May 15, 2010 Update

Arugula

The arugula is growing at an incredible rate. We've had one meal already, and there is another meal's worth in the fridge. We've taken to eating it in lieu of lettuce on our hamburgers as it gives a nice little kick. The boys call them mustard greens because they taste a lot like the groniger mustard that we have. We have also stir fried them in a pan with a bit of oil and vinegar which is delicious. We must have at least two varieties as we have both green and purple leaves.

Spinach

The spinach took a bit of a beating from the two inches of snow we got late April, but most of them grew quite well and are approaching being big enough to feed us while sending out more shoots. We're looking forward to eating this stir-fried with a bit of garlic.

Onions

I planted sets this year. About 5 of them were from N's aunt's heirloom onions and the rest were white onions planted from a bag that I got at half price at Canadian Tire because some of them had gone bad. The ones I got from N's aunt I simply picked off the flower of the onion. I never knew that sets came from the flower! Most have come up just fine, though I've had to throw out a lot as well. I'd say I did better than 50% though, which means the deal was worth it. :) This is really my first time growing onions, and I planted quite a bit of them. At first, something (a small mammal, I think, maybe a squirrel in search of bulbs) dug them up and left them strewn about the bed, but I covered it with a bit of chicken wire and they now seem to be doing well. The largest is about 3" tall.

Currants

My black currant bush did very well over the winter and is bearing a good load of fruit already. I also propogated a bunch and they all did well. I stupidly pulled up the plants which weren't opening their buds, only to find them quite alive below the soil. Note to self: don't consider something dead because its leaves aren't out in mid-May. I was able to grow one and give it to a friend, though, so nothing lost.

I bought a red currant bush from Canadian Tire this year too. It was $7.00 which was 50% off of the regular price. I asked for half-off because it looked in very rough shape with at least one broken branch and the manager was very obliging. However, I knew the plant would do well with a bit of compost and a good watering and it is now looking very healthy in my garden. I also put the broken branch into a cup of water and it is now sprouting roots. Here's to two red currant bushes for the price of 1/2!

Peas

I planted about 18 peas this year and 14 have come up, which is a decent germination rate. They're now all about 2" high and doing well. I've been lucky that the slugs have yet to devour them. I did see a small slug (a baby) tonight on my arugula greens which doesn't bode well. We need to get some sharp sand, which we will likely do tomorrow.

Basil, Cilantro

Planted it about 2 weeks ago and it is coming up nicely. It's about 3 cm tall at this point. Very small.

Chives, Oregano,

Coming nicely.

Greens in April!

Evidence of spinach in April! My spinach and arugula, which were planted in March have sprouted and are currently about 2" tall. If this trend continues, we will have fresh greens ready to eat before Victoria day. Un.believe.able. I'm going to start beans this week under glass. On the negative side, it appears that my currant scions are no longer living. They still exhibit a bit of green in the bud, but they have not sprouted, unlike the mother plant which is nearby. We'll see about this as the days go on.

Here's to an early start!

March Miscellany

It's March, and we've had a superb stretch of weather. The snow is completely off of our garden and the earth is bare. The loss of the snow has revealed that the little black currant scions that I cut off and planted last October have made it through the winter with buds intact. Here's a picture of one of them:



It doesn't look like much beyond a dead branch, but if you look closely you can see the buds with hints of green in there. We'll see how they progress. One other thing that I'm trying this year is a cold frame. Here's how it looks:

The idea behind the cold frame is that you use the sun's heat to warm up the ground enough to plant some colder weather vegetables and extend your growing season. I'm going to try to start some spinach next week.

Garden 2010

Food fotos from Wildmint Garden

Maroon on the outside...

Cosmic on the inside! (that one's about 4")

See what I mean about the whole bullseye on LSD thing?

One red tomato, one green, two zucchinis

Disease and pest

I've got some septoria leaf spot on a few of my tomato plants. One Manitoba has been decimated, and the other is on its way. I'm going to have to take them up, and I suppose I'll just have to do fried green tomatoes. The reason, I'm certain is a combination of cool, wet weather with fairly intense tomato planting. This is one of the downsides of square foot gardening. Like a packed city, disease spreads quickly.

Also, while the dry weather has meant the slugs have slowed down (not ceased), there are still earwig issues in the beans and stinkbugs (which come in many shapes and colours) are in many places. I'd like to import a few toads but squishing works for now.

More goodies

It's been hot and dry here the past 4 days or so, and the garden is finally enjoying a reprieve from the cool, damp, weather we've been having. The tomatoes are turning red, zucchinis are growing well, and the cucumbers are starting to hit their stride.

Tonight for dinner we had zucchini (the first full sized from our plant, four more on the way), four small Manitoba tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette (they are very, very tangy; they would probably be improved with a bit of sweetness in the vinaigrette, or perhaps no vinegar and merely olive oil alone) , our first cucumber picked off the trellis (note: cucumbers should not taste like water; they have a distinct taste which reminds me of the smell of freshly weed-whacked wildflowers after a rain; same for zucchini's just different flowers), a whack of yellow rocdor bush and also jeminez pole beans (which are very, very good. Better even than the rocdor yellows. It is like eating fresh, buttery green silk. I kid you not.), a couple of cosmic purple carrots (which are really only cosmic in the Woodstock era sense; the longest was six inches, the other about four inches. They remind me of a psychedelic bulls eye when cut cross-wise); I would grow them just for the visual aesthetic alone.

Judging from the look of things, we're soon to be up to our eyeballs in tomatoes and zucchinis. Suits me just fine. I'm keeping track of yields on our house calendar and will post yield information at the end of the month.

Informal tally

I'll get actual weights and worths in the future, but here's a rough estimation of what we've pulled from the garden thus far:

Yellow beans: 8 crops and counting
Pole Beans: 1 crop and counting
Snap peas (snow peas): 3 crops and counting, despite heavy losses from the damn slugs
Swiss Chard: 6 crops and counting (and delicious)
Beets: 1 crop + greens
Tomatoes: 1 tomato. Had it last night. Was watery and not all that good, actually. Too much rain. Zucchinis: 1. Again, too much rain, not enough heat.
Cucumbers: None yet, though the vines are producing flowers and some small fruit.
Carrots: none.