Thursday, June 21, 2007
Sun Pattern - Summer Solstice 2007
Since I did my first sun pattern series, I have been thinking about doing one on the Summer Solstice. In addition, for series like this, rather than making individual posts, or even putting all the pictures in one post, I decided to open a picasa account and post pictures there. I will also, from time to time, put pictures on the picasa site when there really is nothing to be said in relation to the picture. Click on this link to see the series.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Heirloom Cucumber
These cucumbers are a white skinned heirloom cucumber. They were sown directly in mid May. It has taken them a while to come and progress, but seem to be making some headway now. I have never grown them before.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
National Center for Home Food Preservation
I was nosing around the web to find some information on pickling and canning. This is the first year I planted enough tomatoes and cucumbers that I might have an opportunity to can and pickle them, respectively (although tomatoes pickled with balsamic vinegar and basil might be pretty good). Anyway, my short journey carried me to marthastewart.com and finally to the website linked above. It is pretty good.
I would like to make an open call to anyone with a nice garlic and horseradish pickle recipe. Please pass it along.
I would like to make an open call to anyone with a nice garlic and horseradish pickle recipe. Please pass it along.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Sun Pattern
While MW and a few good friends may think I am mad, the sun pattern is a very important step in creating a successful urban garden. If you live in the country and you don't have any trees around, you can pretty much plant what you want where you want, unless of course you need a lot of shade. For those full sun loving plants, you need at least 6 hours of direct sun light. So when you have to put a garden in a 21'x21', thereabouts, space which has a garage directly touching it on the east side, a great big tree in the neighbor's yard on the west side, you need to make sure you plant things in the correct places.
Unfortunately, I did not do my sun pattern before I planted and the big tree on the west grew. I think this year I cut it a little too close with my peppers; they do not seem to be doing very well.
Unfortunately, I did not do my sun pattern before I planted and the big tree on the west grew. I think this year I cut it a little too close with my peppers; they do not seem to be doing very well.
Mystery Heirlooms
These plants came up where I had heirloom tomo
toes growing last summer. They look like tomato plants, so I can only assume they are heirloom plants. I have, of course, moved them from where they came up, except for the one with the cucumber in the background.
toes growing last summer. They look like tomato plants, so I can only assume they are heirloom plants. I have, of course, moved them from where they came up, except for the one with the cucumber in the background.
Heirloom Cherry (picture 1)
These four tomatoes are heirloom tomatoes of the cherry kind. I purchased them from my local garden cooperative . If I remember correctly, from front left clockwise, they are Peacevine, White Currant, Fox and something that can have the initials Black Cherry.
I will be tracking these over the course of the summer. They have been in the ground for about 1 month. In addition to tracking the progress of the plants, you can help me determine which of these tomato supports works best and for which reasons. I made the two on the right (DWYCWWYH). The one in the foreground on the left is a spiral one I had never seen before. I also have another tomato support I have never used before in the back left. It is triangular and made of plastic. Let's watch how they work.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
It has been pretty dry
It has been pretty dry for the past few days, so I needed to give the garden some much needed water. Unless I have been a little neglectful, and later see I have plants that are dying, I always water my garden when it is mostly, if not entirely, in the shade. As you can see from my sun pattern series, this occurs before 8 AM and around 8 PM. In these shots, it was a little earlier, maybe about 7. MW and I were getting ready to take LD and MO for a walk, so I wanted to get it watered before I left. I did not want to over water and waste water.
BTW, it is a fear of wasting water that leads me to water when the sun has little chance of causing quicker evaporation of the water. In fact, I get a little mad when I see people watering their yards or gardens in the middle of the day when the sun is most hot. It also bothers me how much water Las Vegas uses in all their fountains in the desert.
That direct water from the lush north of Nevada through aqueducts to supply the city and suburbs with water. If it is not enough to just move the water to a pretty unnatural place for water, the big hotels and casinos insist on wasting it with water shows and fountains. Well that is enough ranting for now.
Bunny
The little concrete bunny, which was in our backyard when we bought the house is the only bunny allowed in my yard. It has proven quite supportive of my watering efforts.
Garlic
It is coming along nicely; it is just about time to snip the buds coming up through the middle of the leaves. Any suggestions on what to do with them? I went to a garlic festival last summer and many had pickled them. Others had simply steamed them. I am told they have the consistency of string beans with a hint of garlic.A friend of mine once inquired why you snip the blossom shoot.
I told him garlic has two ways it can reproduce. First, it wants to propagate with its seeds which will eventually come from the blossom (below right). The second way, and the way in which we all would prefer it to reproduce is through the heads in the ground. By cutting the blossom shoot, the plant puts all its efforts for reproduction into the head of the plant in the ground. Without cutting the shoot, the garlic would produce an inadequate head of garlic. Cutting encourages the growth of this head.
Looking at them just now I see I need to get out there and cut them this evening. Maybe I will steam them for dinner. The problem is I have very few ready to be cut.Just a note for those who know little about garlic, each clove of a garlic head will produce a new head. You plant in the fall, and leave it there to Winter. Garlic is one of the first things up in the Spring, right along with the daffodils and tulips. You harvest garlic sometime in July.
First Blossom in Bloom
Drum Roll please. .. The winner for first blossom in bloom is... the Zucchini.
I am trying to coax it up one of my DWYCWWYH contraptions; it finally reached it yesterday (picture forthcoming). This contraption is made from the legs of an A-Frame ladder (there was a pool in the backyard when we bought the house exactly where my garden is located). The two legs are held together with screws into a 2x6 and faced with chicken wire. I used it last year for cucumbers, but last year was
a bad year for cucumbers here.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Sun Pattern - June 11 - 2:00
No picture available. While I was trying to find a video of my 6 month old on the camera to show MW, I deleted a blurry picture and then accidentally deleted the 2PM edition of the Sun Pattern. I must work outside the house over the next few days, so will unlikely be able to take the 2PM picture. I think it will be OK, though.
Tomatoes
Love them! I have planted at least seven varieties which accounts for just under 20 plants. I got a late start this spring in planting my own seeds, so I had to buy some seedlings. I am hoping to avoid that mistake next spring. Interestingly, I had several plants come up from the plot where I planted heirloom tomatoes last summer. I have no idea which variety is growing, but in a month or so I expect to learn. I'll keep track on this blog.
I planted the following:
I planted the following:
- Big Boys
- BeefMasters
- Heinz
- 4 varieties of heirloom cherries, including:
- Peacevine
- White Currant
- Fox
- Black Cherry
Peppers
I do not think these plants are doing that well. I have always been under the impression with most full sun plants, they really only need about 6 hours of direct, which after having done my
sun pattern today, is about what these plants get. I also decided to try the weed fabric, so it is really difficult to tell exactly what is holding these plants up from growing bigger. I planted them several weeks ago now. The one on the far left, in the back, seems to be showing a blossom, which is too early, and the plant is too small. You cannot see it in this picture, but maybe I should get a picture of it later. Anyway, I am a little miffed. I think I planted enough pepper plants, with some roasting and freezing or straight out freezing, to get the family through most of the winter. Now I am not so sure.
As for what IS planted (from left to right, roughly). I have Sicilian sweet peppers (I have never planted these before.), green bell, and red bell.
I am not sure what I am doing with the sticks of wood or the rock. I turned a leaky hose into a little irrigation system. It works OK, but as you can see from this photo and in the ones showing the whole garden at once, this hose... comes up a little short.
sun pattern today, is about what these plants get. I also decided to try the weed fabric, so it is really difficult to tell exactly what is holding these plants up from growing bigger. I planted them several weeks ago now. The one on the far left, in the back, seems to be showing a blossom, which is too early, and the plant is too small. You cannot see it in this picture, but maybe I should get a picture of it later. Anyway, I am a little miffed. I think I planted enough pepper plants, with some roasting and freezing or straight out freezing, to get the family through most of the winter. Now I am not so sure.As for what IS planted (from left to right, roughly). I have Sicilian sweet peppers (I have never planted these before.), green bell, and red bell.
I am not sure what I am doing with the sticks of wood or the rock. I turned a leaky hose into a little irrigation system. It works OK, but as you can see from this photo and in the ones showing the whole garden at once, this hose... comes up a little short.
The Grass
You can see the shots of the garden have some grass in them. Well, the grass is a whole other issue entirely. I pretty much cut it and try to use some "weed and feed" type things occasionally, but with little success, and I do not really like to do it. It is the VG that matters back there.
Mystery Plant
This came up this year, and MW does not remember planting anything there, and we cannot figure out what it is. Any ideas?
Japanese Maple
There were no leaves on this tree last summer, which was our first summer in our house. MW received some advice to bring it back. There will be more pictures in the future, with information on exactly what she did. Perhaps I can even get her to explain.
Columbine in the Driveway
What an odd place to grow. Not sure whether it was planted or simply grew on its own, but we like it there, so it stays. Besides, how are we going to dig it up?
Comments on the GW
The granite typically looks a little better. As you may recall from one of yesterday's posts, I just planted a few things there and filled in the rest of the gaps between stones with new soil. I sprayed it down to clear some of the soil off the stones, but decided the next rain will take care of that.
More Lathe and some other stuff
Again, here is the lattice I made. The white thing on the far right is also for things to climb. Last year I used it in service of my cucumbers, which did not thrive. I understand from fellow Urban Gardeners in my city that last year was not such a great year for cucumbers, anyway. Anyway, this item is made with the legs of an A-frame pool later, held together with screws into a 2"x6" and covered with chicken wire. It may not look pretty... OK, well, it DOESN'T look pretty, but I believe in its news service this year, I should be able to keep the zucchini from taking over my garden.Obviously, I made the wooden items below right as well out of lathe. I will be keeping track of how well these, and other tomato supports, hold up over the summer. I aim to conclusively determine which of the things I have worked best and how.
Granite Walk - June 11, 2007
This is the Granite Walk (GW).
The GW is pretty small, maybe 3'x3'.
As it turns out My Wife (MW) disposed of the labels. Do you know what this is?
And this?Peas and Beans
Last fall, as MW and I were expecting little M.O., I did some remodeling. I wanted to increase the insulation is his room, so I pulled down all the lathe and plaster, inculated, and sheetrocked. This spring, I pulled out all the lathe pieces that we just about 4' long and made these lattice so my peas and beans would have something to climb. I also reused the nails. These cost me $0.
Composting on the Cheap
Again, this is not too pretty, but I have found few compost container which are. Many compost container cost a lot of money, but I made this one. I purchased an inexpensive trash barrel and a cup drill bit
which is about 1 and 1/2" in diameter (I already had the drill). I drilled a bunch of holes and starting adding organic matter. Now, I am not any kind of expert on composting. In fact, last summer I did nothing to this thing other than add matter. When I checked it out this spring, there were many, many worms (an excellent thing) and some very rich-looking black soil (a very excellent thing). I dumped it out onto the driveway and turned it with a shovel and put it all back. Again, I am no expert. For some reason, I thought it needed more time.
One word of advice about composting, as a general rule do NOT put weeds in your compost. I am sure there are some that actually are good for it, but since I do not know which ones, I put none in there. The seeds and roots of weeds are very hardy and will come up when you use the compost.
Well, that is my compost container.
which is about 1 and 1/2" in diameter (I already had the drill). I drilled a bunch of holes and starting adding organic matter. Now, I am not any kind of expert on composting. In fact, last summer I did nothing to this thing other than add matter. When I checked it out this spring, there were many, many worms (an excellent thing) and some very rich-looking black soil (a very excellent thing). I dumped it out onto the driveway and turned it with a shovel and put it all back. Again, I am no expert. For some reason, I thought it needed more time. One word of advice about composting, as a general rule do NOT put weeds in your compost. I am sure there are some that actually are good for it, but since I do not know which ones, I put none in there. The seeds and roots of weeds are very hardy and will come up when you use the compost.
Well, that is my compost container.
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