Yellow Cherry

Its been raining here so I haven't really been able to tend to the garden the way I've wanted to but I did get to spray everything with Sea Magic yesterday and do some thinning.  

Here is a quick overview of things by plant type;

Strawberry Plants-
1) I finished planting the strawberries in the recycled bed. I'd said earlier that I didn't know what to do because the berries that were present were touching the soil and would rot. That's why I held off on planting them all. Well I figured it out. I cut a black plastic trash bag, making it into a sheet, and laid it over the soil. It was difficult to cut the bag in the exact right spot for the strawberry plants that had already been planted but I figured it out. Then I cut X's, appropriately spaced into the black sheeting and planted the rest. It was actually very fortuitous that I'd chosen that bed for those plants because the bricks hold the sheeting in place, firmly. Very firmly! Rain is a bit of an issue but after it rains I just make sure to pinch at the sheeting so that the extra water slides into the holes watering the berries. The sheet warms the soil immensely and keeps the berries from touching it. The plants, except the one Loran (rest are Ozark), have shot up about an inch each, have grown flowers or started berrying out. All I need to do now is keep the birds away. They've already started pecking at the green berries.

2) The Loran strawberries I planted around the edge of a round container have not grown, almost, at all. Sadly, I don't think they're going to make it. When I say 'make it' I mean produce fruit. The plants may grow and be green but I don't know that they'll do what their supposed to.

3) The two Eversweets planted in the taller 4x4 bed haven't seemed to have grown at all. I don't know about those 2 varieties. The Lorans came in a six-pack for a pittance compared to each of the Ozarks and the Eversweet plants looked red funny when I picked them out but they advertised the easiest growth and sweetest fruit so I thought, why not?  I only grabbed 2. Anyway, let's hope we get something out of 1 of the 3 varieties, that don't go to the birds.

4) My darling survivor! The single strawberry plant, in the 5 gallon bucket, that made it over the winter has a gorgeous white flower on it. Its thriving. I will not be surprised, at all, to see a couple of berries from that little guy. It's amazing how both that plant and the lemon balm made it through the winter without any care, at all, and are doing better than some of the freshly bought/planted seedlings.

5) Finally, the extra. One of the Ozark Beauty containers had a little extra plant attached to it that I removed, on the day I purchased it, and replanted in a terracotta pot. It is thriving as well. It has 3 berries of varying sizes and has shot up a few inches, at least. I only put a few inches of soil in the pot because I'd planned on replanting it but now I'm worried that if I do move it again, Ill lose it. The amount of soil in the pot is double the Bonnie size and triple in width but I don't think it'll be enough. I wish I'd thought ahead and planted it as if that was going to be its perma-location when I did. It may have to do.

Lettuce-
1) The Romaine seedlings I bought from home depot are green, firm, and growing. They were wilted and looking like they were on their last legs for a few days there after I transferred them but the rain has done them well. I'm hoping I'll start to see some twisting and turning. That'll indicate that they are going to "head up."

2) The Romaine seeds I planted have poked their little heads out and then some but are grouped together so tightly its been hard to thin without pulling out too many. Lettuce seeds are so small it was hard to plant them without grouping them tightly, especially since I primed them in warm water prior to transplantation. Each seed had a single, fairly long, root when I finally put them in the soil. I don't know that we'll get even a single lettuce leaf from those because the roots aren't holding tight and they do not have the space they need if they go un-thinned.

3) Not lettuce but spinach is used as such so I'll add it in this category. It is ready for picking. Something has been nibbling on it and I've had to pull off and toss a few leaves but the plants look like they should; dark green and crinkly. Nothing like last years. Can't wait to give my Mom some.

Tomatoes-
1) The Yellow Cherry variety, planted next to 2 cucumbers, is doing the best. It has a few little yellow flowers and 2 tiny green rounds. I was so excited to see those today. I didn't know if we'd get anything from this years garden because of the late start and the depleted soil. Seeing those two tiny green rounds gave me an enormous amount of hope.

2) The other plants seem to have gotten their color back and have a flower or two but they haven't shot up in height like the ones last year did shortly after transplantation. I'm hoping its just a delay but if we only get Yellow Cherries that will be OK with me; as long as we get something.

Cucumbers-
1) I planted 2 cucumbers in the far left bed with the Yellow Cherry tomato plant and installed the trellises right away. Those two don't seem to have grown much but I'm not worried about it because at planting-time they were looking like they were an inch from death. Now, they look like lively, small, seedlings. They needed time to heal. I'm sure now that their color and strength is back they'll start to shoot up like weeds?

2) The round container cucumbers have shot up about an inch each. It was a single seedling pot with a double plant. They are doing just great! Its the same container that grew last years beauties so I'm not worried about them, at all! Well I'm not worried about their growth. I am worried about the container placement. I've seen some funny soil movement that I don't like. I think an animal has been digging into them. I may have to move them behind the fence, which would be fine because the backyard is so beautifully clean. I could use the patio for containers this year. Keep the animals at bay.

3) The recycling bin cucumber hasn't grown much but it was  in the same condition as cucumbers #1. Now the plant is green, straight, and firm. I may have to move it to the patio as well. Im just waiting for the mama bird and her chicks to get a little older and move on. I wouldn't doubt that she'd attack my plants if I put them on the patio right now. She goes nuts when we even get close because her nest is right there.

Herbs-
1) I planted the parsley and basil in the back far left bed with the spinach and lettuce seeds. The parsley hasn't grown much but it looks really nice, green, supple, and fresh. I'm sure it'll make its way up.

2) Last years Lemon Balm. My baby! It's enormous. It made it through the winter without any tending. I ripped off all the old brown leaves and twigs in March and it has blossomed. Its twice the size it was and has grown at least 4 inches taller. It is amazing!!!! I cannot get over how the plant that claimed it needed the warmest weather made it through the winter and is thriving more than any other! Its crazy. I love it!

3) The new lemon balm plan went in the bed with the Parsley. Its grown a bit, looks fresh. That's all there is to say about that.

4) The basil was yellow when I put it in. Now its green and has grown. We can start using it on pizza or whatever else we'd like. It smells amazing and looks wonderful. HUGE! Last years Basil didn't do too well. I think this years is doing better because I bought the larger size. It was more established to begin with.

Radishes-
1) The French radishes are thriving. It took them one day to sprout up out of the ground. It looks like every seed made it and they have already grown their second set. Ive been thinning like crazy because I primed them and wet seeds are hard to separate. So they grew in tight groups like the lettuce seeds. Luckily these have strong roots and are easier to thin, it takes time but it's worth it. We'll have the best French radishes this side of Wilson Blvd. Haha!

I forgot to bring my phone out with me so I don't have any updated pictures to include with this post but I'll add some when I take them first thing tomorrow.

Pepino

Ripe for the picking...

I went out early this morning to try with the squash again but it was overcast and sunny in short intervals so the flowers weren't open again. I looked around the bottom after giving up on stigma rubbing and noticed that the crookneck plants are taking over the patty-pan space and some of the space in the cantaloupe bed. We do have some nice medium crooknecks growing so some cross-pollination is taking place between the crookneck flowers but the patty-pan has not only been invaded but hasn't grown anymore fruit, at all. 

After checking on the squash I went over to Container Drive to check on the watermelon, cucumbers, eggplant, strawberries, and peppers. I looked into the cucumber container and saw a medium size cuc was ready for the picking. For some reason I shuffled the leaves and an enormous cucumber popped into vision. I was amazed. The container is half the size recommended for growing cucumbers but keeps producing and produced a cucumber more like the store sized ones. I picked it, it was ready and took them inside. After that I went back pick a strawberry and took a few pictures of the progressing melon and eggplant. 

Since it's been sunny and extremely hot the last two days I decided to water everything with sea magic and spray the foliage. I made a gallon of sea magic mix in a pitcher for the spray bottle and made 6 gallons of sea magic in the water can (at separate times). I watered and sprayed everything then went inside to shower. After my shower I took out the ripening tomatoes I picked yesterday and snap a flick of the last two days hull. Our harvests are looking better and better. We would have had more tomatoes today if I was scared to pick them because of the hornworm. I even had a nightmare about it. Ugh! 

2 days worth of harvest. 

Our first eggplant has grown almost an inch each day for the last 3 days. 

Largest cucumber, yet, peeled and chopped. 

Watermelon 5 inches wide and 4 long. It's starting to really weigh down the branch. It probably weighs 2.5lbs. 

Sweet like Syrup

Strawberries...

Mike got home from Atlantic City after making 11th place out of hundreds in the tournament. He took the 4:35am train to Union Station and got home at 9am. So he woke me up on his way in... I spent a good part of the early/late afternoon resting then went out to "Sea Magic" all of the plants. I attempted spraying the tomatoes but they are so huge it's impossible so I watered them, sprayed everything else, and lightly watered the strawberry containers with the magic. Then I picked a few berries. Mike helped and got to try his first ones. Two were sweet but not as sweet as the last. The last one was as sweet as strawberry syrup. It was amazing. Of course it looked slightly mashed but that's how the farmers market strawberries look too. So it was the best one as of yet. Amazingly sweet an the best I've EVER tasted. 

Everything else needs to be weeded, badly. Slugs are arriving and the garden just needs to be tended to in general. I have my work cut out for me on what is supposed to be the hottest weekend yet. If I don't maintain things will start to go to seed and die. So I've got get on it, just not today. Too tired.

The darkest one was the syrup one. 

Tomatoes everywhere.

Green bean plants and slugged lettuce. 

Cucurbit Family

Patch Market...

I watered everything in PM when I first went out because the weather was hot, in the high 80's. I checked on the radishes and they are about 1/2 an inch tall and then moved into Potagar. 

Potagar Schoultz...

I watered everything with the new hose gun which I absolutely love and then I took the wheelbarrow to fill it up. When I looked inside it was filled with water and algae of some sort so I switched the gun to the power wash setting dump the wheel barrow over and started washing it out. The gun made quick work of it and then I wheeled over to the compost pile to fill. Filling was a lot harder than I thought because of the heat. I was sweating actually bullets that kept attempting to run into my eyes. I filled it about 1/3 of the way then added Perlite and wheel over to the front far right bed and dumped. When I'd finished I went inside to cool off. I was going to stay inside but I decided I wanted to plant the cucurbits; squashes. 

Cucurbit Family...

I went back out after cooling off for a few minutes and filling my Brita water bottle with ice and water. I grabbed the yard stick and 4 foot dowel. I measured out four equal plots of 4x4 square feet. I grabbed the the trellises, the crookneck squash, patty-pan squash, & shovel. I put a square trellis in the middle of the top and bottom two plots. I figured that each plant could climb one side of the trellis. I planted the patty-pan first in the front left plot and the 3 crooknecks around it. I was going to water with the hose gun but I wanted to give them a good start with some sea magic. So I went inside grabbed the concentrate and 1/2 measure cup. I poured in 1/4 a cup of sea magic and filled the watering can with 1 gallon of water. I watered with the sea magic close to the roots then watered the remaining dry compost surrounding the plants with just water. I had to fill the watering can again but it was worth it to keep water off the leaves; prevent burn. 

I was going to go inside and did but while I was in the sun room getting ready to head downstairs I saw the big containers I got from the Dollar Tree and decided to plant another cucurbit, the cucumbers, in the container. I carried the container to the compost pile filled it and added compost. I grabbed the shovel, cucumber in the small 4pk cell and the 2 cucumbers in the clay pot. I thought it would be easier to transfer the clay pot plants but there roots had really grown deep. I basically had to turn the entire pot over and re-plant it in the large plastic container. I then squeezed the small plant out and planted that. I watered with a gallon of sea magic water mix and moved it next to the watermelon recycling bin. It was too heavy to move anywhere else. Then, I finally went inside. I was hot sweaty and getting dehydrated. I needed to cool off but was glad to endure the heat to get all I got done, done.

3 cucumber plants. 

Patty-pan (long stem front) and crooknecks. 

Rain Infinity

Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain & More Rain...

Apparently, its going to rain for the next 5 days straight. If my garden doesn't die I'll be shocked. Today was one of the mild rain days predicted and it was dark and drizzling and humid and gross. Even though it was drizzling I went out to plant radish seeds. Sea Magic was scheduled to be applied today but with all the rain watering with it would have been extremely dumb and spray it on the plants foliage would have been as good as not doing it at all because the rain would have washed it all off. 

So I planted the left over seed tape an seeds right from the package. I ended up using the large plot that I was thinking of using for the other peanut plant, for radishes, because my Mom loved the first harvest so much. The small plots only grew 9 radishes between the 3 so I figured why not and if I thin them out early they should be done by mid-June and then I an use the bigger plot for something else or just plant more if we find a place for the second peanut plant. 

On another not I watched some videos of green beans on YouTube and it turns out the type we are growing don't need trellises. They aren't going to get that tall. So when I rain stops, if it ever does, I'll be moving the trellis out and sticking some kabob sticks in to tie the beans off a bit. That's all the green arrow variety really requires. It sucks because the teepee looks so nice but now I have the trellises to make a tepee I the squash or melon bed, instead of between them. I'll probably teepee the cantaloupes since they only need 1x1 sq foot of space if grown vertically. 

I probably won't be doing much gardening for the next few days and the rain will squelch any picture taking but I will try to run out and check on everything quickly to keep you updated on, hopefully, good or bad progress. 

First strawberry flowers I've seen that are placed on one stem divided into 2 shoots with a flower on each end. Just for your viewing pleasure, not relevant to today. 

Strawberries Galore!

Or beans...

I went out this morning to water everything. It was a beautiful sunny May day and I had read some tips from Burpee about how to water the tomatoes. I thought I'd tackle that today. Since we don't have a great hose at the moment I fill up a plastic juice jug that holds 3/4 of a gallon of water and then pour that into the water can that holds 2 gallons. It's nice because it's marked from 1/2g to 2g. I filled the juice jug 4 times and poured then started on the first tomato plant. I was able to eyeball when the watering can was about half way full then I'd move on to the next. Since the can only holds 2 gallons and we have 6 plants that need 1 gallon each once a week I had to refill it three times but I think it will be worth the trouble. The Burpee tip, along with other references, said that watering the tomatoes deeply but infrequently was the trick to getting a "bumper" crop. Since Smart Gardener suggested this method of watering as well I went with it. I finally finished watering the tomatoes and moved on to watering everything else. It seems the rain did our garden wonders and I know it seems like "wow one gallon plus all the rain" but that isn't the case. The rain we got lasted 2 days but only have us about .5 inches of water. So I water the beans which are going crazy. We have about 18 plants now and more were popping up. I thinned a couple of the new seedlings because I knew that I'd have to thin them later and didn't see the point of letting them grow any longer. After the beans I checked on the spinach and noticed that the plants are growing there second set of leaves already. They went much quicker than my spinach. I thinned a few plants out the other day and a few more today. I am no longer scared to thin. I officially KNOW that the reason my thumb was a slow was, was because it was actually a slow one. I was waiting way too long to thin and the plants weren't getting there nutrients. I watered the lettuce and the mesclun mix, which also has its grown up leaves coming in, and moved on to the onions, basil and lemon balm. The lemon balm has about 50 bright green and new leaves, the basil is looking fresher every day, and the onions are another inch taller. So things are good in Potagar Schoultz. Once I watered everything there I refilled the can and moved over to Patch. 

Patch Progress...

I watered everything in the raised bed and noticed that my lettuce is not only bushier but taller and more of the carrots have real leaves on them now. Then I moved on to my prized strawberry buckets. The 5G bucket has finally filled all the way in you can't see any of the soil unless you move the leaves over and the 8G bucket has 2 strawberries coming in... SUPRISE SUPRISE!! The container doing the best is the Topsy Turvy it all of the sudden has big beautiful leaves and flowers on it. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. I don't know if moving the container up higher so it got more sun had anything to do with it but it's thriving. I had my major reservations about choosing the Topsy Turvy because of the issues I had in the beginning but I'm glad to be proven wrong on this one. It's pretty amazing to know that those beautiful little white flowers will soon be juicy red berries. I can't wait! 

Finally, I watered all the strawberry containers and all the stuff in the greenhouse and went inside. I wanted to get some weeding, spraying, and research done today but I had a haircut at 2pm and it didn't go well so I put all that off for tomorrow. I spent the day inside trying to fix the disaster I call my hair at the moment but tomorrow I'll set out copper to deter the slugs and snails. I'll pick an insecticide and organic weed killer. And I'll hopefully get the sea magic and "predalure", I mentioned, and spray and put that out.  

Yarn trellis for the beans.

Strawberry flower on the Topsy. Amazing and Gorgeous!

Another Topsy flower just opening up!

The 5G (Right) and 8G (Left) buckets. 

Grown up carrot leaves!

Patch, raised bed. Bushy taller lettuce, carrots, onions on the climb and radishes that have just  hit there growth spurt. 

Predalure Hurry

Twine Trellis Crazed...

So last night after I wrote my last blog entry I looked up "twine trellises" on google. I found a bunch used for beans and decided to try a few out. I wanted to see which would be the best. Since I was basically out of twine I used heavy duty yarn and made 3 different types. I finally chose the tallest wrap around version. I put it in the garden and took a look with a flashlight. It looked great at night. This morning, the first sunny day in 3, I went outside to check the soil moisture, temp, and have another look. The red yarn I used didn't look so hot. The trellis itself looks great. It is space evenly the beans will grow up the yarn perfectly and they'll need it because they've double in a day. We had 7 plants now we have 14+. Its amazing. I'll have to thin them out but I won't be able to do that until they are long/tall enough to reach the trellis. I didn't plant them for this type of trellis so it is going to come down to which ones reach well and will grow well up the trellis. The rest I'll thin. I thought abbout going out to get some twine and making yet another trellis but the beans have gone so crazy and will grow so quickly that the yarn will be covered in no time. Now the only thing that I'm worried about is the shade the beans will create once they've grown. They will end up shading a few of the square feet allotted to the pepper plants, which need full sun, and that won't work. I'll have to think about what I can switch around if anything. I may just end up planting more beans in those plots and making a tepee string trellis. The sun will hit the sides fully and the center will be unused. 

Otherwise not too much work in the garden which is too bad. The rain stopped me from working over the weekend and today was my moms birthday so I ran errands until we met for dinner and by the time I got back it was dark. I have a lot of weeding, organic pest removing, fertilizer, soil preparing, and etc. to do in the next few days. I don't want to get behind on this stuff because all of the garden references I look to for info have said that the best way to keep pests away, insects worms and the lot, is to have healthy plants. The more healthy the plants the less attractive they are to insects. Irony of irony's the insects deteriorate the health. Organic insecticides were the one thing I didn't research to death before planting Patch or Potagar so I don't have any real clue what I am going to use. At the moment to aid with the health of the plants I've purchase Sea Magic. A seaweed concoction that you mix with water (makes 60 gallons) and spray on your plants. It apparently, like all sea weed products, helps plants grow my 30% or more. It keeps them insanely healthy and speeds growth. The other thing I got is a "predalure" it is a tea bag type thing that you hang in the garden and whatever is in the bag attracts ladybugs and lace wings. Both bugs eat pests like aphids, larvae, white flies, and etc. I'm hoping it works quickly so that I don't have to worry too much about making and testing baking soda and oil, oil and soap, and other mixes. 

I will test them for your sake on the test plants but that will help me more for next year. I do want to test those types of mixes I just don't want to be in a hurry to test them on my actual garden until I've had a chance to really test them on test plants. I'll be letting you guys know which ones work once I figure out the actual gardens. I've already seen earwigs, potato bugs, and a few weird flies so I need to get going. HELP!!!! 

This controlled release attractant is a magnet for beneficial, predatory insects such as lady beetles and lacewings that aggressively feed on aphids, mites, scale crawlers, caterpillar and beetle eggs and larvae and many other pests.

Sea Magic micro-nutrients, amino acids, growth-promoting and disease-fighting powers help deliver magical yields: 24% more tomatoes, 47% more peppers, 34% more cucumbers and 25% more grapes to name a few.