Ledge and Gardens

A Ten Carrot Day

The garden in January is often covered in snow but not this year. While there is ice on the fish pond, mild weather has forced a few plants to throw flowers. The Prunus x 'Hally Jolivette' decided to entertain in December and the daffodils are showing green. The European ginger has retained its green leaves and this little bulb is pushing up among the fallen maple leaves. Today my granddaughter, Hailey, wanted to walk in the garden and since there was no snow I noticed the carrot tops glowing green. I planted these carrots too late for fall harvest. I know they should be planted here in July but I ran out of time and just took a chance on sowing them later. They were planted about the second week of August.Today was a ten carrot day. They are small except for this one Hailey is holding. Hailey had great fun picking, washing and eating them. Is the love of gardening born in us or is it learned?     

Confessions - Vegetable Garden -2011

Vegetable garden - Last year in October
Confession time. I failed at keeping the vegetable garden in prime condition this summer. It has become a tangled mass of rampant, wild, twisted weeds. This slide into depravity happened gradually and almost imperceptibly and toward the end of the summer. I blame Irene. Irene arrived with a fury at the end of August. She whipped the tomatoes into mush. She tangled the squash vines and saturated the ground. She sapped the energy of the gardener and stole the power for over a week.

Vegetable garden this year in October

For days, the EM, the dogs and I were at the mercy of the length of the days. After the first four days with no power, water or night lights we left for the wilds of Maine where 'off the grid' living is the norm. A generator runs the shower and lights. The outhouse handles the daily essentials. There is a hot shower on demand. The comforts of a porcelain toilet and a hot shower should not be taken for granted. Irene did make me a bit more grateful in some respects. I digress, mostly because of the embarrassment of letting the gardens slide back to nature. In August I did plant a late crop of carrots. I found them this week. I also planted butter lettuce and swiss chard. Unfazed by the weeds, they appeared after the weeding. I had a few fingerling potatoes left in the garden. Bounty! It felt like a prize when I uncovered them while pulling and tugging and neatening up the beds. There is more to do but now, with the fragrance of soil in my nostrils and the clean beds begging for a bit of compost, I am filled with the anticipation of next year's perfection in the vegtable garden. It will be productive and beautiful. Of course it will. Did you manage to keep all gardens neat and tidy this year? I vow to do so next year.   

 

Deadheading the Garlic

Between work and dinner I found time to head up to the vegetable garden, clippers in hand, and cut the scapes from the garlic plants.  The scapes are delicious when steamed, sauteed or pulverized into hummus and they really should be removed from the hardneck garlic when they start to curl and the flowers bulge.
You can check out some excellent recipes over at this website. Deadheading helps the bulb to enlarge as energy which could have been spent producing seeds is diverted to the roots.  I will have to find time to water these garlic plants. The soil in the vegetable garden dries out quickly as the beds are raised.  Maybe one more watering before the harvest in a few weeks.  The foliage has some slightly yellowing tips right now so it won't be too long before this bed is ready for a late crop of carrots or turnips.  This next picture shows the new cucumber fence tilted for the ultimate hanging of the anticipated fruit which should make for easier picking. I plan on planting lettuce under the tilt of the fence. I do need to thin the plants just a bit and I hope for a good sized crop of cucumbers. They taste so much better than those in the grocery store. I always wonder how long that store cucumber has been off the vine.  Stay tuned on this.  Many things can go awry as with any plant and I have already noticed a few little chew marks on the leaves of the cucumber plants.  I couldn't find the culprits though. On another note, the very first Japanese beetle was spotted today which is a week earlier than usual.
There was just one but a gardener knows where there is one, there are many more to follow.  

In Pursuit of Parsnips

If New Englanders were to have to rely on local food in January, parsnips would be more popular.  Related to the carrot, Pastinaca sativa, is the less well know cousin one invites to dinner only if necessary.  Parsnips look like carrots but they are white and the flavor is unique.  They are best left in the ground until after a good freeze since the cold turns the carbohydrates into sugar giving them the honor of being the sweetest of root crops.  Parsnips are rich in potassium, folic acid, and fiber but I grew them because I wanted something to harvest in the middle of winter.  I used a crowbar to plant the seeds in a compost filled hole in May.  Parsnips are biennial and the seed must be fresh as it loses vigor quickly. The tops were lush and green in September.  In November, I covered the parsnip bed with twelve inches of straw to protect the ground from freezing so that winter harvest would be an option. Last week I decided to have some parsnips for lunch.  A nice roasted parsnip salad with mozzarella and olive oil would just hit the spot. It was time to take a walk to the garden. This was not as easy as it sounds.  There is two feet of snow on the ground.  The bottom eighteen inches have a hard crust which sits just below the new, powdery six inches of fresh snow.    The garden gate looked quite a bit lower as I approached it and the option was to shovel a three foot swarth so I could open the gate or simply climb over it.  I say simply but the last few months of inactivity have not kept this gardener limber or, it could possibly be that the heavy boots were just enough weight to keep the foot from swinging high over the gate.  It wasn't pretty and yoga is now on the list.  I made a less than graceful entrance into the garden in search of the burried parsnip covered mound which was the second from the last at the far end.  With all that snow, the mounds looked pretty similar.   I had only brought the garden fork with me thinking that would be enough.  Forks do not work well on snow but I was already committed so the fork broke up the hard crust and then the mittens went to work until they hit the straw.  The fork was employed to loosen and lift it to get at the parsnips.  No lunch has given me this much trouble in quite a while and it was a reminder to be thankful for the rows and rows of produce lined up and easy to pick at the grocery store.  Once the straw was lifted, there was an earthy pungence in the air. The fork easily plunged into the rich dark soil, the parsnips, although I admit they are not pretty, emerged from the depths. I have read that too much nitrogen fertilizer will cause the roots to fork and while I did use an organic fertilizer, perhaps a bit less would have yielded the long thick roots of perfection.  Perfect or not, the parsnips were carried to the house, cleaned and roasted.  Added to the salad, they were deliciously sweet with a bit of a nutty flavor.  There is much satisfaction in harvesting a vegetable in the middle of winter.  The EM does not really like parsnips.  Next year, there will be carrots planted in one of the other beds and covered just the same.  For now, I am planning the next meal with parsnips once my flexibility increases, strength returns, and I can get back to the garden.  I guess I need to eat a few more salads.  Have you ever planted parsnips? 

October tomatoes

It has been quite a few years since I picked tomatoes in October.  Last year there were very few fruit on the vines which succumbed to late blight.  This year, in spite of planting early, mid season, and late tomatoes, all the vines started to produce in the middle of July.  'Early Wonder' was not early.  It was productive though as were all of the other tomatoes which I grew.  The only tomato I did not grow from seed was the cherry variety 'Sungold' which is most delicious.  One of my favorites is 'Mortgage Lifter' which is the biggest tomato in this basket.  'Brandy Boy' was also large in size. I did post a tomato tasting here.  The last of the tomatoes were picked yesterday. 
It has been raining for a couple of days and prior to the rain there was a great deal of wind which caused the overburdened tomato cages to collapse. 
It is over.  It is time to plant winter rye in the tomato patch.  Last night's tomatoes were especially tasty.  No store bought tomato equals the flavor of the home grown.  There are many ways to serve tomatoes.  Sliced, sliced and paired with mozzarella and basil, or, Hailey's favorite way. 
Warm from the sun and eaten like an apple.  What is your favorite way to eat tomatoes?      

Corn craze

The vegetable garden is in high production right now with beets, carrots, squash, garlic, swiss chard, peppers and cucumbers all producing.  The beans were planted late and will be ready soon and the tomatoes were planted on time but late for this growing season.  Lots of green tomatoes and some 'sungold' cherry tomatoes but no volume yet. 
The corn smells sweet and the ears are swelling but we had a 'weather incident' here last weekend.   I wasn't home at the time the thunderstorm arrived but a few miles away, the sky darkened, the wind whipped and the rain came down in torrents.  I came home to deep puddles in the drive and the next day's morning walk revealed a curiosity in the corn patch.
  There are ten rows or so of sweet corn planted near the GFFSD or Stonehenge garden. Corn requires a bit of room.  I noticed that the uniform rows did not look quite uniform and as I got closer this damage was revealed to me.
  Cooper and Tucker found it exciting as well and from the other side of the garden, the damage looked quite uniform. 

I looks to me as if a giant came and stomped the corn.  It is quite geometric in shape.   The EM will be quite upset when he returns from his ME trip.  I am hoping the ears will fill out anyway but horizontal corn gardening isn't the optimum arrangement.  I guess I can call it 'topsy turvy' corn.  Who knows what really happened?  Any guesses? 
Here is a gratuitous dog/puppy picture.  Cooper is relentless in his pursuit of Tucker but, so far, Tucker is holding his ground.

Vegetable Garden clean up

High 48 F
Low  37 F

The temperatures have turned remarkably colder with still no frost settling on the ground.  I confess, I am tired of looking at the impatiens which in the summer provided cheery color.  I did plant orange so at least they are blending with the fall colors but they look oddly out of place.  The oak leaves seem to be dropping at a record pace.  The oaks, white, red and pin, usually retain many of their leaves until the new buds push out in the spring.  I seem to remember from a long ago botany class something about abscission  layers* forming more thoroughly at the base of the leaves of deciduous plants when frost is delayed causing more leaf drop on those varieties which tend to hold their leaves through the winter.  I have no time to thoroughly research this tidbit but the leaves are falling.  

This weekend the vegetable garden begged for a clean up. The tomato plants have stopped producing and the vines have withered.  The  tomato cages were a big help this year as was the straw mulch which reduced the weeds and the need for constant hoeing although that is a rather gratifying task.  The marigolds have yet to be frosted but since their demise is imminent and the garden needed lime and compost most of them had to go.  The Christmas beans on the tower did not develop and, in fact, only three seeds germinated.  I was hoping to get a handful or two but this is a long season crop and there is just not enough time here for them to develop properly.  I will try a different type next year, maybe soldier beans.  I had much less of a problem with pests this year.  I added calendula and marigolds as companion plantings which are supposed to attract beneficial predators and I think they did their job.  Squash bugs do remain a problem but I am determined to find a good, organic solution and starting with a thorough cleanup of plant debris can only help.  The parsley is still growing strong and the arugula and swiss chard will be put in the cold frame next weekend.  I have a feeling that once it turns cold here, it will stay  cold.  The basil looked ragged but the fragrance remained and when I pulled the still green but leafless stalks from the garden for a ride to the compost pile summer returned for an instant.  I mentioned in a previous post how many worms I have in the compost.  When you think of worms, the word 'fast' does not come immediately to mind as a description of their activity but these worms are frenzied and remarkably fast.  Each shovel of compost reveals a good amount of worms who, immediately upon their exposure to light, wiggle and dive back into the depths of the pile.  Cleaned out and ready for next year, the veggie garden has served us well this summer.  The white plastic visible in the picture is a row tunnel which I will pull over the parsley to extend its' season.  The beleaguered corn patch, which ended up producing a couple dozen butternut squash, some pumpkins and embraced the extra tomato plants, was tilled and planted with winter rye.  The GFSD in  the background shows to good effect at this time of year and through the winter.  I have ordered more bulbs to continue the 'river' and the pick ax is sharpened and ready for digging.  Another busy weekend comes to a close with a few more garden tasks accomplished.   I still have the scent of marigolds tickling the memories of past seasons' garden cleanup.  I love the smell of marigolds,  Pungent, clear and reminding me of Dad and his garden which was never without marigolds.  Why did I wait so long to add them to ours?

* This from The U. S. National  Arboretum website:

Abscission Layer

e

an area at the base of a leaf stalk, fruit stalk, or a branch in which a layer of loose cells that are poorly attached to each other develops; the abscission layer causes a leaf, fruit, flower, or other plant part to fall away from a plant

Vegetables

High 86 F
Low 63 F

The veggie garden is producing. The tomato vines are incredibly full and tall and I am harvesting vegetables every day.    The beans need picking.  The EM has been away in Maine for a week so I have not really cooked a full meal as Tucker would rather eat chow out of a bowl and cucumbers right from the vine.  Tomorrow morning these will be picked along with squash.   I did find the inevitable 'baseball bat' zucchini today.  Somehow it escaped notice. This one is small and ready for harvest. These have not really produced much zucchini...words I am sure that I may live to regret!  I planted Christmas beans on the tuteur in the first picture but only two germinated.  I wonder what that was about.  There are so many variables in nature that it is hard to pinpoint just why something has failed.  Did I fail to water at the right time or was this just bad seed.   Christmas beans are very pretty and if I get any, I will show them to you. The Bhut Jolokia pepper is the hottest pepper on record with over a million Scoville units on the heat index.  I think a Hazmat suit will be in order for harvesting and I intend on using these for a deer repellent.  Don't get mad, get even!  A gardener from the radio show mentioned this pepper as a very ornamental plant  and since the EM likes things hot he requested a few plants.  The seeds are expensive because each pepper only has a few in the cavity.  The will turn bright red if the season is long enough.  The other pepper plants, Hungarian wax, Spanish piquillo, and the bell peppers are looking healthy and lush.  Time to harvest a few for the grill.  The hungarian wax are especially good grilled and the intensity of heat varies from pepper to pepper.  I am inundated with cucumbers at the moment although the vines are starting to show a bit of wear and tear.  I planted the above pickling variety and then a long, slicing variety.  The taste is so much more compelling than the store bought.   The basil is lush and full with some of the biggest leaves I have ever seen.  I started these from seed and can't remember the variety. Better notes next year!  The tomatoes....worth waiting for!   Now there are ripe ones to pick every day.  So far, the red lightening are the most tangy and delicious but the Mortgage Lifter, which is big and, sorry no picture as I ate it too fast, was almost as good.  The cherry tomato 'Sungold' also has exceptional flavor.    A basket of veggies is a very satisfying sight don't you think? 

Orange is good!

High 82 F
Low 64 F

The veggie garden is bearing fruit.  I picked this cabbage today and made a cole slaw to take to dinner this evening at my sister's house.  It was delicious!  The cucumbers are showing and the flowers are filled with bees.   The beans are also flowering.  They are the purple beans which change to green when they are cooked. They are easier to see on the vines for picking purposes but aren't the flowers a pretty color?  The pepper plants are fruiting as are the tomatoes.  I planted many different kinds of tomatoes. This one is 'Green Zebra' and since it never turns red I am wondering how  I will know when it is ripe.  Anyone have any thoughts on this?  The best observations today had to have been this tomato and also this one which is 'Red Lightening'.  I have not had color on tomatoes this early in many years.    I feel as though I have won a prize! 

Salad in a pot!

High 88 F
Low  54 F

Vegetable gardening need not be expensive, complicated or high maintenance. It can look just like the picture above and serve as an ornamental and edible creation.   I confess I copied one of the local nurseries' containers but that was their goal when they planted their pots as they were 'mannequins' set up to sell lettuce and herbs.  This container is a 14" terracotta pot. I filled it with professional potting soil with a couple handfuls of compost added along with some organic fertilizer.  This contains one six pack of mixed lettuce  plants, a nasturtium and , in the center, a dill plant.  There is no end to the veggies you can grow in containers.  The pink plant in the background is in the garden behind the pot and it is a perennial geranium.   Here is another shot of this pot.  I made one for my son and his wife.  They are busy putting on a porch and haven't gotten to the garden just yet.   

On another note, I am having a problem with this little beetle. Can anyone identify it for me?  It is feeding on the peppers and tomatoes and is leaving tiny, little holes in the leaves.  I have blown it up to a large size for and identification but it is pretty small. Less than 1/4" across with a shell like shield and a soft underbody.  Neem seems to be taking care of the problem but if someone knows what it is, please let me know!  I just looked at the calendar and tomorrow is bloom day!  I have to work tomorrow so mine will be late.  Oh, the pressure and there is so much in bloom right now.  Can't wait to see what everyone has in their gardens!