Friday, August 13, 2010

I've become a boring adult.

Sunday, August 01, 2010

quick garden notes

peas:
-start earlier, and try another sowing 2 weeks later

beans:
-bugs eat the seedlings and wipe out half of the crop. row cover? plant TONS more for freezing.
-POLE beans: do it!

radishes:
-thin them!

carrots:
-start early. terrible germination this year, possibly planted too late?

kale:
-plant in flower beds as bugs totally ate them in the veg garden

beets:
-try fresh seed next year. spotty germination.

tomatoes:
-'bloody butcher' is a nice little tomato with a cute green blush on top. plant is pretty pathetic tho - very small and few branches. pass on growing this again despite awesome name.
-'pipo' is small and nice for single salads. nothing special, but early and prolific.
-'mountain princess' is also early and very prolific. range of sizes. good juiciness/sweetness. nice for sandwiches.
-'yellow pear' grape cherries are very dry/pastey.
-'sungold' (hybrid)... i see what all the fuss is about. they are delicious and prolific!
-lots more waiting to ripen
-get proper tall wood stakes for indeterminates.

peppers:
-'early jalepeno' are the last to fruit and some have no fruit. start earlier next year?
-'habanero' are also fruitless, but good size plants.
-'golden greek pepperoncini' are wonder plants producing tons of fruit and plants are a healthy size!
-'cubanelle', 'king of the north', and 'lipstick' all look good with decent fruits
-'new mexico' and 'kung pao' are stuck between tomatoes, not enough sun

tomatillos:
-are awesome. love the plants. no need to stake. figure out if i actually like salsa verde.

swiss chard:
-figure out good ways to actually eat it instead of planting/letting go to seed

lettuce:
-plant every 2 weeks, seriously!

cucumbers/zucchini/squash:
-don't forget to plant these things again! really missing fresh cucumber/zucchini.

eggplant:
-not sure it's doable here. flowers fall off and no fruit. seedlings also get eaten by bugs early on, but bounces back. coffee grinds/dish soap on leaves seemed to work.

garlic:
-pick before the leaves die totally or lose the bulbs!

cosmos:
-start early inside

mint:
-pick before going to seed to dry for tea

parsley:
-need several more plants. pinch back often.

morning glories:
-grow with proper trellis, otherwise grows similar to my nemesis, bindweed.

hollyhocks:
-move to alongside the house, to fill gap where i ripped out all of the day lilies