"No one's gay for Moleman..."
Date: Friday, June 21, 2013
The garden is in full swing and growing at a rapid pace. A lot can happen in two or three weeks. In fact, given the time I could probably update this blog every few days or so. Whether or not the updates would be interesting is debatable.
The work here on out is mostly watering and weeding, interspersed with the occasional planting. From the beginning the garden wasn't perfect, and there are times where I have to replace a weak sprout or add something to the landscape. Nothing's on cruise control just yet.
A few Alpine Yellow Wonder strawberries. They're tiny, but pack a lot of flavor and a creamy texture. It is difficult to tell when they are ripe since they are white from start to finish.
The tomatoes are doing well. Almost too well. Yet for all the mass these plants have accumulated, I still have yet to harvest anything beyond a few berries. All the tomatoes are still green on the vine and likely will do the most inconvenient thing possible and ripen all at once.
The first harvest of bell peppers. I have a feeling the plants could have done even better had they been planted elsewhere. My whole theory about planting them close to concrete so that the heat from the concrete would seep into the soil was kinda wrong.
One of the bigger tasks since the last post was planting all the sprouts that were growing in the trays. These included the cabbage varieties, onions, perilla, lettuce, and assorted herbs. When they are small and tender, sprouts have a bad habit of getting eaten by a multitude of pests. To protect them I bought a stack of dome lids, like the kind used on slurpee cups, and placed one over each plant. They are transparent, aerated, cheap, and impervious to insects. A stroke of genius if I do say so myself. After the plants start pressing against the domes I remove them.
A line of sugar peas and snow peas. Because they are normally cold weather crops, I am unsure how they will hold up in this summer weather. Other cold weather plants such as lettuce, spinach, and cilantro have held up in hotter climates, so here's hoping peas can do the same.
The big plot as it is today. For the most part it is doing well, however there have been some mishaps. I underestimated the amount of bean and corn sprouts I would need to fill the area. Consequently, some plants were sprouted later than the others, causing a lot of size variations. It is really just an aesthetic problem. Also, a colony of fire ants has moved in, which like to bite me as I'm working. They dig up soil at the base of a lot of my plants, but thankfully it doesn't kill them. Can't be good though.
For certain plants like lettuce, arugula, and spinach I decided to sprinkle the seeds on the ground and mix them in, rather than initially sprouting them in trays or digging furrows. This turned out to be a mistake, obviously resulting in patchy and poor germination. Live and learn, right?
My first eggplants. Like zucchinis, there is a luster to homegrown eggplants that is lost when grown commercially.
The muskmelon and watermelon. What can I say, looking good. I'm thinking of manually pollinating the watermelon this year. There is only one plant per plot because I thinned out the sprouts. I pick out the most vigorous plant and cut the rest off at the base. I don't pull them out because I don't want to disturb the roots of the remaining plant.
Beans come in two types: bush and vine. Viney plants have more yield, but take up more space and require extra components like a trellis. Check out the video below to see how vines always manage to find things to cling to.--------------------------------------------
One thing that has refused to sprout is the red shiso, or red perilla. I have tried to sprout it in trays twice so far, but to no avail. This, of course, has made me even more determined to succeed. Human nature, ain't it great?
My best guess for the failure is that the top surface of the soil dries out too quickly and too often. Watering also disturbs the top soil and may shift the seeds around, burying them too deep, or raising them too close to the surface. Here, I attempt to mitigate both problems by soaking the tray from below through the holes on the bottom. There are additional minor steps I have taken for better quality control as well.
My first step is to fill the tray with new planting soil. I make sure the soil is compact by pressing my fingers down in each cell.
My next step is soaking the soil, which is done by filling the tub with water and letting it permeate up from below through capillary action. There are holes at the bottom of each cell.
After the soil is soaked through I place a few seeds in each cell and press them into the wet soil. I then cover it with a thin layer of sifted soil, using a fine mesh screener. I let the tray soak again so that the top layer gets saturated as well.
After the tray is saturated I take it out of the tub and put it in a shady spot, then cover it with a damp paper towel. All these steps are there simply to ensure the top surface never dries out. Covering the trays also gives the cells a bit of humidity. Using the tub allows water into the soil without having to disturb the top layer. All the additional pressing, compacting, and sifting are new too. In a week or two we will see if the extra effort pays off. If not, then the seeds are dead, or they just suck. I thought after all the initial digging, mixing, and planting I would be cruising by now. It turns out gardening is never passive, and plants are always up to no good even when they are sitting perfectly still. Whoever says gardening is boring is doing something wrong. That, or they're just way better than me and their stuff grows without effort.
A few Alpine Yellow Wonder strawberries. They're tiny, but pack a lot of flavor and a creamy texture. It is difficult to tell when they are ripe since they are white from start to finish.
The tomatoes are doing well. Almost too well. Yet for all the mass these plants have accumulated, I still have yet to harvest anything beyond a few berries. All the tomatoes are still green on the vine and likely will do the most inconvenient thing possible and ripen all at once.
The first harvest of bell peppers. I have a feeling the plants could have done even better had they been planted elsewhere. My whole theory about planting them close to concrete so that the heat from the concrete would seep into the soil was kinda wrong.
One of the bigger tasks since the last post was planting all the sprouts that were growing in the trays. These included the cabbage varieties, onions, perilla, lettuce, and assorted herbs. When they are small and tender, sprouts have a bad habit of getting eaten by a multitude of pests. To protect them I bought a stack of dome lids, like the kind used on slurpee cups, and placed one over each plant. They are transparent, aerated, cheap, and impervious to insects. A stroke of genius if I do say so myself. After the plants start pressing against the domes I remove them.
A line of sugar peas and snow peas. Because they are normally cold weather crops, I am unsure how they will hold up in this summer weather. Other cold weather plants such as lettuce, spinach, and cilantro have held up in hotter climates, so here's hoping peas can do the same.
The big plot as it is today. For the most part it is doing well, however there have been some mishaps. I underestimated the amount of bean and corn sprouts I would need to fill the area. Consequently, some plants were sprouted later than the others, causing a lot of size variations. It is really just an aesthetic problem. Also, a colony of fire ants has moved in, which like to bite me as I'm working. They dig up soil at the base of a lot of my plants, but thankfully it doesn't kill them. Can't be good though.
For certain plants like lettuce, arugula, and spinach I decided to sprinkle the seeds on the ground and mix them in, rather than initially sprouting them in trays or digging furrows. This turned out to be a mistake, obviously resulting in patchy and poor germination. Live and learn, right?
My first eggplants. Like zucchinis, there is a luster to homegrown eggplants that is lost when grown commercially.
The muskmelon and watermelon. What can I say, looking good. I'm thinking of manually pollinating the watermelon this year. There is only one plant per plot because I thinned out the sprouts. I pick out the most vigorous plant and cut the rest off at the base. I don't pull them out because I don't want to disturb the roots of the remaining plant.
Beans come in two types: bush and vine. Viney plants have more yield, but take up more space and require extra components like a trellis. Check out the video below to see how vines always manage to find things to cling to.
My first step is to fill the tray with new planting soil. I make sure the soil is compact by pressing my fingers down in each cell.
My next step is soaking the soil, which is done by filling the tub with water and letting it permeate up from below through capillary action. There are holes at the bottom of each cell.
After the soil is soaked through I place a few seeds in each cell and press them into the wet soil. I then cover it with a thin layer of sifted soil, using a fine mesh screener. I let the tray soak again so that the top layer gets saturated as well.
After the tray is saturated I take it out of the tub and put it in a shady spot, then cover it with a damp paper towel. All these steps are there simply to ensure the top surface never dries out. Covering the trays also gives the cells a bit of humidity. Using the tub allows water into the soil without having to disturb the top layer. All the additional pressing, compacting, and sifting are new too. In a week or two we will see if the extra effort pays off. If not, then the seeds are dead, or they just suck. I thought after all the initial digging, mixing, and planting I would be cruising by now. It turns out gardening is never passive, and plants are always up to no good even when they are sitting perfectly still. Whoever says gardening is boring is doing something wrong. That, or they're just way better than me and their stuff grows without effort.
Date: Saturday, June 1, 2013
Summer time is here and time for planting once again. The scale and ambitiousness of my new garden is probably at the apex of what I am physically capable of creating and maintaining.
First, some updates. The strawberry patch with Pineberry, Alpine Yellow Wonder, and two red varieties. Additionally, Purple Wonders are to be shipped to me soon. Among the strawberries are a multitude of flowers and whatnots which aren't mine. You can also see the other pineapple plants I managed to sprout and plant, using the same process to root them as I described previously. The newer heads are much stronger than the first and stand a better chance.
I have never had much luck with basil until now. The difference lies in better soil, better idea of proper growing conditions (full sun, warm weather), and, perhaps most importantly, regularly pinching the plant. Pinching is when you cut or pinch the flower ends off at an early stage, causing the plant to divert its energy to growing leaves instead of seeds.
Bell peppers and soy beans. This area is tough due to the small plot and what I suspect is slightly contaminated soil. The plot is very close to a pool from which chlorinated water occasionally splashed into. This was a long time ago, and I think chlorine eventually breaks down, but I dunno.
The tomatoes and dragon fruit area. The varieties I am growing are Brandywine, Sun Sugar, Purple Bumblebee, San Marzano, and Heat Wave II. All are specially grown plants composed of two entirely different tomato varieties grafted onto each other. The idea is that a tomato plant with strong roots but mediocre tomatoes is cut and grafted to a plant with weaker roots but with much tastier tomatoes, thus getting the best of both worlds. There is a sharp difference between the plants that were stuck in the ground and the one that was stuck in the pot. The potted plant is not doing nearly as well, despite having the same soil, location, and watering. Hmmmmmmmmm.
With Phase I chugging along, it was time to initiate the rest of the planting. The first thing I did was use planter trays to get things started while the sites were being prepared. I have never done this before but there are numerous advantages to this practice and already I am a fan. Positives include earlier germination by planting before the plot is ready, consistent spacing and stronger plants by transplanting only the sprouted and strongest seeds, controlled planting depth with no external soil to wash over and further bury the seed, and less seed disturbance by being easier to water gently. The only negative is the extra work to transplant all the sprouts, but that's the price to pay for quality. The seeds that went into the trays were corn, a few types of beans, soy beans, cabbage, several types of Asian greens, onions, shiso (perilla), lettuces, dill, oregano, parsley, and chili peppers.
My next task was to cultivate the planter box area which included the soil in the box and in front of it. In the box I transplanted sprouts of bok choi, napa, michihli, and cabbage. I direct seeded cilantro and spinach as well. In the front of the box I dug three holes and backfilled with amended soil, into which I direct seeded cucumbers and orange flesh honeydew. I seeded cilantro and spinach directly since they are less space dependent than the cabbage types and my tray count was limited. I planted the cucumber and honeydew directly because things like melons, squash, and cucumbers have long taproots that might get stunted early on if planted in a confined tray. Taproots are the main roots which run directly under the main stem.
Warning: do not leave your seeds open to the air when storing. Moths in particular will gorge on seeds and then reproduce like crazy, like they did here. Best to put them in a sealed container.
A narrow strip of dirt exists between my two planter box areas. Within this I erected a trellis and planted peas, snow peas, and lettuce. The site gets ample shade which I am hoping will offset the warmth, for these particular plants perform best in cooler weather.
Next up was the biggest plot in the garden, which looked like this at first.
After relocating a few compost piles, moving grass, cultivating a ton of ground, and digging holes, the result is this. One of the biggest differences between this year's garden and last year's is the design, notably walking paths and spacing. On the left I planted five varieties of squash. In the middle are beans, corn, and spinach, and on the right are the melons.
The white stuff is gypsum, used to loosen heavy soils.
All the bags of soil and amendments I bought. Serious gardening is quite expensive.
I backfilled the holes with soil mixed with Kellogg chicken manure, garden soil, gypsum, and Azomite. Azomite is rock dust, literally pulverized rock which is supposed to reintroduce micronutrients.
The plot as it looks today. The plants sprouted pretty quickly, and I already transplanted much of the corn and beans. The middle three plants are eggplants, which were pre-sprouted a while ago.
Pictures of Orange Tendersweet watermelon and zucchini. All melons, squash, and cucumbers look basically the same as sprouts. I could show many more, but it would quickly get redundant.
Planter trays with stuff in them. I have a lot of excess that I don't know what to do with.
In addition to all the soil I bought, I was finally able to use some of the compost from the tumbler. Here I sifted out all the sticks, twigs, and clumps to get a soft, black amendment.
Some late comers from the winter crop. I was most surprised by the carrots and their colors, considering the previous batch was dominantly white. Maybe the white ones grow faster. There's more to the story, but I will save it for another time. For all the work invested and all the new plants and techniques, I'm excited to see how it will all turn out in the end. Watch out for some really neat things in the future. I can feel it.
First, some updates. The strawberry patch with Pineberry, Alpine Yellow Wonder, and two red varieties. Additionally, Purple Wonders are to be shipped to me soon. Among the strawberries are a multitude of flowers and whatnots which aren't mine. You can also see the other pineapple plants I managed to sprout and plant, using the same process to root them as I described previously. The newer heads are much stronger than the first and stand a better chance.
I have never had much luck with basil until now. The difference lies in better soil, better idea of proper growing conditions (full sun, warm weather), and, perhaps most importantly, regularly pinching the plant. Pinching is when you cut or pinch the flower ends off at an early stage, causing the plant to divert its energy to growing leaves instead of seeds.
Bell peppers and soy beans. This area is tough due to the small plot and what I suspect is slightly contaminated soil. The plot is very close to a pool from which chlorinated water occasionally splashed into. This was a long time ago, and I think chlorine eventually breaks down, but I dunno.
The tomatoes and dragon fruit area. The varieties I am growing are Brandywine, Sun Sugar, Purple Bumblebee, San Marzano, and Heat Wave II. All are specially grown plants composed of two entirely different tomato varieties grafted onto each other. The idea is that a tomato plant with strong roots but mediocre tomatoes is cut and grafted to a plant with weaker roots but with much tastier tomatoes, thus getting the best of both worlds. There is a sharp difference between the plants that were stuck in the ground and the one that was stuck in the pot. The potted plant is not doing nearly as well, despite having the same soil, location, and watering. Hmmmmmmmmm.
With Phase I chugging along, it was time to initiate the rest of the planting. The first thing I did was use planter trays to get things started while the sites were being prepared. I have never done this before but there are numerous advantages to this practice and already I am a fan. Positives include earlier germination by planting before the plot is ready, consistent spacing and stronger plants by transplanting only the sprouted and strongest seeds, controlled planting depth with no external soil to wash over and further bury the seed, and less seed disturbance by being easier to water gently. The only negative is the extra work to transplant all the sprouts, but that's the price to pay for quality. The seeds that went into the trays were corn, a few types of beans, soy beans, cabbage, several types of Asian greens, onions, shiso (perilla), lettuces, dill, oregano, parsley, and chili peppers.
My next task was to cultivate the planter box area which included the soil in the box and in front of it. In the box I transplanted sprouts of bok choi, napa, michihli, and cabbage. I direct seeded cilantro and spinach as well. In the front of the box I dug three holes and backfilled with amended soil, into which I direct seeded cucumbers and orange flesh honeydew. I seeded cilantro and spinach directly since they are less space dependent than the cabbage types and my tray count was limited. I planted the cucumber and honeydew directly because things like melons, squash, and cucumbers have long taproots that might get stunted early on if planted in a confined tray. Taproots are the main roots which run directly under the main stem.
Warning: do not leave your seeds open to the air when storing. Moths in particular will gorge on seeds and then reproduce like crazy, like they did here. Best to put them in a sealed container.
A narrow strip of dirt exists between my two planter box areas. Within this I erected a trellis and planted peas, snow peas, and lettuce. The site gets ample shade which I am hoping will offset the warmth, for these particular plants perform best in cooler weather.
Next up was the biggest plot in the garden, which looked like this at first.
After relocating a few compost piles, moving grass, cultivating a ton of ground, and digging holes, the result is this. One of the biggest differences between this year's garden and last year's is the design, notably walking paths and spacing. On the left I planted five varieties of squash. In the middle are beans, corn, and spinach, and on the right are the melons.
The white stuff is gypsum, used to loosen heavy soils.
All the bags of soil and amendments I bought. Serious gardening is quite expensive.
I backfilled the holes with soil mixed with Kellogg chicken manure, garden soil, gypsum, and Azomite. Azomite is rock dust, literally pulverized rock which is supposed to reintroduce micronutrients.
The plot as it looks today. The plants sprouted pretty quickly, and I already transplanted much of the corn and beans. The middle three plants are eggplants, which were pre-sprouted a while ago.
Pictures of Orange Tendersweet watermelon and zucchini. All melons, squash, and cucumbers look basically the same as sprouts. I could show many more, but it would quickly get redundant.
Planter trays with stuff in them. I have a lot of excess that I don't know what to do with.
In addition to all the soil I bought, I was finally able to use some of the compost from the tumbler. Here I sifted out all the sticks, twigs, and clumps to get a soft, black amendment.
Some late comers from the winter crop. I was most surprised by the carrots and their colors, considering the previous batch was dominantly white. Maybe the white ones grow faster. There's more to the story, but I will save it for another time. For all the work invested and all the new plants and techniques, I'm excited to see how it will all turn out in the end. Watch out for some really neat things in the future. I can feel it.
Date: Friday, April 26, 2013
Oh boy. 2 months of inactivity and you can bet a lot has changed. I always talk about switching up the topics and whatnot, however I keep falling behind with the general status of the garden so this will be another catchup post. Sorry. On the plus side, I've been finally getting some harvests in. More of those pics at the end.
One of the patches about a month ago. You can see the newly transplanted green onions in the front which I moved from a sunnier, much more valuable plot of growing estate. Green onions are hardy and can survive pretty bad soil and sun conditions. I really don't do much with most of these plants except water and pick when they're ready. A lot of gardening is simply up front work and the rest is kicking back and watching the grass grow.
Snap peas and snow peas, which got so tangled and unwieldy I couldn't tell which was which. You can also see that I had to tie them back to the wall because they were caving in on their own weight. Unfortunately, these plants succumbed to powdery mildew, a white fungus that slowly kills the plant and makes the peas inedible. I didn't get too much from these guys, despite their massive size.
Carrots. Surprisingly slow growing, but turned out surprisingly well. More on this at the bottom.
Kale. Now we're talking. These plants finally filled out and leaves were able to be cut off. They look cool too.
This is what happens when you let your bok choy, michihli, and arugula bolt all at the same time. Bolting is when leafy plants begin to flower, which they initiate by a sudden growth in height and slenderness. This is the only way to get them to seed, and unfortunately they covered just about everything and were at this point inedible. Their unanticipated spread was another flaw in my garden design. I will consider this next year.
Celery and cilantro. Slow but still going. 'Nuff said.
If you remember my compost a while back you would notice it was all leaves and twigs. Now it's broken down into a dark, rich mass. I have actually filled the tumbler several times without emptying it, which demonstrates just how little actual organic material is in plants. The compost shown here represents about 7 times the tumbler volume of uncomposted material, if not more.
Lastly, who could forget the little pineapple. It finally managed to sprout enough roots to be planted in a pot. It's still not growing very fast, but I have gotten more pineapple heads since then, and have been actively rooting those as well. Harvests What you've all been waiting for, and what I grow these plants for. The food! Nothing beats pulling out a healthy head of cabbage or carrot and then eating it later that day. In the end, that is really all it is about.
The carrots turned out nicely, although I was hoping for a more colorful arrangement. I think the purple one turns orange when you cook it, which is exceptionally disappointing. Apparently I picked them a little late, because they started growing some sort of woody interior core. I didn't know they did that.
Cauliflower. Freshly picked vegetables have a certain sweetness to them that store bought produce lacks. The cauliflower shown here are slightly yellow because I didn't blanch them, which is the process of tying the leaves together to shield the head from the sun. I feel like the plant itself could have used more sun though. The head was not as thick as I'd hoped.
Cabbage. Not very dense, but bug free and sweet. With all the aphids and slugs in my garden right now, that's all I could ask for.
Lastly, heads of lettuce. These things are basically weeds at this point because they grow pretty much anywhere and without prompting. Somehow, they all turn out really nice too. Recent Activity
Many of the pictures above were taken almost a month ago. A lot has changed since then. For the most part, existing plants have been pulled out to harvest or to throw away, and much has happened to the landscape around them. I am currently in the process of preparing for the summer crop, which has become a ridiculously ambitious and stupid endeavor filled with seeding, transplanting, landscaping, cultivating, and building. Ugh.
One of my first major projects was laying the stepped, circular brick beds and backfilling them with good soil. You wouldn't think mixing dirt is that intensive, but just try it. In here I placed several varieties of strawberries, including some very rare, very expensive plants. The raised bed is to deepen the topsoil, improve drainage, increase aesthetics, and to control the type of soil that got filled in. I then covered the beds with pine needles to create a mulch. Strawberries like the acidity that pine needles provide as they break down. The only downside to this plot is that it doesn't get as much sun as I thought it would.
In this tiny strip of land I alternated bell peppers and soy beans. If that sounds weird, it is. Sunny spots are limited in my yard, and are reserved for the plants with the highest heat and sun requirements. Both bell peppers and soybeans have high heat demands and take up relatively small spaces. These two traits make both plants ideal for this spot. My theory is that the concrete and the wall of the house will act as heatsinks in the summer months, storing heat during the day, and releasing it into the soil during night, thus giving the plants a great deal of warmth. That's the theory anyway.
The coveted tomato area. There are two things going on in this picture. The first is the transplanting of the tomatoes themselves. For each plant I dug about a 20 gallon hole, mixed the soil with half a bag of Kellogg garden soil and half a bag of composted chicken manure, then filled it back in. The garden soil is for conditioning to keep the ground loose. The chicken manure is for a concentrated dose of nutrients and organic matter. The second part of this picture are the cages, which I made from scrap metal that's been lying around. The cages are about 6 feet tall and bound completely with twine. If these tomatoes are anything like last year's they will get this big and then some. The bamboo sticks are to tie the main stem to to keep it growing straight up.
A picture of what the garden looks like today. Not pretty for sure, but it is now ready to be cultivated and planted for the summer crop. I have big plans which I will slowly reveal as I post more. A long post to catch up from a long hiatus. I will try to be more frequent in the future. Life has been too insane recently, but hopefully that will change soon. I have worked so much on this garden, and to condense certain projects to a mere picture or two seems like an injustice. Ideally, I would have liked to explain in more depth the decisions I am making and how I am going about executing my plans. However, I feel like I have been in catchup mode almost since the beginning, and also I'm not sure how interesting people find this stuff anyway. Growing plants is a more complex endeavor than one might think. However, with a little hard work, research, and experience, anyone can do it. I hope this blog can help.
One of the patches about a month ago. You can see the newly transplanted green onions in the front which I moved from a sunnier, much more valuable plot of growing estate. Green onions are hardy and can survive pretty bad soil and sun conditions. I really don't do much with most of these plants except water and pick when they're ready. A lot of gardening is simply up front work and the rest is kicking back and watching the grass grow.
Snap peas and snow peas, which got so tangled and unwieldy I couldn't tell which was which. You can also see that I had to tie them back to the wall because they were caving in on their own weight. Unfortunately, these plants succumbed to powdery mildew, a white fungus that slowly kills the plant and makes the peas inedible. I didn't get too much from these guys, despite their massive size.
Carrots. Surprisingly slow growing, but turned out surprisingly well. More on this at the bottom.
Kale. Now we're talking. These plants finally filled out and leaves were able to be cut off. They look cool too.
This is what happens when you let your bok choy, michihli, and arugula bolt all at the same time. Bolting is when leafy plants begin to flower, which they initiate by a sudden growth in height and slenderness. This is the only way to get them to seed, and unfortunately they covered just about everything and were at this point inedible. Their unanticipated spread was another flaw in my garden design. I will consider this next year.
Celery and cilantro. Slow but still going. 'Nuff said.
If you remember my compost a while back you would notice it was all leaves and twigs. Now it's broken down into a dark, rich mass. I have actually filled the tumbler several times without emptying it, which demonstrates just how little actual organic material is in plants. The compost shown here represents about 7 times the tumbler volume of uncomposted material, if not more.
Lastly, who could forget the little pineapple. It finally managed to sprout enough roots to be planted in a pot. It's still not growing very fast, but I have gotten more pineapple heads since then, and have been actively rooting those as well. Harvests What you've all been waiting for, and what I grow these plants for. The food! Nothing beats pulling out a healthy head of cabbage or carrot and then eating it later that day. In the end, that is really all it is about.
The carrots turned out nicely, although I was hoping for a more colorful arrangement. I think the purple one turns orange when you cook it, which is exceptionally disappointing. Apparently I picked them a little late, because they started growing some sort of woody interior core. I didn't know they did that.
Cauliflower. Freshly picked vegetables have a certain sweetness to them that store bought produce lacks. The cauliflower shown here are slightly yellow because I didn't blanch them, which is the process of tying the leaves together to shield the head from the sun. I feel like the plant itself could have used more sun though. The head was not as thick as I'd hoped.
Cabbage. Not very dense, but bug free and sweet. With all the aphids and slugs in my garden right now, that's all I could ask for.
Lastly, heads of lettuce. These things are basically weeds at this point because they grow pretty much anywhere and without prompting. Somehow, they all turn out really nice too. Recent Activity
Many of the pictures above were taken almost a month ago. A lot has changed since then. For the most part, existing plants have been pulled out to harvest or to throw away, and much has happened to the landscape around them. I am currently in the process of preparing for the summer crop, which has become a ridiculously ambitious and stupid endeavor filled with seeding, transplanting, landscaping, cultivating, and building. Ugh.
One of my first major projects was laying the stepped, circular brick beds and backfilling them with good soil. You wouldn't think mixing dirt is that intensive, but just try it. In here I placed several varieties of strawberries, including some very rare, very expensive plants. The raised bed is to deepen the topsoil, improve drainage, increase aesthetics, and to control the type of soil that got filled in. I then covered the beds with pine needles to create a mulch. Strawberries like the acidity that pine needles provide as they break down. The only downside to this plot is that it doesn't get as much sun as I thought it would.
In this tiny strip of land I alternated bell peppers and soy beans. If that sounds weird, it is. Sunny spots are limited in my yard, and are reserved for the plants with the highest heat and sun requirements. Both bell peppers and soybeans have high heat demands and take up relatively small spaces. These two traits make both plants ideal for this spot. My theory is that the concrete and the wall of the house will act as heatsinks in the summer months, storing heat during the day, and releasing it into the soil during night, thus giving the plants a great deal of warmth. That's the theory anyway.
The coveted tomato area. There are two things going on in this picture. The first is the transplanting of the tomatoes themselves. For each plant I dug about a 20 gallon hole, mixed the soil with half a bag of Kellogg garden soil and half a bag of composted chicken manure, then filled it back in. The garden soil is for conditioning to keep the ground loose. The chicken manure is for a concentrated dose of nutrients and organic matter. The second part of this picture are the cages, which I made from scrap metal that's been lying around. The cages are about 6 feet tall and bound completely with twine. If these tomatoes are anything like last year's they will get this big and then some. The bamboo sticks are to tie the main stem to to keep it growing straight up.
A picture of what the garden looks like today. Not pretty for sure, but it is now ready to be cultivated and planted for the summer crop. I have big plans which I will slowly reveal as I post more. A long post to catch up from a long hiatus. I will try to be more frequent in the future. Life has been too insane recently, but hopefully that will change soon. I have worked so much on this garden, and to condense certain projects to a mere picture or two seems like an injustice. Ideally, I would have liked to explain in more depth the decisions I am making and how I am going about executing my plans. However, I feel like I have been in catchup mode almost since the beginning, and also I'm not sure how interesting people find this stuff anyway. Growing plants is a more complex endeavor than one might think. However, with a little hard work, research, and experience, anyone can do it. I hope this blog can help.
Date: Friday, February 22, 2013
December and January are over, the coldest days are behind us, and the days are getting longer. My plants are in their "crazy stages" where they start to grow uncontrollably into a jungle-like mess. A quick update on the state of my garden and also some commentary at the end:
Lettuce and cabbage. It has been about 3.5 months since I planted these things and I expected them to be almost ready to pick by now, but as you can see they are still only past the sprouting stage. We'll cover that in the commentary at the end.
Cauliflower, broccoli, and brussel sprouts. These plants have the same growth problem as the lettuce and cabbage. Makes sense since they are right next to each other. A clue to my theories below.
Snap peas and snow peas. These are the most disappointing, growth-wise. I mean, they've only grown a few feet past their cages. I would have expected by now they would have covered my house. They're not even climbing the walls for Christ's sake! What's a guy got to do to grow things around here?
Carrots and white onions. Again, I thought I might be harvesting these by now. Doing this for the first time, it is difficult to tell if this is normal, if I'm doing something wrong, or if I just have a bunch of anomalous poor growing plants.
Kale, bok choy, and michihli. Now here we go. The bok choy and the michihli were the fastest growing plants in my garden. So fast and so big that it's hard to keep up consuming them. You can see that some have already gone to flower, which means that they are pretty much inedible. You gotta move fast with these guys. The kale, however, is also one of the slower ones. Again, not sure if this is normal or me.
Arugula, lettuce, spinach, cilantro, and celery. Grow your own arugula. Do not pay for it. People treat it like some sort of elite leaf, but growing them is easy and prolific. They act like weeds. Speaking of weeds...
No, not marijuana. It looks like I have some bonus plants growing just outside my boxes. The size difference between the plants that were and were not actively taken care of is readily apparent. My overall impression of the garden is mixed. I have some excellent and some not so excellent plants growing right now. Certainly, I have learned a whole lot from this first foray into cool season crops. One very important realization is the optimal temperature range of cool season plants is not 40-55 degrees like it has consistently been of late. In fact, I was given a strangely appropriate chart of planting periods adapted for my home town. Here is what it tabulates:
Wait, carrots in February? Broccoli in August? Wow, I was way off. I planted everything in November. I guess "cool season" really just means "not-the-hottest" season. I have a new theory that these types of plants will thrive in temperatures more like 65-75 degrees. For now, I am attributing the slow growth of my plants to the weather, as well as the short days and shady areas which give them little sunlight. I am unsure if these factors have permanently stunted their growth, but I really hope not. If anything, I would at least hope these plants are able to flower so I can have some legacy seeds.
Another thing I want to comment on is plant spacing. I am starting to think that spacing only needs to be considered for plants with distinctive fruits, heads, or bulbs that are harvested specifically. Things like watermelon plants need a lot of space for the roots and vines to run uninterrupted, so that the biggest, juiciest melon can be grown. Other things like lettuce, arugula, and spinach do not need such consideration, because in these cases it is the quantity of leaves, not so much the quality of leaves, that is important. Next time, instead of distinctively spacing out my leafy plants, I am just going to spread them out in the dirt and lightly rake them in. This will probably lead to smaller plants overall, but twice the amount.
Some updates on various garden related things. The compost tumbler I have seems to be doing its job, although I'm not sure how so many bugs and flies get into something that is sealed most of the time. Adding a catalyst like soil amendment would speed up the composting process, but I have not done so yet.
My first bok choy and michihli picks. Michihli is not nappa, although they resemble one another. This was an unfortunate realization.
Celery, the oh so elusive and unrewarding plant, is growing rather nicely. If I can sprout celery from seed, I think I can sprout just about anything.
Last but not least is the pineapple plant, which after about six weeks has finally started to grow roots. It was a small and weak looking head from the start, which may be why it took longer to get going. Sprouting directions are pretty simple and I'm giving myself enough credit that I didn't screw up the process. Maybe plants just don't like me. I haven't had too much time to update on a regular basis, though I suppose not that much has happened in the time between posts except for the plants got bigger. I'll try to work in some new topics and styles for some variety. If anyone needs lettuce or arugula let me know. Seriously.
Lettuce and cabbage. It has been about 3.5 months since I planted these things and I expected them to be almost ready to pick by now, but as you can see they are still only past the sprouting stage. We'll cover that in the commentary at the end.
Cauliflower, broccoli, and brussel sprouts. These plants have the same growth problem as the lettuce and cabbage. Makes sense since they are right next to each other. A clue to my theories below.
Snap peas and snow peas. These are the most disappointing, growth-wise. I mean, they've only grown a few feet past their cages. I would have expected by now they would have covered my house. They're not even climbing the walls for Christ's sake! What's a guy got to do to grow things around here?
Carrots and white onions. Again, I thought I might be harvesting these by now. Doing this for the first time, it is difficult to tell if this is normal, if I'm doing something wrong, or if I just have a bunch of anomalous poor growing plants.
Kale, bok choy, and michihli. Now here we go. The bok choy and the michihli were the fastest growing plants in my garden. So fast and so big that it's hard to keep up consuming them. You can see that some have already gone to flower, which means that they are pretty much inedible. You gotta move fast with these guys. The kale, however, is also one of the slower ones. Again, not sure if this is normal or me.
Arugula, lettuce, spinach, cilantro, and celery. Grow your own arugula. Do not pay for it. People treat it like some sort of elite leaf, but growing them is easy and prolific. They act like weeds. Speaking of weeds...
No, not marijuana. It looks like I have some bonus plants growing just outside my boxes. The size difference between the plants that were and were not actively taken care of is readily apparent. My overall impression of the garden is mixed. I have some excellent and some not so excellent plants growing right now. Certainly, I have learned a whole lot from this first foray into cool season crops. One very important realization is the optimal temperature range of cool season plants is not 40-55 degrees like it has consistently been of late. In fact, I was given a strangely appropriate chart of planting periods adapted for my home town. Here is what it tabulates:
| Jan-Feb: Cauliflower | May-June: Winter Squash, Watermelons, Muskmelons |
| Feb-Mar: Brussels Sprouts | Jul-Aug: Cauliflower |
| Feb-Apr: Carrots | Aug-Mar: Cabbage |
| Apr- : Eggplant | Aug-Apr: Broccoli |
| Apr-May: Tomatoes | Sep-Mar: Spinach |
| Apr-Jun: Cucumbers | Sep-Apr: Peas, Radishes |
| Apr-Jul: Corn | Sep-May: Lettuce |
| Apr-Aug: Beans | Sep-Nov: Brussels Sprouts |
| May- : Peppers, Summer Squash | Oct-Nov: Onions |
Some updates on various garden related things. The compost tumbler I have seems to be doing its job, although I'm not sure how so many bugs and flies get into something that is sealed most of the time. Adding a catalyst like soil amendment would speed up the composting process, but I have not done so yet.
My first bok choy and michihli picks. Michihli is not nappa, although they resemble one another. This was an unfortunate realization.
Celery, the oh so elusive and unrewarding plant, is growing rather nicely. If I can sprout celery from seed, I think I can sprout just about anything.
Last but not least is the pineapple plant, which after about six weeks has finally started to grow roots. It was a small and weak looking head from the start, which may be why it took longer to get going. Sprouting directions are pretty simple and I'm giving myself enough credit that I didn't screw up the process. Maybe plants just don't like me. I haven't had too much time to update on a regular basis, though I suppose not that much has happened in the time between posts except for the plants got bigger. I'll try to work in some new topics and styles for some variety. If anyone needs lettuce or arugula let me know. Seriously.
