July 28, 2009: A Day in the Garden


*Post #2 for today, please scroll down for post #1.*



In my earlier post, I mentioned the Chico III (Roma) tomatoes being hit by blight (probably Verticillium Wilt). If you click the above picture to enlarge it, you can better see just how bad it is. Notice the healthy shoot coming out of the right side of the plant. The Celebrity on the right of the Roma was also showing signs of disease on the bottom stems.



I picked off every tomato that was ripe or nearly ripe, and tried to prune off the worst of the diseased branches on both plants. *Important: dip the pruning shears in a solution of one part bleach to one part water after each cut.* The Celebrity is looking pretty good, but I think the Roma is beyond hope. Wouldn't you know, I accidentally lopped off its only healthy branch.



Since I was in a pruning mood, I decided to also tackle this pathway. It was impossible to get from one end of the garden to the other without backtracking all the way around the other side.



Annie was smart enough to relax in the shade while I labored in the 104 degree weather.



When I finished, there were fewer marigolds and no nasturtiums. The parsnips were still a bit floppy and will have to be dealt with later. Otto was the first one to try out the newly cleared pathway.


There's just so much cuteness there, I had to get him coming and going.

A few minutes after I took this photo, I heard Otto behind me, making a weird sound. I turned and saw him writhing on the ground, as though he were having convulsions. I grabbed him and noticed he was very frightened, and couldn't close his mouth. I reached way inside and pulled out a 2" long stick he had gotten stuck sideways at the back of his mouth. It just goes to show you, they aren't always safe, even in their own yards. I shudder to think what would have happened to him if I hadn't been there to help him. Needless to say, he got lots of hugs and loves after his ordeal. Our little dogs are very precious to us.



Pulling out the nasturtiums left me with a nice 2' x 4' planting bed. Now I must decide what fall crop I want to put there.



This is the bed I planted just 30 days ago. Fiona of Rowangarth Farm was curious about how I glued my carrot seed to paper and planted the paper mats in my garden. These carrots were glued onto cheap paper napkins by placing a dot of water soluble glue every couple of inches in each direction, then dropping a single carrot seed into the glue. I let the seed mats dry, then placed four of them side by side in the dampened garden box. I mixed up some garden soil with a bit of vermiculite and covered the seed mats to a depth of about 1/4 inch, then tamped them down with the back of a rake. I then covered them with boards for a few days, until the first ones began sprouting. The boards kept the seeds from drying out in the hot, windy weather. Once the boards were removed, I gave them a gentle spray of water twice a day, morning and mid-afternoon. As you can see, germination was quite good. I did go back the other day and fill in a few bare spots, probably fewer than another 25 seeds. The beets in the front of the bed were sown at the same time. They have been thinned, and the thinnings either transplanted into another row or fed to our rabbit. The transplants wilted down right away, but in a couple of days began to grow new leaves, so it looks as though transplanting in summer heat can be successful. I put a row of grocery store green onions between the carrots and beets, to give us some nice sized onions next fall.


Remember the Tumbling Tom tomatoes I started in Arizona last February, brought to Washington in a picnic cooler, and raised in my laundry room window? Well, I don't think they are Tumbling Toms. They don't tumble.....in fact, this one is over 7 feet tall now, and it has at least two feet of stem buried underground! The tomatoes still have very little flavor, and the skins are really tough. Unfortunately, even after all the loving care I've given it, it's a loser.



What happened here? I've never had a Yellow Crookneck Summer Squash cross with another variety. It's planted next to the Waltham Butternut Winter Squash. Do you suppose there was some hanky-panky going on in that bed?


"We eat, therefor we garden"


28 comments:

  1. Thank goodness you were there when the puppy ate the stick. That would scare me...
    That Tumbling Tom looks like it took steroids or something. And there was definitely hanky - panky, even though all the "experts" swear it can't happen...

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  2. SB, it scared the crap out of me and the dog :-(

    I'll cut the squash open tomorrow and see what the inside looks like.

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  3. You sure have a lot of energy. If my temps were at 104, you would only see me in the garden in the morning. Come to think of it in the mid 80s I've only been in the garden in the early morning and evening.

    My marigolds are still growing in the paths. There isn't any other place for them really. They are planted between other plants that need the garden space so they just flow out into the other direction. They get stepped on. They get the hose dragged over them, but they are still alive and seemingly happy.

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  4. Oh dear... poor Annie!!! Glad that she's OK!

    Granny, your garden looks so good! What a difference pruning made on your walking path!

    How deep did you make your boxes? EG mentioned that you had a deeper box than he did.

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  5. What a poor puppy!!! I know that was scary. We keep the collar off of the dane while he's in the yard because he jumps up to look at the neighbors over the fence and he once looped it over the picket and almost hanged himself. I'm sorry about the tomatoes, but I'm thrilled the pup's okay.

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  6. I am so glad you were right there with Otto! Cute pictures of him just before the incident though.

    The roma plant looks like your pruning should go to the ground level! LOL! I have one Celebrity plant that I should have removed with the others (bacterial speck infection) but did not. It is still alive and trying to produce but looks so nasty that I really feel guilty every time I walk by the darn thing! Maybe I will tackle that task this weekend and be done with it.

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  7. I intended to tackle my pathways today and chop back my squash and cuke vines, but I am not as strong as you - we are having a week of "normal" temps heat index in the 100's - no way! I can't stand the humidity and my kids told me that if I work in the garden in the heat I'm "mean" when I come back in, lol! But it kills me to see those squash vines that have crawled over to my blackberry vines and are taking over the trellis...perhaps I will have a glass of wine and a bottle of OFF! and garden at night tonight! Glad Fiona came over to you for a visit, she is doing great things for her family and has a nice blog.

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  8. So happy you were there for Otto, the poor thing!!

    That is some funky squash you have there Granny, can't wait for the follow up!

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  9. They say God puts you in the right place at the right time. I guess the "other one" put the stick in Otto's path.

    I just noticed that your beds are, what? 12 inches high? Maybe that's part of why your production is so good. My beds are only 6 inches high.

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  10. Daphne, if I didn't garden when the temps were mid-80s or higher, that would eliminate May through September! Yesterday was miserable though, but it just had to be done. Today I'll stay inside and can tomatoes.

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    Toni, Annie thanks you for caring, but it was her brother Otto who got the stick caught in his mouth. :-)

    My boxes are 12" deep....well, actually 11" because of odd lumber measurements. But they sit on sandy loam, with no weed block on the bottoms.

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    Ribbit, we had a neighbor whose German Shepherd (a neighborhood favorite dog) tried to jump their picket fence, and she impaled herself on a picket. It was scary, sickening and sad, but thankfully she survived.

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    KitsapFG, yes, I'm glad I was there. Otto did that once before...he never learns. He also eats his blanket and then barfs up blue fleece. At least he runs out the pet door and upchucks in the roses, then covers it with mulch!

    I think the Roma will go soon. I also have two SWC tomatoes with bacterial speck, but they are pumping out fruit, so I'll leave them be for now. Knock on wood, my main tomato bed is looking really healthy, if overcrowded.

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    Erin, be sure to drink the wine and rub on the OFF! And don't drink so much wine that you reverse that process ;-)

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    Kelly, we'll see what the squash looks/tastes like tonight.

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    Cheryl, the neighbor's ^%*$#(* English walnut tree put the stick in my garden. That thing drops sticks and twigs and branches and leaves and walnuts onto my garden constantly! I'm half afraid to work on that side of the garden, I might get conked in the head by a falling walnut.

    Yes, my beds are double 2 x 6s, and bottomless with good sandy loam beneath. My strawberry bed is the only shallow one. My squash bed is just a mound of compost with no sides.

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  11. Reminds me of a time when a friend's lab woke her by whining -- he had an entire bagel stuck vertically in his mouth. She had a hard time getting it out for laughing at him, but he wasn't happy. Scary about your little one. Darn tree.

    Good to see how lovely the garden looks. I'm thinking about doing some pruning/ripping out myself. Powdery mildew has doomed a yellow croockneck already.

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  12. Granny, good thing you were there for your dog! They sure can get into stuff when your head is turned. That squash is just plain weird.....

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  13. Granny I like your seed mat idea! Next time you do it you should photo your steps and share with us!

    Glad your pup is ok!

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  14. Stefaneener, my yellow crookneck (which has decided to be a green crookneck....I picked three more green ones today) is doomed, and I'm getting sick of it anyway. It will be the next to go.

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    EG, see above comment to Stefaneener.

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    Shawn Ann, I might just do that. I have to do a bread post, too.

    Pup got lots of kisses. He was pretty clingy all the rest of the day, and wouldn't get far away from me.

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  15. Thanks so much for posting about the carrots -- this is such a great idea! I'm going to try it. Have you done this with any other tiny seeds??
    Your garden looks lovely, before and after lopping. I've been debating whether or not to go with raised beds and given these photos (and Erin's too), it seems like a smart idea.

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  16. Fiona, I tried it last year with lettuce on newspaper, and it wasn't terribly successful. The carrots didn't do well with newspaper, either. They just need something thinner that will disintegrate easily, like cheap paper napkins or maybe toilet tissue ( I did one ply of a kleenex last year with good results, but the glue seeps through it so it was too messy). I'm going to try lettuce again, at 2" spacing on a napkin. It should work with any tiny seed.

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  17. Granny, I love your suggestion for gluing tiny seeds to napkins! What glue are you using?

    Hmm... just thinking... you could open up the napkin big to probably a full square and glue down all the seeds... then plant the whole napkin! Very very cool!

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  18. Funny, I was thinking about lettuce seeds when I asked my question! It'll try that too -- thanks again.

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  19. Toni, I use a 12" square napkin, I get them free when I buy from any fast food joint....they fall apart very easily. I use Elmer's School Glue, as it is water soluble, but any glue that says it can be cleaned up with water would work. Let the seed mat dry completely before rolling it up for storage or moving it to the garden.

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  20. Granny, thanks!!! How absolutely perfect!!!! Will give that a try!

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  21. So glad you were there to rescue Otto!

    So sorry about your blight plight! What happens to the ripening process of the tomatoes when they are stricken? I have a bunch of maters that just won't completely ripen..... a bit mottles yellow on the outside and a bit green on the inside. I'm trying to troubleshoot what could be going on.

    Can you give us a rundown on how your maters taste and which ones you like best?

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  22. Desert Dame, I don't think there is much problem with them ripening. Actually, anything that has the tiniest bit of color will ripen inside just fine. Of course, it won't be as flavorful, but at least it won't be wasted. I try to keep the affected leaves cut off, but they are kind of getting ahead of me...I'm about to pull two plants.

    Are you getting a good sized single yellow spot on the outside? Some of mine are getting sun scald, which shows up yellow or white on one side.

    So far, the Kellogg's Breakfast (yellow) and the Cherokee Purple that might be a Brandywine are the hands down favorites I picked one today that weighed 1-1/2 pounds!), and will be grown again next year. Some of the others are picking up in flavor, so the verdict isn't in on them yet. The Chico III is a loser, as is the Tumbling Tom. Next year, if I can't get seeds for Sungold, I'm going to try Sweetie for my cherry tomato. I have a Juliet that hasn't yet ripened, I'm anxious to try that one.

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  23. Thanks for the info Granny. I get some sunscald but I try to cover the most exposed fruit to prevent it.

    I have always been able to pick the tomatoes and have them finish ripening inside but this year it isn't working. I brought in a whole harvest, put them in a paper bag for 2 weeks and they didn't get any redder or riper. I've never heard of this before.
    My tomatoes are turning out to be real lemons this year.

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  24. Granny, pardon my ignorance...
    What does sun scald look like?

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  25. Desert Dame, I wish some of my tomatoes would turn into lemons ;-)

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  26. Toni, see photos:

    http://tinyurl.com/m979qc
    and
    http://tinyurl.com/kmx4fo

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