Monday, June 3, 2013

Garden Progress 3 Jun 2013

It was a wild week with cool weather to begin, rain on Wednesday, then four days of 90F+sun and heat. I decided to plant my tomatoes on Tuesday, figuring a cool, rainy day on Wednesday would help them settle in before the heat. They were  hardened by being out in the sun for days prior to planting and  I watered them everyday during the heat wave, so they are doing fine. Three of the tomatoes are grafted onto a special rootstock. I have also planted ungrafted versions of the Big Beef and Juliet tomatoes for comparison.

Big_Beef_grafted_vs_ungrafted

 

On the left above is the grafted Big Beef, with the ungrafted transplant I bought from Applefield Farm on the right. The ungrafted plant is stocky and very healthy, the type of plant I look for when purchasing a transplant. The grafted tomato has improved greatly since it was potted after removing it from the shipping carton. Right now I would bet on the ungrafted plant, but we still have the whole growing season ahead.

 

Juliet_grafted_vs_ungrafted

Again on the left above is the grafted Juliet tomato, with the ungrafted tomato on the right. The grafted plants are tied to a bamboo stake to give some support to the joint of the graft so it is not excessively stressed by all the wind we are getting.

Cherokee_Purple_grafted

Above is a grafted Cherokee Purple. I am hoping the vigor and disease resistance of the rootstock will give me a healthier plant and more fruit than I usually get from this heirloom. I have planted Cherokee Purple for years now because of its great taste.

On Sunday, which did not reach the extreme heat of the three prior days, I decided to set out the peppers, with rain and moderate weather forecast for the following week. I planted 22 pepper plants, seen below:

 

peppers_left

On the left of the box are four Aconcagua peppers, an heirloom cubanelle-type from Argentina. I tried growing them last year and failed, so here goes again. Next are two Tiburon Ancho and two Jalapeno. On the right side are four Jimmy Nardello. The row of onions in the back is Copra, with tomatoes behind them.

peppers_right

 

This box has three Padron and a mystery pepper on the left. I started the peppers in 3/4 inch soil blocks which tend to move around in the tray. I’m hoping the mystery pepper is my missing Padron. To their right in the front square is Red Cherry. The plan was for four of these but I had poor germination. Behind it is an heirloom pepper from Baltimore called Fish that I bought from Jem Mix, which should be fun to try. To their right are four Lipstick peppers. The onions behind the peppers are Red Bull and those are tomatoes along the back row and wrapped around to the right.

 

The fava beans are getting tall and I placed unfolded wire tomato cages along the sides of the box to keep them from flopping. Even more exciting is they are now flowering and they are pretty heavily loaded with buds. The flowers are white with black spots, which is quite unusual but attractive. So far no aphids, just a spittle bug or two, but I keep watching and waiting for their appearance.

 

fava_beans

 

fava_blossom

 

On the harvest front, I cut a lot of salad greens before the hot weather. Below is some nine ounces of spinach I clipped. The spinach survived the heat and now we have a week of cool weather so I am hoping I will get more. I also clipped a large bag of lettuces I didn’t photograph, including my first head of escarole. I thinned out the Buttercrunch lettuce by removing a couple of heads to give it more room. I also noted the need to re-apply the Sluggo, since the slugs have really enjoyed hiding out in the cool of the lettuce bed. The lettuce will have to washed carefully.

 

 

spinach_hravest

 

 

To see what other gardeners around the world are doing in their gardens, visit Daphne’s Dandelions, our host for Harvest Monday

13 comments:

  1. Everything looks nice, Dave, but the fava beans take the prize. Very lush and healthy looking. I tried growing them a couple of years ago, but they didn't do too well for me. Did you use inoculant?

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    1. I did use inoculant on them, but didn't soak or pre-sprout them They took a good 3 weeks to emerge, but so did the peas.

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  2. Your garden is doing great! It will be nice to see what you get out of your grafted vs. non grafted tomatoes! Cherokee Purple seems to do great for me and always seems to be the least effected by disease out of all my tomatoes. Love it!

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  3. Sounds like you are getting a real rollercoaster of weather experiences right now. The tomatoes look healthy and happy and I am rather impressed by the sheer number of pepper plants you put out.

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    1. Yes, and I grew most of them from seed. They are varieties none of the garden centers carry. Now if they will just produce some peppers for me.

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  4. I too tried growing fava beans but they did not grow well for me and I gave up. Seeing yours make me want to try again, perhaps I will next year. Any advice for me?
    Sound like we have similar weather patterns, poor plants, must be so confusing.

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    1. Favas are cool weather crops so you would think they would do well in your area. I planted same time as the peas, 9 per square foot, and didn't soak or pre-sprout them which some people recommend. They grow tall so you have to surround the bed with some kind of support. Biggest pest is black aphids, which I have yet to see.

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  5. The favas are looking lush! Recently saw someone using tomato cages to support them. We, too are on the look-out for aphids — any tips to offer?

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    1. So far no aphids, just lots of ants which makes me a bit concerned. If I get them I will probably use a soap spray.

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  6. It will be interesting to see how your grafted tomatoes do in comparison to the other ones. Your favas look really happy and healthy, hope you get a good crop. My favas have already hit the compost pile, but not until after they produced a decent crop. I'm fortunate to be able to overwinter them for a spring crop. Do you get the spittle bugs on your favas? They don't bother my favas, just those little black aphids do and they weren't a problem this year.

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    1. My problem this year was every time I was ready to plant, it snowed another foot. I do have a spittle bug or two, so far no aphids.

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  7. I like looking at your garden raised bed. All plants look very healthy. Its hard to get mulch supply here. So I am thinking of growing some butterfly pea plants and make mulch out of them since they are weeds in our garden.

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    1. That shooed work if you chop them and let them dry (make sure you do not include any seeds to start weeds in your raised beds).

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