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Carrot #3

July 18th, 2009 No comments

Long Imperator #58
Expected germination: 8-12 days
Expected harvest: 77 days

36 seeds

07/18: Planted 2 per cell in 18 cells.
07/24: One cell excavated, perhaps by squirrel.
07/24: No visible change.
08/01: 12 of 36 (33%) have shoots 1/4″ to 1″ tall.
08/07: 14 of 36 (39%) have shoots 1/2″ to 1-3/4″ tall.
08/15: 14 of 36 (39%) have shoots 1″ to 3″ tall.
08/23: 12 of 36 (33%) have shoots 4″ to 6-1/2″ tall.
08/29: Planted out.
08/30: Stressed. 0″ to 5″ tall.
10/13: Harvested a couple of 2-3″ carrots.

Harvest: 87-TBA days

Categories: 2009 - Annuals Tags:

Portulaca

July 18th, 2009 No comments

6 plants (pony-pack)

07/15: Bought.

07/16: Planted in upstairs window boxes.

–MJH

Categories: 2009 - Annuals Tags:

Weekly Summary

July 17th, 2009 No comments
Four weeks since rototilling

Four weeks since rototilling

Date Lo Hi Notes
07/11 59 83
07/12 57 68 .02″ rain. Removed about a third of the swiss chard leaves due to large unidentified pale brown patches.
07/13 57 68 .04″ rain. We’ve tried Sunset and other books and internet but no luck as yet in identifying swiss chard problem.
07/14 56 72 Swiss chard problem identified from internet images as spinach leaf miner.
07/15 54 79 Started some fava (broad) beans and a second type of mesclun.
07/16 60 86 Bushes heat stressed. Watered daily.
07/17 63 91
Categories: 2009 - Journal Tags:

Mint

July 17th, 2009 No comments

Expected rooting: 2 weeks.

Approximately 12 cuttings

07/08: Placed cuttings in jars of water.

07/16: Noted first roots.

07/20: Planted 1 cutting in pot.

07/22: Planted 2 cuttings in pot.

07/24: Planted all remaining cuttings in pots (about 6 cuttings).

–MJH

Categories: Perennials Tags:

Rosemary

July 17th, 2009 No comments

Expected rooting: 8 weeks.

9 cuttings

07/13: Planted 1 per cell in 9 cells.

–MJH

Categories: Perennials Tags:

A Week in the Garden at “House of Blues”

July 16th, 2009 No comments
Mint plants await their new companions

Pots awaiting new mint plants*

We sometimes refer to our Seattle house as “House of Blues,” although it is a very happy house.  The exterior is painted in three shades of blue, and the nickname also signifies a love we have for certain Southern music.

My week of gardening included starting nine rosemary cuttings, planting six yellow portulacas in the window boxes for upstairs, and doing routine watering and clean-up of the front garden.

Today I noticed the mint starts had begun to root in their glass jars.  They’d originated as a small bundle of organic mint from Safeway’s produce aisle and had been placed in water on about July 8.  What valiant, assertive little sprigs these plants are!  The roots form at the ends of the cuttings, not at nodes, and even the frailest little stems seem to be rooting.  In the back herb-and-flower garden, four pots wait expectantly.  When the mint cuttings have formed sufficient roots, they will join older mint plants from the front garden, which are already at home in the pots.

*In the foreground of the photo– strawberries.

Categories: 2009 - Journal Tags:

Mesclun, Ed Hume

July 15th, 2009 1 comment

Ed Hume / Gourmet Blend
Leaf lettuce, kale, endive, beet greens, spinach, swiss chard, sorrel, corn salad, radicchio, cress, and mustard depending upon availability.
Expected germination: 7-14 days
Expected harvest: 30-50 days

24 seeds

07/15: Planted 2 per cell in 12 cells.
07/18: No visible change.
07/24: Four to six cells excavated, perhaps by squirrel.
07/24: 10 of 24 (42%) have shoots 1/8″ to 3/4″ tall.
08/01: 12 of 24 (50%) have shoots 3/4″ to 2-1/2″ tall.
08/04: Planted out.
08/07: 2″ to 5″ tall.
08/15: 3″ to 7″ tall.
08/16: Begin leaf harvest.
08/23: 4″ to 9″ tall. Harvesting but thin.
08/30: 1-1/2″ to 6″ tall. Harvesting but thin.

Categories: 2009 - Annuals Tags:

Beans, Fava

July 15th, 2009 No comments

Long pod / Cool weather broad bean
Expected germination: 7-14 days
Expected harvest: 85 days

12 seeds

07/15: Planted 1 per cell in 12 cells.
07/18: Three beans have pushed up enough to become visible at the surface.
07/24: Two cells excavated, perhaps by squirrel.
07/24: 5 of 12 (42%) have shoots 0″ to 3/4″ tall.
08/01: 6 of 12 (50%) have shoots 1/2″ to 2-1/2″ tall.
08/04: Planted out.
08/07: 1-1/2″ to 6″ tall.
08/15: 3-1/2″ to 12″ tall.
08/23: 7″ to 19″ tall.
08/30: 10″ to 25″ tall. In flower.
10/27: Started intermittent harvest. Good addition to soups.

Categories: 2009 - Annuals Tags:

Spinach Leaf Miner

July 14th, 2009 No comments

Top - Spinach Leaf Miner Damage

Top - Spinach Leaf Miner Damage

Over a couple of days about a third of the swiss chard leaves developed large brown areas from the size of a quarter up to more than half of the leaf. The damage resembled Sunset pictures of Anthacrose and Excessive Sunlight but the circumstances weren’t right. Then we noticed small white blobs under the leaves but they weren’t fuzzy enough to be shed aphid skins. We have now decided that we’re dealing with spinach leaf miner.

The pictures are from a small patch that we just found on one of the remaining leaves. The white blobs – always in a row under the leaf at the edge of a brown patch – are the empty spinach leaf miner eggs.

Underside - Empty Spinach Leaf Miner Eggs

Underside - Empty Spinach Leaf Miner Eggs

Categories: 2009 - Journal Tags:

Weekly Summary

July 10th, 2009 No comments
Where are they now?

Where are they now?

Our first plumbing job.

Our first plumbing job.

Date Lo Hi Notes
07/04 60 86 Harvested some black currants. Thinned and ate some turnip tops.. Broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and swiss chard heat stressed. Shaded them and watered daily.
07/05 60 85 Started ongoing swiss chard outer leaf harvest.
07/06 56 69 Harvested some gooseberries. Installed two 50′ soaker hoses but performance was unsatisfactory.
07/07 56 70 Started ongoing romaine and butter lettuce outer leaf harvest. Reinstalled the soaker hoses – performance improved but still unsatisfactory.
07/08 55 66 Fresh blackcurrant crumble! Wow!
07/09 57 74
07/10 59 81 Third (and maybe final!) arrangement of soaker hoses. Planted out the peppers and celery from 06/02 and many of the 06/26 seedlings. Started a third batch of radishes. Thinned rutabagas – cooked and ate the leaves and stems. Replaced a section of PVC pipe, 45° elbow, and hose bib used for watering the bushes in the front yard.
Categories: 2009 - Journal Tags: