Contender Bush Beans

Contender beans in front of a row of pole beans, a Matt's Wild Chery tomato, and a small patch of Cherokee Popcorn.

I swore off bush beans but not for long. I planted a packet of Contender BB with my melons and squash as a companion plant, Most of the melons and squash didn't come up but the beans sure did. I was so impressed with their vigor that I bought 2 more packets to plant out and save the seed.

Upper Ground Sweet Potato squash is the only squash to come up and it is very healthy looking; likely my only winter squash next year.

Six varieties of everbearing strawberries stayed green thru the winter and are now putting out flowers and fruit. Tribute and Sarian are the most vigorous and I plan to propagate them. I've already had 3 large, red, juicy, tasty berries from the Tribute plant.

Oregon Sugar Pod II is the only pea of 6 that I planted to set fruit. The other 5 either rotted in the very wet soil or grew stunted plants. Likely my only pea next year. Fava beans came up strong but got attacked by black ants and black aphids. Very little fruit set. I'll not plant Favas again.

The Golden Giant amaranth is doing great. It has better seed for grain than Vitnamese Red that I grew for it's great leaves.

I cut my Stevia plant to the ground after it died from a frost. Happily, it came back from the roots. I plan to root a bunch of cuttings and get several plants going. Stevia and Lime basil make my favorite tea. Stevia combines with lots of tea plants: Chocolate peppermint, Lemon Balm, Monarda,

I transplanted dozens of new varieties last week and look forward to see how many adapt to my garden. Sure hope the Red Veined sorrel is one of them.

April 26, 2009

The star of the winter garden: Japanese Long White bunch onions. (beer can for sizing)

I planted a pack of bunch onions from the grocery store and was amazed at how well they grew on some very poor soil, 2 harvests in 2008 and now they're back and about to set seed. You bet I'm saving the seed. I planted many more packs from the store and you can see some of them in this picture. Not even half the size of the first planting. I thought it might be different varieties and Googled: Allium fistulosum. There are several varieties and JLW is the largest and looks like my plant. This is the first Allium to like my garden, I'm so happy.

I just got back from 3 days at the garden and I am sore. Got my main planting done and the rain is coming. I also planted Jim and Jan blackberries from the University of Arkansas. They are the first primo cane fruiting blackberries (they have a second crop in the fall). I planted my seed grown goji berry next to an earlier goji planting from a cutting. The Golden Seal came up! The New Zealand Spinach is coming back. This will be the third season since I planted the seed. My kind of plant: 'It grows like a weed.' Very nutritious; lots of Vitamin C. My Tribute and Pretty-n-Pink strawberries are setting fruit.The wild, lowbush blueberries that I let stay in my garden are rewarding me with a nice fruit set.

Sleeping in my dome cabin is so much nicer than sleeping in a tent. So much work to be done in the garden and with the cabin but so nice being there, nice neighbors but none in sight, most of the noise is from birds, crickets, and frogs, the foxes and pileated woodpeckers accept me, the air is so clean. I'll return soon

March 7, The First Planting.

My small dome cabin is at the top right.

I planted a long row of peas (Witkiem Fava, Oregon Giant Snow, Monk, and Monmouth Melting Sugar along the path here. Also sprinkled in Mixed mustard greens. Along a 7 foot trellis I planted Super Sugar Snap, Golden Snow, and Maestro. I scattered 4 oz. of white clover seed all around the garden and into the woods.

The green in the center-left is the planting of bunch onions I got from the grocery store. I took 2 harvests of green onions last fall and they are ready to be used again. I've been a failure at growing onions, garlic, and leeks till now. These perennial onions grow in poor soil without care and are available fresh, year round.

The only other plant to remain a very healthy green through the winter was triple curled parsley (the flat died). I'm planning on a winter garden this year and will probably find more plants that remain green through the winter. Maybe it's just me but I think a winter time soup or stew is better with a few fresh items in it.

Retrospective

What a trying year. A late frost in April killed my first planting. Then a cold, very wet spring stunted the growth of most plants. Powdery mildew wiped out most of my peas and beans. In June and July the deer destroyed large parts of the garden. Raccoons destroyed my Cherokee popcorn. Only 1 of the 8 tomato varieties I was growing set fruit.

There were many pleasant surprises though.

Zucchino Rampicante (aka Tromboncino) squash.
Matt's Wild Cherry tomato.
Yard long beans.
Sarian strawberry from seed.
Litchi tomato.
Bunch onions purchased at the grocery store.
Cream of Saskatchewan, Melitopolski, White Sugar Lump, Gold Baby, Chat Chai, and Thai Rom Doa watermelons.
Toothache plant.
Cucuzzi edible gourd.
Kiwi Gold Raspberries.
Stevia.
Gogi berries.

I used no pesticides or other chemicals, My only fertilizer was urine/water at a 1:15 ratio. This attempt at self-sufficiency worked so well I'll do it again.

The mixed plantings in patches turned out to be a pain in upkeep. Back to planting one long row next to the garden pathways.

Water the soil, not the leaves. Old advice that I won't ignore again.

Growing peanuts in the corn patch results in very few peanuts at harvest.

Still green in January: Mizuna, Tatsoi, collards, strawberries, turnips, green onions, and parsley.

Everything likes strawberries. Next year I'll grow strawberries under a net or chicken wire.

October 21

Giant Tromboncino (aka Zuchetta) squash.

I paid no attention to the vine that went into the woods around my garden. Walking in the woods I found this 12 pound Tromboncino. Tromboncino is the most outstanding plant in this year's garden. I'll be offering seeds from this beauty in the I Dig My Garden seed trading forum.

I harvested seeds from: broom corn, Vietnamese Red amaranth, Chichiquelite, ground cherries, Lemon Drop hot peppers, Yard Long beans, Litchee tomato, and Popping sorghum.

Ocober 13

Naranjilla with ripe fruit.

I tasted the juice from one fruit--delicious. Unfortunately I can't spend 2 years to get 2-3 oz. of juice. It looks like an exotic tropical and would do well above zone 8 if treated like citrus and coffee trees.

I harvested the Carwile's peanuts and didn't even get my seed back. They seem to have powdery mildew like many of my other legumes. I need to find a cure.

Good eating. Matt's Wild Cherry tomato--mild, sweet, tomato flavor. Kiwi Gold raspberries--great flavor but too soft and crumbley to make a market berry. 3" Thai Rom Doa watermelon--few seeds, good flavor sort of like cotton candy flavor.

Mixed parsley is growing well and carefree. I'll plant lots more next year.

The Stevia (Sweet Leaf) plant I put in the garden is growing well; hope it makes it thru the winter (doubtful).

Melitopolski Watermelon

I tried growing watermelons on my poor, heavy soil for several years without success. This year I hit the jackpot--3 growing well. Cream of Saskatchewan and White Sugar Lump are growing quite well but the champ is the Melitopolski above. The main stem is 12 feet long and there are 4 side shoots 3-4 feet long. All 3 are just beginning to set fruit so it will be a while for the taste test.

August 30

Bunch onions from the grocery store. (aka Green onions, Scallions, and Welsh onions.)

Until now I've had no luck growing onions, leeks, and garlic on my poor, heavy soil. I got a couple of bags of bunch onions and used the top 2/3 for tuna fish salad. I planted the bulbs in my garden. Those beauties survived all the troubles of this year's garden and grew carefree.

These are perennial so I think I'll add a few more to my onion patch. The picture shows another package ready to plant and my all purpose planting tool, a long handle mattock. Also in the picture: some Anasazi beans with the onions and raspberries behind the onions.

Garden Destruction.

Newly harvested Zucchetta amid destroyed corn patch.

My big, beautiful Yamaha Zuma scooter was totaled by a jerk more interested in talking on a cell phone than watching traffic. It took over 2 weeks to get a settlement and buy a little scooter to take me to and from my woodland garden.

The deer took advantage of my electric fence being discharged to browse the garden and to eat my biggest Naranjilla to a stub. The raccoons took advantage of my long absence to completely destroy 3 patches of Cherokee popcorn that were almost ready.

There are still a few things growing and the Zuccetta (Italian Trombone) squash pictured above is this year's big winner for me. Young, it's better than zucchini mature like above it's a good winter squash, tho' in MHO not as good as Delicata or Butternut.