Lots of Basil (and More Beans!)

I really need to get better at using the garden produce.  It always comes as a surprise to me when something needs to be used & it really shouldn't be.  I vow from this point forward to take stock in what will likely be ready to harvest *before* I go grocery shopping and meal plan accordingly!

The big disappointment is my onions.  I think it's a little too shady for them & I planted them too close.  They haven't really bulbed much and the leaves are dying back.  The same story with my garlic!  Alliums, what's with the hate?!?

Luckily, I have basil, beans & cucumbers to cheer me up!  My cukes are taking over despite having a 6' tall trellis.  There are probably a dozen or more baby cukes just on the tee-pee trellis.  Pickles here I come!  The beans are also doing well.  I can't believe how much they produce.  Of course, the lettuce & Swiss chard makes it hard to find them which means they are often a little too mature (but still edible).  Oh, well.

The real hero, though, is basil.  Good gracious, the basil!  It was like 2' tall and definitely time to do a hard harvest (taking 2/3 of the plant).  It ended up being over 10oz!  I'm freezing most of it for winter use as there's no way we could eat that much basil in a few days (I need a break from pesto).

Totals for the past week are:

Basil 10.75oz
Cukes 4oz (not all pictured)
Beans 7.25 oz (not all pictured)
Onions 7.5 oz (not pictured)
Lettuce 2 lbs (!!! and there's still more...not pictured)
Kohlrabi 3 lb (this is all of it. not pictured)

Grand total for the year: 37.55

Not too shabby!

Garden & Harvest Update

The garden is looking awesome right now.  The cukes and pole beans are filling up their trellises, the lettuce hasn't bolted yet and the tomatoes seem to be growing a foot a week.  Oh, and the zucchinis!  The zucchinis!  I think at least 1 plant is going to need to go.  I planted a bunch b/c I didn't label & I was concerned one could have been a winter squash.  I'm just one person...that can't eat the output of 5 zucchini plants.

Also exciting?  I realized that some green beans need harvesting.  So I picked.  And picked.  And pickled.  Over a pound!  There were also 2 cucumbers (weighing over 5 oz total).  This brings my harvest this year to over 30 lbs.

Climbing out

I know this has been a trend this season, but it's true: I've been unbelievably occupied.  I've been, essentially, working 3 jobs: one at a plant nursery, one as a stay-at-home mom and one freelance job.  Plus, I'm taking classes.  Don't get me wrong, I love all these things, but it barely leaves me enough time to keep up with the garden, let alone post about it.  If you haven't deleted me from your Google Reader yet, you're a saint.

So, here I am, climbing out.

I'm happy to report that garden harvests have been epic in my blogging absence.  EPIC. I've harvested 5.7 lbs (!!!) of lettuce and 9.4 lbs (!!!!!!!!!) of kohlrabi.  Can you believe it?  Those this harvest alone is about half the total harvest of last year.  Yay for spring gardening!

Thus far, I've harvested 29 lbs and my cost per pound is $2.82!  I'm already under my goal of $3/lb!  SQUEEEEE!!!!  Plus, one bin of my compost is "finished" so I won't have to buy any of that for the rest of the year.

I apologize for the excessive use of exclamation marks in this posts, but it's taken me basically 3 years to get to the point where the garden is really paying for itself...even the fixed costs.

I promise to do a proper garden update (the plants are so big already) and post ideas about what to do with 16 lbs of this:

More Harvests...

There have been several garden harvests already this week!  We picked some arugula for dinner salads and then sandwiches over the weekend (9oz total).  I also picked one full square of mustard greens and yielded 1.6 lbs!  I also thinned the radish patch and that yielded a respectable sized bunch weighing about .4 lb.

With all this heat, the rest of the arugula is starting to bolt, so I'm going harvest that & make pesto and something else. I'm really excited to see how much that yields!  It's time to move the Swiss chard outside anyways. 

All & all, I think I may actually reach my goal of under $3/lb of produce this year!  This time last year I had only picked 0.25 lb of arugula...

Garden Update- The Inside

With Sprout's new-found mobility, it became obvious that my seedlings needed to find a new home.  This also meant, however, that they weren't in a highly visible location.  Thus, they got a little neglected and some casualties have occurred.  My sweet peppers had sprouted, but then got dried out & died.  The Purple Opal Basil, nasturtium & Thai Basil haven't germinated yet...not sure if that's a result of old seed (in the case of Thai Basil & nasturtium) or not having consistent moisture.  I've replanted all but the nasturtium in hopes of not having to purchase these.

The good news is, though, that the tomatoes, and everything else that has germinated, are looking awesome.

Just under a month until these babies go outside, so I'll start a weekly fertilization of a diluted solution of fish emulsion.  As April 15th is technically the last frost date for my zone, so I've already directly sowed some carrots outside.

I'm starting to dream of grilled eggplant and tomatoes eaten raw with just a bit of salt and pepper.  Those days are still a few months off, unfortunately.

2010 Garden Roundup: What Was Awesome & What Wasn't

This year my garden was seriously struggling. Not only due to record temperatures, but also a drought and a pregnant gardener that couldn't weed properly or remember to water. Plus, the whole area was trampled through with construction workers for 2.5 months.

What I will plant again:
Sungold tomatoes- I didn't get the intense harvest like I did last year, but they were still quite reliable.  And, of course, they are delicious.

Stupice tomatoes- This gave me my first tomato of the season.  However, it's a colder region variety and wasn't too keen on the number of 90*F days this summer. I'll plant it again for early tomatoes and replace it when it gets hot.

Swiss chard- Most of my Swiss chard seedlings got taken by birds for nests.  However, what didn't get taken survive without water and care (the cucumber vines started to wrap around them).  That makes it a winner for me!  The downside is that they were shaded by the tomatoes and only 2 survived so I didn't really get much in the way of a harvest.

Arugula- This did super well in pots.

Edmonson pickling cucumbers- These were...prolific.  And that's putting it nicely. They climbed up our fence and into our neighbor's crepe myrtle. They climbed across the garden and into the netting of the blueberries. The vines were so dense that I missed several cucumbers resulting in inedible mammoths.  Thus, while I'll plant these again, I will definitely come up with a better trellis.

Kung pao peppers- This was a bumper year for these peppers. They are the perfect spiciness level for me.  I'll definitely grow these next year but just 1 plant as we are drying plenty for a 2 year supply.

Zucchini- Only one plant actually produced zucchinis but I like to think the other ones were instrumental in the pollination!  Plus, they did reasonably well in the shadiest part of the garden.

Ground cherries- I netted these this year and got probably 2-3 pints worth of them out of 2 plants.  I do need to do a better job of eating them up, though!

What is on probation (aka if it doesn't do well next year, it's banished from the garden!):
Carrots- The ones I put in pots did reasonably well (but didn't get very big at all), but the ones I put in the ground did not work at all.  Poor germination (even though I watered!).  I planted several kinds: Kaleidoscope, Nantes and a round one I forget the name...

Ping and Black Egg Eggplant- These were late bloomers in the garden.  First they were attacked by something and then they were just sloooooooowww to do anything.  With a small garden, I need vegetables to put out or go home!

Garlic- I really love the garlic scapes the hardneck garlic produced but overall the bulbs and cloves weren't very big.  I'm going to get some garlic from the farmer's market & plant that along with the biggest 2 heads my garlic produced.

Strawberries- This year construction blocked the strawberry bed, but overall the chipmunks get to the berries before I do.  With space at a premium, I'm giving these guys 1 more year to impress me.

Tequila sunrise peppers- I think I may have messed up on the germination of these so I'll give them another year.

What I won't plant again:
Mexican Sour Gherkins- These did well before the pickling cukes took over, but they just weren't useful enough for me to plant again. They taste good, but I could only think to use them in salads.

Thai dragon peppers- These also did OK in the garden, but the kung pao just did better in terms of yield and flavor.

Sheboygan tomatoes- I don't know what happened, but these just up & died.  Could have been a fungus or a pest, I guess.  Whatever it was, I don't want anything that needs coddling in my garden.

Gardens Happen When LIfe Makes Other Plans, Too

Here are some updated photos of the garden:

And, today I harvested another 3 oz of garlic scapes, 1 oz of oregano and 2 oz of sage. The herbs are going into the food dehydrator and the garlic scapes are largely going into a freezer pesto.

I shall name this year's garden The Garden Of Least Resistance or, perhaps, the Garden That Happened When Life Got in the Way. I had grand plans for this year's garden. It was going to be creatively designed. It was going to be as visually stunning as it would be productive...like a potager or English kitchen garden. I was going to build a pyramid trellis for the cucumbers and was going to do something more attractive than sticking a bamboo pole in the ground for the tomatoes.

But then the reality of pregnancy set in: the inability to bend over, the achy back, the constantly.being.so.very.hot, the general fatigue, etc. Oh, and having the garden being in the middle of a construction zone during the cooler weather didn't help either. I still think the garden looks nice but it's a far cry from the patchwork of swiss chard I had in my head. It's OK, though. Gardening is about striving for perfection each year and never quite reaching it. After all, Mother Nature really does it best.

Instead, I will rejoice in starting everything from seed this year, growing vegetables I've never done before and still going out in the heat & humidity this late in pregnancy. By the time I get my first tomato, I'll probably be a mom!

I Spy...TOMATOES!!!

Guess who has internet back?!? This girl! Mercifully, housing construction is *almost* completed leaving me more time & access to garden.

Today makes me realize why gardening is so popular in England. Mild, low-humidity, slightly drizzly weather is the perfect gardening weather. It's cool (which makes you comfortable) and it's overcast (which is perfect for planting/transplanting). I took advantage & got my garden on by removing a bush and giving my perennials a bit more space (apparently they missed the "first year they creep" part of the old saying). That basically tuckered out this 8 month pregnant lady!

And during my gardening adventures, guess what I saw?!? TWO tomatoes. Granted, only one (Stupice. 65 days to maturity) was still attached to a tomato plant, but still. I have no idea why baby tomato #2 (Sheyboygan. 80 days to maturity) fell off. I'm really surprised that my two larger varieties of tomatoes beat out the Sungold to set fruit first.


In addition to impending tomatoes, I spied some garlic scapes (aka the flower stalk of hardneck garlic). Not sure how long I should let them grow though. Anyone know? Right now they are about 6 inches.

Garden photos

It's funny how things look so tiny & puny but in just a few months they will significantly bigger and starting to set fruit. Right now, my tomatoes are flowering and I've got several fruits on the ground cherries already.

Garlic & cucumber trellises in foreground. Those tall stalks in the back are also garlic.

Zucchini, more garlic and some random kale that may or may not die soon.

Lemon verbena, ground cherries & blueberries. All netted before the birds can get at them!

Um, did I say blueberries?! Yes, I did. I bought 2 mature-ish blueberry bushes because the husband (well, let's just say he's not alone...) was getting impatient waiting for the 2 sticks I bought last year to set fruit.

I've been thinking about how to deal with this purchase in my garden total. Unlike most of my crops, these blueberry bushes will last for years and, as they mature, they will produce more fruit. I am *highly* unlikely to get $70 worth of fruit this year and it seems a bit unfair, if I keep this experiment going, that future year's blueberry harvest would be counted cost-free. So, I've decided to spread the cost of the bushes ($70 total) over 5 years (so, $14/year). Why? Because we plan on staying in this house at least 5 more years and I figured 5 was a good, "round" number. Thus, the new grand total of 2010 garden costs is:

$115.84

Update: Garden Planted!

Well, most of it. The soaker hose still needs to be placed into it for when the rain barrel runs out and the rain stops.

Why does planting always take longer than I anticipate? I mean, I figure, I've got a plan and my plants are all ready but it take hours. Maybe part of it is that something always comes up. This year, it was netting the ground cherries right off the bat so my laziness wouldn't result in the birds getting all the fruit. This turned into my husband fashioning a support structure for bird netting out of old tiki torches and bamboo from our neighbor that fell into our yard after a snow storm this winter. As a bonus, this will also protect our blueberry bushes (more on that later...)

Overall, though, construction has taken its toll on the garden. Clay was shoveled into the bed, strawberries were smothered, and random debris was thrown into the beds. My garden plan taking aesthetics into account was scrapped when one of my beds became inaccessible.

I'll post photos tomorrow. It's dark now & the pregnant lady is tired from all the bending, stooping and reaching...

Seed Starting Update

It's that time folks: Hardening off time!

I hear that by the end of next week my garden should be no longer a construction zone and my plant babies can be put snuggly in their raised beds. This year, I didn't have a freak aphid infestation like last year. Whew! However, my sweet peppers failed to germinate. They were new seed so I think I did something wrong. Like let them dry out. In fact, remembering to water has been my biggest issue with my indoor seeds this year. I always think that I watered them yesterday until I pass by and see them sulking. If they were teenagers, I'm sure they'd slam the door at me.

In fact, in the photo above, you may notice some sulking tomatoes and basil. Yep, I waited too many days between watering! Again. I'm sure they'll pop back with a bit of love and actual sunshine. Oh, and water.

Despite my neglectfulness, the baby plants are looking pretty good. In fact, I've got flowers on all my squash (have been for weeks), one of my ground cherries and one of my tomatoes.

I'm really looking forward to summer!

Garden Update!

Well, my garden proper is still a construction zone with dirt piled up waist-high all along the walkways and creeping a bit into the beds. I'm glad I covered the beds with row cover to protect them from the compacted clay invasion!

But the pots on the other side of my house are seriously trucking along. This is about the south side of the house so it gets pretty good sun this time of year (in a month...not so much).

Arugula needing another harvest/thinning:
Carrots trucking along:
Greek mountain oregano getting ridiculously huge. These are 2 plants that started off last year in a 2" pot. And they looked pretty puny all last year.
Misshapen sage bush, now flowering. Anyone want any sage?!? This also started off last spring as a small plant.
Chive flower bud. I've never tasted a chive flower before...looking forward to the opportunity!
Interestingly enough, the bunnies haven't touched the arugula. Is it because it's peppery tasting? Because it's in a 16"-ish tall pot? Because they are super lazy? A few days ago I observed 3 bunnies (simultaneously) hanging out just feet away from the pots. They spent most of the afternoon stretching, napping and grooming. Oh, and sampling my toad lilies. But at least this year they are keeping it to one plant instead of destroying a little bit of all the plants....

Garden Clean Up Day

In the past week this:

Snowdrops

and this:Tulips? Daffodils? I don't remember planting anything there...

have popped up in my yard. That, combined with almost 60*F (balmy!) temperatures today I deemed today Garden Clean Up Day. We had put leaves all over our raised beds in part out of laziness last fall and in part to act as a mulch. And, I didn't harvest all of the mustard, radishes & a few other things before the winter thanks to no light when got home and a hectic schedule. But, for planting (which will now not be until the end of May or so thanks to home repairs), that stuff needed to go. Now. The urgency was due to it being a beautiful day after a long, snowy winter and to the knowledge that in 2 more months I'll be even MORE pregnant which just makes lifting things & stooping over hard.

We also purchased more potting mix for the containers that will need to hold our herbs and early spring veg (carrots, turnips, arugula, kale, kohlrabi and swiss chard), again thanks to the construction. And, we purchased 2 bags of compost for the larger raised beds that I went ahead & spread around to make things easier for when I'm 7 months pregnant. Now, we do have compost bins but I realized mid-winter that the well-intentioned husband had been adding new veg waste to the pile that was "sitting" to decompose. In theory, I could use a screen and sort out the finished compost from the unfinished, but I'm pulling the pregnancy card. No worries, however: that compost won't go to waste as it'll probably be ready to use in the summer just when my tomatoes need a bit of extra feeding and I'll be prepping some new beds.

Thus far, I can report that the garlic has popped up nicely. I only planted half of what I bought. I'm going to plant the other half now as a bit of an experiment. I've read that a spring-planted crop of garlic isn't as big as a fall one, but I wanted to try it out.




And, surprise!, the mint and lemon balm (also part of the mint family) are still alive. Yes, even after near zero temperatures and feet of snow. I needed to dig up the mint (those pots are going to be used other herbs), so I took cuttings and am rooting them as I've done before. I was kind of hoping the lemon balm would die, to be honest...

Anyways, with this weekend's purchases:

$12 in potting mix
$11 in compost (2 bags)

the grand total on the garden spent so far is...
$90.85

I'm in awe. I mean, yes, this garden *could* be cheaper (like, I could have screened that compost & saved myself $11...if I had a spare screen), but not much. But I think it's all well-worth it. It was so much fun going outside today and getting dirty again. Plus, my garden is sometimes the only light at the end of the tunnel in winter; the daydreaming of what to plant where is my favorite way to improve the winter doldrums.

Someone Call the Waaaaaahhhh-mbulance.

The good news is that some much needed home improvements and repairs will get underway in approximately 3 weeks. The bad news is that I'll need to move the herb garden & refrain from planting the other beds until it's all over.

:::pout:::

I'm incredibly disappointed. This year I actually came up with a plan for spring vegetables & now I can't use it. Plus, I've already started some seeds for it! I guess I'll just need to buy some pots to grow what I was planning and put those in the front yard (the only other place that gets any sun).

I suppose this does solve my squirrel problem, though, as they don't seem to like pots as much as they like my beds. It will mean no raspberry planting this year (the pots are going where they would go) and fewer plants in general. I'll cover the raised beds with tarps most likely so that any nastiness (paint chips, concrete, whatever) doesn't get into my soil.

I guess it was very auspicious that I purchased Grow Great Grub, though. I'll be using a lot of her container gardening tips this spring!

Snowpocalypse

The DC area is notoriously skittish when it comes to snow. I would argue that it's with good reason, though:

a) DC area is full folks from warmer climes, like myself. I never had to drive in snow until I was 23 (when I moved here)

b) It doesn't snow that often here. This means that people like myself don't get the opportunity to properly practice the winter driving *and* that there is little incentive for local governments to invest heavily in snow plows, etc.

c) Traffic is bad on a good day. It's a thousand times worse on a snow day.

and

d) When it snows here, it usually happens in the morning and just a few inches. This melts by midday and then freezes into black ice juuuuuuuuust as rush hour starts. That is terrifying stuff.

But, this recent snowfall rivals the Storm of 2003. That was my first winter in this area and in February, we got a doozy. I remember opening up the door to my balcony and sticking a yardstick in the ground...18in! My grad school was cancelled for that entire week.

This snow storm is probably worse that that. In my yard, I'm measuring about 20 inches in the non-drift areas. Remember my raised beds that looked like this in the summer:

Well, you can't really tell I have raised beds. Or, really any garden at all now:


Unfortunately, this snow is too fluffy for snowballs or snowmen. Therefore, it does me no good.

Update! Fall Garden So Far

Well, the rain has finally stopped so I was able to go out and get a good look at my Darwinian fall garden. Not only has the rain taken me away from the garden, but so has my day job as well as some classes I'm taking. This garden is really on its own. My take-aways?

1) My garden does not get much light in the fall. The plants are still quite small because of this. In the future, planting greens in the other side yard in my ginormous pots would be a better idea.

2) I've got a cabbage worm problem on my kale.

Awesome. On both accounts.

I think the cabbage worm is the proper pest for #2 given photos I've found of their damage as well as seeing lots of what I thought were quite pretty white butterflies around (um, those are adult cabbage worms.).

I suppose this is what gardening is all about: Learning from mistakes, working against the odds, etc. I'm just a bit disappointed since I was really, really looking forward to the kale! I'm down, but I'm not out, though! Here's my action plan:

- Do a better job at monitoring and handpick (::shudder::) worms off the plants when I see them.
- If that doesn't help, consider using Bacillus thuringiensis insecticide.
- If the kale is still a skeleton, throw hands up in the air & hope for better luck next year. :)

On the bright side, my mustard greens are doing quite well against the odds. The variety is Florida Broadleaf, so I think it's a kindred spirit (I'm from FL). I've found I really like to use the young mustard greens in salad. It's peppery like arugula (which, btw, didn't really germinate for me. Not sure if it was the seeds or the squirrels digging everywhere...)

So, there you have it. The fall garden is (mostly) surviving but hardly thriving. But that's OK, I think. There's always next year.

Early Fall Garden Update

I was super duper lazy with my fall planting. Next year I think that I'm going to need to do my fall garden plan and plant dates in the winter so that I take out any possible guesswork/thinking. Fall is a busy time at work so I just don't have time to sit around and think about the garden; fall is the time for going on auto pilot!

So, on Labor Day (yes, I'm also slow with the posting) I threw down some radish, carrot, kale, mustard and arugula seeds along with planting some starts of kohlrabi and kale starts from Merrifield. Thus far the mustard greens (pictured), radish and mustard have sprouted.

Also, our Sungolds are *still* producing. It's insane. And the Thai Dragon and Kung Pao peppers are also going nuts.

Anywho, there you have it. Hopefully in a few weeks we'll be feasting on some fall veg.

I still need to plant some garlic and onions, though. But here's part of the garden so far (those are radishes in between the kale & kohlrabi):

CSA Monday! Lotsa Lemon Balm Edition

This week I'm not inspired by the CSA. Perhaps its because it's basically the same thing we've had all summer? I realize this is not my CSA's fault; rather, it's a lack of creativity on my part and a general "case of the Mondays." Blah.

Mercifully, however, this is the reported last week for potatoes. We are rice-eaters and having 7 potatoes per week has been a bit of a challenge for us.

Anywho, here's the haul:


Lemon balm (huge bunch), garlic, potatoes (7), tomatoes (lots!), corn (4), tomatillos (7) and eggplant. Basil was also part of the offerings, but...seriously...we have enough basil. In our garden. In our freezer. In a pot on the side yard. We did not need anymore basil. So I left it for others to take.

Here's the plan:

• Chicken & Potato Indian Curry with Green Beans. Recipe TBA, but I think it'll involve Mark Bitman's Hot Curry recipe for the spice and my husband trimming the green beans.
• Pasta with Raw Tomato Sauce. This is the husband's recipe. Actually the first recipe he ever gave me. Unfortunately, his recipe writing is horrible and I thought it was gross. But, he was cute, so I kept him around...
  Anyways, it's about 1.5 lbs of tomatoes (chopped), a bunch of basil (torn/chopped) and 1-3 garlic cloves (depending on your preference, minced) marinated in 1/4 cup nice olive oil, salt and pepper for a few hours in the fridge. Then, boil pasta, drain and toss with raw sauce. Eat room temperature or hot (heat from hot pasta). This is the part he left out. I thought it was like a pasta salad & ate it cold &...well...the oil was kinda solidish and the pasta was just.not.very.good.at.all.
• Grilled Eggplant with Hummus, Olives, Pita, Sliced Tomatoes. This is my favorite summer supper. It's light and easy, even if you make the hummus yourself.

And, I'm going to try to dry the lemon balm for hot tea. Will report back. I think I'll also try freezing some tomatillo salsa just to see how it does.

And, finally, here my harvest from last week. I've got a few sweet peppers that should be ready to pick soon and have since picked 2 more Wonder Lights, a half-pint of Sungolds, 3 romas and several more hot peppers. But I'm too tired to take another picture.


Pictured above is basil (purple and green), lavender, thyme, rosemary, and oregano (all used in the herbaceous happy hour), several hot peppers, large handful of Sungolds and 4 Wonder Lights. The herbs alone would have probably cost about $10 at my grocery store for conventional versions (this is assuming they stocked lavender...) and these are organic! And, as of right now, I think the larger tomato plants are done for the season. They don't really have any new buds on them so I may pull them up this weekend.

Early August Garden Update

So far, it's been a great summer in the garden besides the suspected late blight in some of the tomatoes. However, some good did come of their removal; they were shading the sweet peppers. Now those peppers are getting more sun and seem to be setting more fruit.

The photo to the right is my harvest from yesterday and includes some kung pao peppers, lots of Sungold tomatoes, a purple bell pepper, 3 Wonder Light tomatoes and a Cherokee Purple tomato. More hot peppers were on the plants, but I'm hoping some will turn red. Mind you, I've only planted half of the garden this year, so I'm hoping next year the semi-weekly harvests will be more bountiful!

The Sungolds have continued to be the star of the garden. Not only are they a lovely shade of orange but every 2-3 days we pick about a pint of them between our two plants! I am definitely going to plant those again next year. So far, I am less impressed with the Wonder Light tomatoes. They are a lovely shade of yellow and are shaped like a lemon, but kinda "blah" in flavor.

The herb garden is doing quite well. I'm not sure what to do with all of it, honestly! My (bought) Hidcote lavender is blooming again which is lovely. Also exciting? The lavender I grew from seed is blooming! Hurray! However, I've since learned that lavender doesn't really grow true from seed. So, what I grew from seed probably isn't "perfect" but it's still exciting to me.

The dahlias are still a welcome burst of color. The husband has recently admitted that besides the Sungolds which he eats directly from the plant as he does any sort of yardwork, the dahlias are his favorite thing in the garden. I suspect it is because they are very photogenic and attract lots of bees, and my husband likes the macro photography.

Thus, the garden is really moving right along without much work from me aside from watering.

Next year I think I'm going to weight each harvest. Over at Compost Confidencial, the blog of Joe Lamp'l who wrote The Green Gardening Guide (which is full of good ideas for organic gardening on the cheap), posts have a running tally of both the garden costs as well as the pounds of vegetables it has produced. His goal is 100 lbs by the end of the season all for...wait for it...$25. So far he's up to $15 for 78 lbs! Now, I'm not certain that I could only spend $25 in my garden next year, or produce 100 lbs for that matter, but it's nice to have goals.

I think I'll set some for next year!

Not Awesome News About the Tomatoes

The dude at Merrifield's Plant Clinic used the two dreaded words: "late blight." I've got 2 other tomato plants, both also grown from seed from a freecycler, that are looking pretty ill. I can't find stem lesions on them or the tell-tale white "mold" on their leaves, but it could just be that it's in the early stages. He ruled out Fusarium wilt and early blight and some other fungal diseases. It was basically late blight by elimination. Not exactly a death sentence per se, but I'm not going to wait around to see what happens.

So, my Green Zebra and Cherokee Chocolate tomatoes along with the Mystery Freecycle Heirloom tomato are going directly into trash bags & my gardening gloves are going into the washing machine and any shovels used are getting sanitized. Perhaps this is overkill, but whatever. The Sungold & Wonder Light tomatoes are looking fine (and, tonight I harvested my first Wonder Light!). I'm also a bit concerned about my Cherokee Purple.

But, I don't feel as sad about this as I had expected. We've probably gotten at least 6 pints out of our Sungold tomatoes so far & they are still producing like crazy. This year hasn't be a total loss (especially b/c the Sungold are some of the most delicious tomatoes I've ever tasted!).

Plus, when life gives you late blight, make fried green tomatoes!
(The plants had several full sized but unripe tomatoes on them)