Fall Planting - Created 9/13/10 Late Post

I think it's safe to say that Fall is here in Sacatomatoes.  We've had mild days in the mid 80's and I think the triple digits are done for the year.  A couple of weeks ago I did a mass clean-up of the garden and removed most of the green beans and squash.  I double dug the raised beds they were occupying and added a mixture of chicken and cow manure, compost, blood and bone meal.  Of course after that I had to keep the scavenging dogs out of the garden. I swear it's guaranteed if it smells (stinky) they want to eat it.  Earlier this week I had forgotten about the dogs appetite for blood meal and planted one of the Collard Trees outside the garden in what I thought was a perfect spot with the usual side dressing of blood meal.  I came home that evening and my husband had mowed the the lawn (which was great).  He commented on my usual lack of pulling weeds and then asked why I was digging holes in the yard instead of pulling weeds.  "What hole?"!!!!.  There where my precious Collard Tree (the one I had waited 4 weeks to be delivered from Bountiful Gardens) was a huge hole.  Not a small hole, but a hole about the depth and diameter to plant a 5 gallon bush in.  The Collard Tree cutting was only about the size of a pencil.  I must admit, I did briefly consider dogslaughter and various types of torture techniques.  Amongst the pile of dirt I found my poor little cutting actually unharmed (unlike those two heathen dogs when I got my hands on them).  Moral of the story...don't forget about your garden predators even in the "off" planting season.

So, back to the Collard Trees.  I had been hearing about these trees from my family for the last year and thought I'd try them out when I received a notice from one of my nurseries that they had them in.  I received 3 cuttings in the mail wrapped in damp newspaper.  Very unimpressive to say the least.  I wasn't quite sure where I was going to plant these so I put them in water in a window.  After a few days they began to sprout leaves and I realized I'd need to move pretty quickly to find a home for these.  My sister asked that I give one to her, so I placed this one in a small pot.  The others, I planted on eastern side of the house in a pretty shaded area.  It is my understanding that these guys are not overly fond on scorching sun.  I also staked them for added security.  So we'll see how they come along.

The last time I posted, I was going back and forth on whether or not I'd have a fall/winter garden.  I've got a lot of things going on right now and the last thing I needed to do was add something else to my plate.  So, of course I started a new garden, lol.  Ok, what had happened was...

I was driving along Sunrise Blvd. minding my own business, when I came across a Capitol Nursery.  We had one near our old house in Elk Grove, but I didn't realize there was one close to us here in Orangevale.  I decided to look in and have a looksy, just a peek.  I didn't even grab a basket.  I needed some fertilizer for the plum tree anyway.  I slowly strolled along the rows of flowering shrubs, bushes and trees (you know everything that's usually in a nursery) and way in the back I found the veggie and herb section, which I expected to be pretty bare.  But no, they've got rows of lettuces, greens, artichokes, cauliflower, broccoli and much much and they were all so happy and healthy looking.  As I perused this bounty, a winter garden began to seem appealing again, so...

Ha, you thought I went crazy and bought up the place didn't you?  Well I didn't.  I had all of these seeds at home and would plant them instead of purchasing the plants.  Amazingly enough I walked out with only my fertilizer.  Proud of myself in fact.

Ok, so I did go and buy the plants.  Yeah  yeah I know, don't judge me.  Anyyyyyway...So, yes I planted a fall garden and yes I did buy the plants instead of starting them from seed. So sue me.  I justify both by saying I am making sure my family has healthy food while saving myself time by buying the plants.

The fall garden line up:

Pac Choi

Curly Kale

Red Pak Choi

Russian Kale

Oregon Sugar Snap Peas

Broccoli Raab

Red and Green Chard

Green Comet Broccoli

Garden Update

The garden is reaching a transition point where I really need to pull up all of the lettuce type plants and plant some hardier things in their place (or not).

Eggplants

(Japanese Eggplant)

Peppers

Ok I have to admit that I ran out of room in the garden and had to plant this bell pepper plant in a pot.  But it's doing great especially since I took it off the deck ( I noticed one of the bells had gotten a bit of sun scald, so I moved it to a somewhat shadier spot).

(Poor Bell outside the garden in a pot)

(Sun Scald - Where the sun has burned the fruit.). This can be prevented by making sure the fruit is well protected wite plenty of leaves and making sure that the plant is well watered so the leaves don't wilt when the sun is at it's hottest.  Sun Scald doesn't ruin the fruit, however that spot is usually mushy and and soft.  I will usually pick the fruit and cut out the soft spot or donate the whole thing to the compost bin.

These peppers can be eaten at any stage.  They will go from green to red (this particular type). The red peppers will have a much sweeter taste than the green.

This little guy looks to be on his way to turning red, so he won't get very big.  But the little ones taste just as good as the bigger ones, so I won't be discriminating in the kitchen.

(Mild Poblano Peppers)  I'm a real wuss when it comes to hot peppers, but I usually grow them to put in my pickles every year because my mom and husband like 'em spicy. No pickles this year so I can grow mild flavored peppers for salsas and sauces that I can eat.

 (Mild Chiles)

Squash

So I made a poor planting decision by planting this squash in front of my cucumber plant.  You can see the cucumber leaves peaking out next to the fence.  I had to make a decision and dramatically cut back this plant although I hated to do it. So what you see now is a quarter of the plant that it originally was. It was also beginning to encroach on my bean plants on the bottom right.

The trellised Butternut Squash experiment still seems to be doing well.

Beans

(Various Shelling Beans - Cranberry, Black Peas, Navy, Edamame etc)

(Soy Beans)

(Green Beans - lettuce in front that needs to be put out of it's misery, and a very vibrant Sweet Basil plant to the far right)

Plants on Their Way Out

(Left to Right - Arugula, Broccoli, Mustard Greens and Collard Greens)  The Collard Greens will be staying

In With Summer Out With Winter

Things are finally looking normal in Northern California.  We're having upper 80's low 90's and I couldn't be happier (Not that I don't reserve the right to complain about the heat in a couple of weeks).  I spent the weekend digging up my long over due cool weather spinach and chard and planting more summer fare.

The poor struggling Pinapple, Siox and Kellogg Breakfast tomatoes are finally happy and have grown in leaps and bounds.  This year instead of tying the plants to an overhead trellis, I decided to trellis them against the garden fence with twine and velcro. So far so good, the real test will be when those babies get heavy with 2 lb. fruit and the winds start whipping.

 I also noticed that we had our first little 'mator of the season on the Siox.

Now none of this would be possible without the activity of our little friendly pollinators.  We are lucky enough to live across the street from a local orchard that also keeps bees.  Now that the weather is where it should be, our yard is literally buzzing with activity (get it buzzing?).  Any how this weekend was especially active in the garden and I thought I'd give you a peek.

I thought I'd try my hand at growing winter squash this year. I usually have stayed away from winter squash and melons since they are such space hogs, but I thought what the heck when I saw the plants at my local nursery.  I figured I'd try growing them vertically and see how it turned out.  I only bought two plants so I figured this little structure would do it.

This Weekend's Harvest

Green Beans

Broccoli

Strawberries

Yellow Pear Squash

It's time to let the summer veggie recipes flow.  With all the abundant good things growing, I try to cook them all. I always end up taking bundles to the office for everyone else as well.  So, as I come up with good recipes for garden produce I will begin to share them with you as well.

On the organic front I am still going strong, I haven't had too much trouble with the garden pests.  I've been having snail stomp fests and beetle squashing session, but nothing overwheling yet.  I have noticed some little munching happening on the green bean leaves, but I'll be watching closely to any signs of a hostile take over.  The pups are still holding down the fort to keep any 4 legged or winged culprits after our prizes.

Now on the other hand we are fighting a losing battle with the local mole that's been torchering my lawn for the last year.  The smelly things you drop in the holes haven't worked.  Watering the lawn hasn't succeeded in doing anything but stressing the grass out.  So if anyone has any ideas that won't harm the dogs I'm all ears.