Very late fall weather

Here's your basic hand full of green pole beans fresh from the garden. Not a huge amount but enough for a couple of servings which is enough since the kitty girls don't like them. What makes this news worthy, blog worthy, is that TPP picked these on the 7th of November, about a month later than you could possibly imagine them still growing. They got this far by dodging 3 near, but not quite frosts. And here in the upper midwest, the average date for the first frost was a month ago. Picking pole beans and raking leaves are generally not same day activities, but our falls have been gradually getting later and our springs earlier. You think maybe this might be a trend? Maybe TPP should ask his local GnOPe representatives? Depends if this is a trend or if just a rare as in 99 percentile event. And the beans were quite lovely. Also picked a big bowl of young romaine lettuce, but under a row cover, lettuce can grow quite late into the fall surviving frosts with no difficulty.  

Inconclusive apple pollination experiment

Poor experimental design is the reason that the results of the apple pollination experiment were inconclusive. However, some pollination did occur because some young fruit are developing on both varieties of columnar apples. So whether the one variety is self-fertile remains a question. Yes, it could have been netted, and self-pollinated by hand, but then if not self-fertile it would have produced no apples at all. Botanical curiosity will go unsatisfied, but a few apples will be produced. As these are brand new trees, although of good size (6-7 feet tall) only a few apples will be allowed to grow.  The new trees have produced a very nice crown of leaves and if we can keep the Japanese beetles from defoliating them, they should get off to a nice start. Some nice bridal veil will serve nicely in that regard.  Mrs. Phactor's pear tree also has quite a few developing fruit, and it's about time it got going with the fruit production.  Perhaps the basal pruning administered to the non-producing apple tree as a lesson had some effect. The mild wet spring has also been producing some excellent lettuces, and just about the time the crop becomes over-whelming, they will begin to bolt and that will be that until August when it's time to replant. Herbivores have helped some.  The bibb lettuces planted in a parsley bed, and then fenced to no particular benefit, were just getting big enough to be harvested when they were eaten to the ground, although their tastiness spared the parsley from devistation. That kind of gluttony usually indicates a woodchuck rather than a bunny, so our watchfulness must increase, but no confirmatory sightings as yet. Well, that got rather off topic quickly.

Simple pleasures - first lettuce of spring

Anytime the Phactors get garden lettuce prior to May it's considered to be a successful start to the gardening season.  It's hard to argue with garden fresh lettuce (and spring onions).  TPP uses big old black plastic pots or planter boxes and a row cover material.  Bibb and romaine lettuces (which come as plantlets), as well as broccoli, grow very well and have no problem with frosty nights. Last night our spring lettuce salad was one of those simple pleasures of life provided by a garden. The narcissi in the vase were another.

Fall crops for the kitchen garden

Here's a practical advice posting for all of you not so experienced kitchen gardeners out there.  Gardens are not almost done!  Now is the time to plant some fall crops.  Mostly these are like spring crops, but planted now.  TPP's favorite fall crops are salad greens, especially mesclun, a mixture of lettuces & mustards, spinach, bok choi and other Chinese cabbages.   These will all grow well in cool weather and the shorter days of fall.  They mature rapidly (less than 50 days) so you still have time, but get going on this.  Bok choi and cabbages are really tough and they have remained in my garden sometimes until late November if given just a little protection.  If you have limited space then the champion has to be baby (dwarf) bok choi (image).  You can even grow them and the salad greens in containers (window boxes are a good choice) which are easy to move to more protected locations if necessary.  Since these are all leafy vegetables, giving them a dose of fertilizer early on is a good idea especially if they are being grown in an area vacated by other crops.  For nice heads of leafy lettuce follow this simple rule based on the fundamental understanding that everyone plants small seeds too densely.  Once the seeds have germinated, pinch out enough such that their spacing is at least 1 inch.  By the time the seedlings are 2" tall, thin them to 2" apart.  Eat the thinnings.  You know how much they get for baby greens?  By the time the seedlings are 4" tall, thin them to 4" between plants (keep eating).  Then continue thinning as the plants grow to 8" or so in spread.  The baby bok choi doesn't need quite so much thinning; they do OK at 4-6" between plants.  The biggest problem is that early on you need to gently water them because the surface soil tends to dry quickly this time of year and you want these crops to get going.  The bigger cabbages need more thinning.  Row covers, a fine netting work well at keeping insects at bay, but slugs can be a problem.  Put out slug traps, shallow pans, baited with some disgusting light beer that you would never drink anyways, to control the slug population.  Slugs are no more discriminating than the acquaintance who brought and left the light beer for your enjoyment. 

Happy lettuce for unhappy days

Yesterday, April 17th TPP harvested several nice bibb lettuces for our din-dins.  Wonderful!  Bibb lettuce grows very well in a cold frame; try it next spring.  Little things like this make us happy when crappy things are happening all over.  Here in Lincolnland, our ban against concealed guns was found to infringe upon people's rights by those who misread the 2nd amendment for a living.  People want to carry guns for personal protection, so they must be scared, and scared people are not who you want carrying guns.  And nationally even the least restrictive measures on gun ownership remain an anathema to people who think the solution to gun violence is more guns.  Yes, these people would advocate throwing a bucket of water to people who are drowning.  Such happenings are sad and demonstrate what a pathetic excuse for a country we really are.  So, when depression rears its ugly head, the only therapy readily available is to grow something; plant a tree, raise some lettuce.  It should grow well with the unending supply of manure we get from our elected representatives and the media that gives them a forum for their nonsense.  Perhaps if we only vote for people who garden, the world would be a better place.  Yes, Chauncey Gardener for congress!

Early season gardening - cold frame

Gardeners all, whether your garden is big or small or even lacking, everyone has room for a cold frame.  Nothing extends your gardening season more than a cold frame.  TPP likes these small cold frames because they can be easily moved, easily sited in a sunny location.  It works well to use a potting soil mix in planting boxes because they warm up faster than the soil beneath.  Here's a cold frame with bibb lettuce just a week after the seedlings were planted, and the nights have been freezing, but the days just above freezing.  The other inhabitants are some parsley, both curly and flat, and some mesclun mix.  With a cold frame you'll be harvesting salad before your regular garden hardly gets going.  This cold frame is sited on top of a sunny herb garden, and it will be gone before it's time to plant real warm weather herbs like basil, so now you get another crop from this space.  But why stop there?  Use your patio or the edge of your driveway or a porch roof (if you can reach the cold frame out of a window.  Almost everyone has room for this type of gardening.  Still make certain that you only grow cool weather crops: lettuce, spinach, mesclun, green onions, baby bok choi.