Work hard, play hard, garden in between

I feel as if I have been away for a long time.  There is so much going on as we use every hour of our summer as a precious commodity.  Work has kept me busy for more hours than usual.  Play has taken me away from the computer.

Play has been the best part.  My husband and I made a trip out to the western half of Wisconsin and enjoyed some time along the rivers.  Part of our vacation is the quest for dairy products, namely cheese and ice cream.  We had to look pretty hard for this in a zone that was not dotted with dairies on the Wisconsin cheese map.  (Yep, we really have one!)  Nelson Creamery did not disappoint us.  I enjoyed an ice cream on a 90+ degree day and filled up half of our cooler with cheese.  The place had such a charm about it, I had to share a picture from the building even if it isn't related to the usual stuff I write about.  I do love old buildings.  They are talking about replacing the basketball arena in Milwaukee because it is (gasp!) over 20 years old and so outdated.  Give me a break!  

We also took a long weekend away to spend some time on Lake Winnebago with my husband's side of the family.  They have a nice size boat, so they met us on the lake where we were able to camp.  The weather looked like this on Friday with wind and waves and stayed that way the entire weekend.  We never did leave the dock, but still had a nice time anyway.  I wasn't looking for it, but I found a very new and very cool goat dairy in Pipe, WI.  They sell the best cheeses from other dairies, Kelly's Creamery ice cream (butter pecan was soooo good!), and Wisconsin wines, beers and other beverages.  I would like to go back and enjoy some more of everything.

Back home the garden is starting to kick in gear.  The beans are coming in in almost all my plantings now.  It is so fun having 4 foot rows of each variety.  I am enjoying the filet type beans the most.  So slender and tender in all three varieties I have going.  I will have to look them up later to refresh my memory on what I put in.  Cukes are doing well in the tomato patch but struggling elsewhere.  I would like to put in more pickling vines next year, possibly behind my flower bed with a soaker hose running by them.  I have had my first tomatoes from the 4th of July bush.  They are small but satisfying.  The Sun golds are starting to turn yellow.

Most all the squash and pumpkins have set at least one fruit each.  I am still waiting on the Kiwano melon to even flower.  I have nipped the tips and am thinking it will need some fertilizer with less N and more PK to help it along.  

The peach has several fruits on it and some of them are starting to turn yellow from the hard green state they have been in.  I have heard peaches need aggressive pruning so I will have to do some research on that one.  The Honey gold apple set one fruit which is more than I expected for a new tree.  I wonder if I will enjoy it or if the squirrels we be there first.

My third crop of lettuce is coming along nicely considering the heat wave we went through right after planting.  I have pulled a few radishes from my last sowing.  I think the shade cloth and the soaker hose made the difference with this mid summer sowing.  I continue to mound the soil around the stems to help them bulb rather than stretch.  Kohlrabi is growing but not expanding at the waist yet.  The beds with soaker hoses are fairing much better than those without.  I think I will look for end of season deals on some as there are some that are starting to show their age with some cracking.  I would not garden without them.  My daughter did a fantastic job keeping things moist through our absence wherever she was able to let them run on their own.  Quick connects on each one also helped to make the job easier.

Well, it is time to sit back and seriously enjoy the mojito in my hand.  A mojito mint was definitely a good buy! Check out last year's post on making a mojito yourself.

First Seeds of Spring

My Jung Seeds came in the mail yesterday.  Today I sat in my sunny kitchen with new seeds, old seeds, and a cup of coffee.  An annual inventory of seeds is a must.  Usually I do this prior to the first order.  This year I took a quick look in my seed box and knew what was left without a written list to refer to while ordering.  I still have two more catalogs to order from, so anything I missed with Jung would go on Pine Tree Gardens or Select Seeds.  My daughter/bride-to-be and I will sit down with the last two for cut flower choices.
I thinned out the oldest of my varieties and put them in the Jung shipping box to take to work.  There is always someone willing to throw them in and see what happens.  I cleaned out the worst of them last year, so this year's discards will be a nice addition to someone else's garden plot.  

Some of the new seeds I look forward to getting in the garden:

BEANS!  I had a couple filet type beans last year and loved them!  Maxibel was one of them.  I have added Velour (purple) and Fortex (pole).

Onions - Going back to Copra to get a longer storing onion.  I have had luck with Alisa Craig and Sweet Spanish in the past.  Last year's hot weather may have had an effect on last fall's storage issues.  I had used most of the 30# in recipes for canning and also shared with my daughter and sister, so not too much onion flesh was lost to early sprouting.  I also am going to make sure I sun cure them at least two days.  I thought the intense heat may have been too harsh, but I think the sun is what is needed when curing onions for storage. Just putting them in the garage was not enough.  The new onion I want to try is Red Marble Cipolini.  Both will be seeded by the end of the week for mid-April planting.

Cabbage - A small hybrid of Pak Choi and a triple variety mix of small head cabbage (white, red and savoy).  I am going to do an early sow under lights to get these set in April for an early crop.  I am also going to use a cover of row cover to ward off flea beetles.

Radishes - Refreshed my French Breakfast seed supply (this will be in my garden every year) and also bought Red Meat aka 'Watermelon'.  This is a long keeper.  If you go to the grocery store, you will find it with turnips, parsnips, and other winter root vegetables.  It has been suggested that this is good in a stir fry.  If you have never cooked a radish, try it.  You will be surprised at the delicious transformation of this tangy root crop.

Cucumbers - Rocky Hybrid, a small snack size cuke that is parthenocarpic (all-male flowers).  This is what Jung's has to say about this type of plant:

Parthenocarpic cucumbers - Plant this type if you want to get seedless fruits without pollination. You can plant a single plant of this type and still get fruit. Many of these cultivars were developed for greenhouse culture where there are no bees or other pollinators available. However, the parthenocarpic varieties we offer and that are generally offered by other seed companies are suitable for outdoor planting in home gardens. 

I have a couple other cucumbers to try as well, but this is definitely the most unique one I have in my basket this year.

Peppers - Cajun Belle, sweet with a bit of heat. Ancho San Martin, sets a bit earlier with better production. I was disappointed with the inconsistencies of last year's ancho peppers, poor set and ancho pepper plants that weren't ancho peppers.  If you like a stuffed pepper dish with a South of the Border taste, ancho is your pepper.  Mucho Nacho Jalepeno promise to have a larger pepper with good set.  I let you know how much of these promises are delivered.  I am going to leave the farm market growers to provide me with regular green peppers this year.

When I get my flower order done, I will put in type my hopes and dreams for beauty in the garden.  This year I hope to add annual flower space around a patio in time for planting this spring.  I added a week of vacation on to my years of service.  Those five days are going to be taken as garden days this spring.  I always thought leaving the greenhouse and nursery would mean that I could now take mid-spring, warm weather vacations and it has.  I realized that breaking my garden chores up into single days would also be a good use of spring vacation.  I will see how much I get done with the extra time this year.  Here's to garden dreams!

Let the ordering begin!

I have my first order in the envelope and ready to be sent.  I concentrated my early efforts on ordering vegetables and berry plants.  This year I am branching out into fruiting bushes (again).  I had successful raspberry bushes on the south side of the garage.  I also had successful picking by my young daughter and the neighbor boys.  I did not see too many of the raspberries myself once they were aware of the treat.  
The patch was lost to moving of fenced areas for the dog and reallocation of the space to park our trailer.  The plants were diminishing with the increase of shade in this area, so I didn't bother saving any of the stock.  I also had no place to relocate them as the pool was still a large part of our backyard. 
Our nest is empty and my desire to grow more edibles is strong.  I plan on putting in a male and female hardy kiwi as well as a male and female honey berry.  I would also like to reestablish an asparagus patch and possibly get a dwarf fruit tree or two.  I will take it one plant at a time, though.  The literature is promising for the honey berries for our soil pH and heavy clay texture.  They even like a bit of light shade if the summers are hot.  I have all these things going for me.  
The kiwis will replace the spireas that now run on the west side of our fire pit area.  I plan on using the post I am digging out of the old deck area to create a sturdy trellis to grow them on.  My husband will be thrilled to hear I want to dig more post holes. There is still plenty of deck wood to create cross pieces on the horizontal.  I think I will use some strong wire to fill in the center.  More research is needed.
I have the onion seeds on the order and will be trying an Italian onion called Red Marble (which is a red storing onion) as well as Copra for a yellow storing onion.  I really liked the filet type beans last year.  Jung's has a pole filet bean which I am going to try instead of my usual purple trifiano.  I am also getting some pepper seeds to start this year as last year's seeds seemed to be a mixed bag.  The anchos didn't set as well as they did in 2011, so I have a variety which promises better set.
I still have to sit down with my daughter and pick out flowers suitable for a fall wedding.