Fall Jobs

Well fall is official. I have been hoeing the fall weeds from the beds to prevent them from becoming established before spring. I cleaned out my heated greenhouse, pulled one of the benches out and build a raised bed for my winter crops. I will be sowing leaf lettuce, beets tops, kale, Etc. as soon as I have some more free time. I am going to lay some pavers down the center aisle. That should help keep it more enjoyable than walking in mud all winter. One year I put in some sod. Bobbe loved sitting in the greenhouse in April with her shoes off and toes in the green grass and we had 3 feet of snow outside. I have been cutting back on irrigation also and starting the irrigation later in the day to reduce the chances of causing ice on driveway & patio. I transplanted some more raspberries last week from mom's place. If I had time I will transplant a few strawberries also. So many projects and never enough hours in the day.

Bob

Horn Toot'n

Chard + Zucchini + Yellow Squash - Very pretty

All baked up, not as pretty, but very yummy

Swiss Chard + onion

Last night I made a baked Swiss chard + zucchini + yellow squash all together with some olive oil, garlic and cheese.  I baked the stems of the Swiss chard, zucchini and yellow squash together for about 20 min before I took it out of the oven, put some cheese over the top of that, then topped it with the greens from the chard and drizzled that with olive oil.  I think it was quite good.  Derrick liked it too.  It's my first time cooking Swiss chard.  I never would have bought it but I signed up for a local veg bag through work.  I spent $5 and they gave me a HUGE bag of veg that was grown locally.  I'm glad I did it because I think I'll be planting Swiss chard next year.  The flavor of the greens were amazing.  I really liked them.










We also had our first FULLY grown corn from the garden.  I know I am bias (of course) but I think it is the best corn I have ever eaten.  Ever.  I simply loved it!

To round out the meal I made a weight watchers recipe (one of my favorites) for chicken cordon blu.  I take a chicken breast, flatten it out, use a laughing cow wedge, and a few slices of Canadian bacon, but I had picked a few jalapenos from my garden so I diced some of those up as well and added them to the chicken roll.  It was a nice kick and it added a new flavor that I really enjoyed.


Anyway, it was a great meal and I am really excited that most of it came from my garden.

Week of Rain

It basically rained all of last week.  Not a lot going on in my garden.  The self raising flour I put on my cabbage and brussel sprouts did some damage to my cabbage.  So much for that great idea.  At the same time, I don't see any more worms or white butterflies fluttering around.  That might be because of the rain and drop in temperature, or the flour trick...not sure.

We pulled some very nice corn off of the stocks this weekend.  Derrick told me he didn't want to do corn again next year because it takes up so much room in the garden and it's only $1 for 4 ears at the grocery store....I can't really argue too much with that.  Other than I like watching them grow!

This next week is supposed to warm up, and I hope to see some massive growth on my onions.  Right now they just seem to be dying and I'm not sure why.

The only thing really flourishing is my jalapeno plant.  It's producing more jalapenos than I can cut and eat.  I'm wondering about freezing them....

PB & J

I really enjoyed this article about the community garden in LA.  I do not think I could make myself go to a garden plot across town to take care of my veg.  I think that is a different level of commitment.  As much as I enjoy my garden, if I had to schedule a time to drive around to get to it, probably would not do it!

Cabbage Worms

Last Saturday when I was cleaning up my garden I noticed my brussel sprouts were looking a little worse for wear, but I saw no signs of the dreaded aphids.  So I just rinsed them off every morning this week like I'd been doing to everything else in the garden.

What I DID happen to notice this last week has been the daily white moth looking thing fluttering around my garden.  I thought it was a good thing, killing off my aphids.  Wrong.  I'm still fighting my arch nemesis the aphid, but in addition, I'm fairly sure I have cabbage worms as well.  Some of the images from the cabbage worm destruction look a little too familiar.

So I went out tonight in my pj's and dusted my cabbage and brussel sprouts with self rising flour.

I wonder if using chemicals would be harder or easier sometimes.  Knowing I just went into my kitchen and potentially fixed a problem without adding anything harmful to what I'm eating is kind of cool....assuming it works.  And I always wonder how long it will work...is this a every week "fix" or for a month??  Who knows!

I run a lot in neighborhoods now, and I always want to stop at a house with a big garden and look for their bugs.  I wonder if I'm the only one struggling sometimes.  Are they cheating and using something?? Or did I just not put the right amount of prevention into my garden before I started?  Luck of the draw??  I guess on the bright side, I'm learning out how to deal with these regular pests early on.  I should be a pro just about the time we sell this house and I have to start a new garden at another place.  :)

P.S.  So far, the hosing off trick for the aphids has not worked.  They're still enjoying my veg.

Got Zucchini ?

One of the reasons I have a garden is to to have FRESH & HEALTHY FOODS. One of the many challenging parts is too much of a good thing at once. If you can or freeze garden produce that is one thing, it you are a consumer of fresh produce that can be overwhelming. My favorite way to eat many of the things I grow is by gazing the garden. Just walk through the garden picking and eating. :) Peas, baby carrots, and of course the berries, strawberries, raspberries, and black berries. Zucchini, & tomatoes are another crop that is hard to control. They all seem to mature ate once and tons of fruit. Bobbe came up with a new zucchini recipe this year. I have been trying to get her to write it down so we could share it but she has had other priorities. So how have you been eating your garden this season?

Earwigs

I cut my first cabbage tonight...I got home and knew I was making stir fry and I was so pleased that I get to use my own cabbage! SQUEEE...

Walking into my house, pleased as punch to use my very own cabbage and I look down with a stupid grin on my face and two earwigs popped out of the cabbage and jumped on my hand. At which point I lost all cool screamed like a little girl and threw the cabbage across my kitchen...

Not the brave gardener I thought I was.

Hops

My hops were getting these small brown spots all over them, and when I was down in Bend last Uncle Bob said it was from mites.  I bought an organic miticide and used it as directed but now it looks like my hops are almost completely dead!  I'm going to give them some water (I've been neglecting this a little bit lately, focused mostly in the back yard) and a little fertilizer and if they don't perk up in a week or so I'm going to have to google it again...

Final Product

I spent about four hours out there today.  I wish it would have been just 5 degrees cooler, I could have gotten a lot more done, but I was boiling!

Anyway, I got most of it done.  Its pretty tidy now.  I'm going to put my asparagus trenches against my back wooden fence, where the tomatoes are right now.  I'll probably put them in at the end of October when the tomatoes are completely finished.  My only concern is the amount of pine cones that fall back there.  With only one pine tree on the neighbors yard, I really am shocked at how many pine cones I'm constantly raking out of that area.

I might put the corn back where I have it right now.   Originally I thought this was a bad place for them because the second row is not as tall as the first, but I do feel the reason I picked the space (lots of sunlight and blockage from any wind) is still valid, so I might do that again, and putting my corn in earlier I hope, will help them grow larger.

I pulled my home-made pea trellis out.  My peas were dead and I never liked the place I had it anyway.  Derrick helped me do this and suggested I use the wiring and poles to make a compost area.  I love that idea!  Why didn't I think of that?!   I really hate it when he does something like that.

Next year, I'm doing half rows and doing more things.  What I need to figure out is how to stagger my crops better and how to organize the layout so I'm watering plants that need to be watered frequently and avoiding plants that do not need as much.  I think I really killed my squash and zucchini with over watering.

Okay, that's all for today!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend and make sure to stay cool and hydrated....beer dehydrates!

Zucchini!

Getting there!

Sad little tomatoes

Collateral damage

Saturday/Gardenday

I've decided today is the day I finally catch up on my weeding and take down my dead peas and cut back the dead zucchini plants. Here is the beginning...I'll share more throughout the day.

Aphids

I'm totally BLOG stupid.. I don't know why I can't comment on your aphids comment.. but I can post a new one..I feel like I'm 103 years old and this computer is just new fangled stuff..

My friend who is a master gardener..(she's official.. classes and everything!!).. replied to me about your aphid question.. here it is:

I would reccomend just taking a hose on a fairly powerfull setting and just hosing them off every morning..if you can knock them down it interupts their reproductive cycle and within a week you should see a marked difference since the lifecycle is only about three days long. Hope that helps!..

Well let me know how it goes..

Tricia

Aphids

Man, oh man!  The aphids are KILLING me!  I went out to the garden tonight and my tomatoes are just falling over with the amount of aphids on them!!  I hosed them all down with soap and water but I'm getting to a point where I just want to use chemicals on them.  I feel like its an endless battle with these little guys.  Is there anything that 'deters' the aphids?!

I'm going to google that and see if I find anything worthy of an attempt.  I know every garden has pests, but this is just relentless.

It feels as though its all gotten worse as the temperature sky rocketed up again too.  Those stinkers are on everything now.  Not just here or there.  :(

Blueberry House

I am tired of blueberries not producing. It is the first of September and a few berries are beginning to ripen. Last week Joshua helped me set up the poly pipe frame. This weekend I completed the frame and added poly cover. Next season we will know if it worked. The bottom 36 inches will have a screen and the poly will roll up. Also the ends will have screen. It can get very hot without good ventilation.
No smoke at Snowshoe Inn from the forest fires. Thunder storms are brewing. I did hear a little thunder as we left the cabin to come into town to visit mom. She is well, getting a couple units of blood should help her feel well faster. Nothing better than a couple units of blood a quick pick me up :)

help I'm techy challenged!

so I've been trying to post onto this blog for 15 minutes.. and I'm not sure if this is going to work either... So... if it does I'd be glad to post on the 'family blog'.. can we talk about everything and not just gardening?.. cause um mine is dead! this year.. I didn't even get the sugar snap peas to grow.. and my cliantro (which is the whole reason I plant the darn thing in the first place) all went to seed!.. so if we can talk about anything in the blog that would be great.. Cause.. um I don't have a lot to add to the gardening thing unless it's weeds.. and i have A LOT of them!

Tricia out....

We put the Labor in Labor day weekend!

Sorry I didn't post some photos of my garden yesterday as planned, Derrick and I put in a French Drain (70 feet long!) this weekend.  I've got a majorly aching back right now!

We're both so worn out.  Very happy to finally have it done though.  We hope to not have any leaky basements this year.  After replacing the whole bathroom down there last year, we can't afford to do it again.

I've decided I'm not good at physical labor either!  I'm going to be hurting tomorrow.



My zucchini and Squash were all about dead but I think my lack of watering them has brought them back to life.  I see some nice new healthy leaves on them and they're both flowering again.  I pulled out some of the most dead plants, we'll see how the rest do.

My brussel sprouts are peaking out, I'm very excited to get them growing and the onions are doing well too.  I think I'll have maybe four heads of cabbage this year.  Next year I think I'll put the cabbage in the raised beds.  They didn't do so well on the ground.  I feel like they've been eaten alive!

 I've got the brussel sprouts planted in the raised bed between the yellow and the red onions.  I thought that'd be fine, but now I'm second guessing myself.

 The cabbage heads grow so SLOWLY. I'm wondering if I've not given them enough water or if they are not located in a good spot?  Not enough sun?  I don't know, but the bugs sure enjoy them as you can see.

My poor sad, tomatoes.  I'm finally getting some red ones!  Only in this one plant that does not want to stay in it's cage.  Its growing everywhere but up I swear it!  Again, next year, I'm going to be doing a lot of things differently!

 My green peppers!  FINALLY producing peppers large enough to eat.  I think they've been the size of a golf ball for a month now.  :)
















And to finish it off, my newest addition....my pumpkins!  Added late, but growing nicely.

I've been updating my photos of my garden all season.  There are a lot there, but if you're interested the link is here.

Green tomatos

Ellie
We have the same problem here. It is hard to get much of the crop to ripen. We have had good luck with holding the tomatoes on the vine as long as possible but before a good frost and harvest all of the green tomatoes and putting them in the basement to ripen. We often will have tomatoes ripening up to nearly Christmas that way :) We put them in cardboard boxes lined with news print and then covered with a single sheet of news print. They need to be checked a couple of times per week to remove any that mold or otherwise spoil. I think your wine cellar room would work great for a tomato ripening room. I began sowing my winter crops in the unheated greenhouse last week. I found arugula sprouting. It is late but better try and fail than not try at all. I will be ordering garlic this weekend and will send you an assortment of garlics to plant this fall. They can be planted up to mid October. I need to go work on blueberry house before it gets cold tonight. Back later

Greetings from the Central Oregon Cascades

Gardening at 4,750 feet elevation in the Central Oregon Cascades is very challenging. Most of the people who live up here do not even try. We can and do get frost every month of the year. This year we had a 26 degree low on 6/16, 30 degree day on 7/1, and a 29 degree day on 8/31. Warm season crops are nearly impossible with out some protection and a little luck. This year I did harvest a good crop of garlic and will be improving on that for next season. Even blueberries have a hard time ripening up here. It seems if the deer do not eat the plants, the birds get the berries before they ripen to Bobbe's expectation. My solution is a poly tube over the blue berry beds. Last weekend Joshua and I began construction of a blueberry poly tube. The frame work is up and the poly arrived Friday. If I have the time this weekend the poly will go up and see how it works next season.

Sept. 2, 2011

There was some talk of starting a family blog for our gardening tips.  I decided to follow up on it and create a spot for us to share what is going on in our garden and hopefully create a space for discussion and tips for our gardens that we can look back on throughout the next few gardening seasons.

At this point in my garden, the Kohlrabi is full and the corn is coming on.  My tomatoes never did want to ripen, I have many green ones on the vine, but they never got red.  My zucchini and squash are finally done.  I need to pull up the dead plants and the onions I planted should be getting ready to harvest in the next few weeks I hope.  I never did get any potatoes in the ground, but I hope next year to get some in.

The pumpkins got in the raised beds, but I'm afraid they'll be too late for Halloween harvest.  That's okay, I planted two types, the sweet eating pumpkins and the Jack-O-Lantern types.  I learned my lesson with the zucchini...only TWO for the pumpkins!

I don't know how much of a garden I'll try and maintain this winter, but I like to think I'll continue and keep it going, even if it's only a few things.

As much as I look forward to next summer's garden, I'm a little sad that I wont be rototilling it all up again and starting fresh.  That rototiller was fun!  But the weeds all summer were not!

Derrick keeps raving about Josh's blueberries that he gave us, so I'm sure that they'll be on the top of the list for "must have" next summer.  Along with some Huckleberries for me.  I might give the peas a second shot, but I'm done with radishes!  No more.

After I pull my tomatoes up I plan on grooming that area for my asparagus ditches this fall.  I hope to take advantage of the large space I have for a garden and do shorter rows with more "stuff" next summer.  I still can not figure out what I did to my cauliflower and broccoli, neither of which ever grew....again, next summer!

Okay, that's all I have today.  I hope to share once a week or so.  Please feel free to chime in whenever it works out best for all of you.  Adding pictures is nice as well.  I'll do that when I get some time tomorrow.