Ehh, What's Up Doc?

Bugs bunny would be disappointed because I harvested all of the carrots from the sowing in March. There was variety in size, but they looked gorgeous. There were four distinct carrots that appeared to have some kind of problem as they were broken open. If you happen to know why, I would love to hear from you.

Both the potatoes and the carrots were a first for me this past week. There is something to be said about unearthing vegetables that you can't see. The photos below are the quickest way I can show you what it was like to pull up the potatoes. Don't miss the strange carrots which quickly got familiar with my compost pile.

Digging for Taters!

Found em. Now what?

Dig some more!

Organize the loot and let them dry for an hour.

The first sowing of carrots.

Strange carrots

I started a second compost area so that the first one can rest. Both composting areas are close to the chicken coop, as it gives easy and quick access to the chicken manure. Chickens are a great addition to your backyard as they can produce eggs and give you some of the best compost you can get your dirty hands on.

I think I found this idea on Pinterest, but you can cut up toilet paper and paper towel rolls to grow your seedlings. I prepped some rolls for when I start my midsummer planting. I used a half of a water bottle as my dirt dropper thing-a-ma-jigger. It worked great, especially when combined with my son's faux screwdriver. Just poke it down through the bottle with the cap off and dirt comes out beautifully. To be honest, it would have been much easier to just pour dirt out of a bag and accepted that it would get a bit messy. However, I love to make an easy job hard because of my neurotic tendencies. The charm of having a dirt dropper thing-a-ma-jigger and the feeling that I'm clever when I'm not makes it all worth the extra work. One point universe, zero points me. 

There is a method of growing vegetables called keyhole gardening. It is simple and smart because it utilizes its own space efficiently. The center consists of a wire tube that holds compost and continues to receive new trimmings which in turn feeds the surrounding dirt and plants. I enlisted the help of my son which made this task memorable. 

Work in progress.

Stopping to pick peas

"Look, more peas"

Proof that he eats his veggies.

Bush Beans get two thumbs up!

First tomato sighting

Added dead trimmings from a fig tree to support the bush beans.

"God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done." 

~Author Unknown

This is so true.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Bugs are a common problem in all gardens. They may pose a severe threat to vegetable gardens as they can make plants vulnerable to disease, rot, and viruses. Take a look at the bugs I have found while having my cell phone camera handy in the garden. These are just a few of the good, bad, and ugly that I have run into while working in the garden over the past 2 months

Bad

Adult green stinkbug: Known for chomping down on fruits, but also has a taste for other greenery. I found this one in a row of strawberries. Looks kinda cool for a stink bug. 

Mostly Bad

Red thorax beetle: I tried finding information on this beetle, but had little luck locating a description of this little booger. Beetles generally aren't favored in the garden unless they are big beetles that can eat smaller bugs. 

Bad

Candy-striped leaf-hopper: This is a common North American insect that carries plant diseases. This is a picture of one on my early peas and guess what? My peas all have gotten sick with a virus that kills them from the bottom up over a week or two after an initial discoloration of the leaves. Beauty kills in this case and I'll always squash them in the future.

The reason leaf-hoppers are bad bugs is that their feeding can cause damage by discoloring leaves, by interfering with the transport of liquids in the plant, by causing curled and stunted leaves, and by spreading disease. 

See week 11's post that references the discoloration in my pea plants.

Week 11 

Good

Centipede: Often used as a horror inducing image in scary movies, but that have just as many reasons to like them as they have legs. A few reasons are they feed on slugs, grubs, worms, cockroaches, ants, and flies which make them champions of the garden. 

Good

Ladybug: Beautiful, colorful, and wonderful for the garden. They eat aphids and do it with style. This particular ladybug was looking for an aphid with a side aphids for lunch.

Good

Spiders: They are welcomed in the garden because they pretty much kill anything that lands in their web. Can't say that I am personally a fan because they bite, but I've noticed they typically run when they see my hands getting close to them. I have a habit of not wearing gloves and spiders a good reason to do the opposite.

Bad

Cross-striped cabbage worm: These pesky worms or caterpillars are eating up my broccoli leaves and kale leaves like they are going out of style. I continue to find them and kill them by hand every other day. 

Bad

Lesson learned: Don't judge a bug by its appearance. The leaf-hopper is one to be reckoned with and I remember distinctly feeling captivated by its beauty while photographing it on a pea plant.

Week 11

My Sunday night was not a typical one as I was up until 1am in washing, cutting, and blanching kale for the freezer. If I could have one super power, it would be to control time.

Freezing Kale

Step 1: Harvest (My favorite part!!)

Step 2: Remove leaves

Step 3: Chop remaining stems into 1-2 inch pieces

Step 4: Cut leaves into smaller pieces and leave to the side

Step 5: Steam kale for 3 min.

Step 6: Place in ice water for 3 min.

Step 7: Drain excess water 

Step 8: Place on a towel and let rest

Step 9: Freeze

 

Step 10: Steam or boil kale stems for 6-8 min.

Step 11: Place in ice water bath for 6-8 min.

Step 12: Drain excess water

Step 13: Place on a towel and let rest

Step 14: Freeze

Bugs are a necessary evil in organic gardening. Removing bugs by hand is important and so is leaving some for the good ones to eat. Last year, we bought our house which came with rows of grape vines and the occasional vegetable plant in between rows. The squash I kept picking were big and beautiful, which was exciting until I started finding each squash plant had been eaten by bugs that burrowed inside and left jelly-like trails. I am trying to prevent this from happening by utilizing plastic planters around the squash to keep a barrier in place between the delicious squash and the ground to reduce the risk of intruders. I'm hopeful, "but one never knows" as one of my employers use to say.

Broccoli

Broccoli Head 4" (Harvest at 6 to 8")

The bush beans having been blooming for roughly a week and just started showing baby green beans. The curiosity and excitement of not knowing how many beans they will produce is killing me. There are roughly 20 bushes and I'm getting good vibes as all the plants are looking healthy. 

The early peas that I planted have been producing, but showing some discoloration in the leaves and have black spots on the pods, yet leave the peas on the inside beautiful and elegant. If you know what the discoloration is, please leave a comment. I add them fresh to my salads each day and they have a bitter sweetness to them. 

Discoloration on early peas

Marigolds repel pests

Week 10

Hero of the week: Ladybug

Ladybugs are great for your garden and eat aphids. Thank you!

50% of the job done weeding the carrots

Done!

Satan

Any gardener reading this post has faced the challenge of keeping weeds out. The reality of the job pictured to the left is this: "Honey, I need 30 more minutes to finish weeding the bed of carrots. Well, don't be too much longer, our son is having a fit and I'm about to make dinner. Ok, just 30 more minutes and I'll be in."

1 hour later, the carrots are finally done and your hands are covered in dirt. You look proudly down at your 2 square feet of success and if you're as nerdy as me, you snap a photo by wrapping your dirty hands with your less dirty t-shirt to hold the phone and tap the touch screen with your knuckle because it is the only clean part of your hand. The sunlight is disappearing and it is time to go inside, not to mention you have explaining to do because a husband's guess-timate is about as accurate as a psychic's medical opinions. This time, I got out of it without any consequences as I cleaned the house from head to toe while my wife was at work. Score!

I hereby pledge to kill all the weeds that threaten my therapeutic sanctuary! I used both boiling water and a homemade weed killer to take the weeds to task this weekend. Let's take a moment to appreciate two methods of killing weeds at the perimeter of your garden. 

Homemade weed killer (do not use close to your desired plants)

Boiling water in action

The homemade weed killer requires the following materials: 1 gallon of white vinegar, 1/2 cup of salt, liquid dish soap, and an empty spray bottle. Put salt in the empty spray bottle and fill it the rest of the way up with white vinegar. Add a squirt of liquid dish soap. This solutions works best if you use it on a hot day. Spray it on the weeds in the morning, and as it heats up it will do its work.

The boiling water seemed instant, but time consuming as you have to walk back and forth between the kitchen and the garden. Boiling water may be the best solution for a few tough weeds. You also run the risk of burning yourself, where as vinegar can be washed off if it irritates your skin.

I have way more lettuce than I need so I am starting to cut heads of lettuce rather than pulling off individual lettuce leaves. I have to say that it is saving me a lot of money on produce. My coworkers must think that I am some kind of salad snob by now because I bring in beautiful salads on a daily basis by using multiple varieties of lettuce in the same bowl.

Don't ask what I was thinking, but next year I will be planting less lettuce and I intend on planting them weeks apart. It is also important to consider that each variety takes longer than the other to become ready to harvest. 

I didn't know what to expect when I grew broccoli. It was my wild card plant, as I had no idea whether it would work out. I have been pleasantly surprised at how large the broccoli plants have grown and that they are now producing broccoli heads.

This may sound silly to some, but I find myself not wanting to pick the vegetables right away because I love how beautiful they look when they are full grown. I suppose this blog will be a good way to remember how special this first spring of vegetable gardening has been so far. It isn't over and there is a lot more to look forward to. Check out how fast squash plants grow and see how big they have gotten, not to mention the squash blossoms are everywhere! I think we will have plenty of squash this year...

May 11, 2014

3 days later

5 days later

5 days later

6 days later

6 days later