And another chard harvest -- still under plastic

^^^

Another chard harvest -- still under plastic (mild day today)

Not sure how much they're actually growing given the cold weather and low sun, but it's nice to get a few more harvests.

Chard(/lettuce) now covered under clear plastic instead of blanket

(The blanket thing was lazy/dumb)

Just for fun to see how long the harvest might last.

Chards semi-flopped from cold; will cover from tonight's snow

Last night wasn't particularly cold -- minus 5 -- but today the central bed's chards are semi-flopped and didn't bounce back during the day.  So, did a potentially-final? harvest.

Snow is coming tonight/tomorrow (5 to 10 cm) so just for fun I decided to cover the chards (and the mini late-sow lettuce).  Placed a tall fence over them then simply draped the blue curtains over the chards (including the ones against the west house, which haven't flopped yet) and a sheet over the lettuce.

Tuberous begonia tuber brought inside

A hard frost must have hit this week finally, as the plant was obviously kaput.  The thick stems were still intact, so maybe I should have / could have waited a bit longer for more frost, but I wanted to get all the containers washed up today as it's the last nice day (high of 18!).

Harvested all potted Bolero carrots: Results

The carrots sowed July 26th in the big black pot were short, but great!  Not hairy, just short -- nice ~3" beauties.  No difference in size from the ones that I thinned generously vs. the ones I left more crowded.  I wonder if they would do fine in a shorter container, given they only used the upper bit of the pot.

On the other hand, the ones sowed April 12th in the grey rectangular pots, which growed beautifully in 2021, weren't a flop, but were all hairy and short.  Did I wait too long to harvest?  The July 26th ones noted above were much nicer.

Hmmm -- reviewing my notes -- the July 26th pot had been amended with kelp and MRP, whereas the April 12th one I didn't seem to have added anything to it -- maybe that could be related?

But regardless, they're all perfectly edible!

Shade success: Potted short zinnias

The potted short zinnias (in the fake terracotta pots) did great in the shade along the fence.  Would definitely do this again.

Zucchini harvest by month

Monthly tally:

June = 4

July = 51

August = 54

September = 22

October = 7

Total = 138

Hollyhock flower(seed) branches placed into yard for birds

Took the long (very long!) hollyhock flower stems off the front plants and put them into the yard in three spots along the west bed, supported by tomato cages (and most cut in half so that they stay upright).  The house sparrows had been eating them when they were out front, so hopefully someone will enjoy them in the yard as well.

So, if holly hocks spring up in the yard next year, this is why!

138 (!!!!) zucchinis harvested this year! (final one was yesterday)

A record year for me!  That's 138 zucchinis out of a total of 8 or 9 plants (3 or 4 of which were late starts).  It would have been a few more had I not been away camping when the first ones flowered.

That's 15 to 17 zucchinis per plant!

The freezer is certainly well stocked with zucchini soups and sauces.

The varieties were Golden Glory and Eight Ball.  I loved them both, they both seemed to do equally well.

The 7 tulled zucchinis had zero issues with SVB.  Will definitely tulle most of my zukes again in future years.

SVB found inside the last of the zucchini plants (pulled today)

Since the plant was clearly killed by frost overnight, pulled it out.  Actually was going to leave the root in the ground to decompose, but when I cut the vine lo and behold there was a borer grub inside.  So, pulled the whole plant out.  Found a second borer (a big one) and there may have been more, I didn't check too closely.

This would explain why the plant hadn't done much lately.

This plant was one of the few zucchinis that were never tulled, so it's not surprising.  Actually it's more surprising that it lasted this long.

First frost was last night (first in my yard)

Alas, the one zucchini plant I hadn't pulled yet was clearly struck down by frost last night, as was one of the volunteer ground cherry plants.

The zinnias and stevias are still looking good -- as surprisingly is the buckwheat (and of course the cool-weather things like chard, celery, and carrots).

There had been definite frosts outside of the yard (with ice on cars, on the grass on the hill, etc.), but until now the yard seemed to have escaped it.

House sparrows eating basil seeds! (dried on plant)

Must be quite the flavour punch compared to millet!!

~8 bags of leaves shredded and put into yard

To shred them:  Used the big powerful whipper snipper, in basement (since noisy), leaves into green bin then "blendering" them with the whipper snipper.  Would be easier/better with wider bin like garbage can, but it still worked.

Eye goggles, face mask, and gloves.

Most of the leaves went into the beds (dug in); some went onto the grass paths.

Some left over will probably keep in basement (in garbage bag) for the winter.

Song sparrows, house sparrows, and junco in yard at same time

Fun!

Green bean harvest and meal -- OMG delicious!! [but big ones have strings]

Harvested most of the rest of the green beans I planted for a fall crop.  They were quite small, but, weather isn't great and needed enough to add to the harvest a few days ago to make it worth steaming up.

So -- steamed them up for a few minutes, and had them with margarine and salt -- and WOW it was actually delicious!!  For being so unappealing raw -- what a transformation.  Makes me totally want to grow them again next year!

[Edited on 31 Oct 2022, after eating the final mini-harvest from a few days ago, to say that the full-sized bean pods have two strings each which are inedible -- so I just stripped them off while eating.  Might be worth looking for stringless type?? (if that exists) Or consider harvesting before full-size.]

Wow!! 2 pounds of potatoes from the a/c corner with the 7 runtiest seed potatoes, no hilling! Total 6 lbs potatoes

What a great surprise!  I never would have imagined a solid 2 pounds of potatoes from this little corner, especially since it was only the runtiest seed potatoes that were planted here.

Oh -- and, I did no hilling or troughing or anything there -- just plunked them in and covered them up, and it was only ~4-5" of good soil.  Amazing!

That makes a total of 6 pounds of fingerling potatoes from the $27 worth of seed potatoes (3 packages).  Thats... $4.50 a pound :D

Holy longgg roots on the Jasper tomato!!! Will definitely grow again -- did great

Removed the plant today as part of cleaning up (it was still going strong) and WOW those roots!!!  At least one was at least 3 feet long!!!

Will definitely grow this variety again.  Yes it had early blight, but it didn't bother the plant at all, and it was completely unaffected by the late blight that rapidly took out all the other tomato plants a few weeks ago.

Plus it grow so tall!  It was in the biggest tomato cage, which it definitely outgrew, but fortunately it was right next to the vertical structure so it meshed itself onto that and grew, grew, and grew.

Leaf collection began tonight

Love my rake, makes this so much easier.  

2

House sparrows eating hollyhock seeds!

Neat!  There are certainly hundreds if not thousands of seeds on the hollyhocks in front of the house.  Saw them from the kitchen window, right there eating seeds.  Fun!

First fall beans harvested! Skinny but I'll take them -- 65 days to harvest

The beans sowed on August 4th (or rather, the few that sprouted/grew) have been struggling with these cold nights as have the cucumbers, but today I noticed there were actually some harvestable-sized ones!  And with tonight's forecast of -1, figured I'd harvest those.  Still some really small ones on the plant, will leave those in case the frost holds off...

Last (probably) cuke harvested -- for total of ~5 or 6 fall cuke harvest

This cuke could have used another week or so to finish filling out, but more cold nights happening so harvested now just in case.

A couple of other cukes took, but with the cold nights are growing soooooo slowly, so I'm not sure if they'll make it.

I'd say my fall cuke experiment was a success!  A sparse/limited success, but still worthwhile.  The vines were never very healthy, but they produced.

Parsley harvest -- and yes only grow curly parsley in future too

Pulled a nice bagful and made tabbouleh for the first time -- quite tasty mixed with homemade hummus!

The curly parsley was perfect this year -- I hadn't grown flat leaf parsley this year because I've found it goes to seed way too soon.  No need to grow flat leaf in future.

Juncos! On roof while I was in yard. Surely they'll come back?

First time this fall seeing juncos in the yard!  Bag timing as I was out there so they didn't come down, but hopefully they'll be back.

Frost on car, but not in yard -- everything's still standing (including cucumbers, zukes, and Jasper tomato)

^^^

Cold nights but no frost yet; not covering anything

Has gone down to as low as +1, +2 range (per forecast, not necessarily here).  We've started a nice week of sunny warm days (mid/high teens), so hopefully the cukes / Jasper tomato will be able to withstand the cold nights and keep going a little longer.  Not bothering to cover anything though, so come what may.

Radish harvested (from August 15th sowing) -- yup, I still don't like radishes

Too darn spicy!

Goodbye tree

The silk lilac tree outside the yard, which never came back to life this year, was removed today.

2 more fall cucumbers harvested

Another 3 to come soon.

Neighbourhood apples finally! First yesterday, two today (unlikely to be many more)

Didn't think I'd get any, but yesterday one, and today there were two nice big ones in mostly-good shape.  Not as sweet as last year, but still highly edible!

Removed all tomato plants bec killed by late blight, except Jasper

Went ahead and pulled all of the Tofusteaks and Big Tofu Pluses, as they were mostly all crispy from the late blight.  Most of the fruits still on the plants were rott-y, so I tossed them, but did keep some including several all-green ones.  --> Edited a few days later to say that the rotting continued inside, so tossed all of the green ones; the red ones I had to peel off some blighty sections but the insides were fine.

Hummingbird!!

While refilling the bird bath this afternoon, what did I see but a hummingbird swoop in on the zinnia patch next to the fence, then immediately swoop out of the yard when they saw I was there.  So, very fleeting, but neat!

Cuke fall crop harvest began! 61 days from sow to first harvest

One of the Eureka cucumber plants that was sowed in the pot on July 22nd, whose female I pollinated on Sep 5th, I harvested today!  That makes 61 days from sowing to first harvest.

I'm seeing at least 3 more that took, but all in the west bed, should be ready within a week or so.  The pot plants aren't looking too great, but, we'll see.

130th zucchini harvested!

I thought this was late in the season, but actually, looking back to past years, the latest I harvested zucchinis was into November!  And October frequently too.

So, maybe the harvest will go on longer than I thought... Though things are massively slowed down, hardly any flowers happening and when they do, the zukes are very slow to grow.  I think part is they must have depleted the soil, given how amazingly productive they are... plus the powdery mildew doesn't help either.  

Beefsteak & Big Beef Plus tomato plants ravaged by -- late blight? But it was a great harvest (and more to come)

Wow, over the last week or so the tomato plants took a huge downturn, from being gorgeous and healthy to now about 80% shrivelled and drying up.  There are still several tomatoes of various greens and oranges, hopefully they won't be affected but even if so, it was a huge harvest overall.

Interestingly, the Jasper cherry tomato still looks mostly great, just those ongoing yellow/diseases leaves scattered throughout but certainly looking much healthier now than the other plants.

Rest of tulle removed

It was just the beets and one pair of zucchinis that still had tulle.  Removed it today, just because.

The cucumber hand-pollinated Sep 5th took and is almost ready!

I'd guess another 5 days or so, then will have my first fall crop cucumber!

Freezing raw/whole/plain tomatoes (easy peasy)

Having nearly completely run out of jars and freezer space, decided to try the one thing I NEVER do:  Freeze an actual vegetable instead of making something out of and freezing that.

Google says tomatoes can simply be frozen whole.  No nothing' needed beforehand.  So, I just removed the green stem (but didn't cut in to remove the scabby bit), gave them a quick soapy wash in the sink, put them on the counter to dry, then put them on a plate in the freezer.  Once frozen, into a bag they went, and sucked out the excess air.

Soooooo easy, and so nice to take a break from ALL. THE. COOKING. that I've been doing in recent months.

Should be easy peasy to later take them out and use them for new batches of minestrone, lentil tomato soup, bolognese, etc., sometime over the winter.

All fall broccoli a flop; pulled the one remaining flop of a plant and sowed buckwheat

Yeah, that one last plant was definitely getting nibbled at by something and was totally failing to thrive.  So, pulled it and instead sowed a bunch of buckwheat, straight from the jar, then covered lightly in soil and then with a plastic sheet.

Next year for a fall broccoli, start then in containers (with a way to also cover with floating row cover, or tulle since at that point would be small / not touching the tulle), then transplant to ground once nice and sturdy.

Removed all miner-damaged chard leaves for the second time

There were tons and tons of badly miner-damaged swiss chard leaves, so the first pass I did on July 23rd wasn't the end of it.

Will see now if those miners are finished for the year once and for all...

120th zucchini harvested!

Most of the zucchini plants keep trucking along, ever so slowly -- though the late untulled start in the central bed is doing awesome, quite productive.

Birds eating lettuce seeds from the plant

Saw sparrows (house, I think) having a buffet of lettuce seeds from the Ruby plants I let flower.  I've collected a good amount of seeds already; happy to share.

Shade container potato experiment cont'd: Results of containers #2 & 3 = 1.25 lbs from 7 seed potatoes

Emptied the last 2 containers along the fence, which were in full shade, and their plants had fully died a while ago from blight.

The black pot had 4 seed potatoes and yielded 0.5 pounds.

The big terracotta-coloured plastic pot had 3 seed potatoes and yielded 0.75 pounds.  The bottom third of the pot was soaking wet -- bad drainage and zero potatoes down there.  Might have had more yield if it had had better drainage?

So far this makes a total of 4 pounds of potatoes for the $27 of seed potatoes.  The last patch is by the a/c (where I had put the runtiest ones) -- those plants are still quite green (though blighty), so won't harvest them yet.

Another round of buckwheat sown

In the NE part where the store-bought basil and part of the carrots were.  (Amended this part of the bed today with alfalfa pellets (pre-soaked), pulled basil, and pulled carrot tops.)

The buckwheat was sown straight from the storage jar (not pre-soaked or anything).  Coveredish lightly with soil, then with clear plastic.

Taste comparison: Big Tofu Plus vs. Tofusteak

Tested as part of a tomato sandwich.

Flavour seems to be pretty much identical.  The Big Tofu Plus had a firmer texture though, which I would say made this the winner.

Female cucumber from fall sowing! Hand-pollinated. Will it take?

It's on one of the potted cucumber plants, all three of which are quite pale green in colour.  Hand-pollinated it with several males but as usual I can't see any cucumber pollen for the life of me.  Will see if it takes.

Tomato plant health update: All looking great except blighty Jasper, but even it continues to produce

^^^

Un-tulled one pair of zucchini plants

A sparrow got in somehow this morning and was trapped, so I removed the tulle to free the bird.  Won't bother re-tulling.  This pair of plants are pretty tired and don't look to be producing too much more.

Merlin in willow trees

That noise is unmistakeable, and the app confirmed it.  With the oodles of sparrows coming to the yard these days, I hope it's not a matter of time before the merlin comes and takes one from the yard...

Carrot weevil adult found

While digging around and harvesting carrots, found an carrot weevil adult, confirming my suspicions of a few weeks ago re: the cause of the damage.

Very cute and not flying.  

A rough guess is that of the carrot harvest so far, ~35% have the weevil damage.  I'll just be sure to use those carrots up separately (and obviously toss the damaged upper parts).

Wild plum tree! Found at MForest --> Update: Eat raw only!!

Very cool!  At first glance I thought crab apples, though they looked different.  They I wondered if cherry?  But then I clued in -- wild plum!  On the side trail to the garbage dump.

A bunch of ripe ones fell when shaking the tree gently.

The flesh is juicy and nice, but boy those skins are tart!

Not sure whether Prunus nigra, or Prunus Americana.

Some info and recipe ideas:

https://foragerchef.com/wild-plums/

https://curiousbynature.wordpress.com/tag/plum-recipes/

https://cookthismeal.com/recipe/1604-sandhill-plum-pie

UPDATED THE NEXT DAY:  Eat them raw only!!  By biting into them gently, sucking out the pulp, and spitting out the pit and peel.  I tried removing the peel two ways (one by boiling then dunking in ice water; the other by baking) -- both ways made the entire flesh horribly horribly bitter.  Whereas, they were very pleasant simply eating raw (minus the peel and pit).

Fall cucumber plants have been flowering -- females only so far

... They're looking pretty good.  And bees are coming around for the buckwheat and Jasper tomato flowers, so, once some female cukes start appearing hopefully they'll get good and pollinated.

Oh no!!! 3 of the 4 fall broccoli plants have been killed! (they were still skinny)

Noticed about a week ago that one of the four piracicabas that I direct-seeded a while ago had floundered, didn't think too much as 3 were still left.  Well!  Today I noticed 2 more have died!!  The stem was sliced clean through, about 1.5 inches above soil level.  Cutworm maybe!?  (As they've been always under floating row cover.)

Bummer.  One is still there... for now.  I won't bother doing anything about this, will just see if this one makes it.  But in future years, I should avoid direct seeding broccoli in favour of waiting until plants are good and sturdy before putting in the ground.

Tooooooo manyyyyy tomatoesssssssssssss

Well.  With 6 well-producing tomato plants, this is just too much.  Not to mention the one cherry tomato (Jasper variety), whose leaves are riddled now with septoria leaf spot or blight or something like that but keeps producing a nice gradual harvest over the last several weeks -- and also not to mention the the flops from the north bed most of which produced a few small tomatoes.

Too many tomatoesssssssssss.  It's been workable so far, but the freezer is definitely starting to approach capacity -- and I foresee quite a rush of tomatoes over the next couple of weeks.

Glad to see that the GEFC seems to accept people's fresh produce -- will most likely go that route soon.

So yes, the row of 3 x 2 tomatoes in the central bed, 3 of Big Tofu Plus and 3 Tofusteak:  One of the Tofusteak isn't that at all, ended up being some kind of determinate variety, so puny.  The others I had all topped several weeks ago in case that would help them start ripening, so they haven't had any new growth in a while, and each of these plants doesn't have a huge number of tomatoes, though many are quite big, so the cumulative amount of tomatoes is... a lot.

Then there's the one Tofusteak "leftover" at the south part of the central bed -- which, WOW, is just LOADED with tomatoes -- not giant ones, but very decent sized.  Really all I'd need is 2 plants like this plus one cherry tomato and that would be plenty for me.  But, you never know how plants will turn out (look how all the north bed ones ended up being total duds except for the Jasper), so, it is what is is.

Can't complain!

Leaf miner damage still happening to (untulled) chard

The experiment I started a few weeks ago by removing all miner-damaged-chard -- well, there's now a bunch more miner-damaged chard.

No big deal, just goes to show I guess chard needs to remain covered the whole summer.

Praying mantis!!

Oh wow!  A praying mantis flew from the northmost carrots into the nearby Jasper tomato against the vertical structure!  Definitely flew.  Is green and skinny.  Amazing camouflage!  I wonder if someone in the neighbourhood bought a mantis egg sac and this fellow made his way here.  Not many "pests" around for him though -- although, tons of sparrows visiting the yard and I read that mantises can eat birds -- yikes...

Hadn't seen any mantises since that first one a few years ago, whose egg sac never "hatched" the next spring.

100th ZUCCHINI HARVESTED!!!!

Woot!  I guess this makes up for all those recent years of puny wimpy zucchini plants that hardly produced anything at all.  Still unsure whether it's due to new varieties this year, or because of the kelp/MRP I gave them at planting and along the way.

The plants are definitely still slumped, but some more zukes are still on the way.

Shade container potato experiment: Results of container #1 = 0.75 lbs from 4 seed potatoes

Emptied the first of the three containers along the fence, which were in full shade.  This container's plants are fully brown/dried/disappeared, so figured it was time.

At first I thought there were zero potatoes, but it turns out they potatoes were all in the lower ~third of the container.

So, a non-impressive 0.19 pound of potatoes per seed potato...  Better than 0.0, but, yikes!

The blight might have been a factor for sure, since the yield in the north bed was low too.

Will see what the next two shade containers bring, later on once their plants are 100% dead too.

Garlic bulbils scattered randomly in central bed

The one volunteer garlic, which I had let the scape be, turned into the cutest little bulbils.

Today I decided they had dried enough (on the plant) so harvested them and scattered them in the central bed.  Didn't dig them in or anything.

Carrot weevil damage in the upper third of a few carrots so far

Not a lot of loss from this so far.  I had noticed some carrot tops flopped over a while ago and wondered why... this must be it.

Just cut off the affected tops, the rest of the carrot parts were fine.

The weevils don't fly, so hopefully not a big deal for future years if I rotate the carrot crop enough.

Good info on this page:  http://omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/93-077.htm

Might have "cooked" the fall pea seeds under the plastic

Oops.  Very hot, direct sun.... might not have much a fall crop of peas.

Berry alley: Blackberries and thimbleberries in season

A good amount of blackberries and thimbleberries at berry alley.  Even one raspberry which was extremely delicious.  The blackberries look to be going for a few more weeks, though the thimbleberries might be near their end.  

Neighbourhood apples wormy so far

Collected 2 or 3 so far -- looked wormy from outside, were all rotten inside.  Discarded.  They were on the smaller side compared to last year, so, maybe later in the season...

Tomato harvest ramping up -- a few big tomatoes per day

^^^

Dill (fall crop) sowed directly (didn't start in PT)

In the central bed's south part.  Just to fill in a gap.  (And I'm getting bored of so much buckwheat everywhere!)

Pre-soaking peas (Sugar Snap) and beans (Kentucky Wonder Wax)

For an attempt at a fall crop. Will sow them tomorrow under the west vertical structure.

The Kentucky Wonder Wax beans sowed August 4th took (5 or 6 of them), though none of the Great Northern ones did.  So anyway, all of these beans are the same kind then.

Sowed lettuce (Romaine "Paris Island Cos"), radishes ("Cherry Belle"), and forget-me-nots in north bed

Sprinkled all together throughout this bed south of the buckwheat sowed today.

I hate radishes!  But just for fun, figured why not.

The forget-me-nots are just for fun too.

Sprinkled some pre-soaked alfalfa pellets in the bed here at the same time (not a ton).

Sowed buckwheat in north bed, imm south of vertical structure

Pre-soaked in water for ~24 hours, then thickly sowed (1/2 cup of seeds!!).  Covered with soil, then watered, then covered with clear plastic.

This is the first time I didn't do any pre-sprouting in PT -- figured it's worth a try.

Fertilized all zucchinis with Azomite (first time), MRP, and kelp meal (1 Tbsp each)

The 7 original/tulled zucchinis have really been slowing down over the past several weeks.  The ongoing/increasing powdery mildew could be a factor, but I figured why not give them a boost with Azomite (bought some today), MRP, and kelp meal, in case it might help.  At the same time I figured why not do the same for the three untulled zukes, though the one by the hydro meter is looking great, and though all three of these will likely succumb to SVB in the not too distant future.

Another 1.25 pounds of potatoes (measly) -- total of 2 pounds so far

... and that's from $27 worth of seed potatoes!!  Compared to ~$5 at the store for a 1.5 pound bag of the nice small potatoes... d'oh.

There are still the 3 pots of potatoes, plus a small area next to the a/c where I had put the runtiest seed potatoes, so maybe a smidge more to come...

On the bright side, the potatoes themselves look fine (though definitely small, even for fingerlings), so at least there is *some* harvest.

Next year I'll look for a blight-resistant variety.  (Avoid waxy, because they aren't good for mashing.)

Big Tofu Plus tomato harvested -- a nice big one!

Wow, these are probably the biggest tomatoes I've grown!  Will give it a few more days to ripen inside before trying it.

SVB moth seen laying eggs (on untulled zukes), including on top of leaves

Watched her for a few minutes, followed along removing eggs where I could.

Also, noticed one of the leaves in the tulled zucchini in the west bed (south pair), has a little reddish dot on top of a leaf that isn't touching the netting.  I don't think it's a SVB egg, but, am not totally sure.  Will try to keep an eye on it.

And another cabbage butterfly in tulled zucchini

Samed zuke pair as last time (west bed's north pair).

The main tomatoes are finally starting to ripen!

Wow, must have been those two days of rain a few days ago, but finally some of the many nice big green tomatoes in the central bed are starting to ripen.  (The cherry tomatoes and the poorly tomatoes in the north bed had started ripening a while ago.)

80th (and 81st and 82nd) zucchini harvested today!

Several of the plants have really slumped, but I dare say I think by season's end it will be over 100 zucchinis!

Another cabbage butterfly in different tulled zucchini!

This time also in the west bed, but the north pair (which is also next to the broccoli bed).

2 cabbage butterflies inside a tulled zucchini bed!!! Must have hatched from kale leaf used as mulch?

I highly doubt they would have been motivated to crawl underneath the tulle given it was just zucchinis inside.  So, I'm guessing they were eggs/caterpillars on kale leaves when I used some to mulch a while back, then emerged this morning as these two butterflies.  It's the two zukes in the west bed, southmost part -- which is right next to the broccoli bed, so maybe they wormed their way in that way instead... 

Pre-soaked beans sowed (two kinds)

The brown beans (Kentucky Wonder Wax) are on the east part, the white beans (Great Northern) are on the west part.  Not covering with anything, so maybe the birds etc. might eat them, but in which case, oh well.

Bean seeds soaking in water, will transplant tomorrow

Would need a warm fall to make it to harvest, but figured I'd try, just to use up the rest of the beans in these two packages:

- Kentucky Wonder Wax (brown beans)

- Great Northern (white beans)

2 of the PT Eureka cucumbers transplanted to central bed temporarily

Figured I should let them get their feet under them before moving them to the north part of the west bed under the roof.

The other 2 Eureka cucumbers haven't sprouted yet, neither either of the Marketmore.

"Cos Lettuce Mix" and "Baby Pak Choi" scattered in central bed's south part

Just to use up the rest of these random seeds.

Didn't even scratch them in -- will see if they take care of themselves.

The bought basil is getting blighty-looking spots on some leaves (not downy mildew)

Just a few leaves affected so far, otherwise the basil plants look good still.

Haven't seen any of these spots on my home-started basil (Prospera) yet.

No sign of downy mildew on any of the basils yet.

SVB worms (tiny) found in several leaf stems of the un-tulled a/c zucchini

I had been occasionally checking for / removing eggs, but not religiously (because, 60-something zucchinis and counting, so far...).  Had a closer look today at some bruised / dying / dead leaves -- removed them and inspected, and sure enough, found several itty bitty teeny tiny wormies in there.

My guess is some have by now made it into the main stem.  I won't interfere with those, will leave them be.

So far this plant has given me 1 zucchini.  (The first one on it had fizzled, but the second one took.)  I think it will give a few more before the SVB zap it.

Haven't found any worms yet in the two smaller central-bed untulled zucchinis.  (Nor in any of the tulled zucchinis though I don't look closely at the tulled ones.)

More cucumbers started in PT for fall harvest

2 Marketmore (the last two from the foil packet collection)

4 Eureka

started in PT.

Figured why not, and since only two of the in-ground seem to have made it so far.  (Though there are also the 3 in the pot...)

Wow! Carrots sowed July 26th are already above ground!

I guess that's the difference of cold spring soil and warm summer soil!  And they weren't even pre-sprouted or anything!  (I'm used to waiting several weeks for them to appear above ground.)  

They actually must have appeared yesterday or the day before because today when I noticed them while checking the protective cover, they're relatively "tall" already.

Broccoli fall crop transplanted into ground, fertilized, and covered with LV floating row cover

Transplanted the 4 PT-sprouted piracicabas into the ground today.  Maybe risky as they're at the same spot as 4 of the removed ones, so chance of caterpillar in ground and re-emerging?  But it's the only spot I have open, so I'll give it a go.  Amended the soil as below.  Placed the row cover from LV over hoops, BUT I don't like this stuff because it also has sections of small "holes" where if a butterfly landed just so, the egg would definitely go through the cover.  So I'll ask around and see if I can find a better one.

Mixed these into the ground today at the 4 spots:

1 Tbsp alfalfa

2 Tbsps kelp meal

2 Tbsps MRP

And set the seeds into vermiculite to make sure they don't get stuck underground.

Basil growth slowing a bit, but no sign of downy mildew yet

^^^

Sparrows galore; millet goes fast!

So fun.  Seeing lots of house sparrows, chipping sparrows (feeding a young'un), and song sparrows.  The occasional goldfinches (they're not as fond as the platform feeder, so not getting tons like I did last year, but too bad so sad).  The millet is going like gangbusters.

First celery stalk harvested

The potted ones aren't doing great this year (unlike last year) but the in-ground ones are coming along nicely.

No SVB eggs found on the untulled zukes in ~ a week (but won't remove the tulle)

2 (and a half) zukes are untulled (late-starts) and I haven't found any SVB eggs in a while.  However, last year I found eggs as late as mid-August, so definitely will keep the tulle in place.

Experiment result: Short zinnias do equally well in shade

The potted short zinnias against the fence (full shade) are doing equally as well as (and actually a bit better than) the potted short zinnias in the sunny part of the yard.  Lots of flowers on both.

Eww -- the BER tomato was all rotten inside

Gross...  Since the only brown part on the outside was the lower 1/4 of the tomato, I figured the upper part would be ok.  Alas, no -- only the uppermost part of the upper part looked healthy.  Too offputting though to try tasting it, so tossed it.

Buckwheat: Another round started in PT

Will go in the bare part of the potato patch and maybe a few here and there to fill in gaps.

Lettuce started for fall crop (direct-sowed)

Sprinkled a bunch of 2021's Black Seeded Simpson, scratched it in, watered it, and covered with plastic.

2 more beets harvested

I love these beautiful miner-free leaves!  And the roots look gorgeous too.

Started broccoli (Piracicaba) for fall crop

65 days to harvest would mean October 2nd harvest starting, so what the hay, will give it a try.  Should have done this sooner...

Broccoli now un-tulled bec I wouldn't have eaten it anyway (bleh) -- Will leave some plants to go to flower

Next year I'll definitely use actual row cover instead of tulle over the broccoli...

Will leave the north-most plants for seed saving but might remove the southmost ones to grow some buckwheat or something.

Potato flop!?!?! (in-ground, 72 days after planting)

Decided to dig out two of the in-ground potato plants.  Well.  Both together yielded a whopping 0.3 pounds.  Probably 0.2 once the dirt gets washed off.  Oh my.

Granted it's only 72 days and I think these potatoes are 60-90 days, but still, there was hardly anything there.

Not sure if it's because of the blight, or other factors.

Will leave the rest for longer.

Blossom end rot! On the first Big Beef Plus to ripen

The first Big Beef Plus tomato had started to ripen, and while looking at it I noticed it has BER!  I don't think I've ever had this happen on any of my tomatoes before.  Anyway, brought it inside to finish ripening and will just cut off the bad parts.

From a quick scan of other green tomatoes I'm not seeing any other BER at this point.

50th!!!!! (and 51st) zucchinis harvested today!!!!!!

First non-cherry tomatoes harvested (Scotia)

Not surprisingly, Scotia was the first to harvest.  Big Beef Plus has lots of really nice sized green tomatoes and Beefsteak has some slightly smaller ones, green as well.

50th zucchini harvested (several zukes still in a slump)

^^^

Zucchinis definitely in a slump

A few of the plants have several zucchinis actively growing, but several are looking tired.

Also, the latest start in the hydro bed, which had a female open a few days ago -- that female didn't take.  Weird...

Carrots sowed in pot

The zucchini that I started in PT several days ago didn't sprout, so in that pot I've now sown some fall carrots (Bolero).  I had already recently amended the pot with kelp and MRP.

Used the last of last year's beets -- as mulch

The last 3 of last year's beets still look pretty darn good in the fridge!  But I just couldn't bring myself to eat them.  Now that some of this year's beets are harvestable, I decided to just chop up last year's three and toss them on the garden.

In retrospect, I could have used them for the arborio rice recipe -- which I totally forgot until after I tossed them on the garden.  D'oh!

Beets: First two harvested. Beautiful leaves!

Harvested the two biggest beets.  Even though the leaves were squished under the tulle, no sign of leaf miner on any of them at all!  (Whereas the untulled chard have lots.)

Made the beet leaf pasta sauce.  Sooooo good.

Swiss chard in west bed looks diseased or something (central bed chard is fine)

Weird, noticed today while checking the west chard for leaf miner damage, that although I didn't see any miner damage, all of the leaves over there look.... not great.  Kind of peppery/spotty, like maybe some kind of disease?  Which is weird, because chard has always been a fantastic year-long producer for me, other than leaf miner damage.

Anyway, will "leaf" it all alone and see what happens.

Swiss chard experiment: Are the leaf miners finished with laying eggs for the year?

Today I removed all of the miner-affected leaves of the swiss chard (all of which has been uncovered for a while).  The central bed, which as been uncovered the longest, had a lot of badly affected leaves, but also some untouched leaves which don't even have eggs on them.

So anyway, I will see now whether more miner eggs appear and more leaf damage.

3 carrots harvested

Harvested 3 carrots, just because, and their tops looked big at the soil level.  They were a decent size, especially coming from the formerly-patio area.  Kind of sweet tasting -- nice!

One of the tulled zukes had the tulle up against stem!!! Wonder of SVB will have gotten it

Noticed today while watering that in the west bed, the north one of the south pair, the tulle was right up against the stem.  So, a SVB could definitely have come along and laid an egg on the stem through the tulle...  I didn't see any eggs, but maybe one already hatched...  Anyway, all this to say, if this plant ends up succumbing to the SVB, I suspect this will be why.

Piracicaba leaves riddled with caterpillars, bahhhhhhh

While watering everything today I had a good look and saw that so many leaves -- even after having chopped the plants down dramatically the other day -- have leaves, and lo and behold most of those leaves had a caterpillar (some wrapped up in a small cocoon or whatever).  I only saw small caterpillars so hopefully they're all recent appearances only from when the plants started to touch the tulle.  But for sure next year I will try the row cover instead of tulle.

I tried removing all affected leaves so that when I see more holes I'll know they're new... though I didn't get all of the northern leaves.

Pulled the Waltham broccoli; the mini-zukes in with them are therefore untulled now

They had reached the netting too, and one of the two was doing zero in terms of florets, so pulled them both.  Will plant buckwheat there soon.

The two puny/late/shaded zukes that were in with the Walthams will now be un-covered.

Harvested rest of round 1 buckwheat

About a week ago I had harvested 1/3rd of the round 1 buckwheat; today I harvested the rest.  I did it by cutting near the base of the stem, and left the roots and a bit of stem in the ground, because I read somewhere that you can get a second crop if you leave them in (??).  All of the round 1 buckwheat harvest went to the two northmost zukes in the west bed, by placing on top of the soil.

Experiment: Started cucumber (x3 Eureka) and zucchini (x1 Eight Ball) to go into pots (started in PT)

Given how well the in-ground zukes are doing, I decided to try a late-season experiment to see if I can get a potted zuke to grow as well.  And why not try some cucumbers too.  If I'd actually get any harvest out of these, the zukes (50 days) should be harvestable around September 10th and the cukes (57 days) around September 17th.

So started seeds in PT today.

Prepped their pots today (pots are my standard black pots), with the garden soil and with this mixed in:

- 6 Tbsp mrp per pot

- 4 Tbsp kelp meal per pot

(no alfalfa added)

40th zucchini harvested!! Most zukes going strong, but with some down time here and there

Yowzers!  July 6th marked my 10th zuke, and now just 2 weeks later I'm up to 40.  Awesome!  The powdery mildew is expanding, so it may be a matter of time, but at 40 zukes already I can't complain.  Compare to last year when I harvested a total of 26 to 28 (the last one being in November)!

I'm finding many/most of the plants go crazy in production for a while, then it's like they take a pause to re-group.  Currently the west bed / north two / westmost one is on a big pause, but hopefully it will rebound.

Latest-start zucchini (PT June 7th) has first female open!

The Eight Ball in the hose bed, which I started in PT June 7th, is looking great and this morning the first female opened.  Found a bee in the flower but I also hand-pollinated since who knows if that bee found any males zukes.  

At planting time, I gave this plant 1 Tbsp mrp and 1 Tbsp kelp meal. 

This is 45 days from sow to first female.  So, I imagine it will be 50 days to first harvest -- which Google tells me is right on par.

I've been finding SVB eggs on this plant and have been trying to remove them, but being out in the open I'm sure that will be this plant's demise.  Will see how long it can go though.

The hill/park grass was mowed; will let it dry for a few days then use it as mulch

^^^

Potato plants are collapsing inward -- not sure if from old age, or due to the blight

The main bed in the northwest corner is collapsing inward.  The pots along the fence are looking sparse.  Both are losing leaves.  The late planting of runs in the a/c bed isn't collapsing yet but has the same leaf yellowing/spotting.

Will see what the harvest looks like eventually...

Powdery mildew is slowly expanding among the zukes (I'm not interfering)

Not interfering with it; will see how the plants fare.

Un-tulled the other kale/chard(/parsley) bed since was touching top of tulle; found cabbage worm

Given today's broccoli fiasco, figured there was zero point in keeping the other kale bed tulled, since those plants are huge now and definitely in contact with the netting.  Hacked a few of the kales down thinking maybe I'd hack them all, then re-tulle in hopes of harvesting a second growth later, but in so doing found a teeny worm hanging fairly low on a plant, so, nah -- my kale season is over for the year.

I'll leave some of the kale plants there to see how they grow for the rest of the season, re: rot etc.

Broccoli disaster!! MOTH LAID EGGS ONTO BROC THAT WAS TOUCHING THE TULLE!! ITTY BITTY WORMS FOUND!

Egads!!!

The piracibaba broccoli plants, which are quite big at this point, have been pushing up against the netting, i.e. making direct contact with the netting.  Well, today on lunch break while having a meander, I saw the moth land on top of the tulled broccoli and lo and behold lay an egg.  Then another in another spot.  And when I started closely looking throughout, there were multiple teeny tiny eggs laid where the plant was in contact with the netting.  I had seen the moth hover around there before but never saw her lay, and figured she wouldn't since she can't curl her behind under the lay the egg on the underside of the leaves.

Sigh.

So -- massively hacked all of the piracicaba plants wayyyy down in size, so that there's a buffer of space between them and the tulle.  I have a feeling they'll rebound and continue producing in a few weeks.  In the meantime, I plan to place new higher hoops, and will need to sow two pieces of tulle together to have a big enough piece.

While hacking the plants down, I took a final-for-now harvest, and did the "soak in warm water with salt and vinegar" thing.  Sure enough, found ~4 tiny caterpillars in the water.  Sigh.  

What a bummer.  But, live and learn; I'll do better next time.

Jasper cherry tomato first harvest (~3 tomatoes)

Seems pretty late for a cherry tomato.  The top of the plant has a fair number of more tomatoes coming in (green still) but sheesh it has been a slow start...

Leek moth damage (and a worm) in the green onion tops

Dang, never noticed this before on green onions.  But as I was inspecting the window-pane damage at the kitchen sink, and slitting the green onions to inspect the insides, I found a teeny worm.

Transplanted more PT buckwheat -- this time into NE corner of central bed, by pulling kale but leaving roots

Cleared out most of the NE central bed's kale, and some of the chards, mostly by chopping them down to just the stem poking out (to let the roots decompose in place, and also to see if they re-grow).  Then transplanted the PT-sprouted buckwheat in amongst the kale stems.

Transplanted cucumbers round 2 into space vacated by pulling 2 runty tomato plants

Pulled two of the runtiest tomato plants in the north bed (each of which was stunted and had just two green tomatoes, with little promise for more), then transplanted 3 Eureka cuke seeds into the southern one, and 3 into the northern one.  Figured they should be able to climb the tomato cages nicely, especially since they're semi-dwarf vines.

Waited until ~11:30 to pollinate -- did some flowers close before then?

For example, a big male had closed up and I'm sure it wasn't from yesterday because I harvest all of the males each day.

So, if a couple of flowers fizzle out in the next few days, this will be why.

SVB FOY -- removed 10 eggs from the one untulled zuke (hydro bed) -- Kaolin didn't deter SVB moth

Ah, so kaolin wasn't effective in keeping the SVB from laying her eggs on the one untulled zuke.  Found and removed 10 eggs from this plant today.

Eureka, a cucumber! (but I might get a total of only 3)

Was waiting for the biggest cucumber to get, well, bigger -- but realized today this is as big as this variety gets.  Also, in noticing that the vines seem to have stopped growing, at only about 3 feet tall, just realized it's semi-dwarf.  D'oh!!  Plus all the crowding among the peas/potatoes/tomatoes, the lack of pollinators (and my puny attempts at pollinating), the cucumber harvest may be a bit of a bust this year.

Well, I'll enjoy the ones I do get...

Japanese Beetles (FOY) -- 2 on pea plants

^^^

Tomatoes in north bed doing poorly; tomatoes in central bed doing great

The central bed has 3 Big Beef Plus (new this year) and 2 Beefsteak (from my old tinfoil pack).  These all are doing great:  Lots of green; big thick stems; good number of flowers and several fruit have set and are growing.

In contrast, the north bed has ~5 or 6 including 1 Scotia and 1 Jasper -- and these are all looking kind of barren -- definitely fewer leaves, thinner stems, many fewer flowers / fruit.  I wonder if it's to do with how these are sort of "end caps" of the potato rows, and water may not be reaching them, etc.  

Oh the one Jasper plant is definitely the best of the north bed, BUT it's really long and scragly, not many fruit on the way.  Will see how it does.

So many birds after the storms! Including chipping sparrow!

Several periods of intense rain today, in between which the birds were excited to visit.  At one point, there was a cardinal, a house sparrow, a song sparrow, and two goldfinches!  And at another time there was a chipping sparrow sharing time with a goldfinch.  A song sparrow was quite territorial later, driving away the gold finches.

Great to have today's rain, really needed it.

Buckwheat round 1 started flowering a few days ago

I'll keep the plants up for a while, let the flowers hopefully attract more insects.

Squirrel on fence!

Ah, just as I sat here this morning writing about all the birds, saw a squirrel on the fence!  Hadn't seen a squirrel on the fence or in the yard whatsoever until now.  Maybe all the bird traffic brought him/her over to check out the offerings...

Sent the dogs out to deter, for now...  And hopefully the baffle (the wide one) will do the job though I fear there are various things they could climb up to jump onto the trays.  I don't mind them eating the bird food but they'd better not spill things onto the ground, or eat MY food  :-)

Birds a-plenty! Goldfinches, house sparrows, cardinals, song sparrows

Fun!  Quite a few visits throughout the day these days.

Removed the new fine-mesh feeder yesterday because the goldfinches had stopped using it and they seemed to actually prefer the big tray.

So, now it's back to the small millet-only tray on one side, and the big tray on the other side offering sunflower chips (fine but passed through mesh first to reduce dust on ground), peanut pieces, millet, and nutrisaff.  I have the green soft mesh seed-catcher tucked right up underneath the big tray to catch the dust and it seems to be working great.

Yesterday evening I put the bird bath back out, saw one taker so far.

Kaolin'ed the late-start untulled zucchini bec it's being eaten by cucumber beetles

Removed one beetle yesterday and one today.  The newer leaves show signs of being chewed, and some browning.  The last thing I need is another zucchini plant, but for whatever reason decided to kaolin it anyway.

Berry alley: Too early for blackberries and thimbleberries; raspberries ripe but not a ton

A few raspberries along the way to sample, but not enough to make it a destination for raspberries.  Maybe I was too late, and/or lack of rain the last few weeks, etc.

Looks to be lots of blackberries and thimbleberries on the way (definitely too early for them now).

Buckwheat round 3 (?) started in PT

The round 2 in the hydro bed I think got dried out and may have died before they emerged after transplanting from the PT.

So, started round 3 today in PT.

Buckwheat from R's had low germination rate

Hmmm, the "round 2" buckwheat which was the first time using the seed from R's had a low germination rate in paper towel, maybe roughly ballpark approximately 50-60%?  Hopefully it was a problem on my end.

Wild evening primrose in wild hydro bed!!

Whoa!  I let these grow in the wild hydro bed as I wasn't sure what they are.  Turns out it looks like they're wild evening primrose!  A couple are already sending up flower stalks, which is strange, I thought they only flowered in the second year.  One is just a crown.  But how cool it would be to have goldfinches eating from these right in front of the kitchen window this fall... They loved the ones that popped out outside the fence last year; in that location there are a ton of what must be more of them but all are teeny/very short and crowded together, will see if any of those ones do anything next year.

Potatoes are flowering; I'll leave the flowers there

Not a ton of flowers yet, just a few.  Internet seems inconclusive re: whether to leave or remove the flowers, but I want more insects in the garden (given how few zinnias I have this year), so will leave these flowers.

Whipper Snipper!

A couple of weeks ago, my old hand-me-down wimpy whipper snipper (small caps) started smoking while using it.  So, needless to say, it had to go.  My other weed eater is wayyyyy too powerful for my liking, I hate using it, scary/stressful.  So I picked up another hopefully-lower-powered one from the store, but hadn't opened it yet.  Well, today on the way back from walking the dogs, what do I see at the end of someone's driveway in a pile of give-away things, but an actual Whipper Snipper (large caps)!   A nice wimpy 1.2 amps!  Plug-in!  Tried it out today and wahooo!!!  Exactly what I wanted!!!  It even has a good amount of line left on the spool.

Powdery mildew update (I won't intervene at all)

The only plant that has it so far is the Golden Glory in the west bed, north pair, east one.  I had removed a couple of affected leaves a few days ago; other leaves in this plant are showing it too now.  I'm going to just let it be and not remove any more leaves or interfere in any way, and see how these supposedly PMR varieties will do (Golden Glory and Eight Ball).  Besides, the harvest has been amazing so far, so hopefully even if they all succumb to it, I'll already have had a bunch of zukes.

Waltham broccoli head harvested

Pretty small head, but the Walthams were a second-thought, transplanted late etc.  A third of it was rotted or something, so pretty small harvest. Will leave the plant there to see if any side heads develop.

Potatoes have early blight and aphids!

Decided the yellow/splotchy leaves mean the potato plants have early blight.  Mostly the main patch in the NW corner.  The pots in the shade's leaves are yellow but not seeing splotches.  The newest patch by the a/c look good so far.

While examing the blight, noticed a bunch of tiny yellow insects on the underside of the leaves.  I assume these are aphids.

Anyway, will let all this be and see what happens.

Mystery fly [Aha: lygus] has been hanging around potato/pea/zucchini area

Reminiscent of a minute pirate bug, but definitely different. Has a small white "V" in the middle of the back, and then each side of the "lower back" area has a 3/4 "O" on the side.

Overall colour I'd say is a splotchy/patchy brown.  Two long thin antennae.  End tips of wings are clear.

[Updated on 10 July 2022 to say this is a lygus bug / miridae.  Managed to get a photo of one on a zinnia.  Seems to be quite a few around, as some of the green things I thought were aphids it turns out are probably some young lygus.  Will just let them be and see how things go.]

Three-lined potato beetle babies on potato plant leaves

Happened to notice these ones, and removed them, but not going to worry about it too much, no searching around. 

Maybe these are the babies of the adult I saw on the potatoes last week.

Cucumber beetle update: 6 this morning (on cukes); and yesterday 1 was under tulle in central south zuke bed

No male flower for this morning's female!

And no males in the fridge either.  Weird, 7 strong plants and not one male!  So, will cut off this one since no hope for pollination (being under tulle).

Broccoli (piracicaba) harvest ongoing! A basketful every ~5 days

Have been harvesting a basketful every 5 days or so.  Amazing!  I can imagine this going on all season, excited to see how long it lasts.

Going down to 10 degrees tonight and several upcoming nights... won't cover basil (or anything else)

Hopefully the basil can hack it.... FINGERS CROSSED

Buckwheat round #2 , part 1 sowed in wild hydro bed (no-dig); other seeds (part 2) haven't germinated yet

Pea harvest has been great, but will draw to a close soon

Not seeing any new flowers, so it looks like the end is near.  But it was a great harvest, tons of peas.

10th zuke harvested!

WOW, super happy with how all of the zukes are doing!  Even the two that looked pale initially, which I almost pulled back then, have been doing well and producing.

Tulle remains over all of these.

Tons of stinkbug nymphs (I think) in cucumber flowers! (look like ticks)

Whoa, while going after a cucumber beetle, a ton of small insects knocked out of the flower into my container.  They look tickish in terms of size and shape but I don't they are actually ticks.  They don't seem to have wings, they're just walking around the container.  ~25 of them knocked out of one single flower!

Update:  Posted on an i.d. group and someone suggested stinkbug nymphs.  Seems to fit, so I'll go with that.

Goldfinches have discovered the new mesh feeder; house sparrow visited platform; merlin heard from house

Saw three goldfinches at once this evening. 

A house sparrow visited the platform briefly.

Also, this evening is the second or third time I heard the distinctive calls of a merlin, from the house.  Didn't sound super close by, but, close enough.

Buckwheat round 2 started in PT

~3/4 Tbsp of seed from R's.

Today's height of tulled plants

To give me an idea for future years when setting up the initial tulles/hoops, here are measurements of the height of various things today:

Kale:  31" tall

Chard:  31" tall

Beets:  16" tall, but squished under the tulle; 20+" clearance would be better

Broc (piracicaba):  32" tall and growing

Zuke (Golden Glory):  39" tall and growing

Cucumber beetle inside tulle of newly re-covered south zucchini bed!

A few minutes after finishing the re-covering, found -- and removed -- a cucumber beetle inside!  Earlier today found one on top of the tulle of another zucchini bed, removed that one too.  So they are definitely around, lurking...

Upsized two zucchini patches' netting/hoops

Wow, this tulle I bought a big bolt of last year is fantastic, it can really cover a nice big and tall area.  Used it to upsize the west bed / south two zucchini's home, and the central bed / south two zucchini's home, along with newly cut higher hoops.

For example, the central beds' new digs has the tulle/hoops 37" high, and the square area is 76" x 41".  Hopefully the plants should now have lots of room to keep growing well and maintain some air flow.  Next year I should do this from the get-go, no matter how bizarre it looks when the seedlings are tiny little things!

Three-lined potato beetle on main potato batch

Just one so far.  Removed.  Won't kaolin at this point bec sooooo many leaves.

Two bought flowers put into fence front bed to fill gaps

That bed out in front of the fence is looking awful this year now that the poppies (planted last year, flowered this year) finished.  The perennial on the west part of the bed is dying this year, looks awful.

So, from the $0.98 table at CT, one of each:

- Impatiens:  "Part shade; annual; downy mildew resistant; remove spent blooms to promote flowering"

- Angelonia (oh! it's snapdragon):  "Full sun; annual; flowers June to August".

Where have all the birdies gone (including the house finch couple)

Awww, the house finch couple who had their nest in the neighbour's porch shrub seem to have moved on.  Haven't seen them in a while.

Saw just the one goldfinch last week and no others, so bought and installed a new mesh feeder that's meant for nyjer but I'm hoping will work with the fine sunflower pieces.

Freshened up all of the seeds in the big platform.

Un-tulled central kale/chard

Noticed today that the tulle had been lifted up at a spot, by the tall kale.  This piece of tulle is just not big enough to contain the tall plants, so I decided just to un-tulle it and use these ones for mulching, since there's more than plenty in the west kale bed for eating.

Fertilized (and watered) the potted potatoes to see if helps with yellow

The east-most pot, which has the most yellow received 2 Tbsp kelp meal and 2 Tbsp MRP, no alfalfa.

The middle pot received that, plus 1/4 cup alfalfa.

The west-most pot, which has no yellow yet and is the big terra-cotta-colour pot, received the 2 Tbsp kelp + 2 Tbsp MRP, no alfalfa.

And all received a good watering.

Cucumber beetles: 2 more on cukes; 1 (first) on tulled zuke!!!

Removed these 3.  For the one that was on a zuke, can't remember which plant -- either the shaded one in the central broccoli area, or the north of the two south ones in the central area.

Buckwheat seeds from R's -- $1.99/pound in bulk!! Bought 1 pound (= 2 tall mason jars)

Crazy price -- how does the farmer make any profit, I wonder.

They don't have organic, just regular.

Aphids (black) on tomato plants! Will leave alone.

Wow, not sure how these escaped my attention -- a bunch of what I think are aphids (many adults, black with wings, but they don't fly around, they just hang out on the plant) are all over one branch of the SW-most tomato in the central bed, and they're scattered around in lower numbers on other tomato plants too.

I think I'll try just leaving them and see how it goes.

First time I've had these on tomatoes, I think.

Bluejay

Saw a bluejay today eating from the main tray!  Likely ate peanut pieces, and/or the cracked corn.

First batch of Zucchini Basil Pasta Sauce!

:-)

Aphids on mystery flower plants in hydro bed

I'll leave them be; hopefully they'll stay on this type of plant.

Some teeny tiny brownish/reddish ants are enjoying their presence.

First carrot harvested -- not ready yet

One of the carrots (Bolero) in the west bed was peeking up and looked decent size, so I harvested it.  Too soon -- not big enough yet.  Unsurprisingly given the poor nature of this bed, it's not straight -- and it has a few hairs.  Tasted good -- not fantastic, but very decent.

Hollyhocks started blooming ~a week ago

They're gorgeous!  I started them last year, from seed collected the previous year from the neighbour's plant.

So, whatever rusty disease they had last fall doesn't seem to have affected them, and no sign yet of the rust this year.

No sign of cucumber beetles over past several days

After removing those first ~6-7 beetles, and then applying the one coating of kaolin on June 26th (and it has rained several times since then), I haven't seen any other cucumber beetles yet, neither on the cucumbers, nor on the zucchinis (the zukes are all tulled other than the two late plantings which only have a few leaves so far).

Today's harvest

Things are going gangbusters overall!  Today's harvest:

peas (tons)

broccoli (piracicaba) (getting a basketful every week)

zucchini (5th of the year)

kale (tons)

chard (tons)

dill (a few sprigs)

basil (lots)

stevia (good amount(

carrot (a bit too early)

Potato leaves turning yellow, especially potted ones in shade -- lacking something?

They haven't flowered yet, and it doesn't look like the normal aging type of yellowing.  For the potted ones in the shade, maybe the lack of sun is finally getting to them?  Or some other issue?

Fertilizer applications on broc (alfalfa, kelp, & MRP) and zukes and tomatoes (kelp & MRP)

For the zukes and tomatoes, sprinked 1 Tbsp kelp meal and 1 Tbsp MRP around the base of each plant and lightly scratched it into the top of the soil.

For the broccolis, same as above plus 1 Tbsp alfalfa pellets.

No special reason as things are looking good, just figured it can't hurt.

Rot appearing in some kales!

Noticed the stem of some of the White Russian kale, which are supposed to be resistant to rot, are starting to rot!  Pulled those plants and put them in the garbage (didn't use for chop and drop).  Though didn't inspect all of the plants.

Powdery mildew on two Golden Glory zucchini leaves!!!

Oh no!!!  Both leaves are on the GG plant in the west bed, north two, east one.  One leaf had tons, the other had a bit.  There's relatively decent airflow seeing as these leaves are right next to the path, so I'm surprised...

Removed both leaves and put into garbage.

Golden Glory is supposed to have powdery mildew resistance...  with its appearance today I hope that means it can keep growing well despite powdery mildew...  

The weather has been warm in the day and cool at night, which seems to be prime conditions for PM.

Chickadee

Visited the feeder this evening.  Couldn't tell which food was the preference.

So, so far in the last week since putting back the feeder, have seen song sparrows, goldfinches, and chickadees.

2 cabbage aphids? walking on top of the kale's tulle

Found 2 of them, on top of the central bed kale's tulle.  They're very cute -- bright green (not gray at all) and kind of slow-moving, easy to catch.  I feel like I saw these last year on the cucumbers and they ended up not doing any harm.  Relocated these, will monitor.

FIRST ZUCCHINI HARVESTED! (Eight Ball) It's a beauty!

Woo hoo!!  The zucchini plants are all doing great, knock on wood!  The Eight Ball are definitely more advanced than the Golden Glory, but the first Golden took and will be ready in a few days.

Pea plants finally flopped over (after having out-stretched the top of the structure by at least 2 feet)

^^^

Piracicaba broccoli harvests going great -- another basketful today

Loving the piracicaba!  Wow, today harvested another basketful after having harvested a previous basket on Wednesday!   Sure grows fast.  It's a "hassle" yes having to remove the tulle and place it back carefully each harvest, but totally worth it.

These peas are delicious!! So sweet and flavourful

No idea why this year's peas are so good -- they're the same as I've grown in the past.  But dang they are GOOD!

Kaolined the cucumbers after having removed total of 6 cucumber beetles

Decided to jump on the kaolin clay now.  Same batch/bottle from earlier in the season.

Kaolin clay in Ontario -- reference websites

Ontario:

https://agrinews.ca/those-organic-farmers-are-spraying/

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/IPM/english/tender/diseases-and-disorders/sunburn.html

http://omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/09-039.htm

https://www.ontario.ca/page/weather-risks-strategies-mitigate-risk-excessively-hot-temperatures

https://www.mgoi.ca/resources/Newsletter-Archive/Newsletter06Winter.pdf

Canada:

https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2020/ongc-cgsb/P29-32-311-2020-eng.pdf

Cucumber beetles on cucumbers (only a few, couldn't catch them) (none on tulled zukes yet)

Ah, just when I thought my trick of camouflaging the cukes among the peas was working.  Saw two this morning for the first time this year (on the cucumber plants), but they were gone by the time I came back with a container.  I haven't been looking closely at the cukes so they might have appeared earlier.  At this point will monitor/remove, though really I should probably kaolin.

Have not seen any in the zukes yet and those I'm monitoring very closely, picking the male flowers every day.  All of the zucchinis are under tulle (except the two late-sowings which are a long way away from flowering).

Song sparrow, goldfinch

So far, visitors to the birdfeeder, who I've seen, are the song sparrow and goldfinch.

First yellow zucchini flower opened, but is deformed (8-ball zukes are further along)

 The first yellow zuke is from the west bed, north two, east one.

General update: Everything doing well; hardly any insect pressures; zukes looking great

Other than a handful of flea beetles a while ago, no insect pressures yet to mention.

The tomatoes are looking slow to take off -- the one Jasper has a few flowers and a handful of tomatoes forming, and the Scotia has a few flowers, but everything else is taking a bit longer.

Oh and the cucumbers aren't thrilled about being crowded in among the peas and potatoes -- but I think they'll get there.  

Lots of green healthy growth everywhere.

Even my home-sown basil looks fabulous!  Except for 3 or 4 of the southmost ones which maybe didn't covered as well during the cold (?) as they now have some weird / bad-looking leaves.  But the rest look amazing.

And the zucchinis!  WOW!  Even the two that at first looked pale and I was sure I was going to pull, have pulled through and they're among the first I'll be harvesting from!  All 7 of the main* zucchini plants look like they'll be producing fruit instead of the fruit petering out even before the flower opens, as was the case so often in recent years.  I can only imagine it's from not putting too much nitrogen, and from adding in the kelp and mineralized rock phosphate?!  *One zucchini in the Waltham broccoli bed was verrry late to get planted and is shaded by those broccolis so is unlikely to do much.  Also planted 2 late starts a few weeks ago, will see what they do (one in the a/c bed, the other in the south center of the central bed).  Oh and all zukes are under tulle except those two late starts.  I feel like maybe, just maybe I've given them enough space with the tulle this year that maybe I'll be able to keep the tulle on well into the season.

Piracicaba harvest -- nice basketfull today

 ^^^

Kale galore -- doing great

^^^

Peas: First harvest today (just 3, but many more on the way)

Birdfeeder back

Put back the birdfeeder today, only with the two trays.  (Millet in the small tray, other stuff in the bigger tray.)  Haven't had it out since.... last fall?

A house finch couple has a home in the neighbour's hedge thing and often hang out in the dead lilac tree, hopefully they'll check out the offerings soon.

Hopefully the last cool night and the last night of covering the basil

Nights have been going to below 13, even single digits the last 4 or 5 days, so have been covering the basil (with upside down pots covered by blankets).  Ready to be done with this soon... but the pesto and zucchini sauce is so worth it.

Celery turning yellow (oldest leaves) -- will add alfalfa pellets for nitrogen

Both the potted and in-ground.

Picked off the yellow leaves from the potted a few days ago, and now more are turning yellow.

So, today added alfalfa, but to the potted only.

I don't think the celery had the yellowing last year; hopefully it's just a nitrogen deficiency.

Reference: Veganic amendments

A handy list of various options for veganic amendments -- 

from https://www.groworganic.com/blogs/articles/vegan-organic-gardening:

Vegan-friendly products and methods

• Down To Earth Vegan Mix fertilizer
• Alfalfa meal
• Cottonseed meal
• Neem seed meal
• Soybean meal
• Corn gluten meal
• Kelp meal
• Arctic humus
• Soil inoculants and mycorrhizae - read the label first, as some products contain animal-derived fertilizers too. Chappy’s and MycoMinerals are both vegan-friendly choices.
• Mulches–like Mega Mulch
• Cover crops, and cover crop inoculants
• Biochar
• Compost made from green waste (not manure)
• Composting at home
• Liquid kelp
• Calphos, gypsum, greensand and other mineral fertilizers. Many vegans avoid mined minerals though because of the effects mining has on local animal life and the earth as a whole.
• Humic Acids, such as Humax (also a mined product)
• Peat moss (vegan, but controversial due to the effects of harvesting it on the environment)
• Coco coir or coco peat
• Homemade potting mix: combine PVFS compost, perlite (or substitute vermiculite), coco peat (coco coir), and your choice of nutrient-rich ingredients such as limestone.
• Any pesticides that are barriers or deterrents (gopher wire, for example).
• Pest prevention techniques such as companion planting, removing fallen leaves and other pest hiding places, crop rotation, etc
• Biological controls (introducing new beneficial insects or pest-specific diseases) is debatably veganic. It is preferred to encourage native species and only introduce new ones as a last resort.
• Mushroom kits (except for the white buttons and portabella kits)

And, here's what looks to be a Canadian source of organic soybean meal:  https://boogie-brew.ca/product/soybean-meal

No pollen on this morning's male squash flowers! Is it the cold? (so used a fridge flower to pollinate)

Today makes two zukes hand-pollinated on same-day opening.  (both rondes)  Looks like the first, from a couple of days ago, took!!!

Piracicaba broccoli harvest ongoing

Lots of side shoots to harvest.  Getting a nice amount every ~week or so.  Even if I'm a bit late and the yellow flower starts to appear, still tastes fine.

First two female zukes opened, while I was away camping! :(

Argh!  Because of course under the netting, they didn't likely get pollinated.  Tried pollinating them with spent males, just in case.

Both these females were the Eight Ball -- no Golden Glory to that point yet.

Peas forming, probably first ones will be ready within a week

^^^

Ruby leaf lettuce lasts longer than Black Seeded Simpson

The BSSs have mostly started to climb up toward bolting, but all of the Rubies are still low.  Maybe grow less BSS next year, and more Ruby.

So, harvested most of the BSS, letting a few grow to seed.

Mock orange in beautiful full flower! Many yellow leaves -- must be Gold Leaf Mock Orange!

I can't remember if it flowered last year, but my post on May 22nd 2001 commented on how horrible it was looking.

This year the flowers are gorgeous and smell amazing, lots of bees and flies etc. visiting the flowers.  However, most of the leaves are very yellow, like last year.

Oh, wait!  Google says there's something called a "gold-leaf mock orange", and the photos look similar to mine!  This must be what it is!  Yay!

This post talks a bit about pruning it, removing the oldest stems, etc:  https://awaytogarden.com/great-shrub-gold-leaf-mock-orange/

Some more posts:

https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/56959/

https://bambooplants.ca/product/philadelphus-coronarius-aureus/

Mystery solved? re: yellow powder on basil -- pollen?

Noticed some of the same yellow powder on a zinnia's leaves today.  I think it's just pollen from the neighbourhood, and presumably the rain has washed it off the upper side of the basil leaves so I only see it on the underside.

The 1 Golden Glory and 1 Eight Ball zucchini transplanted (from PT a few days ago)

The 8 Ball is in the hose bed (added 1 Tbsp mrp and 1 Tbsp kelp), and the Golden is in the central bed where I removed a puny Waltham broccoli to free up space (didn't add anything here since I think I already added for the broccoli).

Grass mowed for first time, and round 2 or 3 grass sprouted

^^^

Basils have yellow powder on underside of leaves -- what could it be? & harvested/pruned

Hmmm...  The plants look super nice and green on the upper sides, but noticed today while pruning/harvesting that most leaves have subtle patches of yellow powder.  Sort of reminds me of last year's downy mildew except totally the wrong colour, and not fuzzy.  

Oh well, it washed off well, so fingers crossed!

It's on both varieties -- the hybrid I'm trying for the first time that's DM-resistant, and the classic Genovese that I bought from the store.

Runtiest potatoes planted in a/c bed

 7 runty leftover Banana potatoes (one of which was really runty/shrivelled) planted in the a/c bed.  

Basil (home-sown) looks GREAT now!

Wow!!   All of a sudden they went from looking like I thought most of them would make it, to wow they all look GREAT!  Maybe yesterday's big rain helped.  I mean, they're not huge yet by any stretch, but definitely a really nice green.

(The store-bought basil looks good too.)

Buckwheat sowed (after sprouting in PT)

 In the SE corner of the central bed.

2 zukes started in PT to replace sickly-looking ones

2 of the 8-Ball zucchinis look pale/wimpy (including the itty bitty 8-Ball zukes which look pale already, I'm sure they have no hope), whereas the other zucchinis are looking promising.  So, started 1 8-Ball and 1 Golden Glory in PT today, to replace those.

Buckwheat started in PT

To fill in a few empty areas.

Flea beetles have arrived -- only a few so far, so kaolined sparingly

A few flea beetles seen on the weaker of the central tomatoes, and in the potato bed.

Kaolined select tomatoes and potatoes.

Coneflower x 2 (bought from store) transplanted into southwest mini-bed

"PowWow Wild Berry Coneflower" aka "Echinacea purpurea PowWow Wild Berry".

The coneflower outside the fence had been totally eaten (the seeds) by the birds over the winter, whereas the black-eyed Susans not at all.  So maybe these coneflowers will help bring some birds into the yard this fall/winter.

Grass round 3 sowed; round 1 doing great where it did grow

Pre-mixed seed with topsoil, then scattered this onto the thin/bare patches.

I don't see round 2, but round 1 is going gangbusters in the many places where it did come in well.

Covering basil tonight and upcoming nights -- going down to 13-14 next few nights, and 8 next Sat night!

With upside down pots, then a blanket overtop.  Except the front two in the north bed, which have just a weighted pot, no blanket.

Stevia harvesting via pruning -- drying/powderizing and putting into tea, delicious!!

A few weeks ago I started minor pruning of the stevias, then I hang the trimmings to dry.  A week or so later I crumble them by hand (very easy) and store them in a jar.  Half a teaspoon in my work morning tea -- delicious!!  Would be amazing to grow enough for a year's supply of tea-sweetening... I can dream... 

Dill and last stevia transplanted

I forgot to mention earlier that the two best stevias I put into containers (a few weeks ago).  The small runty one is in the ground.

Kaolined 2 cucumber plants (diluted recipe compared to last year)

The two west-most cucumbers.  Just because.  Will see if they burn or crisp up in the coming days, compared to the un-kaolined cucumbers.

Used this recipe (diluted compared to last year):

1/2 cup kaolin

5 cups water

Tulle placed over all zucchinis

The yard is a sea of tulle, between the zucchinis, broccoli, beets, and kale/chard... but it's worth it.

Will most likely need to remove the tulle from some of the zucchinis when they grow to a certain size, but last year my first SVB moth sighting was June 13th 2021, so at least they will be protected for a while.

Basil transplanted; results of the basil experiments are inconclusive

My home-started DMR variety is in the south part of the north bed (looping around the beets) -- the round 2 ones looked good, and about half of the round 1 ones rallied and look good now, though for the life of me I couldn't tell a consistent pattern with my experiment of keeping some wetter and some drier and giving some alfalfa and others not.  But next year I'll plan to aim on the side of drier.  Added some alfalfa just to the two or three southmost ones, then for the rest added only kelp (in the specific dig holes for each individual plant).

Store-bought ones are in the north part of the north bed.  Added alfalfa and kelp throughout this bed.

First piracicaba broccoli harvest

Nice loose "heads" from 5 or 6 of the 8 plants so far, harvested them all today.  Had these in my salad mix (didn't like them stand-alone raw).  Nice!

Apparently there should be lots of offshoots for quite a while.  

Collected mowed grass for mulch

From some local schools.  Not quite dry enough yet, so spread out on bed paths to dry before applying to plants.

Transplanted cukes, zukes, and tomatoes

 All that's left now are the basils and dills.  Could have done it today as the forecast looks decent, but ran out of time.

Grass round 1 appeared, ~1" high

Grass round 2 sown

 In case yesterday's rain storm buried the round 1 seeds.

Everything tull-able is tulled

(Kale, chard, beets, piracicaba broccoli, Waltham broccoli)

Ivory Silk Lilac Tree 95% dead -- what happened??

Very strange.  I thought it was just slow in getting the leaves due to the cool/rainy spring we had, but then looking at all the other trees whose leaves are in full swing -- nope, mine is 95% dead.  There are a few random small leaves here and there but even those don't look healthy.  I wonder what happened?  The only thing I can think of is maybe something happened last year with the road work.

Hopefully it doesn't get removed until a new one is ready to go in, as it's being visited by a good number of birds throughout the day despite there being no birdfeeder.

House finch couple

The lilac tree out front (which is now 95% dead) has been frequented the last few days by a house finch couple.  Nice birds; the male seems pretty brave, doesn't fly away when I go out.  I think they're making a nest in the top of the neighbour's cedar bush thing.

I've had no birdfeeders up for several months so it's nice that birds still come around even without food.  I did set up the bird bath last week but haven't seen anyone in it yet.

White Cabbage Moth laid eggs on the uncovered Waltham broccoli

Saw the moth fluttering around the Wathams, checked and sure enough there were some eggs.  So, removed the eggs and placed the tulle.

Some piracicabas have started to flower! Won't harvest for a while though.

 ^^^

Waltham broccoli transplanted (central bed)

All 4 were winter sowed.  Could have transplanted a while ago but didn't get around to it.

So, the central bed broccoli is only Waltham, and the west bed broccoli is only Piracicaba.

Some zinnias transplanted

 They've been out full time and in the sun for a while now.

Prep for zucchini & tomatoes: Dug in mineralized rock phosphate and/or kelp meal and/or alfalfa (experiment)

See my paper with my notes of how much mineralized rock phosphate, kelp meal, and alfalfa pellets (pre-soaked) I dug in to the various zucchini spots and tomato spots.  Didn't actually plant anything yet, so marked the spots with rocks.

My original notes, before I scrapped with this method and instead went with the hard copy paper: 

In the west bed, prepared two spots for two zucchini.  The westmost one against the wall has a total of 6 Tbsp mineralized rock phosphate and 3 Tbsp kelp meal.  The one a few feet east to that has a total of 6 Tbsp mineralized rock phosphate and zero kelp meal.  However, that east one's soil is semi-crap, so, not a perfect experiment.

Reference: Veganic seed-starting mix

Totally doing this next year!

JV's recipe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWU2lyzPbz8

https://www.facebook.com/events/3309684622596372/?active_tab=discussion

20 litre / 5 gallon peat

1/2 cup dolomite lime (to offset the acidity of the peat)

Mix above, water thoroughly.  Then, add in:

3 cups perlite (for aeration)

2 cups vermiculite (for aeration and water retention)

1/4 cup granulated seaweed

1/4 cup colloidal soft rock phosphate

Mix above, water thoroughly.  Then, add in:

10 litre / 2.5 gallon potting mix or well-finished veganic compost

Mix above, water thoroughly.  Then, add in:

1/2 cup alfalfa meal (fertilizer)

1/2 cup soybean meal (fertilizer)

1/2 cup mycorrhizae (to help build the mushroom base for the root systems)

Mix above, water thoroughly.  

Other things to consider:

- "Live mulch" in Gatineau

- Promix mycorrhizae (but need to add fertilizer to it: alfalfa meal, soybean meal, & kelp meal)

Begonia appeared!!!

Yay!  I was about to give up on it.  Glad to see it's still here.

Tomatoes are rallying; basil still looks awfullllll; fuzz on inside soil

Was away for a couple of days and came back to find the tomatoes (inside) looking better -- growing, and, I think greener than before.  I think most of them will make it.  Getting them outside to harden during day when I can.

The basil however is looking awful still.  More leaves turning brown.  The ones I'm keeping dryer might be a bit less bad than the ones I'm keeping wetter, but hardly.  I'll definitely have to buy basil yet again, to be safe.  Especially a bummer because these ones I grew are a variety resistant to downy mildew, which did in last year's basil.  Sigh!

Also, came back from my trip to find a light fuzzing over the soil of most of the inside things...  

Potatoes planted, in ground and in pots -- with some mineralized rock phosphate (all "Banana" fingerling variety from Ritchie's)

Oooh, a nice bed of potatoes for probably the first time ever, in the prime spot:  northwest corner including where the asparagus bed was (which I removed today, see other post).  Nice and deep good soil there, so I've stored four buckets in the basement to pour over the bed area in the coming weeks.  The bed has 4 rows each with 4 potatoes (intact, each with multiple sprouts).  Sprinkled each row with 3 Tbsp mineralized rock phosphate which I loosely dug in.

In pots:  The largest terracotta-colour pot has 3 potatoes and is next to the air conditioner.  Then, as an experiment, two of the black traditional potato pots along the fence (i.e. in shade), each with 4 small potatoes.  Added 3 Tbsp mineralized rock phosphate to each pot.

Asparagus bye-bye

Alas, I just couldn't justify keeping the asparagus patch along the west bed when it gives so few spears and has issues with aphids and stuntedness etc.  So, removed it all.  Now the only asparagus remaining are a few spears that come up along the north edge which is now turned into grass, will let those spears do what they want.

Grass seed sowed

Over top of the various soil / free topsoil along the path areas, which I raked up a bit first, and also I used the fork to dig in and loosen (not turn) a bit deeper to aerate.  After spreading the seed, I raked it in lightly.  Should rain the next few days so that should help.

The grass is from Canadian Tire, "Garden Club" brand, "all purpose".  Contains kentucky bluegrass, creeping red rescue, perennial ryegrass, intermediate ryegrass, and annual ryegrass.

First harvest of kale, chard, lettuce (which are all doing great)

^^^

Hardening update: Zinnias and tomatoes

Zinnias:  Started hardening a few days ago.  Outside all day (has been nice and warm) in shade, some sun.  Inside at night.

Tomatoes:  Started hardening today.  Just because they look so sad.  In shade in afternoon.

Basil experiment expanded: Added alfalfa/kelp to half wet and half dry

 ^^^

Added alfalfa and kelp to all of the tomatoes

Mixed together pre-soaked alfalfa pellets and kelp meal; then scratched off ~an inch of soil to add a good handful, then put the soil back.  Maybe the ProMix Premium is crap, or at least this bag of it.  It's just weird because I've never had this problem with seedling tomatoes before... and I've definitely used ProMix Premium before... maybe it's just a problem with the new bag of it that I bought a few months ago.

Also, noticed that the Jasper variety is substantially greener than all the others.

WTF is wrong with all of the tomatoes!?!?!

Argh, now it's not just the basil that look like crap -- it's also the tomatoes!!  They're yellowy, curly leaves, some leaves have dried/crisped up.  Potted them up today to see if that helps, but even the newest ones that are very small (they're all quite small though) look like crap.

Basil experiment: Half kept on dry side, half kept on damp side -- all with lights higher up

Decided to do an experiment with the basil to see if I can figure out where I'm going wrong, at least if it's attributable to watering amount.  Half of them I'll water only half as often as the others.  For all of them, the lights are quite a bit higher than I'd normally put them.

Basil up-potted and mixed with vermiculite -- here are the tips I received

 "I’d say either went too long without water or you put cold water on the leaves when watering."

"I had this problem with few leaves. I was watering too much I guess. So I pinched those leaves and dried the soil completely before watering more."

"They need to be re-potted out of the seedling tray and into pots."

"If leaves are wilted slightly or damaged, even t8s will burn them to a crisp. Lack of water or too much could be the cause but as Lori mentioned those cells look really small. Definitely get those little guys potted up"

Cucumber (Eureka), Golden Glory zucchini, and Eight Ball zucchini started in PT

My first time trying these varieties.

Basil (Prospera) round 2 started in PT

.... like last year, decided to start a round 2 in case this first round goes kaput...

Basil looking sad!! Why!?!? Same as last year, despite different seeds/variety??

Argh!  Why are the little itty bitty basils ONCE AGAIN looking bad -- brown splotches on the leaves, as though too cold or burnt.... See my post from May 2nd 2021 and May 10th 2021 where the same thing happened and I ultimately ended up buying basil...

These are NEW SEEDS / a new type (downy-mildew-resistant) so it's a real bummer that this is happening again.

All hardies now transplanted

Planted them all, so none of these to give away.

Carrots round 2 sowed

The first round in the SE corner of the north bed doesn't look promising, too much clay bits on the top (let alone throughout).  A few have popped up but decided to do a new bed just north of there.  Looks much better soil there, just have to hope no big rains to wash out the seeds until they establish.

Goldfinch eating last year's wild evening primrose seeds

Neat!  Glad I left them in place over the winter.

Cold, rainy, windy April!

Sheesh, what a month.  Hardly any sun.  Almost all cloud, rain, cold, and ugh this never-ending wind $%^&*.  Oh, and it snowed yesterday!

Tomatoes round 2 into PT

Just Big Tofu Plus and Tofu Steak, to have a few more since some of round 1 look wonky.

Peas into ground

6 peat flats.  Placed them all along the north side of the 3-pole vertical stretch.  No innoculant, no soil amendments at all.

Forget-me-nots into ground

4 plants from last year's best plant.  All placed into the front bed -- one grouping of 3, and one on its own.  While roots were nice and obvious, they didn't look rootbound unlike last year, so hopefully good timing.

Tomatoes (4 kinds) started in Pt

4 seeds of each kind (thinking 2 for me and 1 to give):

- Scotia

- Tofu Steak

- Big Tofu

- Jasper (cherry)

Beets into ground

 From PT into ground.  

Beets started in PT

^^^

Chards, parsley, and celery transplanted

Several chards, all of the parsley, and several of the celery will share a nice tulled section in the west bed.  These were all started inside and have been living outside full time for the last week or so other than coming in on some cold nights.

More chard to come still, as a few are still hardening, and there's also the winter sowed chards which are still in their containters.

Carrots (bolero) started in bed and in grey pots

The bed is definitely not the best, as it's where patio stones were last year so the soil is questionable, plus TBD how the water will drain from the overhang, so it remains to be seen how they grow there...  but we'll give it a try.

Also sowed in two of the three nice deep grey pots, alternating rows of 3 and 2.

Dropped 2-3ish seeds into each hole.

Coming into some rain over the next few days so I figured it was a good time to get them going!

Have been hardening all of the cold hardies

For the last week or two most of the cold hardies (chard, parsley, celery, piracicaba broccoli) that I started inside have been hardening off, now just coming in on the coldest nights.  Should be ready to transplant soon.

Basil, peas, and zinnias started in PT/bowl

New-to-me type of basil that's supposed to be downy mildew resistant, started in PT.

Zinnias of various sorts started in PT.

Peas (x80) soaking in a bowl, to start inside tomorrow until germinated.

Installed cedar edging

 2" x 6" x various lengths of rough/raw cedar, from Ottawa Cedar.  Didn't coat them with linseed or anything, will see how long they last.

Lettuce started in PT: Tennis Ball (new), Ruby Leaf, and Black-Seeded Simpson

Got the Tennis Ball seeds for free last year. Why not give them a try.

I meant to start these all sooner, but didn't get around to it.

Cardinal (f) at tray feeder, ate nutrisaff and millet! then on ground for a while

Yay yay yay!  I finally put back the feeders a week or two ago.  Hadn't seen much action other than some shell peanuts mysteriously disappearing.  Then today, a female cardinal partook of some nutrisaff and, surprisingly to me, millet too.  Maybe had some of the other items too, couldn't tell.  (Also in the tray are peanut pieces and shelled sunflowers/pieces.)

Then she hopped around the ground for a few minutes.  Then she went and rested on the ground of the north wall, by some of the rocks.

Fun!

Bird bath set out (with heater due to cold weather)

I had brought it into the basement many months ago when I needed to remove the feeders.  Figured it was time to set it out again, what with the song sparrow coming by, and hopefully more birds on the way.

Minus 15 tonight (!!), tomorrow/day after the highs will be in the negatives, so put the heater in.

Song sparrow ate millet from light tray! Only occasionally singing in tree (roaming?)

I was glad to see that he was comfortable being on the screening part of the tray.

Snow all gone from west and north beds

The only reason there's still snow in the central bed is because that's where I've been piling up the snow dug from the paths during the winter.

WS-potted up sprouted chard and round 2 Waltham broccoli

So, for the Waltham broccoli, there is round 1 indoors which continues to all look horrible (while the indoor piracicaba still looks all great) -- and now this PT-sprouted-then-directly-potted-up-for-WS round 2.

When more of the chard sprouts I'll do up some for indoors.

WS-potted up sprouted kale: White Russian & Premier Forge

Now that they all sprouted in PT, transferred them all into various WS jugs.  Will keep them inside overnight when it goes down below zero (eg tonight and tomorrow night), but daytime temps this coming week are in the +3 to +14 range so should be good to be outside.

Also potted up 3 White Russian kales for inside, to see how they do inside since it's a new-to-me variety.

Broccoli Waltham round 2 started in PT

These ones I'll do as WS as soon as they sprout.  (Round 1 waltham broccolis ALL look equally horrible whereas the piraciccaba all look great.)

Kale (White Russian & Premier Forge) and swiss chard started in PT

Many seeds of each.

First time trying the White Russian -- it says it can deal with wet conditions, so I might try some under the eaves, just to see.

Weather forecast is looking great next week for potting these up as winter sowing-style to be raised outside (once they sprout in the PT).

Using two-year-old Premium Promix bag for potting things up

For potting up, have been using the two-year old huge block of Premium Pro-Mix, which I didn't use last year because I wondered if it was the cause of all those diseases in the 2020 season.

Since this year's seed selection has really focused on disease resistance, figured I may as well use it up.

Stevia and forget-me-not potted up

4/4 forget-me-nots sprouted!

3/4 stevia sprouted, and I accidentally forgot about the last one so it's trash now.

Stevia and forget-me-not started in PT

4 x stevia (from bought seeds)

4 x forget-me-not (from last year's prime plant)

Pirociccaba broc looking great; Waltham broc shriveling up same as previous years

Seeing a big difference between the two types of broccoli I started a few weeks ago.  The Waltham broccolis are small and their leaves are shriveling up one by one -- just like last year and previous years.  Whereas the piraciccaba are looking great!  Bigger than the Walthams, and no leaves shriveling yet.

All broccoli germinated, transplanted to pots (indoor)

Well that didn't take long!  8 Waltham and 8 Piracicaba broccoli potted up.  Will keep inside for a while, way too cold to set them outside yet.

Sowed in PT: celery, parsley (Forest Green), broccoli (Waltham & Piracicaba)

I'm sure I'll end up needing to do a round two of the broccoli as WS, but why not given inside a try again.

Things to grow in future allotment garden

I've been feeling frustrated with my limited growing space combined with the fact that realistically I'll definitely be here at least 5 years and likely closer to 10, so, figured I'd go ahead and apply for a spot at the allotment garden.  With a long waiting list it will likely be several/many years before I get one, but, it will be nice to know that hopefully it will happen at some point.

I would just go for a half plot, which would still be 500 square feet!!  My current backyard growspace isn't even 200 square feet!  So, a half plot would be just dandy.

These are the types of things I think I would grow in the allotment, which would free up space in the yard.  Thinking of things that...

- Can be planted as transplants rather than direct from seed (since I won't be around daily for watering until germinated)

- Don't need to be planted early (since the plots don't open up until mid-May)

- Don't need to be covered in tulle (too much worrying about theft/damage or the wind blowing it away etc.)

- Aren't highly susceptible to insects (since I won't be around daily for removal)

- Aren't kitchen-garden types of things (eg salad items are nice to have at home)

So, here's what I'm thinking for the allotment (I'll update this list with future ideas):

- ground cherries (since I can no longer grow them in the yard due to rats)

- tomatoes (hopefully low risk of fruit theft since I pick them at first blush)

- potatoes (hopefully low risk of theft since out of sight)

- winter squash (a SVB-resistant variety)

- stevia (to sweeten my tea)

- buckwheat (to then bring them home for soil amendment)

- beans (easy to plunk in some pole supports; would be fun to grow different varieties)

- sunflowers (just for fun, and, since can no longer grow them at home due to rats)

And, maybe I could try some things that need more sun than my yard gets...

- peppers?  but would be high risk of theft, still, could try for fun.

- onions?  this would be worth trying

- what else?  TBD...

Onions potted up (first batch)

10 of the many 2018 seeds started in paper towel have sprouted so far, so I potted them up (in a mix of last year's remaining Promix, with vermiculite).  Hoping more of them will sprout in the coming days.

Begonia potted up

My one remaining begonia.  Wakey wakey!

(in a mix of last year's remaining Promix, with vermiculite)

How to start comfrey from seed

This is what I'll try.  From https://growingorganic.com/growing-guide/comfrey/.

"Place seeds in moist sand, vermiculite, coconut coir, potting soil, soilless potting mix, or paper towel. After this, place it in a baggie, cloth bag, or glass jar with lid. You will want to avoid placing in a paper towel if you can, as it is sterile and does not contain endogenous growth hormones that encourage germination. Additionally, don’t just use peat moss alone as it is too acidic.

To assist your seeds in germinating, add a little kelp (seaweed) to the medium. Since kelp has naturally occurring growth hormones it will help seeds germinate. Additionally, it can help prevent damping off.

Now, simply place the bag or jar in your refrigerator. You will want to keep them in there for the next 30 days (up to 60 days maximum). The reason you are doing this is to break the dormancy of the seeds by creating winter-like conditions. Do not put them in your freezer when moist though.

After this, you will want to plant outside once the soil temperature is between 68-80 degrees Fahrenheit. Just remember, germination results are better when first planted in a warm greenhouse or sunny window.

While the seed is still thinking about sprouting try to keep soil temperature between 68-80 degrees Fahrenheit. If needed, you can use supplemental heat such as a heat lamp or horticulture heat pads. You will want to adjust the thermostat for 70 to 80 degrees.

Since we’ve now created the perfect environment for the seeds to sprout, you should seed them germinate in 10-15 days."

Also http://www.nantahala-farm.com/comfrey-growing2-s.shtml.

And "sow" it begins -- Onions started in paper towel

From the 2018 collected seed.

A bunch of seeds started, since no idea what the germination rate will be like.

Just for growing green onions (won't bother trying and failing again to grow actual onions).

Veganic local seed vendors! Ferme de l'Aube. Bought comfrey and dill.

Saw their post on the Edible group.  Very cool!  Too bad I already have most of my seeds, but, I ordered some comfrey and dill from them.  Very excited to try comfrey, it had totally escaped my attention but looks like a fantastic tool for the veganic garden.  Hoping to put the comfrey out front so that I can keep the yard to the edibles.

www.lafermedelaube.com

Feeders removed again

They're still asking everyone to refrain from putting out bird food.  Oh well, no birds were visiting anyway.

Put out some feeders again

I've heard the occasional goldfinch in the neighbourhood in recent days, and no precipitation is called for for a few days, so, I once again set out some feeders:

- tray feeder with a selection of items

- two-hole fly-through mesh feeder with regular shelled sunflowers

DISEASE RESISTANCE is priority in choosing varieties this year -- ordered seeds today

Given so many issues with diseases in my garden in recent years, this year I decided to really research varieties and choose ones that indicate some level of disease resistance.

Bought the following today from Johnny's Seeds, after checking out prices at a few online sources:

- Basil:  Prospera (resistant to downy mildew which destroyed my basil in 2021)

- Zucchini:  Golden Glory (intermediate resistance to powdery mildew, watermelon mosaic virus, and zucchini yellow mosaic virus -- powdery mildew being one of the banes of my squash's existence)

- Round zucchini:  Eight Ball (intermediate resistance to powdery mildew, watermelon mosaic virus, and zucchini yellow mosaic virus -- powdery mildew being one of the banes of my squash's existence)

- Tomato (big):  Big Beef Plus (High resistance to Alternaria stem canker, Fusarium crown and root rot, Fusarium wilt races 1 and 2, gray leaf spot, tomato mosaic virus, and Verticillium wilt; and intermediate resistance to nematodes and tomato spotted wilt virus) (various diseases that I'm not sure what exactly they were have affected my tomatoes in recent years -- this variety doesn't list blight, so it will be interesting to see how it does)

- Tomato (cherry):  Jasper (High resistance to late blight; and intermediate resistance to early blight) (various diseases that I'm not sure what exactly they were have affected my tomatoes in recent years -- this variety lists blight but not the other various diseases that the Big Beef Plus lists, so it will be interesting to see how it does)

(I also bought more Bolero carrot as part of the same order, but not because of disease resistance, just because it grew amazingly last year.)

These are ALL F1 hybrids, which at first I balked at, but this post explains that hybrids are not GMOs, and, I have a very limited growing area (especially in 2022 if they end up digging up for the east wall), so since I can't grow extras for buffer or give things lots of room etc., I feel like hybrids may be my best option for now.

Getting excited!