Applestar’s 2019 Garden

[Vanisle_BC]

.... there was a BIG RABBIT sitting in the corn! ......
My DD was willing to go out and chase it off. She saw it go under our big boundary fence to the neighbor’s side yard. ugh!

I was at the bulk section in a garden/feed store. A lady beside me was bagging a lot of seed, of ... I don't member what. I remarked on it and she said she throws it over into the neighboring yard so the rabbits stay on that side of the fence.

[applestar]

[applestar]

Planted the nagaimo/jinenjo that grew from H-mart purchase in VGD.PSRB (Vegetable Garden D, Pallet-sided Raised Bed):


- Bottom-left is VGB-PSRB side, with volunteer Gobo/burdock in the foreground, just weeded open space reserved for C.moschata squash, and Pink and Purple Mexican corn growing.

— Trying the pipe method:

https://www.ja-shizuoka.or.jp/topia/agri ... /0903.html

- Also planted the greens in the front here — mostly the remaining kale and onions — from the Garage V8 Winter Garden...
- and planted the started C.pepo and C.maxima squashes. Some of them should be Godiva hulless, maybe Rondo de Nice squash/zuke....



- View of VGC and VGA, and close-up view of VGA from the other side:

[applestar]

Starting to harvest some peas, strawberries, and cherries. Lettuce are starting to bolt in the heat. Expecting to harvest most of them within the week.




PEAS —


* Top Left and Center - Sugar Magnolia
* Bottom Left - Emerald Archer
* Top Right - Sugar Sprint
* Bottom Right - Iona Petit Pois

[applestar]

Playing catch-up now — beginning to plant started cukes, melons, squash, tomatoes.... Will be planting more started melons where the window is warming the soil.





- Harvested chickweed that was covering the upper 2/3 of this VG.SIP. Most will be dried to be used for making skin salve with violet later on.
- Thinned/test Harvested baby carrots from here and other beds
- Starting to harvest Super Sugar Snaps from the SFH bed remesh panel trellis

[applestar]

I have been unable to get around to taking care of my espalier fruit trees again. They are going to need major re-do.

The cherry trees, intended to become “FAN” style has grown too tall and had sparse fruits WAY up in the 10-12 ft tall upright branches this year.



I wasn’t up to getting the ladder out, and was going to let the birds have them, but then tried, and found out the cherry branches are supple enough to be bend way down without breaking.

...I wonder if it’s too late to cut these limbs? Since I can bend them, maybe I should just tie them down to near horizontal? Maybe 10-15°?


- Purple Sugar Magnolia snap peas — they are not as sweet and tender as Super Sugar Snaps — I learned AFTER starting to grow them this spring that these are not as sweet as a similar variety called Magnolia Blossom so I will try that one next year. The extra long podded Emerald Archer Shell peas are very sweet. None of these peas are making it into the pot — they, along with baby carrots, are grouped with the berries and cherries and are being treated like garden fresh snacks by the DD’s.

[applestar]

This year, I’m trying several approaches with the fruit trees.

- I’m trying to bag the table grapes to see if that will help with the fruit rot they suffered last year. I read that grapes self-fertilize (like tomatoes and peppers) so bagging them early, while in flower or just after petal-fall will help minimize fungal infection as well as deter attention from insect/bird/animal pests. I’m using waxed paper bags for these.

- The bagged ones were not sprayed, though spraying with fungicide is said to improve results (I did just this morning find my copper fungicide so I may spray-and-bag the remaining fruit trusses)

- It’s hard to see in the photo, but unbagged ones were sprayed with Surround for the time being.

- For apples, there is an overwhelming recommendation to just use plastic zip bags with corners cut off. I’ve sprayed the unbagged ones with Surround this morning. I might still try the nylon booties (apparently they have better results if soaked first with Surround)

- I found out that the zip bags won’t fit over peaches with their shorter stems. For now, I’ve sprayed them with Surround, but may go back to protecting them with plastic sandwich and berry clamshells since chipmunks and squirrels go after them when they are close to ripening. (I may also switch up to clamshells for the apples to protect them from animal marauders later.)



- While I had the sprayer loaded, I’ve started spraying Surround on my tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings as well as cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels Sprouts which are attracting unwanted attention from the Cabbage whites and cabbage moths. I need to get the powder form of Bt since I can’t stand the smell of the liquid. I also need to *find* my bolt of tulle so I can cover them up in a tent.

- Although I did add a small amount of sticker, Surround tended to bead and roll off of the crucifer leaves. I have to decide if I want to/can use more sticker when spraying them. Surround has a way of drying into eye-blinding WHITE... and peach fuzz tomatoes, etc. look more than adequately covered.... maybe spray the waxy plants on a separate day so as not to confuse the concentration of sticker.....

[applestar]

Finally got the biggest of the tomatoes planted in HaybaleRow (Prep: scuffle hoed, scattered Tomato-tone, Dolomitic lime, and Epsom salts, then forked and raked... approx. 1/4-1/2 cup TT in bottom of each planting hole)



{From far/NE end}

Cows tit (2)

(fence panel on T-posts)

Homer Fike’s Yellow Oxheart (2)

{back/north}
Prudens Black (1) PL lost label

{front/south}
PaddyMC’s Steelhead (PL?)

(…Tunnel…)

{back/north}
Dwf Chocolate Lightning
Pennheart (kgolden’13) (2)

{front/south}
Totem f1
Yellow Dwarf x Sungold F3 (CKinNC’15?)

[applestar]

4 ft x 4 ft x 12”H VGA (Vegetable Garden [raised bed] A) volunteer tomatoes are growing like crazy. I really need to cull/lift out most of these and only keep about 8 at most....



Earliest of them have started to bloom. There are several variegated seedlings and a couple of dark antho ones, though it’s hard to tell now with them covered with Surround... and there is even what appears to be a micro dwarf (bottom right photo). In the bottom right of the same photo, there is a volunteer peach/nectarine seedling

[applestar]

HBR (HaybaleRow)

- Planted the runty cauliflower and broccoli seedlings under the HBR insect tunnel (borax and tomato-tone)
- Will plant a row of tomatoes in front of them, plus the corn may supply some shade once they grow up some more

...also planted the 2KC Dwarf Chocolate Lightning next to the other one to share the cage.

SFH (Sunflower House)

- weeded and fertilized the three tiny corn patches (approx 15-18 plants @) — tomato-tone/iron-tone
- still need to hill — some of the corn are starting to lean over




SG (Spiral Garden)

...back pain issues is keeping me from weeding this area properly. The strawberries are struggling though managing to produce here and there under the weeds. ‘Winning” precious open spaces to plant cucurbits...

- cleared one arc and fertilized — thinking of actually using black landscape “cloth” on the mounded “row” to warm the soil for planting melons here. The fence trellises are from last year’s tomatoes, but if some of the vines manage to climb up, then will use slings to support the fruits.

[applestar]

VGC (Vegetable Garden C - mounded/raised bed)



- Planted stunted melon and watermelon seedlings started in a 6-pack cells (intended to plant them much much earlier) under the window supported with 3x1 gal plastic pots (borax and tomato-tone, iron-tone) ...May sow some backup seeds...

- Planted remainder of Veronica and Goliath just outside of the window-warmed area. (borax and tomato-tone)

- there was a variegated volunteer tomato seedling that I just HAD to keep

[applestar]

Having mentioned this gadget in another thread —
Subject: Lawn dying

...Use a siphon mixer/injector

— this is the kind I have, most often seen I think?
How Hozon™ Brass Siphon Mixers Work
https://hozon.com/how-hozon-works/

…I had the opportunity to review the instruction sheet, and realized I could be using mine in a different way

So I watered the container plants with compost tumbler leacheate diluted with the Siphon Mixer

[applestar]

- Another view of the SFH corn patches — It might be too late, but I planted the #shrunken# seedlings in some available space and gaps left by the earlier nibbling rabbit.


- Planted the rest of tomatoes in remaining HBR space

...yes they are TOO close = do what I say, not what I do

Cows Tit (2)
[- - - - - - - -]
Homer Fike’s
Yellow Oxheart (2)

Prudens Black~~~~~PaddyMC’s
PL lost label~~~~~~~Steelhead (PL?)

Opalka (2)~~~~~~~~Shimofuri F6 (3)
~~~~~~~(…Tunnel…)~Pineapple Pig (Appaloosa)
Opalka (2)~~~~~~~~Shimofuri F6 (2)

Dwf Chocolate
Lightning(2)~~~~~~~~Totem F1

Shimofuri F6~~~~~~~Brandywine Yellow

Pennheart
(kgolden’13) (2)~~~~~Yellow Dwarf
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~x Sungold F3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(CKinNC’15?)

Coyote~~~Coyote~~~Coyote?

[applestar]

...Over in the VEGETABLE GARDEN beds...

- Here are the Pink and Purple Mexican corn in VGB.PSRB (Vegetable Garden B - Pallet-sided Raised Bed)


...I planted eggplants in the tiny in-ground VGB space

- VGC and VGD.PSRB with extra tomato seedlings tucked in here and there


- VG.SIP (Vegetable Garden Sub-irrigated Planter) tomatoes are all variegated-foliage types (unID’d volunteers in the back, Shimofuri F6 seedlings from F5 plants with sprawling determinate growths in the center). The carrots are growing well and have been supplying baby carrot thinnings.

...under the window view in VGC — watermelon and melon seedlings
...and over in VGA — featuring Jack Ice crisphead lettuce which has been holding up well to the heat .... and do you see what else greeted me this morning? At first I thought it was a brown-colored branch that somehow had fallen into the bed

- More volunteer “finds” in VGA —
... what looks like a multi-flora type

...another lovely variegated volunteer keeper
+++ and attaching a photo of one of the earliest started micro-dwarfs tomatoes with nearly ripe fruit (I’m pretty sure this is Pinocchio Orange...but it could be Aztek)

[applestar]

Recent harvest photo collage


...peas are almost done...raspberries are starting to come in
...the biggest baby carrots are Mokum F1 from VGA (sown as pre-germinated seeds on April 9)
...slender baby carrots are Yaya F1 from VG.SIP (sown as pre-germinated seeds on April 5)

[applestar]

My SIL gave me a 1.5” cube box:


I recognized “seedbomb” so knew what to expect to find inside, but it was still kind of fun to see a single dry ball of clay, about the size of a large marble of average/small gumball.

I have so far gathered that it is a seedbomb of wildflowers... probably European native. I’m going to set aside a small flowerbed for it and lay the seedbomb in the center — maybe casually toss it in for full effect.

...I hope to identify the flowers as they grow...

I planted the seedbomb ...I had to re-think my plans and gave it a small space within the rabbit-fenced veg garden since I keep seeing rabbits in the back yard inside the perimeter picket fence/gate.

[applestar]

I’m still coddling these stunted or late started peppers and tomatoes in the Garage V8 Nursery... just Uppotted some of them to the larger containers so they can go outside in a day or two.



FWIW — something nearly killed them and they were like sticks and stumps, but, in desperation, I gave them a feeding of plain gelatin dissolved in warm water (supposed to be extremely high nitrogen) and vermicompost tea. They managed to turn around.

[applestar]

Got the watermelon and melon seeds sown. I finally accepted that soil temperature maybe inadequate here for good melon production and decided to try a black mulch. Don’t know if common landscape mulch is good enough, but wasn’t ready to buy a roll of IR mulch when a roll of this was taking up space in the back of the shed since I vetoed its use for anything.

The mounded row was prepped by hoeing down the weeds and letting everything die down, then forked in some organic fertilizer (tree-tone and tomato-tone), Dolomitic lime, and a sprinkling of borax, then raked smooth.

Covered with the landscape mulch, then cut holes and half buried bottomless (cut off) 1 gallon plastic nursery pots, then hand forked more tree-tone, topped the pots with vermicast and organic potting mix, watered in, then sowed seeds - around 5 @ for later culling/selection of best. — the bottomless pot for starting seeds worked well for squash several years ago



- the plan is to manage the vines to direct the watermelons along the outer perimeter, while allowing the melon vines to move into the interior across the path (manage so I can still walk) as well as allow them to climb the trellis if they are so inclined — fruits will be supported with slings.

...by sheer accident, the inner swale/path, where the compost bin that is occupying the center of the Spiral Garden leaches out to, has a secret drainage (probably previous chipmunk/mole/field mice tunnel) to the outer swale/path immediately in front of the melon arc. See the water-filled boot print where there was extra water from yesterday’s rain?


NE garden —

Left (north) to Right (South) :
- Espalier Fence Row
- HaybaleRow
- Sunflower House
- Spiral Garden

[applestar]

STEVIA — This happens every year - I should be used to it by now....

In my area Stevia plant is not winter hardy, but it’s a plant that is generally listed as hardy to Zone 9 or winter low temperature of 20°F (winter low can get down to negative single digits here in Zone 6b).

I mentioned something about that elsewhere recently —

Subject: Frost And Sprouting Stevia Seeds?

According to my “seasonal container plants lowest temperature notes”, Stevia is roughly hardy to usda zone 9 (20) ~ 11 (40). Number in parenthesis is minimum winter temperature in °F. That means Stevia seeds would normally withstand winter frost and probably require certain amount of cold period (stratification) for optimum germination. In other words, the light frost shouldn’t be harmful and might even be beneficial.

Don’t expect the seeds to sprout until it gets warmer though, since the plant itself is frost-killed. Once mature, established roots/crown will survive the cold and new growth will start from soil-level in spring. My notes reminds me to bring in Stevia above 45°F (Don’t leave/put outside).

That said, Stevia is notoriously difficult to germinate, or so I’ve heard. My attempts to grow from my own saved fresh seeds have not been successful, and like most this type of seeds (seed with a puff/tuft of the end ... like lettuce seeds) they don’t remain viable for very long.

Also, FYI, I have heard that levels of sweetness and characteristic bitterness is variable, so it’s best to obtain cutting grown clone of known/best flavor plants. I didn’t do that but did buy my first plant from a reputable nursery, and have been growing backup cutting-grown plants ever since. There are also some that say sweetness depends on how you process the harvested plant material.

Good luck.

Although it is possible to over-winter Stevia in the house, it wants cooler than average indoor house temperature and needs to be situated carefully. In the warm dry heated indoor environment, they are prone to red or other spider mites.

I have read that it’s best to let the Stevia actually go dormant for longevity of the plant, similar to Lemon Verbena, along with Rosemary. All three of them have similar wintering requirements, although Stevia is a perennial and dies back to the ground, Lemon Verbena is more like a deciduous shrub, and Rosemary is evergreen.

I keep my Stevia in my garage and put the pot in the “Garage Siberia” — closest to the outer door — once the leaves and stems start to dry up. Then it’s watered every so often, just enough so the potting mix doesn’t dry out completely. It will experience freezing temps down to mid 20’s and close to 20.

In the spring, it always, ALWAYS, takes a long time to start growing new shoots from the roots, below the potting mix. Previous year’s growths will be all dead sticks by this time and can/should be cut down as close to the soil level as possible BEFORE the new shoots grow too big.

This year, I brought the pot out in front of the garage doors in March after the spring thaw, then waited while all other winter survivors were moved out of the garage and onto the backyard to acclimate for the season.

The spring sun moved further and further west and north of west until the setting sun started to beat against the garage doors, but still nothing but weeds came up out of the pot and I had just about given up.

Then this Wednesday, after an outing, I looked in the pot with some disappointment, thinking to declare it dead and recover/recycle/compost the potting mix, and recognized 4 new Stevia shoots among the weeds.

...Stevia pot, moved to the patio and all cleaned up. More new shoots were hiding/growing under the weeds. It still needs the potting mix freshened and fertilized.

[SQWIB]

I stopped growing Stevia as I was not using it. I did get rosemary to overwinter a few years back, I placed a fluorescent light up against the stem, covered most of the bottom of the plant with leaves and covered in a lap blanket (something that breathes). I may try that again this winter.
How did you make out with the espalier tree.
I'm starting my espalier Pear tree in a few weeks or maybe this weekend if I have time.

[applestar]

I have two pears, an apple, and a persimmon along that Espalier Fence Row (approx. 40 feet IIRC).
I lost one apple tree in the group (Pristine) that really snowy winter a couple of years back when something - likely voles, maybe chipmunks - got past the trunk guard and gnawed/girdled it. Have been looking for a replacement cultivar, but the remaining apple (Arkansas Black) has been managing to set fruits from some other pollinizer source. (This year, something is wrong and I only see a couple of fruits, however)

The Magness and Seckel pear trees have been difficult due to a number of issues and have only yielded 3-8 fruits or less each year.

I have been lax about maintaining the styling/pruning (mainly health issues during the critical late winter and mid summer timeframe) and they all really need serious re-styling… including the Prok persimmon which needs the runaway leader chopped off — Prok is laden with baby green fruits and I’m probably going to end up cutting off a loaded limb.

I’m adding two Beach Plums to the Espalier Fence Row and styling them into fan espalier.

I need to start getting the American Hazel on the other side under control. The other side — designated “Edible Landscaping Front Yard Fence Row” — is a broad long bed with series of native wild forage — wild lowbush blueberries, American hazel, wild strawberries, a pair of seedling (not grafted cultivar) pawpaws, and elderberry. It technically curves into an L at the end of the property, with a circular bed of Sunchokes that DH keeps within bounds by mowing around them.

…it’s possible that between the persimmon and elderberry pressure, the apple tree has been losing ground since it IS on a dwarfing stock and probably doesn’t have as much root vigor.

[applestar]

Carrot thinnings are getting bigger ...and first gumball-sized baby Tonda di Parigi carrot



ETA — DD2 said it has STRONG carrot flavor ...couldn’t tell if it was sweet because of the strong flavor ... but “It’s good... I guess it’s sweet” (comparing to Mokum and Yaya)

[applestar]

Starting to see tiny green babies

[applestar]

I stopped growing Stevia as I was not using it.

Overall, I find it easiest to use Stevia leaves by drying and adding to looseleaf herbal tea blends. It add’s just that touch of sweetness that is pleasant on first sip.

Since I read that the stems contain as much or even more sweetening substance, I put the dried sprigs in larger ziplock bag, then pull the stalks out, leaving the crumbled leaves in the bag... then pack the stalks in a jar and fill with vodka or rum to make tincture. I wash and re-use brown glass tincture bottles with droppers, and use the tincture in coffee — one squirt — usually in combination with honey. I recently also made home-made toasted hazelnut extract/tincture that I mixed with the Stevia tincture for making hazelnut flavored coffee. (I have also made hazelnut flavored coffee in the past by toasting/roasting and grinding with coffee beans....)

I also read somewhere (can’t find the notes atm) that Stevia stalks can/should be fermented ...kind of like black tea leaves... which crystallize the sweetening substance, concentrating it while removing the slightly bitter aftertaste, but have not tried that yet.

[digitS']

You may think that I have great experience with Stevia . I Don't.

My experience with using green is that it tastes " green. " Dry, it tastes sweet with very little additional flavor.

Rum flavor, highly sweetened with Stevia in my afternoon coffee ... what a concept!

Steve

[applestar]

It’s a 1 ml eye dropper-full @digitS’ — approx. 20 drops.

[applestar]

Until I get the blackberry canes sorted out, I can’t get any closer, but I saw — through the jumbled blackberries and already massive Purple Passion asparagus fronds —that my yellow Asiatic lilies had started blooming ...in HUGE FLORAL CLUSTERS!

These had been planted in a mixed color group of I believe 5 or 6 bulbs, but they rapidly shrunk and disappeared over several years ...and I realized when they started re-appearing as tiny non-blooming plants that something was eating the bulbs and scattering the bulb scales. Only the yellow eventually came back — two feet from where they were originally planted — but this is the biggest floral clusters I have seen yet.

COINCIDENTALLY, I have NOT seen a single chipmunk this season (maybe the snake, maybe the stray cats that my neighbor feeds)



- The bottom photo is the native American Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium Superbum) — so dainty and beautiful

[applestar]

Last year, I didn’t get to plant the started rice seedlings in my little raingarden rice paddy — it sat ... let’s say “fallow”..... Last year, I also started a whole bunch of speciality/novelty corn in large drinking cups for selling at a market stand... they didn’t sell... and I ended up letting them get overgrown, stunted, and eventually dead.


...This spring, I didn’t get to plant rice again, didn’t even start them this time, and I had some overgrown extra/leftover/back up corn starts. Not to make the same disappointing mistake again, I went ahead and PLANTED THE EXTRA CORN IN THE RICE PADDY.




- I was able to plant all of my Applestar’s #SWEET# Medley 2019, and also squeezed in Latte Bicolor. Luther didn’t fit.


My reasoning for planting corn here is that corn seems to be often grown in flood-prone regions and they seem to be able to recover from flooding. The spacing is tight, but they will likely not have to want for water. I’ll see if keeping them fed with extra nutes will be enough. At least they are in a densely planted square so pollination shouldn’t be a problem.

[applestar]

2019 Main garden areas — update as of 6/13/19

- VG beds (A, B, B.PSRB, C, D.PSRB, SIP)

- Raingarden CORN (after 1.5” of rain this morning...added some Iron-tone, Epsom Salts (magnesium and sulfur) ...a little bit of Mira-acid because I needed to fertilize the blueberries with something and that’s all I had — it does have a lot of micronutrients in it)

- Eggplants in VGB have settled in
- Hari g2 (2), Orient Express g2 (2), Hari g2 (2)


- HaybaleRow and a partial view of SunflowerHouse

- potatoes have come up (Planted sprouted store bought organic pink skin white flesh wax potatoes, yellow potatoes, and fingering potatoes from the pantry)

- melons sprouted in SpiralGarden


- weeded the carrots and fertilized in the KitchenGarden (Tonda di Parigi in the area to the right ...can’t remember if I also Sowed TdP in the left area or if I Sowed a different kind... maybe Danvers Halflong126?)

...as you can see, I just pile all the pulled weeds in the path and trample them down.

[applestar]

Container Garden in addition to the VG.SIP

- Kitchen Garden Patio (KGP) ...starting to cull non-productive or pest-ridden plants and replacing with summer season producers

- Planted Yellow Giant Bell pepper; Monomakh’s Hat, Terhune, and Wessel’s Purple Pride tomatoes in the SIP1 and Fish (SuperVar) pepper in the Earthbox, along with some Lettuce-leaf and Petra basils


- Planted Bassett’s Bleen and Champagne Cherry tomatoes in the SIP2


- also Planted Pasilla Basio, Doux Long d’Antibes, and Pale Rider peppers in a big black nursery pot, and a DK Snacker pepper in a white square 2.5 gal

[applestar]

Notable tomatoes

- volunteers ...look at the intense antho stems on the one of the left ...and the cute egg-shaped fruits with antho on the calyces on the one on right


- can never get enough of the variegated ones... they are starting to bloom



... and notice the multiflora volunteer in the bottom-right

- Prudens Black is being very enthusiastic with the first floral truss

- a surviving plant from 2015 seeds of Yellow Dwarf x Sungold F3 (which never grew well for me before when I tried to grow them last couple of times I tried) is looking really healthy!
- anticipated Totem F1 (new to me ...gift seeds from SIL) and Dwarf Chocolate Lightning (a family fave)
...funny how the Dwarf Chocolate Lightning DOESN’T look like a dwarf next to these two...

[applestar]

Subject: Applestar’s 2019 Garden
Thu Jun 06, 2019

I’m still coddling these stunted or late started peppers and tomatoes in the Garage V8 Nursery... just Uppotted some of them to the larger containers so they can go outside in a day or two.



FWIW — something nearly killed them and they were like sticks and stumps, but, in desperation, I gave them a feeding of plain gelatin dissolved in warm water (supposed to be extremely high nitrogen) and vermicompost tea. They managed to turn around.

Some of my other intentionally started tomato seedlings (my own crosses and others) may still be salvageable as well... I had nearly given up on these and had put them outside to “live or die” on the picnic table under the mulberry tree. They might have received a similar treatment — massive dose of nitrogen and other nutrients when the mulberries ripened and the birds went on a feeding frenzy in the branches above.

[applestar]

First sign of a sprout from the seedbomb

[applestar]

Today was a gorgeous day in low-mid 70’s, and although storm systems must have passed near by a couple of times, resulting in threatening skies, our anti-rain, storm system repelling aura was apparently functioning again and it never did rain here.

I went outside with grand ideas about prepping a new bed for some of those tomato seedlings, or digging/contouring the waterfall for the pond project, gathering up the kitty litter buckets to see how many of them I could turn into SIP’s... but all of them seemed like complicated big projects and my attention was scattered and wouldn’t settle down... so I settled on trying to finish cleaning up the Kitchen Garden.

I weeded and pruned the lavender and oregano, removed the finished pea vines, and planted
- a couple of {Prue - TZ -OH6 2010? Wispy juicy sausage/elongated heart} ...and...
- a special chartreuse-foliage Cherokee Tiger cross variety I was allowed to try growing (CTBS,RL Dwf., F3 (deck-8/10/18) — (Cherokee Tiger x {Black Seaman x Pink Berkeley Tie Dye} F3)


...looks pretty chartreuse (bright yellow-green) so far, though apparently the leaves get somewhat darker, though still lighter/yellower than usual tomato leaf green...


I also culled, uppotted, and planted some of the peppers and micro-dwarf and patio tomatoes as well as some critically stunted/stressed seedlings


- Earl’s Faux
- {Prue - TZ -OH6 2010? Wispy juicy sausage/elongated heart}
- Orange Pinocchio
- Orange Hat
- Totem F1
- another micro-dwarf — variety name escapes me atm
- Aji Dulce Amarillo
- DK Snacker
- Anna’s Multiflora

...During this process, I was reminded yet again how valuable earthworms are — when a seedlings appeared healthier and stronger among the other stressed fellow siblings, there was always a biggish earthworm coiled up in its roots.

BTW — Prue grew from 2010 seeds! Received in 2011 from TZ -OH6 who sent them tightly folded inside a tiny piece of aluminum foil

[applestar]

...what’s left...

- seed-started tomatoes and peppers
— on the glass table (need to be planted)
— in the V8 Nursery (need to be hardened off and planted)


- DK Snacker, Snowball, Coyote Rosa Bébé, Manö, Fish (SuperVar), Bloody Butcher
- Yellow Giant Bell, Cherokee Lime
- Doneky Ears, Giant Sweet Devil’s Horn, Domalik Biber
- Applemint cutting

- Aji Dulce Amarillo, DK Snacker, White Wonder (striped), Pinocchio Orange
- Coyote Rosa Bébé, Fish (Goldfish), Aztek, Cherokee Lime

- Snowball, Coyote Rosa Bébé, Manö
- CTBS,RL Dwf., F3 (deck-8/10/18)

[applestar]

Is it too soon for an update?

Muggy season is coming — this morning, I sprayed with solution of 1Tbs @ Epsom salts and Potassium bicarbonate in 2 gal of water, then pruned lowest leaves and suckers (trying to limit to single stem this year due to high-density planting), added supports, and tied up all the tomatoes.

- eggplants have settled in — they don’t mind the wet/soggy soil as much
- I’m back to using rings cut from old athletic socks. I wear high% cotton ones and they last one season then can be composted; DH’s higher% polyester/nylon ones were intact after weathering the winter still attached to stakes and wires, and had to be cut off.

[applestar]

My corn are being weird this year — they have started to tassle and silk at 3-4 feet ...some are 2 feet. Stress-cold-wet-dry....



Some of the tassles were shedding pollen, and there were 3 Luther Hill with silk starting to emerge, so I hand-pollinated — see the tiny dust-like pollen caught on on the silk?

— for this level of pollen and silk, I just used my iPhone screen to catch the pollen. The anti-static surface lets the pollen slide right off — it’s great

There was one overachiever Latte Bi-color shedding pollen, too, but no silk. Unfortunately none of the Applestar’s #sweet# Medley was ready with silk either. In hindsight, I might have pollinated one of the Luther Hill’s silk. Oh well.

[applestar]

Random green (some with antho) baby tomatoes on the volunteers in the VGA and VGC



Pretty sure top-left corner is one of my crosses, top-center is one of the variegated volunteers, and the center photo looks like a Sergeant Peppers. One is an intriguing piriform (pear shape) — I can think of a couple of ID possibilities — and there are now two possible multi-flora types. The bottom-right mega-bloom with slight antho shoulders is very likely Allonz-y,Dr.X but we shall see.

[applestar]

Here’s are progress photos of the "Vegetable Garden" area — originally a 10 ft x 10 ft space set up with 2 ft wide and 4ft wide raised beds. Over the years, the original 2 ft wide beds were re-allocated as the sweet cherry espalier bed, and the Vegetable Garden was expanded to add more 4 ft wide beds, re-designated as VGC and VGD. Then, later, Pallet-sided Raised Beds were built, and a DIY Sub-irrigated Planter was added, along the fence bordering the neighbor.

April 5

June 18


The original raised beds are pretty much falling apart now, but look, I found their debut post from 2008... not bad, actually (considering) — and the soil is rich with organic matter and soil foodweb after all these years

Subject: Vegetable Garden Design
May 27, 2008

I just finished planting MY new raised veg beds. Mine are strictly utilitarian but here they are:




They are made with 8" metal raised bed corners from Gardener's Supply:
I used cedar 2x4's instead of 2x8's because they're cheaper, and also because they let me adjust for the sloped area without having to make angled cuts. So the lower beds (B), (C)-(D) are 2 2x4's high and the taller bed (A) is 4 2x4's high.
(A) 4'x4' (B) 4'x6' (C) 2'x6' (D) 2'x4'

I found out by accident that putting the 12" raised bed stakes: inside the corners creates a handy place to put cedar 1x1 stakes. I have the short vinyl coated wire fence secured to the stakes with tie wraps (google for an image if you don't know what that is). It's not in these photo's but I planted broccoli with the potatoes and carrots in (A), so I put up more fence around (A).

The veg garden is mostly for my kids' benefit so they're mostly planted with their favorites:
(A) carrots, potatoes, broccoli, soybean (edamame)
(B) sweet corn, pumpkin, scarlet runner bean, nasturtium, parsley, dill. Also Moonflower in a corner by the fence
(C) sweet corn, pickling cucumber, sunflowers, dill. Also Moonflower by the fence and clematis in the corner
(D) peas, tomato, basil, dill
I based the plant spacing on square foot gardening.

I really like the hooped netting. I just bought 2 more for another part of the garden (Sunflower House) It's also from Gardener's Supply:

My main concern is bunnies and neighbor's cats. I was protecting the corn with the Garden Quilt (heavier than floating row cover, only 60% light transmission) until they were big enough. So I've taken that off now. The groundhog may or may not venture all the way to this area.

[applestar]

Until I get the blackberry canes sorted out, I can’t get any closer, but I saw — through the jumbled blackberries and already massive Purple Passion asparagus fronds —that my yellow Asiatic lilies had started blooming ...in HUGE FLORAL CLUSTERS!

These had been planted in a mixed color group of I believe 5 or 6 bulbs, but they rapidly shrunk and disappeared over several years ...and I realized when they started re-appearing as tiny non-blooming plants that something was eating the bulbs and scattering the bulb scales. Only the yellow eventually came back — two feet from where they were originally planted — but this is the biggest floral clusters I have seen yet.

COINCIDENTALLY, I have NOT seen a single chipmunk this season (maybe the snake, maybe the stray cats that my neighbor feeds)



- The bottom photo is the native American Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium Superbum) — so dainty and beautiful

I think I’ve mentioned before how my garden is particularly sensitive to implied or perceived criticism/insult I post on-line, and responds by exerting outbursts of growths and superior performances —

...remember I said there used to be different colors of Asiatic Lilies, but only the yellow came back?



...I think they are telling me to get in there and straighten out their bed!