again, this afternoon I ordered a pressure regulator, hopefully this will fix the problem for good!

[wisconsindead]

Your backyard looks more and more amazing every season SQWIB.

What type of drip emitters are you using for your tomatoes? What rate do the put out in gph? and how long do your run them? I am currently using 2 gph emitters on each plant for a total of 1 hour per day. But I am thinking this may be far too much water for them. My issue is I have it tied into a sprinkler system that needs to run for 1 hour per day.

[SQWIB]

Your backyard looks more and more amazing every season SQWIB.

What type of drip emitters are you using for your tomatoes? What rate do the put out in gph? and how long do your run them? I am currently using 2 gph emitters on each plant for a total of 1 hour per day. But I am thinking this may be far too much water for them. My issue is I have it tied into a sprinkler system that needs to run for 1 hour per day.

Its been a wet month so it's hard to judge.
I use 12" spaced .5gph emitter tubing.
Currently I have it set for 20 minutes in the morning every other day.
I start the season with 20 minutes twice a day until the plants are established

[SQWIB]

June 6th, 2018

Just finished up a small section of the AT with my brother and daughter.











I have been experimenting with cooking up some perpetual spinach for dinner and its pretty good. Its not so good raw.

I rinse the spinach place in a pan with a tablespoon of water or so, cover with a pot lid and steam a bit, I then add a bit of olive oil, a pinch of salt and a pinch of crushed red pepper, sometimes garlic.





The pond is looking good, I really need to get in the pond and clean it up a bit.





Jimmy Nardello in the Pond veggie filter.





Planted some hollyhock a friend had given me. I had no where to put these so I crammed them in with the Maypops.

My sugar snap peas have been coming in, the plants are half the size of the Swenson Swedish Snow Peas but are producing like crazy, I like to pick these when they're young for stir fry's and such.









Planted some crimson clover in the hugelkultur beds. The worms in the Hugelkultur beds are going absolutely nuts, these are worm castings. They're mostly on the top 2 inches of the beds.





I tucked in some Kraft paper that was headed to the recycle bin for them to munch on.





I pretty much have been in the garden after work most days just tweaking everything munching on strawberries every day and some mornings.


I have my irrigation set for 20 minutes every 48 hours, so far it has been OK.
Before an expected rain I soak the hugelkultur beds with my collected rain water. This frees up the barrels for fresh rain water.

I'm hoping by next year I can turn off the individual water lines to the hugelkultur beds and supplement with just rain water, I'll probably have to water the first several weeks until the roots are established, this is my game plan anyhow.

Been weeding a bit, cutting back the oregano and cabbage, and trying to stick to my strategy... everything is tossed back on the beds nothing is removed
Sowed a bunch of crimson clover in the hugelkultur beds, I figured most of the plants are established so they shouldn't be bothered by the clover.

The oats are doing well, these were planted too densely and some are dying off.






The turtles love it in here.




Strawberries have been doing well. I eat some and share with the turtles when I'm out doing yard work.





Cape Gooseberry





Most of the pepper plants are doing well, plants are small but producing.





I have this spot marked as a Corno Di Toro Rosso, but the closest thing it resembles is a Jimmy Nardello





Grow dammit!!




This is my first year with Marconi peppers.











I may need to add some trellis to this area next year, I'll see how the squash performs and decide if I want to make it wider or not.





First year with Blueberries





Last year my first tomato on and last one off was from a Box Car Willie, this year the first on is a Rutgers.





Time to play, my better half took the dog to the vets so I recycled some leftovers for dinner.








Sugar Snap peas roasted with olive oil, garlic, soy, sesame oil, some sriracha sauce, and chives.





Dinner is served, I call this my, "Poor Mans Lasagna", leftover Cheese Raviolis, Caramelized onions, Green peppers, some breakfast sausage from breakfast burritos I made Saturday, in a tortilla topped with three blend cheese and a bit of Sriracha Sauce. Garden Strawberries and Sugar Snap Peas. AWESOME DINNER!

[applestar]

Is that a mini-loaf tray? Love that idea to line with tortilla and fillings.

[SQWIB]

Is that a mini-loaf tray? Love that idea to line with tortilla and fillings.

Yes, I use that on my smoker when doing chicken bombs.

[SQWIB]

June 8th, 2018

I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed with the Hugelkultur beds, actually I'm pretty impressed with all the beds with the exception of the Asparagus bed.
Some of the beds are on their third season and a few are on their 2nd season. The best time to make these beds would be in the fall so they have a full winter season to absorb water, settle a bit and get more established. My beds were all built late winter, I am starting to see some settling now in the beds and have been heavily watering the Hugelkultur beds this season to help the beds settle in better.

From what I have researched, Hugelkultur beds take around three seasons to establish, this is around the time they are supposed to stop taking up nitrogen and start releasing it.

I am very happy with these beds and I feel I am over the hump with them. I'm really pleased with the soil this season so far. It's so nice to be able to use your bare hands.

It looks like the winter prep has paid off. I'm not sure how much the bio-char has made a difference, but it definitely hasn't hindered anything.

Last year I did have a terrible Slug and Aphid problem in section #4 of Hugelkultur bed #2. The slugs were easy to take care of but the Aphids were out of control, I think the main problem was the ants, there were just so many ants. This year I had the same ant problem, and I traced it to the "Rose of Sharon" plant on the hill that is next to this bed. The Rose of Sharon was infested so badly that if I accidentally brushed up against it, I was covered in tiny ants. So I figured treating the ant problem may eliminate the aphids problem, so I treated the area with a Terro bait. I usually leave the ants alone but they were just out of control.
This season I am growing crimson clover in these beds as a living mulch. For a living mulch I already have oregano and strawberries in some of the bed and have been letting the strawberries do their thing.

2nd year Hugelkultur bed (1 winter) The tomato plants in this bed are doing real well, but I am really impressed with the Rutgers plant in the center. Next year this bed will have 3 tomato plants only and I'll leave the Raspberry plant that is to the right.





We couldn't find this guy (Reds) for the longest time I found him buried and he was packed in tight, only his head was visible. Amanda dug him out and we fed him his favorite food and gave him some water, were still clueless as to how he got buried that tight. Poor guy was pretty hungry and really thirsty.





Hugelkultur bed #2 Section #1





Hugelkultur bed #2 Section #4







Raised bed on hill (Right bed)







June 10th - 12th, 2018


I actually got a jump on my Rain Water Collection. One of my 2019 goals is to utilize more rain water, this year I am using my tossed together system and the plants are thriving. The rainwater Collection progress is posted on another page. See Tabs above.

OK back to the garden


Hugelkultur bed #2 Section #3




After work today, I had the joy of replacing a bad pond pump in the back yard pond, thankfully I had a spare pump. I also tore out all of my periwinkle in the front garden and will reseed with crimson clover.

Finally getting some flowers on my cucurbits.




I guess its time to stat spraying with some Bt.






I think I'm going to thin out the Spaghetti Squash next year.











June 12th, 2018



Testing out the "Perpetual Spinach" again. I gotta say I'm really liking this stuff, I may dedicate more space to this plant next year.





Awesome dinner.





Helping mother nature with the spaghetti squash.





The only female so far.





Aquaponics, veggie filter









Front Planter






Hugelkultur bed #2 Section #3










Hugelkultur bed #2 Section #4 [L-R Cherokee Purple - Jalapeno - Rutgers - Box Car Willie - Jalapeno]






June 13th - 15th, 2018

I have been following my Gardening Strategy as outlined in the beginning of this site and it seems to be working out rather well, the only thing I haven't done is side dress with compost after the plants had flowered, but it wasn't needed.



This Artichoke is jammed up in between the Spaghetti Squash and Bee Balm. Bee Balm is just starting to flower.








This imperial star Artichoke is on the retaining wall in front of the fence.





Artichoke with Rosemary, Blackberry, Marigolds and some unidentified plant I'm letting grow.









Hugelkultur bed #2 Section #4







Left Raised bed on hill





Grapes, Raspberry, Swiss Chard





Blueberries, Comfrey, Maypops, Hollyhock.






Some random pictures of how I have been managing my new strategy, "nothing is removed" and "Interplanting". This would drive my Mom nuts! If there's a bare spot, I put something there like crimson clover, trimmed plants, bark, onions that sprouted etc...















Every now and then I'll dig in an old bagel, bread, some paper etc... I also add kraft packing paper, thin cardboard and tuck them in the back of the beds.


Pond.





Koi Pond Patio Planter with Leeks and a Gerbera Daisy. This is our Compromise planter, I wanted leeks, she wanted flowers.

[SQWIB]

June 17th, 2018

Food break,

Egg, grilled cheese - Smoked provolone, American cheese, oregano, green peppers, jalapeno, Lovage, on butter grilled Honey Wheat bread, with Sriracha Hot sauce. Beverages - Mint tea and 2% milk







Leeks for seeds. I'll leave a few leeks in the soil from this year to hopefully get seeds again next year.





Some color in the Koi Pond.





Started work on my other Grape Trellis, I'm winging this so I hope it comes out well.















June 19th, 2018


Not much going on in the garden, haven't really been up to doing any gardening lately, just playing around with my Rain water collection and grape trellis.

Calla lilies are happy in their new location, these were moved from the front garden last year.





Every thing is growing pretty good here, except my Cape Gooseberry in the Hugelkultur bed. The front yard filled out nicely, I'm still undecided on removing the Red Maple or not, I really don't want it to shade out all the growth on the hill, but do like a little shade on the patio. I was thinking if I do remove it to put in a Japanese Stewartia.

[applestar]

How are you doing with the blueberries? Here, once they start to blush like that I put the trusses in organza gift bags (wedding supply and whatnot/craft store). I use bigger ones for entire branch/multiple trusses and little ones for single trusses.

Otherwise, birds — catbirds, robins, mockingbirds — will steal the berries THE DAY BEFORE they are fully ripe, and you can’t pick them ahead of time to ripen on the counter.

The bags come with double satin ribbon cinch and generally all I have to do is pull the two ribbons to close the bags, but sometimes they get smart and pick at the ribbons until the bags open they pull the bags off... or bite down on the ripe berries from the outside of the bag. Chipmunks will rip pen the bags.

[SQWIB]

How are you doing with the blueberries? Here, once they start to blush like that I put the trusses in organza gift bags (wedding supply and whatnot/craft store). I use bigger ones for entire branch/multiple trusses and little ones for single trusses.

Otherwise, birds — catbirds, robins, mockingbirds — will steal the berries THE DAY BEFORE they are fully ripe, and you can’t pick them ahead of time to ripen on the counter.

The bags come with double satin ribbon cinch and generally all I have to do is pull the two ribbons to close the bags, but sometimes they get smart and pick at the ribbons until the bags open they pull the bags off... or bite down on the ripe berries from the outside of the bag. Chipmunks will rip pen the bags.

I don't bother with the blueberries, Its such a small quantity, I leave them for the birds.

[SQWIB]

June 20th - 25th, 2018

I got some of my garden stuff done after work today.

Cut down my Oat Field. lol.









I really wish I had enough land to do this on a yearly basis.



Cut down my Snow Peas, such a waste, we never ate any except for that one batch I made a few weeks ago, I wont grow these again. Trying to keep up with my new strategy, the Snow Peas will be chopped and placed back in the bed for mulch.

Trimmed back the Spaghetti Squash before it eats the neighbor.

Trimmed a few stems and leaves off of a tomato plant that was yellowing, this will not go back into the bed, this heads straight to the firepit.


Two of my eggplants are loaded with aphids and ants, I did put out a terro bait but the ants are still coming, I ended up spraying the leaves with Neem Oil.
Sprayed the Zucchini plant with Bt.





Time to compost. I'm already on my way to having a great compost year.

Layering my Compost ingredients.









Topped with spent Rabbit bedding.

I need to top this with my Wood Ash from last weeks cook on the Pit.


Prickly Lettuce Compass Plant Lactuca serriola?





Hoping this is my Sunchoke.







I was going nuts trying to figure out what this was, I'm pretty sure its Crimson Clover that dropped its petals.











Finished the trellis for the Reliance Grapes. I really wanted something Low Profile so I came up with this. So far I am happy with how it looks.



[imgh]ttps://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1830/42936539261_83a9401256_b.jpg[/img]







Installed gutters on the underdecking.



Compost is kicking butt



Hardy Kiwis climbing nicely





Started the day with a garden breakfast.



Done a bit more work on the Rainwater Collection. Put an overflow on the Koi Pond rain barrel and ran the hose beside the Hugelkultur bed.




Added a 2x6 to the edge of the pavers, hopefully this will divert some water to the drain and not flow on the patio.




Battled some ants




I was going to remove this vertical tower next year but the Jalapenos do so dam good here. I think I may leave it be. Maybe it's all the beer I pour in it? Quick explanation... I have a beer meister and the first pour is always foam, this foam gets dumped in this vertical tower. Looks like I'm making Poppers next week!






Chopped up all of the snow peas and mulched the Hugelkultur bed.




Been spraying the heck out of my Eggplants and Artichokes with neem oil, the Aphids are out of control.




First eggplant of the season. (Small planter on the side patio.)

[applestar]

Yay! Your artichoke is budding. Yours will grow much bigger than mine since the plants are bigger.

[SQWIB]

Grow dammit! I'm hungry!!!




Since I am running out of space in my smallish yard, I started looking at my garden in cubic feet not square feet, So I have been utilizing areas above things that are already planted.

My Corno di Toro Rosso was near death yesterday, I watered it last night and this morning. This morning it looks like it bounced back slightly.
I'm not sure what happened but it looked as if it wasn't getting any water. The only thing I can figure is that the water is channeling through the soil as the soil settles in the hugelkultur beds due to decomposition of the material below. The area is probably drying out too quickly due to air pockets and the water channeling. The roots are not extensive so it may not be reaching water.



I tweaked my irrigation lines and put the timer on for every day instead of every other day until I can get some rain water collected.

What I have been doing recently is when a hole opens up due to settling, I try to stuff it with kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, pieces of wood, grass trimmings, whatever organic matter I can get my hands on.


Yesterday after work I soaked down all the raised beds and yard, I really soaked down the Hugelkultur beds to dissipate larger air pockets, as I was doing this my son said, "dad its supposed to rain", I said, "yeah but there is only a 10% chance of rain and my luck it wont rain". Guess what it rained so hard my back yard flooded and my rain barrels are completely full.

[applestar]

Corno di Toro — maybe it’s definitely the water issue, but you might want to check for stalk borer just in case
Subject: STALK BORER in my Tomato , Potato, PEPPER

[SQWIB]

June 25th -28th

Rutgers




This is my neighbors yard, this is where I removed all of his hemlock shrubs? Anyhow I was afraid he would spray poison everywhere so I planted him a garden (per request from his wife), Basil, Eggplants, Tomatoes, marigolds, sunflowers and White clover. I go over there once a week and clean out the weeds and pinch the basil. I love my neighbors and have no problem taking care of a garden for them, plus it keeps the poison bottle use at a minimum.





July 7th

Not a whole lot going on in SQWIBS garden, I planted quite a few Okra seeds in various spots, trimming some plants here and there, trench composting quite a bit, working on my Rainwater Catchment/Diverting system. Things are going pretty good, I am battling some kind of Fungus on my Box Car willie plant, removed my Cape Gooseberry from the front Hugelkultur bed and I am having some Issue with my Matts Wild Cherry.

















I'm a novice with Bee Balm, it got real leggy then flopped, I now know I need to cut it back in early spring. I'm leaving it be for now because its been bringing in humming birds.















I'm real happy with my "Mini Guilds, this one has Maypops, Blueberries, Comfrey, Hollyhocks (that I haven't seen yet) and I just planted some Okra seeds, but I don't expect them to do anything, let alone sprout. When I trim around the yard a bit I toss it in this guild, this is two of the turtles favorite spot.


This guild wasn't really planned, it just happened, there s a rosemary in there that needs to be moved to the front, also Blackberry, Artichoke, marigolds, some weed that I've been using as a chop and drop. I like to leave all this fill in because its perfect relaxation spots for the turtles.


Here is a video of a poor attempt at capturing a hummingbird on video, however the video does give you an idea of how things are doing in my garden.

[SQWIB]

July 7th

I got a little done this weekend, Friday after work I started digging out the pathway stones and a few inches of soil, we decided to put in a mini rain garden here. When it rains the water runs down this path and onto the patio towards the drain, I'm trying to catch some water and channel the water to the drain a little better.





Saturday, Laura and I stopped at HD to Look at some flowers and once there decided to grab these. Our game plan was to look at what HD had then go to a nursery, but I was actually more impressed with HD's choices, thats pretty sad!





I had Sam help me out, after all the rocks and soil were dug out I cut the lawn and had Sam rake the grass clippings in the rain garden, I then topped with a few small bags of peat moss and 5 gallon bucket of my compost and about a 1/4 cup of Blood Meal. I then mixed everything up with a few inches of the clay soil. Sam planted the new plants for me then mulched the top. The marigolds got beat up a bit when I separated them, I had quite a few up on the hill all growing in a clump. My only concern is this area gets 5 hours of sun from afternoon till evening, I'm hopping its enough. I tested the garden out with a 55 gallon drum of water 90 percent full. I pumped the water out in about 10 minutes and it caught at least half of the water before it went towards the drain.






I battled some Aphids on my Table Dainty plants but it appears I am loosing, Tried neem oil with a few drops of dish detergent, I guess I'm gonna have to go out and spray the leaves every other day. I also have been keeping up on my Zucchini plants with Bt spraying the stem and soil surface real good, maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

I also wanted to try setting up another trellis from the deck. I want to grow Honeydew here next year, as a test I set it up and tossed in a few Cantaloupe plants from HD, This trellis is removable.






I had these stakes left over from when I purchased some landscape edging for diverting the rain water on the patio, these stake the bottom of the trellis nicely.



Here are a few shots from the garden.

The pepper plant bounced back. To be honest, I'm a bit confused as to what it is, I had it labeled as a Tabasco but I think it was replaced with a Corno di Toro Rosso?




Turtle Guild (that's what I call it now, they love it here!)




Artichoke, you really got to watch these guys, they start to open very quickly, I just got this guy in time.








I am really impressed with the Spaghetti Squash plants, I think there are at least 6 Squash so far.






This is what happens when the pepper is bigger than the plant, sunscald.








These Poblanos are earmarked for some Chili Rellenos, woohoo!












Food break.... we got to enjoy a few of our tomatoes and I had asked Laura to make me some "jalapeno poppers", but there was a mis-communication... my fault. I sent her a list of ingredients and included Jalapenos in the list, so the poppers are not from the garden (sad face).

It's pretty awesome when you are having a discussion with your spouse on where to go out for lunch and you both agree you would rather eat at home knowing there's some home grown veggies waiting.








This morning I got a little surprise, my Koi pond was half drained, looks like I'm gonna be late for work today! The veggie filter outlets got plugged and the water was running out of the veggie filter underneath the pond, I usually have the pump that feeds the veggie filter higher up in the main pond just for this reason, somehow it had dropped to the bottom of the main pond. I fixed the problem and added half the water back, I'll top it off tonight and tomorrow so I don't shock the fish.

[SQWIB]

July 10th

The 10 day is gonna be dry!







Me learning how to use the camera incorrectly!!!



Here's the pic I was trying to take.



Weeds serving another purpose.



2nd artichoke from this plant



My first BB !!!



First flower on the Purple Thai Yard Long Beans



One of my pollinators hard at work on the comfrey.



Sunflower for the birds.

[SQWIB]

July 10th

After work today I checked on my Table dainty "aphid problem", it don't look good, I put out a terro bait yesterday to get rid of the ants and will keep spraying for the aphids. It's a shame everything is shriveling up. This morning I checked and it seems the ant population has seriously declined.

I got tired of looking at my Box Car Willie plant in the planter so I ripped that out, it had one tomato the size of a marble and all the flowers were just brown. I replaced the BCW with a volunteer I pulled from my Vertical tower, we will see if it takes.


I learned last year to pull the Cherokee purples before they are ripe or they split like a 17 yr old married couple.


Minor split on top


What the hell is wrong with my Rutgers? The plant and fruit look OK, I'm wondering if it was a seed mix up or some funky cross or something, it looks like a Tigerella or Red Zebra. I ordered these seeds from Bakers Creek.


Image from Bakers Creek website


Red Zebra (image from internet)


Red Zebra (image from internet)


Yay, a viable zucchini.


Eggplants are doing nicely, the Listada di Gandia set fruit much quicker than the Black Beauties and the plants are 25% larger. This one needs to be picked soon


The spaghetti squash took over the neighborhood, I think my neighbor is going to have a good harvest this year, lol. This is the first Squash that was green, the rest all started out tannish/white.


Everything looks great from a distance.




I tasted one of the "Rutgers" last night and let me tell you it was the best tomato I have ever eaten in my life...EVER!!!

But seriously the tomato was OK, sweet with a little acid/tart flavor, nothing to write home about but just a decent tomato, although I was impressed at how thin the skin was.

Anyhow here's a few pics of the tomato and plant.









OK Back to the garden, I went out and sprayed a lot of the plants with some Neem Oil, and Bt on the Zucchini plants. I'm not winning the Aphid battle but I'm not loosing either, I'll know in a few days. I have also been battling some type of fungus/virus who knows what it is. Also powdery mildew has reared its ugly head already on my squash plants, I'm not too worried about the spaghetti squash because there's a good amount of squash set on the plant already. I picked a few tomatoes and trimmed the comfrey a bit

There is also rain in the forecast, thank goodness.


July 17th

Sunday we got a good bit of rain, I filled up my rain barrels and played around a bit. Still waiting for my 90 gallon rain barrel to arrive so I can finish my Rain Barrel harvesting system this year.

Sorry for the dizzying video!




Found this guy, not happy. I smacked him around a bit and said, "go tell your friends they'll get the same if they show their faces around here"


Some random garden pics.










Random food pics.

Chicken, Feta, Egg, Red Onion, Chopped popper and Perpetual spinach wrap.


Popper burger - Burger, popper, Am. cheese, red onion, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard (finishing up my poppers, lol)


Turkey club, (shoulda' toasted it)


A Sulcata that we are fostering until we can find him a home. Strawberry all over her face lol.


Apparently I'm not the only one that likes a good butt scratch.


Table Dainty squash isn't looking good, I may throw in the towel if it don't look better by this weekend.

My neighbor was out doing some yard work with his daughter and was thrilled at the spaghetti squash growing on his side. He said they were 30" long and 40 pounds, I laughed and thought he needs to clean off his glasses.

There's also a volunteer pumpkin plant that appeared on his side with an itty, bitty pumpkin.

[SQWIB]

July 17th

Woohoo, the Cavalry is here!



Reliance grape vine is coming along nicely.



I may have to put the table dainty out of its misery




The rain garden perked up and the plants around the pond are doing OK.






Not sure what is happening with the 3rd tomato plant from the left (Brandywine Red). It hasn't put on any new flowers or grown anymore in the last few weeks.



two of my Texas tomato cages got blown over in the storm today. The problem is these are Hugelkultur beds and I can't get the cages in deep enough for support before they hit logs or sticks, next year I'll beat in a few pieces of rebar.



Getting a 2nd harvest of strawberries and my Giant Leader Cabbage is starting to form a head, its only been 4 months!!




July 20th







Random garden pics

Chia sees for living mulch.

[SQWIB]

August 1st

Been a while since I updated this page, been pretty busy with other stuff.


Tossed some water lettuce in the pond.



Haul for the shore





At the condo (OC MD)



Food Pics

Fried Eggplant, Poblanos stuffed with cheese and sweet peppers, fried poppers..






I gotta say that I like the Listada di Gandia better than the black beauty, taste is better, cooks better, skin is not as tough. This is a winner.


Jimmy Nardello peppers fried with Burrato Cheese and French Bread, everyone raved over this. Toasted french bread would have even been better.




Tried this Eggplant Bacon recipe and it was a fail, however the marinade was awesome, I may try it on something else. I tried recycling it into a dip and it was OK, barely!



Mountains of oyster shells we found while hiking.




July 28th


OK Vacation is over ... back at home...

Garden pics when I got home


















Haul when I got home







Hardening off a few spaghetti squash.


Garden woes... gave up on the Table Dainty and pulled them. Spaghetti squash plants are dying, got a few SVB in the squash, pulled the Zucchini plant (SVB), have a few tomato plants that aren't doing well (pulled one, may need to pull two more), asparagus didn't grow hardly at all and a few pepper plants are pretty stunted.



Poblanos are going crazy




Canned some salsa






Why I love oregano in the garden.




Friendly garden critters.







Food pics

Spaghetti squash, feta, basil and tomatoes.



But first, I had to get rid of this guy.



August 1st

Harvest after work today



Pond is doing well but I really need to clean the filters.





Made some lunches for work, Eggplant, Tomatoes, Peppers, Onions, Jalapeno, Oregano, Basil.


I really need to get some trimming done.

[applestar]

Looking really great!

...and ah HA! So you came across the oyster shells in MD! I was wondering where in Philly area there would be such a place.

Also, this is the time of the year when I watch the weather radar red/orange/yellow/green blobs of storm systems march from south to north on your side of the Delaware R., with maybe fringe puffs of clouds scattering drops that may or may not fall on this side, certainly not as east as my area. (Also, my area has some kind of secret anti-rain device that activates and splits storm systems over us, the system re-coalesce after it has passed without raining....) The weather folks keep giving us false hope because they want to promise us a % chance just in case the system shifts a few miles this-a-way, but nope. On the other hand, you probably get hammered by some of those storms, too.

[SQWIB]

Looking really great!

...and ah HA! So you came across the oyster shells in MD! I was wondering where in Philly area there would be such a place.

Also, this is the time of the year when I watch the weather radar red/orange/yellow/green blobs of storm systems march from south to north on your side of the Delaware R., with maybe fringe puffs of clouds scattering drops that may or may not fall on this side, certainly not as east as my area. (Also, my area has some kind of secret anti-rain device that activates and splits storm systems over us, the system re-coalesce after it has passed without raining....) The weather folks keep giving us false hope because they want to promise us a % chance just in case the system shifts a few miles this-a-way, but nope. On the other hand, you probably get hammered by some of those storms, too.

Fresh Pond Trail Delaware Seashore - Fresh Pond State Park

Just got done pouring here at work about 30 minutes ago, Bristol.
Rained most of the week in Philly when I was in OC MD, rained a few days ago too

Rain in forecast til Sat. Night.

Sorry your not getting much.

[SQWIB]

August 6th

This weekend was a bust, had to work Saturday. On the way to work, I liberated one of these for my Butterfly Garden, I also grabbed a Milkweed, but sadly I don't think its going to make it.



I got a few fall crops planted and I thought I was being pretty slick using old Tortillo shells to plant my fall crops, that was until the little rat dog came by and ate all the shells.



Artichoke



Pulled the last of the Spaghetti squash, got two more squash that are free of SVB's


Everything in the garden is in its, what I like to call, "weird stage", Crickets have taken over, plants seem to be frozen in time, the grass is even getting funky, my lawn is overcome with this weird looking grass (Bermuda?) that grows by runners, happens every year, lots of heat, rain and humidity. This runner grass is in most of my beds, planters and pots, it's even coming up through the pavers.

I cut back a lot of the Chia plants that I had inter planted for green manure.

The Hugelkultur beds are sinking significantly this year, that's a good thing, I have been direct composting in these low spots and filling in with green manures, shredded paper, cardboard and grass clippings.

I'm basically just letting everything do its thing.




Laura had asked Stephen to shred the mail and I thought, Hmmm, mulch and said, "I'll do it", so for the next several hours I sat on the floor painstakingly going through all the mail, separating it then shredding while watching SG-1 on Hulu. I even shredded the packing kraft paper that comes in shipped packages, I then got a little crazy and started shredding the pizza boxes.


Food pics,

Frittata - Havarti Cheese with dill, Perpetual Spinach, Red Onion, Ham, Milk, Eggs. The Frittatta was excellent.


Got some canning done made a double batch of "Ball's Roasted Eggplant and Pepper Puttanesca sauce". I learned two things from this go around with canning,

1) Don't ever double a recipe until you have tried it.
2) Don't can in the house when its 95°F outside.




I am totally disappointed and can kick myself in the @SS, I canned 8 jars and have 7 to go, it was a lot of work and I sacrificed 4 pounds of eggplant and 10 pounds of tomatoes from the garden.




After work today I strained the Puttanesca sauce and rinsed real well, put back in the pot, added a few quarts of Crushed tomatoes, basil, garlic, oregano and a pinch of red peppers and simmered for 30 minutes. Processed in a water bath using 1.5 liter jars adding a teaspoon of citric acid to each jar.
I think this will make a fine sauce for pizza

[SQWIB]

August 8th

It's too hot and humid to do any serious gardening other than some maintenance. Still getting rain every few days. Heavy rain in the forecast for tonight and rain Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Was very happy to see a bunch of Honey Bees visiting the Spearmint Flowers.



Starting to get a bunch of Maypop Fruit, hopefully I'll toss together a Maypop Jam in a couple of weeks.


Laura made some Cole slaw from the cabbage and it was a fail! I have one head left still growing, if it's still good were going to make Galumpkis


My Reliance Grape vine is coming along nicely.






Definitely need to work on the tomato supports in the hugelkultur beds next year. I'm loosing my Box Car Willie, I may cut it down once the tomatoes are ripening a good bit. Marigolds are taking over, I need to trim them back a bit.





I removed most of the Basil, it took over the Asparagus bed, I am very disappointed in the asparagus.


Hardening off the Spaghetti squash, note the one in the center was green when I pulled it from the plant, (bottom picture). I'll pull seeds from it just in case I do decide to grow it again.

[applestar]

I have one head left still growing, if it's still good were going to make Galumpkis

“Great minds” SQWIB! I told my BIL to have his mom make those with the heirloom tomatoes last weekend when he told me he is having trouble with splitting from all the rain, and tomatoes are going bad quicker than they can eat them. He was really happy with the suggestion so I imagine they did.

There’s a sort of fixed brainwashing going on that tomato sauce needs to be made with “sauce” tomatoes, but great tasting super ripe heirlooms make fantastic sauce/soup.