Thinking back on last year's garden, I thought I'd misjudged the amount of lettuce we would be needing and didn't plant enough. It seemed as though I was harvesting tons of greens by May 1st, but I just checked my May 5, 2011 harvest post and I'm actually right on track, and ahead on the total harvest this year by nearly a pound! Of course, that would be mostly in radishes. It's a good thing Mr. Granny loves them in his salads. He has been raving about them, and to a slightly lesser extent the spinach. He's never been much of a fan of garden lettuce, preferring a crispy iceberg from the grocery store, so I make his salads with a combination of store bought and home grown.
Speaking of spinach, mine has disappeared. The seedlings I transplanted are doing fine, and those have been our only source. The seeds I planted in the former strawberry bed all sprouted in just a few days. They looked great. Then they disappeared. By yesterday, out of two 6' rows of spinach, there was one tiny seedling left. Radishes and beets have also been disappearing in that bed, but not quite to the extent of the spinach.....yet. I have no idea what's happening. The bed is covered with netting, so I can't blame birds. I'm waiting to see if the three rows of carrots germinate and survive, so if they aren't showing by mid-May I'll just dig the bed and see if maybe it's an infestation of the wire worms that plague some of my garden beds. If it is, I'll just have to live with the destruction, as I refuse to poison the soil. I don't know if solarizing the bed would kill them or not, but I suppose it would be worth a try.
It's been a busy couple of days in the garden. All of the tomato buckets (and containers) have now been set up, firmly secured, filled with a combination of potting mix and compost and planted. I ended up with a total of 18 tomatoes in 13 buckets and three large bottomless containers, with the final two plants being planted directly into the garden sans pot or bucket. I decided to use the 3 large black containers next to the shed, as the soil stays rather cool inside the cherry timber enclosure and the black pots will help keep the tomato roots much warmer. That shed garden ended up with all of the tall cherry tomatoes (4), with a Marglobe Supreme in the center, under the window. The cherries are (1) Black Cherry, (1) Isis Candy and (2) Una Heartsock. Along the west fence, I planted (1) Fabulous, (1) Marglobe Supreme, (1) Homestead, (1) Bush Celebrity (1) Marion and (1) Bloody Butcher. They join the previously named varieties in "Tomato Alley", which are (1) Victor, (1) Bloody Butcher, (1) Coastal Pride Orange (1) Homestead (1) Bush Celebrity, (1) Rio Fuego and (1) Mountain Princess. Of course, in pots on the patio, I still have my four Minigold tomato plants that have been bearing fruit for a couple of weeks now. That's a total of 22 plants.
After the tomatoes were planted, I started on the peppers. Three containers in "Tomato Alley" were filled with potting mix/compost and planted with (1) Dave's Happy Yummy Hot, (1) Early Jalapeno and (1) Dave's Happy Yummy Sweet. Then on to the garden where I installed ten small tomato cages and zip tied them together, then planted (2) Quadrato Giallo D'Asti -yellow, (2) Horizon Orange, (2) Quadrato Rosso D'Asti - red, (2) Red Marconi and (2) Corno Di Toro - red.
During the night, we had a lovely rain that helped settle in all the new plants. Now we're having strong winds to dry up the soil and batter those new plants. They've been outside for at least two weeks now, so hopefully they can take the weather extremes.
After the tomatoes were planted, I started on the peppers. Three containers in "Tomato Alley" were filled with potting mix/compost and planted with (1) Dave's Happy Yummy Hot, (1) Early Jalapeno and (1) Dave's Happy Yummy Sweet. Then on to the garden where I installed ten small tomato cages and zip tied them together, then planted (2) Quadrato Giallo D'Asti -yellow, (2) Horizon Orange, (2) Quadrato Rosso D'Asti - red, (2) Red Marconi and (2) Corno Di Toro - red.
During the night, we had a lovely rain that helped settle in all the new plants. Now we're having strong winds to dry up the soil and batter those new plants. They've been outside for at least two weeks now, so hopefully they can take the weather extremes.
Harvest for the week of 4/23 through 4/29
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Lettuce 7.2 ounces
Radishes 13.2 ounces
Tomatoes 1.5 ounces
Spinach 5.5 ounces
Total for week: 1.7 pounds
Total for year: 2.6 pounds
Ooops! I forgot to mention Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions. Hurry over to her blog to see what others are harvesting!
lovely harvest!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mrs. P. It won't be long now until you too will have a garden planted :-)
DeleteThose radishes all look so pretty. I can't wait until I can harvest mine. Soon I hope.
ReplyDeleteIf it were my garden I'd guess it was cutworms or some disease. I've had cutworms cut down the seedlings without me even seeing any sign of them afterwards. Right now I'm trying to figure out what is making my mustard seedlings disappear. Still haven't figured it out. If it is a cutworm he is hiding very well.
Daphne, I haven't seen any sign of cutworms yet, just their pupa. That doesn't mean they aren't there, as the raised bed is warmer than where I've been digging lately. But...not a stalk of any plant remains, nothing at all, everything is missing. Usually, with cutworms or damping off, there will be a few downed plant leaves remaining.
DeleteHarvest looks awesome and can't wait to see your tomatoe alley and all others in full growth!
ReplyDeleteJenny, I swear those plants in the "alley" have grown already! If this wind doesn't shred them to pieces....they are pretty well protected there, though.
DeleteThe photos are so pretty, let the season begin! Mr. Granny prefers iceberg lettuce? LOL, how many times have beat him on the head with the salad spinner in the last decade? I bet he's just messing with you LOL!
ReplyDeleteErin, he says garden lettuce is too limp, and he likes it crispier. He eats Buttercrunch, Summercrisp and the romaine varieties OK, but still prefers iceberg! Funny though, he loves the leaf lettuces (and raw spinach) wilted with hot bacon dressing......so much for not liking "limp" lettuce, huh?
DeleteWow! I did not harvest a thing today. Took daughter out to lunch and will have leftovers for the evening meal. Have been getting a little spinach for my every night salads right along tho. You sure do plant a lot of tomatoes! We don't seem to use that many canned or fresh but like a few. What all do you use them for? Rainey here today! As usual beautiful post. Nancy at Cozy Thyme Cottage
ReplyDeleteNancy, the Monday Harvest posts have everything harvested for the entire week, not just one day. I post my totals for Monday through Sunday.
DeleteI do can a lot of tomatoes, and I'm already out of all I canned last year. I also can sauce, salsa, barbecue sauce, ketchup and sweet chili sauce. I'm growing more different varieties this year than ever before, so it should be interesting. I also have four kids (and their families) who like tomatoes!
If you ever feel like you can share your barbecue sauce I would love to have it. Nancy at Cozy Thyme Cottage
DeleteNancy, I just do the one in the ball Blue Book, but I cheat just a bit....I add a large bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's to each batch before I put it into the jars!
DeleteBeautiful harvest; I'd think of cutworms too, or the little pill bugs aka rolly pollys. I've had them eat stuff. Do you have slugs or snails where you are? I used to think that some plant damage couldn't possibly be slugs or snails, I mean sheesh, this is the desert. Then discovered exactly that, brought in on a pot from a nursery.
ReplyDeleteI've also had rats and mice take whole plants at the soil line and not leave a trace.
Mary, I'd be more inclined to think it might be pill bugs, but I just did a thorough inspection of the bed and the soil and found absolutely nothing! No slug slime, never had rats or mice or snails here. I didn't even see a single pill bug! I'm stumped, but more of the radishes have disappeared.
DeleteYour post encourages me to keep better records this year. I am impressed at how you can go back and look at previous years info to see if you are on track. Good gardeners are disciplined...clean and put away the tools, label seeds and (note to self) record the bounty. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeletePatricia, I do find it helpful to be able to go back and see how previous gardens performed and what vegetable varieties did the best for me. Ummmm....my hoe and rake have been propped up against the raspberry post for about a week now. Maybe I should put them away?
DeleteGreat looking harvest, especially the lettuce and tomatoes! I wonder why they are doing so good? LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteI seem to not far from you in the number of peppers- I've got 4 each of the three you sent me merrily growing under the lights.
Funny thing, I went baack to checl last years post for this date and my spinach each had about 4 leaves, ditto the arugula. Funny how imperfect are memories can be.
Ed, those lettuces and tomatoes are SPESHUL...LOL!
DeleteYour harvest looks great!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vanessa.
DeleteMy husband is an iceberg man, too...calls it REAL lettuce...he calls the lettuces I grow: yuppie lettuce! I plant iceberg all the time...it leafs (sp?) up, but never gets the crunchy head...oh well at least I've tried. I just planted my tomato buckets...did I ever thank you for sharing the great idea of tomato buckets? If not I want to now...I really like them..they worked great last year.
ReplyDeleteLynda, I grew iceberg last year, and the leaves got huge but it never did head up, and the leaves weren't especially crispy. I think one of the crispiest lettuces I ever grew was Anuenue, but only a couple of seeds germinated for me and I only had a few that were sent to me. I wish I could find it locally or through a company that didn't charge an arm and a leg for their shipping. I'm boycotting all companies that either charge $4 and up or price their packets too high. I've been buying most of my seed off the seed racks or getting friends to include my order with theirs and splitting the shipping charges. Or I just ask Ed (Tales From the Mountainside) for seeds and he sends them to me, LOL!
DeleteAmazing that you're getting tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteI still don't know what you do with all of it.
Stefaneener....we eat a lot, LOL! The tomatoes have been delicious until now. The one I picked tonight was bland and mealy, like most first tomatoes. The four that began ripening inside were delicious, so the colder temperatures at night have taken a toll on the flavor and juiciness.
DeleteBeautiful colors!
ReplyDeleteYou have tomatoes! Lettuce, tomatoes, and radishes... now all you need is some cucumbers to make a really fine salad! :D
ReplyDeleteBeautiful harvest and the garden is looking good.