Picture Post

These pics were taken this morning of the damage done last night. As of 1pm today, it looks like no groundhogs have been inside the garden long enough to eat anything that i can see.

Hopefully it is not for lack of trying.  I did see one run across the back part behind where our fence goes halfway across  the backyard. I have also seen them poking their heads out from the wood pile.

The dog has been inside for the last couple hours, so there is nothing that should stop the woodchucks from trying.

So for now the damage pictures are going to be so i can be sure there is no additional destruction when i check throughout the day.  Sometimes they may hit only one or two leaves before something scares them off and i want to know immediately if the fence is not doing its job so i can try and figure something out. If they have stopped i want to stop feeling the need to monitor so much and i will know that i can go ahead and plan to start replacement seedlings so i can possibly get a later harvest since my oldest cabbages are pretty much done in.

Damage to kohlrabi:

Damage to Swiss Chard

Damage to Cabbage

 

Damage to Collards

 

Damage to Brocoli

...

 Leaving Kale alone..so far...

There seems to be a point in time when cabbage is at its tastiest to woodchucks. The large cabbages looked like they were getting ready to start heading.  The smaller ones are later transplants and were left untouched. The Swiss chard was munched right about when i was going to pick them. The Broccoli was minimally (relatively) damaged.  There are a few bare spots where i harvested the Pak Choi (between the broccoli and pak choi) so that is not included in the damage roll.

Tomato blossoms on the Roma tomato plants

 Corn....and weeds....

Rosemary....looks like its doing well

Graffiti cauliflower

 Bush beans.... i forget which type, but they are growing well.

Rutabagas...  i don't know why the tops want to fall over like that. They aren't as stout as i expected them to be so far.

Some melon/pumpkin/squash volunteer that i have stepped on a dozen times but keeps growing anyway...

Beets...

A big carrot plant.  The range of sizes between my carrots is pretty wide.  I think it was uneven watering. I got good germination after all, but it was spread out over 2-3 weeks. I saw some new ones emerging just last week.  I guess in a way they are staggering my harvest naturally, this may be a good thing in the end.

Bird House Gourd.  I have planted these before when i used my parents' garden in college.  They produced some nice gourds that dried out well.  My dad collected them for me but i never got to make them into birdhouses.  I am hoping to attract some Purple Martins some day.  We are just inside the Northern edge of their range. (Depending on the map and reliability of source, the places that want to sell bird houses say we have them all over, the sites that study their migration habits say they are rare in my area).

The plants look poised to produce a good crop of gourds at any rate.

 I think this is the late breaking banana Melon.  The camera was more interested in the tops of the stakes than in my intended subject. I still haven't gotten out to get the lint removed from the lens.
Anyway, i don't know why some of the melons are so incredibly slow. We have had plenty of warm rain and actual hot weather. 

I forget which this is.  Probably Tom Watson.

Rocky Ford...

And this was when i stumbled upon the brilliant idea to photo the name tag along with the plant.  Hales Best don'tcha'know.

 But the tag photo idea didn't absorb right off.  I think this is Pony Yellow.

Look, it says "Long Island Cheese" !

Another Winter squash, Red Eye.... a favorite of mine. I planted it a couple years ago and it was very yummy.

Carnival Acorn Squash... another good one.

Cucumbers. Two types.

My jerusalem Artichokes.  I need to weed out the Winter Rye more, i have been picking away at it for a while. I don't get a lot of time for weeding and they grow so fast.  My aisles are weedy and i mostly concentrate on the weeds that are getting ready to flower or go to seed.

I still haven't gotten the trunk of the big apple tree dragged away (to the right).

Apples are getting big, but have signs of damage.

*

Grapes:

Marechal Foch, looking good.

Frontenac, not doing much, but when i cut into the stick a bit, the color inside was a live green color. So i hope its not in the process of dying and wakes up soon.

Reliance, also doing nicely.

Edelweiss.... looking dead as ever.

Edelweiss #2.... same as above.

Blueberries.  Patriot.....

...and Blueray.

Some wildflower i keep in my flowerbed. They are always sunny. I need to get them ID'd sometime.

Aerial view...

Oh, i can't wait until the yard is done. The stack of wood on top of the tarp is covering the last bunch of painted fence panels. The overgrown cedar shrub that turned ino a tree needs to be cut down so i can drive some posts to install a clothesline in that better spot rather than have to use the basketball hoop at the end of the driveway.  And finally, we need to get grass growing in that yard because it looks like a dusty wasteland.

These are pics of the cuttings i got from a Lemony friend....

I was sent 2 mulberry cuttings, this is one:

and this is a quick group shot of the rest of them.  Cranberries, kiwi, blackberries, cherries....

I dated them the day the cuttings were taken since the rooting hormone was applied and they had been wrapped in wet paper towel, i have the day they were set in these cups on record here in the blog.

I use those elasticized  bowl covers that i still find at the Dollar Tree to keep the cuttings humid from top to bottom.  I only took them off for the picture. but they seem to work nicely.

I haven't had the chance to research and deal with the seed-filled fruits yet since i have been using my energy on woodchuck issues and carpet cleaning (which i hate almost as much as woodchucks lol)....

But i am glad i finally got updated pictures of something.  It will be interesting to look back through this summer later in winter when i am planning for 2011.
...

I hope he's right!

Hubby thinks he found what was going on with the fence.  I hope he is right.
See, he's actually been zapped by the thing multiple times by accident and on purpose.  As for me, the fence came with a zap tester so i have declined to manually test it.
But the good thing about hubby being so.... brave....uh....

Well, he knows how strong the zap has been at various times. 

When i first got the fence, the grass and weeds were short so it worked well with one strand and fresh batteries. As the grass grew i had a hard time keeping up with clearing the area. The fence would stunt the weaker grasses, but only discolor and short out on the larger weeds.
The Roundup eventually did do the trick and the wire is now quite clear.
It has been effective at keeping out the neighborhood cats and dogs at this point. Our Molly even checked it out one day when she declined to obey a "get back here" command.
On Sunday, after noticing that my veggies were getting sampled, i ran a second strand of wire around the garden and checked it with the tester and hoped that would do it (the tester only shows that the wiring is right, but does not show how strong the zap is).  Monday morning i saw more evidence of nibbling and ran the third wire, checked it with the tester and hoped for the best. 
Monday evening i noticed that the sampling and nibbling had  progressed to actual destruction and for some reason the third strand wasn't doing anything better than the first two.
Hubbs decided to dig at me and said that instead of buying grapes and berries i shoult have bought Havahart traps.  I told him that i was glad i did buy grapes and berries cause at least if the woodchucks eat my garden i would at least have my berries!...and instead of teasing me, Mr. KnowsHowTo Play Electrician Man, why don't you go out there and check if i did something wrong and find a solution for me instead.  lol
So he did and he noticed my connections were not as solid as they could have been and the ground wire was cruddier than it should be. I had set it up right, but mud had gotten between the turns of wire.  So he took the wiring apart and we cleaned it up and he put some waterproof conductive gel in the connections. He had touched the wires and he said the shock was definitely much more severe than it had ever been before. It actually scared him at that strength.
The theory is that the zap the woodchucks must have been getting from contacting the fence wasn't enough to get through their fur.  They must have touched the wires, so it had to be that the zap was too weak.
If this is going to work at all it should have the best shot now.
If it won't keep the woodchucks out, at least it keeps dogs and cats out.
And i am seriously considering planting my broccoli in topsy turveys next year cause i don't know what else to do!
There are a few places where the bottom wire might not be low enough to keep them from crawling under, so that would be my final troubleshooting item.  After that, if it isn't working, i'll have to call it a loss as far as woodchucks go.

Trapping has never worked in the past cause more woodchucks just fill in the space of the relocated one.
The trick with Spearmint gum does not work cause woodchucks do not eat Spearmint gum.  Repellent granules just kill plants and are little more than expired Montreal Steak seasoning....  I'm not risking the neighborhood pets by sneaking leg traps and rat poison isn't strong enough. Ammonia does not work for more than a day and needs reapplying constantly,  moth balls are useless and just smelly.  Smoke bombs are not an option because the woodchuck burrows are off our property and the current 3 that i am battling are living under our neighbors' loosely stacked wood pile......smoke bomb + wood pile = fire hazard.  Hair from hair salons does not work. Emptying the vacuum container does not work because the whole yard smells of our presence anyway and these are urban wildlife.  They figured out pretty fast that the dog cannot reach the garden from her leash.  The row covers will only work for a while before the animals start chewing through or tunneling under them to dine under cover at their leisure... so putting them back on isn't going to do anything and it might make it worse by concealing the damage until i get the chance to see it.
I'll post pics of the damage as soon as i can get out there and get pictures. I need to do it anyway cause i am having a hard time remembering what was chewed and what was not from each incident.

I need to get pics of the berry cuttings too... and i need to plant the Blueberries which have acclimated to sunlight very well. One is trying to flower but i'll have to prevent that this year.

Its hard to tell, but i think the Frontenac grape may be coming to life but the Edelweiss are still very dead.  The marechal Foch and the Reliance are leafing out beautifully.

My Roma tomatoes have buds - i noticed last Friday i think but forgot to write it down.  The Summer squashes are flowering and some of the Winter squash are budding. Some of the melon plants are still the same size as they were when they were first transplanted.
Everything not being eaten is looking good.

The little apple tree is growing its apples, about quarter sized now. They are showing evidence of damage, many of the apples are russeting  and i guess this can be caused by a number of things. Info.   There are some signs of bug damage, dimpling and such.  I think that is from apple maggot and i bet its because i was so slow in applying the spray after petal fall. I waited to fell the other tree too long and i needed more hose to reach the remaining tree properly. But now i have the extra hose and the dying tree is gone.  I only expect a dozen good apples from the tree this year if that. Enough to sample and maybe ID the variety.

I think that is it for today, i'll post pictures separately.

Woodchucks, presents and weather...

Woodchucks like swiss chard and a little kholrabi.

Good thing is that i planted enough of each and the plants are large enough to take some damage until i can figure out what will work.
The low wire kept getting grounded out so i tightened it up when i put the second strand on it. Grounding out may have been what allowed one in to sample my veggies.
I delayed putting extra strands of wire on the electric fence too long and when i pulled the row cover off the tomato and corn row it changed something. I think the row cover was scaring them away for a while.  When the wind blows the whole length of the cover moves and billows, so i'm sure it was a little of that.

Its a combination of things that were working. Since the woodchucks got in almost immediately after i took off the covers, they were a big part of it. But i read that row cover won't keep woodchucks away for long because they will dig through it.  So i figured where its so hard to see through them i didn't want a woodchuck to spend a whole day under my hoops eating away before i noticed.  I knew one strand of wire wasn't going to work on them especially when it kept grounding out and i was too slow to fix it.  I kept having to do something with the wire, i finally got the grass dead enough to easily uproot and underneath the wire is finally all clear.  But i think i got it all together right. The second wire isn't as high as i want it to be, so i plan to do a third course today. The first wire i think was too high in some spots and too low in others.  I think a good span of heights will be the bottom wire at 3", middle at 6" and the top at 9".  The pre-drilled holes in the stakes that came with the kit are 3" apart.  If i find that this spacing isn't a narrow enough mesh to keep them out (which unless woodchucks are immune to electricity) i can't imagine why not, i can make my own PVC stakes with 2" spacing. 
The thing about woodchucks is that they seem to manage to get through anything.  The only sure thing i could do to them is to shoot them, which i can't do because of  town ordinance.

But the fence does work on cats and skunks and the neighbor's dogs.  So if i can get the wire strands at the right height the drama of the weekend will be over.

Saturday was a good day though.
Starting in the morning at about 5am, we got ready for our oldest daughter's league's Softball tournament that was being held a few towns over.  We had to be there by 7:30 that morning.  My daughter's team lost the first game, but then they won the next game, their third game they only lost by one.  I think in all we placed 4th.  It was HOT.  It was in the 80's that morning and i'm sure it got at least to 89 if not low 90's at some point. It was 87 when we got home after 2pm.  Good thing is that we got nice breezes all day, we had brought plenty of  ice water, the little one had her big stroller, we had a picnic table umbrella and our canvas chairs.
It was a lot of fun and the girls all did play quite well in the heat.

When we got home, i found a present in the mailbox. A whole bunch of cuttings from a friend!
Cherries, berries, and fruit.  It was quite  a package! :o)
It was expected to arrive on Friday, but i think someone at the Post office was being a dweeb cause it arrived on Saturday .  The hottest day we have had so far.  But luckily my mail box is in the shade of the house, so the cuttings seem to have taken it pretty well.  Some of the leaf tips darkened, but everything was packed to stay moist and i think that helped a lot.
I got everything unpacked, potted, labeled and covered.... they are inside on my light shelf, hopefully gearing up to root.  I also was sent some berries and fruit with seeds, i haven't gotten to those much yet but i think they will each need to be processed differently. Some will need to be fermented and stratified, some may just need to be planted. I think some of them will do best in a wintersow method.

One of those eBay Autumn Olive seeds is starting to chit. I'll have to get that potted up soon as well.

Lots to try and do today, research and stringing a third line. Its supposed to be very hot again today, it was scorching and humid yesterday.  I guess its not a bad day to spend inside researching. Of course i expect to see a woodchuck in the garden every time i look out the window. 

Brassicas & grapes

I'm trying to get an idea if its normal for my brassicas to be drooping in the hot sun. I got a minute or two to sneak outside and i noticed the leaves are droopy and soft.  The peppers and eggplant are in the same row and acting fine. We have been overcast for the last few days and now its 83 out, breezy and brightly sunny. They may just be having a hard time coping.  I might grow my cabbage next to the asparagus and JA's next year. They might get some shade out of it. They will need to be rotated anyway. I am tempted to water them, but we got around 2 inches of rain in the last couple days, it might not be a good idea.

I looked up a couple wilt diseases, but according to what i found, the leaves yellow before the plants wilt and i see no yellowing. Its been a long time since i successfully grew brassicas since the woodchucks always ate them. So i have no memory if this is somewhat normal on hot days that are preceded by cool and wet ones.

The striped cucumber beetles have arrived.  I saw a few trying to get through the row cover.

Marechal Foch and Reliance grapes have opened leaves now, i'm less enthusiastic about the Frontenac, i may have gotten a dud, or its really slow in breaking dormancy. It looked live when i got it, but maybe it was at the end of itself. The 2 Edelweiss still look dead as ever.  Burpee hasn't returned my email yet.  I'll have to contact Stark's now too if the Frontenac does not start doing something soon.

My (Ridiculously Large) Seed Stash 2010

I had posted this list as a sidebar item, but frankly with my large tag cloud and other lists, i think it simply got too cluttery. So i decided to cut/paste it as a post and that way i can keep it because i refer to it often enough for it to be kept.
I hope it has retained all the links i attached to the items since that was time consuming to do. I tried to link to the actual seller's page wherever it could be found. If it wasn't linkable to the seller's site i at least tried to find a photo to link to for reference.
I do plan to edit and repost it as time goes by, if i left it as a sidebar i would have lost the aspect of archival that i wanted it for in the first place. If i do it this way as a post and re-post, i can date it, add to it and subtract from it to keep it current by date.
As of Spring Planting of this year the list is reflective of what i had before i used any seeds up for this garden's growing year.
I will re-post a revised list later in the season so i will save myself the trouble of overbuying duplicate seeds or forgetting to buy wanted seeds this winter.

My (ridiculously large) Seed Stash

• B- Strawberry, Temptation, Pinetree 2010
• F- Amaranthus, Love Lies Bleeding, Pinetree 2008
• F- Convoluvlus, Blue Enchantment- Burpee 2010
• F- Convolvulus, Ensign Red- Burpee 2010
• F- Cosmos, Bright Lights Mix, NHGC freebie 2010
• F- Four O'Clocks,Kaleidoscope Mix- Burpee 2010
• F- French Marigold, Aurora Mix, Park 2010
• F- French Marigold, Tiger Eye, Park 2010
• F- Gaillardia, Arizona Sun, Park 2010
• F- Marigold, French Double Mixed colors, Plantation Prod. / Am. Seed Co. 2006
• F- Morning Glory, Clarke's Heavenly Blue, Plantation Prod. /Am. Seed Co. 2010
• F- Morning Glory, Pink Star -Burpee 2010
• F- Morning Glory, Sunrise Serenade- Burpee 2010
• F- Nasturtium, Fordhook favorites climbing Mix, Burpee 2010
• F- Nicotiana, Only The Lonely, Pinetree 2008
• F- Oriental Poppy, Mixed Colors, W*M Plantation Products 2008
• F- Petunia, Frillytunia- Burgundy, Pinetree 2008
• F- Shasta Daisy, 'Alaska', Liberty Garden 2008
• F- Yellow Echinacea, echinacea paradoxa, Richters 2010
• H- Anise, pimpinella anisum, Richters 2009
• H- Borage, borago officinalis, Pinetree 2010
• H- Bronze Fennel, foeniculum vulgare dulce 'Rubrum', Richters 2009
• H- Catnip, nepeta cataria, Burpee 2007
• H- Chamomile, matricaria recutita, Celestial Seasonings
• H- Chinese Wolfberry (Gojiberry), lycium barbarum, Richters 2010
• H- Chives, Park 2010
• H- Cilantro, C. sativum 'Santo', Richters 2009
• H- Cumin, cuminum cyminum, Richters 2009
• H- Curled Chervil, anthriscus cerefolium 'Crispum', Richters 2009
• H- Fenugreek, trigonella foenum-graecum, Richters 2009
• H- French Thyme, thymus vulgaris, Richters 2009
• H- Garden Sage, salvia officinalis, Richters 2009
• H- Genovese Basil, O. basilicum 'Envigor', Richters 2009
• H- Germander, Pinetree 2010
• H- Greek Oregano, origanum vulgare hirtum, Richters 2009
• H- Italian Oregano, Park 2010
• H- Italian parsley, Richters 2009
• H- Lemon bergamot, monarda citrodora, Richters 2010
• H- Mammoth Dill, anethum graveolens, Richters 2009
• H- Nicotiana, Wild Aztec Tobacco, Pinetree 2008
• H- Pennyroyal, mentha mulegium, Pinetree 2008
• H- Peppermint, mentha x piperita, Celestial Seasonings
• H- Pleurisy Root ( butterfly weed), Asclepias tuberosa, Richters 2010
• H- Roseroot, rhodiola rosea, Richters 2010
• H- Sea-Buckthorn, hippophae rhamnoides, Richters 2010
• H- Shisho/Shiso/Perilla , Red, Pinetree 2010
• H- Siberian Motherwort, leonurus sibiricus, Richters 2010
• H- Stinging Nettle, urtica dioica, Richters 2010
• H- Sweet Marjoram, organium majorana, Richters 2009
• H- Welsh Onions, Pinetree 2008
• H- Winter Savory, Richters 2009
• O- Birdhouse Gourd, Ferry-Morse 2010
• O- Hen & Chicks Blend, hardy, Park 2010
• O- Polkadot Plant, Hypoestes, Pinetree 2000
• O- Teasel, Pinetree 2010
• T- Mulberry, morus nigra, Richters 2010
• V, Melon, Banana, Pinetree 2010
• V- Acorn Squash, Carnival, Pinetree 2008
• V- Amaranth, Midnight Red, Pinetree 2008
• V- Asparagus, Mary Washington, Pinetree 2010
• V- Bean, dried, Jacob's Cattle, Pinetree 2008
• V- Bean, pole, Kentucky Wonder, Ferry-Morse 2005
• V- Bean, soybean, Beer Friend, Pinetree 2009
• V- Beet, Crosby Egyptian, Pinetree 2010
• V- Broccoli, Gypsy, Pinetree 2010
• V- Brussels Sprouts, Bubbles, Pinetree 2008
• V- Burdock, Takinogawa Long, Pinetree 2010
• V- Cabbage, Early Golden Acre, American Seed Co. 2002
• V- Cabbage, Point One, Pinetree 2010
• V- Carrot, Atomic Red, Pinetree 2010
• V- Carrot, Cosmic Purple, Pinetree 2010
• V- Cauliflower, Graffiti, Pinetree 2010
• V- Collards, Vates, Pinetree 2010
• V- Corn, sweet, Golden Bantam, Pinetree 2010
• V- Corn, sweet, Incredible -yellow, Pinetree 2008
• V- Corn, sweet, Stowell's Evergreen, Pinetree 2010
• V- Cucumber, Alibi, Pinetree 2008
• V- Cucumber, Summer Dance, Pinetree 2008
• V- Fennel (Florence), Fino, Pinetree 2008 & 2010
• V- Green Bean, bush, Provider, Pinetree 2008
• V- Kale, Red Russian, Pinetree 2010
• V- Kohlrabi, Early Purple Vienna, Pinetree 2010
• V- Lettuce, ButterCrunch, Liberty Garden 2008
• V- Melon, Hale's Best, Pinetree 2010
• V- Melon, Rocky Ford Green Flesh, Pinetree 2010
• V- Okra, Cajun Delight, Johnny's 2002
• V- Okra, Cajun Delight, Pinetree 2008
• V- Okra, Red Burgundy, Pinetree 2010
• V- Onion, Ailsa Craig Exhibition, Pinetree 2010
• V- Onion, Southport Red Globe, Pinetree 2010
• V- Orach, Rose, Pinetree 2008
• V- Pak Choi, Brisk Green, Pinetree 2010
• V- Pak Choi, Brisk Green, Pinetree 2010
• V- Parsnip, Hollow Crown, Pinetree 2010
• V- Patty Pan Summer Squash, Sunburst, Johnny's 2002
• V- Pepper Hot, Ancho 101, Totally Tomatoes 2002
• V- Pepper, Hot (very), Chiltepin, Totally Tomatoes 2002
• V- Pepper, Hot, Jalapeno, early strain, Johnny's 2001
• V- Pepper, Jalapeno "Fooled You", Totally Tomatoes 2002
• V- Pepper, no heat Jalapeno, Fooled You, Pinetree 2008
• V- Pepper, Sweet, X3R Red Knight, Totally Tomatoes 2002
• V- Peppers, Hot (very !), Habanero , Johnny's 2001
• V- Radish, French Breakfast, Pinetree 2010
• V- Radish, Hailstone (Halestone), Pinetree 2010
• V- Radish, Round Black, Pinetree 2010
• V- Rutabaga, Laurentian, Pinetree 2010
• V- Salsify, Sandwich Island Mammoth, Pinetree 2010
• V- Shallots, Mirage, Pinetree 2010
• V- Slim Jim, Eggplant, Pinetree 2008
• V- Sorghum, white popping, Pinetree 2009
• V- Summer Squash, Sundance, Pinetree 2008
• V- Sweet Pepper, Mavras Black, Totally Tomatoes 2002
• V- Sweet Pepper, New Ace, Pinetree 2008
• V- Sweet Pepper, Zsa Zsa, Pinetree 2010
• V- Swiss Chard, Bright Lights, Pinetree 2008
• V- Tomatillo, Purple, Johnny's 2000 & 2002
• V- Tomato, Black from Tula, Totally Tomatoes 2002
• V- Tomato, Cuore de Toro, Totally Tomatoes 2002
• V- Tomato, Elberta Girl, Totally Tomatoes 2002
• V- Tomato, Empire Hybrid, Totally Tomatoes 2002
• V- Tomato, Old German, Mellinger's 2000 (out of business, kept packet for nostalgia i guess)
• V- Tomato, Roma VFN, Better Homes & Gardens 2000
• V- Tomato, Siberia, Totally Tomatoes 2002
• V- Tomato, Yellow Pear, Pinetree 2010
• V- Watermelon, Pony Yellow, Pinetree 2010
• V- Watermelon, Tom Watson, Pinetree 2010
• V- Winter Squash, Long Island Cheese, Pinetree 2010
• V- Winter Squash, Red Eye, Pinetree 2008

Smoking fish, regrowing celery and the usual rambling.

I made up the brine for the tilapia and it should soak for about 1 hour.

Then it comes out and gets a light rinse and on the racks to dry

 Allowing the surface to dry before smoking causes a 'pellicle' to form,,, its a slightly tacky skin that helps the smoke flavor stick to the meat and helps preserve the texture of the fish.

Then on to the smoker racks (sprayed with canola oil) to go in.

Preheat the smoker and get the chips going.

I'm out of Alder so i'm using Mesquite. I have Hickory but i like that better on beef or pork. If i use it on fish it hints too much of bacon and i like seafood with bacon but its not quite right this way to me.

In goes the fish

Another few hours and a couple pans of chips.  It smells glorious.


(photo to come later if i remember, they are still smoking)

And here  they are:

Wrap in foil 2 fillets each

Bag and label then refrigerate. It can keep for 2 weeks i'm told.  But it will be eaten before that.

I could have smoked twice the amount that i did, i spaced widely and didn't use all my racks, but where this was an experiment with this type of fish i didn't want to do a big batch.
I think it was a success, it tastes very much like smoked herring without the bones and less salty.

I watched an episode of Emeril this morning and he smoked some tomatoes.... he also mentioned smoked garlic. I have to keep those things in mind for later on this summer.



I sent an email off to Burpee about the grapes. I tried to not be longwinded, but i told them that i didn't want to use up my replacement option right away because of the winter factor in each possible scenario.  I basically said that i think the plants are dead, when would they advise the best time to try again? Only i think it took me 4 paragraphs to do it.  lol

I took my Sea-Buckthorn  seeds out of the fridge a few days ago but i have not seen anything sprout yet. The Huckleberry seeds will be ready to come out of the fridge soon too. The Rose of Sharon seeds haven't done anything yet, its been a couple weeks out of the fridge for them and it will be time to take out the Autumn Olive seeds by Friday.  I got them on eBay and the skill of the seed collector and the suitability of the plants the seeds came from for seed propagation varies greatly.  The listed seeds cost me less than $10 to attempt... of course i would like to see something.  I have enough left of a few to try other methods, such as wintersowing, if the tray chitting method bombs.
I also have something of a care package coming from a dear friend, with cuttings and starts from a few berry plants to try out.
I'm seriously considering  ripping out the flower beds and going to a strictly fruit and berry garden. lol I was going to put the flowers back, but i'm reconsidering that.
I noticed that what i think are the nice neighbors' raspberry plants have almost totally migrated to my garden. Its really invaded quite badly. It is a little annoying, but i'm going to pay more attention to the fruit this year and if it is good i might leave it right there. Extracting my Clematis from it will be tricky.

I have to find a spot to plant some dill.

I may need to hill up some of my brassicas...  i took the row cover off and of course the next day was windy and some of the plants were not quite ready for that.  So they are leaning a bit to the side. But i have to make sure which ones can be hilled in case its not good for all or any of them.
Its been a long time since i have  tried kohlrabi, mine don't appear to be getting ready to bulb yet. The plants are pretty tall and a nice vibrant purple color, but the stems are still pretty slender.
Its been an odd year and where i had been planning this garden since early winter it seems everything should be along further that it is, but it really isn't that late in the season.  Its only mid June, normally my earliest plants would only have been in the ground for 2 weeks instead of 4 or so.


Free Celery!

I took a short reading break in between writing here and doing little home tasks and while i was reading one of the other blogs i love to follow, i came across an idea from Providence Acres
I learned that i can regrow a celery plant from the cut bottom of a grocery store bunch.  It makes sense, i have often noticed the tiny, partially formed mini stalks inside the cut-off celery heart, but i never thought the plant could regenerate to a reusable extent from that rootless bit of waste destined for the compost pile.  But i guess (get full details and instructional pictures at the link to Providence Acres) you simply cut the bottom couple inches off, and plant it.  It can sit in a saucer of water overnight to give it a boost or to keep it until you have time for it.  Then plant it in the garden, cover with an inch or so of soil  and within a week you should see green tops coming up.  I am under the impression that this can be done over and over again to subsequent bunches indefinitely.  The idea of "never having to buy celery again" seems to not be a far fetched notion.
I use a fair amount of celery, but trying to grow it from seed seemed like a hassle and i never expected it would work for me, but this sure is worth a try.

Not much going on today.

The grapes planted yesterday of course look no different. I haven't planted any new seeds.  I did some weeding, but nothing to brag about.
I have been reading a couple pages at a time from "The Grape Grower" and i think i get it.
I like how the author gets you to start from the beginning without treating you like a dolt.

There have been lots of other things to do, like laundry. Its been a few days since we had bright sun and a nice breeze, i like to line-dry so i will hold off on washing towels for a nice day. Today is a good day to dry.

I am planning on smoking some fish.  The last time i did, it was salmon. It came out delicious!
But i don't have salmon in the budget right now, so i am going to try and see if Tilapia takes smoking well. I'm not normally a big fan of fresh water fish, they have a muddy taste sometimes that i can't get past.  I spent most of my childhood up to my neck in frog ponds, so that muddy taste reminds me too much of such things in a not-so-good way.  But Tilapia is pretty mild, close to tasteless if you don't season it carefully,  i think smoking it will bring out what flavor it does have.
I have to double-check on brining it first. With salmon i used a classic salt/sugar/water brine:
1/2 Cup Sugar 
1/2 Salt (no iodine)
1 quart of water

I soaked the salmon overnight (8 hours) in that, but it was 1" thick with skin on. The tilapia is thinner and skinless and salmon is oily.  I did notice when i steamed the tilapia the other day in the bamboo steamer on a bed of pak choi leaves, it tasted very much like fresh trout. SO if i treat it like trout, i might get it right?
I found a nice chart here:
3Men
Showing the brine time by weight of individual pieces.
Most of the flavor in the result is not going to be of fish, its going to be the smoke, but i don't want to end up with a fillet-shaped shingle.

But this is an experiment, so i think i'll just soak them in the above brine for 2 hours and smoke them for a total of 4 hours.
My smoker is a Little Chief front loader and it is sort of a warm smoker, not a true cold smoker- though in the dead of winter it can be. It heats to about 180 at the most and large roasts have to be finished off in the oven (i use my gas grill and cast-iron dutch oven). Its mostly a tool to apply the smoke flavor, not a cooker/smoker.  But it does work as a one-step for fish and jerky.

More grapes

Grapes came in finally a little after 1:00 this afternoon. I'm not terribly impressed. I know that "dormant" can look awfully dead....  but when one is snapped in half and the broken part is just dry and brown with no green, its not usually a good sign.  The other grape plant didn't look much better, when i clipped away a bit off the tip there was some green but it didn't look like a live green color.
Burpee guarantees their plants for a year, and in a few weeks i'll know if they are even alive, but it will be too late to replace them before the replacement plants will be acclimated enough for winter.  If they do survive but are off to a bad enough start that they will be too weak for this winter and i find that they have croaked in the spring, that might be a better time to turn to Burpee to honor their guarantee and send me replacements. I think it is a one-time replacement.

My other alternative is to take a refund and reorder next spring, putting me a year behind on growing.
If one of the plants lives (the order was a package of 2 though i only needed one) i'll ask for a half refund and go my merry way and maybe root a cutting from the live one for insurance.

It was raining out when i got the package and when i planted them so i didn't take pictures. But i will later and edit the pics into this post.  They had great looking roots. I'm not sure how to tell if the roots were alive, their packing wasn't very moist but i think it was maybe damp enough to keep things just ok.

I wish Burpee was like Stark's.... Stark's sent my stuff in a big, long box and not a paper bag. It was a sturdy paper bag, but a paper bag is a paper bag..... my ground cover fabric was sent in a box... and the paper bag probably would have been fine for the roll of cover. Funny how things work like that.

But far and away, my Stark's order was superior to my Burpee order. My grapes from Stark's are just about to break buds.  I can't wait till my blueberry plants have hardened off enough to plant out. The leaves are coloring up nicely.



Ok, here's pics.

The Edelweiss that looks bad...  this was broken in two when it came.

This one might possibly get somewhere:

Compare that to the Marechal Foch and Reliance from Starks' (Frontenac is taking its sweet time but looks like its about to get moving so i didn't photo it)

I tend to fret over things, so i hope something happens with my Edelweiss soon or i think i'll burst.

But here are the blueberries, getting used to full sunlight, Patriot on the left and Blueray on the right.

Oh, since i took the cover off the brassica row, i took a picture

The Red Russian kale is pretty looking, a couple dried right out a week after planting, so i put a couple cabbage seedlings in to replace them.

Since this has turned into a picture post, here is the poor little fig plant .  It has started to regrow some leaves in its joints and it looks much better now than it did out of the box:

It will live, but its going to look pathetic for a while.

June 15th deadline

I guess that is the traditional day to have 'everything' in if you want a summer crop. I heard it reiterated somewhere that things planted early in June will catch up with things planted around Memorial Day by the first week of July. I'm not sure, if that is so, why plant around Memorial Day? 
I have a good chance to test this theory out this year. My dad and i managed to get those extra seedlings into his garden yesterday.  We must have planted about 18 tomatoes, 4 peppers, 3 eggplants, all the winter and summer squashes and cucumbers-  i think they have 6 of the Sundance yellow summer squash - This is an extra-prolific summer squash in a class of plants known for their prolific production. They will be up to their ears soon! lol

The blueberry plants are adjusting well it seems, we have had gray skies for the last 3 days so that actually helps.


The UPS tracking on my Burpee order says my plants are 'out for delivery' so  by 11am they should be delivered.

I bought "The Grape Grower: A guide to organic Viticulture"  for my Kindle for PC  I don't expect to adhere purely to  the Organic culture of my grapes until i see the reality of actually growing them in my yard and see my setup in actual practice.  I'd like to, but the beginners' learning curve could prove too steep for the first few rounds.  But the book got great reviews and the reviews convinced me that it has enough cold-climate info for me as well as information on so many other aspects of grape growing, i decided to get it.  I am only a few pages in so far though.

I need to decide when i am going to rip out the flowerbeds in the front of the house. The Iris didn't bloom hardly at all this year, which means they need to be divided anyway. I think i might do things 3' square at a time. Hopefully when i get into it, i will be able to separate the bulbs and tubers and recognize which are tulips and which are daffs, then i can bag and box them up and set them in the basement to rest until i can put down the weed barrier and put back just the things i want to keep. 
I can't decide if i want to start in the next week or so or wait until later. The weather is only going to get hotter, but the greens off the bulbs and roots need to get sunlight for a bit longer. 
I'm also not sure what to do about the garden at the edge of the yard that the nice neighbors are on.  When we bought the house a fence was there. It got rotten within the first year we moved in so we removed it.  When it was installed by the former owner of this house, it was put slightly within the planted part,  so on the neighbor's side of the fence was a 2' strip of  "escaped" plants which they tended.  When we removed the fence, i assumed the plants were theirs and left that strip alone, and they continued to tend it a little so i left it alone.  They also put their bird feeder stakes just on the outside of it....  but hubby said he thought the whole thing was ours and the survey we had done seems to confirm that.  But where it was 'shared' for so long i don't know if they have anything in there that they'd like to keep. I haven't seen much of them lately so i haven't been able to ask.

There are raspberries that i think belong to them that are taking over the parts that i  know are mine. They are coming up all over. That is going to be a pain to clear.


I think i might take the row covers off by the end of this month.  I would have gotten better advantage from them if the garden was ready earlier and the spring wasn't so warm. I probably will take off the one over the brassicas but leave on the tomato and corn row. The brassicas don't need to be warmer. I'm wondering about the bugs, but i don't want my broccoli and cabbage to bolt.
 I'll be ble to play with things more next year. This year the focus was to just get things planned and executed. I'll arrange the plant placement better next year, grouping things that need heat with other things that need heat or cover from bugs.  I think the covers will go back on in late August tho...  safe from frost, it might extend the production a bit longer.

So, the last planting of grapes today and some weeding will do it.

The tree is gone.

I was going o wait for hubby to do it for me, but i think it would have been weeks to wait.  So i decided that since our chain saw is a small sized version, i could handle cutting down a  tree that size.

It really was starting to look bad. No fruit and the leaves looked small and water-starved.

I took off one of the larger limbs first, then removed the white post and cut it from the upper part where it bent.

Hubby came home shortly after i used the lopper to trim the branches off the felled part and helped me move the stuff out of the way. Then we took the other post made from another tree out.  While we were getting that out of the ground we noticed that the  stump of the apple tree was very loose in the ground. I was actually able to push it down with very little effort. The roots were not even holding it up. It did have a tap root that was still hanging on a bit, but i used the loppers on that.  If it was that weak this spring, i think a hot summer then a hard winter would kill it.

So there is the little tree, in full sun now.  I pruned off some watersprouts and hubby propped it with the post to wait until we put the post in the ground.

It needs more thinning where i can't reach without a ladder, but i'll get out there in the next few days and clean things up more.  Maybe even set that post and tie up the tree.

Then i did use the Bonide on it.  I had actually started out to do just that earlier.  But when i got out there and took a close look at the big tree, it was obviously struggling too much. And why spray a tree that was coming down?
The rain went by  without touching us and the sky is cloudy and windless so it was a good day to spray.

Another task that i am glad is finished.

Radish picking

Lifted the end of the row cover

Looks ready

The average size was about the length of my thumb, but fatter

The Hailstones were starting to be ready too, just 3 of those:

Probably about 20 or more radishes out of maybe 3 feet of row. A few have hollow centers, which is annoying

But most of them were sound

They weren't as mild as i expected and i think that is because of the warm spring and the row covers making it especially warm.  I will have to plan for that next year. I will be able to get radishes in earlier than i did this year and they will be out in time to plant things like green beans and such. But they will be put in a row that won't get a cover.

Plants are very much bug-free this year. I'm amazed.  Even the melons and cucumbers are being left alone very much. I see a few flea beetle nibbles on some of the cuke leaves, but that is it and it stopped before any real damage happened.  Here are the better growing plants in that row.

Bird house gourd:

I think this is Pony Yellow, i tried to remember the order i took the pictures in, but i just can't.

 This is Long Island Cheese, an heirloom winter squash. Its a very pretty and classic looking fruit:

I need to find out what these are.  Some sort of rose?  They smell incredible and bloom just beyond our fence every year. They are in the scrubby wasted areas.  I used to smell them in the years before we added this lot to ours, but i was never close enough to see what was making that smell.

 I meant to photograph it last year but the blooms were gone before i could.


The apples are starting to get larger, some are already being bothered by pests.  I need to spray again, but where things have been going on it hasn't happened and the rain has narrowed my chances a little more. Today would have been a good day to get it done, but the radar has shown rain close by for hours, its not getting here fast, but it will.

We are going to take out that big tree. I can't remember if i already logged that decision, but we will. Whenever hubby gets to it.  There is no room for 2 trees only 4 feet apart and since the big tree is doing poorly, its the one to go. The little tree is doing well despite crowding. Hubby wants me to replace the big tree with something like it, so i will eventually. But it will be planted farther than 4 feet away!

I really want to take those row covers off!  They are doing an awesome job keeping the bugs at bay and warming the soil and slowing evaporation of rain... but it makes going out to weed a bit of a hassle. The covers have to be removed or pinned up first and putting them back is an added step.  It really is worth having them on, but i have to balance my annoyance with its effectiveness.

Here are some pics of the rows under cover for comparison

Brassica Row:

Roots and Beans Row:

Tomato Row

But see what i mean about the weeds?

Parsnip seedlings- so i remember next year:

And carrots....  you can see how the seed tape made pretty decent spacing

But they germinated so odd, some are already 3"-5" high and others are just sprouting.  Same with the parsnips. I wonder if i got seeds that weren't so fresh or if i wasn't as thorough with watering as i tried to be.

I  just got the Topsy Turvy planted.

Pain. In. The. Butt.

The issues are that they are very heavy when filled with soil.  They need to be hung someplace where sun will reach the plant- which means that they can't be under the overhang on the side of the house because there will only be full sun maybe 3 hours a day to reach it. The shed is out because the trim is not sturdy enough.  So i decided the basketball hoop was my best bet,  this will put the plant at eye level.  But the planter will be too high to fill with dirt when it is up there, so it needs to be filled on the ground, then lifted.
I don't know what hubby (or myself for that matter) did with my rope so i couldn't pulley it up.
Its really hard to fill a container with a plant on its bottom without squishing the plant.  The tomato plant had to be inserted before the dirt goes in. I tried hooking it onto a table, but my "S" hook wouldn't catch the edge, the wheelbarrow handles were too low, the saw horses were too low, any other items were too light and would have been dragged over
I finally set it on a cinder block with the tomato dangling inside the hole, then i filled the thing with dirt.

I used the same cinder block to boost me up to hook the planter to the basketball hoop.

Scrawny tomato...  But it should catch up.  We'll see if it was worth the effort.

I got my tracking number from Burpee's, my last two grape plants will be in Monday, so i am happy for that.

Its been a long week with farewell activities for my Grandfather, but it was comforting to see so many people show up to say goodbye. Actually it was amazing.

The peonies were all in bloom this week so many of the arrangements were made using the flowers from family plants, many of them were Grampy's. It seems poignant that he left just as his favorite blooms were coming in. I think God has perfect timing when He comforts us in these ways.

Well, i think the radishes are ready to harvest, i was temped to pull a few last week, so they must be waiting for me now. It looks like it is going to rain out so i either need to go pick them soon or wait until it dries out.  Tomorrow i am going to get those seedlings to my parents and get them planted. My big sister and her hubby are up from California and i'd like to rope them into planting too, i don't think it will be too hard to convince them to ;o)