OK - so for two years I had great hopes and expectations for my garden that turned to discouragement and despair....
2008 - The year of the GROUNDHOG - I had the best success ever in 2008 with seed starting...got my plants out, got the direct seeding done and was eating the best salads ever from my garden...the weather was good and the plants were growing strong...and then CHUCKY made an entrance and kept on breaking in all season. The plants were either eaten or stunted from his tunnels and I got next to no harvest of anything once the varmit got started around the begining of July.
2009 - The year of RAIN - I started out container gardening and eventually planted the garden mid-July after securing a 1/4 inch mesh fence at a right angle outward from the garden fence. I did harvest some beans and a squash or two, but because of the wet and lack of real heat most plants suffered. We had NO tomato harvest at home or at our CSA.
2010 was the year of perseverance and superstision. I was supersticious of posting ANYTHING about my garden here this year....but I persevered and did plant.
I started seeds...they did ok...not great...but ok. I planted in some containers.....and got seeds/plants in the garden by June.
I put out the surviving tomato, pepper and tomatillo plants, onion starts, planted beans (yellow, purple and chinese noodle, kholrabi, leaf cabbage, basil, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, broccoli raab and swiss chard. Then I crossed my fingers...
The swiss chard and broccoli raab never came up...
The kholrabi did...and I got some kale out of that row as well ( I guess that seed company doesn't have very good quality control)
I weeded and watered; and weeded and watered; and weeded...which really wasn't great for the onions, but they did OK...not great, but OK.
I replanted radishes when I harvested the onions.
The cucumbers and squash grew...the tomatoes and peppers and tomatillos grew...the cabbage and beans grew...the basil grew (with extremely frequent shavings!!!).
The cucumber plants looked healthy one day and were dead within a week...around mid-late July...I had harvested about 8-10 fruits.
I continuously harvested/thinned kholrabi and kale throughout the summer and fall. The largest were probably a couple of inches in diameter and made tasty sweet pickles.
I got a decent amount of squash both green and yellow, not what I would call an overabundance, but enough.
The tomato plants were ok. I got some from each plant, not a lot, but some. The exception was the Amish Salad tomatoes - largish cherrys - that were abundant and delicious.
The only surviving pepper plants were anchos and they were also fairly abundant. I got a decent harvest of tomatillos, enough for 1 nice sized green sauce.
My regular beans were one of the big successes this year. I planted late enough that they had not yet put out flowers when we got our first hellish heatwave, and they gave me abundant harvests for 6 weeks...until the stink bugs damaged the plants too much for further harvest.
The chinese noodle beans came up - I think I picked 3 beans and then the plants disappeared.
The cabbage leaf....did well, but was unharvestable due to bug dammage.
The radishes did better than I've seen before....I actually got some to grow roots as well as leaves this year...and had a small harvest.
At this point I've got some lessons learned, and some pesto, squash, kale and onions in the freezer (although the bean harvest was great, we managed to eat all of them!!!), and had some delightful fresh dishes from the garden all summer!
This weekend I pulled what remained out of the garden and left the gates open so that my husband can fill it up with the autumn leaves. Next spring I want to re-work the configuration of my very small space. (10X10) so that there is less garden path and more planting space.
The leaves should help renew the ground.
Hope you have had a reasonably good gardening year too!
Showing posts with label tomatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tomatoes. Show all posts
August in the Garden: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
I can't believe that it's been so long since my last post.
The summer living is not slow and easy here in northern New Jersey, it is HOT and WET and it's been moving at a breakneck speed this year. With all of life, and the garden has been sort of neglected.
So I give you this past weekend's asessment:
The Good
The fenced garden with groundhog proofing has successfully keept out the groundhog for 6+ weeks now. YAY! So, hopefully next spring I'll be able to get an earlier start there and keep it going all summer.
The windowbox lettuce has been wonderful as have the windowbox bush beans...the beans that did well were a specific variety for container gardening.
And, The herbs always do well in containers.
The squash, cukes, and beans I planted in the fenced area are doing well and should produce a decent fall crop. (fingers crossed)
Onion sets I shared with my garden buddy, Kim, also did well in the fenced garden(not as good as hers, but she's a more attentive gardner) and the leeks were AWESOME.
The Bad
The topsy turvy hanging tomato things didn't do so well...I'm not completely ready to give up. It was a weird weather kind of year...so, maybe next year they'll do better.
I kept planting what I thought was cilantro in containers, and it turned out that most of it was parsely. Oh well...
I still need to plant some autumn greens. Hope I get the chance before it's too late.
AND, the weeds OMG!!! With all of the rain we got this year, the weeds in the garden beds have been horriffic. It has been impossible to keep up with them.
The Ugly
Tomato blight...there, I've said it...
The same disease that created the Irish Potato Famine is taking out tomato crops in the NE USA. Organic and Biodynamic farms are hit hard.
I couldn't grow tomatoes this year for love or money. My seedlings didn't do well...I begged some from my friend Kim, but the weather stunted them.
Then I purchased some plants from the local Lowes...which died within a week...a dry week.
So I took them back and re-purchased...and those plants have barely hung on. (still trying to figure out if I took blight home.)
But in the back of my head I knew my CSG (Community Supported Garden) would take care of me. That we'd get distributions of tomatoes and there would be some "pick your own" patches.
Alas, that is not to be. We received word this week that the blight hit them hard and they had to destroy the tomato fields. It is an especially hard hit as they usually save seed and will not be able to do that either.
So here it is...the last week in August and NO TOMATOES! I'll probably be able to hunt some down at a farm stand somewhere....eventually....but it is not the same as eating as you pick from your own garden or watching your kids pick and eat...or bringing them home from the farm we've supported for 10 years.
The summer living is not slow and easy here in northern New Jersey, it is HOT and WET and it's been moving at a breakneck speed this year. With all of life, and the garden has been sort of neglected.
So I give you this past weekend's asessment:
The Good
The fenced garden with groundhog proofing has successfully keept out the groundhog for 6+ weeks now. YAY! So, hopefully next spring I'll be able to get an earlier start there and keep it going all summer.
The windowbox lettuce has been wonderful as have the windowbox bush beans...the beans that did well were a specific variety for container gardening.
And, The herbs always do well in containers.
The squash, cukes, and beans I planted in the fenced area are doing well and should produce a decent fall crop. (fingers crossed)
Onion sets I shared with my garden buddy, Kim, also did well in the fenced garden(not as good as hers, but she's a more attentive gardner) and the leeks were AWESOME.
The Bad
The topsy turvy hanging tomato things didn't do so well...I'm not completely ready to give up. It was a weird weather kind of year...so, maybe next year they'll do better.
I kept planting what I thought was cilantro in containers, and it turned out that most of it was parsely. Oh well...
I still need to plant some autumn greens. Hope I get the chance before it's too late.
AND, the weeds OMG!!! With all of the rain we got this year, the weeds in the garden beds have been horriffic. It has been impossible to keep up with them.
The Ugly
Tomato blight...there, I've said it...
The same disease that created the Irish Potato Famine is taking out tomato crops in the NE USA. Organic and Biodynamic farms are hit hard.
I couldn't grow tomatoes this year for love or money. My seedlings didn't do well...I begged some from my friend Kim, but the weather stunted them.
Then I purchased some plants from the local Lowes...which died within a week...a dry week.
So I took them back and re-purchased...and those plants have barely hung on. (still trying to figure out if I took blight home.)
But in the back of my head I knew my CSG (Community Supported Garden) would take care of me. That we'd get distributions of tomatoes and there would be some "pick your own" patches.
Alas, that is not to be. We received word this week that the blight hit them hard and they had to destroy the tomato fields. It is an especially hard hit as they usually save seed and will not be able to do that either.
So here it is...the last week in August and NO TOMATOES! I'll probably be able to hunt some down at a farm stand somewhere....eventually....but it is not the same as eating as you pick from your own garden or watching your kids pick and eat...or bringing them home from the farm we've supported for 10 years.
Mid-July Check-In
It's hard to believe it's been more than two weeks since I posted last.
Summer really is flying by.
I finally finished my "groundhog proofing" efforts on the main (aka fenced) garden beds over the past 2 weekends.
During the spring/early summer my attentions to that plot were woefully scant and the weeds and grasses had taken over 3/4 of the space...so I also had to de-weed.
The weeding process, although rough, gave me the opportunity to see how wonderful the ewe poo I added in May had made the earth. The number of earth worms was overwelming!
When I finished those tasks last weekend, I transplanted all my peppers, which were doing ok in pots, but not fabulous; the few tomato seedlings I had left and some summer squash and cucumber seedlings I had started about a month ago.
I also planted some additional squash seeds, and bush bean seeds. Over the next couple weeks I hope to get in some beets, chard and other fall crops.
In the window boxes, the first lettuce planting is ready for harvest; the second and third are coming in and the bush beans should be ready for harvest soon. Some tomato plants are still hanging in there and the herbs are doing well.
Summer really is flying by.
I finally finished my "groundhog proofing" efforts on the main (aka fenced) garden beds over the past 2 weekends.
During the spring/early summer my attentions to that plot were woefully scant and the weeds and grasses had taken over 3/4 of the space...so I also had to de-weed.
The weeding process, although rough, gave me the opportunity to see how wonderful the ewe poo I added in May had made the earth. The number of earth worms was overwelming!
When I finished those tasks last weekend, I transplanted all my peppers, which were doing ok in pots, but not fabulous; the few tomato seedlings I had left and some summer squash and cucumber seedlings I had started about a month ago.
I also planted some additional squash seeds, and bush bean seeds. Over the next couple weeks I hope to get in some beets, chard and other fall crops.
In the window boxes, the first lettuce planting is ready for harvest; the second and third are coming in and the bush beans should be ready for harvest soon. Some tomato plants are still hanging in there and the herbs are doing well.
The State of Green
As I've mentioned before, most of my garden this year (so far) is in pots on the porch. This has mostly kept wildlife at bay...I'll explain more in another post.
With the rain-laden month of June, a lot of things are still not where they should be...but here is what we've got so far.
This box has parsley and broccoli raab.
Here is the lettuce and our eco-friendly clothes drier.
And, on the steps, we have a tomato, peppers, a cucumber, and a cauliflower, additional squash and cucumber starts...
Bush beans and pole beans are at the bottom on the stoop along with some flowers and herbs.
On the other side there is a big pot of herbs at the top,
more tomato and pepper plants and flowers.
In my last tomato post I mentioned problems...well there are still problems. Some of the tomatoes don't look as healthy as they should, and the ones in the topsy turvy planters didn't even warrent taking pictures of they are so small and stunted. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but my usual bad-luck with peppers seems to be changing to tomatoes this year and the peppers look pretty good.
I'm really excited about how good the beans look too! Can't wait to pick and eat my own crop of beans! YAY!
With the rain-laden month of June, a lot of things are still not where they should be...but here is what we've got so far.
This box has parsley and broccoli raab.
Here is the lettuce and our eco-friendly clothes drier.
And, on the steps, we have a tomato, peppers, a cucumber, and a cauliflower, additional squash and cucumber starts...
Bush beans and pole beans are at the bottom on the stoop along with some flowers and herbs.
On the other side there is a big pot of herbs at the top,
more tomato and pepper plants and flowers.
In my last tomato post I mentioned problems...well there are still problems. Some of the tomatoes don't look as healthy as they should, and the ones in the topsy turvy planters didn't even warrent taking pictures of they are so small and stunted. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but my usual bad-luck with peppers seems to be changing to tomatoes this year and the peppers look pretty good.
I'm really excited about how good the beans look too! Can't wait to pick and eat my own crop of beans! YAY!
Tomato Angst
This year's seed starting did not go well. I started too late (early April) and tried to start the seeds in my kitchen bay window. I should have known...even though these windows are not as new as the ones in the rest of the house, they are modern windows. Remember my plight 2 years ago? So the seedlings didn't do well inside, and even when I put them outside I hesitated to put them in direct sunlight where the critters could make an easy meal of them. So, they hung out on my porch not doing too much.
My gardening buddy, Kim, took pity on me and gave me some of her leftover plants. She always does well with seed starting. I think her south-facing side porch helps! So I did have a couple of plants, but with all of the June rain and lack of sun, nothing was really doing well.
So, last weekend I bought some tomato plants from a local store to supplement my scrawny seedlings. All 'patio' varieties which were supposed to be more bushy with thick firm stems.
I took them home put them in soil mixed with composted sheep manure (ewe poo) in well drained pots.
I put them among all my other pots filled with veggies, flowers and herbs on the porch steps. Covered everything with bird netting to protect everything from the deer and 'Chucky' and went about my weekly business.
When my mom came to visit on Wednesday they were all DEAD! Probably a fungal infection of some sort, but I had to bring them back to the nursery and try again this weekend with new plants.
These are not "patio" plants, but hopefully will survive ok in the pots anyway.
Everything else has managed to survive in pots on the steps, even the broccolin and cauliflower were doing well until someone found them - that's why there's bird netting now.
The peppers even look like they are thriving.
Keep your fingers crossed for me. I can't imagine another summer with no tomato harvest - and neither can my son, Ronnie...
I'll keep you posted.
My gardening buddy, Kim, took pity on me and gave me some of her leftover plants. She always does well with seed starting. I think her south-facing side porch helps! So I did have a couple of plants, but with all of the June rain and lack of sun, nothing was really doing well.
So, last weekend I bought some tomato plants from a local store to supplement my scrawny seedlings. All 'patio' varieties which were supposed to be more bushy with thick firm stems.
I took them home put them in soil mixed with composted sheep manure (ewe poo) in well drained pots.
I put them among all my other pots filled with veggies, flowers and herbs on the porch steps. Covered everything with bird netting to protect everything from the deer and 'Chucky' and went about my weekly business.
When my mom came to visit on Wednesday they were all DEAD! Probably a fungal infection of some sort, but I had to bring them back to the nursery and try again this weekend with new plants.
These are not "patio" plants, but hopefully will survive ok in the pots anyway.
Everything else has managed to survive in pots on the steps, even the broccolin and cauliflower were doing well until someone found them - that's why there's bird netting now.
The peppers even look like they are thriving.
Keep your fingers crossed for me. I can't imagine another summer with no tomato harvest - and neither can my son, Ronnie...
I'll keep you posted.
Weekend Garden Review
Almost everything I planted last weekend is, at least, poking its way up.
I have tiny lettuce, spinach, & broccoli rabe seedlings in the window boxes...no sign of the swiss chard yet.
The beans are just-cresting the dirt in the side boxes, and one of the peat pots of cucumbers is up as well.
No sign of the zucchini or yellow squash yet...
This weekend, I transplanted a bell pepper and 2 tomatoes (Striped Roman and Kellogs Breakfast varieties) to bigger pots flowers to hanging pots...made 2 big flower pots for Mom and still have some left over to plant around the yard.
I had posted a "wanted" on the local Freecycle list and received 3 new pots...one was huge - from a large rhododendron the giver had purchased.
My original planting of cilantro is just about big enough to start harvesting...so next weekend we will have fresh salsa! Yay! For my fresh salsa recipe click here.
I have been procrastinating on going to the fenced plot and doing groundhog control...but it must eventually be done....there are more tomatoes to plant, and not much more room on the porch steps..and the squash will need space too.
And, OI, Chucky was sighted last night close to the porch....
I have tiny lettuce, spinach, & broccoli rabe seedlings in the window boxes...no sign of the swiss chard yet.
The beans are just-cresting the dirt in the side boxes, and one of the peat pots of cucumbers is up as well.
No sign of the zucchini or yellow squash yet...
This weekend, I transplanted a bell pepper and 2 tomatoes (Striped Roman and Kellogs Breakfast varieties) to bigger pots flowers to hanging pots...made 2 big flower pots for Mom and still have some left over to plant around the yard.
I had posted a "wanted" on the local Freecycle list and received 3 new pots...one was huge - from a large rhododendron the giver had purchased.
My original planting of cilantro is just about big enough to start harvesting...so next weekend we will have fresh salsa! Yay! For my fresh salsa recipe click here.
I have been procrastinating on going to the fenced plot and doing groundhog control...but it must eventually be done....there are more tomatoes to plant, and not much more room on the porch steps..and the squash will need space too.
And, OI, Chucky was sighted last night close to the porch....
Another Year, Another Chance to Garden
Ok...it's January...it's COLD and inside three of us are salivating over tomato and green bean varieties!
This year we limited ourselves to
7 tomato varieties:
Pink Stripe
Large Cherry
Brandywine
Hillbilly
Amish Paste
Black Plum
Keeper
4 Pepper varieties:
Bell
Banana
Jalapeno
and Mixed Carribean (hot)
We also discussed beans - pole vs bush and green snap vs shelling....I deferred to our group expert with the exception of voicing that I wanted to do the chinese long beans again this year.
We really didn't get any farther than that - going through the hundreds of heirloom tomato varieties and whittling down the possibilies really took most of our time....
but we're on our way!!!
YAY
This year we limited ourselves to
7 tomato varieties:
Pink Stripe
Large Cherry
Brandywine
Hillbilly
Amish Paste
Black Plum
Keeper
4 Pepper varieties:
Bell
Banana
Jalapeno
and Mixed Carribean (hot)
We also discussed beans - pole vs bush and green snap vs shelling....I deferred to our group expert with the exception of voicing that I wanted to do the chinese long beans again this year.
We really didn't get any farther than that - going through the hundreds of heirloom tomato varieties and whittling down the possibilies really took most of our time....
but we're on our way!!!
YAY
The End of the Harvest
First frost this year was forecast for Oct 29/30, so as friends and family gathered to celebrate Halloween this weekend, we also harvested the last of the ripe and green tomatoes.
We also started pulling out the tomato plants and moving them to the compost, and started saving the abundant supply of marigold seeds.
My friend D and I have plans to experiment with Green Tomato Relish and Fried Green Tomatoes - look for recipies to be posted on Renee's Recipies...
We also started pulling out the tomato plants and moving them to the compost, and started saving the abundant supply of marigold seeds.
My friend D and I have plans to experiment with Green Tomato Relish and Fried Green Tomatoes - look for recipies to be posted on Renee's Recipies...
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