I just don't have enough garden space! Every year I increase the size of the garden, and the following year it seems it is still not large enough.
After getting the tomatoes planted on the 31st (the day that followed with snow, gale force winds and heavy killer frost), I found myself with only three beds left. This wouldn't have been a problem if I only had one or two items left to plant, but noooo - I still had potatoes, bush beans, oats, runner beans, fava beans and sunflowers to get in!
Yesterday I jumped the gun and stuck the potatoes in. Six varieties: Purple Viking, Adirondack Red, Adirondack Blue, Carola, Red Gold and, my favorite, German Butterball. I had to stick the latter in amongst the wheat - there was just no other room!!!
Luckily, the bush beans get interplanted with the potatoes, so those will get planted later on. But I think the oats and fava beans will have to wait until next year. I will try and stick the runner beans somewhere, and the sunflowers will get shoved into nooks and crannys whereever I can squeeze them. Herbs and buckwheat...well, the herbs can go around the edges, but I think the buckwheat will be left out this year, too. Pity - it's a great pollinator attractant!
In the meantime, the ol' sheets of black plastic have been laid out to kill off another patch of lawn for next year's garden. I guess I will have to get the tiller operational by then.
Showing posts with label companion plants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label companion plants. Show all posts
Monday, June 8, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Pease Are In
Pease - that's an old-fashioned spelling for peas. As in "Pease porridge hot, Pease porridge cold..."
Anywho, it was a mild enough afternoon and evening yesterday that after work I decided to plant the peas. This time I mixed up a batch of innoculant in which I soaked the peas before planting them. This stuff is a mix of beneficial bacteria that you can add to your legume seeds (peas, beans, peanuts) to give them an extra boost. I bought some last year but never used it so this year I thought I'd give it a try. It turned out to be a black sludge-like slurry once I mixed it with water. Some of the sludge clung to the peas, so we'll see if it makes any difference.
And this year I put in all my pea seeds - going back to seeds from two or three years ago! I wanted no leftovers after this year. As with many of my seeds, my peas are mostly heirloom varieties, although some are not: Alderman Pole Peas, British Wonder, Blue Podded Shelling Peas, Green Arrow, Mayfair, Miragreen, Laxton's Progress #9. I had set aside three beds for peas this year, but I ended up using four. If all of them grow, I will be well-endowed with peas this summer.
Peas do well when co-planted with onions/chives. You can also plant your greens with your peas - they are both cool-weather crops. Dill, sweet annie, cosmos, nasturtiums, and calendulas are all good companion plants for peas - they bring in the pollinators. The latter, however, need to be planted after the last threat of frost, but they are fast-growers and soon catch up.
It's good to finally get some seeds in the ground - something to keep the garlic company!
Anywho, it was a mild enough afternoon and evening yesterday that after work I decided to plant the peas. This time I mixed up a batch of innoculant in which I soaked the peas before planting them. This stuff is a mix of beneficial bacteria that you can add to your legume seeds (peas, beans, peanuts) to give them an extra boost. I bought some last year but never used it so this year I thought I'd give it a try. It turned out to be a black sludge-like slurry once I mixed it with water. Some of the sludge clung to the peas, so we'll see if it makes any difference.
And this year I put in all my pea seeds - going back to seeds from two or three years ago! I wanted no leftovers after this year. As with many of my seeds, my peas are mostly heirloom varieties, although some are not: Alderman Pole Peas, British Wonder, Blue Podded Shelling Peas, Green Arrow, Mayfair, Miragreen, Laxton's Progress #9. I had set aside three beds for peas this year, but I ended up using four. If all of them grow, I will be well-endowed with peas this summer.
Peas do well when co-planted with onions/chives. You can also plant your greens with your peas - they are both cool-weather crops. Dill, sweet annie, cosmos, nasturtiums, and calendulas are all good companion plants for peas - they bring in the pollinators. The latter, however, need to be planted after the last threat of frost, but they are fast-growers and soon catch up.
It's good to finally get some seeds in the ground - something to keep the garlic company!
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Harvest Exapnds & Other Observations
First it was lettuce (I've actually stopped picking lettuce for a while - one can have too much of a good thing), and now it is peas. I've been filling bowls with peas from the vines every day for over a week now (even in the rain). While the pods fill the bowl to overflowing, the actual peas, once shelled, are fewer, but it has still been enough to put ten containers in the freezer so far! Another three or so may go in tonight after I get home and go over the vines again.
Yesterday also yielded the first real broccoli harvest. I picked one head about three weeks ago, but last night I harvested four. The variety I planted doesn't get massive heads, but it was enough to fill two bags for the freezer.
And let's just discuss for a moment here the whole "soak your broccoli in cold salt water for 30 minutes to remove the little green worms" strategy. It doesn't work. I filled the kettle with cold water, dumped in a fair quantity of salt, and added the broccoli. About an hour later I found about three LGWs floating in the water. I plucked out a head and started to look it over...LGWs were still clinging to it. I can't vouch for the amount of life they had left in them, but I don't think they were all deceased. So, I cut apart each head and looked over each floret carefully (removing LGWs) before putting it in a bowl for blanching afterwards. Make you wonder how the "big companies" remove the LGWs from their broccoli. HM.
The squash, pumpkins and cukes are growing well, thanks to all the rain. They are all starting to put out blossoms!
The runner beans are also blooming. I have found them disappointing. For some reason in my mind the flowers were much larger. Still, the colors are nice, and if the hummers can find them, they should be happy.
Purple flowers are appearing on the pole beans, although I'm not sure if the bush beans are blooming yet.
As I came up through Warrensburg this afternoon I saw corn already with tassels. Hmmm...my corn is barely reaching knee high. I'm thinking I should've risked cool soil and planted it sooner. Too late now, of course, but something to consider for next year.
Also, note to self: don't mix up all the herb and beneficials seeds together and then plant with the buckwheat. Buckwheat grows faster and gets rather tall and dense - the other don't stand a chance. Might not want to plant the crimson clover with the buckwheat next year, either.
Sunflowers are doing great - some heads are already starting to form! I love it when they all burst into bloom! I was lucky last year and the bears were not a problem. The sunflowers are closer to the fence this year, though, so it should be interesting to see if the bears become a problem when the seedheads ripen.
The nasturtiums started blooming this last week. No cosmos yet, though, or marigolds. This is the difference between planting the seeds outside "after last frost" and staring the plants inside a month or more earlier. These flowers are planted as companions to the veggies, ostensibly as encouragement to pollinators, so I'm thinking next year we start them inside again; I should have plenty of room since I am giving up on starting onions and leeks from seeds.
Had the first monarch caterpillar of the season just before this last week of rain - it was munching on some butterflyweed (which does VERY well up here). It was pretty good-sized; I'd guess it was at least a week and a half old. It's the only one I've seen so far this year, though. Few monarchs overall this summer. And not a single red admiral butterfly! Hm. I wonder where they are.
Yesterday also yielded the first real broccoli harvest. I picked one head about three weeks ago, but last night I harvested four. The variety I planted doesn't get massive heads, but it was enough to fill two bags for the freezer.
And let's just discuss for a moment here the whole "soak your broccoli in cold salt water for 30 minutes to remove the little green worms" strategy. It doesn't work. I filled the kettle with cold water, dumped in a fair quantity of salt, and added the broccoli. About an hour later I found about three LGWs floating in the water. I plucked out a head and started to look it over...LGWs were still clinging to it. I can't vouch for the amount of life they had left in them, but I don't think they were all deceased. So, I cut apart each head and looked over each floret carefully (removing LGWs) before putting it in a bowl for blanching afterwards. Make you wonder how the "big companies" remove the LGWs from their broccoli. HM.
The squash, pumpkins and cukes are growing well, thanks to all the rain. They are all starting to put out blossoms!
The runner beans are also blooming. I have found them disappointing. For some reason in my mind the flowers were much larger. Still, the colors are nice, and if the hummers can find them, they should be happy.
Purple flowers are appearing on the pole beans, although I'm not sure if the bush beans are blooming yet.
As I came up through Warrensburg this afternoon I saw corn already with tassels. Hmmm...my corn is barely reaching knee high. I'm thinking I should've risked cool soil and planted it sooner. Too late now, of course, but something to consider for next year.
Also, note to self: don't mix up all the herb and beneficials seeds together and then plant with the buckwheat. Buckwheat grows faster and gets rather tall and dense - the other don't stand a chance. Might not want to plant the crimson clover with the buckwheat next year, either.
Sunflowers are doing great - some heads are already starting to form! I love it when they all burst into bloom! I was lucky last year and the bears were not a problem. The sunflowers are closer to the fence this year, though, so it should be interesting to see if the bears become a problem when the seedheads ripen.
The nasturtiums started blooming this last week. No cosmos yet, though, or marigolds. This is the difference between planting the seeds outside "after last frost" and staring the plants inside a month or more earlier. These flowers are planted as companions to the veggies, ostensibly as encouragement to pollinators, so I'm thinking next year we start them inside again; I should have plenty of room since I am giving up on starting onions and leeks from seeds.
Had the first monarch caterpillar of the season just before this last week of rain - it was munching on some butterflyweed (which does VERY well up here). It was pretty good-sized; I'd guess it was at least a week and a half old. It's the only one I've seen so far this year, though. Few monarchs overall this summer. And not a single red admiral butterfly! Hm. I wonder where they are.
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