The season moves on
Hi readers,
I continue to transition the garden from spring to full summer. My third planting of 90 day corn mixed with pole beans and winter squash is up good and ready for thinning. This weekend, the fourth planting will happen in the large plot in the back of the yard. Everything has been removed from it except for a very successful row of purple bush beans and a row of bunching onions. I will plant the corn around these. They will be done by the time the corn is tall enough to totally shade them. Last week I removed the large row of tall pole peas, harvesting all the peas which had dried on the plants, out of the same plot. The winter leaf compost pile, also located on this plot, has been used up. I double dug the whole area during the week. Tomorrow (Saturday) I will add compost and mix it in the top few inches. On Sunday corn, beans, and squash will go in.
The main pepper and eggplant plot is complete. Compost has been added between the rows of plants and that covered with a layer of dried avocado leaves. All drippers are in place. Next week I will start preparing the 2007 leek ground for planting throughout the month of June. The seedlings are now in the greenhouse almost ready to go as the picture below shows.
Meanwhile, there are still a few 2006 leeks in the ground. They are all bolting but one can still get some good leek by cutting out the core and eating the flesh surrounding the core. I always leave two or three of my best leek in the ground to produce seed for next year. These get surrounded by peppers and eggplant which move into the plot as the leeks are done. The following picture is of a beautiful six ft. tall leek which has fully bolted and will produce seed. I think the flowers are beautiful in their own right. Sorry that the lighting isn't very good in the picture but you can see the flowering head if you look hard. Notice the peppers at the base and cauliflower in the background.
We just started harvesting purple bush beans last week and I also got a few summer squash. The first summer squash of the season have the most wonderful taste. I especially like crook neck and some of the yellow straight neck varieties. But these guys can be difficult to grow as they are very susceptable to stem/crown rot which I have particularly bad in my yard. But I plant a lot of them expecting to lose about half.
The second winter pea plot, which will be part of the fifth 90 day corn planting in two weeks, is just about done and will be removed this week. We will get two more meals worth of peas from them first though. The following picture shows the almost all brown peas in the background with some very large purple cauliflower in the foreground. These cauliflower have two weeks to perform. I think most of them will make it. I've been harvesting three to four cauliflower a week all year. Spring cauliflower has a wonderful wholesome taste. I don't know why all the books discourage planting cauliflower in the spring. My best cauliflower and broccoli are planted in March and April. Note that the March broccoli is awesome this year. It's a struggle to keep up with it. I pick two large grocery bags full each week.
The following picture shows carrots growing nicely at the base of now 4' tall 90 day corn. This was planted in April. Notice the drip lines running through the corn and the pole beans in the forground. Also notice how the ground is covered with a thin layer of compost. (Please double click the pictures to get a full screen image)
Speaking of compost, I have been able to keep all the bins full inspite heavy usage. But that will change with the large plot being planted this weekend. I calculate that most of the bins will be empty within four weeks even though I continue to make approximately a 1/2 yard of compost a week. The garden has a voracious appetite for compost.
I continue to examine the early winter squash plants daily for squash bugs. I have found numerous pairs trying to start an aphid like explosion in population. So far I have kept up with them. But as all the new winter squash starts to grow, there will be too many places to look. Hopefully, I will have killed most of the adults by that time. Since squash bugs can only move by slowly crawling and since they only reproduce on squash plants, it is possible to substantially cut the population early in the season by planting a few attractor squashes and then picking the bugs from them. Note that these are stink bugs and are attracted by their odor. So I smash them on the attractor plants hoping to attract more bugs. It worked last year. We will all have to wait and see what happens this year.
This last picture is of the 60 day corn with broccoli plants in the foreground. It is just starting to tassle. Notice the bean poles in the background.
We are still enjoying turnips, rutabagas, some wild lettuce, and chard. I even have a couple of joi choi plants still in the ground. These will be gone this weekend though. And of course lots of kale. It will produce all summer long as will the collards.
Well that's about it for now. I'm sure if you've made it this far, you are ready for a break. I will write again in a couple of weeks after planting four of corn is up.
danh
I continue to transition the garden from spring to full summer. My third planting of 90 day corn mixed with pole beans and winter squash is up good and ready for thinning. This weekend, the fourth planting will happen in the large plot in the back of the yard. Everything has been removed from it except for a very successful row of purple bush beans and a row of bunching onions. I will plant the corn around these. They will be done by the time the corn is tall enough to totally shade them. Last week I removed the large row of tall pole peas, harvesting all the peas which had dried on the plants, out of the same plot. The winter leaf compost pile, also located on this plot, has been used up. I double dug the whole area during the week. Tomorrow (Saturday) I will add compost and mix it in the top few inches. On Sunday corn, beans, and squash will go in.
The main pepper and eggplant plot is complete. Compost has been added between the rows of plants and that covered with a layer of dried avocado leaves. All drippers are in place. Next week I will start preparing the 2007 leek ground for planting throughout the month of June. The seedlings are now in the greenhouse almost ready to go as the picture below shows.
Meanwhile, there are still a few 2006 leeks in the ground. They are all bolting but one can still get some good leek by cutting out the core and eating the flesh surrounding the core. I always leave two or three of my best leek in the ground to produce seed for next year. These get surrounded by peppers and eggplant which move into the plot as the leeks are done. The following picture is of a beautiful six ft. tall leek which has fully bolted and will produce seed. I think the flowers are beautiful in their own right. Sorry that the lighting isn't very good in the picture but you can see the flowering head if you look hard. Notice the peppers at the base and cauliflower in the background.
We just started harvesting purple bush beans last week and I also got a few summer squash. The first summer squash of the season have the most wonderful taste. I especially like crook neck and some of the yellow straight neck varieties. But these guys can be difficult to grow as they are very susceptable to stem/crown rot which I have particularly bad in my yard. But I plant a lot of them expecting to lose about half.
The second winter pea plot, which will be part of the fifth 90 day corn planting in two weeks, is just about done and will be removed this week. We will get two more meals worth of peas from them first though. The following picture shows the almost all brown peas in the background with some very large purple cauliflower in the foreground. These cauliflower have two weeks to perform. I think most of them will make it. I've been harvesting three to four cauliflower a week all year. Spring cauliflower has a wonderful wholesome taste. I don't know why all the books discourage planting cauliflower in the spring. My best cauliflower and broccoli are planted in March and April. Note that the March broccoli is awesome this year. It's a struggle to keep up with it. I pick two large grocery bags full each week.
The following picture shows carrots growing nicely at the base of now 4' tall 90 day corn. This was planted in April. Notice the drip lines running through the corn and the pole beans in the forground. Also notice how the ground is covered with a thin layer of compost. (Please double click the pictures to get a full screen image)
Speaking of compost, I have been able to keep all the bins full inspite heavy usage. But that will change with the large plot being planted this weekend. I calculate that most of the bins will be empty within four weeks even though I continue to make approximately a 1/2 yard of compost a week. The garden has a voracious appetite for compost.
I continue to examine the early winter squash plants daily for squash bugs. I have found numerous pairs trying to start an aphid like explosion in population. So far I have kept up with them. But as all the new winter squash starts to grow, there will be too many places to look. Hopefully, I will have killed most of the adults by that time. Since squash bugs can only move by slowly crawling and since they only reproduce on squash plants, it is possible to substantially cut the population early in the season by planting a few attractor squashes and then picking the bugs from them. Note that these are stink bugs and are attracted by their odor. So I smash them on the attractor plants hoping to attract more bugs. It worked last year. We will all have to wait and see what happens this year.
This last picture is of the 60 day corn with broccoli plants in the foreground. It is just starting to tassle. Notice the bean poles in the background.
We are still enjoying turnips, rutabagas, some wild lettuce, and chard. I even have a couple of joi choi plants still in the ground. These will be gone this weekend though. And of course lots of kale. It will produce all summer long as will the collards.
Well that's about it for now. I'm sure if you've made it this far, you are ready for a break. I will write again in a couple of weeks after planting four of corn is up.
danh
posted by danh at
6:38 PM
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