Harvest Monday - The Beans are In

Not a large harvest this past week, but still one that I am very excited about. The beans are in! Well not all of the beans, but the majority of them. We received out first significant rain on Sunday morning. It was predicted so I harvested most of the pods from my bush "Titus" cannellini beans earlier in the week. I would say 4/5 of the pods had fully ripened. They were brown and dry, but did not spit open and shatter- just as the catalog promised. My total harvest to this point is 9.1 oz, or 1 1/3 cups. Not a huge amount but I think a descent harvest from just 20 plants. Now I get to play around with these in a few recipes and see how they taste. If they make the cut I would like to double or triple my grow out of them next year.

I also enjoyed a good "second flush" harvest on the "Lemon" cucumber plants. I know that I was complaining earlier in the season that they weren't a very prolific producer but I need to rescind that remark a bit. I harvested another 9 cukes this week, weighing in at 2 lbs. 3.4 oz. So that puts my total year to date harvest at 21 cukes from the 5 plants. Not a huge amount, but not too bad either from plants growing in a location that received only half-day sun.

Harvest Monday - A Golden Harvest

As I harvested and weighted this week's harvest, it dawned on me that much of the harvest reflected the fiery colors of Summer: yellows, oranges and reds. So I begin this week's recap with a bowl of yellow "Galina" cherry tomatoes. This is the third week I have harvested them and the biggest picking yet; 1 lb. 1.4 oz. They are such a reliable producer for me and their taste is a favorite of many of my co-workers.

My only other tomato harvest this week is one lonely "Wapsipinicon Peach". But it deserves some kudos becasue as I was harvesting, I noticed than many of my other tomato plants are suffering from blossom end rot. I have never has a problem with this disease before, with the rare exception of a single variety here or there. So I simply didn't grow that variety in future years. But today I discovered blossom end rot on four different plants. I know my watering has been steady so it must be a calcium deficiency in the soil. I will have to really amend the soil next year. So with that in mind, even though it isn't a super producer for me, "Wapsipinicon Peach" gets major point from me for being blossom end rot free. This guy came in at .9 oz.

And speaking of things that don't really grow well for me, its time to talk peppers! Each year I am seduced by the amazing selection of pepper plants being sold at the Farmer's Market and nurseries. And each year I purchase 3-4 plants, knowing that I never have much luck growing them but hope springs eternal each May. In my rational mind I know we just don't have the hot days and warm that peppers adore but I keep trying just the same. Not surprisingly, this year's results were no different. Four plants, each producing 2-4 peppers. Sigh. On the bright side, I did have a few little gems to harvest today. Left to right:

• (1) "Padron" pepper ; 1.0 oz
• (2) "Yellow Sparkler" peppers; 1.6 oz
• (2) "Cute Stuff Gold" peppers; 1.7 oz

And to round out my yellow theme, I was able to pick 3 more "Lemon" cucumbers yesterday, weighing in a total of 1 lb 2.9 oz. It is suppose to be another very warm week here in the Willamette Valley, so ripening should continue at a good pace in both gardens.

Harvest Monday - The First Cuke & First Tomato Harvest

It is always fun when you get to harvest something for the first time. This past week I harvested the very first of my "Lemon" cucumbers, weighting 2.0 oz. A co-worker, who is a big fan of this variety, helped give me some guidelines to look for when this cuke reaches maturity. While they aren't the prettiest cucumbers on the planet, she proclaimed mine as delicious! Now I just want my 5 plants to set some more fruit. They got off to a great start, but have only set one new cuke in the past few weeks. I hit the plants with some organic liquid fertilizer this past week, so maybe that will help get them going once again.

The wild blackberries continue to ripen and the pace is increasing each week. This week I picked 4 lbs .8 oz and could have harvested double that. I need to get busy canning some jam. Until then, the harvest is destined to land on a bowl of vanilla ice cream each evening.

I am also excited to report I harvested my very first tomatoes of the year yesterday. Not surprisingly, it is a cherry variety; "Galina". I harvested 21 of them, with a total weight of 5.4 oz.

Yesterday I also harvested my row of "Music" garlic. The bulbs look great. They are heavy and big, which is kind of amazing, as late as I planted them. They will sit on my makeshift drying rack for a week before they get cleaned and weighed. I am quite sure they will come in with an average weight much heavier then my "Chesnook Red".

Planting Day #13 - Finished!

After spending the morning at Green Island, I made it down to the Big Garden in the late afternoon. It  was fairly warm - for me at least - working in the sunshine. But I did manage to get the first 4 Mignon Single dahlias planted. Then we returned after dinner. Everything got a good watering and then I went back to planting. I got the other 8 Mignon Single dahlias settled in. I think these guys will form a pretty little hedge against the fence. I am also anxious to compare their tuber production. In past years I have always grown them in pots, so it will be interesting to compare their tuber production from past years with them planted in the ground this year.

I have  2 "FV Dainty" pink and yellow

And I have 6 "Stillwater Plum" in purple.

Between the Mignon dahlias and the quinoa, I set in the 5 "Lemon" cucumber plants that I stared from seed. These guys were more than ready to get in the ground. I am sure, now that they are planted, they will green up a bit and take off in their growth.

Seedling Transplanting and Starting More Seeds

I spent my holiday morning down in the Big Garden setting out 5 more dahlia rows. After that my back - and my legs and my arms ! - said enough! So I switched my focus for the rest of the day onto another project; transplanting flower and vegetable starts to bigger cells and starting a few more seeds.

I began with the "Magnificenza" melon. I started two different sets of these melons, fearing germination might be difficult. I shouldn't have worried! 9/10 of my first seeding germinated and 7/8 of my second seeding germinated for a grand total of 16/18. I set out 6 of them this afternoon in the "overflow" Kitchen Garden area, where I grew the watermelon last year. I laid out black plastic first and then planted them in slits cut through the plastic. It will be a fun adventure to see how they do. Then I transplanted the remaining 10 seedlings into bigger pots. I think they are destined for friends and perhaps I will try to grow a few more of them down in the Big Garden.

Next I got out the bean seed that I recently ordered from Adaptive Seed. I am nervous to direct sow bean seed because in the past few years, either the voles have eaten the seed in the ground, or the robins have puled up the young plants right as they germinate. So instead, I decided to plant the seed in small cells and then transplant the beans after they germinate. So into the flat pictured above, I seeded 16 cells with "Poletschka" pole bean.

Then I got out the new 36 cell trays I bought and moved my cosmos starts. First I transplanted the "Rubenza" starts. I ended up with 23/24 plants germinated this year. Not too bad! Then I seeded 12 cells with "Titus" cannellini bean.

In another tray, I transplanted my "Xanthos" cosmos. I ended up with 22/24 plants germinated. Next to them I seeded another 12 cells with the "Titus" cannellini seed, for a total of 24 seeds planted.

I also transplanted my "Country Fair Blend" zinnia starts. I ended up with 22/25 plants germinated this year so I had lots to move into bigger digs.

Finally I moved my "Lemon" cucumber plants. This was my challenging seed this year. I only ended up with 5/18 plants germinated. But 5 is still better than nothing I guess. I set them in the tray with the winter squash. I ended up with 3/4 "Crown Pumpkin", 1/1 "Delicata", and 3/4 "Waltham Butternut" germinated so I was really pleased with that. I will have to buy another "Delicata" but that's my own fault for not starting enough seed to have 2 plants.

With this big job done the pressure is off to get all of these seedlings into their final homes. The weather is suppose to get quite warm by the end of the week and I don't want to set these young plants out in a heat wave. They all have fresh soil and lots of room to grow, so they will be fine now for a few more weeks.

Seedling Updates

It's been 8 days since I planted two of my flats of seeds. During that time we have enjoyed some warm, sunny weather and we have had some rainy, cold days. Thankfully my seed starting system has worked well in all the varied conditions and I am pleased to report really good germination for most of the seeds.

A tray of "Xanthos" Cosmos

The flat I seeded with strictly cosmos looks great. On one side 22/24 cells of "Xanthos" cosmos are up and on the other side 17/24 cells of "Rubenza" cosmos have germinated.

I also started seed of "Country Fair Blend" zinnia. Of the 25 cells I seeded, 18 are up. Next to the zinnia, I planted melon and cucumber seed. I have 9/10 "Magnificenza"  melon up and 2/10 "Lemon" cucumbers have germinated.

A "Crown Pumpkin" young plant

In my third tray I have a mix of winter squash, melons, and cucumbers that I planted in straight Nature's Best soil instead of a planting mix. At this point I am having a mixed result with this method. So far only 1/4 "Crown Pumpkin" squash have appeared and I want two of them

A "Magnificenza" melon seedling

The "Waltham Butternut" squash have fared a little better with 2/4 germinated. I only planted 1 "Delicata" squash and at this time there isn't any sign of it. I have 2/8 of the "Lemon" cucumbers up here, so I should have enough of these plants between my two sowings of them. And the big winner is the "Magnificenza" melon. I have another 7/8 germinated in this flat, so I have a grand total of 16/18 plants sprouted. I was worried that this might be a difficult seed to germinate. It looked quite small so I seeded a lot of it. As it turns out this is very viable seed and apparently not very hard to start! I definitely have all of the melon plants that I have room for so I will be looking for some good homes for my extra seedlings.

Below, a "Waltham Butternut" winter squash seedling

We Have Some More Germination!

As soon as I got home from work tonight, I went right over to my seed trays to see if anything had "happened" while I was gone. Happily, I had some surprises awaiting me.

I now have all 12 of the "Addis Pickle" cucumbers up and growing. I don't know if it is because I bought fresh seed this year, or if they just normally exhibit quick germination, but they certainly beat all of the other vegetable and flower seed that I planted that day.

I was especially happy to find that 3 of my 6 "Howden" pumpkins had appeared. There was no sign at all of them this morning when I pulled the trays out of the greenhouse.

I now have 3 "Dancing Petticoats" Cosmos up and growing.

And I was excited to finally find my first Zinnia had appeared. I now have one "Red Metemorph". Hopefully the warm weather that is in the forecast for the next 4 days will encourage a lot more of the seeds to germinate. It will be a fun surprise each day, to come home from work, and see what is new.

After dinner I worked for about an hour potting up dahlia tubers. I managed to get another 28 planted tonight, so I now have a total of 223 in pots. I should finish up with two more small potting sessions.

Avid Gardeners Plant Sale

Today was the annual Oregon Plant Fair at Alton Baker Park. This year, for the first time in many years, I didn't have to work the LCDS booth, so I could shop the Fair with Mom and Beth. While rain was predicted, the weather behaved for the most part. Partly sunny skies only gave way to only one, fairly short rainstorm the whole day. After we made our many purchases at the Plant Fair, we headed over to the Fairgrounds for the Hardy Plant Sale. At the end of the day, I came home with the following purchases:

• Tomato "Indigo" Amethyst Jewel - from Log House Plants. Indeterminate. Slicer, Gorgeous pink w/purple amethyst splashes. Large trusses load up with great tasting exotic looking 1-3 oz fruit. Large production, hang on the vine ability with real tomato flavor. wild Boar Farm Hybrid. Mid-Season
• Tomato "Bumblebee" Sunrise Cherry - from Log House Plants. Indeterminate. Yellow, round cherry tomato with red stripes and a pink interior marbling. Excellent, sweet and tangy flavor. Great in mixes with other colorful artisan varieties.
• Tomato "Moonglow" Heirloom (OP) Grafter from Log House Plants. Intermediate. Gorgeous, brilliant orange globe shaped 6-8 oz fruits have a fantastic sweet-tart flavor and smooth texture, perfect for fresh eating or making a beautiful, unusual sauce. Heavy yields, good keeper. 80 days from transplant.
• Kale "Red Russian" from Log House Plants.(OP) Silvery, blue-green leaves with rose colored ribs & veins. Thick, chewy leaves are great in winter soups and stews or with grilled meat. 50 days from Transplant.
• Pepper "Lunchbox Yellow"  Sweet Pepper from Log House Plants. New mini "snack peppers" have a delicious sweet flavor for fresh eating but are also good for cooking. Tons of the 2-3" fruits mature to golden yellow on tall, strong plants. 55 days to green, 75 to yellow.
• Berben's Thunbergi "Golden Pillar" from the Secret Garden Growers, Canby OR. Golden Pillar Barberry 3-4' multi-stemmed deciduous shrub, upright form, with dramatic bright yellow/gold foliage. Full sun to part shade, won't burn. most soils, deer resistant, average water, easy, USDA Zone 24
• Coreopsis "Red Satin" 15-18" H X 18-22 " W. Full sun, zone 5-9 Blooms summer thru late summer. This hardy coreopsis produces deep wine red to ruby red flowers all summer long. If cut back, it can rebloom until frost. The deep green, threadleaf foliage forms a tight mound.

I also picked up these three metal birds are the Plant Fair. A couple was selling dozens of different designs so it was very hard to choose. I finally selected a Nuthatch, a Chickadee, and a Cedar Waxwing. Now I only need to decide where to place them.

After visiting both plant sales, we made a stop at Down to Earth. I picked up 2 bags of potting soil and the following seed packets:

• Cosmo "Kneehigh Sonata Mix" from Renee's Garden.Sonata Cosmos compact feathery two foot plants are soon covered with spays of buds that open and bloom non-stop all summer long. The blossoms satiny 2" petals in shades of magenta, clear white, soft pastel pink and pure rose, surround cheerful yellow centers. Reliable and long-lasting, with stems long enough for cutting lots of bouquets, free blooming sonatas are perfect for containers, beds or borders and fill the garden with dainty gaiety all summer long. 2' tall.
• Melon "Minnesota Miget" (OP) 65-70 days. This exquisite heirloom produces a bounty of early and true to its name, mini cantaloupes. Fruit measure 4-6" across and have deep orange flesh that is succulent, sweet, and delicious down to the rind. The ultimate melon for short season areas, and the compact plants are ideal for mall spaces or container gardens.
• Cucumber "Marketmore 97"(OP) 55 days. Developed at Cornel University, Marketmore 97 is a great slicing cucumber, and is one of the most disease resistant varieties that we offer. Bitter free and burpless to boot. with vines up to 6 feet long, this northern cultivar bears loads of 9-11", strait, white spined cukes. A first rate addition to anyone's garden. 

September in the Kitchen Garden

September has arrived in the kitchen garden. While this hasn't been a stellar year by any means, I have had a few success stories.

The Winter Squash finally took off in August and have now covered most of the bare dirt. It is difficult to see where one squash begins and another variety ends. I noticed this week the first signs of powdery mildew on the squash leaves. Now it will be a race against the clock to get the last young squash mature before the plants succumb to the disease. Hopefully a few more weeks of sunny, dry days are ahead of us.

I finally have some nice sized "Butternut" squash on the vines, but none have yet matured. Unfortunately, the deer pushed against my fencing and ate a nice chunk out of three young squash. So the harvest won't be too large this year.

My two "Bush Delicata" plants have struggled. They are just now starting to really set some fruit. I do have one monster "Delicata",  pictured above. What I lack in numbers I made up for with the length of this one!

The Kabocha "Orange Sunshine" vines have done the best of the three varieties of Winter Squash that I am growing this year. One vine has now stretched the entire length of the garden and is still setting baby fruit. This one is about the size of a baseball. I don't know if there is enough warm weather left for it to reach maturity.

This one is further up the vine. It has reach full size and now just needs a few more weeks to mature and turn orange. I am hopeful.

Here is one of the three "finished" squash. They are fully mature and ready to pick.

My onions have done well this year, much like the garlic. I guess it has been another good year for the allium family. I am happy, but not thrilled with the "Frontier " yellow storage onions. They are smaller than the "Prince " yellow stoarge onions that I have grown in past years. Their tops started falling over about three weeks ago and they are now ready to be pulled. It will be interesting to compare and see how they store this Winter.

A close-up.

The red "Mars" storage onions are huge, as always. This variety always performs so well for me.

I need to knock their tops over so that I can pull them out in the next few weeks before it rains.

I can't say that my cucumber trellis experiment has been successful. Certainly, it didn't help having the finches peck and eat most of the growing tips. Now that the side vines have reached the ground, they seem much happier and have started to set more baby cukes.

Here's a mis-shapen "Russian Pickling". Maybe a different variety, grown in a different location, would be happy on the trellis system.

My three "Tuscano" Kale plants keep quietly plugging away. The older leaves keep getting munched on by something, but it keeps producing more and more leaves.

The tomatoes have been a mixed bag of success. One variety that has done really well has been my "Galina" orange cherry. It is starting to get covered in ripe tomatoes. It's time to get picking!

My "Black Krim" plant is my tallest tomato, with the most set fruit, for the third year in a row. It is such a productive plant for me. The tomatoes near the bottom of the plant are starting to change to that lovely red/blackcolor. I bet that I have 20+ large green tomatoes on that plant right now.

"Moonglow" is a new variety for me this year and it has done fairly well. The first of its fruit are starting to turn yellow. As you can see on this garden tour, a few more weeks of sunny, dry weather would be very welcome.