Successes and Failures

It happens to the best of us and those of us who are usually pretty good at gardening.  I think I have been beat this year and will not enjoy my own garden beans.  I did everything the way I usually do, but I have a few miserable sprouts coming up.  I have them fenced to protect them from the big critters and covered them for the little.  Still there are a few lousy plants and some that look like they were eaten by something.  This is unprecedented in my gardening years.  I will put more in, bush beans that are short season.  I hope to enjoy some fresh beans before the growing season runs out.  My pole beans and the elaborate growing structure appear to be a futile attempt at gardening.

Instead of tender sprouts, I have a bed full of purslane.  Purslane is edible, but they aren't beans.  On the other hand, peas were very successful.  I grew both sugar snap and garden shelling beans.  I enjoyed cooking up three different meals from the last picking of shelling beans alone.

I went out and picked again before work this morning and got almost a full pail of both types.  They are starting to dwindle in number so there is probably just a meal left to grow in on the vines.  I am leaving some on to try and get some for next year's crop.

I am also pretty happy with the onion crop.  The tops are starting to get brown tips so they should be starting to shut down and start hardening up for harvest.  We have enjoyed several pullings of fresh onions that I have cooked or used fresh.  Garlic is also starting to brown at the top. The leeks also look pretty good, but those are still growing.  I put in carrots, but only those shaded by the adjacent plants actually germinated.  I think they got too dry when they needed it most.  We have not been getting timely rains this month.
I also enjoyed the first four blueberries on my bush today.  It is not going to be much of a crop.  I just bought the plants last year.  They were in pots all last year and through the winter.  I have them in a large above ground planter now that is filled with peat and compost.  In our alkaline soils, we can only grow blueberries in an artificial environment like this.
Fencing of some type still needs to go up.  I did get down soaker hoses around the tomatoes and peppers last week.  I am also going to put some around the squash just to cover my bases since I do have a few left.  I haven't peeked at the corn coming up under the floating row cover, but I can see some shoots pushing up the fabric.  Okra is small and in desperate need of weeding.  I do have to get busy in the weeding department as I know they will need it again when we come back from our first vacation.
I try not to linger on the failures and enjoy eating the food that is coming from the garden.  Lettuce is at it's end, so I need to enjoy salads this weekend rather than send it to the compost pile for lack of interest.  It is also time to forage for berries.  Enjoy summer as it is short.

Starting over, my new garden

 The gardening venture begins anew in a different place.  My daughter and her husband will enjoy the fruits of my labor in the raised beds I left behind at the house we have owned for over 20 years.  I now get to garden in a much larger plot, but one that has been neglected.  One previous gardener used Roundup on a paint roller to "weed" the garden.  The second gardener, I have learned from second hand reports, put in plants and and did very little follow up.  I can believe the reports as I spent all of last summer just trying to clean up dead weed stalks only to find all the precious little babies they were sprouting underneath.  I resorted to the first gardeners technique and used herbicide to control the weeds, but did not plant.  It was tilled a couple times as the compaction was horrific and I expanded the bound with the herbicide to bring it up to the size it was when I I kept a small corner plot her over 20 years ago in the after work hours.
I have decided to not till again this spring to keep the covered weed seeds under the soil and deal with the ones that have and will sprout at the surface.  They are numerous!  I brought in some composted manure last fall which covered the smallest of areas.  This is where I will put my beds of seeds like spinach and such.  The other vine crops will get a mound of compost at their planting site with weed cloth or mulch around their growing area to try and suppress the potential weed army rallying forces underground.

I started this year off as I always do with peas.  The garden here tends to stay wet, so I have chosen to use the mounding method to create raised beds.  I loved my foot high, wood sided beds at home, but I am not going to invest in the materials or labor to do this here.  Starting with the area where the manure was spread last fall, I raked and mixed the soil a bit.  After getting it a bit loose, I pulled it up into a pile and then leveled off two rows for putting in my two different types of peas.  I like the sugar pods, but still enjoy the pleasure of shelling out peas as well.  They are starting off about six inches high, but will settle as the season goes on.  I will side dress these rows with carrots or other rooting crops to take over when the peas are done.  Right now the sprouting peas are covered with mesh to keep the squirrels and chipmunks from digging up and eating the peas as seeds.  I always soak my seeds first as the germination is so much better when I do.
I have to fence this garden much more heavily than I did in my urban plot.  The property is fenced off from the roaming deer herds for the nursery crops, but we still have four residential does that still call this home.  I put a hardware cloth and t-post fence around the perimeter of part of the garden that will keep the tastiest crops away from bunnies and wood chucks.  I am certain that I will have to do battle with something even still.

Next to each t-post is a ten foot conduit post pounded in about two feet.  I fashioned a hook for the top of each to hang a five foot wide mesh cloth that meets up to the three foot tall hardware cloth.  All together they form an eight foot tall enclosure which should keep the deer away from my peas, greens and bean crops.  The opening is an over-lap of the mesh with a gate of hardware cloth.  I have to duck to get through the mesh over-lap, but it is a small sacrifice.  Time will tell how effective this will be.  I did not dig the hardware cloth in very deep and this may be my weak spot if I don't monitor the perimeter enough.

Once my perimeter was secure (this was two separate weekends to accomplish) I felt I could continue with the actual gardening.  I used my Weed Dragon to scorch the weeds that were abundantly germinating already.  Next to the pea rows, I formed a square bed for my greens like spinach and lettuce as well as some root crops of parsnips and salsify.  Both root crops are over 100 days to maturity and are best harvested after frost for sweeter quality.  I have not added my kale yet, but need to make that a priority.  I have greenhouse starts of cabbage and bok choy to add as well.  I just hope the enclosure will fit them all!
I put the tender onion plants in as well.  I did two types of bulb onions, Ailsa Craig and Walla Walla.  I also have Lancelot leeks which I plan on mounding to blanch the stems as they grow.  These were also greenhouse starts back in February.  Onions and leeks are very long season crops when started from seed.  I have decided that the radicchio is going to be a fall crop this year to form the best heads closer to frost.  I also put in my radishes, French Breakfast and April Cross, for my early crop.  I have another called Rat-tailed which is grown for its seed heads that will go in later.  I put in short rows of these as one family can only eat so many ripening radishes at once. Straw that was used for winter protection around my potted fruit crops is down on my walking paths for mulch.  This will get turned in next fall to compost in ground for more soil tilth in future years.  I can't wait for the weather to warm if only to shorten the distance I have to run a hose to water.  I don't have a rain barrel area established here yet as I need to put up some gutter on the shed close to the garden.  I have an idea, I just need to execute.  I look forward to some rain water for spot watering the garden here.

I used what little compost I had left last fall to create a rhubarb bed with bounds.  There was a ceramic "planter" already in place in the yard.  After digging down over two feet, I decided it wasn't getting removed.  I vaguely remember this being put in by my former manager and it involved heavy equipment.  One of my rhubarb varieties didn't make it through summer in the pot that I was growing my roots in.  I think a watering lapse or late planting was to blame.  I was scrambling about with my garlic bulbs last fall looking for a place to put them in before winter.  The rhubarb plot was the only area that I did not plan on disturbing the following year.  It was also the only area that I am not battling weeds.  I will get through the weed ordeal... The garlic has sprouted with hopes of another crop to come this year.
I will continue to plan and plant.  It is almost like learning how to garden all over again.  There is so much work to get done, but I can see all of it in my mind.  I can't wait to share it all with you.

Fitting in the spring tasks, a photo tour

My basement greenhouse is full with overflow to the kitchen window and south facing upstairs window.  I have many transplants to fit soon, so I have to come up with a plan for all the large pots occupying space here.

I have been cleaning out the gardens so I start with a clear base to start this spring.  This is my herb garden with several perennial herbs and reseeding herbs.  I added additional cilantro seed in a larger plot than normal for an early spring harvest.

My potted stock from my grafting class is coming along.  It has been super exciting to see that the grafts are taking and sprouting.  I am keeping my fingers crossed for great success.  I do have the small greenhouse set up this year.  It is a low tech design, but with my husband home during the day he can vent the front for me!

Tomatoes, peppers, and many flowers are close to getting true leaves which means I have lots of transplanting ahead.  I have cabbages and baby pak choi rooting for transplant into the garden.  I think I will have to toss them to the wolves in the outdoor greenhouse soon to make space.

Potted fruiting bushes are a direction I have started to move in last spring.  I have honey berries which have overwintered and are sprouting.  I will be able to take these with me if we have to make a move.  I can't say the same for the peach tree, apple, or kiwi.

I got small variety blueberries from Jung's this spring.  I potted them up to straight peat moss yesterday.  It is my plan to keep them as potted stock so they can go wherever I need them.

Two out of three raised beds are planted.  I have carrots germinating under the cloth (it helps to keep the bed moist) as well as lettuce seeds.  I also have several varieties of kale this year, half a bed of storing onions, a row of bunching onions and radishes.  Some radicchio overwintered, my new crop I am growing as a fall crop this year.  The garlic is also up 6 " already.  Peas were also put in last week but no sprouts as of this morning. 

Spring will come...eventually

Yesterday was hours of basement gardening.  After seeding tomatoes and my earliest flowers, I transplanted.  Petunias and violas had set on sometimes two or three sets of true leaves.  Peppers are not far behind.  The coleus that I had cut was rooted enough to put into potting mix. 

To make room for all the new transplants, I refilled the rooting jars with the rest of the coleus cuttings I allowed to grow on the plants the last time.  The remainder of the coleus stock plants are now compost.  I boosted these shorter plants up towards the light with buckets underneath the flats to optimize the artificial light being received by the leaves of the new transplants.

I am an early riser.  This morning was no exception.  After getting the ingredients for fresh bread in the machine, I settled in with a borrowed copy of the book The Worst Hard Time.  I'm enjoying this lesson on the Dust Bowl of the 1930's and how it impacted lives and the environment.  PBS did a similar two part documentary if you are not into reading.  Both are worth the time spent.

I got up from reading to refill my coffee cup.  The scene out my window changed in 30 minutes.  This is Wisconsin.  What was a gray and cold morning is now a white and cold morning.  The peas that I put in the ground are suffering through the indignation.  I did put a clear plastic tunnel over the row (concerned about excessive rain rotting the seed).  I really am not sure how the peas seeds will handle this.  Only time will tell.  Gambling the old seed to the soil is worth the chance.  There are more pea seeds at the garden center.

Sometimes, as a gardener, you have to make your best guess about what the weather will do.  I gambled on the peas, but left the beet, radishes, and other root vegetable seeds on my kitchen counter waiting for a better day.  Looking out the window, it seems that spring will never come.  It will in its own time.  I will continue to enjoy my book while I wait.

Summer weather has been good for growth

Bed #1 on 6-16

Bed # 1 on 6-19

Bed # 2 on 6-16

Bed #2 on 6-19

Bed # 3 on 6-16

Bed #3 on 6-19

Bed #4 on 6-16

Bed #4 on 6-19

If you have been following the weather in the Midwest you are probably aware that we have been hot and dry.  I have photos from the vegetable gardens taken 3 days apart.  I have been watering to supplement the lack of rain.  Look what 3 days of heat can do for growth!
The peas that went in before Easter are in full production and even starting to lose their vigor with the heat.  I expect that I will be composting the vines within the week.  I have bush bean on their west edge and peppers and kale on the east edge, so this will provide the growing space those crops need.  This is the one vegetable plot I ran soaker hose through so I can irrigate without overhead sprinkling as needed.

Clockwise from left: shelling peas, Oriental peas, lettuce, garlic, and green onions at bottom.

 I pulled my garlic this last week also.  You can see it laying on the right side of this photo.  The tops had browned out which indicates they are done growing.  I had no idea what kind of garlic I put in as I picked up the bulbs at the farmer's market last summer and used what I had on hand.  It is the first time I had soft neck garlic in the bed so I was able to braid it for drying.  Hard neck garlic has too stiff of stems for this.  I started with three plants and just kept adding to the bunch to braid them into this bunch.

There have been several things ready for harvest.  We had fresh green onions on the vegetable tray for our parties.  The peas have provided my coworkers with healthier eats from my desk than a candy dish.  They appreciate the effort, so it is fun to share with them.  All the plants are in the ground now.  I held off on the tomatoes until after the graduation party was done so they would not risk damage from guests accidentally stepping into the bed.  I ran a soaker hose through this area as well and mulched with a bargain bin brown paper mulch that I found at the hardware store.  I'll let you know how well that works when the season is done.

Soaker hose around tomato 

brown paper and cocoa beans for mulch

I was so pleased with the tomato harvest last year that I put them back by the driveway again this year.  The sun and heat are fantastic in this area as well as the water supply so close for long, slow soaking.  Tomatoes do not grow well under black walnuts which has limited their growth in the backyard.  My neighbor has a beautiful tree and I would never  begrudge her the shade so I can have happy tomatoes.  The peppers do not seem to be affected even though they are in the same family.  I am happy to work around this and enjoy her shade on our backyard visits.  Good neighbors are worth working around small inconveniences that jugulans can present.  
It is good to sit down and get some journal entries done again.  It has been helpful to me to look back at some of the entries from last year to know what work and when I was planting things.  Maybe now that we are done with all our parties and planning, gardening will become part of the pleasures of life again.