Shannon's Tasteful Garden - Virginia

It's That Time of Year Again!

2010-04-18T20:10:00.000-04:00

Today we prepared the beds for the new season of veggies! It was so great to play in the dirt again after a very long and snowy winter.

We decided since the squash and zucchini couldn't play well with the other plants, and since they were admittedly a little crowded where they were, that we would make them a new home next to the raised beds.

We had some stumps taken out a little over a year ago and never did anything with the space. In a effort to use the space, and hopefully stop any further erosion, we built planting wells. I thought if we used the wells you would put outside a basement window that we could build up the hill and give the plants some better dirt. For now we put straw behind them but we will be planting a fast growing ground cover soon since we disturbed the dirt. We use a left over garden tie to help hold them sturdy and to keep the dirt from washing down between the wells. The wells are held in place by 3, 18 inch re-bars on each one.

My order will be placed with Tasteful Garden this week! I'm so excited to get started again!

Next post: What are we planting this year?

Cabbage Worms Are Not My Friend

2009-10-23T16:38:00.007-04:00

Here is one of my two cabbage plants. The cabbage worms seemed to have had mercy on this one. I felt the inside and there is a little baby cabbage head in there!

The kale on the other had they feasted on! This is all that is left for now, but I know it will come back in a week or so.

The collard greens also met a similar fate as the kale but it is coming back quickly also.

Check this monster out! This is my broccoli. It looks like it is working on 3 heads of broccoli, we'll see!

I sprayed everything with organic insecticide designed to get rid of the cabbage worms and a couple of other varmints but leaves the good bugs alone.

I'll keep you updated!

I'm Back!

2009-09-24T14:10:00.008-04:00

Hello fellow gardeners! I've been gone for over a month, I can't believe how fast the time has gone. So all the summer vegetables are out except for the pepper plants. They actually went kind of crazy with blooms after the cucumber and tomato plants were taken out so I'm seeing where that goes.

Before we went on vacation I got my fall vegetables in. I have collard greens, kale, broccoli, cauliflower and beets. When we came home they had definitely grown but I realized a variety of critters were finding them tasty. I found 2 horn worms (they were black and brown), I dispatched of them in soapy water, but the problem got worse as you can see from the photos. Now I have figured out that I have slugs and lots of them! So I sprinkled Sluggo around the garden, hopefully that will drive them away. If it looks like the markings of some other kind of critter let me know.

The plants are growing like crazy now and I'm looking forward to seeing my first baby cabbages!

Imagine my surprise to see a softball size watermelon! I was sure the plant would just keep growing and not produce any fruit because I read the planting directions after I planted in in poorly conditioned soil. I left it alone and occasionally watered it and it survived. The honeydew was not as fortunate, it disappeared.

Just something pretty to end with...

Preparing for late summer plantings

2009-08-13T11:13:00.006-04:00

Although the summer heat and humidity is in full swing I have my eyes set on fall goodies. I ordered my end of summer plants from Tasteful Garden this week and they should be here next week. I also picked up 8 bags of cow manure for my raised gardens. I have a feeling the tomatoes and cucumbers sapped a lot of the good stuff out of the soil.

The cucumbers are nearing their end. I don't think the last couple are going to fully develop. Next year I think I'm going to do the cucumbers on an arbor. They got too crowded on the trellis I made for them. I under estimated how prolific they would be.

The red and yellow grape tomatoes have slowed on their ripening but there is still a lot of green ones and blooms so I think they will keep plugging along.

The beefsteaks are doing their thing as well as the black plum tomatoes. I probably have enough black plums to do another 2 pound bag for the freezer. I included some picks from my freezing frenzy.

I'll check back when I have my new plantings to give you the low down on what I have planned!

Stay cool!

Garden Update

2009-08-05T10:26:00.003-04:00

The garden and I seem to have hit a comfortable pace. I get out there about every 3 days to bring in whatever is ready. The cucumbers are starting to die back some and not produce as much as quickly. I am picking about every 3 days and getting about 6 cucumbers. Just a few weeks ago I was getting 6 or so a day. This is a better pace for sure!

The black plum tomatoes have really take off though. I picked 38 this morning and am now looking up directions for freezing so I can keep them for sauce this winter. Next summer I am going to venture into canning but this summer I'm just doing a lot of freezing. It should be fine since they are just going in sauce.

The beefsteak, pictured above, is putting out about 5 tomatoes every few days. Looks like it has plenty more to go.

The marigolds look good. I think they are doing their job, I still don't seem to be having issue with critters and I've seen the rabbit twice, but not in the garden. I do throw a grape tomato or two behind the shed when I am picking, maybe that makes them happy enough to leave the garden alone.

In the cucumber picture above you can barely see my mini red bell pepper plant. It has produced about a dozen peppers. They are so cute and so sweet! They are part of dinner tonight I think.

The yellow bell pepper has done pretty well with 4 so far. The first one was regular size the next few were a little on the small size but very tasty.

Getting ready to fertilize again this week and thankfully we had some rain so I was able to save some water.

Happy gardening everyone!

Yellow Grape Tomato

2009-08-05T10:21:00.002-04:00

Better late than never... Here is a picture of my yellow grape tomato plant. It has slowed it's ripening pace from a pint a day to about a pint every 3 days. As you can see there is still plenty of tomatoes still to ripen. The cage is 7.5 feet tall so I think the plant is easily 8-8.5 feet tall. Thankfully I can stand on the sides of the garden bed to get the top fruit.

Critical Mass

2009-07-24T10:38:00.006-04:00

Actually a yellow bell pepper. I'm thinking I wait until it gets a little red on it before picking and then bring it inside. Any thoughts?

Black plum tomato, ready to be picked. They get a little darker and have striations in them that look like they are little hand painted works of art, so beautiful.

I've had some trouble getting my baby red bell peppers to this point. Very happy to say I now have 4, that's enough for an appetizer!
Many more to come though, I just hope they keep making it.

I definitely think we've hit our pace for the tomatoes. The red and yellow grape tomatoes have been plugging along for weeks now. I didn't think the beefsteak or black plum tomatoes would ever get going... I was wrong! They've gone crazy! I'm going to contact the food bank and see if they would like the over flow. The window sill full, minus two, are all from today! The crate of grape tomatoes is 3 days worth. I've got some happy 'maters...

I continue to water once a week with the soaker hose for an hour and a half. Mother nature saved me the trouble this week, thanks lady! I also fertilize with Espoma to add nitrogen every 6 weeks. The marigolds seem to be keeping the 4 legged creatures away and the squirrels are conspicuously absent this year, odd... I hope they aren't planning a coup when the beefsteaks take off. The birds fly in and eat the bugs off the tomato plants but don't seem to do any other harm except knocking off the occasional grape tomato.

I did end up tearing out the zucchini and squash. They got a bad case of the powdery mildew and I was afraid it would spread to the tomatoes. I have learned that squash and zucchini need their own bed when planting in raised beds as I do. The beefsteaks seemed to really start to do their thing once the others were gone. I definitely got my fill of both vegetables so I don't feel shorted even though they came out early. I froze 8 bags, 2 cups each of grated zucchini. I think we'll be in good shape for zucchini bread for a while.

Have a great weekend!

Drying Oregano

2009-07-08T21:35:00.004-04:00

I didn't get out to my garden yesterday so today was a particularly big day! It is as if the squash and zucchini knew their days were numbered if they didn't stop rotting!

I had an ingenious idea to start drying my oregano since it has really been going gangbusters. After executing my great idea I went online to find out how I was really supposed to be doing it and found I am doing it all wrong. For fun though, I am going to try it this way and put it is a cool dry place and see what happens. Stay tuned...

Movin' on Up!

2009-07-06T15:25:00.006-04:00

Before leaving for the long holiday weekend I knew we needed to do something the wrangle the tomato plants. They had outgrown their 5 foot high cages. We took the same tomato wire we used for the original cages, split it in half long ways and made 2.5 foot extenders for the top. Unlike the original cages, we couldn't connect the sides until we got them around the plants. This was definitely a two person job! Now the cages are a total of 7.5 feet high. Any higher and they are on their own! I'm getting about a half to a full pint of grape tomatoes a day. The beefsteaks and black pears haven't started turning yet but when they do we are going to be in tomatoes up to our ears! Can't wait!

A closer look...

Just something pretty from the garden...

Some success and some challenges

2009-07-06T15:15:00.004-04:00

Before treating for blossom end rot with Espoma bone meal.

After treatment! Healthy Beefsteaks with what looks like the beginning of blushing, I hope! I am so excited for my first tomato sandwich I can't stand it!

Is this powdery mildew? If so what is the best way to get rid of it? BTW, my squash and zucchini are still mostly rotting. I'm about 1 for 10 on harvesting a viable one.

Happy Fourth of July

2009-07-01T21:56:00.004-04:00

Grape tomatoes are finally taking off!

Refrigerator pickles-first of the season!

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful holiday! Enjoy your family and friends!

The First Zucchini and Cucumber

2009-06-22T21:25:00.004-04:00

I did not get out to my garden today until after dark so I was lurking again with the flashlight. This time in search of progress or improvement since I laid down straw. My squash is still rotting at a pretty good rate. I'm going to treat the garden with bone meal tomorrow and hope this will stop the rot on the squash and beefsteak tomatoes. Of course in the garden there is always a little disappointment and then comes a huge reward! This zucchini and cucumber tripled over the weekend and I finally got to cut something out of the garden! I am so proud I had to show you my big harvest!

Question: When the squash or zucchini starts to form can I clip off the bloom? I'm wondering if that will help them not rot. The blooms get pretty gross as the squash grows.

2009-06-15T20:29:00.004-04:00

Yellow bell pepper on it's way, lots of others. My peppers seem behind some of the other blogs I've seen. They've grown a lot since I gave them more compost but still small. I put extra straw around them to protect their roots since they don't grow as deeply as the tomatoes.

I lost the first round of squash but the second round was close behind. I took Cindy's advice and put straw down to keep them out of the dirt. We've had so much rain the dirt is holding a lot of moisture.

The red grape tomatoes are going crazy!

The cucumbers are really coming along, this is by far the biggest one so far. The cucumbers are a bit unruly, they keep wanting to attach to the tomato and pepper cages and run behind the garden. I go out every day and reroute them back to their trellis.

Before and After Photos

2009-06-15T20:18:00.005-04:00

Tomatoes and Squash Before (about 6 weeks ago)

Tomatoes and Squash Today!

Two New Additions

2009-06-15T20:11:00.003-04:00

We had 2 stumps ground out today making way for new garden areas. Since it will take some time for us to decide what we want to do with the space I decided to try growing a watermelon and honeydew in the freshly turned dirt. I went to the garden center to get straw and saw them sitting there looking very sad in what is left of the vegetable section. Stay tuned, I would love to have a watermelon or two!

2009-06-08T20:23:00.006-04:00

My first Black Pear tomato

Just something pretty, a cucumber blossom!

Baby cucumber, there is going to be a lot of them! They love the climbing wire I put up for them with the left over wire from the tomato cages.

Is this blossom rot? The zucchini were both fine yesterday! How can I stop this?

Ugh... Bugs...

2009-06-01T21:23:00.008-04:00

Please help me...

I think I have slugs and maybe aphids again (see previous post Ready, Set, Go)?

In case I am correct I did the soapy water spray and will rinse in the morning. They seem to just be on the squash right now. I wonder if I should treat the tomatoes just in case? Will it hurt the blooms?

Any advice or if it doesn't look like aphids let me know!

Slug Trap to check in the morning

Are these aphids or slug eggs?

Definitely slugs I think?

More mystery bugs...

Finally, what is this thing?

Baby buds!

2009-05-30T17:48:00.006-04:00

Finally, the garden is going crazy with growth! I found I was under watering. Even though we've had a ton of rain, it was ill timed, and the garden got a little dry and wasn't really growing very quickly. Additionally, we picked up one of those soil test kits from HD and found we were low on nitrogen and a couple of other minerals. We picked up some organic soil amendment and finally got the soaker hose put in. Once we did all that it went crazy and we've been rewarded with all kinds of baby buds! Sadly, I did lose my first couple of peppers but they have lots of new buds so hopefully we'll have better luck with the next phase.

My squash plant had ants all over it right before it really took off. I supressed my urge to "get rid of them" at the urging of a wise plant person. She told me they are great for polinating between the male and female squash flowers. So true, because we are going to be in squash this summer for sure!

Herb garden

2009-05-18T12:58:00.007-04:00

At long last I got my herbs in this weekend! I'm so excited! Next to the anticipation of my vegetables my herbs are a close second. Last year I planted all of my herbs (except the mint) in flower boxes I wasn't using. This year I've read more and learned that some herbs need more root room to grow. I found the information sections for herbs on the Tasteful Garden site really helpful. I learned that Basil becomes root bound very easily and will bolt (grow flowers and stop growing) if it doesn't have enough room. Parsley doesn't need as much room so it goes in the smaller pots. Good for me I keep all of my old pots because you never know when you'll need them. So here is the pre-planting plan. I did throw some Osmocote on the herbs after I planted them. The garden is fully organic but the herbs got a little extra help this year.

The line up left to right:
Italian Oregano
Banana Pepper (not an herb, I know, but I ran out of room in the garden)
Mint (carry over from last year but not sweet enough for Mojitos)
Sweet Globe Basil (tiny leaves)
Kentucky Spearmint (perfect for Mojitos!)
Curly Leaf Parsley
Basil
Italian Parsley
Sage
Basil

Kentucky Spearmint around the outside (regrowth from last year). Regular Spearmint on the inside that I planted about a month ago. Why? Because I learned that mint is a perennial and comes back every year even if it sits in a pot on the deck all winter with no attention.

The other thing I learned last year is to keep mint to itself unless you want it to spread. This pot will be a whirly swirly of mint by the end of the summer.

And last but not least my first zucchini flower! Judging from the picture though, I think I have snails? What's that hole in the leaf near the flower? Maybe a beer bath is in order? Any other ideas?

Everyone Weathered the Storm

2009-05-11T21:22:00.005-04:00

My first Red Grape Tomatoes
Aren't they so fuzzy and cute?

My first French Filet Green Beans
I just read the description again when I was adding the link and it said 3-4 per pot. Was I supposed to separate them before planting? Advice please!

My first Mini Red Bell
The first bud didn't make it too much rain I think. You can see it in the background

I'm so excited! Everything is really taking off. Most everything has buds or flowers. We had rain here in Virginia for 2 weeks straight. I was afraid everything would have gotten water logged but they seem to really like it. I'm glad I didn't plant my herbs yet though, I think they would have not enjoyed the rain as much. This weekend hopefully I'll have a chance to get them in. I also think it may be time to do a little compost collar around the plants to give them a little snack. I'm wondering when I should start worrying about bugs and slugs... I haven't seen any yet.

Four days post planting

2009-04-30T10:07:00.005-04:00

First buds on my Mini Red Bell Pepper who's future includes being stuffed with goat cheese seasoned with fresh herbs!

Yellow squash. The only original growth present on Sunday was the yellow leaves. I was afraid I killed it before getting it in the ground. Now I'm afraid it's going to be the squash that took over Annandale! I could have worse problems than too much squash...

More later but wanted to give a quick update on the nursery!

Homemade Tomato Cages and Planting

2009-04-27T09:46:00.000-04:00

Finally, at long last, Sunday was the day to plant! I had to wait until the sun was off the gardens so I didn't get started with the actual planting until 6 or so. In preparation for the planting I did the following:
1. Crush the 2 dozen egg shells I have been collecting to add to the tomato and pepper plants planting hole.
2. Made my tomato cages (more on that later).
3. Went to the hardware store to get soaker hoses and bamboo stakes (more on those later too).
4. Filled my deck boxes with soil for my herb boxes.
5. Talked to my Mother on the phone for 2 hours...I think a record!

The tomato cages are made out of Tomato Guard, made by GroTall. I purchased mine at Southern States. It is galvanized welded steel. It comes in rolls of 4x20 feet. We were able to make 3 - 6 foot round cages and I had enough left over to make my climber for the cucumbers.

This is a 2 person job, so have a helper. Wear gloves, there are lots of sharp ends. To cut, lay the wire flat to a 6 foot length. At one end you will have a flat edge. Cut the other end with tin snips so you create another flat end for your next cage and pointy ends to connect the edges (click on the photo for a better look). Let the fencing roll back (careful not to let it fly back and hit your legs) and use the rough edge to attach to the flat edge (you can see what I mean in the picture). Then clip every other section of the bottom so that it creates stakes when you set it in the garden. I also used 6 foot lengths of bamboo to weave top to bottom and then pushed it down in the ground to hold them in place. I will probably need to do something stronger when they get bigger, but for now they should stay.

I planted the tomatoes by trimming the branches and leaves on the bottom two thirds of the plant. Dug a hole deep enough to get them that far down. Sprinkled my crushed egg shells in and around the hole and plunked the tomato plant in there. Filled in with dirt and put the collar on. The collar, I read, is supposed to keep cut worms from coming along and clipping off your new tomato plants. It is also supposed to slow down the slugs, we'll see. I'll be putting beer bowls out if I start to see slug activity. We do have a lot of them so I image they will make it to the backyard. I made sure I put my plant labels in the ground next to all the plants so that I will remember what I have.

I planted the peppers with some of the crushed egg shells also but didn't do collars. I also did cages for the peppers because, I read, they can get heavy with fruit (I hope) and can fall over from the weight.

Anyone know what is already eating my pepper plant? I just notice the holes in the leaf when I was planting.

So here is the freshman class of the left garden:

L to R back: Red Grape, Yellow Grape, Beefsteak

L to R front: Yellow squash, Zucchini

Here is the freshman class of the right garden:

L to R in the back: Cucumbers, Black Pear Tomato

L to R in the front: French Green Bean, Mini Red Bell, Yellow Bell

Wish us luck! Send advice if you have it!

I Promise to Stop Showing You Dirt Soon...

2009-04-21T20:42:00.000-04:00

But not today...

Last entry I showed that the gardens were almost complete. The picture attached shows the conditioning I did to the soil. I purchased leaf compost from my local nursery. Sometimes this is referred to as "black gold" because it is so rich in nutrients and plants love it.

I read that you need to make sure that it is leaf compost and hasn't been mixed with bad stuff like weed trimmings or other unsavory yard waste. It should smell rich and clump when you pick it up but not pack tightly. It shouldn't have a super strong ammonia smell.

In order to lighten it up a little I mixed an 8 liter bag of vermiculite and probably another gallon bucket of perlite in with the soil. Both can be purchased at your local nursery or garden center. It was easy to do this year since it is all new soil. I just used my garden claw to mix and then the shovel to really get it moved around.

I'll be planting this weekend, I can't wait! Next time plants and not just dirt!

Ready, Set, Go!

2009-04-16T15:40:00.000-04:00

And so it begins...

I've read plenty of books, blogs and websites. TastefulGarden was by far the most helpful as a beginning gardener. Some helpful books were; "You Bet Your Tomatoes" and "Mike McGrath's Book of Compost" both by Mike McGrath.

We finished both of our raised garden boxes last weekend. Each measure 4x8 feet. The last bit of dirt is going in this weekend. The plants are here, waiting patiently to be planted. Here in Virginia I think we are all hoping today will be the first day of the rest of spring. The attic fan turned on today, that's always a good sign it is warm out!

We had a little aphid scare today. A first for me. I was keeping the plants inside until we planted but apparently that makes them more prone to having aphids attack. How did I know I had aphids? The plants leaves started to curl and if I looked closing I could see little white and green specs, only about the size of a well sharpened pencil. I called and spoke with Cindy at Tasteful Garden and she explained what I had and how to fix it.

First, get the plants outside. They come to us ready to be left outside as long as we don't have a freeze warning. Second, dunk them in mildly soapy water (I used Dawn) that is cool-warm. Rub the leaves very gently to loosen the aphids. Let them dry in a shady place (very important or their leaves may burn). At the end of the day, rinse them in cool-warm water and let them dry. It worked! I didn't see any more aphids. The watermelon beefsteak is looking a little sad and droopy right now but I hope that will pass.