The little Arizona garden still lives, but grows oh so slowly.
The kale, seed sent to my by Stefaneener, is peeking through. I'm hoping I can grow two of these in the pot, the rest will have to be transplanted elsewhere.
The lettuce is getting true leaves, and is ready to thin out and transplant. I saw one radish that was nearly ready to pull. Most of the radishes have skinny roots rather than fat, edible ones. I'll probably plant a few more in another 2-3 weeks, as the weather gets a bit warmer at night.
Onions are the one thing that are easily grown. The potted ones can be pulled and eaten any time now, and the sets in the container in the back are growing quickly.
I've thinned the little spinach plants to stand 4"-6" apart, so I'm expecting them to put out some good growth soon. Germination in the plastic container was excellent, but there was only room for 8 plants. So far germination of the spinach and beets in the main garden box is spotty. I'm afraid that garden just gets too much shade from the palo verde tree. The carrots have all sprouted, but have shown absolutely no growth in the past month, not even any true leaves.
Ahhhh, but look at this! I'm really close to getting a couple of ripe tomatoes! I think (hope) I've stopped the leaf miner damage. I am using a piece of aluminum foil as "mulch". I'm thinking that should stop the migration from soil to leaf/leaf to soil. It seems to be the answer to ripening the fruits, too. I remembered reading about using shiny foil, as it confuses the insects by reflecting the sky so they don't know which is up or down....I guess it can't hurt to try.My friend, Esther, bought two tomato plants the same time I did. I drove by her house today to see how hers were growing, and the poor things are dead. I'll have to call her to find out if it was leaf miners, freezing or neglect that killed them. Esther doesn't have a Mr. H to carry her plants out to the sun each morning and into the warm house in the evenings.
Happy tomatoes, even if one has been nearly denuded of leaves, to rid it of miners.
Well, you shouldn't have just blurted everything out in the previous post. :-) It's nice that you have a few things to keep you occupied while in Arizona for the winter. You're right - onions are really easy to grow.
ReplyDeleteEG, sure, sez Mr. Mouth Overides His Brain. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHey, Granny loves you. Are you going to build me one of those sooper dooper pooper compost turners? My old body is 30 years older than your old body.
Maybe it's because you see your garden everyday but I think it's done a lot since you've planted it! Do you know what variety of tomato that is? I hope this means you will participating in next week's harvest monday!
ReplyDeleteThomas, the variety is Patio. It only gets 18"-24" tall and can get loaded with fruit. My nearly leafless one has 18 tomatoes on it already, the other one has five babies and two teenagers ;-) I'm hoping the tomato ripens by Monday, and I'm saving the one edible radish to pull for my weekly harvest.
ReplyDeleteI feel rather blah too, This time of year is the pits. I'm not really a christmas person either so I can't escape reality with christmas glory.... :-) I am awaiting Feb when at least the sun gets strong and actually comes out.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter note... your seedlings are looking very nice. We are pretty much at the Winter Solstice, the longer days to come should really get things growing.
I took a quick look through your seed list and while get back to you soon. I need to go through my seeds and see if I am needing anything. I will get my seed list done as well to, some time this weekend I hope.
Dan, I hope you're right about the longer days making the garden take off. Last winter I started all the seeds in pots on the south side of the house, then transplanted them into the garden in January where they did quite well. I'm afraid this garden is so slow it will be left for my neighbors to enjoy come March :-(
ReplyDeleteHey, granny, I have onion sets coming up in my raised beds along with little radishes that I don't think are going to be mature EVER. And, the lettuce never came up at all. Then we had record breaking weather (11 degrees at the airport!
ReplyDeleteHang in there, Granny.
ReplyDeleteJust think how very lucky you are compared to those of us enjoying nothing but snow.(and I do love my snow, but oh, I miss the green and growing things!)
ReplyDeleteThose aren't just Happy tomatoes, they are also Lucky ones!! Yea for Mr. H!
Oh I'd love to see you with just one radish as a harvest. After all those huge intimidating harvests, one lowly radish would be funny. OK so I've got nothing for this coming Monday. I think I'll count my jars of applebutter and pout.
ReplyDeleteThis time of year is really depressing in a way. There is just no sun. I'll be glad when the solstice is behind us and the days get longer again.
Sure, i'll just fly right up to WA., and build one for ya. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful tomato Granny. Do you know how odd it feels for me to be calling you Granny? Shall I reveal my age? lol
ReplyDeleteGran, would you mosey on over to my site and see what I have for you?
I think your garden is doing splendidly and as Dan indicated you may be warmer down in the southwest but we are still on the low end of the sun intensity/angle on the horizon since this week marks Winter Solstice - which means you are getting the absolute minimum levels of solar energy currently. Be encouraged though, we starts climbing upwards in solar strength and day length in less than one weeks time - slowly climbing out of the low point. The real turning point is of course Imbolc (ground hogs day is actually a celebration of Imbolc) the first of February which is the mid point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. At that point we have gottent hrough the worst of the climb out of the darkest point of the year and we can feel, taste, and see the promise of spring coming.
ReplyDeleteYour greens are off to a good start and should continue to amp up in growth as the sun intensity and day length start also increasing.
Its nice to see something is growing (though slowly) for me who is freezing here in north east :)
ReplyDeleteZoey, 11 degrees? That's outrageous! It sounds as though your garden and mine are behaving exactly the same. This is only the second year I've tried planting down here, my first year was more successful..which isn't saying much.
ReplyDelete********
Ribbit, I'm hanging ;-) Today is much brighter, as you'll see in my next blog.
********
Sue, I don't miss snow at all. I'm strictly a warm weather gal. I laugh at my daughter when she complains of zero degree temps.
********
Daphne, you're mean ;-) Next year I'll plant my garden on the sunny side of the garage, then I'll show you some winter harvests!
********
EG, I'll put the coffee pot on!
********
Di, I can't believe it! You sure brightened up my day...no blahs this morning!
********
Kitsap, A simple move of the garden spot here would be in order, as I have a very sunny area with an off white wall to the north of it for reflected light. I didn't utilize it, as I like to watch the garden from my window, and the good spot is out of my sight. The good spot is also the farthest from a water source. But I'm tempted, if I should garden here next winter.
********
Sarada, I'm afraid I'll never make it as a southern gardener! It gives me something to do though, even if I don't have much success.
Nah you don't need sun to grow things. You are Granny and she can grow things anyway. Maybe you could dress that solitary radish up like Santa to show him off. He does have a fat red belly.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, you're a hoot! I'm so glad I have friends like you to brighten my winter days :-)
ReplyDeleteI heard of that foil trick while in Master Gardener school, so it must have worked with someone somewhere, LOL... good luck!
ReplyDeleteErin, if it foils the insects, I'll be happy ;-)
ReplyDeleteAhhh tomatoes. I miss mine so much :( You're blessed, AG.
ReplyDelete