tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61255785953638881382024-02-19T00:51:10.851-05:00Dave's Square Foot GardenA Gardening BlogDavid Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.comBlogger260125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-61840504456057790982016-10-17T08:29:00.000-04:002016-10-17T08:29:40.483-04:00Harvest Monday 17 October 2016<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCjJOO9shTdwNBtf3KE8XKrSh7WGoGtwL8c4lgFbVsPrx0pQr-OYt7ROXXGqyoM00aTcLBHUse3Wpup8Q6yIxPVO3fmMglnZmzwKJo_-lwvwno9IOqbMIidrEl-bd5bPcwGp313H4esY/s1600/West_Burying_Ground.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCjJOO9shTdwNBtf3KE8XKrSh7WGoGtwL8c4lgFbVsPrx0pQr-OYt7ROXXGqyoM00aTcLBHUse3Wpup8Q6yIxPVO3fmMglnZmzwKJo_-lwvwno9IOqbMIidrEl-bd5bPcwGp313H4esY/s400/West_Burying_Ground.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
I was wondering what kind of foliage season we would have given the extended drought, but it looks like it is going to be a knock-out. This sugar maple in the woods behind West Burial Grounds in Bolton is a traffic-stopper when the afternoon sun lights it up. The photo does not do it justice. We are planning a trip Tuesday out to western Massachusetts to enjoy the foliage for ourselves, after being inconvenienced all weekend with the peepers out of Boston plugging up town roads. Hope they dropped a lot of $$ at the local orchards and farms.<br />
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There is not much left in the garden except for the root vegetables. I pulled the last few beets and dug up a leek for Sunday dinner. I sliced the leek and some Jimmy Nardello peppers and mushrooms and sauteed them, then poached some flounder filets from our CSF on top of the vegetables. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg365EK2D2FODP5NoMOzD-sDwzBHAOXtQhyyeX9Vlv1xsNUEQvmdY6x0371YyVe3dIJO4CrKXAE5M3JzP4Uw7ptA58dnsVxF4yrSsJPutxfTDtnyEYhUI4PV2Omvz68-zKdrC3KWyAnKBo/s1600/Roots2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg365EK2D2FODP5NoMOzD-sDwzBHAOXtQhyyeX9Vlv1xsNUEQvmdY6x0371YyVe3dIJO4CrKXAE5M3JzP4Uw7ptA58dnsVxF4yrSsJPutxfTDtnyEYhUI4PV2Omvz68-zKdrC3KWyAnKBo/s400/Roots2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
I harvested the first of the fall radish crop, with plenty more left in the ground. Since they grew in cooler weather, they were sweet can crispy with no heat. I would have liked to plant a few more things, but in August the garden was bone dry with temperatures around 100F/38C. The radishes germinate and grow quickly so I waited until temps cooled off and we got a little rain.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbxs67HjGvsWOtPesLIit-mBZQ9E6lPeD1Wu2g8uYUxqRXNIKD9lWRdWmzUZKMRU7q_spEmm7V1j8upJxYitqNjDrDmB9V2OqeTFR4c-0M2VRrXbDntJUYEL3_ourC6TaORwlhcDYmjrk/s1600/Peppers.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbxs67HjGvsWOtPesLIit-mBZQ9E6lPeD1Wu2g8uYUxqRXNIKD9lWRdWmzUZKMRU7q_spEmm7V1j8upJxYitqNjDrDmB9V2OqeTFR4c-0M2VRrXbDntJUYEL3_ourC6TaORwlhcDYmjrk/s400/Peppers.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
We did not get frost at the house but at the garden, 2 miles away and downhill, we definitely had some kind of event. The tomatoes are all dead as are most of the peppers. The survivors are the ancho poblanos, which are still loaded with peppers, and the Hungarian paprika, but none of them are really happy. As happens every year, one killing freeze and now the weather is going to be balmy for weeks with a high on Tuesday of 80F/27C.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCbBPYCpvQuB2O1FpNmF9S3cM1wOIns5epeCO8MHLJhxaQSYBWNA5CGqyl9IyT_xNXMYjdHuLX3_LNIGfokITXVkbYlosjbtwyvCZHfZrC-QBLx7BeqsbMOLEd4GynnH6WU28g-vuPBCI/s1600/Tomatoes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCbBPYCpvQuB2O1FpNmF9S3cM1wOIns5epeCO8MHLJhxaQSYBWNA5CGqyl9IyT_xNXMYjdHuLX3_LNIGfokITXVkbYlosjbtwyvCZHfZrC-QBLx7BeqsbMOLEd4GynnH6WU28g-vuPBCI/s400/Tomatoes.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
This will be the last basket of tomatoes. A lot are green so we should be able to enjoy tomatoes in our salads for a few weeks.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUp1PpBBoW71SZ0U1wbWg_8QFzgOBftVel3lHZjfuSJmslNh0z6-GJGPln_ZCMXGVa6fDzOI12pyUToz4lvggwEsRngSTNh2DFPfcLERf3TpluDFT_pogQhwFy5gzygmfeOqiPArHRFFE/s1600/Peas.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUp1PpBBoW71SZ0U1wbWg_8QFzgOBftVel3lHZjfuSJmslNh0z6-GJGPln_ZCMXGVa6fDzOI12pyUToz4lvggwEsRngSTNh2DFPfcLERf3TpluDFT_pogQhwFy5gzygmfeOqiPArHRFFE/s400/Peas.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
The other thing I planted in August that actually germinated was peas. These are <i>Green Beauty</i> snow peas and the cold weather did not bother them. They are now flowering and maybe I will have a few peas to pick in a week.<br />
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That is what happened in my neighborhood last week. To see what other gardeners around the world are doing, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.<br />
<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-12836520510128905222016-10-10T07:26:00.000-04:002016-10-10T07:26:57.473-04:00Harvest Monday 10 October 2016<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhaA649sixiQFLuEry3tNVd14ImF33cwN5WuifabivXD3LXhKXp7dZSTL1yU_cJDlo1A954NakmnlqIsjL4T6-9ap41krmAVaS-eM4rcvvd4Qo25eTtoYh3AhKcP4gSC1sfcqxu7O_3CE/s1600/Peppers.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhaA649sixiQFLuEry3tNVd14ImF33cwN5WuifabivXD3LXhKXp7dZSTL1yU_cJDlo1A954NakmnlqIsjL4T6-9ap41krmAVaS-eM4rcvvd4Qo25eTtoYh3AhKcP4gSC1sfcqxu7O_3CE/s400/Peppers.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The weather has cooperated and I continue to get a few peppers. The ancho plants are loaded with small fruit so we could use a few more weeks of temperate weather to give them a chance to size up. And it would be nice to get some ripe <i>Lemon Drop</i> peppers, please.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimcY4mfwy0HyrOLolbTYfMBZ2cO0YszVmaacAiVJr58LOnlVaRw-xgsbPTJf6GFXVeTJX45SUdAjkPbuopx1_sQBvJYhFpfmHg1_rP4r6rUyG17VROjSWgkQvbGYnIsqRf_ur72MzEyho/s1600/Tomatoes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimcY4mfwy0HyrOLolbTYfMBZ2cO0YszVmaacAiVJr58LOnlVaRw-xgsbPTJf6GFXVeTJX45SUdAjkPbuopx1_sQBvJYhFpfmHg1_rP4r6rUyG17VROjSWgkQvbGYnIsqRf_ur72MzEyho/s400/Tomatoes.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Still lots of cherry tomatoes. Boring but nice to have for salads and sauce. Elsewhere, the fall crop of radishes and peas are doing well. We have had a little rain, not enough to break the drought by any means but enough to be useful. I thought we might get some rain from Hurricane Matthew if it tracked up the coast, but then it did its crazy Ivan loop around. This week I have to start prepping the beds for the garlic and onions that will go in next week, so it would be nice if they were not bone dry to begin with.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7jyfrfJInps1ClNPzxGLfXCB2tFMDqvEXvhJjR4ri2nVJCl7c_LjTpHEaSptyhtMwA4Zc6nH5wb4Sd_fIVGWqc8IOXJeF9Anxl1KupIz_T93IEo8WRnoJXMOzlIFbXtTwF4EFxL98hs/s1600/Turkey.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7jyfrfJInps1ClNPzxGLfXCB2tFMDqvEXvhJjR4ri2nVJCl7c_LjTpHEaSptyhtMwA4Zc6nH5wb4Sd_fIVGWqc8IOXJeF9Anxl1KupIz_T93IEo8WRnoJXMOzlIFbXtTwF4EFxL98hs/s400/Turkey.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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While watching TV, I heard a humming sound and banging on the house. This is what I found in the front yard, a wild turkey tag team wrestling match on my so-called lawn. I am assuming these are a group of young male turkeys (they all had wattles) practicing their judo moves before challenging the Head Tom. The banging noise came from two of the larger turkeys taking their wrestling match up the front stairs until they were banging into the door.This was certainly an interesting change from the group of hens and chicks that silently pass through the yard almost daily.<br />
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That's all that happened in my garden last week. To see what other gardeners around the world are harvesting, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-5983605478447895482016-09-26T07:41:00.000-04:002016-09-26T07:41:12.294-04:00Harvest Monday 26 September 2016<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_U9ZyTowDnfMBZxhnOlOLugsveKXGdML9Td7qsr-38bqSe31Yty_xVwvhm9J7p5JjnODhSjOmkEqjr6qhfW68XHLtQjS6H2DFN2mHhfPpH6T6JYHi1kUwhZd_dtAI12nwSRSShagcXcs/s1600/Peppers.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_U9ZyTowDnfMBZxhnOlOLugsveKXGdML9Td7qsr-38bqSe31Yty_xVwvhm9J7p5JjnODhSjOmkEqjr6qhfW68XHLtQjS6H2DFN2mHhfPpH6T6JYHi1kUwhZd_dtAI12nwSRSShagcXcs/s400/Peppers.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
I finally got enough Ancho Poblanos to make a batch of chilies rellenos this week. The plants are a meter tall and very healthy, but unfortunately the weather is getting colder. It is 40 F/4.5 C this morning, which is getting uncomfortably close to freezing. The mature pepper plants can endure a little cold weather as long as we don't have a killing frost. Seems we are never lucky in that respect. Also in the pile is a <i>Melrose</i> sweet red pepper, a pile of <i>Jimmy Nardello</i>, and a ripe jalapeno.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuc41GAZ-1_yAS_fqssyFV74T9hyphenhyphenYV0oH6BFeehPjPj2joX_sumwZW-MzNO1QSuGO-VgYxie-eVhmFHLuOEMqpl7T9bJm2jhGq-XWy0RZ6_rvF4x-eV7KPDEX8-1W0bllbx1jhozvykOQ/s1600/Tomatoes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuc41GAZ-1_yAS_fqssyFV74T9hyphenhyphenYV0oH6BFeehPjPj2joX_sumwZW-MzNO1QSuGO-VgYxie-eVhmFHLuOEMqpl7T9bJm2jhGq-XWy0RZ6_rvF4x-eV7KPDEX8-1W0bllbx1jhozvykOQ/s400/Tomatoes.jpg" width="400" /></a> <br />
Another boring basket of cherry tomatoes. I already had a large number of these in the refrigerator from our Acadia trip. I ran out of time to process them so I threw two bags of them in the fridge, following Mark's lead. One bag was then slow roasted and frozen. The second bag went into the blender for gazpacho, along with onions, peppers, summer squash, and a chili. I used some of the suspect red onions I had set aside, the ones with the apparent bruise on the side.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_tRcSYF_8Bcr1HWqQEBCNIfnouetXYutxCekusTH_luPMCfYkD1Nto6y7Cu3Wj97HZXc9em-1BmQW_-xxEO3w_J7lQmmQMTP9t313nL_ZlC1vPFFCqZCmyKQS5t_aIsTyuCT8fooPd_c/s1600/Onion1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_tRcSYF_8Bcr1HWqQEBCNIfnouetXYutxCekusTH_luPMCfYkD1Nto6y7Cu3Wj97HZXc9em-1BmQW_-xxEO3w_J7lQmmQMTP9t313nL_ZlC1vPFFCqZCmyKQS5t_aIsTyuCT8fooPd_c/s400/Onion1.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
You can see the flat spot on the top of this onion. The spot is flat but does not seem soft. I don't remember dropping any of the onions, and even so the onions are rock hard and wouldn't show a mark unless they were whacked hard. In fact, they had these spots when they were harvested.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnouMek6-ysZAF7AQK0-LcRPbiuZxUV1mu4yCJQPWr2U2s4R19Ys3B736to0DqnJi_pTtufkrIe12JAnIdwBz1tBmG-uUnuWLp619R0g_zifuw7xHtb3lXgbbe12xRAY_Ng-iymu-Z5xQ/s1600/Onion2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnouMek6-ysZAF7AQK0-LcRPbiuZxUV1mu4yCJQPWr2U2s4R19Ys3B736to0DqnJi_pTtufkrIe12JAnIdwBz1tBmG-uUnuWLp619R0g_zifuw7xHtb3lXgbbe12xRAY_Ng-iymu-Z5xQ/s400/Onion2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
On peeling the onion, you can see the black mold growing under the skin. So it was a good idea to set these aside and not put them in the onion storage bin. The mold must have caused the flat spots by collapsing the onion cells on the surface.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHp7XcKa1vcw_MspkSN-sIrOUIZ4v6i2IxhdGkUVa_nYK53bOU25AbVXwgHpiMsyVZvQhyphenhyphenThCUMG8uEY5uw_LO4Jfn5ulzFxZ0Ms4hzoB2zxu8Y3-o0fOLg7TZ4tUJnIc7yYq5Y0x6pM/s1600/Onion3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHp7XcKa1vcw_MspkSN-sIrOUIZ4v6i2IxhdGkUVa_nYK53bOU25AbVXwgHpiMsyVZvQhyphenhyphenThCUMG8uEY5uw_LO4Jfn5ulzFxZ0Ms4hzoB2zxu8Y3-o0fOLg7TZ4tUJnIc7yYq5Y0x6pM/s640/Onion3.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Slice off the infected spot and you can see the mold has not yet penetrated the interior of the onion, so the onion is still good. I only have a few more to use up.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2S0M0W50ilZEJ2gnWDb9PHkOw0-Yjx67w3gE1f-PkxJDX-F3CheS-cCokPcECmZuoK0brmorMYMbu_vu_xEalB4tnQGVOysy8Y0bg1BdYzsNVmOHzTiDteS2aJzXHh2KKRPto1dj9Y9M/s1600/Garlic.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2S0M0W50ilZEJ2gnWDb9PHkOw0-Yjx67w3gE1f-PkxJDX-F3CheS-cCokPcECmZuoK0brmorMYMbu_vu_xEalB4tnQGVOysy8Y0bg1BdYzsNVmOHzTiDteS2aJzXHh2KKRPto1dj9Y9M/s400/Garlic.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
I also used garlic in the gazpacho and was disappointed to find some of the bulbs are already starting to soften and dry up. Unfortunately I just grabbed a bulb and did not notice which variety it was. From the same head, the two cloves at bottom right were white and juicy, the two at the top had yellowed and softened but were still used, and the clove on the left was brown and nasty and was tossed. So I have to get on with trying to preserve some more of the harvest this week. I plan to slice and dehydrate some, and I will also try roasting a number of whole heads and freezing them. I tasted one of the fermented cloves I made and it was eye opening. Very pungent but the clove was still firm and could be used in cooking.<br />
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That is what happened in my garden last week. To see what other gardeners around the world are doing, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.<br />
<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-35569703885427505632016-09-19T08:12:00.000-04:002016-09-19T08:12:29.261-04:00Harvest Monday 19 September 2016<br />
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I missed Harvest Monday last week because we spent a week in a cabin on Somes Sound on Mount Desert Island, Maine, doing strictly non-gardening tasks, like watching the sunset from Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.<br />
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Or a little before the sun set, we watched the moon rise over the fog bank on Frenchman Bay from the other side of Cadillac. A storm front went through the day before and it was very cold and windy up there, so not a lot of flatlanders were around to spoil the picture.<br />
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The week we were there, the annual open house for Bass Harbor light was held and we got to climb the lighthouse. This is a shot of Bass Harbor Head and the approach to Somes Sound on the left. The reflections are from the glass windows in the lighthouse, and you can see the light itself reflected as two vertical red lines on the right of center. This was a significant view for me because five weeks before, the sailboat in the picture would have been the <a href="http://schoonerheritage.com/" target="_blank">Schooner Heritage</a> with us on board, sailing into Southwest Harbor to spend the night before the Centennial Parade of Sail.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJDk7_eazxAJlhFqbovfXMR0ZkjcWfeVzXQ8jLR3qEQ5bK-BHhfxHM_azRNbJekqgczdI_zWXBQj_blE3wSP9h9SeyXLyxDJvWAINab2KU7w9Udkkq7avPiFESLN4U7POQkvkML1zh3U/s1600/Bass_Harbor_Light.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJDk7_eazxAJlhFqbovfXMR0ZkjcWfeVzXQ8jLR3qEQ5bK-BHhfxHM_azRNbJekqgczdI_zWXBQj_blE3wSP9h9SeyXLyxDJvWAINab2KU7w9Udkkq7avPiFESLN4U7POQkvkML1zh3U/s400/Bass_Harbor_Light.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
This is the view of the lighthouse from the Schooner Heritage in August as we head into the Sound to find an anchorage for the night.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4UcUE3ukG_dI2ayecyhLon2eATIYXlMJpKAjfnKolCO2DYcEDHHUOh5Fny5_ZQ7u9KooS2cq79sojeWSeEZVn2zAzb-cxhUUAZVF6GUhw4uoPgktDDRezva3eYwhe647otBQFhCdkoQ/s1600/Somes_Sound.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4UcUE3ukG_dI2ayecyhLon2eATIYXlMJpKAjfnKolCO2DYcEDHHUOh5Fny5_ZQ7u9KooS2cq79sojeWSeEZVn2zAzb-cxhUUAZVF6GUhw4uoPgktDDRezva3eYwhe647otBQFhCdkoQ/s400/Somes_Sound.jpg" width="400" /></a> <br />
This is the view of Somes Sound from our campground. This is the only fjord in North America, carved by glaciers from the massive granite domes that formed Mount Desert Island. Fjords are mountains down to the sea, and you can see the mountain ridge across the sound, with Sargent Mountain to the left and Penobscot to the right. You do not see the hill behind me, which is riddled with old granite quarries, nor the mountains to my right. This beach-like area was actually a wharf where schooners were loaded with huge granite blocks that were shipped all over the eastern US. There is a boat yard to the right where five of the schooners rafted up for the evening after the parade, sort of a re-creation of what the wharf might have looked like 100 years ago.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPe6aSrsKjujrhYCf3SiLTL-PtKrCQdPEX5gdG_GfMfhRNoGOoe_78o84xy-wgkJicHTsywDg1Z9XEa8LNICG1HOi9dNOJWYrgPxyCsTPGYWbZh6jdbg_DBjk4_KJOjx8-P-2gVLnlVc/s1600/Transylvanian_garlic.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPe6aSrsKjujrhYCf3SiLTL-PtKrCQdPEX5gdG_GfMfhRNoGOoe_78o84xy-wgkJicHTsywDg1Z9XEa8LNICG1HOi9dNOJWYrgPxyCsTPGYWbZh6jdbg_DBjk4_KJOjx8-P-2gVLnlVc/s400/Transylvanian_garlic.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
It was nice being far away from the garden and the continuing heat, drought, bugs, varmints and disease (which seems to sum up the gardening season this year). But I did go to the MDI Garlic Festival, looking for a softneck garlic to add to my collection. This is northern Maine, so the softneck varieties were extremely limited. I finally purchased the <i>Transylvanian</i> garlic bulbs shown above from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Redbird-Farm/722195281132555" target="_blank">Redbird Farm</a>. <i>Transylvanian </i>garlic is an artichoke type with huge cloves and is obviously the garlic of choice to ward off vampires, given its origin in the Transylvanian mountains. It is also the name of a Romanian movie about a gypsy boy of the Onion clan who runs off to the city to work and earn money to help his older brother raise a dowry so he can marry the daughter of the rich head of the Garlic clan (not kidding). A garlic variety all about vampires and love has to be a good one to plant.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwkfm3vN5mhOd2g11AwCY6AZSVmxtx-5YQ9qGVCFirgfRKo3Atg0lVMf0km4x5aVlH7R1eOVx0twBBPLffysEQsUDLH8tTOdlT73LxqcaRYkPrHZt_r71RKlU7Yq3KMpmyyphl_wXTog/s1600/Veggies1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwkfm3vN5mhOd2g11AwCY6AZSVmxtx-5YQ9qGVCFirgfRKo3Atg0lVMf0km4x5aVlH7R1eOVx0twBBPLffysEQsUDLH8tTOdlT73LxqcaRYkPrHZt_r71RKlU7Yq3KMpmyyphl_wXTog/s400/Veggies1.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
Before we left for the trip, I made a pass through the garden and harvested this basket of produce. The peppers are an <i>Hungarian Paprika</i> and a <i>Super Shepherd</i>. The paprika peppers are now setting a second flush of fruit but I don't know if they will have a chance to ripen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBtUF-f0JfAC8UreuxoGZDehDfv7UtT8XabmxNKjHxzQwb22KnCO1zhCxiQr4OoJXXi_778Ztkul3NARtvAhJJh-rowrBboMomWfrSmDuo6xTXeoZp4_UbjbNRi9YytWVsvYAwRPmBdo/s1600/Lemon_Drop.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBtUF-f0JfAC8UreuxoGZDehDfv7UtT8XabmxNKjHxzQwb22KnCO1zhCxiQr4OoJXXi_778Ztkul3NARtvAhJJh-rowrBboMomWfrSmDuo6xTXeoZp4_UbjbNRi9YytWVsvYAwRPmBdo/s400/Lemon_Drop.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
The<i> Lemon Drop</i> pepper plants now have peppers on them and I hope a few get to ripen before we get really cold weather. The plants look very healthy here, but were looking a little sad when I got back because they did not get watered for a week.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCGOJIZee-NIN_68Rtnsg1g6QkE6BifdNemUkzWBAclEsC7qcQCrrS_NX0eca0xFcRf6mi-9Pe02Rz57-gqmcZWG0phYgNlEYKUIhd69EyG26b_3N_wf-3v2OBBHNAiB2C73Jys1ZabYY/s1600/Peppers.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCGOJIZee-NIN_68Rtnsg1g6QkE6BifdNemUkzWBAclEsC7qcQCrrS_NX0eca0xFcRf6mi-9Pe02Rz57-gqmcZWG0phYgNlEYKUIhd69EyG26b_3N_wf-3v2OBBHNAiB2C73Jys1ZabYY/s400/Peppers.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
When I got back, another pass through the garden showed the<i> Jimmy Nardello</i> peppers had ripened. The plants look healthy and ready to produce more, but we are rapidly running out of summer. Usually we start getting rain in the fall, but in fact the drought has increased and over half the state and parts of southern New Hampshire are in extreme drought conditions.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcc3ch1FLE8YRjMn5xRTrjj1DXswVMXOsvHYNQmfMpZFjCTTgQeXxQDXQrT3FxXvtlcY4nxSCnuMTSa7P3sU4k-WHGKIgO4rDBqqDRaHTO7U7cDEghWwLgBjnF4gN8UD8mHhfniueot5M/s1600/Tomatoes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcc3ch1FLE8YRjMn5xRTrjj1DXswVMXOsvHYNQmfMpZFjCTTgQeXxQDXQrT3FxXvtlcY4nxSCnuMTSa7P3sU4k-WHGKIgO4rDBqqDRaHTO7U7cDEghWwLgBjnF4gN8UD8mHhfniueot5M/s400/Tomatoes.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
There were some larger tomatoes on the vines that were not attacked by the birds, including my second and final <i>Sunkist</i> tomato. The four pink tomatoes on the left are <i>Rose de Berne</i>, and there are two <i>Mortgage Lifters</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeH9Td16pDDkdYu-jYPRP2qaGRB1_RaAgYVHJo_fK4NmcsqBNUHrCEIHrzAV2AKjtIGzFpBhpIHK36kGh8_Xr5HWs7fXCJO_-3ijs8ElnYqmiiRv8yLapKnXqhAaNilRF-3xfHOJU2SQw/s1600/Cherry_tomatoes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeH9Td16pDDkdYu-jYPRP2qaGRB1_RaAgYVHJo_fK4NmcsqBNUHrCEIHrzAV2AKjtIGzFpBhpIHK36kGh8_Xr5HWs7fXCJO_-3ijs8ElnYqmiiRv8yLapKnXqhAaNilRF-3xfHOJU2SQw/s400/Cherry_tomatoes.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
And another large basket of cherry tomatoes. The pink ones upper right are <i>Sweet Treats</i>, a really great tomato, very productive and good tasting. Then <i>Juliet</i>, another great tomato year after year. And a few <i>Black Cherry</i> and <i>Bing</i> tomatoes.<br />
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A lot of the garden is done. The squash plants are dead, as well as some of the tomatoes. The caterpillars got into the brassicas because I have not sprayed for a while. The caterpillars seem to come on really strong at the end of the season, just when I am getting a little tired of the usual routine. Future harvests will mostly be cherry tomatoes and peppers. I am eyeing some nice Ancho Poblano peppers on the bushes and will soon have enough for a batch of chiles rellenos. I was hoping to get some at the XYZ restaurant in Southwest Harbor, but found out too late they were only open weekends in September.<br />
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That is all that happened in my garden the past two weeks. To see what other gardeners around the world are doing, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.<br />
<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-21424837308557795432016-09-17T11:29:00.001-04:002016-09-17T11:29:53.496-04:00Potato Onions, etc.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnU0Bm3dgf4iraLSETk96bTq16hZ5AcrdGvKR2Gms6Dk__V1xeaPqcTCmXBvv7BAfwqMxMxRRbsLY8i3kO_hrhW7mDtQNL-ccX_lXfz0GMYrA2Ng6Mag1AxIhyo4-RCCpkx17_qwfjXOI/s1600/Potato_onions.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnU0Bm3dgf4iraLSETk96bTq16hZ5AcrdGvKR2Gms6Dk__V1xeaPqcTCmXBvv7BAfwqMxMxRRbsLY8i3kO_hrhW7mDtQNL-ccX_lXfz0GMYrA2Ng6Mag1AxIhyo4-RCCpkx17_qwfjXOI/s400/Potato_onions.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I have been interested in trying potato onions (also called multiplier onions, hill onions, mother onions, pregnant onions) and finally on impulse included some with my springtime seed order from <a href="http://www.southernexposure.com/" target="_blank">Southern Exposure Seed Exchange</a>. These got shipped in the Fall and my order arrived last week, a bit early for planting here but in time to prompt me to start my planning. They keep well (8-10 months) so I don't have to worry and will plant them about the same time as I plant the garlic.<br />
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Potato onions, <i>Allium cepa aggregatum</i>, are similar to shallots, but larger. A single bulb, planted in the fall, emerges in the spring and eventually divides into a cluster of at least 3-5 bulbs, maybe even 10-12 bulbs, giving you a big "multiplier" effect. Potato onions are not grown commercially because they do not plant or harvest easily and are not suitable for commercial growers. But they are ideal for home growers. Despite that, they were almost lost, but SESE reintroduced a strain that dates back to 1790.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0sJwERcRzqs5rkncNFbdj6O4hhsIafnQWKU1oc8soy0CxJoU1MDoxvDFjrgGCjHcAPOayWNQZrSk60U_wMc7kGZPKl936ubjxLrnsXijSsR2QMiCUzMRTQTI9znhXlgXxsArC5THjQCk/s1600/Potato_onions2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0sJwERcRzqs5rkncNFbdj6O4hhsIafnQWKU1oc8soy0CxJoU1MDoxvDFjrgGCjHcAPOayWNQZrSk60U_wMc7kGZPKl936ubjxLrnsXijSsR2QMiCUzMRTQTI9znhXlgXxsArC5THjQCk/s400/Potato_onions2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The bag of onions I received was eight ounces (227 g) and the bulbs varied considerably in size. That is OK because potato onions do not grow like garlic, where you are always selecting for size. From what I have read, large seed bulbs will tend to produce a large number of smaller bulbs, while the smaller seed bulbs produce 2-3 large bulbs. So regardless I will wind up with a variety of sizes in the harvest.<br />
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The origin of potato onions is not known, but they probably came from Europe with settlers in the mid-Atlantic states. They are still planted in the UK where they are called Egyptian onions (but are not the top-setting onions we refer to as Egyptian walking onions). The name seems to indicate their probable origin in Egypt.<br />
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The advantages of potato onions to the home gardener are many:<br />
<ul>
<li>They are easy to plant and easy to grow. Just plant bulbs in the fall and harvest in the summer when they go dormant and their foliage dies down. They can also be planted in the spring if needed. They are very cold hardy so fall planting is not a problem in northern latitudes.</li>
<li>They are almost trouble free, but onion thrips and onion fly maggots can still be a problem. The thrips like hot, dry weather and the maggots like it wet.</li>
<li>They are not day length sensitive and can be grown in most areas of the US, except southern Texas and Florida.</li>
<li>They are supposed to have a sweet, mild taste, less pungent than seed onions. And they peel easily, easier than shallots.</li>
<li>They are productive, producing, by various estimates, 3-5X to 8-10X the quantity planted, by weight (figure 5X as an average).</li>
<li>Sizes range up to 3-4 inches in diameter, which is pretty good size, big or bigger than the seed onions I grow. You get a variety of sizes from each cluster, which home cooks like but commercial growers hate.</li>
<li>They store very well, staying rock hard into spring.. </li>
<li>You save some of your crop for seed so they are a one-time purchase. Since the onions are grown from divisions, they tend to have a very low rate of bolting. The scape does not come from the center of the bulb, but rather from the base of the onion, so it can be removed without affecting the quality of the bulb.</li>
</ul>
Planting instructions call for divisions to be planted with 1/2 to 1 inch of soil above the top in warmer climates, and deeper if grown in northern areas. Then add several inches of mulch to protect them. I plan to handle them the same way I plant my garlic. I will add compost to the beds, and supplement with bone meal, kelp meal, crab shell and rock dust.<br />
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While searching for cultivation information on multiplier onions, I re-encountered Michelle's <a href="http://fromseedtotable.blogspot.com/2016/08/variety-spotlight-iitoi-onion.html" target="_blank">spotlight article</a> on L'itoi onions, another rare multiplier onion. Baker Creek was still showing an out of stock message but the original source, <a href="http://shop.nativeseeds.org/products/b001" target="_blank">Native Seeds</a>, had them in stock and I ordered a couple of packets (about ten tiny onions in each packet). I figured if I have to find space for potato onions, I might as well try this one, which I hope will provide some green onions before the bulbs go dormant. That would be a nice supplement to the potato onions, where bulbs are the goal.<br />
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Since it is adapted to high desert conditions, and probably does well in Michelle's climate, it may well be a challenge to get it to survive a New England winter. But if they do, given our desert-like conditions this summer, maybe they will like it here. As a back up, I plan to put a few of them in a pot to keep indoors.<br />
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The bulbs are small and pinkish, with some having a bluish cast. You can see some of the bulbs are already twinned with two independent sprouts emerging. There is not a lot of planting information available, but my plan is to plant them in the raised beds with six inch spacing, or four per square, the same as I do garlic. Both of these onions will go in the garden with the garlic, but it may take a year to evaluate the results. You have to be an optimist to be a gardener.<br />
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<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-14195791213160618672016-09-05T09:12:00.000-04:002016-09-05T09:12:13.726-04:00Harvest Monday 5 September 2016<br />
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Not much is coming from the garden except tomatoes. Here I did get a few beans, a Romanesco squash and the first <i>Super Shepherd</i> pepper. The squash is very stingy this year, with a squash per week if I am lucky.<br />
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I am still picking tomatoes as they start to color, but the birds seem to have backed off a bit in their attacks. On the right, the three tomatoes at the top are <i>Rose de Berne</i>,then a <i>Black Beauty</i> and a badly cracked <i>Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye</i>, and my first <i>Sunkist</i> at the bottom.<br />
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A basket of cherry tomatoes. From the top clockwise: <i>Bing</i>, <i>Juliet</i>, <i>Sweet Treats</i>, and <i>Black Cherry</i>. That is another <i>Rose de Berne</i> in the middle.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiYnGNuA-0kSWm0VaHftpbywRqbd75Pn_tUqeW42TQ1bVaaSz0iA91_VCeE14qRQtP5c9enZu_Ge-N9-VF8Y5xnXBauTkPrw6V9bxxZTGwNwpsK_ok9egmeyCl-F5W2Erdika1U8hNOMo/s1600/Sauerkraut.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiYnGNuA-0kSWm0VaHftpbywRqbd75Pn_tUqeW42TQ1bVaaSz0iA91_VCeE14qRQtP5c9enZu_Ge-N9-VF8Y5xnXBauTkPrw6V9bxxZTGwNwpsK_ok9egmeyCl-F5W2Erdika1U8hNOMo/s400/Sauerkraut.jpg" width="296" /></a><br />
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I used my four heads of cabbage to make sauerkraut. A lot of the outer leaves had to be discarded because there was mold and discoloration, so I only got a quart of kraut from about 2.5 pounds of cabbage. The jar is topped with a nifty silicone rubber lid called a Pickle Pipe from Masontops. You use it with the standard band to seal the jar while it ferments. It has a tiny slit in the top of the "pipe" that releases any fermentation gases.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_FOvQdce3BJDAzJBo1E3B9xg_Xp64hKLdVZIivWpTmlSehRVo-GG03M7vFpfL6PEELSEe2zxGTYqJUAYk7MJZbfeIYCoHLDRjdOvbQFQ6yaFu_1WzlmVxc_L1wwWIvkYiwlAzr67fRc/s1600/Garlic.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_FOvQdce3BJDAzJBo1E3B9xg_Xp64hKLdVZIivWpTmlSehRVo-GG03M7vFpfL6PEELSEe2zxGTYqJUAYk7MJZbfeIYCoHLDRjdOvbQFQ6yaFu_1WzlmVxc_L1wwWIvkYiwlAzr67fRc/s400/Garlic.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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Here is another Pickle Pipe on my jar of garlic cloves, now going into its second week of fermentation. You can see how the top is bowed out from the pressure, which I consider a good thing. It does occasionally burp some gas, but the bulging indicates that the slit is tightly sealed and only releases under enough pressure, keeping contamination from getting into the jar. I almost photographed the two jars side-by-side but decided that would look a little obscene.<br />
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I also made a batch of tomato sauce from a bag of tomatoes I purchased from a farm stand. I used my Ninja Ultima blender so there was no need to peel or seed the tomatoes, just cook down for a few hours. I am not really getting enough of my own tomatoes to use for sauce, but I may roast some of the cherry tomatoes and freeze them.<br />
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That's what happened in my garden last week. To see what other gardeners around the world are doing, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-10810663017748124032016-08-29T09:13:00.000-04:002016-08-29T09:14:51.234-04:00Harvest Monday 29 August 2016<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHk-PBBAe-sHpEqmJrv_BE6dTJo7KlOAwV3RuoVBLYQqyj12faozZRCi5ZKcVKk6VdrFLjRxtBLcGRFu43Z0PdiURMhiV4sJ38oH8CiSVTwEd3k9W9CJ96xbk0DAUg2jT4ItioHeTZ_1w/s1600/Veggies.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHk-PBBAe-sHpEqmJrv_BE6dTJo7KlOAwV3RuoVBLYQqyj12faozZRCi5ZKcVKk6VdrFLjRxtBLcGRFu43Z0PdiURMhiV4sJ38oH8CiSVTwEd3k9W9CJ96xbk0DAUg2jT4ItioHeTZ_1w/s400/Veggies.jpg" width="400" /> </a><br />
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I had a few random pickings from the garden last week, including the first Jimmy Nardello pepper. I continue to bring in the tomatoes as soon as they color a bit to save them from the birds. My mother-in-law had a suggestion for the birds. She used to hang red Christmas ornaments in the vines. The birds peck on the hard red ball and get frustrated. They eventually leave the tomatoes alone. Haven't tried it yet.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMd2NgykgJ9D2sPJNQG7vndC4PbbxtVRPR5tkNsakWFT8Ks7NPtS4AKVyTrj6ZXBRRHOAgViRlFOuVIeg55mJj1iZ2ckXUwNaoWnffG1AI6HjGJwbupYoXoc4Xisp5tnnC1EEYVQUzQ7Y/s1600/Black_Beauty.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMd2NgykgJ9D2sPJNQG7vndC4PbbxtVRPR5tkNsakWFT8Ks7NPtS4AKVyTrj6ZXBRRHOAgViRlFOuVIeg55mJj1iZ2ckXUwNaoWnffG1AI6HjGJwbupYoXoc4Xisp5tnnC1EEYVQUzQ7Y/s400/Black_Beauty.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Black Beauty</i> tomatoes are starting to ripen on the counter and we have had a few. They are indeed like the Indigo series of tomatoes, where they turn black on areas of the skin exposed to sunlight and are green elsewhere. The green sections ripen to a red color. The tomatoes are tasty but not up to the hyperbole of the Baker Creek catalog. I am hoping to get one riper than this to taste but a lot of them are rotting from bird pecks so they have to be eaten sooner.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNpbjVWOg1u3obMZfMnzOOHqYOshAas1woFI2gBH19p_sSK_P1F-au66g9HNlF60g9bSVTwSm0XiWPZYnABIpeXo3gyabTUtJt7Db-2kZ8-rtgVcbEckS-w6Kq7mJshO2Ti2no866xfGs/s1600/Red_Wing.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNpbjVWOg1u3obMZfMnzOOHqYOshAas1woFI2gBH19p_sSK_P1F-au66g9HNlF60g9bSVTwSm0XiWPZYnABIpeXo3gyabTUtJt7Db-2kZ8-rtgVcbEckS-w6Kq7mJshO2Ti2no866xfGs/s400/Red_Wing.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I cleaned up and weighed the <i>Red Wing</i> onions that were drying on the back porch. It was a good crop and I got 27 storable onions weighing 5 pounds (2.3 kg.). Largest was a half pound.These store quite well, for at least 10 months or longer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXd1wWgWtZGoXv5HvZNDYYc9VMRiS9jqSTZcgb-iQuoAXLqo1Tkj_L8asoIW4TVhVGgiy5TPF0NylusrAGcjacXafe7VavOMYi72fGbsUEqDCBIMEwA4R5mHst18eAlvr14iPNve0GZsc/s1600/Red_Wing2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXd1wWgWtZGoXv5HvZNDYYc9VMRiS9jqSTZcgb-iQuoAXLqo1Tkj_L8asoIW4TVhVGgiy5TPF0NylusrAGcjacXafe7VavOMYi72fGbsUEqDCBIMEwA4R5mHst18eAlvr14iPNve0GZsc/s400/Red_Wing2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Unfortunately, a significant number of onions (10 onions weighing 2 pounds, about a kilo) had what looked like soft, flat spots on them. If you press on the spot it seems hard, but I kept these separate from the storage onions and will use them first.<br />
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In the garden I did get peas and spinach planted for the fall. The beds were bone dry down to the bottom so I had to re-hydrate the soil. It took 12 gallons of water to moisten 6 square feet of one bed where I put the snap peas and spinach. Unfortunately the drought continues and no rain is forecast for this week, so continuous watering of the seed beds is going to be necessary to get anything to germinate. At least the temperatures are more moderate, in the mid 80s F.<br />
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Sunday we went to the (third annual) Boston Fermentation Festival held at the Boston Public Market. I was surprised fermentation was popular enough that there was such an event. There is even a Berkshire Festival in Great Barrington in September but we will be at the MDI Garlic Festival. If you find one in your area and are interested in fermentation, they are worth attending. They have presentations and workshops. Interesting were the "mobs", where at various times and places they would set up a table with bowls and chopped vegetables and invite people to make their own jar of kraut or kimchi. And really nice, they had a starter sharing table where people would freely share their extra starters, like kombucha starter or sourdough starter. If you search for "fermentation festival" you will find events all over the country, and maybe one near you.<br />
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That's what happened in my garden last week. To see what gardeners around the world are doing, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.<br />
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<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-54001438724020900882016-08-22T10:10:00.000-04:002016-08-22T10:10:52.275-04:00Harvest Monday 22 August 2016<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVwwpGMkfnNArkzQ2rAwN6qphcYWaWvpkGv1e4rSek6o-c8stnazBBbzzoMF6yYttxmKfg1gPRLJr6MspkQqIAEqzWID_Yluqh75FACRY30WQf6uO7f5cn2Lftu7zL3-UewunntGeTEHY/s1600/Veggies1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVwwpGMkfnNArkzQ2rAwN6qphcYWaWvpkGv1e4rSek6o-c8stnazBBbzzoMF6yYttxmKfg1gPRLJr6MspkQqIAEqzWID_Yluqh75FACRY30WQf6uO7f5cn2Lftu7zL3-UewunntGeTEHY/s400/Veggies1.jpg" width="400" /> </a><br />
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The drought continues despite our getting about an inch of rain last week. I am getting a few small harvests here and there. It is no big deal for me but some of the small farmers around here are going to be hurt. A freak -15F freeze in the middle of 70F weather in February wiped out the peach crop in New England. And some of the orchards are having to irrigate their apple trees for the first time in recent history. Surprisingly the corn is pretty good. Ears are much longer than usual and they are very sweet. But a neighbor up the street who grows a field of corn to sell has corn stalks at knee level in mid-August because he can not irrigate.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMqt2f5QjiiDTnAmgbqdcJ1rlCaad_WCp5a_OMaNe_V3ni-ZTj3n3LfG1odQ2AyKGqq7FzMcdtSuAdryRGagkWyxVUDlREyQFtnbeCVaqnaPk1A2cEaNq-vJ6N_qMUfjqiS1z45BDDtRc/s1600/Vegies2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMqt2f5QjiiDTnAmgbqdcJ1rlCaad_WCp5a_OMaNe_V3ni-ZTj3n3LfG1odQ2AyKGqq7FzMcdtSuAdryRGagkWyxVUDlREyQFtnbeCVaqnaPk1A2cEaNq-vJ6N_qMUfjqiS1z45BDDtRc/s400/Vegies2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The patty pan squash is a <i>Sunburst </i>which is supposed to have a central green spot in the center around the blossom end, but the green has bled out of the center.<br />
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I harvested the last two <i>Golden Acre </i>cabbages because their quality was not improving, cooking away in the sun. In addition, the cabbage caterpillars seem to have made their appearance and were chewing on one of them.<br />
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The Swiss chard has rebounded with the rain and slightly cooler weather. The coloring on <i>Pink Passion</i> is more attractive than earlier. Some of the leaves do have cercospora spots on them.<br />
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I am harvesting tomatoes as soon as they color a little to avoid loss to the birds and chipmunks. I have talked to other gardeners who are having the same problem. The big tomato above is my one and only <i>Mortgage Lifter</i>, an impulse purchase. That plant is not going to pay my mortgage, but so far it is my largest tomato.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQinW6bRuCFyxAtAWU7iZJ58hvhIbvWw2UHO3xb76Apt5rLD0o4TidgKHOE8dxDC2KGBPNdWZ3wnFIo9HCS5w5_HXpRNDry7sbzjwmrNjbqO2XObiAmK_HSAOO4NmhytdDqT7IM4R3Zo/s1600/Tomatoes2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQinW6bRuCFyxAtAWU7iZJ58hvhIbvWw2UHO3xb76Apt5rLD0o4TidgKHOE8dxDC2KGBPNdWZ3wnFIo9HCS5w5_HXpRNDry7sbzjwmrNjbqO2XObiAmK_HSAOO4NmhytdDqT7IM4R3Zo/s400/Tomatoes2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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More tomatoes. The birds have really attacked my <i>Black Beauty</i> tomatoes so I am removing most of them. One I picked earlier is now showing some red on its green areas. The black color comes from exposure to sunlight so the undersides are green. Apparently the green will turn to red as they ripen. And to top off a smashing year, late blight has arrived and is affecting most of the tomato plants.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYP9cwMHKef3UmCB-qCL_N57q82UXxp8r8OYtT2-SGYTZB50QV9FIonG-Xf0lq4_015iX1u2BU5dgo6wiIFrQan2bnkGYvkK_qUl416zwHXF_Ou6inhyjEJ1qtq0Qx9q11PvtfxqW0NM/s1600/PBDT1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYP9cwMHKef3UmCB-qCL_N57q82UXxp8r8OYtT2-SGYTZB50QV9FIonG-Xf0lq4_015iX1u2BU5dgo6wiIFrQan2bnkGYvkK_qUl416zwHXF_Ou6inhyjEJ1qtq0Qx9q11PvtfxqW0NM/s400/PBDT1.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Pink Berkeley Tie Dye</i> I picked green is now almost ripe after sitting on the kitchen counter. The colors are very attractive, random green stripes on a pink background.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJrNlwWp2_FLDMrPO1pSfCHbzS18yL2Ob6o_Y2okjetdy6fxGTUrfT0ZrUYr5OLwZC1argccsStBtAxfzfzUBvLBJt3Z8q2QJ2OW7dt97NF4A6qfMHSaBaAYLTYbHmgZqvqQ57Dymmmk/s1600/Lemon_Drop.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJrNlwWp2_FLDMrPO1pSfCHbzS18yL2Ob6o_Y2okjetdy6fxGTUrfT0ZrUYr5OLwZC1argccsStBtAxfzfzUBvLBJt3Z8q2QJ2OW7dt97NF4A6qfMHSaBaAYLTYbHmgZqvqQ57Dymmmk/s400/Lemon_Drop.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The peppers are happy enough that they are starting to flower. This is <i>Lemon Drop</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVVvVyWbXqcTF9Hj0uGOoBKoIQdOYtsHr3MY4LkIHgo0E7UkIuTXUsht8aAHpDrMwEFxu7X2XugJZ_4Sf2X70WOLrUQOCzoSbZj0LYAqKrW0ewMONPLjSo8zJyPuFfSRQFpiZ-_UfzNU/s1600/Ancho.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVVvVyWbXqcTF9Hj0uGOoBKoIQdOYtsHr3MY4LkIHgo0E7UkIuTXUsht8aAHpDrMwEFxu7X2XugJZ_4Sf2X70WOLrUQOCzoSbZj0LYAqKrW0ewMONPLjSo8zJyPuFfSRQFpiZ-_UfzNU/s400/Ancho.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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Likewise for the <i>Ancho Poblano</i> peppers. They are now almost a meter tall and starting to flower.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65zKVpHWQ18L_XPWy9ean6uMpp_hnvZ2MF4-JLRcOSepzZa-FCW8LfurK7GrW0e2B_dGlkCDMyRtwPrz9QGlwNR9bVK4tQYtOq9PPf7ro6-xZQEkXiK8oh4OdN1ItIejJIH446ffCIDc/s1600/Pickles.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65zKVpHWQ18L_XPWy9ean6uMpp_hnvZ2MF4-JLRcOSepzZa-FCW8LfurK7GrW0e2B_dGlkCDMyRtwPrz9QGlwNR9bVK4tQYtOq9PPf7ro6-xZQEkXiK8oh4OdN1ItIejJIH446ffCIDc/s400/Pickles.jpg" width="330" /></a><br />
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Sunday I started some dill pickles fermenting. I had to buy the pickling cukes from a farm stand since my cucumber vines are mostly dead. The garlic and dill seed are from my garden, however. And the grape leaves covering them and in the bottom came from wild grapes in the back yard.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzCLXc6DNdoEgBOqvPGPP3YTiNSm87P_ZCneT718KakXwPO-WgXDMkxoFg4Vz4kTtbN8ZLTGxJZqV8pIwoL7afr6TYQYz3kTlzH_otHb3Km9U-Gb54Y3O0iLezDvwatw2xtoN9aSF9xE/s1600/Garlic.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzCLXc6DNdoEgBOqvPGPP3YTiNSm87P_ZCneT718KakXwPO-WgXDMkxoFg4Vz4kTtbN8ZLTGxJZqV8pIwoL7afr6TYQYz3kTlzH_otHb3Km9U-Gb54Y3O0iLezDvwatw2xtoN9aSF9xE/s400/Garlic.jpg" width="358" /></a><br />
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I am also trying a lacto-fermentation of garlic cloves, hoping I can preserve some more of my garlic harvest. This is a quart jar slightly more than half full. It was a tedious job to peel all that garlic, even using a silicone rubber tube designed to peel garlic. The brine is just a basic brine: 2 cups (450 ml) of unchlorinated water and 1 1/2 Tbsp (26 .) of sea salt. The brine looks cloudy in the photo because I added a teaspoon of whey to get the fermentation started. Garlic does not produce a raucous ferment and will need to ferment for about a month.<br />
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That is what happened in my garden last week. To see what gardeners around the world are harvesting, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.<br />
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PS I was planning to post this early Monday morning but we had a freak storm go through the area at 3 AM. They are not sure if tornadoes or microbursts were involved, but whatever, it took put a tree down in my driveway and across the power lines. So no power until 9 AM. And we did get a lot of rain in a very short time, which will definitely help. David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-83614460304968640022016-08-15T08:40:00.000-04:002016-08-15T08:40:03.364-04:00Harvest Monday 15 August 2016The garden benefited a bit from a few thunderstorms that dropped a little rain. These were mostly small storm cells that produced a quick shower that just evaporated immediately. We had one downpour on Friday that resulted in 1-2 inches, but a lot of that ran off the dry ground and prompted flash flood alerts. So the drought continues and daytime temperatures remain mid-90s to 100+ (35-40°C). The garden is still producing a little while I still wait (apparently with everyone else) for peppers and tomatoes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghep8TMNNLORxn_FJIQzvahUbk-dSlw2SzcTJ6NBL4b5UxkR2sp2EbAYC1ehkRvKgFi5F0LLQyDpEoL_E4WnZoPbyeGG9FUmS-Eft01gTnt6HoEhyGvchl_V54wPm2kQgiE-RJZtXBtm0/s1600/Harvest1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghep8TMNNLORxn_FJIQzvahUbk-dSlw2SzcTJ6NBL4b5UxkR2sp2EbAYC1ehkRvKgFi5F0LLQyDpEoL_E4WnZoPbyeGG9FUmS-Eft01gTnt6HoEhyGvchl_V54wPm2kQgiE-RJZtXBtm0/s400/Harvest1.jpg" width="400" /> </a><br />
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The <i>Revolution</i> bell peppers are starting to produce fruit. The peppers in general are doing the best in these conditions but are taking their time. The plants are stocky with lots of healthy foliage. However, they do not have a lot of time because that first killing frost is maybe 6-8 weeks away. A few of the tomatoes are starting to color, but unfortunately that is causing attacks by the birds. I doubt they are finding many wild berries in these dry conditions,. I picked a green tomato with a bird peck since it will just rot if left on the vine. I also picked the one next to it which was showing some coloring to see if I could ripen it on the counter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Y-qBqa1viGEgjr4YwubEZ8HtmV3f92UJdSx1kx8Syj6YVzsdNqCZWHJrFfF_QxswN9Gpuq_ID0BSYUAmks-crr0B01cJAwvaSf2SO4c2zFJHDNM7GN3lYYFwGIkPJ4ZEZBURuoAqETs/s1600/PBTD.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Y-qBqa1viGEgjr4YwubEZ8HtmV3f92UJdSx1kx8Syj6YVzsdNqCZWHJrFfF_QxswN9Gpuq_ID0BSYUAmks-crr0B01cJAwvaSf2SO4c2zFJHDNM7GN3lYYFwGIkPJ4ZEZBURuoAqETs/s400/PBTD.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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This is a <i>Pink Berkeley Tie-dye</i> starting to show its green stripes. I am really looking forward to trying one of these so I need to try deploying some bird netting. The marketing hype on these says that 10 out of 10 customers at a farmers market taste-off preferred the flavor of these to <i>Cherokee Purple</i>. And so far other than the bird pecks, the fruits are perfect, no cracks or cat-facing or BER.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWE5fr15lsY49uehXP6jcsef4JJs9HYeJLr68Pm51Z05T0rOw1zI8MJUTtf8G35XYsArG6P5gz1HwSNQ2dCLyLeToWcA0wPVoculxkKQYAwI-I4hViAnN95DRXdXKvNXps6DhTsHIKxuE/s1600/Black_Beauty.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWE5fr15lsY49uehXP6jcsef4JJs9HYeJLr68Pm51Z05T0rOw1zI8MJUTtf8G35XYsArG6P5gz1HwSNQ2dCLyLeToWcA0wPVoculxkKQYAwI-I4hViAnN95DRXdXKvNXps6DhTsHIKxuE/s400/Black_Beauty.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Black Beauty</i> tomatoes continue to size up but I still have no idea when one is ripe. I have tried squeezing them gently but so far they are all rock hard. The birds did attack these as well, eating half a mid-size tomato. That tomato's insides were green at the stem end and slightly pink at the blossom end, so no where near ripe.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivm4mRHYnWOc2RsdnT5pqW7LRW6d37on2VT0rQ0mh69VNHSsUFVrmBZ7wxSPWyLjjMAyWelEu9ZEN9SOHhW0CdS9150tbhOZWiXevir-x88N5pv0XZ_qyYgvTO_6KGIuGUgF6dvEZrFZQ/s1600/Cabbages.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivm4mRHYnWOc2RsdnT5pqW7LRW6d37on2VT0rQ0mh69VNHSsUFVrmBZ7wxSPWyLjjMAyWelEu9ZEN9SOHhW0CdS9150tbhOZWiXevir-x88N5pv0XZ_qyYgvTO_6KGIuGUgF6dvEZrFZQ/s400/Cabbages.jpg" width="400" /> </a><br />
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These are the first two of my flea-bitten <i>Golden Acre</i> cabbages. This is an heirloom compact cabbage that can be grown in a square foot, which makes it perfect for raised bed gardens. The cabbage on the right was my target since it had formed a dense head. Then I noticed the cabbage on the left had developed an elongated head and I was worried that was a sign of bolting, so it was harvested as well. They weighed a pound and a quarter and a pound and a half (.57 and .68 kg.), which is a nice size for home use. Initially the flea beetles were not a problem because they don't like the waxy surface of the leaves. But once their preferred targets were harvested or killed by the drought, they developed a new fondness for cabbage leaves, but damage was mostly to the edges of the outer leaves.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JbI6jhIk7mPDNyykoGyWjtqQhQIxIi-UDyTkiQNeraerhAMLj_9mwATJQdiOeMy_w2Mv_3u_G9G0NaelNcHnvJfFbLQ0kiNMTUOv1MYPfiadplu_RHRvszEhvE5_HWrT5stRIP0OHIc/s1600/Red_onions.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JbI6jhIk7mPDNyykoGyWjtqQhQIxIi-UDyTkiQNeraerhAMLj_9mwATJQdiOeMy_w2Mv_3u_G9G0NaelNcHnvJfFbLQ0kiNMTUOv1MYPfiadplu_RHRvszEhvE5_HWrT5stRIP0OHIc/s400/Red_onions.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I declared the <i>Red Wing</i> onions to be done. They have not flopped but the foliage was looking sad and thrip-damaged, so I pulled them and laid them out to cure a few days in the sun. This happened last year with the <i>Red Zeppelin</i> onions. The red onions always take much longer than yellow to mature. <a href="http://www.dixondalefarms.com/" target="_blank">Dixondale Farms</a> says 100-120 days for <i>Red Wing</i>, 110 days for <i>Copra</i>. Both are long-day varieties which require long daylight hours to develop bulbs, which starts when the days shorten. They also warn that <i>Red Wing</i> requires a minimum of 15-hour days to bulb, which is no problem here. We get 15+ hour days in June and now in August that has dropped to 14 hours.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9-4d-b4-qv4KKyAysN0rJuJKn9V0TrA_9g1xX1F0VG-JF3p3Lg3cEG8_7YcGeBe26TAA67DvdwfeowLvu9MroN16oPkw-iw1FIp3mCOseX0Lw0_W58VnVWHhyphenhyphenaI8bPLq00-vwFDR9xMM/s1600/Copra.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9-4d-b4-qv4KKyAysN0rJuJKn9V0TrA_9g1xX1F0VG-JF3p3Lg3cEG8_7YcGeBe26TAA67DvdwfeowLvu9MroN16oPkw-iw1FIp3mCOseX0Lw0_W58VnVWHhyphenhyphenaI8bPLq00-vwFDR9xMM/s400/Copra.jpg" width="400" /> </a><br />
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The <i>Copra</i> onions harvested a few weeks ago were cleaned and trimmed and put away in the basement. They were not particularly big, which is not surprising given the dry conditions, but they were very health. Thirty-one onions from 6 squares weighed in at 5.44 pounds (2.5 kg). I am thinking I will plant more onions next year so I produce more of my onion needs. I wasted a lot of garden space and my time trying to grow crops like beans, peas and turnips that failed in these dry conditions. Onions have been more reliable.<br />
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That's what happened in my garden last week. To see what other gardeners around the world are harvesting, visit <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Dave@Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.<br />
<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-38340033136805747582016-08-08T08:52:00.001-04:002016-08-08T08:52:46.814-04:00Harvest Monday 8 August 2016This will be a short post this week, being away in Maine for a week on a windjammer cruise. The garden is in-between the cool weather crops and the summer crops. I am still waiting for tomatoes, peppers and squash to arrive. I expected to see baseball bats lying among the squash plants when I got back but there were none to be found. At least the Romanesco has a couple of male flowers on it. I also expected to see a few ripe cherry tomatoes but there were none. Since it is almost mid-August, I wonder how much of anything I will be getting. It was dry last week except for a few quick showers that provided no real relief since the water quickly evaporates. My son did help me by watering, keeping the plants alive and healthy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzTh-_TfBPn217I5VPUK18Hy2hxxLMIU5RBCF45oVzJRGODfCugUPFXGwmOh9A34bkWkjhquQ-usaa8qOcNhdB003FqnosH3YF_ml6VEk296TnLNZPqFUDIT-VHT1FhvFbD9HRkIFyP8/s1600/Veggies1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzTh-_TfBPn217I5VPUK18Hy2hxxLMIU5RBCF45oVzJRGODfCugUPFXGwmOh9A34bkWkjhquQ-usaa8qOcNhdB003FqnosH3YF_ml6VEk296TnLNZPqFUDIT-VHT1FhvFbD9HRkIFyP8/s400/Veggies1.jpg" width="400" /> </a><br />
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A last trip to the garden before I left produced a few goodies which went in to the refrigerator. I got my first <i>Dunja</i> zucchini and the first <i>Sunburst</i> squash. A lot of the <i>Hungarian Paprika</i> peppers ripened enough to harvest, since I didn't want to trust leaving them on the plants for a week. I also got a first batch of the <i>Amarylla</i> yellow tomatillos and a few Jalapenos.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXM4OTsVDQ_l9BwcWeDpewfxVi8Ov-n7cgZUJhyS7zjzfZH0c2Yz5nY9g9AGwrBvd-_HqeS_zAV3O_haYAweketDIninCdrJ0uhCswOH5UpABXW3ZIPvwksPRLlXtEPglNfpTLpr9mYw/s1600/Veggies2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXM4OTsVDQ_l9BwcWeDpewfxVi8Ov-n7cgZUJhyS7zjzfZH0c2Yz5nY9g9AGwrBvd-_HqeS_zAV3O_haYAweketDIninCdrJ0uhCswOH5UpABXW3ZIPvwksPRLlXtEPglNfpTLpr9mYw/s400/Veggies2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I checked out the garden on Sunday and found a few things. The <i>Super Shepherd</i> peppers had a few ripe ones that were suffering from sunscald, so I harvested them. The <i>Helda</i> pole beans yielded a few beans, which might be most of my bean crop for the year. The cucumbers are diseased yet again, despite being planted in a new spot, but we got a couple stunted ones. It is not bacterial wilt that is causing the problem and I have not yet seen a cucumber beetle this season. I also got another ripe <i>Hungarian Paprika</i> pepper so it is time to fire up the dehydrator this week.<br />
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That's what happened in my garden the past two weeks. To see what other gardeners around the world are doing, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">OurHappyAcres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday. David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-29917036150530134152016-07-29T08:47:00.000-04:002016-07-29T08:47:38.585-04:00Garlic Harvest 2016<br />
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I had the feeling that 2016 for me was a good garlic year. Now that the garlic is cured and cleaned up, I can weigh it and see what actually happened. And the tally seems to indicate it was indeed a good year for most of my garlic. I planted the same amount, five varieties getting 4 squares each, planted 4 per square foot for a total of about 80 bulbs (8 pounds). The <i>Chesnok Red</i> actually got only 3 squares, planted 5 per square because of its small size.<br />
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What did differ was <i>Spanish Roja</i>, which had been a great garlic for me, was not planted this year when I could not find the seed garlic I thought I had reserved. So it was replaced by <i>Philips</i>, a garlic named after a town in Maine where it was grown, but with Italian heritage via upstate New York. I found it at the <a href="http://www.nostrano.com/garlic-festival/" target="_blank">MDI Garlic Festival</a>.<i> Spanish Roja</i> had a bad crop the year before and I was going to give it another year. I may grow <i>Spanish Roja</i> again someday with new purchased seed stock.<br />
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If you want to read about my 2015 harvest, those comments are in this <a href="http://davessfggarden.blogspot.com/2015/09/allium-harvest-2015.html" target="_blank">post</a>. To read comments made when I planted this crop in 2015, go <a href="http://davessfggarden.blogspot.com/2015/11/garlic-planting-2015.html" target="_blank">here</a>. And here are the 2016 harvest results.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcPMDkOLpz2c_ZLRmi1gN_X3uzaj35Kwafe_2099VqCAedVjckstyv-raFoTXlw1YFDrwwfuSHWbsAkN2QjSF4sdzzqnad7i8onubJa_lTIf2oe9MIHlrAl6KPftmKmoIVJkSNoIX_9Fo/s1600/2016-Harvest.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcPMDkOLpz2c_ZLRmi1gN_X3uzaj35Kwafe_2099VqCAedVjckstyv-raFoTXlw1YFDrwwfuSHWbsAkN2QjSF4sdzzqnad7i8onubJa_lTIf2oe9MIHlrAl6KPftmKmoIVJkSNoIX_9Fo/s400/2016-Harvest.png" width="400" /></a><br />
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The total harvest this year was 8.2 pounds (3.7kg.) versus last year at 7.8 pounds (3.5kg.). Not that much bigger in pounds but the garlic this year is far healthier and dried very well compared to last year's crop. Some of that is due to weather, but I also learned a few tricks from trying to dry and process the 2015 crop in very humid conditions. I harvested when the ground was bone dry and pulled some a little early when it looked like rain (it didn't). That meant the bulbs were dry to start and didn't retain a lot of soil. Drying started in the garage but when the humidity soared, I moved them into the basement with a dehumidifier. They dried nicely this year and cleanup was easy.<br />
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Apparently I was not going to plant <i>Chesnok Red</i> this year because of its increasingly small size, replaced by the <i>Philips</i> garlic, but then at planting time I could not find the seed garlic for <i>Spanish Roja</i>. Well, I am happy I did plant this because it did very well this year. Average bulb weight this year was 1.5 ounces, up from 2015's 1 ounce. Total harvest from 3 squares weighed 23 ounces compared to 15 ounces last year. This garlic variety has small bulbs to begin with, but the smaller size also translates into improved storage life. Just last week I retrieved a couple of bulbs from the bin in the basement and most of the cloves were still usable one year after harvest. Pretty good for a hard neck. This is a Purple Stripe garlic and this year is really beautiful with its purple wrapper.<br />
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This is the second year for the purple stripe garlic, <i>Duganski</i>, in my garden. When I first planted it in 2014 I was upset with the seed garlic from Territorial because it was obviously harvested late and the bulbs had opened up and skins were peeling off the individual cloves. The harvest in 2015 turned out OK despite that and this year is improved. I harvested 28 ounces compared to 26 in 2015, and average size improved from 1.6 ounces to 1.7.<br />
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I purchased <i>German Red</i>, a Rocambole garlic, at the MDI Garlic Festival in 2014 so this is the second year for it in the garden. It is a big garlic, with about four huge cloves per bulb. Last year my largest bulb was a whopper at 4 ounces, while this year's largest was only 3 ounces. But total weight increased from 35 ounces to 37 ounces, while average size decreased from 2.8 ounces to 2.3 ounces. This one does not keep well so it has to be used quickly.<br />
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<i>German Extra Hardy</i>, a porcelain type, was one of my first garlics and a reliable producer. Last year was a bad year, however, and it produced a small harvest. I planted it anyway last fall, but discovered on planting day that a lot of the seed stock I had set aside was bad. As a result, I dipped into some bulbs I held in reserve but only had 13 cloves to plant. Well, it really must have been a good year for garlic because this variety did very well in 2016, producing 21 ounces from 13 bulbs versus last year's 20 ounces from 17 bulbs. That is an average 1.6 ounce bulb size compared to 1.2 ounces last year.<br />
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<i>Philips</i> is new in the garden this year, another Rocambole garlic that I purchased from <a href="http://www.saltydogfarm.com/" target="_blank">Salty Dog Farm</a> at the MDI Garlic Festival. This is a Maine heirloom garlic that is a little hard to find. It has a reputation of being a relatively good keeper for a Rocambole, which made it attractive. It did pretty well but there was a big variation in bulb size. I am not sure why that happened, maybe some of the planted cloves were small? At any rate, next years seed stock gets selected from the largest bulbs so hopefully it will adapt to the conditions in my garden.<br />
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The garlic harvest does seem to indicate this was a good year for garlic after last year's poor results. All of the varieties I had concern about did very well this year, so it had to be the conditions last year. The MDI Garlic Festival is definitely in the plans for this year, made even better by the co-location of a KC-sanctioned BBQ contest. I may also try to get to the <a href="http://lovegarlic.com/" target="_blank">Vermont Garlic Festival</a> the weekend before. So now the garlic has been cleaned, weighed and reported and I can now begin to enjoy it and preserve some of it. There is nothing like fresh garlic.David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-82789577983414788822016-07-25T09:06:00.001-04:002016-07-25T09:10:19.022-04:00Harvest Monday 25 July 2016<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIO0NU04nBQnvYK2ZAdq8ZwZDEafKXta1RFuQNSytPImf8-Tk0HOfxvEcJr7sFnTPtXKqR_z9b9MLDSsEVA2b2Cz3v9PeBCc7KePDPYBXjuj-7T-95ALuSB712b94KmwnEzAsTTt6hZek/s1600/Beets.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIO0NU04nBQnvYK2ZAdq8ZwZDEafKXta1RFuQNSytPImf8-Tk0HOfxvEcJr7sFnTPtXKqR_z9b9MLDSsEVA2b2Cz3v9PeBCc7KePDPYBXjuj-7T-95ALuSB712b94KmwnEzAsTTt6hZek/s400/Beets.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I pulled the rest of the beets and radishes. There are a few beet and turnip seedlings left in the beds but I don't know how they will do with the relentless heat and dry conditions. The jalapenos are starting to produce, since it has been hot but not so hot to cause the pepper blossoms to drop.<br />
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I also harvested the last of the Napa cabbages. They were small but dense and the two together weighed over 2 pounds (about a kilo). Not a lot of slug damage on them, so maybe the dry conditions are dispatching some of the slugs. I also took the rest of the kohlrabi since they were not looking happy and I didn't want them bolting on me.<br />
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The <i>Copra</i> yellow onions flopped over, so they were pulled and are now drying for storage. Most are pretty good size, so it looks like a good year for them. The <i>Red Wing</i> red onions always take a few more weeks to mature so they are still in the garden and being watered, along with the leeks.<br />
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The two large <i>Alpine</i> Korean radishes I harvested last week were turned into this jar of kkakdugi, a fermented kimchi made from radishes. It is often found among the small banchan dishes served with a meal at Korean restaurants and is quite tasty. I used a recipe from Maangchi's new cookbook, <i>Maangchi's Real Korean Cooking</i>, which I highly recommend, and you can find her videos on the Internet. I essentially made a half batch which easily filled a quart jar.<br />
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I peeled and diced two pounds of radishes and tossed them with 1 Tbsp. (14 g.) each of sea salt and sugar. Let the radishes sit for an hour, then pour off and save the juice. Toss the radishes with 3-4 cloves minced garlic, small piece of minced ginger, 2-3 chopped scallions, about 12 g. gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) or more to taste, about 1 ounce (30 ml) of fish sauce, and enough of the reserved juice to moisten the mixture. Pack it tightly into a wide mouth jar, cover and let sit for a day or overnight. Then store in the refrigerator. <br />
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Maangchi's cookbook has some other interesting kimchi recipes. I liked the looks of the stuffed cucumbers, small cucumbers quartered lengthwise and stuffed with a mix of shredded carrot, chives, onion, garlic and gochugaru. Another interesting one is Nabak-kimchi, or vegetable-and-fruit-water kimchi, which combines Napa with sliced cucumbers, apples, radishes, carrots and fresh chilies. I think a jar of that is in my future.<br />
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The harvest this week was mostly about salvaging what I can from the cool weather crops in the garden. The tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, and to some extent the beans, are doing OK with the weather and the amount of watering I can do. Everything else is dead or dying with the heat and drought we have been having. I know, I have already complained about the drought, but the situation is, my garden is dead except the crops I mentioned above. On June 8 we had one rain of about 1 inch, and no appreciable rain since.<br />
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We normally get about 4 inches of rain a month, 48-53 inches a year. Looking at weather records from a Weather Underground station a mile from me, we have gotten 12.5 inches of precipitation in the first 7 months, putting us down about 16 inches. There were 4 precipitation events of 1 inch size and another 3 half-inch events. The rest were fractions of an inch, amounts that just evaporated when they hit the hot ground. I say events, not rain, because two of the 1 inch events were snow in January and February. We had very little snow last winter, so there was not a lot of snow melt to fill the reservoirs.<br />
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Making things worse for some parts of Massachusetts south of here, there is a gypsy moth cycle going on that started last year and has seen some of the worst damage since the huge infestation in 1981. The dry weather has suppressed the fungi that normally attacks the caterpillars and keeps them in check. And the drought has severely stressed the trees, so the defoliation by the caterpillars may mean the loss of many of them.<br />
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I will probably miss next week's Harvest Monday post. We will be on the <a href="http://schoonerheritage.com/" target="_blank">Schooner Heritage</a> out of Rockland, Maine, making a run up to Mount Desert Island. On Tuesday we will be part of a tall ships parade up Somes Sound as part of the summer-long festivities around Acadia National Park's 100th birthday. This will be our first windjammer cruise, but I can see myself doing this every year. We are also planning to go up again in September for the MDI Garlic Festival, which this year includes a KC-sanctioned BBQ contest.<br />
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That is what happened in my garden last week. To see what other gardeners around the world are doing, visit Dave @ <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-60822408546321556612016-07-18T08:16:00.000-04:002016-07-18T08:16:26.409-04:00Harvest Monday 18 July 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It has been pretty hot and dry, enough to cause this brown bat to move out of its apartment and hang out on the cool concrete wall of the garage in the shade under the deck. It is hanging upside down, you can see its ears at the bottom. I wonder what it is eating? It is so dry I don't remember seeing a mosquito this year, nor a single black fly or deer fly. But I have already had two deer tick bites, ouch, and this is prime Lyme disease territory.<br />
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How dry is it? We are in one of the worst droughts we have had in awhile. I can not find the rainfall amounts for Bolton, seems they are a secret. I did find one article that said Worcester (city or county not specified) had 6.5 inches (17 cm) of rain since January 1st. Consider that includes snow fall and that number is astounding. We get an average of 4+ inches (10 cm) of rain per month (48-53 inches/1.2-1.35 m per year). For the first half of the year we have received 1/4 our normal rainfall, and a lot of that was snow during the winter.<br />
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I really need to water the garden every day but can not always get there. It takes me two hours to water the two plots, but that does not do as thorough a job as a day long soaking rain. Most plants are getting stressed. The peas look poorly and all of the greens and brassicas are hating this weather. The harvest this week reflects the need to get things out of the garden before they are ruined. So lots of root vegetables and greens.<br />
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This is the total turnip harvest so far this year. With the dry weather, I had poor germination, so initially these were the only seeds that germinated. I re-seeded and got a few more to germinate but they are hating their life. You would not call these "salad" turnips, so they were boiled and mashed with some of the <i>Purpelette</i> onions browned in butter.<br />
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Lots of beets: <i>Touchstone Gold</i>, <i>Paonazza D'Egitto</i>, and a single <i>Shiraz </i>in the middle.<br />
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Kohlrabi and some small Korean radishes. <br />
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I was late in harvesting the second two <i>Blue Wind</i> broccoli, so they looked like this. I just chopped them up with the scallions and some snow peas and a gifted zucchini and made a Thai red curry. This bolting Romaine lettuce was used with a <i>Webbs Wonderful</i> crisphead lettuce to make a <i><a href="http://davessfggarden.blogspot.com/2011/09/rich-and-charlies-famous-salad.html" target="_blank">Rich and Charlie's Famous Salad</a></i> that we had for dinner. Just piled our plates sky high and made a meal of it, with no cooking involved. I had a chance to try the salad at the restaurant in St. Louis this May and have to modestly say, my version is much better.<br />
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More beets.<br />
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I harvested two of the <i>Minuet</i> Napa cabbages and the last <i>Winter Density</i> Romaine, which was bolting. After cleaning, each <i>Minuet</i> weighed a pound and a half (0.7 kg). I plan to use these two to make sauerkraut. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPjPzj-fT6PpzMZH5kkNFGo-oKcqEeFJGqcjagZA-It5k9WpLCSbbJzqm1y59IXwGOkgSlvRVCVTIx1kSY2ihTWKt4NZIK3tNYPFeUuNyUTproJYfDY69wNIjqysLCfDDB3LlN7VfGQKk/s1600/Minuet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPjPzj-fT6PpzMZH5kkNFGo-oKcqEeFJGqcjagZA-It5k9WpLCSbbJzqm1y59IXwGOkgSlvRVCVTIx1kSY2ihTWKt4NZIK3tNYPFeUuNyUTproJYfDY69wNIjqysLCfDDB3LlN7VfGQKk/s400/Minuet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here is a <i>Minuet</i> from the top. You can see it headed and blanched nicely without my having to tie it up.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOKMqXQssNJznSvYAwJmHfUZLbVKjJuXd33bLHzitqUv-3MJzptPQilHjNbW6tUYkOUu2t-0YTIKEVHZvg88nivAOi2ByoQqLY59-XkrGX1uQr0-tfmRrT9qfH9EzHj7XnaVtZhO6wb40/s1600/Kohlrabi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOKMqXQssNJznSvYAwJmHfUZLbVKjJuXd33bLHzitqUv-3MJzptPQilHjNbW6tUYkOUu2t-0YTIKEVHZvg88nivAOi2ByoQqLY59-XkrGX1uQr0-tfmRrT9qfH9EzHj7XnaVtZhO6wb40/s400/Kohlrabi.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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More kohlrabi. I am getting enough this year that I need to find some more recipes for kohlrabi besides eating it raw with a dip. I may try a variant of Bratkartoffeln, basically diced bacon, onions and kohlrabi fried until all is nicely browned and crisp.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPminWXBNCg57YVWEOXbevrAKQn2JQlryyjU-ljuAGEDXYphT1xLTg3Shi7t4zuG838nhkR8Cec7vAF_KaWlWdtH0eVMO_TU87besgUrDfnBrUxLPjA9wEH55YFFs_mGAonYPwYepodiw/s1600/Radish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPminWXBNCg57YVWEOXbevrAKQn2JQlryyjU-ljuAGEDXYphT1xLTg3Shi7t4zuG838nhkR8Cec7vAF_KaWlWdtH0eVMO_TU87besgUrDfnBrUxLPjA9wEH55YFFs_mGAonYPwYepodiw/s400/Radish.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The little radish here was bolting so that lead me to harvesting this batch of <i>Alpine</i> Korean radishes. These radishes are a type of daikon but they grow fatter and shorter than Japanese daikon and are juicier and crunchier. The larger two radishes weighed 1.25 pounds (0.6 kg) each, but that is petite by Korean radish standards. The "real" ones get over a foot long and 6 inches in diameter. I may try making kkakdugi with them, a type of kimchi made from diced radish instead of cabbage.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqMw5qo3QjikQ2dD0cXqPxessWTLlei3t5xgJTx8WFDtFETc6MMm1onlIdEuC5l0XhPyiFRIj8igDwRwBUI3yI2WZWUlS8SEuHPYE8l8w4reBcnznjL2oJb3MN2WKRAH6mflzoLSkGrRU/s1600/Black_Beauty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqMw5qo3QjikQ2dD0cXqPxessWTLlei3t5xgJTx8WFDtFETc6MMm1onlIdEuC5l0XhPyiFRIj8igDwRwBUI3yI2WZWUlS8SEuHPYE8l8w4reBcnznjL2oJb3MN2WKRAH6mflzoLSkGrRU/s400/Black_Beauty.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Black Beauty</i> tomatoes from Baker Creek are starting to set fruits. The very young fruits are green but they turn black very quickly. I am looking forward to trying these, but I have to figure out how to tell when they are ripe.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBmIT0Ku_sdLWgaiHFw0ogUDtgMoR5ZzRXqI853PcZ9Ys2_NaaS-mPLYpyONhyphenhyphenQ-AjZlJsw2A1xhi4RXNmCYWLEmr4jj35hRKw1d3Qw2lKggSfGJtC12fcvZkPFo_qeGhkSPR3lNfYE4/s1600/BB_blossoms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBmIT0Ku_sdLWgaiHFw0ogUDtgMoR5ZzRXqI853PcZ9Ys2_NaaS-mPLYpyONhyphenhyphenQ-AjZlJsw2A1xhi4RXNmCYWLEmr4jj35hRKw1d3Qw2lKggSfGJtC12fcvZkPFo_qeGhkSPR3lNfYE4/s400/BB_blossoms.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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The <i>Black Beauty</i> tomatoes sucker a lot but this one is crazy. After cleaning out all the suckers from the base, I found this. It is three or four flower trusses growing out from the base of the plant, with the stems all fused together. I left it just to see what it is going to do. There are over a dozen flowers on this thing and the fruits are supposed to get quite large.<br />
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That's what happened in my garden last week. To see what other gardeners around the world are doing, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday<br />
<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-3519026396195800452016-07-11T09:44:00.000-04:002016-07-11T09:44:01.176-04:00Harvest Monday 11 July 2016The weather last week remained dry. While hot on Monday it cooled off for the rest of the week and some mornings were quite chilly. This was caused by some cold front that was supposed to bring rain, but while we got lots of clouds and even some lightning, the result was a few tenths of an inch. All this is going to do is wet the foliage and raise humidity, raising the potential for disease higher, while doing little for the roots.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRQhsCuut5j2envYUS7xwIOlRZL9yCsPyCW3_g6oxILvxCRGqifNC_KtzUduzdQUnAbn41dD-6McHAynhDdN5LA88NitYO180b3b7kXsvLdbWUDLHtO-KqkGlY_53O7lS6lBELy4p8lk/s1600/Salsa_fixins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRQhsCuut5j2envYUS7xwIOlRZL9yCsPyCW3_g6oxILvxCRGqifNC_KtzUduzdQUnAbn41dD-6McHAynhDdN5LA88NitYO180b3b7kXsvLdbWUDLHtO-KqkGlY_53O7lS6lBELy4p8lk/s400/Salsa_fixins.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I'm still getting a few Atlantis shoots. I am wondering how much of this stuff do I have to plant to get a reasonable harvest. I keep it in the refrigerator until I get enough for two servings. The rest of this harvest went into a batch of salsa made with canned tomatoes, since it will be awhile until those first tomatoes arrive (and they will not be going into salsa).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt1gLM41SiDlnWeiwjugNgkooeBs_Jled5utzYSULRMiqPv8mQwhxERFUyyc7i4mwJMUo5Oq2YVBp7NLhSJUnet3m1goIxdEWCgzBcoPVoQNKNOL3FgOQ4VD5-0XsVS0SX29cCmOZVCIs/s1600/Broccoli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt1gLM41SiDlnWeiwjugNgkooeBs_Jled5utzYSULRMiqPv8mQwhxERFUyyc7i4mwJMUo5Oq2YVBp7NLhSJUnet3m1goIxdEWCgzBcoPVoQNKNOL3FgOQ4VD5-0XsVS0SX29cCmOZVCIs/s400/Broccoli.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Above are two of the heads of <i>Blue Wind</i> broccoli. They were starting to open up so I harvested them. I also clipped off the growing tip off a <i>Spigariello liscia</i> that was headed straight up rather than branching. It has a mild flavor but the leaves are a bit tough, like a kale, or like a broccoli leaf.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvMbWvHpPhdsItHQJLEVJz8irjzUMJHdsTL1FUj6KRFm5U_xZyrME5ReCqfpupoxIVfPq-Ip4IEDLT4PPtq6iCCzfenwt5c1tXUwTUbhsUD4U5SdiOHMMyIEb6ZYOvLFF2TrWpKMN-MSI/s1600/German_Red.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvMbWvHpPhdsItHQJLEVJz8irjzUMJHdsTL1FUj6KRFm5U_xZyrME5ReCqfpupoxIVfPq-Ip4IEDLT4PPtq6iCCzfenwt5c1tXUwTUbhsUD4U5SdiOHMMyIEb6ZYOvLFF2TrWpKMN-MSI/s400/German_Red.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The big harvest last week was the garlic. I grow hardneck garlic and follow the rule of digging them when 40-50% of the leaves turn brown or yellow. The remaining green leaves dry and form the wrapper that protects the cloves, so you can't wait until all leaves are brown. Another consideration was the weather. We were looking at potentially several days of rain, so I chose to dig them last week while everything was dry. First out was the <i>German Red</i>, second to produce scapes and second to be harvested.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-dY5hhJnALNo08RDqFBqtGeIbFdhJrccoDO89VC-lKsd26WBtt-iGtv3UzoF3EAEOrRFfC7gf5U8g19wPeKoVVwMSmTIpLt2sWeiYHlE1Dxm8LhrP6nkfJny_k4yThsxjNW79iHzB7I/s1600/Garlic.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-dY5hhJnALNo08RDqFBqtGeIbFdhJrccoDO89VC-lKsd26WBtt-iGtv3UzoF3EAEOrRFfC7gf5U8g19wPeKoVVwMSmTIpLt2sWeiYHlE1Dxm8LhrP6nkfJny_k4yThsxjNW79iHzB7I/s400/Garlic.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The next day I dug the rest: <i>Chesnok Red</i>, <i>Philips</i>, and <i>Duganski</i>. It is looking like a good year for garlic. Even the <i>Chesnok Red</i> produced large heads this year. The next step is to cure the garlic without mold forming. Last year teh ground was wet and it was very humid, so drying in the garage did not work well. This year the garlic is in the shed and when the volatiles subside a little (right now it is almost eye watering in the shed), I may move them into the basement where we run a dehumidifier.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8DUzXbdShaUdkay_gUWHtR-6hPQAf-CnPkbywCVb-XpB5RXI1WLypdaFbzm5ZH3dV-jJu_Se649QLrnDllga572HD6u7_f4IFSE_FTzs4T5NthOEdM3sG0zBXKTIEXTast7L3AFYY3k/s1600/Jade_sprouts.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8DUzXbdShaUdkay_gUWHtR-6hPQAf-CnPkbywCVb-XpB5RXI1WLypdaFbzm5ZH3dV-jJu_Se649QLrnDllga572HD6u7_f4IFSE_FTzs4T5NthOEdM3sG0zBXKTIEXTast7L3AFYY3k/s400/Jade_sprouts.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Finally, given how dry it has been, I decided to try sprouting some <i>Jade</i> bush beans in a paper towel rather than reseeding. It took 3-4 days for sprouts to start emerging. On a couple of these, the root is actually too long and I had to handle them carefully to avoid breaking off the brittle root. Out of 50+ seeds in the paper towel, I found about a dozen that were sprouted or near to sprouting. These were packed for 2013, so I guess I will be buying new seed next year. It is a little disappointing finding that bean seeds aren't viable for longer than a few years, although <i>Jade</i> has always had slow and poor germination compared to <i>Provider</i>.<br />
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That's what happened in my garden last week. To see what other gardeners around are doing, visit Dave @ <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.<br />
<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-1992390107014791722016-07-08T14:36:00.001-04:002016-07-08T14:36:08.165-04:00Garden Update - JulyBecause of the weather and other things, the garden got in late this year, so it is time for a quick update. I have two plots in the community garden, one with raised beds and one planted in-ground. The raised bed garden is a cinch to maintain with its beautiful soil that is easy to weed and great for most plants. The in-ground garden requires more work prepping and weeding, which I try to minimize with plastic mulches. I always wish I had space for more varieties, but I do have 32 tomato plants and 31 pepper plants between the two plots.<br />
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In the raised bed garden, I have two 4x6 foot (1.2x1.8 m) beds with an 8 inch (20 cm) depth. The tomatoes are planted around the outside east edge of the beds so they don't shade out other plants. The tomatoes are trained up a trellis cord, pinched to a single leader, and planted 1 per square foot. This spacing actually does work quite well.<br />
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.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCFzW0o9Hoe7PvE06gtjc3NCdng2AFsGpScwYibkOpp9b_b1GfpSRNfLB6Y4__M3wlz3QlkzBnr1SQh2yzs2dmcwBrOHd080I3CmEZEi-EqbKZLVhUNa2qagLj9lehVTJkctkaqqve6Q/s1600/Jaune_Flamme.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCFzW0o9Hoe7PvE06gtjc3NCdng2AFsGpScwYibkOpp9b_b1GfpSRNfLB6Y4__M3wlz3QlkzBnr1SQh2yzs2dmcwBrOHd080I3CmEZEi-EqbKZLVhUNa2qagLj9lehVTJkctkaqqve6Q/s400/Jaune_Flamme.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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So, going counter-clockwise around the beds, the tomatoes planted on the end this year are <i>Jaune Flamme</i>. This will be my third year growing these and they are doing quite well and will probably be my first tomatoes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_YYfqv3tRj5PZ64Sf328QCX-Wah3quvMRyrGjLqUMZE8-jE1X1IsS_YTCVR70LgfDrqr6iOR5X1oZ6thi7X6WddQ5ExIcdvd33O08OFPyBfQ5e_ALzKpglH8TwGHqoi1lR0mi1Tioa0/s1600/Honey_Drop.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_YYfqv3tRj5PZ64Sf328QCX-Wah3quvMRyrGjLqUMZE8-jE1X1IsS_YTCVR70LgfDrqr6iOR5X1oZ6thi7X6WddQ5ExIcdvd33O08OFPyBfQ5e_ALzKpglH8TwGHqoi1lR0mi1Tioa0/s400/Honey_Drop.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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Next are a couple of <i>Honey Drop</i> tomatoes, new this year for me. These are not the Russian variety by the same name which are pear shaped, they are a gold colored sport of a pink grape tomato found on a farm in Chesterfield, Massachusetts. The flavor is supposed to be very good and they won a taste test when Fedco was looking to add a new yellow cherry to their catalog.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9rpUzGVNMwLT7s63AmZGfKXf-JhY11dUHNUrXm0gv50ex6BDiGkqoRm5tQAdC9-dkn4DNPN0K1-jSheMuYf8xsVNBegFcLZSEwYiiXnCIcvkvARCKai1EKHDxxry9ZqBs4gu9HVwdGpE/s1600/Juliet.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9rpUzGVNMwLT7s63AmZGfKXf-JhY11dUHNUrXm0gv50ex6BDiGkqoRm5tQAdC9-dkn4DNPN0K1-jSheMuYf8xsVNBegFcLZSEwYiiXnCIcvkvARCKai1EKHDxxry9ZqBs4gu9HVwdGpE/s400/Juliet.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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Of course, I have <i>Juliet</i> in the garden. I did a good job starting these but in their exuberance they singed their growing tips on the grow lights while we were out of town. As a result, they had to continue their growth from suckers, which is OK because they sucker like crazy, but it set them back. <i>Juliet</i> is usually the first tomato from my garden but not this year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt9-Yow4hUuQ4I6wFd5twPRfRAZU_NuBXIJZlqt_isvzPsT9epy2Cu5V0iDMSIRwrzvk4rUgecrWuu7CwYOskOU9tpffQcToQeAjw5a8QG9sBPw3ihwyHZd2Yma6TKkUJkncr0xEP5r2k/s1600/Bing.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt9-Yow4hUuQ4I6wFd5twPRfRAZU_NuBXIJZlqt_isvzPsT9epy2Cu5V0iDMSIRwrzvk4rUgecrWuu7CwYOskOU9tpffQcToQeAjw5a8QG9sBPw3ihwyHZd2Yma6TKkUJkncr0xEP5r2k/s400/Bing.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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Another new tomato for me is <i>Bing</i>, a red cherry from High Mowing Seeds, and not the variety called <i>Bing <u>Cherry</u></i>. This is supposed to be a 1 inch (2-3 cm) red cherry tomato with excellent flavor. The plants are exuberant, to say the least, and have the tallest vines of all the varieties in the garden (half way up the trellis at the end of June).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJQEC6J1kqEs4wx_qWwyIDFL2GHHR5xA2U2P6_AYTlFHh5dAsd8cRZZUCqdSNUqvktp0xBBTenhVDuLs3T2UhcD6ueQm-tEyEtOe_Rfv3yP27mbEnHGAGiXEEFClJpnHQkVmY83bQXHE/s1600/Sweet_Treats.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJQEC6J1kqEs4wx_qWwyIDFL2GHHR5xA2U2P6_AYTlFHh5dAsd8cRZZUCqdSNUqvktp0xBBTenhVDuLs3T2UhcD6ueQm-tEyEtOe_Rfv3yP27mbEnHGAGiXEEFClJpnHQkVmY83bQXHE/s400/Sweet_Treats.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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Finally, the <i>Sweet Treats</i> are at the end and are doing well. This is the second (third?) year for these in the garden and they are an excellent pink colored large cherry with a beautiful matte finish on their skins. Flavor is excellent and they don't crack. They are now setting large trusses of fruit (10-15 per truss), and will continue that all season up to frost.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKtGXAIIW5mz-s_lpmO0i4ta75m4dfGiIr2xJIBg3YrLp3YYbE036ZNKPQ2VOCnBBZaR7cx-CZCgTiCTufgjJ_ZSJT0OTCcjNMRimHZpiln-8jkYICD2ohyphenhyphenHJ50NlIJZ_g0s4X50hQns/s1600/Black_Beauty.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKtGXAIIW5mz-s_lpmO0i4ta75m4dfGiIr2xJIBg3YrLp3YYbE036ZNKPQ2VOCnBBZaR7cx-CZCgTiCTufgjJ_ZSJT0OTCcjNMRimHZpiln-8jkYICD2ohyphenhyphenHJ50NlIJZ_g0s4X50hQns/s400/Black_Beauty.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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In the in-ground garden are a couple of the new-to-me <i>Black Beauty</i> tomatoes (an open-pollinated variety from Baker Creek) being pole-trained. The plants are very sturdy and have a beautiful purplish stem. Fruits are slicer size and are supposed to be blue-black with a deep red interior and excellent flavor. Hope I get a few.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj078HV7Vl1s-BytBEPKNuumzV41jbTX6CrwSj904LtbDr64QycGw4Hle6DV7493EO_pV4H70lxhpNFQIpGkT1fuaCDxaQrWJ75DG-iezvLH7SONEyJ58w72B2Mb1noUYeE7uhnC40bL8A/s1600/Pink_Berkeley_Tiedye.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj078HV7Vl1s-BytBEPKNuumzV41jbTX6CrwSj904LtbDr64QycGw4Hle6DV7493EO_pV4H70lxhpNFQIpGkT1fuaCDxaQrWJ75DG-iezvLH7SONEyJ58w72B2Mb1noUYeE7uhnC40bL8A/s400/Pink_Berkeley_Tiedye.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Another new tomato in the garden is <i>Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye</i>, a creation of Brad Gates at Wild Boar Farms. It is a slicer that produces large pink and green striped tomatoes. I was looking to add another slicer to my collection of cherry tomatoes (gotta have my BLTs) and this was it. Plants are looking good and very vigorous. I'm hopeful (why else would I garden).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7sIQu42INTYFGIp14nlZmIMqs4_93rJt3HzPlTUGjU7DmytsZ548_7Wh5M1-4rT9GWjfft5QIJqifKp6VxA8B5zu8S6HbFqi8fMXp1si_EHPKHgWC2ZG3pJh1hGJYrurLUY6TfhgpN_k/s1600/Hungarian_Paprika.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7sIQu42INTYFGIp14nlZmIMqs4_93rJt3HzPlTUGjU7DmytsZ548_7Wh5M1-4rT9GWjfft5QIJqifKp6VxA8B5zu8S6HbFqi8fMXp1si_EHPKHgWC2ZG3pJh1hGJYrurLUY6TfhgpN_k/s400/Hungarian_Paprika.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Among the peppers, the <i>Hungarian Paprika</i> are setting fruit. I have three healthy plants and a runt behind the volunteer cilantro. Hope I get enough to make a batch of paprika this year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7TMQF1RXX8Uh7449EQCwPWuRxs0IJbkCWIjg-WvT50sqNiOhhpZdKu98bahujkN80FSDRydNjfP80zqNVBZRnbMfofE68vFyXFvfRDilaGzHPXPjfTo7xdTZSI8xiNHKosfZmEOCp6l4/s1600/Lemon_Drop.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7TMQF1RXX8Uh7449EQCwPWuRxs0IJbkCWIjg-WvT50sqNiOhhpZdKu98bahujkN80FSDRydNjfP80zqNVBZRnbMfofE68vFyXFvfRDilaGzHPXPjfTo7xdTZSI8xiNHKosfZmEOCp6l4/s400/Lemon_Drop.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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The <i>Lemon Drop</i> chilies are doing very well this year, much better than last year, and since this photo now are starting to form some flower buds. Maybe I will get to taste one this year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinRCg7-UMYeP5uW4qhY3XDjXTSEXUMxGcgDPkJZDbv1RPsaNeDoyYj7qaoHroL9BWEEQ616pty9H26dqNIYxgDyjVZnq3SuaTytlFCRS_bALS_vByR8Qu7ubb0AV8h47uLplHhR9IdhlM/s1600/Super__Shepherd_pepper.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinRCg7-UMYeP5uW4qhY3XDjXTSEXUMxGcgDPkJZDbv1RPsaNeDoyYj7qaoHroL9BWEEQ616pty9H26dqNIYxgDyjVZnq3SuaTytlFCRS_bALS_vByR8Qu7ubb0AV8h47uLplHhR9IdhlM/s400/Super__Shepherd_pepper.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I wanted to try growing a "Shepherd" pepper, the type used to make pimenta moida, but all I could find was a variety called <i>Super Shepherd</i>. Seeds started OK but I manged to kill all but these two. They are doing fine and have set these upright fruit. My backup up was to plant a lot of <i>Carmen</i>, a sweet red pepper that I have great success with. This year I used an entire pack of seed and did not get a single seed to even germinate.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSIRTIHcYA_m2KYADPTYId04Jnz7LuVcihHzm-qqzJ5jBt7uE61pK9XkxkhXjHpJHMFEI4WyRgQUu7B9ReAXe8oKkY9eiY6jd4lMpm8BPVYDgiGiubX2B3Ff_U-xPZhjaUA3loKDA68w8/s1600/Copra.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSIRTIHcYA_m2KYADPTYId04Jnz7LuVcihHzm-qqzJ5jBt7uE61pK9XkxkhXjHpJHMFEI4WyRgQUu7B9ReAXe8oKkY9eiY6jd4lMpm8BPVYDgiGiubX2B3Ff_U-xPZhjaUA3loKDA68w8/s400/Copra.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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At least it was a good garlic year and I think it is also going to be a good onion year. The <i>Copra</i> yellow onions above are starting to form bulbs but the foliage is still upright and looking good. There is a tiny amount of thrip damage on some of them so I need to spray some pyrethrin.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy4sOrer8CV8qM8pGMswc3tDf-YBrSH1ONWJzWcz2FnVnweKxp1hGSx6Ng6rzUgL3CCJx1pGlOls8hMgJQ8kVX1eiCgdRn4XSGNBnklPc7HUGvKHCn_ThfW_bvhO9ttNDN1_uXowtnStw/s1600/Red_Wing.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy4sOrer8CV8qM8pGMswc3tDf-YBrSH1ONWJzWcz2FnVnweKxp1hGSx6Ng6rzUgL3CCJx1pGlOls8hMgJQ8kVX1eiCgdRn4XSGNBnklPc7HUGvKHCn_ThfW_bvhO9ttNDN1_uXowtnStw/s400/Red_Wing.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Red Wing</i> onions are also looking good but you do not yet see evidence of bulbing. I am not worried because the red onions take 2-4 weeks longer than yellow onions to mature.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MllEvZ-hDlrt1Y1biQQu9oqToAAiAT9dppTny2dzVM2dzr9TJuT3eFfTKMKvObXuF8JvrpriVAN2MQ5JwXjam-wSbImkOowOdTqPnCOsc-yXKN_Vz-jmwV8Bs9pD3awb0uXfbtgMaRY/s1600/Takrima.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MllEvZ-hDlrt1Y1biQQu9oqToAAiAT9dppTny2dzVM2dzr9TJuT3eFfTKMKvObXuF8JvrpriVAN2MQ5JwXjam-wSbImkOowOdTqPnCOsc-yXKN_Vz-jmwV8Bs9pD3awb0uXfbtgMaRY/s400/Takrima.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I bought the <i>Copra</i> and <i>Red Wing</i> plants from Dixondale but the <i>Takrima</i> leeks I grew from seed. They took a looong time to germinate and I thought it was an expensive bust, but they did germinate and produce healthy seedlings. A few of the plants in the background are almost an inch in diameter. Leeks are not day-length sensitive so these will continue to grow for 2-3 more months. I like the bluish color of their foliage.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxqVOqGDL3F4JZ8GBALs38XmO_hyzfGjjMARDh4mnAbP-n0sRU-6Az4faGVahJLmPXnijNbLUXIicJBCAH3FEoA8tfNA3OeYmDWntJpfMy60AuByMpUnBH2C1GbnW8Xcnh_Xp1ExB6h8M/s1600/Paonazza_DEgitto.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxqVOqGDL3F4JZ8GBALs38XmO_hyzfGjjMARDh4mnAbP-n0sRU-6Az4faGVahJLmPXnijNbLUXIicJBCAH3FEoA8tfNA3OeYmDWntJpfMy60AuByMpUnBH2C1GbnW8Xcnh_Xp1ExB6h8M/s400/Paonazza_DEgitto.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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A new beet this year is <i>Paonazza D'Egitto</i>, a red Italian heirloom with a slightly flattened shape. They germinated very well, unlike the <i>Shiraz</i> beets, and are growing nicely, with beautiful foliage. A few of these will be in the Harvest Monday report.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyx9shVnDYJtnyaL1weksoru7ByAfjbgRuGAsADrGUAQLLN3g5Mu_qQ2hdgkMy1hSE2yWIh7jjnUH00Z0pkBcEup8yonxNQM5-59I67zqXXNy9k9EmgrlS0JKbsPmBqAbRWGGpYDkDTEE/s1600/Blue_Wind.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyx9shVnDYJtnyaL1weksoru7ByAfjbgRuGAsADrGUAQLLN3g5Mu_qQ2hdgkMy1hSE2yWIh7jjnUH00Z0pkBcEup8yonxNQM5-59I67zqXXNy9k9EmgrlS0JKbsPmBqAbRWGGpYDkDTEE/s400/Blue_Wind.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Blue Wind</i> broccoli is starting to form heads. Since this photo, with the hot, dry weather, the heads are starting to open up. I already cut two small heads which will be in the Harvest Monday report. Given their size, it is hardly worth the effort and space to grow these.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMMSQHUF8hpZ-H5X5YbQfzQwQkhukq4NMnue7ncxIvxpr30y81Wr-jbEAM60XxzKZehKWdLy5XMw0MV90mwU-aK3NxtKCbDR9O54CZj4ZQ_UAf0ZZDzbkI_pSOJ-DX80W6zebZXPnoRk/s1600/Spigariello_liscia.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMMSQHUF8hpZ-H5X5YbQfzQwQkhukq4NMnue7ncxIvxpr30y81Wr-jbEAM60XxzKZehKWdLy5XMw0MV90mwU-aK3NxtKCbDR9O54CZj4ZQ_UAf0ZZDzbkI_pSOJ-DX80W6zebZXPnoRk/s400/Spigariello_liscia.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Maybe I will just concentrate on growing plants like <i>Spigariello liscia</i>, where you eat the leaves. I am trying this variety this year and they look good. I am still a little vague on how you harvest these. I guess I will just clip away and see how they grow.<br />
<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-59357060134193988602016-07-04T07:10:00.001-04:002016-07-04T07:10:03.482-04:00Harvest Monday 4 July 2016<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl5A6F-MQRzIO_T29a54-5HRM3iQv_32sf_zxLgn0x0IeabaNRVnDLE2ASqLPmEgvN3E0WhRZEWvPT3F1xr_E_ISGhrj6KNMcxVWjZhIfkJEP2jpljZTxN3BtLJH4qZZ0MEDI2N3CmYzE/s1600/Turkeys2.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGkKlfUis2UlVMn4wKK9DHCO8jpGH8pYF6Bje0NfbzAqGhbQ5l_ft1513Oox_jhjBcsafFqwSqMBux9RiZLpZJRRF5r23KsqL8lCHSv2_eG8gjM-w4gOYklkJmG3T08N5XU2WIPS7q2IU/s1600/Turkeys2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGkKlfUis2UlVMn4wKK9DHCO8jpGH8pYF6Bje0NfbzAqGhbQ5l_ft1513Oox_jhjBcsafFqwSqMBux9RiZLpZJRRF5r23KsqL8lCHSv2_eG8gjM-w4gOYklkJmG3T08N5XU2WIPS7q2IU/s400/Turkeys2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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A couple of the turkeys that make a pass through my yard every day. This time they were particularly focused upward towards the foliage, rather than the ground. They know berries are in season. So much for my chances of getting any blueberries this year. Sorry for the poor photo. It was shot through a window into the sun.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSS3OGMXiASr0MW5JyTtERysuyTdSZS5y4TdBOkg7wbeNTTsFYCMMGJ4KbqCxOPZHQY1GUAhCk3RLLmDgqSBlPAdotFKNPGz1hEv6LZBDcJ4EFx5r9lUjoXf5ooBZC1Up9czVR3CNuWPc/s1600/raspberries.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSS3OGMXiASr0MW5JyTtERysuyTdSZS5y4TdBOkg7wbeNTTsFYCMMGJ4KbqCxOPZHQY1GUAhCk3RLLmDgqSBlPAdotFKNPGz1hEv6LZBDcJ4EFx5r9lUjoXf5ooBZC1Up9czVR3CNuWPc/s400/raspberries.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I am sure they have designs on these beauties, my secret stash of wild black raspberries, not quite ripe yet.<br />
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Speaking of turkeys, we had a sort of tragedy last week. A local foods institution, Tom's Turkey Farm in Lancaster, Massachusetts, had a barn fire that destroyed 7,000 turkeys. Since they were uninsured, they think they are probably going to close the business, which supplied fresh turkeys and turkey pot pies to the community and employed a lot of people. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpiLjLmi_sv6djVN9RNW5xFG1imdvNW9DLNAe7KiWmdbcZ10CcoTQ5Kpif6vNl3IHW65z1WYQ5JPxacAa3Fhy1eC5gUeL-d9NwUYslpM3O62CbbAEqm6SG6IlFWYKdzxn4orLNWdZu4Xk/s1600/Lettuce.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpiLjLmi_sv6djVN9RNW5xFG1imdvNW9DLNAe7KiWmdbcZ10CcoTQ5Kpif6vNl3IHW65z1WYQ5JPxacAa3Fhy1eC5gUeL-d9NwUYslpM3O62CbbAEqm6SG6IlFWYKdzxn4orLNWdZu4Xk/s400/Lettuce.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Winter Density</i> romaines have sized up and are threatening to bolt, so I have started harvesting them. It is nice to now have harvests coming from the garden that can make a meal. The romaine went into a Caesar salad with grilled chicken and made a nice dinner.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pt8U8j1DJ1xruOfEpOgPI6k4saS_pqBC7kWRzW4-27063qK7ilZg0ntijkqmgcoC-MKSNYQLyoymTQ8s5oRLo3iPjKN58ug8lm130YkJpNhe7PL5uHJ50T053gYUhTtUXesrn18H76M/s1600/Kohlrabi.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pt8U8j1DJ1xruOfEpOgPI6k4saS_pqBC7kWRzW4-27063qK7ilZg0ntijkqmgcoC-MKSNYQLyoymTQ8s5oRLo3iPjKN58ug8lm130YkJpNhe7PL5uHJ50T053gYUhTtUXesrn18H76M/s400/Kohlrabi.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Kohlrabi is going to be a feature here for another week or so as they size up quickly. Some of these went into a fermented kraut a la Dave @ Our Happy Acres. The smell of that was pretty pungent when it first started fermenting but after a day it toned down and smells quite pleasant. The radish is a Korean daikon type radish called <i>Alpine</i>. I pulled one to see how they are doing, since I don't want them to bolt on me. This type of radish is stockier and grows partly above the ground, which is great since I do not have the bed depth to grow standard Japanese daikon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xDrhbJhD0tewVCJR1W33I0I5IjdG-9uMVevmKJtb5HY3ifL9-KaWrIvj2tBRegWtTUqwbWDwIWaX5g_2g5YoJA8BiiVqWVafpu1YHrBaGncviRPmuLlkajWBTxfqFIROkkbIAkebcnI/s1600/Webbs.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xDrhbJhD0tewVCJR1W33I0I5IjdG-9uMVevmKJtb5HY3ifL9-KaWrIvj2tBRegWtTUqwbWDwIWaX5g_2g5YoJA8BiiVqWVafpu1YHrBaGncviRPmuLlkajWBTxfqFIROkkbIAkebcnI/s400/Webbs.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Another <i>Webb's Wonderful</i> crisphead. Per Mark's suggestion, the outer leaves were used for lettuce pockets with a Thai ground chicken saute, another meal from the garden (along with garlic, scallions, and cilantro from the garden).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUDurGM1ulSy_Pj3NBfigEVjqxdsgRSolm3LugkCiB6F6u6TEvbH4G0azunJOoMtRtDGOKil9gRw440iBeXNa4BhrDjuBRtTI9Fc6UG7iXe29GKAmO8ZzwCCzTV0xPVd5GFBNMkb3GCM/s1600/lettuce.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUDurGM1ulSy_Pj3NBfigEVjqxdsgRSolm3LugkCiB6F6u6TEvbH4G0azunJOoMtRtDGOKil9gRw440iBeXNa4BhrDjuBRtTI9Fc6UG7iXe29GKAmO8ZzwCCzTV0xPVd5GFBNMkb3GCM/s400/lettuce.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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When I prepped the first romaine from the garden and cut off the root end, I noticed a lot of milky white latex around the cut, a sign the lettuce is bolting and becoming bitter. So I cut another romaine lettuce but found it so damaged by slugs only the center was salvageable. The third lettuce was much better and we have the makings of another salad. I also cut the first few sprouts from the <i>Atlantis</i> brokali and picked a few snow peas.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiMwy5r7A7nGvslJ1yLMJtWDTcPrIFRQIhoyA6e3hiNF3o4uld-JNknn8QQELpijK0isKPXUTAEALv2Omgcu1Oxwm-6qdMN54FcZEeytVEygPCpBy3iqhcl8QcYWgM5WVI9HMQyJ5VC2w/s1600/Webbs.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiMwy5r7A7nGvslJ1yLMJtWDTcPrIFRQIhoyA6e3hiNF3o4uld-JNknn8QQELpijK0isKPXUTAEALv2Omgcu1Oxwm-6qdMN54FcZEeytVEygPCpBy3iqhcl8QcYWgM5WVI9HMQyJ5VC2w/s400/Webbs.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The last <i>Webb's Wonderful</i> started to bolt so it was harvested. The refrigerator is getting stuffed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxQ5A_u5Ji4XCaZ59xqre-_NLeEDGnIzMypSZcDb4VuBuAF7-nExn6t6FyeHPJyNzDowddPnXv2WUBHDdzvSN-DcyNXue3yT24dw8SB2NMZ_26RzSMephwxBHHXDjIwWGs-WXcPJzTa0/s1600/Beets.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxQ5A_u5Ji4XCaZ59xqre-_NLeEDGnIzMypSZcDb4VuBuAF7-nExn6t6FyeHPJyNzDowddPnXv2WUBHDdzvSN-DcyNXue3yT24dw8SB2NMZ_26RzSMephwxBHHXDjIwWGs-WXcPJzTa0/s400/Beets.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I pulled some of the beets to give the smaller plants some sun. The large red beet at the top is <i>Shiraz</i>, a great beet that I had germination trouble with this year (old seed). The two darker red beets at the bottom are <i>Paonazza D'Egitto</i>, an Italian heirloom beet from Pinetree. They germinated very well and are growing enthusiastically, and their foliage is beautiful<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_lgD_bFTM0yxqqezGJpwPlQTSrKkRpRZo3MbAeTuMpw-dQP8jwfX8Zu73eCJonhoI9Oez110_s3cAnKawMvCGRS2YQNaDbF5t12b30ffzPlSojdKXuiMLEYjQvm2ZtWwOGv2x3OPCTuU/s1600/German_XHardy_garlic.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_lgD_bFTM0yxqqezGJpwPlQTSrKkRpRZo3MbAeTuMpw-dQP8jwfX8Zu73eCJonhoI9Oez110_s3cAnKawMvCGRS2YQNaDbF5t12b30ffzPlSojdKXuiMLEYjQvm2ZtWwOGv2x3OPCTuU/s400/German_XHardy_garlic.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Finally, the garlic harvest is about to start. These are <i>German Extra Hardy</i>, the first to produce scapes and the first to be ready to harvest. I will probably dig the rest of the garlic in the next week. The weather is good for garlic harvesting right now, hot and dry, while the rest of the garden would like a nice drenching rain. I am going to start these off drying under the deck where it is less humid than the garage with good air circulation. Last year humidity was sky high and the garlic and onions cured very poorly.<br />
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That is what happened in my garden last week. To see what other gardeners from around the world are harvesting, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-11309491199701977422016-06-27T06:59:00.001-04:002016-06-27T06:59:52.611-04:00Harvest Monday 27 June 2016<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOZbJPUqzNqPP47C80dpvkCvJ-tj2t7A6BZhu7UQKsuyi5MRXhieftn6MSw4t6df8ZDfOdrwnoW5JaYwepbPBT6PpCWeTfR7CGcbDerdOkJL02u6aKiytq8k-ReGPyqYBhB6AWbtPrql4/s1600/Pea_blossom.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOZbJPUqzNqPP47C80dpvkCvJ-tj2t7A6BZhu7UQKsuyi5MRXhieftn6MSw4t6df8ZDfOdrwnoW5JaYwepbPBT6PpCWeTfR7CGcbDerdOkJL02u6aKiytq8k-ReGPyqYBhB6AWbtPrql4/s400/Pea_blossom.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Green Beauty</i> snow peas are blooming so I should have peas soon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_D_j7gDTGYAYHpY4YXasSr4z7467vclRPzQvIrCE720TuSovL4rEjK9pGemTNGHaU6OS454cocThx3sJ-KiZ4URE62lQZ5OohdZvipMdTwU5xEhxnpg6MrVJuOhtU8-DmWEivdE_5PbY/s1600/Bee.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_D_j7gDTGYAYHpY4YXasSr4z7467vclRPzQvIrCE720TuSovL4rEjK9pGemTNGHaU6OS454cocThx3sJ-KiZ4URE62lQZ5OohdZvipMdTwU5xEhxnpg6MrVJuOhtU8-DmWEivdE_5PbY/s400/Bee.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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And sometimes the view of your neighbor's weedy plot is actually pleasant. This bee definitely likes it. And speaking of weeds, just ignore any that slip into my pictures. By the time you read this the "gardener" will have removed them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjUEqauOSDvK9qInASXy5x7TXM-LYhpyAk7ici_hcGfU0lJ3JhAHWjGcRVchbqbZnX8K4QQggKW_JuZDXCkiD-FkWrx4TbwPOz-e5Vn0WbgnOKklYp6X1bZBMmVDw5qJCYskUXGhgMVs/s1600/Spinach.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjUEqauOSDvK9qInASXy5x7TXM-LYhpyAk7ici_hcGfU0lJ3JhAHWjGcRVchbqbZnX8K4QQggKW_JuZDXCkiD-FkWrx4TbwPOz-e5Vn0WbgnOKklYp6X1bZBMmVDw5qJCYskUXGhgMVs/s400/Spinach.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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There are still a lot of greens coming from the garden, although the spinach is about done. The onions are some of the excess <i>Copra</i> seedlings that I planted closely together along the edge of the onion squares.<br />
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These two small heads are the first of the <i>Natacha</i> escarole to be harvested. I could not remove one without the other, so two. They were pretty nice with no slug damage.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlp72pmpsEePNQ_REKDglKTKZcHozawYnqOo4TrQt7xotYAQxOzLUt37gazXVhfKWwZvlqDK053q8fPUPRdkumJMvD6Om5hCXhDI9lPrakbrDiI9taS_ujMZR-0l8_jUjlBDfzVorBRE/s1600/Webbs2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlp72pmpsEePNQ_REKDglKTKZcHozawYnqOo4TrQt7xotYAQxOzLUt37gazXVhfKWwZvlqDK053q8fPUPRdkumJMvD6Om5hCXhDI9lPrakbrDiI9taS_ujMZR-0l8_jUjlBDfzVorBRE/s400/Webbs2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicBnhAyIuqoE2VJv_qpIqqHuzfu71KBcXgvZPBQ_TPtwxUStJ0UV_09qhfxDW9e6nspt219wYs7CuPDjO7ja-xQy1RTC8ASjpS_NCZx0VRCOZjeTLLgdwPpEtuMMj1rAHcRN0GsLCVSAs/s1600/Webbs3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicBnhAyIuqoE2VJv_qpIqqHuzfu71KBcXgvZPBQ_TPtwxUStJ0UV_09qhfxDW9e6nspt219wYs7CuPDjO7ja-xQy1RTC8ASjpS_NCZx0VRCOZjeTLLgdwPpEtuMMj1rAHcRN0GsLCVSAs/s400/Webbs3.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I harvested my first Webb's Wonderful crisphead and it was very nice, just a little tip burn and a few baby slugs. It is a little tougher than an Iceberg lettuce but still nice and much fresher. I saved some of the outer leaves that weren't slug damaged and found they go well with a sandwich. I just need some tomatoes now for my BLT.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVWGw_7UIT6x30lCCI8Q6q9I7_VP2_YLs6s_mw4rFL6ZcWOrZ6vegtSytx1hyphenhyphenZQgoFjyEjywMg9la6PLP3CKNLLF94hNjR2wklJQZVfoK5bWAjuZf4xQS4WnADrDcynOnKJCFFxBZDhIg/s1600/Kohlrabi.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVWGw_7UIT6x30lCCI8Q6q9I7_VP2_YLs6s_mw4rFL6ZcWOrZ6vegtSytx1hyphenhyphenZQgoFjyEjywMg9la6PLP3CKNLLF94hNjR2wklJQZVfoK5bWAjuZf4xQS4WnADrDcynOnKJCFFxBZDhIg/s400/Kohlrabi.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The kohlrabies are sizing up fast now. I am saving these to try making kraut. I may add a few of the radishes to the kraut for color.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVdwA67RBVKwlsqjANl22tjOoW6FubFKlTlhZzIm2hPhmKHfCRqDMwLz8wPOiptwo5VFAllmfo1Coal4VwLDnjPFJYyYgVPd0lR8evCaSSoXjGOfVNKaQwPrO5_Kn23fXkDgm2_5eoKM/s1600/Webbs.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVdwA67RBVKwlsqjANl22tjOoW6FubFKlTlhZzIm2hPhmKHfCRqDMwLz8wPOiptwo5VFAllmfo1Coal4VwLDnjPFJYyYgVPd0lR8evCaSSoXjGOfVNKaQwPrO5_Kn23fXkDgm2_5eoKM/s400/Webbs.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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A second crisphead was harvested later in the week. It is getting hot here and remains dry so I do not want them to bolt on me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7LudfUfEL7tQgl8Qy68t1Ar-AMMMPNmXuMZ3g_iEY3_DsaDoKD04nQhR9eIu6lbg-dj1XJermG7wKBJrDRP1Otz72nbPVP5lREQc6IQivNnrYUfkNjc5HJ8GEAhT3mdoOK_kSUtj780/s1600/Scapes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7LudfUfEL7tQgl8Qy68t1Ar-AMMMPNmXuMZ3g_iEY3_DsaDoKD04nQhR9eIu6lbg-dj1XJermG7wKBJrDRP1Otz72nbPVP5lREQc6IQivNnrYUfkNjc5HJ8GEAhT3mdoOK_kSUtj780/s400/Scapes.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Finally, the rest of the garlic scapes were ready to harvest. The <i>German Extra Hardy</i>, a large garlic, was first a week ago and had nice sized scapes. This week harvesting the other varieties, I found it interesting that the size of the scape has nothing to do with the eventual size of the bulb. The <i>German Red</i>, my largest garlic by far, had smaller scapes (both length and diameter) than the other varieties. But the stems on the <i>German Red</i> are huge, indicating a large bulb is going to await me at harvest. I guess it is putting its energy where it does (me) the most good, into the bulbs.<br />
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That was the harvest for the week, but I did take a few kale leaves from each variety just to compare them. They will eventually wind up in a beans, sausage and kale dish this week.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ga9gmsyurDZasQcB9bt-g33O6X0te1LDPXFdNuzoTqJ2-rC4XzgL29Vr0h0tnzBpC_c5yILxsvqsJCyKYyo6j-pUcAMRrxmnC-c6ouy1djgwc4oLQ1khuavgIRvYKXic9_OU47X0YQw/s1600/Dinosaur.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ga9gmsyurDZasQcB9bt-g33O6X0te1LDPXFdNuzoTqJ2-rC4XzgL29Vr0h0tnzBpC_c5yILxsvqsJCyKYyo6j-pUcAMRrxmnC-c6ouy1djgwc4oLQ1khuavgIRvYKXic9_OU47X0YQw/s400/Dinosaur.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<i>Nero di Toscano</i> or Dinosaur kale. The leaves are a dark green/gray color. This is a good kale for use in salads and is supposed to be very cold hardy (although that is not my personal experience).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9rUdQO7V28hCj4m-hjRUNWwnxtavQ4PRC7UrWADKsTMCM_j0d15zDIMu1L9IklEbZbKwim1_DTZ5Hoz66QtuUaEVpC1skGckHa5K_lKf0FGb5utqG0q5tUq1fC9t4k0Jgyhe7R7_-Vk/s1600/IMG_3020.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9rUdQO7V28hCj4m-hjRUNWwnxtavQ4PRC7UrWADKsTMCM_j0d15zDIMu1L9IklEbZbKwim1_DTZ5Hoz66QtuUaEVpC1skGckHa5K_lKf0FGb5utqG0q5tUq1fC9t4k0Jgyhe7R7_-Vk/s400/IMG_3020.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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This is <i>Nash's Green</i>, a selection of Nash Huber from his farm in Washington state. It is described as a tall kale but it is the shortest one of three in my garden. The color variation is interesting. Some leaves are lime green with a yellowish stem, while others show some of the blue shades found on the rear of all leaves.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAP4P-jDwJJXsSLmUKa0xz2jA0bcDRdkFuwYRDLEFKaGasQbKt76bDp5oL1lbXw2vhlaikrvuOiRkUI2A2PlFXPfQWKCWDMLv-LbKAmWnEyNsWw3OUfzIFGdjc7FtpJcSsSpcdfDIBRzE/s1600/Red_Ursa.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAP4P-jDwJJXsSLmUKa0xz2jA0bcDRdkFuwYRDLEFKaGasQbKt76bDp5oL1lbXw2vhlaikrvuOiRkUI2A2PlFXPfQWKCWDMLv-LbKAmWnEyNsWw3OUfzIFGdjc7FtpJcSsSpcdfDIBRzE/s400/Red_Ursa.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Red Ursa</i> kale is a knockout, a beautiful, vigorous plant. Leaves vary from green to blue, all with purple stems and veins. I think this one is going to be a favorite of mine.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKK0xsyAehM2GkegJ0FibmSR6PonGqzTqX8vhig3Za_4znMbgdVTsgo3GryPMxtb8qzbqxsl3AIa330r4byXzSKilVyluhtSAkcZ3gvsgysk3Z_dD0wG4WIa2Tm_PSjk7LJPlC9Deaeqc/s1600/Spig.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKK0xsyAehM2GkegJ0FibmSR6PonGqzTqX8vhig3Za_4znMbgdVTsgo3GryPMxtb8qzbqxsl3AIa330r4byXzSKilVyluhtSAkcZ3gvsgysk3Z_dD0wG4WIa2Tm_PSjk7LJPlC9Deaeqc/s400/Spig.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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OK, this is not actually a kale, or is it? This is <i>Spigariello liscia</i>, a plant that doesn't know what it is. Technically, I think it is a broccoli, but a broccoli where you eat the leaves. Brilliant, because in this climate I am expert at growing broccoli leaves but not so good at getting broccoli heads I can eat. So to heck with the heads, lets eat leaves. And it is looking like I will get a lot from my four plants.<br />
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That's what happened in my garden last week. To see what other gardeners around the world are harvesting, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.<br />
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<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-22876613555658052552016-06-20T07:04:00.000-04:002016-06-20T07:04:17.142-04:00Harvest Monday 20 June 2016<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWtscR8mbuR48ht2E9Hl4o98pddkx274h14pCr8731TRitBSsCvslxjubl4Pq9pnJAy9sUX2eM9G4WxRFkb-GZZLptGf2OB2mPPAkIs3qsj010FLl_UM_w44RsQodookzuKuazqufGRM/s1600/Kohlrabi.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWtscR8mbuR48ht2E9Hl4o98pddkx274h14pCr8731TRitBSsCvslxjubl4Pq9pnJAy9sUX2eM9G4WxRFkb-GZZLptGf2OB2mPPAkIs3qsj010FLl_UM_w44RsQodookzuKuazqufGRM/s400/Kohlrabi.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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A little more diversity in the harvest. I pulled a couple of the kohlrabies and after chilling them, I peeled and sliced them for a lunch with hummus. I added some sliced radishes to pad out the meal. My wife actually liked everything. Both the kohlrabi and radishes were sweet and juicy and the hummus tamed any spice in the radishes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5qLqXVJAQ-kV6aToVmESjumjL5fdqJW1xRy_jz_vdcbJNdr6gSCvwu7W7DWoVhGG7EcEhsbQ9nQ04Z0m3GNcSxZZSIJQkr1EQU40xs3zV9PLdaxMw4xHhl3-z3PnBSS6_yYfJoxdwg8/s1600/Radishes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5qLqXVJAQ-kV6aToVmESjumjL5fdqJW1xRy_jz_vdcbJNdr6gSCvwu7W7DWoVhGG7EcEhsbQ9nQ04Z0m3GNcSxZZSIJQkr1EQU40xs3zV9PLdaxMw4xHhl3-z3PnBSS6_yYfJoxdwg8/s400/Radishes.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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A bunch of radishes picked last week, but not all. I found half as many still in the harvest bag. The lone whitish radish is <i>Zlata</i>, one of the two I will harvest this year. I didn't purchase new seeds and found just a few seeds left in the packet, of which two germinated. Oh well, more room for <i>Champion</i> red radishes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx7KLpBzmCZeM3Se27LE0m8Qu7LHxGHEoKRItYLFs7R61WJWiAQso_KubZtM_Zq3M7c1Z38Yy8cGJxErotqn27UC9ghTLIAvRjHK_trL6_8gAif4duXw5y6LqdSqrhSmiohdsuO8SayIw/s1600/Spinach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx7KLpBzmCZeM3Se27LE0m8Qu7LHxGHEoKRItYLFs7R61WJWiAQso_KubZtM_Zq3M7c1Z38Yy8cGJxErotqn27UC9ghTLIAvRjHK_trL6_8gAif4duXw5y6LqdSqrhSmiohdsuO8SayIw/s400/Spinach.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I got a large cutting of spinach. Several of the plants look like they are ready to bolt but the rest are still putting out new leaves. I am happy with anything I get. We had a spinach salad with strawberries and balsamic vinaigrette Friday, and I finally had enough left to just have steamed spinach with the steak tips I grilled on Saturday. Strawberry shortcake for dessert.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1BBUmS7Df1fHx-iEH7bZMY45_3-nHCK6O4cAPTP4yCcPKoc1WIWQ0w3Q9D2czhFlGfU1smeoDKBjHeJFRMAt7bSV5QGTK8-Avdtq5XP7ch0EaAIftgmBd0Pqcw_m_RXGyEMSpN0p2OFI/s1600/Scapes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1BBUmS7Df1fHx-iEH7bZMY45_3-nHCK6O4cAPTP4yCcPKoc1WIWQ0w3Q9D2czhFlGfU1smeoDKBjHeJFRMAt7bSV5QGTK8-Avdtq5XP7ch0EaAIftgmBd0Pqcw_m_RXGyEMSpN0p2OFI/s400/Scapes.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The garlic is finally starting to produce scapes. This cutting is mostly from the <i>German Extra Hardy</i>. Next will be the <i>Chesnok Red</i> and <i>German Red</i>. The tiny scapes are from some of the volunteer clusters of garlic around the garden produced when gardeners failed to harvest scapes and dead head the flowers. I consider it my civic duty to prevent further profligate behavior by their garlic.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6h2Fw_PipKvAoCV_LSF88kowXU9Dw1bW6qEuP0yqsLW7ZqAjKJhQfjt2GBykA5AYud_vsB07fkuzHtKJ80liJz6Uxzd-P3oy5ftfQRWRLQ2_REFa6iXv8DvhkDGhMCCeDpopxhcWr-E/s1600/Collards.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6h2Fw_PipKvAoCV_LSF88kowXU9Dw1bW6qEuP0yqsLW7ZqAjKJhQfjt2GBykA5AYud_vsB07fkuzHtKJ80liJz6Uxzd-P3oy5ftfQRWRLQ2_REFa6iXv8DvhkDGhMCCeDpopxhcWr-E/s400/Collards.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Around the garden, the <i>Flash</i> collards are starting to put on some growth and I may have a harvest soon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwLMtQCP-jkVDMBu0smzwlb5jn4ym8rUFgL5C8kKv-Y4LlUjRGHgY4YBz_3neNh7ibND9bbmK0CRGLBaqXERdU-n2CaOzZfPwGuP4_tLt7QcLLuwgYninsdFck7iEYWuzMrQoSvUEHvPw/s1600/Golden_Acre.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwLMtQCP-jkVDMBu0smzwlb5jn4ym8rUFgL5C8kKv-Y4LlUjRGHgY4YBz_3neNh7ibND9bbmK0CRGLBaqXERdU-n2CaOzZfPwGuP4_tLt7QcLLuwgYninsdFck7iEYWuzMrQoSvUEHvPw/s400/Golden_Acre.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Golden Acre</i> cabbage is still looking good and has not yet been assaulted by flea beetles, cabbage caterpillars or slugs. Still looks like it is not quite ready to form heads but is thinking about it. Saturday I did see a white butterfly floating around the garden so I need to keep an eye out for caterpillars. We had a few butterflies in the spring but none since until the new one showed up. Maybe they won't be so bad this year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7WjQXDMNxDeQ9UynRh4SB6_XHcQxb8CtXcwuLgWL6G7Y-S2f2VUo84DdWDMvTlrMTYNiW5YGhAKAPkz0bQL8gBgVhWvyy7Hl8p5loiRO_HCdCd8cJdhCUaSlBJF0lYu20et77Y8Ejhc/s1600/Minuet.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7WjQXDMNxDeQ9UynRh4SB6_XHcQxb8CtXcwuLgWL6G7Y-S2f2VUo84DdWDMvTlrMTYNiW5YGhAKAPkz0bQL8gBgVhWvyy7Hl8p5loiRO_HCdCd8cJdhCUaSlBJF0lYu20et77Y8Ejhc/s400/Minuet.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Minuet</i> Napa cabbage is definitely starting to form heads all by itself. With the <i>Soloist</i> cabbages, I had to use twine to tie up the heads so they would blanch, but <i>Minuet</i> is doing it on its own. It has interesting ruffled leaves.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYKlhieAWL0gT5kI8GyFIBpsJ74iBSsfoj_dvP_klgLCIqwpFSQWru5Kk6tQSk9nwSHPuLbrE9CDgwWgNNxYFrAcQao8IMUONKI451x6SkG7Kks4_R-NMRtm_44mkGWrTkkcixN5z8oII/s1600/Webbs_Wonderful.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYKlhieAWL0gT5kI8GyFIBpsJ74iBSsfoj_dvP_klgLCIqwpFSQWru5Kk6tQSk9nwSHPuLbrE9CDgwWgNNxYFrAcQao8IMUONKI451x6SkG7Kks4_R-NMRtm_44mkGWrTkkcixN5z8oII/s400/Webbs_Wonderful.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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This is <i>Webb's Wonderful</i> crisphead, looking like it is getting ready to be harvested. I have never grown a crisphead so I have no experience with when they are ready and when they are bolting. I probably will cut a head next week to see what I have.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0LinjyoEJwe0IDaJIBZ1aP-ocOmn2tv3A2zeRiM1RjgB0rgHCQoL_aYwH_koaL0AOvWpMnLW1tCG0YnHjWs6S9mzg8K9zMe7KmXfohBHW45XHVAY8hrwt4Pw5_a4nNH8agpCvLcqYxLo/s1600/Winter_Density.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0LinjyoEJwe0IDaJIBZ1aP-ocOmn2tv3A2zeRiM1RjgB0rgHCQoL_aYwH_koaL0AOvWpMnLW1tCG0YnHjWs6S9mzg8K9zMe7KmXfohBHW45XHVAY8hrwt4Pw5_a4nNH8agpCvLcqYxLo/s400/Winter_Density.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Winter Density</i> Romaine lettuces are are also forming nice sized heads. The escarole behind them are also getting quite large and should be ready to harvest soon.<br />
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That is what happened in my garden last week. To see what other gardeners from around the world are harvesting, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.<br />
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<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-11254232602690471212016-06-13T06:50:00.000-04:002016-06-13T06:50:21.336-04:00Harvest Monday 13 Jun 2016<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-cOjah0CY2GVxQ_e2gAiOrI55AXxXBCtmI1yb-Fm_pAvvwaktkRuWt36FaZGQZqMqNqvIAq5v31CyVvZKxqqp1_ANqlUnKpkLYMSjau6qLOWBNEeLbO6HJ9WFifUzo4tyNUS0XgA22rY/s1600/Radishes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-cOjah0CY2GVxQ_e2gAiOrI55AXxXBCtmI1yb-Fm_pAvvwaktkRuWt36FaZGQZqMqNqvIAq5v31CyVvZKxqqp1_ANqlUnKpkLYMSjau6qLOWBNEeLbO6HJ9WFifUzo4tyNUS0XgA22rY/s400/Radishes.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I finally got around to weeding the raised beds. As a nice surprise, in the radish bed I found some radishes that were ready to be pulled. These are <i>D'Avignon</i> (French breakfast type) and <i>Celesta</i> cherry. A lot of the radish seeds did not germinate during our dry spring so I re-seeded the blank spots. If you look at the leaves, you can see extensive flea beetle damage, but it did not affect the roots.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG0JiIY0m4LYJ4SeOyoI4aD_ssYTGxd8dTEs9iJgh9lw69qqhuQDAFIskS0RKlc2pHT-lbOfT2-tPoGthnQHgBkme6VLnJi9CgQ-PM4kKgK1Jg78H3m2ldOiUzFVU9FL8RBmosO1oQN88/s1600/Chard_etc.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG0JiIY0m4LYJ4SeOyoI4aD_ssYTGxd8dTEs9iJgh9lw69qqhuQDAFIskS0RKlc2pHT-lbOfT2-tPoGthnQHgBkme6VLnJi9CgQ-PM4kKgK1Jg78H3m2ldOiUzFVU9FL8RBmosO1oQN88/s400/Chard_etc.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The spinach and chard are now growing rapidly. I made another cutting and disposed of the leaves with leaf miner damage, which is not too bad at this point.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RydihqKD8NmQVv6swPI1TzEyO2BEKSvTD7aZChvhFUbx4IS98O2QId8dESA9cQuEHtf7ofdr-UojG1pdvSn_Zy0X856FPwOUkcF-dDV36Ez7bvqCksHxvCXtwGq120VvT3hO0Yl8T_4/s1600/Mustards.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RydihqKD8NmQVv6swPI1TzEyO2BEKSvTD7aZChvhFUbx4IS98O2QId8dESA9cQuEHtf7ofdr-UojG1pdvSn_Zy0X856FPwOUkcF-dDV36Ez7bvqCksHxvCXtwGq120VvT3hO0Yl8T_4/s400/Mustards.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The mustards are now growing quickly, outgrowing the flea beetles. Left is <i>Green Wave</i> and right is <i>Komatsuna</i>. These went into a typical Southern braise with bacon fat, served with stuffed pork chops.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>We had several days of rain and cooler weather and happily the garden responded with accelerated growth. Here's a tour of the brassicas and lettuces, all of whom appreciated the change in weather.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_2zLEp3FyYxsUjZYm-EiaUc54QKRLBwfbj2UuG8xWNoRAKrTDhLNYoBjecks2exJcWEsCntOZGmjoXH0jdv6PDLqKtMTcxYy7o0wz2UEELsSIDPY4Knq2Xrm5lvfM71JivV7skajFeDE/s1600/Blue_Wind.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_2zLEp3FyYxsUjZYm-EiaUc54QKRLBwfbj2UuG8xWNoRAKrTDhLNYoBjecks2exJcWEsCntOZGmjoXH0jdv6PDLqKtMTcxYy7o0wz2UEELsSIDPY4Knq2Xrm5lvfM71JivV7skajFeDE/s400/Blue_Wind.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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This is <i>Blue Wind</i> broccoli, an early broccoli, looking pretty good. On my tour of the brassica bed, so far there is no caterpillar damage and minor flea beetle effects.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7iadYLjWEl3FUvCR4Bf3Uptj4uzEtgWH-yZDRF87zTC30BAvx_3_2G8Lvq2n-a0gnULZNWDwgN4L4twBWF1mAt01M2Poa2_aKJAgwFksuaIfTIOALwa6IyeA3CbsvpIip5sEyxrYopU/s1600/Atlantis.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7iadYLjWEl3FUvCR4Bf3Uptj4uzEtgWH-yZDRF87zTC30BAvx_3_2G8Lvq2n-a0gnULZNWDwgN4L4twBWF1mAt01M2Poa2_aKJAgwFksuaIfTIOALwa6IyeA3CbsvpIip5sEyxrYopU/s400/Atlantis.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Atlantis</i> brokali is far more vigorous than <i>Blue Wind</i> and I hope to see some shoots soon. So far I am very impressed with this one and thinking of replanting it for the fall.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7iadYLjWEl3FUvCR4Bf3Uptj4uzEtgWH-yZDRF87zTC30BAvx_3_2G8Lvq2n-a0gnULZNWDwgN4L4twBWF1mAt01M2Poa2_aKJAgwFksuaIfTIOALwa6IyeA3CbsvpIip5sEyxrYopU/s1600/Atlantis.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuWK5uDvissbqM7addUe3l77vqd_AGEmGki4LpOBYCzYKdBZlIGIR2ECjT-LC9NNxey7jP5AvcAk549rTBn6bYHYwKTl3lliRs4o6u46OJ3JdJwB926NHEzivVH-9yCVIH9o8J-s20bcI/s1600/Spigariello_liscia.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuWK5uDvissbqM7addUe3l77vqd_AGEmGki4LpOBYCzYKdBZlIGIR2ECjT-LC9NNxey7jP5AvcAk549rTBn6bYHYwKTl3lliRs4o6u46OJ3JdJwB926NHEzivVH-9yCVIH9o8J-s20bcI/s400/Spigariello_liscia.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Spigariello liscia</i> that Michelle grows is sizing up and the leaves are starting to narrow and curl. I am looking forward to seeing how this develops and how it tastes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYJJ1eWO5hBOUUvVTFv5P1It51tDciECuHdMnczwWsb9GAMrwq_TdMZ-OdrvF0OUzItaxEyzpAdcf_ser_UaEEQXOqtbO24tzVBVomgOjUeMsymyauSjNHfYGxDW7Ebo41dYEVHSHOjY/s1600/Nero_di_Toscano.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYJJ1eWO5hBOUUvVTFv5P1It51tDciECuHdMnczwWsb9GAMrwq_TdMZ-OdrvF0OUzItaxEyzpAdcf_ser_UaEEQXOqtbO24tzVBVomgOjUeMsymyauSjNHfYGxDW7Ebo41dYEVHSHOjY/s400/Nero_di_Toscano.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<i>Nero di Toscano</i> is healthy but smaller now than the other kales. It tends to make its move later in the summer, which makes it good for late summer/fall harvests.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDeukijdJm1aUsJkz6IKMDcpJoDeo4rdRrWLoI4GY1CSW-EI8yDhALE61Medud_l8vtaVhmZTzflrK6x4f-66QZFj0foqcvS7YIoZCodOzjLr4VGhUs0XXDiNWAYAHOMxP8EtqFv870ig/s1600/Nash%2527s_Green.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDeukijdJm1aUsJkz6IKMDcpJoDeo4rdRrWLoI4GY1CSW-EI8yDhALE61Medud_l8vtaVhmZTzflrK6x4f-66QZFj0foqcvS7YIoZCodOzjLr4VGhUs0XXDiNWAYAHOMxP8EtqFv870ig/s400/Nash%2527s_Green.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<i>Nash's Green</i>, new this year, is a light green Siberian-type kale that seems slower growing than the others. I hope it establishes itself and starts growing soon. It is supposed to be very cold hardy and capable of overwintering if the winters are not too severe, like last winter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScp-L-GWwI0WqMK8NMqK9jhKjT3dT-DSqXH7NYUfEr7eU5hyphenhyphenBgJniF0Ce1ofHTa9m6n4EVTJIdWTvIRjL2b4ARfGGxxUSLGvyxkUCjnYnWTRpRAQz2nHt0ClH-Fk9-fg4Vg-4Y_bXJPg/s1600/Ursa_Red.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScp-L-GWwI0WqMK8NMqK9jhKjT3dT-DSqXH7NYUfEr7eU5hyphenhyphenBgJniF0Ce1ofHTa9m6n4EVTJIdWTvIRjL2b4ARfGGxxUSLGvyxkUCjnYnWTRpRAQz2nHt0ClH-Fk9-fg4Vg-4Y_bXJPg/s400/Ursa_Red.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<i>Red </i><i>Ursa</i>, a Frank Morton cross of Red Russian and Siberian kale, is another new kale this year. So far it is looking great and I may be able to do some cuttings soon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQkpJIJmjbSETP4ny2bBuLThFjvLBcJv3h4YOgzKdspzOiajYa4-h1lLB2trxVdJG5AGzEjWr2Lt-hGMC1JPZ78RpPH0R0WGY0ATVtUFtRyjiqeBxnkETGZWZqE1BKWyOLaISQOenhT0/s1600/Minuet.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQkpJIJmjbSETP4ny2bBuLThFjvLBcJv3h4YOgzKdspzOiajYa4-h1lLB2trxVdJG5AGzEjWr2Lt-hGMC1JPZ78RpPH0R0WGY0ATVtUFtRyjiqeBxnkETGZWZqE1BKWyOLaISQOenhT0/s400/Minuet.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Minuet</i> Napa cabbages had a burst of growth after the rain and are starting to form heads. So far flea beetle damage is limited to thr\e older leaves now that I am spraying.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNlqS1wEdAFyPpT4AyjXOEGko3uikdi0L7jwqvYL89d6LRtKOrIY1vGWX5Tqk8HK4Q8i5bFV5oj-dFYI9brEXasv9Yir4JwCM-jgT-OtGEPg1i0N0Wep4z7anrWP_CpFDESdE8k1_zA4/s1600/Golden_Acre.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNlqS1wEdAFyPpT4AyjXOEGko3uikdi0L7jwqvYL89d6LRtKOrIY1vGWX5Tqk8HK4Q8i5bFV5oj-dFYI9brEXasv9Yir4JwCM-jgT-OtGEPg1i0N0Wep4z7anrWP_CpFDESdE8k1_zA4/s400/Golden_Acre.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<i>Golden Acre</i> cabbage is also looking good and just starting to form a head. Its leaves do extend a bit beyond the promised one square foot, but it is not a problem so far.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghABMgM1wf7hHaw049IYYNUt9jEoD20pw4iRMZoXh4jeama1rdbGAb7TQylvgFJJmoffiGCN_sxfXzJ3zp3Mpbc5VzJadV3RI74CHxofpw8golegRnfgCsaTbDYHNneDHEUS0w5Vf2-Aw/s1600/Natasha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghABMgM1wf7hHaw049IYYNUt9jEoD20pw4iRMZoXh4jeama1rdbGAb7TQylvgFJJmoffiGCN_sxfXzJ3zp3Mpbc5VzJadV3RI74CHxofpw8golegRnfgCsaTbDYHNneDHEUS0w5Vf2-Aw/s400/Natasha.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Natcha</i> escarole is enjoying its space (I planted 3 per 2 squares rather than the usual 4 per 2 squares). I will have usable heads in a few weeks and should probably start some more to replant.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8T8oombqLzv2EDVOmGSDqYrumgdNd0pUmmW2_SvM4w864sqDPmFbA_1AF61qRpS9GZc3yKxizqJLGTd0-z_FzWvuVBly71VfYumbpvey1Zsv3Z45vC-DsUQZsPqHVYxxuqtwGG60DvE/s1600/Dubuisson.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8T8oombqLzv2EDVOmGSDqYrumgdNd0pUmmW2_SvM4w864sqDPmFbA_1AF61qRpS9GZc3yKxizqJLGTd0-z_FzWvuVBly71VfYumbpvey1Zsv3Z45vC-DsUQZsPqHVYxxuqtwGG60DvE/s400/Dubuisson.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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For Mark to enjoy, this is <i>Dubuisson</i> endive. It is a little slower than <i>Natacha</i> but is close to needing the heads tied up to blanch the centers. Some people hate endive but I love it. My parents always grew it and we had it tossed in a hot bacon dressing with crumbled bacon bits. The bacon fat and vinegar tend to attenuate the bitterness. You can always add some blue cheese or Gorgonzola crumbs for added zip.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0oeZERO5o-M0q-qKaadfTYjLEytWnXsOHfjq3nMyba4YDinqCxpFZFWApVuCwlCuxMmVBYW1rnmk1R9jTbrDPKGGKTbvEJmmNgMgt08I4IvhRUQw9DIdvcmwnuNL7i6D1rkYVlMn-ouk/s1600/Winner.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0oeZERO5o-M0q-qKaadfTYjLEytWnXsOHfjq3nMyba4YDinqCxpFZFWApVuCwlCuxMmVBYW1rnmk1R9jTbrDPKGGKTbvEJmmNgMgt08I4IvhRUQw9DIdvcmwnuNL7i6D1rkYVlMn-ouk/s400/Winner.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Last time I reported that <i>Azur Star</i> was sizing up nicely. Now <i>Winner</i> is joining the parade. Very little flea beetle damage on the kohlrabi which is something to cheer about.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTzLnT2Z7ftyTgezUHbzXP-lryRoXF2B8iWpBFa-z63glR0TpGjJqGAPhEj_raeXpeO4ss3A6BEQGGhA_QVqaduqAp0r8mIz24Pj0CPOyPylf9loM3yEMo_tMzs38T17_Sq17ZBtUg6sI/s1600/Webbs_Wonderful.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTzLnT2Z7ftyTgezUHbzXP-lryRoXF2B8iWpBFa-z63glR0TpGjJqGAPhEj_raeXpeO4ss3A6BEQGGhA_QVqaduqAp0r8mIz24Pj0CPOyPylf9loM3yEMo_tMzs38T17_Sq17ZBtUg6sI/s400/Webbs_Wonderful.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Webb's Wonderful</i> crisphead lettuce is sizing up nicely and forming heads. Anything could happen but I am looking forward to having my first head lettuce in the salad bowl. Time to plant some more, I am impressed how fast these grow.<br />
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That's what happened in my garden last week. To see what other gardeners around the world are harvesting, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres,</a> our host for Harvest Monday.David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-34134650316184905972016-06-08T22:14:00.002-04:002016-06-08T22:14:50.707-04:00SFG Seeding Square - New ToyMy main garden is a raised bed garden which follows the late Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening principles. It was developed in the US so it uses English measures based on 12 inches to a foot. The beds are divided into "squares" or square foot sections and plants are planted in squares based on their space requirements. Plants are planted in a grid with 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, or 16 per square. If a plant requires 3 inch spacing, for example a radish or carrot, it is planted in a grid of 16 plants per square. Beets and bush beans are planted nine per square, giving them 4 inch spacing.<br />
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The Square Foot Gardening method is superior from a number of perspectives. It makes highly efficient use of space in the garden, important to me because of my small garden. It makes garden planing and layout simple. The Mel's Mix soil blend is light and friable. It dries out quickly in the spring so you can plant earlier, and it is easy to weed. When planting seeds, all you need to do is mark out the planting pattern on the squares and plant. I usually use my finger and an approximation of the spacing. Then I ran across this device on Amazon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjY85Q9Jb1FypTYprR0m3_LliYGFX3kuMuCGd1jr2W2LiAV3gZcIiDCpd0mfAkgtSGCexbN1JDQguSXW4U3x2nyTnQRSuXfDMeBrvSy1MvNSxGVaBdDTcbvQgeW8zrYVaAopYm8rtUnvQ/s1600/Top.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjY85Q9Jb1FypTYprR0m3_LliYGFX3kuMuCGd1jr2W2LiAV3gZcIiDCpd0mfAkgtSGCexbN1JDQguSXW4U3x2nyTnQRSuXfDMeBrvSy1MvNSxGVaBdDTcbvQgeW8zrYVaAopYm8rtUnvQ/s400/Top.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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This is the <a href="http://www.seedingsquare.com/" target="_blank">Seeding Square</a>, a very clever device that makes it simple to layout the garden. This was funded by a kickstarter campaign and is manufactured in Canada from a very tough plastic. It is washable and waterproof, so it won't be ruined if you leave it out in the rain. One device accommodates all spacing and planting depths. It is flat, easy to store, and comes with a plastic zipper case. The planting patterns are color coded and it comes with a planting guide, a combination dibble/seeder, and a funnel. The dibble is marked in inches and has an embedded magnet to store it in the slot when not in use.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYmlrqfs2up3sQUKSa06r-X6i8GUqyMSYwAsOyWPPHQZOwelg8KdabrJInD7oUrhka_2dY03GgWEoLy1_a8RSOmsxxBSThKcE7355xo1hjfAzGRTJPwxS-e1EawMNA3P1cyqUKJNcd_e4/s1600/Bottom.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYmlrqfs2up3sQUKSa06r-X6i8GUqyMSYwAsOyWPPHQZOwelg8KdabrJInD7oUrhka_2dY03GgWEoLy1_a8RSOmsxxBSThKcE7355xo1hjfAzGRTJPwxS-e1EawMNA3P1cyqUKJNcd_e4/s400/Bottom.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The shape of the device is like a pizza box. The raised sides are pressed into the soil, marking out the sides of the squares. The funnel stores underneath when not using.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWRImO-r-EQai21aKT6iCdh3OlZOR3LTtaMkIPMTa5aMxA3vwkbpQ1RZ9fYdIDX4LzOhe_zNqUznQnhEW6GkisaD4Qdv9vMYmp2-GOYUsDos8ATLIr0bv4Bgthl7dThvZSy_TJkry7NfQ/s1600/Planting.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWRImO-r-EQai21aKT6iCdh3OlZOR3LTtaMkIPMTa5aMxA3vwkbpQ1RZ9fYdIDX4LzOhe_zNqUznQnhEW6GkisaD4Qdv9vMYmp2-GOYUsDos8ATLIr0bv4Bgthl7dThvZSy_TJkry7NfQ/s400/Planting.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The Seeding Square is started in the corner to align with the sides of the bed. The dibble is used to make planting holes at the necessary depth. If you want to use the seeding funnel, you can now plant your seeds.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgszijS3ivWeT2SYZV9tumC5N67smGKwLxBn2uYXRQ0wj0P7evRtJZ1KUSJ8IUhw7zlqUEhsE5HHh3YIExA1j-CXvob17KvY4poaK-kpVw83AirURKAvYRWEnxsslJLtILaHHNd6BflR_o/s1600/Planting_beans.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgszijS3ivWeT2SYZV9tumC5N67smGKwLxBn2uYXRQ0wj0P7evRtJZ1KUSJ8IUhw7zlqUEhsE5HHh3YIExA1j-CXvob17KvY4poaK-kpVw83AirURKAvYRWEnxsslJLtILaHHNd6BflR_o/s400/Planting_beans.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Here I am planting this bed with bush beans, with a 9 per square spacing (the yellow holes). The squares and 2 inch holes were quickly laid out. Given the size of the bean seeds I did not use the funnel and chose to insert them with my fingers. The column to the left was planted with pole beans that will be trellised. For them, I use an 8 per square spacing, just the inner two rows of red circles.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJTpWDWNqzuClZ0F5bgWyGlxuuPGKjetbXld1GTvFczkmwid5UHB1qYHRjcyjKywOnnfoL17QjVWhEJ7CNxz5K4yzZcnuncHUiU_UfEtTbr4-mm7psasJPH7ZkdHi6d_WKBxPtXCTE38/s1600/Planting_carrots.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJTpWDWNqzuClZ0F5bgWyGlxuuPGKjetbXld1GTvFczkmwid5UHB1qYHRjcyjKywOnnfoL17QjVWhEJ7CNxz5K4yzZcnuncHUiU_UfEtTbr4-mm7psasJPH7ZkdHi6d_WKBxPtXCTE38/s400/Planting_carrots.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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When planting carrots, the funnel definitely was handy. Above I am seeding carrots in the space allocated to the now sadly deceased shallot plants. The small size of the carrot seed and the relatively shallow depth of planting hole makes the use of the funnel very handy. Two days of planting have proven the Seeding Square very handy and well worth the somewhat pricey $29 US.<br />
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<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-67937559018147691942016-06-06T08:34:00.000-04:002016-06-06T08:34:12.808-04:00Harvest Monday 6 June 2016<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OIVEqipzm15VunZx1duKuM_m9aaf6fpC1M7z0H_R1kd9gUwHzByM6WT1bnUEpxpSJM1Kp6cR9Uv9JrUlOC4NKaJMtBT0ecTnhPoZdhYZctBlsFFBEAEbWAjedGLy_5fkO-hVBeld_u0/s1600/Spinach%2526chard.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OIVEqipzm15VunZx1duKuM_m9aaf6fpC1M7z0H_R1kd9gUwHzByM6WT1bnUEpxpSJM1Kp6cR9Uv9JrUlOC4NKaJMtBT0ecTnhPoZdhYZctBlsFFBEAEbWAjedGLy_5fkO-hVBeld_u0/s400/Spinach%2526chard.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I have been out of touch for the past week while we drove to St. Louis to attend my niece's wedding, which was inconveniently scheduled for Memorial Day weekend. That is prime planting season around here and I had to leave my tomato and pepper plants in the care of my son, who did an excellent job keeping the thirsty plants hydrated. Unfortunately the plants grew so tall that half had their growing tips singed off by the heat of the grow lamps. There are suckers showing on most so I am counting on them recovering.<br />
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On my first trip to the garden in a week, the garden looked fine but definitely needed some weeding and watering. I found the spinach and chard ready to harvest, my first harvest this year. The spade shaped, lighter green leaves are <i>Tyee</i>, while the darker green, round leaves are <i>Escalade</i> spinach. The container lettuces on the deck are ready and are harvested as needed, so I did not photograph them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ESQoneC6RSDqT1dgEInC-Ua9j1kxxzp1s8PGzrq3M1xwn7vbS9enTHIn2wAlfPUgNBwvfvdk6sc1M2q5uk0HkSTxyNls0tdt1lRap7VXAqZOSfV63rOinNwisrAGc5J3ffUJ-D4FJeQ/s1600/Garlic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ESQoneC6RSDqT1dgEInC-Ua9j1kxxzp1s8PGzrq3M1xwn7vbS9enTHIn2wAlfPUgNBwvfvdk6sc1M2q5uk0HkSTxyNls0tdt1lRap7VXAqZOSfV63rOinNwisrAGc5J3ffUJ-D4FJeQ/s400/Garlic.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The garlic is still looking good and I can see a few scapes starting to form on the larger ones, so it will be scape season soon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyuRr6DqcqbgrE_jVuZ8ajT0NmZtxz0HobfRdW_FTzeFQ0q60mDSWRPiDBm-Ct0_5HQD-Ab7LxzBQ79RtgYZtp3VMww3yaNixeurw6GWxRfTFIaNKY2E0ixufi2AdxAtYtBkOqzJpG3XA/s1600/Copra_onions.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyuRr6DqcqbgrE_jVuZ8ajT0NmZtxz0HobfRdW_FTzeFQ0q60mDSWRPiDBm-Ct0_5HQD-Ab7LxzBQ79RtgYZtp3VMww3yaNixeurw6GWxRfTFIaNKY2E0ixufi2AdxAtYtBkOqzJpG3XA/s400/Copra_onions.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The onions are definitely doing well. I planted them late, several weeks after I received them, as they were beginning to break dormancy. The result seems to be a better start than last year, when they were planted earlier while still dormant. This year the onion plants from Dixondale were uniformly larger than last year's plants and I am quite pleased with the purchase. A lot simpler than starting from seed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgm3sXFyP084Jgfvp2-9fSV5R9645zzDnE1VRpOfya0vxMmFW95Kzvf59huIg_ZZzDZ9EfPye2zBucgCmJqB_TuShhOLOz7FuMWSV-TTOSn-i3VEppFCPu2RUBJAFEt6hcn-eJ9nqm3Fg/s1600/Takrima_leeks.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgm3sXFyP084Jgfvp2-9fSV5R9645zzDnE1VRpOfya0vxMmFW95Kzvf59huIg_ZZzDZ9EfPye2zBucgCmJqB_TuShhOLOz7FuMWSV-TTOSn-i3VEppFCPu2RUBJAFEt6hcn-eJ9nqm3Fg/s400/Takrima_leeks.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The <i>Takrima</i> leeks that I did I grow from seed look established and are starting to grow. The shallots did not do well at all and seem to have disappeared. No shallots this year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8av6xTCph_4x7A0XFHjQm6SqLVFtHbn7U8jXMQrsc7YbJhBaQD5j2nBkIGI6ohaO2bEBFPrDz9cKURPLMZvdWZt8SvusX8f-B68mFeEGXEOZSqVMXEkd0pm_W8CM1FwmqTd7tkIO5x0k/s1600/Cabbages.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8av6xTCph_4x7A0XFHjQm6SqLVFtHbn7U8jXMQrsc7YbJhBaQD5j2nBkIGI6ohaO2bEBFPrDz9cKURPLMZvdWZt8SvusX8f-B68mFeEGXEOZSqVMXEkd0pm_W8CM1FwmqTd7tkIO5x0k/s400/Cabbages.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The cabbages are doing well despite the flea beetles. At the top is <i>Golden Acre</i>, a traditional, open-pollinated cabbage that can be grown in one square foot of space. At the bottom are the <i>Minuet</i> Napa cabbages, showing more flea beetle damage because they do not have the waxy leaf surface that tends to discourage the beetles.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmRiUhR-z-hNq8AY_b2EtTy3nwUwBBrHc3-MqSksNBmFvGcTnbS9bKr9e1-t0dVqrcw4WUVtQ-uwCdRaJNyvyDtlXPOXA-YWERDCheGOlG1OE6sv405btLaib2gGpC47dI-RrI_5uDAEY/s1600/Kohlrabi.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmRiUhR-z-hNq8AY_b2EtTy3nwUwBBrHc3-MqSksNBmFvGcTnbS9bKr9e1-t0dVqrcw4WUVtQ-uwCdRaJNyvyDtlXPOXA-YWERDCheGOlG1OE6sv405btLaib2gGpC47dI-RrI_5uDAEY/s400/Kohlrabi.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The kohlrabi were only slightly affected by flea beetles and are starting to size up. This is <i>Azur Star</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTocDSezCZscQi4JuxLl9r0V84qoyeLZOkzASt2cP1aDcgRWJHIpvAg84y-GWrCOMpOYTFXkAbyYikcMNjiZqUhJclpz1XXDDDJfma2bm5bgA7wjZUhcE-eff2VPQ9f3IOmXv2XKxoL9w/s1600/Lettuces.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTocDSezCZscQi4JuxLl9r0V84qoyeLZOkzASt2cP1aDcgRWJHIpvAg84y-GWrCOMpOYTFXkAbyYikcMNjiZqUhJclpz1XXDDDJfma2bm5bgA7wjZUhcE-eff2VPQ9f3IOmXv2XKxoL9w/s400/Lettuces.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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This bed contains some of the greens. The rightmost column is <i>Webb's Wonderful</i> crisphead, and I am pleased with how they look. Maybe I will harvest my first head lettuce this year. Next is a column of <i>Winter Density</i> Romaine. The leftmost column has escarole at the bottom and endives at the top.<br />
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I spent Saturday in the garden and got some weeding done. I put in the <i>Ashley</i> cucumber plants and half of the tomatoes and peppers. I also seeded the bush and pole beans. So the raised bed garden is essentially complete for now. Next I have to start prepping the other plot I garden to receive the rest of the peppers and tomatoes and seed the summer squash. That plot already has the kale and broccoli plants and they did fine in my absence. Just minor flea beetle damage and so far no cabbage caterpillars.<br />
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That is what happened in my garden last week. To see what other gardeners around the world are doing, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres</a>, our host for Harvest Monday.David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-27588966688789814202016-05-22T14:04:00.000-04:002016-05-22T14:04:09.934-04:00Garden Update - End of May 2016<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbydc5t6LHJV7Mjgf7ondO-3vN8XuzVSI-WB5TL2SEoKW9vzo1N7MlpYKRXEw8LVCh27HYFx9q0XXK0MarrlySAZMWAJQN3yAtXjPtC4gBrlz0xeAE6ylpRxfVo-0siSiZvFIewukheE/s1600/Solomon_Seal.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbydc5t6LHJV7Mjgf7ondO-3vN8XuzVSI-WB5TL2SEoKW9vzo1N7MlpYKRXEw8LVCh27HYFx9q0XXK0MarrlySAZMWAJQN3yAtXjPtC4gBrlz0xeAE6ylpRxfVo-0siSiZvFIewukheE/s400/Solomon_Seal.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The Solomon Seals my wife planted last year in the back of the hosta bed are up and blooming. We have lots of False Solomon Seal growing wild around the yard but I have never seen a Solomon Seal around here. When pollinated each flower will produce a small blue-black berry. The False Solomon Seal flowers at the end of the stem and produces a cluster of red berries.<br />
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In the community garden, now that it almost June I finally got all of the cool weather crops transplanted or seeded. What remains to do is plant the warm weather crops (beans, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash). That will happen the first week of June after I return from a visit to St. Louis for my niece's wedding next weekend. I still have to prepare the beds in the in-ground plot for the tomatoes and peppers, but otherwise I am all set to do it when I get back.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX0XxsjYpxJwfUmpiXMrq-mEpINLUFo_AgLotFh1y203e7QkObDJtF5IFeSzn17bJSaSsATCyaA-bKyzZ9Q9mBqe64jhU3HyadJqSZ2kZiYFKKLtK_TxVM8sxA4j_AszHmI6PfGnejuoU/s1600/Tomatoes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX0XxsjYpxJwfUmpiXMrq-mEpINLUFo_AgLotFh1y203e7QkObDJtF5IFeSzn17bJSaSsATCyaA-bKyzZ9Q9mBqe64jhU3HyadJqSZ2kZiYFKKLtK_TxVM8sxA4j_AszHmI6PfGnejuoU/s400/Tomatoes.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The tomatoes are potted up and under the grow lights. They are looking good and should hold for another two weeks before being set out in the garden. The weather here is still pretty unsettled. You can see that after declaring a disaster, I managed to get enough seedlings started to meet my needs, except for <i>Sunkist</i>, where only 1 of 10 seeds germinated. The current inventory (out of 6 planned seedlings for each variety):<br />
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<li>4 Bing</li>
<li>5 Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye</li>
<li>3 Black Beauty</li>
<li>1 Sunkist</li>
<li>5 Sweet Treats</li>
<li>4 Rose de Berne</li>
<li>5 Jaune Flamme</li>
<li>3 Honey Drop</li>
<li>6 Juliet</li>
<li>4 Black Cherry (purchased)</li>
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Since I have room for 28 tomatoes, I will have to select from the above for my garden and try to give the rest away.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVjI1vPVk-xZ-HtrevTXYmZgli-zDupd_8aN966orpClJpZlFG88BFJt6LWTT433Aei5U_UfcDWL7x56gdpSDZ7pesUuTI1j_K5yQqkWF_VmtWHtoSczJkTtWwHuEpzovkjCkTsMIC78/s1600/Peppers.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVjI1vPVk-xZ-HtrevTXYmZgli-zDupd_8aN966orpClJpZlFG88BFJt6LWTT433Aei5U_UfcDWL7x56gdpSDZ7pesUuTI1j_K5yQqkWF_VmtWHtoSczJkTtWwHuEpzovkjCkTsMIC78/s400/Peppers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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All of the peppers are potted up and doing well under the lights. I did have a complete failure of the <i>Carmen</i> seeds to germinate and I killed a few of the <i>Super Shepherd</i> plants, but I did pretty well with the rest. I am also missing the <i>Tiburon Anchos</i> I planned because I simply forgot to order seeds. Jalapeno plants will just be purchased. Here is the inventory:</div>
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4 Hungarian Paprika</div>
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2 Super Shepherd</div>
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6 Jimmy Nardello</div>
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5 Lemon Drop</div>
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6 Revolution</div>
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A couple of the <i>Lemon Drop</i> peppers are going into containers I will bring inside in hopes of extending the season. A big problem will be whether there is enough light for them in the winter.</div>
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The cruciferous flea beetles have found my uncovered brassicas. Fortunately they have not yet bothered the waxy leaved plants like the <i>Golden Acre</i> cabbage and the kohlrabi. But they have found the mustards and are feasting on them. I did one spraying of Spinosad but that did not bother them. Pyrethrin is next to try. I usually alternate those two sprays to try to avoid building up immunity. My radishes are starting to emerge in another bed so I need to get that covered before they find them.</div>
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David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-73786645605235770242016-05-16T07:26:00.000-04:002016-05-16T07:26:11.718-04:00Harvest Monday 16 May 2016<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuL6x_TIopSkeFveogGuZRqBmeXvreQGxn-Rv5BqEB4X7_KLlM_JqgnOszWfepLB5IvxJUh5UzMeStEloFfjw05DT0gXp7VV1qZk9TBJ391oCsGz4HXbMMTZ4zOg9q8zKdIl43hpJ9e5Y/s1600/IMG_2911.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuL6x_TIopSkeFveogGuZRqBmeXvreQGxn-Rv5BqEB4X7_KLlM_JqgnOszWfepLB5IvxJUh5UzMeStEloFfjw05DT0gXp7VV1qZk9TBJ391oCsGz4HXbMMTZ4zOg9q8zKdIl43hpJ9e5Y/s400/IMG_2911.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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First harvest comes from cleaning out the beds for the new growing season. These are some volunteer bunching onions scattered around the garden after I failed to deadhead one of their ancestors. These were timely because I had some meals planned, both Mexican and Chinese, that called for scallions.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIl6oPur_oCfAEF0eMzJrfaoa4s_n52EPaL00ghdoHHKKgeZmb0PNL3VfsFue_TnPCO3zRMQt3HonoSlfZfJdovtS-zUAOdgqIbX0dtw9_8eKE3aWptWieyIOihv_9kx-I05B2hZyNrY/s1600/winter_melon_vine.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIl6oPur_oCfAEF0eMzJrfaoa4s_n52EPaL00ghdoHHKKgeZmb0PNL3VfsFue_TnPCO3zRMQt3HonoSlfZfJdovtS-zUAOdgqIbX0dtw9_8eKE3aWptWieyIOihv_9kx-I05B2hZyNrY/s400/winter_melon_vine.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Last <a href="http://davessfggarden.blogspot.com/2015/09/harvest-monday-7-september-2015.html">September</a> I showed the innovative trellising techniques used by Mr. Yin, our intrepid Chinese gardener. This picture shows the elaborate trellising method he used to get his winter melon vines to grow vertically. He also had to support the melons somehow, in this case with a large rock placed under the melon to support it and keep it off the ground.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRsDILL0i-rZQDbloMId1nFOIFEfV-ig8n3cjSrbAATBfSq_EOV_UDOBzZfEazjYgnrmFvuBaUVW_dDHOgiBAm25iafKxi5gmMds1nXThwuTb5ypQYafMd8INosFufEMlrZFV-hfEaO4/s1600/winter_melon.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRsDILL0i-rZQDbloMId1nFOIFEfV-ig8n3cjSrbAATBfSq_EOV_UDOBzZfEazjYgnrmFvuBaUVW_dDHOgiBAm25iafKxi5gmMds1nXThwuTb5ypQYafMd8INosFufEMlrZFV-hfEaO4/s400/winter_melon.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Last week he gifted me this huge winter melon he grew in the gardens. It weighed in at over 7 pounds. What do you do with winter melon (also known as ash gourd or white gourd)? You make soup.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBK1eW6Zxre7VDZgg5Uan-q0xJaTsPQOhvCu6jj4022uW6ttV8E_U4rZyxyAeZqMGA7tyCO-836VVA6ewjosl02vFF8l5iVD_vwe6wJV2eC6jPkv5UtAd5ScrXuMdPiLiwCGoY2En_znM/s1600/winter_melon2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBK1eW6Zxre7VDZgg5Uan-q0xJaTsPQOhvCu6jj4022uW6ttV8E_U4rZyxyAeZqMGA7tyCO-836VVA6ewjosl02vFF8l5iVD_vwe6wJV2eC6jPkv5UtAd5ScrXuMdPiLiwCGoY2En_znM/s400/winter_melon2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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First step is to cut the melon (or gourd) in half with a very sturdy knife. The rind or skin is really a thick, rigid, plastic-like shell that is very hard to cut. In Chinese supermarkets, winter melon is often sold pre-cut into wedges<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGpU80Iol_0iTsNIvo4ovl8uW7fOleALuPI_4DH5IKLs498i9iASPVDXVzT6Vy4LrJPBC7N0MkaGkk9zpuFuKnDFo8dhCWVEMzkJqQbKtF9vqG-kC8WToVb2_97xkU5rvc0p7p7BYarOs/s1600/winter_melon3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGpU80Iol_0iTsNIvo4ovl8uW7fOleALuPI_4DH5IKLs498i9iASPVDXVzT6Vy4LrJPBC7N0MkaGkk9zpuFuKnDFo8dhCWVEMzkJqQbKtF9vqG-kC8WToVb2_97xkU5rvc0p7p7BYarOs/s400/winter_melon3.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Next step is to remove the seeds and pulp with a scoop. The seeds are black and very large.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4N0dievbEb4oAmlEkLR8oa-22IeyW8p_HVqwstpn7WP2YJH3tDzoamXaRLkHDvZSfHCZqDyLBaSytjTjJy1bZds6mCnhmhOTFp_oxiGI1BzHHr3nRoqkUIzVr54J86SEeMYPQhdhLDU/s1600/winter_melon4.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4N0dievbEb4oAmlEkLR8oa-22IeyW8p_HVqwstpn7WP2YJH3tDzoamXaRLkHDvZSfHCZqDyLBaSytjTjJy1bZds6mCnhmhOTFp_oxiGI1BzHHr3nRoqkUIzVr54J86SEeMYPQhdhLDU/s400/winter_melon4.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Next I cut the halves into wedges and removed the shell. The shell or rind is very thick and rigid and I was able to just pull the flesh out from the shell. Then the flesh is cut into small cubes for the soup. For the soup, prepare a rich chicken or pork broth flavored with some fresh ginger. The melon cubes are cooked in the broth 45-60 minutes until they are tender. Add some slivered Black Forest ham and shiitake mushrooms and a sliced scallion.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxp4Ut_aTG7yMefBym_sLTK0-ZUkePMszahaTlpegMe7dTNBtSkKUnOYSyyWDSekH8M6lCiw50862VpJNUc-omk2p4HSoGU2x5jdFP5iWUZODdWILWIxT3U-VXxuvcofKNwD9ukOeCxo/s1600/Winter_Melon_soup.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxp4Ut_aTG7yMefBym_sLTK0-ZUkePMszahaTlpegMe7dTNBtSkKUnOYSyyWDSekH8M6lCiw50862VpJNUc-omk2p4HSoGU2x5jdFP5iWUZODdWILWIxT3U-VXxuvcofKNwD9ukOeCxo/s400/Winter_Melon_soup.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The result is a simple dish with a range of contrasts, visual and tactile. The winter melon does not add a lot of flavor. It is not entirely flavorless, having a subtle melon taste. What it offers in the soup is a velvety texture that is a contrast to the chewiness of the mushrooms and ham. The translucent whiteness of the melon also contrasts with the earthy brown mushrooms and the red of the ham. Just a simple, elegant dish that is very easy to make.<br />
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That is all my nascent garden produced last week. To see what other gardeners are coaxing from their gardens, visit Dave at <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/" target="_blank">Our Happy Acres,</a> our host for Harvest Monday.<br />
<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-52425432058240084202016-05-15T17:50:00.000-04:002016-05-15T17:50:35.578-04:00Planting LeeksAfter planting my storage onions from Dixondale Farms, the next goal was to get the leeks, shallots and <i>Purplette</i> onions I started from seed into the garden beds. The fact I am planting my own leeks is a bit amazing. I decided to try starting my own this year instead of buying no-name plants purchased from a garden center. I chose <i>Takrima</i>, an F1 hybrid from Johnnys. I reported earlier that <i>Takrima</i> was a total failure, with just one seed emerging and then damping off. I continued to water my expensive failure and fully a month after planting the seeds, they started to emerge. In fact, they came up rapidly and caught up with the other onions. Happily I wound up with the nice pot of seedlings below.<br />
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The raised bed was prepared for the leeks by using a dibble and preparing large, deep holes in the bed, 5/square.<br />
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The pot of leeks was dumped out and individual plants were separated, carefully teasing apart the entwined roots.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-A4dzaOchIoX180icOXWLW4V_gaMAgc0l80VH47xzQTxuFsSw4N7dZOT02kyKrqAT5Gs2DwdE8u8u8hDYtp3cyeX8zcgjymIuDsJAwdh_aYQMmKwbddAf0AeO7TvBERCJNTzyynix-8/s1600/Pot_of_leeks2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-A4dzaOchIoX180icOXWLW4V_gaMAgc0l80VH47xzQTxuFsSw4N7dZOT02kyKrqAT5Gs2DwdE8u8u8hDYtp3cyeX8zcgjymIuDsJAwdh_aYQMmKwbddAf0AeO7TvBERCJNTzyynix-8/s400/Pot_of_leeks2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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A leek plant was then inserted into each hole. The trick was to get the plant and its roots into the bottom of the hole. Trying to use fingers or a stick to accomplish this tended to break the roots. I finally took the plant by its stem and pushed it down into the hole. The plant stems were stiff enough to accomplish this. The result was a plant with its roots at the bottom of a large hole. The soil will eventually fill in after several waterings and the result will be a leek with a long blanched white stem without trenching or hilling. I also planted a closely space row of these between the squares to pull as baby leeks.<br />
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Shallots were next but I did not bother to photograph them. This year I tried <i>Conservor</i> since <i>Ambition</i> is showing very poor storage life. Germination was fine but their longevity in pot was disappointing. It looked like they were going dormant. I do not have high hopes of these. I really miss the <i>Saffron</i> shallots which were ideal for my conditions and stored forever.<br />
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Next was the <i>Purplette</i> onions from Johnnys, a small-bulbed onion with a lavender blush used for fresh onions. These were robust germinators and growers and I had a beautiful pot of them to transplant.<br />
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I allocated two squares to these, planted 16/square. I plan to pull every other one first, allowing the remaining onions to get a bit larger. That space allotment only used half the onions. The rest will be tucked into corners here and there in the garden and pulled as fresh onions.<br />
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All of the alliums are now planted, a bit late but it is done. Next goal is to get the brassicas into the ground, cabbages/kohlrabi first, then the kale and broccoli.<br />
<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125578595363888138.post-67559651884234324832016-05-12T19:08:00.000-04:002016-05-12T19:09:10.663-04:00Finally a little more progress ...Saturday before last was our work weekend for the Bolton Community Garden, a day I (being garden coordinator) get to choose and command gardeners to show up and do community chores in the garden. It was a beautiful day but only a handful of my serfs showed up. Still, we accomplished a lot in cleaning up debris, turning the compost bins, and re-laying the weed barrier for the storage area in the garden. What I did not get to do is weed my own beds and get them ready to plant. That I planned to do on Sunday, but the rain showed up right on schedule early on Sunday morning.<br />
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Last week continued to be miserable with continual rain, gloom, and temperatures in the mid 40s F/ 6 C for six days. The heat in the house was still on and we have not yet raised the storm windows. It looked like we were getting a break for the weekend, but the updated forecast showed rain through the weekend. So when the sun came out last Friday for a period I decided it was time for some mud gardening. I headed off to the garden with my Dixondale onion plants, determined to get them into the ground.<br />
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The mild winter meant that weeds left in the garden last fall had a great opportunity to grow and put down huge roots. In the bed above, can you guess the row that had legumes growing in it? Of course that row is scheduled to get the peas this year and it will probably take me a half hour to dig out those weeds.<br />
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At least the garlic bed is looking good, enjoying the blood meal feeding I gave it.<br />
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It took me over an hour to prep the beds for the onions, weeding and adding some bagged McEnroe organic compost and a generous measure of Garden Tone organic fertilizer. Planting the onion plants was relatively fast after the bed preparation. Above are the <i>Red Wing</i> red storage onions.<br />
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Next I put in the <i>Copra</i> yellow storage onions. The one advantage of being late to plant is that the onion plants had already started to break dormancy. The plants are shipped dormant, looking quite dry and pale. Last year I got them in the ground earlier and commented that it took weeks for them to start to green up and break dormancy. You can see that the plants above are starting to show bright green foliage, indicating they are no longer dormant.<br />
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While it rained, I did take the opportunity to pot up some of my tomato and pepper plants. Above are my <i>Juliet</i> tomatoes in Solo cups, and the <i>Lemon Drop</i> peppers in 4-inch pots. While I had germination problems with the peppers and particularly the tomatoes. I have somewhat recovered. I will give an update inventory in another post.<br />
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<br />David Veltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710293718143454000noreply@blogger.com8