Cherry Bellby

Patch Cherry Belle...

I went into Patch for an hour today, about the only hour of sun we received. I looked at everything and checked for pest damage and then had a good look at the radishes. I went online last night and googled "cherry belle radishes" so that I could get some idea of what they were supposed to look like at harvest time. I was relieved to see that the harvested and size able radishes pictured were not much bigger than my biggest plants are now. So when I was making sure all the radishes were about 3" apart today I thinned one out next to my biggest plant. I wanted to make sure that it had enough space. It was a little plant and shaded by the others from the sun. I pulled it out and found a tiny baby cherry belle at the end. I wished I hadn't thinned it at first but it actually gave me confidence in the bigger plants. They are definitely growing a root veggie. 

Five Gallons...

After inspecting and pulling that one radish I took a good look at the 5G bucket. It's caused me some major concern because it was growing the strongest plants but with absolutely no flower buds and no signs of buds to come. On closer inspection today I saw signs of flower buds to come, finally. I have a feeling that even though they were the slowest to flower, that they will produce the most and best fruits. They really took there time to set up good roots, I'm guessing, and a good plant base so why wouldn't they set up good fruit. Confidence in Patch has returned! 

On an unrelated but interesting note the green beans I thinned and put in water have grown in the cup. I'll be planting them in a small container as an experiment tomorrow. 

Beginner Woes

Pruning...

Today was a rainy and dark day. It just was not suited to be outside in any way. So I didn't go out... No gardening but I did fill in my garden note book. I started it when I started the garden just a calendar of when to plant everything and the care for each plant in my garden and Potagar. I added the Potagar plants when we got them but I have all the care notes. As I was going through them I realized that quite a few of the plants need pruning. Now, here is the thing I don't know what that means in the slightest. I cannot find any videos on my specific stuff and the written descriptions online are not helpful at all. Most of the curcubits need pruning, especially, the cucumbers they need to be pruned three times before "fruit setting." Another issue I don't really know when "before fruit setting" is... I think in terms of beginners I should have stuck with beginner plants like carrots, radishes, lettuce, tomatoes, and etc. They attract less pests and they don't need to be pruned or messed with in the slighted. I do know that a lot of the "easy" plants call for more compost tea when the fruit sets but I figure that's a little easier to figure out. It's when fruit starts to come in, I'm sure? 

Anyway, I will be looking into all of these things and letting you know what they mean. I'll probably end up asking someone at AFAC. They are mostly intermediate to master gardener's so they'll definitely know. As much as it is nice to help out with the local gardens for charity it's also nice to have a wealth of knowledge other than books, internet, and videos. Especially when the internet and videos are lacking. If you don't have local gardens check your library they most likely have some type of master gardener conferences and seminars taking place. I know that this pruning and fruit setting thing would be driving me completely crazy if I didn't have people to ask. The hard fruits and veggies seem to be the ones that are the most delicious. That's my experience anyway. 

Tomorrow is going to be another rainy and dark day so if I get a moment outside I'll do a  quick video update to show you everything. I included the one pruning video I could find on one of my plants but it's not one that really needed it according to my notes.