fall planting

I'm about a month late, but I wanted to see if I can get some fall crops. I have lots of space where my peas, garlic and onions were. And my potatoes will be coming out soon. I planted:
Lettuce, Skyphos
Lettuce, Prizehead
Lettuce, Oakleaf
Lettuce, Valentine Red Mix (Botanical Interests)
Lettuce, Italienisher
Lettuce, Victoria Butterhead
Lettuce, Green Romaine
Lettuce, Red Romaine
Brussels's Sprouts
Win-Win Choi
Beets, Merlin
Beets, Blankoma
Spinach, Bloomsdale Long Standing
Escarole, Tres Fine
Escarole, Batavian
Arugula
Fall Greens Mix (Sand Hill Preservation)

With a harvest time of 105 days, its pretty late to try planting Brussels's Sprouts. I've done this before it seems and end up with little sprouts that are almost ready by Thanksgiving, but ... not. Everything else has a shorter time to harvest:
bok choi: 52 days
beets: 48-55 days
spinach: 48 days
escarole, 42-90 days
lettuce: 42-48 days
mixed greens: 21 days

did my soil cause the curled-up tomato leaves?

In addition to my fall planting, I also set up a test of my garden soils to try to figure out if a problem in the soil caused my curled-up tomato plants. I'd like to know for next year. I have lots of Siberian Red tomato seeds, so I planted these in four soil samples:

1. Tomato bed (this produced plants with curled leaved)
2. Sub-soil (lawn)
3. Purchased compost (same compost that went into the tomato bed)
4. Green's bed (loam and compost from sources different than tomato bed)


I suspect the problem is with the purchased loam that went into the tomato bed. I bet it was treated with an herbicide (2,4-D or glyosphosphate) at some point. Sad that this is so prevalent. Lots of plants can't handle these chemicals and they get spread around all over. 2,4-D degrades rapidly in soils (half life = 6.2 days), so if this is the problem it should dissipate soon.

Fortunately, USDA tests of food crops grown in 2,4-D treated soils risks found that levels are not of concern. OK, but the tomatoes don't grow very well. The 2,4-D dietary risk assessment considered both acute and chronic risks from residues in food based on field trials --- so ... we can eat the produce.

Suzie comes home on Friday

Suzie is the smallest female of the litter. She is all black just like Skippy. We can't wait to bring her home on Friday afternoon. My dad has suggested that she should have a blog of her own: " Suzie's Flower Garden". We'll see if she is up to that!

today's harvest

I don't know how I missed my first zucchini! But it is a big one. I am making zucchini bread tonight. In addition to the zuc, my harvest included a pretty little eggplant, a yellow crook squash and a white patty pan squash, lots of lettuce and herbs, and a couple cukes.

garden work

I did a lot of work today to remove fungi damage. Squash leaves at the base of plants, especially zucchini and butternut, were white and fuzzy. I removed and bagged these. The pruning made it easier to find and pick squashes and weed under the plants.

My potatoes ares quickly dying back now. I removed the plants from my red potatoes and bagged these rather than composting just to be safe.

I also removed tomato leaves with leaf spot damage. It's a super year for tomatoes - plants are big and leaf spot damage is not bad. Lots of big tomatoes on the plants though it is early in the season and so far I have only picked 3 or 4 tomatoes. The worry is reports of late blight in the area. I heard today that late blight was found on tomatoes at Waltham Fields, 1 mile as the crow flies (as the spores travel) from my garden. I was afraid i might find late blight on my plants today, but did not. I looked at other plots at our garden and was dissappointed to find one or two at the far south side that have damage that could be late blight. After harvesting, I sprayed my tomatoes thoroughly with copper fungicide.

I also watered a bit, especially the bed where I sowed carrots a couple days ago. We had rain yesterday, but the ground was surprisingly dry. I will have to get a rain gauge as I don't think the garden (1 mile groom my house) gets the same rain as my house.

The weather was dry when I sprayed at midday, but by 6 pm rain moved in. The whole area got at least 1 or 2 inches of drenching rain. Was it better to spray the tomatoes before this rain? Should I spray again after? I am finding this a bit confusing, but my understanding is that a regular schedule is best and so I should spray again in about 5 days.

today's harvest

July photos of my gardens

This is my side yard garden. The beds are getting sun about 11 am to 2:30 pm now because of trees to the east and west. But is is really sheltered and warm here, especially in the open cold frame against the south wall of the house.





And this is my community plot - with completely full sun.

today's harvest

Summer is outdoing herself. With all this rain and warmth, my gardens are producing so much food.

Today I harvested my shallots. Also, about half of my onions. I picked a row of beans. The cucumbers are producing more than I can believe, and the summer squashes are out of control. I only picked the big squashes quickly tonight, but will pick the rest tomorrow. Looks like I'll donate a big bag of squash to REACH. I put up 7 jars of pickles tonight.

broccoli harvest

My broccoli seemed to grow full sized heads almost overnight. Just a few days ago (it seems) the heads started to form. Little florets hidden in the center of the plant. And now - all of a sudden - I have three big heads! I harvested these yesterday. We ate one of the heads at dinner last night. I cut it into long section, stir fried briefly in a little leftover bacon fat with garlic, ginger root and a chili pepper, then added water and steamed just until tender. Yummy.

my how to videos

This spring I made another series of "How To" videos for eHow. They're pretty basic topics. Here's a list with links:
How to sow spinach seeds
How to sow pumpkin seeds
How to plant Black-seeded Simpson lettuce
How to raise romaine lettuce
How to transplant Romaine lettuce seedlings
How to grow butterleaf lettuce
How to grow from seed tape
How to plant carrots using seed tape
How to cultivate sugar snap peas
Is there a difference between sweet peas and sugar snap peas
How to sprout potatoes
How to propagate Habanero pepper seed
How to propagate marigold seeds
How long until marigolds flower from seed

These are videos I made last fall:
How to grow sprouted garlic
How to remove dahlias
How do I store dahlia tubers
How to harvest summer squash
How to pick squash
How to harvest chili peppers
The easiest way to grow leeks
How to save seeds
How to protect seeds with burlap
How do I plant pea seeds in the fall

skippy - the day before the haircut

A kid said to Skip today, "Who pulled the wool over your eyes?"

Tomorrow is his haircut day. I'll see if I can get an "after" photo, too.

garden bugs!

All of these are beneficial bugs. Great pollinators. Ooops, wait a minute. I just looked up that pretty grasshopper. I read that grasshoppers are terribly destructive pests in vegetable gardens. He's on my basil. Maybe THAT'S who's been eating my basil. I've added slug pellets and they are not slowing the damage. I am reading there's not much you can do about grasshoppers as they are so mobile. BIRDS! come here, birds...

PS. BugGuide says the pretty grasshopper is a Scudderia. They are herbivores, but don't usually eat too much. Sounds like I shouldn't blame him.

pickles

I processed a dozen of my cucumbers (45 harvested in the past couple days!). I made deli half sour pickles using this recipe: Half sour pickles deli style. A little modification, I substituted coriander seed for black pepper since my husband is allergic to pepper. They'll be ready to start eating in 3 days.

help - do you have a cucumber recipe???

tomatoes!!

The "real" tomatoes are ripening! Ahh. Can't beat this time of year.

A couple weeks ago my mom sent me a fascinating article about how supermarket tomatoes lost their flavor. Turns our the green shoulders contain chlorophyll and work to make the tomato sweet as it ripens. The great supermarket tomato advance was to remove the green shoulders and produce a perfectly red tomato - with NO TASTE. Remarkable!

Work linking tomato sweetness and green shoulders was published June 28, 2012 in the journal Science: How Tomatoes Lost their Taste.

A nice article is at The Salt (NPR food blog): How The Taste Of Tomatoes Went Bad (And Kept On Going).

My first three real tomatoes are a Pink Beauty, a Purple Calabash and a Brandywine.

late blight

I just got back from spraying my tomato plants. We had a little rain yesterday and I've been spraying with a copper fungicide after every rain to protect against late blight. My plants look really good this year, so I'm hoping for a good harvest before the blight comes in.

The latest info on tomato blight is at this site: http://extension.umass.edu/vegetable/alerts/late-blight-alert-update

Late blight was spotted early this year, July 3, in some commercial tomato fields near my garden and in other parts of the New England. But it seems that it isn't spreading very rapidly.

A couple weeks ago, I sent out this notice to gardeners in our Community Garden.

Gardeners,

Bad news – On July 3, Late Blight was confirmed on tomato plants near us (Middlesex County MA). This is a very aggressive pathogen that can kill an entire field of tomatoes or potatoes within a few days.

As you may remember, we had a terrible year at the Belmont Victory Gardens with Late Blight in 2009. It affected the whole garden and the entire NE region with devastating effects for commercial growers.

We would like to ask you to do the following:
-    Please read some of the links and information on the bulletin board (we will post photos and info soon) to learn about Late Blight and how to identify it.
-    Check your tomato and potato plants carefully for Late Blight and report it immediately to me if you find any (UMASS extension service like to follow locations of outbreaks and fellow gardeners will also like to know). If you find damage that looks like late blight it must be removed from the Gardens and disposed of at home in your trash. Do not compost it! Late Blight spreads very quickly and it is important to do what we can to contain spread of the pathogen.
-    To protect your plants from infection (especially important in shadier and low lying areas):
o    Remove leaves at the bottom of tomato plants to increase airflow
o    Increase airflow around potatoes and tomatoes by trimming nearby plants, removing weeds, removing vines from fences, and keeping the paths mowed
o    Spray tomatoes and potatoes before every rain with a fixed Copper fungicide spray that is organic approved.

I walked through the Belmont gardens today and checked tomatoes and potatoes in many plots. I did not see any Late Blight, but did not have time to check all gardens. Actually, I think the tomatoes and potatoes look really good this year. There is a bit of Septoria leaf spot around as usual, which is a less aggressive fungus that causes small brown spots and yellowing from the edges of the leaves on both tomatoes and potatoes, but not much.

In my garden, I removed the Septoria damaged tomato leaves and disposed of them in my trash at home. I will be spraying with a copper fungicide soon. This is available at Hillside Garden Center as a powder or spray. Geno recommends a spray combination of Rotenone (also organic) and copper that is available at Agway in Waltham.

Some helpful links:
http://extension.umass.edu/vegetable/alerts/late-blight-alert-update
http://seacoasteatlocal.org/2012/07/alert-late-blight-found-in-massachusetts/
http://extension.unh.edu/Agric/lateblight.htm
http://nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/blight/
http://www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/vegpath/photos/lateblight_tomato.htm (lots of good photos here to learn how to identify Late Blight)

Our Yahoo and Facebook sites and are good places for conversations and advice. Also feel free to email me.

Kathy
Coordinator, Belmont Victory Community Gardens

what is this?

This is a wetland plant from the meadow near my garden. Can anyone help me ID it?

beans sowed and picked

I planted some bush green beans today and calculated when they should be ready to pick.

Maxibel (a French/filet bean), 50 days, expect to harvest around Sept 12
Jumbo (a flat Italian bean), 55 days, expect to harvest around Sept 17

These will be my last bean plantings as this harvest dates will be the end of bean season.

I also sowed some dill seeds next to the beans. It was very old seed, so I hope it sprouts. Dill matures in 40-60 days.

My purple bush beans, planted this spring, have been producing a small harvest for me for the past week or so. I picked a meal of them today. My second planting of bush beans (Roma and more purple beans) is just beginning to bloom. My pole beans are half way up their poles.

today's harvest

fall and winter seedlings

I planted a tray of fall seedlings a couple weeks ago (July 7). I have kept them indoors under lights. Today I brought them outside to start getting used to full sunlight.

Beets, Chiogga Guardsmark
Beets, Round Red Merlin
Beets, White Detroit
Cabbage, Pac Choi, Mei Qing Choi
Cabbage, Pac Choi, Win-Win Choi
Cabbage, Red, Super Red 80
Cilantro, Calypso
Endive, Dubuisson
Escarole, Natacha
Lettuce, Butterhead Green, Ermosa
Lettuce, Butterhead Red, Skyphos
Lettuce, Looseleaf Green, Black Seeded Simpson
Lettuce, Summer Crisp Green, Nevada
Lettuce, Summer Crisp Red, Teide

The beets and cabbages are right on time for a last planting of the season. I don't know how the lettuce will do with the hot weather. I am trying some Summer Crisp types, which are supposed to be more heat tolerant.

I will sow another tray the first week of August (in a week and a half) with my winter crops that will go in the coldframe: spinach, more lettuce and other greens.

This week, I want to remember to sow some carrots and fall peas in the garden. Not sure where these will go yet.

I am using my Fall Planting Calendar to figure out when to plant. Here's a link to it. I am using Nov 1 as my average first fall frost date.