2010 Planting List updated and maybe final?

Any without dates were seeded on 3/10 and 3/11, need to add beans but will update later.

Sweet Peas Spencer Supreme entire packet ( Valley Greene 2009) – did not survive transplanting 😦

Organic Siskiyou Sweet Onion Heirloom entire packet (Seeds of Change 2009) no luck either

Organic Garden Sage Heirloom half packet (Seeds of Change 2009) – about 8 good starts outside as of 5/9

Organic Broccoli Raab half packet (Seeds of Change 2009) – 4 good starts outside as of 5/9 from 3/10 seeding, 5 or 6 starts direct seeded on 4/15 which are doing well – need to thin

Organic Di Cicco Broccoli Heirloom half packet (Seeds of Change 2009) – – 4 good starts outside as of 5/9 from 3/10 seeding, 2 or 3 starts direct seeded on 4/15 which are doing well – need to thin

Wild Garden Kales quarter packet (Territorial Seed 2009) – 5 or 6 great starts outside (planted out on 4/11) doing well outside as of 5/9

Marketmore Cucumber quarter packet (Botanical Interests 2009) got eaten by something

Japanese Soyu Burpless Cucumber (Botanical Interests 2010) Planted on 3/14 killed by chemical dirt

Boothby’s Blonde Cucumber starts from Seattle Tilth planted outside on 5/9 – 4 of them. Put under soda bottle cloches

Cocozelle Bush Zucchini (Seeds of Change 2009) direct seeded on 4/11 – 2 storng starts as of 5/9 Put under soda bottle cloches

Early Summer Yellow Crook Neck Squash starts from Seattle Tilth planted outside on 5/9 – 2 of them. Put under soda bottle cloches

Organic Ruby Orach Mountain Spinach heirloom third packet (Seeds of Change 2010) Planted on 3/14 – 3 doing well, reseeded directly outside around 4/20

Organic Samish Hybrid Spinach third packet – outside direct seed (Abundant Life 2010) Planted on 3/16 – none, reseeded directly outside around 4/20 – some coming up. Burlap open weave cloth over

Rents Due Spinach starts planted on 4/10 – starting to take off now – 5/9

Organic Swiss Chard 5 colored silver beet third packet – outside direct seed (Abundant Life 2010) Planted on 3/16 – doing nicely – have thinned out a few times. Still fairly small mainly because the winter broccoli is shading it.

Organic Vates Collards third packet – outside direct seed (Seeds of Change 2009) Planted on 3/16 – have thinned 5 to 7 starts doing well.

Organic Falltime Leek half packet – one row direct seed outside (Seeds of Change 2009) – have thinned need to thin again 5/9

Lovage start from Seattle Tilth planted on 5/9

French Sorrel start from Seattle Tilth planted on 5/9

Tarragon starts (2 of them) from Seattle Tilth planted on 5/9

4 Marigold starts planted on 5/9

Beans

Peas

Super Sugar Snap Peas half packet – outside direct seed in two rows, soaked for two hours then covered in Bioscience Inoculant – (Territorial Seed 2010) Planted on 3/16 – the half closer to the dryer vent have done much better. Hope to sow one more row this week of 5/9

Maestro Pea – direct seeded on 4/6

Waverex Pea – direct seeded on 4/6

Basils – Planted on 3/14

Organic Sweet Basil third packet (Territorial Seed 2009) – lost a lot to chemical dirt

Mammoth Sweet Basil third packet (Territorial Seed 2009)lost a lot to chemical dirt

Profuno di Genova Basil third packet (Renee’s Garden 2009)lost a lot to chemical dirt

Organic Sacred Basil third packet (Irish Eyes Garden 2010)lost a lot to chemical dirt, started more on 5/9

Chen Sweet Basil – 1/3 packet (Seeds of Change 2010) – started on 5/9

Lettuces –

Organic Emerald Oak Lettuce quarter packet (Seeds of Change 2009)

London Springs Lettuce Mix quarter packet (Territorial Seed 2009)

Baby Mesclun Lettuce quarter packet (Renee’s Garden 2009) – started more direct seed on 4/11 – transplanted a bunch to different beds on 5/9

Deer Tongue Lettuce quarter packet (Territorial Seed 2009) – started more direct seed on 4/11 – transplanted a bunch to different beds on 5/9

Lettuce Mix Starts from PCC planted outside on 3/25 doing amazing on 5/9 – harvested 3 x times – tons ready to pick now.

Tomatoes –

Organic Black Cherry Tomato third of a packet (Abundant Life 2010) – have many starts

Organic Gill’s All Purpose Tomato third of a packet (Abundant Life 2010) – have some

Organic Purple Calabash Tomato half a packet (Territorial Seed 2009) * one of my favs from 09

Orange Oxheart Heirloom Tomato half a packet (Territorial Seed 2009)* one of my favs from 09

Northern Delight 2in Tomato half a packet (Territorial Seed 2009) – not many survived chemical dirt

Gold Nugget Cherry Tomato half a packet (Territorial Seed 2009) not many survived chemical dirt

Organic Chadwick Cherry Tomato half a packet (Seeds of Change 2009)* one of my favs from 09

Organic Thessaloniki Tomato half a packet (Seeds of Change 2009)

Organic Tomatillo Verde half a packet (Seeds of Change 2009) my husband’s favorite by far in 09 – reseeded on 5/9 – previous starts were weak and thin, lost to chemical dirt

Black Krim Pole Tomato half a packet (Botanical Interests 2009)

Peppers so far –

Ancho Magnifico Hybrid Pepper third of a packet (Territorial Seed 2010)

Sierra Fuego Jalapeno Pepper a few seeds left (Renee’s Garden 2009) this and the next two came in a mixed packet last year – I planted without knowing what was what. This year I know!

San Luis Ancho Pepper a few seeds left (Renee’s Garden 2009)

Joe Parker New Mex Pepper a third (Renee’s Garden 2009)

Orange Fogo Thai Chili Pepper a few seeds left (Renee’s Garden 2009)

Red Demon Chili Pepper a few seeds left (Renee’s Garden 2009)

Spanish Padron Tapas Pepper whole packet(Renee’s Garden 2010)

Mini Snack Baby Belle Pepper whole packet(Renee’s Garden 2010)

Organic Early Jalapeno half packet (Abundant Life 2010) Planted on 3/14

Organic Anaheim Pepper third packet (Irish Eyes Garden 2010) planted on 3/26

Beets

Organic Bull’s Blood Beets half packet outside direct seed (Territorial Seed 2009) planted 3/16

Gourmet Golden Beets half packet outside direct seed (Renee’s Garden 2010) planted 3/16 – none came up – reseeded on 4/25

Chiogga Beets half packet outside direct seed (Ed Hume 2010) planted 3/16 – lots coming up!

Carrots

Yellow and Orange Sunshine Mix Carrots  half packet outside direct seed (Renee’s Garden 2009) planted 3/16 – none came up – reseeded on 4/25

French Baby Babette Carrots  half packet outside direct seed (Renee’s Garden 2009) planted 3/16 – none came up – reseeded on 4/25

Organic Scarlet Nantes Carrots  half packet outside direct seed (from WS edible garden fair 2009) planted 3/16 – failure!

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thank you Winter Garden, hello Spring Garden

Last fall, I bought good size starts at the Tilth fall sale. I planted them late Sept I think and I knew it should have been sooner. They pretty dormant and by early April I had doubts I would get anything. Well, amazingly I have! Since this bed gets shaded by the big tree leaves that just came out, I was not rushed to dig anything up.

Tonight I harvested enough kale and chard for at least 2 dinners for the 5 of us. And spinach and flowering broccoli for one dinner. And the lettuce starts from PCC gave enough for a little salad for each of us.

While we certainly are not getting tons from the garden each week, I have been getting enough greens for one maybe two dinners a week. Not bad!

The garden is taking off and I really need to document with photos. And document on this blog. Mainly I have been documenting planting dates and names on a paper grid I drew of the garden.

I have planted a good variety of peas and all are coming up. Very interesting that the tallest ones are the ones blown on by the dryer vent. Not surprising really! Zucchini is just popping through. Beets are getting ever so bigger. I had to reseed carrots and still not much. Chard and collard starts are looking strong. Spinach starts from PCC look good, spinach starts from me are okay. Seeding spinach in the ground not so much.

My succession lettuce planting is going well. I have lettuce starts in 3 stages. I hope this keeps us eating tons of lettuce! Even with the slugs who chopped down one full size lettuce and 4 half way grown we should still have plenty.

Speaking of slugs – read that spreading coffee grounds is an excellent deterent as they hate caffiene. Added that to the broken egg shells. Here is hoping. Also read that slugs do not like red leaf lettuce. Seems true since they only ate the green ones.

The tomato starts inside are growing fast. I am trying to put them outside in the sun 2 or 3 days a week for at least a few hours. The peppers as well. I did not finish transplanting the peppers into their own 4 in pots until this past weekend.

Still to do – reseed more basil as I lost most to the chemical dirt. Plant purple carrot seeds and cilantro seeds and more lettuce seeds.

The Seattle Tilth has a leftover plant sale ($2 or less) this Friday – I will be going. My tomatillos did not make it through the chemical dirt disaster and I need cukes and squash and maybe some other things!

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The 2010 Garden List of Plants

Updated on 3/29

So while reading another garden blog today I was impressed by her organization of the seeds she planted – Urban Hennery. So I realized it would be easy to list what I planted and when the seeds are from. I am later than I wanted to start seeds but two weeks earlier than last year! So that is a start. I am using a lot of seed packets from last year. They say you get less starts from seeds that are older but I have had a few gardeners tell me I will still get plenty. That way I did not have to buy too many more seeds. Wish I could find serrano pepper seeds but will just have to buy them as starts. I had wanted to order my seeds from catalogs so I would have more choice but again – another year! I am happy I have gotten this much done with how hectic our life has been. The kid shelped me seed all the lettuce and kale. This week I will fill clear plastic cups with dirt and let them seed whatever they want and put them in the window of their playroom so they can watch the seeds grow. Always their favorite thing. My daughter was especially excited about planting beets again – she says they are her favorite vegetable. My oldest son says lettuce is his fav. The youngest loves our carrots.

I planted all my seeds on 3/10 and 3/11 – I have a few more peppers and my basil to start. They are all in black flats with lids.

Sweet Peas Spencer Supreme entire packet ( Valley Greene 2009)

Organic Siskiyou Sweet Onion Heirloom entire packet (Seeds of Change 2009)

Organic Garden Sage Heirloom half packet (Seeds of Change 2009)

Organic Broccoli Raab half packet (Seeds of Change 2009)

Organic Di Cicco Broccoli Heirloom half packet (Seeds of Change 2009)

Wild Garden Kales quarter packet (Territorial Seed 2009)

Marketmore Cucumber quarter packet (Botanical Interests 2009)

Japanese Soyu Burpless Cucumber (Botanical Interests 2010) Planted on 3/14

Organic Ruby Orach Mountain Spinach heirloom third packet (Seeds of Change 2010) Planted on 3/14

Organic Samish Hybrid Spinach third packet – outside direct seed (Abundant Life 2010) Planted on 3/16

Organic Samish Hybrid Spinach third packet – outside direct seed (Abundant Life 2010) Planted on 3/16

Organic Swiss Chard 5 colored silver beet third packet – outside direct seed (Abundant Life 2010) Planted on 3/16

Organic Vates Collards third packet – outside direct seed (Seeds of Change 2009) Planted on 3/16

Super Sugar Snap Peas half packet – outside direct seed in two rows, soaked for two hours then covered in Bioscience Inoculant – (Territorial Seed 2010) Planted on 3/16

Organic Falltime Leek half packet – one row direct seed outside (Seeds of Change 2009)

Basils – Planted on 3/14

Organic Sweet Basil third packet (Territorial Seed 2009)

Mammoth Sweet Basil third packet (Territorial Seed 2009)

Profuno di Genova Basil third packet (Renee’s Garden 2009)

Organic Sacred Basil third packet (Irish Eyes Garden 2010)

Lettuces –

Organic Emerald Oak Lettuce quarter packet (Seeds of Change 2009)

London Springs Lettuce Mix quarter packet (Territorial Seed 2009)

Baby Mesclun Lettuce quarter packet (Renee’s Garden 2009)

Deer Tongue Lettuce quarter packet (Territorial Seed 2009)

Lettuce Mix Starts from PCC planted outside on 3/25

Tomatoes –

Organic Black Cherry Tomato third of a packet (Abundant Life 2010)

Organic Gill’s All Purpose Tomato third of a packet (Abundant Life 2010)

Organic Purple Calabash Tomato half a packet (Territorial Seed 2009) * one of my favs from 09

Orange Oxheart Heirloom Tomato half a packet (Territorial Seed 2009)* one of my favs from 09

Northern Delight 2in Tomato half a packet (Territorial Seed 2009)

Gold Nugget Cherry Tomato half a packet (Territorial Seed 2009)

Organic Chadwick Cherry Tomato half a packet (Seeds of Change 2009)* one of my favs from 09

Organic Thessaloniki Tomato half a packet (Seeds of Change 2009)

Organic Tomatillo Verde half a packet (Seeds of Change 2009) my husband’s favorite by far in 09

Black Krim Pole Tomato half a packet (Botanical Interests 2009)

Peppers so far –

Ancho Magnifico Hybrid Pepper third of a packet (Territorial Seed 2010)

Sierra Fuego Jalapeno Pepper a few seeds left (Renee’s Garden 2009) this and the next two came in a mixed packet last year – I planted without knowing what was what. This year I know!

San Luis Ancho Pepper a few seeds left (Renee’s Garden 2009)

Joe Parker New Mex Pepper a third (Renee’s Garden 2009)

Orange Fogo Thai Chili Pepper a few seeds left (Renee’s Garden 2009)

Red Demon Chili Pepper a few seeds left (Renee’s Garden 2009)

Spanish Padron Tapas Pepper whole packet(Renee’s Garden 2010)

Mini Snack Baby Belle Pepper whole packet(Renee’s Garden 2010)

Organic Early Jalapeno half packet (Abundant Life 2010) Planted on 3/14

Organic Anaheim Pepper third packet (Irish Eyes Garden 2010) planted on 3/26

Beets

Organic Bull’s Blood Beets half packet outside direct seed (Territorial Seed 2009) planted 3/16

Gourmet Golden Beets half packet outside direct seed (Renee’s Garden 2010) planted 3/16

Chiogga Beets half packet outside direct seed (Ed Hume 2010) planted 3/16

Carrots

Yellow and Orange Sunshine Mix Carrots  half packet outside direct seed (Renee’s Garden 2009) planted 3/16

French Baby Babette Carrots  half packet outside direct seed (Renee’s Garden 2009) planted 3/16

Organic Scarlet Nantes Carrots  half packet outside direct seed (from WS edible garden fair 2009) planted 3/16

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Spring time is coming

so I had better get started. i went on a walk with my kids the other day – (an achievement considering my hibernating status this winter) and saw crocuses, daffodils, forsythia blooming as well as camelias too. Hyacinths out of the ground but not blooming yet.

made me realize i need to get busy thinking about seeds and what am i going to plant. overall i think last year was pretty successful. because of the mild winter, my broccolini survived and it is growing again – i sauteed some the other day and it was great. amazing. all my fall things i planted have survived and are starting to grow a bit. Considering I did nothing at all this winter, i am impressed. I had planted more broccoli as well so I see us eating lots of broccoli.

i am getting ready to sort through left over seeds and then start planning out what to plant and where and consider what seeds i still need. i know i want to grow delicata squash this year. i need to learn more about winter squash – my buttercup squash went bad before we could eat them except for the baby one which was tasty. the skin on the little one stayed green and shiny – the skin on the others became matte and subdued. I am guessing the answer lie there.

more posting soon.

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ahh fall is truly here.

Well – it is definitely fall and the rain has set in. About two weeks ago I think we had an early projected frost – I ran out and grabbed all the remaining tomatoes which were many. A good amount were bad when ripened but some have been good. I need to spend some good hours tiding up the garden beds but no time to be had.

I have planted a winter garden but have cared for it little since planting around the 26th of Sept so we will see if it is fruitful. I did cover it for the frost. I need to build a cloche but not sure it will happen. Planted spinach, two kinds of kale, chard, broccoli and cabbage as well as onions and spring onions. The lettuce I had planted earlier has delivered some lettuce but not much. Also getting some chard from the little starts that never took off in May. I have tons of broccoli – need to pick some actually.

I keep meaning to dedicate a whole post to tomatoes but it might not happen. I was not feeling very good about my tomato harvest originally. Then I realized I started my seeds very late – 3rd week of March – so of course my harvest would be late. I ended up with quite a lot. For weeks I ate multiple tomatoes a day which was glorious. Some really delicious tomato and mayo sandwiches. The plants on the deck did not produce as well but that dirt was from last year – although generously amended. Farmer Wade told me to only use the dirt once for tomatoes every three years. Still great for other things – just not tomatoes. Purple Calabash and Black Krim were well worth it even if they did not produce many. The ones they did produce were divine.

I need to be much more careful with labeling my starts. Thought I had lots of Thessaloniki – only ended up with one! But it is a keeper.

So my list from the beginning of summer with notes for next winter when starting again:

Black Krim – yes – produces few but delicious – splits easily

Purple Calabash – yes – produces few

Thessaloniki (in honor of my brother who lives in Thessaloniki) – yes – takes awhile

Chadwick Cherry – excellent – yes – large cherry take awhile but then strong producer

Sugar Sweetie Cherry – no – were not good producers and way too small

Northern Delight – yes – not huge producers

Orange Oxheart – yes – need heat. Husband’s fav

Red Siberian – no – took forever and did not have good flavor – grown in diff places did not help.

Golden Nugget Cherry – yes – not huge producers

Tomatillos – yes – strong producer. and was planted even later than the others!

I want to plant my seeds as early as possible need to figure out when I should – either late Jan or early Feb. Need to plant much less so I do not have a zillion starts. I really want to grow enough so that I can can sauce or freeze.

I did freeze about three trays of basil – did some just in water not olive oil. Should do more of the mammoth next year less of the others.

The four winter squash are waiting to sweeten up – will try to wait till December as the Jubilee Farms farmer recommended to me. Wonderful farm they have.

Hot peppers – I am still amazed I grew anchos from seed – they were good. Also have many Thai chilis. And I got two orange peppers from a start I bought. Both were delicious! The purple jalapeno turned a gorgeous shade of red. But they were not hot? Even though they were ready to pick and the frost came….We also got a few pasillos and a few other kinds I grew…

I had left some carrots in and harvested some end of Sept – two were enormous!!! Pictures below. A few more still out there, soon to come in.

the enormous carrots!

harvest in late Sept - the sun stayed late this year.

the beet starts and kale starts in late Sept.

the broccoli in late Sept

Late Sept. yummy, delicious and scrumptious

peppers in early October

frozen basil and a Black Krim

yummy tomatoes

some broccoli and tomatoes early Oct

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Change of seasons

the garden

***I started this post about 10 days ago but it has taken awhile to get photos uploaded…sorry for the chaotic order of the photos – I need to learn more about WordPress!

Well I have not posted in awhile but the garden has been busy never the less! The tomatoes are starting to ripen. We have been eating a lot of cherry tomatoes, one orange oxheart and one black krim. Hopefully the rest will still ripen as the weather seems to have turned to fall quite quickly. We have been eating a fair many strawberries and they are so tasty. Broccolini and broccoli have been ready as well. The zucchini is just about done. I made gluten free, dairy free, egg free zucchini bread from the Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook – one of my favorites. But I  do cook it longer (about 40 to 45 min total) and use just rice flour.

The second crop of sugar snaps is just about ready which is perfect as the first crop is finally done. And surprisingly the Kentucky Pole Beans I did not yank out have produced quite a few – we need to figure out what to do with them!

There are a few carrots left in the ground to have soon as well as beets ready to be eaten.

Since fall is coming, it was time to yank out that which is done and plant new crops. The buttercup squash has died back but we got 3 large and 1 small for winter. I am hoping the small one is ripe enough since the vine has pretty much died. The squash and 2 zucchinis are out. I left the two zucchinis that produced – for the 4 foot wide space I should only plant two for next year. The 3 trellis need to be farther apart next year – I think that is why the squash never did well. I thought the collards were still okay but overnight they have gotten woody and bitter.

I started seeds but they died on one of my trips so I bought some starts – planted them around 8/19 I think. Lots of beets as we love them. And lots of spinach, 2 kinds of lettuce. Also kale from seed and onion from seed. One cabbage that has not gone in the ground yet.

the first bell peppers that have ever made it for me!

one of the few basil that did well...

new beets!

the beets from spring - slow growing...

purple jalapeno

broccoli and hidden strawberries

my buttercup squash!

the zucchini and winter squash

beet starts and kale seeds - ready for fall!

collards and tomatoes

orange oxheart, black krim, thessaloniki and a red siberian tomato!

1st & 2nd crops of sugar snaps along with my surprising kentucky pole beans!

Chadwick cherry tomato on the left - super tasty!

the super tall chadwick!

a little harvest!

buttercup squash - I think I should have waited to harvest, curing right now

new lettuce starts hiding in the tomatoes

only a few cucumbers

spinach starts in between the peas and beans

the deck

the deck left

the deck right

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gray, cloudy weather

Well the strange weather here in Seattle keeps getting stranger. Typically we have a “drought” from mid July to early Sept. Not so this year. On my birthday yesterday, we had rain, thunder and lightning! Typical for the South but pretty rare for here. And this weather is not heling the powdery mildew that is enveloping my squash and zucchini. I am afraid it will kill my winter squash before it is ready. Darn.

My tomatoes and peppers just need some hot weather to push them to ripe. I have picked about 5 cherry tomatoes so far – they were good but I want more! Sugar snaps are still producing. Second crop just might make it too. We dug up most of the carrots to make room for winter veggies. They are so so yummy! I am impressed. Four of the beets were ready – my husband roasted them for us last night along with a salad made of beet greens – yum! The broccoli seems to be doing quite well and looks almost ready. And fianlly there have been more strawberries – although they are all quite tiny. And I think I have some cukes ready – just need to read up on when to pull. The tiny chard starts I planted in the late spring are now growing! Amazing – they acted dormant and are now taking off. I suspect they will be perfect for fall! Chard and collards are a bit bitter now but can still hide in a smoothie.

That is all for now!

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