Sunday, May 31, 2020

May's Garden (2020)


We are exhausted but the whole garden is almost planted.  Seeing the grocery stores empty was a big motivator.   It is already producing more food than we can eat and with lockdown lifted, I have finally been able to share with others.


The horrible armadillos have returned and have begun destroying the garden. Since they slip in late at night under cover of darkness from the woods, we have installed a short chicken wire fence around the back half of the garden.  If they figure it out and begin entering through the front area, we will add it all the way around.  It isn't fancy but is necessary.


We love white sugar beets and never have enough so the whole first row will be dedicated to them.  Last year this was the first hoop house row and these were planted in the fall.  We are harvesting the biggest ones now.


Finding seeds was almost impossible this year due to everyone else also panicked by the empty grocery stores and starting gardens (wise decisions).  I did find one company selling sugar beets with a 40% germination rate (my rate was 30%).  To avoid wasting any of the precious seeds, each was marked.  Never before have I had any success collecting sugar beet seeds but two have bolted.  Maybe I will get seeds!


The beans in the second row are just beginning to sprout.  Egyptian Walking Onions, Elephant Garlic plus one bolting Scarlett Kale are all that is left from the second winter hoop house.  Collecting seeds this year has become a priority.


This row has onions on the outside, Chinese turnips in the center front and Red Detroit beets in the far back.


The onions are Texas Super Sweet.


White Tokinashi and Hida Beni Red turnips have been a fantastic surprise.  About half were ready in 40 days like the seed catalog bragged. The rest are still growing. Their flavor is mild, nothing like regular turnips (which I dislike). The red is a bit stronger than the white but both can be eaten raw in salads. When the last of these are picked in a few days, more will be planted.  Both varieties are going on the list of "must-have."


More unsprouted beans and Egyptian Walking Onions in the far back.


Drum roll please...look at these potatoes!  I have managed to grow large potato vines, don't know if there are potatoes underneath yet,  but look at those vines!  Wow!  Will this be the first year ever that I have a successful crop of potatoes? We'll see.


"Assorted unknowns" are on the left and "assorted knowns" are on the right.  They are either must-have favorites or those about which I'm still undecided.  Everybody deserves more than one chance.


Both Katsuona Mustard and Giant Leaf Chinese Mustard do not taste anything like Southern Mustard greens but are mild flavored.  The Chinese Giant Leaf Mustard is supposed to get 3 feet by 1 and 1/2 feet wide but is already bolting.  


Tsa tsai Round is a mustard variety that forms a bump at the base of the stem which can be eaten along with the large leaves. Supposedly the bulbs form differently according to when you plant them.  I'm still experimenting with this one.


At the far end by the field is one row of tomatoes.  


To squeeze as much out of my garden as possible this year, lettuce was planted between and in front of every tomato plant. 


We cut the long strip of fencing that was rolled into a scroll last year and made this wild-looking arch. Exactly how it will be used is still undecided.


The rest of the fencing will be used to support tomatoes in front of the woods.  It is in shade in the morning and early afternoon even though tomatoes like full sun. Rotating a garden is important but this was the best I could arrange because it is also necessary to have a safe shot from the back deck (in the middle of the night) when armadillos are shredding your garden.


So far, I am way ahead of schedule this year.  Being locked down with nowhere to go and no job has made a big difference.


19 comments:

  1. Don't kid yourself, that arch is going to be for yard-long beans. As it is every year...

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    1. HA! You are wrong! You don't know your old Mom like you think you do - there will be no yard-long beans planted this year. I'm tired of them and have planted bush green beans hence the problem of what to do. Any suggestions? What do you want more of?
      Love, Mom

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  2. I'm with you on turnips. I love the taste of rutabagas, but not turnips. Glad I never had to deal with empty stores. I've pretty much been able to get everything on my list when I ventured out, not often, which was mostly produce, and wine :). Looks like you're going to eat very well!

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    1. Laurie, seeing an empty grocery store effected me. It is one thing to see it in on TV but it is different when you see it in person. They have been empty before when a snow storm was predicted but were quickly restocked. I think seeing them not restocked is what was unusual. We didn't suffer at all because my pantry is well stocked.

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  3. Your garden is beautiful. The vegetables grow very quickly.

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    1. I can see them grow day to day as I walk past especially the Chinese greens and then I reach down and grab a big bowl for lunch. Spring is such a wonderful time of the year.

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  4. Wow your garden looks so productive, your friends and neighbours must appreciate all your hard work and generosity. I'm glad we don't have visiting armadillos hope the chicken wire is working! Sarah x

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    1. So far it has worked except for the time one pushed against a gate (a piece of fencing leaning against the poles) and it fell down. I hope it fell on his head! The fence is haphazard, not sturdy or permanent, but an experiment. They wander around aimlessly digging holes and don't seem interested in digging under the fence. Time will tell.

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  5. Oh, I so love these posts...love seeing things grow. Wondering how you use the turnips. Do you cook them any way? I never liked them other than when raw, but have not had one in years and years and years!

    Have you ever grown kohlrabi? We did a bit when we were first married. The best I remember it was so mild and good.

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    1. I don't know how to use the turnips so I am experimenting. We do like them chopped up in a salad, the crunch adds surprise. When boiled, they were boring and needed something. Boiling them in beef broth didn't seem exciting either. I don't know but would love suggestions.

      I do have kohlrabi growing but they were so tiny my camera wouldn't focus on the little seedlings. This year I have had a horrible time getting seeds to germinate. They just won't sprout. Yesterday I asked my local garden expert friend and he said everybody is having problems. The seeds are fine, the ground is too cool. The stores, just like the seed catalogs are almost out of seeds.

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  6. Looking good! Wow, those onions and greens are robust and they look delicious. Armadillos? We have to use chicken wire to block the rabbits!

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    1. We have rabbits also but they seem to prefer the clover in the yard. They can eat all of it they want! They have done damage in the past but I think it is hawks in the area that keep the rabbits under control.

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  7. I cannot believe how fast your garden is growing! It already looks lush and green. I'm glad you were able to get it all in, but am sorry about the armadillos. Thank goodness we don't have those here. We are in the middle of a city, so get very little wildlife, but the neighbor saw a buck deer walking down our city street the other day! Thankfully, my garden is in the back yard, behind a fence! My sister, however, even though she's right on the edge of I-5 freeway and not by a forest, has rabbits, birds, and deer all chomping and chewing her garden.

    Rob is excited to try the turnips and kale. We need to finish something up so there will be room to plant some. I think one row of snow peas and the spinach are almost done and then....I'm with you. Every single inch of room in my garden is planted and will be succession planted as crops finish.

    It was sobering to me, too, to see shelves empty. I've personally only been in the stores a couple of times over the last 10 weeks, but Rob (who goes when needed) says that is getting better. There's more out there again. Still, I love having my own supply. Also, it was expensive to get stocked up at the prices that were so much higher, so I'm loving the ability to get that grocery budget back under control again. This month should be even better than May was as many, many garden veggies are getting closer and closer to ripening, along with strawberries and raspberries.

    Don't work yourself to death, my friend:). (Says the lady who is also doing more yard work than normal due to Covid19!). It is nice to see things in such good shape, isn't it?

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    1. Down't worry, I'm not working myself to death. I'm on the couch unable to move or sleep (which will explain the 3:30 am timestamp on the comment). Yesterday I got up at sunrise to work in the garden and while heating water for my coffee, I leaned over the kitchen sink to raise the window and pulled a muscle in my back. It isn't heavy, it's just at an odd angle. So much to do and now I can't move! Instead I'm laying on the couch catching up on blog reading.

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  8. In France there is the saying that every good dish begins with fried onions. Anyway they are an
    indispensable component of so many dishes and they give them a wonderful flavor. You have so many
    green onions growing in your garden. They also match together with potatoes so well.
    Your potatoes look nice and healthy. I guess that you can dig out some after another three months
    when the foliage will be yellow or dead. I hope you will not have voles or mole crickets in your
    garden. And no potato beetles. So watch out.

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    1. Voles and mole crickets are not here, yet. Potato beetles I do have, horrible little things. It has been a strange year for insects. Right now I should be fighting flea beetles but instead I have slugs. Slugs? Normally, I never have a big problem with slugs, just a few here and there and then they disappear when the dry weather arrives.

      So I wait until the foliage on the potatoes dies and then we (Bill) will dig them - that will now be the plan. Looking for beetles will be added to the to-do list. I haven't seen any yet but I really haven't looked closely either.

      This might be the first year I have enough onions to store some. Usually, they are all eaten - I love onions.

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  9. Hope your back recovers soon. That doing thing st just the wrong angle is painful!

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    1. Thank you Diana. It is my mind that is the problem. Sitting still when the weeds are growing is driving me crazy!

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  10. What a fantastic array of veggies

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