Monday, May 25, 2015

Harvest Monday - 25 May 2015

Hello again from Eight Gate Farm!

This week we are continuing to pick baby mesclun--enough for a nice salad every other day or so. The mix is from Baker Creek, and I've been very pleased with how fast it grows and how tender and tasty it is. Although I certainly can't tell just what everything is! Could be weeds for all I know.


And I'm also quite pleased with the radish turnout. The row cover seems to have done its trick--very little damage from root maggots, and nice big bulbs. This is French Breakfast and Cherry Belle--what everybody grows. Is there anything nicer than a fresh, crisp, sharp radish?


A second major picking, with greens too:


Do you admire the artistic use of both black and white napkins??

This weekend was the big push, as expected. We planted a second bed of Espresso bicolor sweet corn, and gave it a cover just until it germinates.


And in the row garden, four half-rows of Honey Select sweet corn, zucchini (yellow and green), Diva cucumbers, and pickling cucumbers. I'll plant the other half-rows of corn when these emerge, and if all goes well (it seldom does), we'll have a continuing harvest of what is my favorite vegetable.


On the opposite side of the row garden, all 12 tomato plants went in. There are four indeterminates-- two Supersauce, one Caspian Pink, one Sugar Plum (grape), and eight determinates; three Incas plum tomatoes, two Roma, two Rutgers, and one yellow variety, Taxi.


In this same section will go the peppers and eggplants. As of now the plan is still to plant them next weekend, but I'm keeping an eye on the weather, as there is a chance the temperature will drop below 50 F. (~10 C.) just after the weekend. If so, I will wait. I've made the mistake before to set them out too soon, and they just seem to get stunted.

We planted melons (on the trellis), and 3 types of snap beans--Denver filet, Velour filet, and "Carson" yellow wax.


And in the "Survival Garden,"Floriani" red flint corn, Kenearly yellow-eye beans, Midnight Black Turtle beans, and four types of winter squash/pumpkins, all C. moschata varieties: Burpee's Butterbush, Butterpie, "Fairytale" (Musquee de Provence) pumpkins, and Long Island Cheese pumpkins. 


And along a fence line, scarlet runner beans, behind the ornamental sunflowers just now emerging. The runners climb the fence, and also sometimes the sunflowers of course.


So as you can imagine, it was a busy time! But with two of us working, it really didn't take all that long, and we have a pleasant feeling of accomplishment.

The potatoes have emerged, except for one piece which I must have cut too small.


I've said it before, I cannot seem to grow spinach. Here you see a tiny specimen already bolting! What is wrong? Plenty of sun, water, temps not too warm. It's got to be the soil I guess.


And here's another problem--a hen wild turkey has taken up residence under the bird feeder. She seems to think it's dandy to take a shortcut right through the herb garden, and she's already been scratching at the Survival Garden. Those are big feet! What to do about this? I couldn't bring myself to shoot her (woodchucks, that's another matter). And anyway, they are a game species and it's illegal to take hens this time of year.


Finally, a snap of blooming azaleas and Shasta daisies at the front of the house. Thanks so much for reading. Go back to Daphne's Dandelions, our gracious hostess of Harvest Monday, and see who else has been busy.


16 comments:

  1. Well, I have to say the wild turkey is an interesting 'pest' to have. I had them at my old farm, but they never bothered the garden that I know of. It's always something, isn't it? After the big push, hopefully today you can relax and take it easy!

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    1. I had a family of wild turkeys living in my yard last year - i was worried at first, but realized they didn't touch my garden at all.

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    2. Sometimes, Dave, it's a lot of "somethings" all at once!

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  2. I haven't been able to grow spinach either. I've tried several different varieties in different locations, spring-sown or fall-sown... they just never really do anything. Wow, a wild turkey! I bet she could be a menace in the garden.

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  3. You have been busy! And join the club on spinach, although our temps have been all over the place in the last few weeks from way too cold to way too hot...so I'll blame it on that this time round!

    That mesclun mix looks great - I'm getting worried that I've missed the boat on lettuce this spring. I haven't even planted out my lettuce yet, but the weather has had so many swings & gets so hot at times that I'm thinking my lettuce may bolt before it gives me much of anything. I'm growing Taxi this year as well - it will be interesting to see what we each think of it.

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    1. Thanks, Margaret. I'm growing Taxi for you-know-who. To me, tomatoes should be red.

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  4. We used to have flocks of turkeys at my old house, but they never went into the garden.

    I do the same with corn that you do. I keep planting more. I'll keep it up through mid June. I really can't plant later though I wish I could. I need the squash to grow under it and if I plant later than that the squash won't have time to set anything. June 15th is pushing it. Though I'm contemplating trying to sow squash first. It will be hard to keep it out of the corn until it gets big enough to compete with the squash though.

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    1. I gave up on true three- and even two-sisters gardening. In my case, I'll try to keep them all separated.

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  5. The radishes are beautiful! You certainly have a lot going on these days. Very interesting varieties of pumpkins ...

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    1. Thank you Susie. I wish I'd planted more radishes. I will be planting fall varieties though come July or so.

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  6. Wow have you two been bust this week! It is interesting how similar your garden "tasks" and harvests are in New Hampshire as compared to mine in Oregon. I am really interest in your survival garden. What a great name to describe your plantings. I will watch with much interest as this garden progresses. Happy Memorial Day!

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    1. Thanks, Lexa. Last year the survival garden (525 sq. ft.) did pretty well: 25 lbs of dry corn, literally hundreds of pounds of pumpkins etc. Only the beans were light, and about 5lbs. I'm hoping that improves this year.

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  7. There's a great article on Mother Earth News website about growing spinach in Northern climates, you ought to check it out. Daylength, it's everything when it comes to spinach.

    You certainly were busy this weekend. As you noticed, I was occupied with some of the same tasks. I got all my tomatoes and peppers in. Now I've got my fingers crossed that the cold foggy weather we've been enduring for the last few weeks will break and the sun and warmth will return.

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  8. The radishes and mesclun are beautiful. Good move to cover the radishes, wish I had done that. Wild turkeys are nasty birds. We had one chase a hawk through the tree tops, raining down an avalanche of dead wood. The hawk left town. I hear black bears like bird feeders. Maybe one will take up residence under the bird feeder and chase off the turkey.

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