Veggie Magic in a Bottle

Source:http://pickleinabottle.com/gallery.html

Have you ever seen the cucumber in the bottle magic trick?

I was a child when my dad showed me a cucumber in an old glass milk bottle. I was dumbstruck. How did that thick cucumber get through that narrow neck? I never did figure it out on my own.

It is time to pass on that mysterious veggie in a bottle trick. I will show you how it is done. If you prepare now you, too, can accomplish this before the end of the growing season.

You will need a few items before you begin. If you are growing cucumbers vertically you will need a bottle(s), wire and wire cutters. If growing on the ground just a bottle.

Choose a tiny to small size cucumber as a target. As it grows, the cuke will need to be directed into the opening of the bottle.

Cut some lengths of wire. Each length needs to be long enough to circumvent the bottle, the support structure and still have enough to twist the ends together. Once you have that length calculated, add more for later fine adjustments.

As you can see from the photograph above the cuke is a small distance from the bottle. Adjustments in bottle position will be made as the cuke grows. That is were the extra wire will be needed.

Don't limit yourself to one size and shape bottle. I will also be using a 1.75l gin bottle. I am sure the results of one or the other will be to my liking.



Don't limit yourself to one vegetable either. This can be done with any growing fruit or vegetable. Think of the possibilities- apples, pears, peaches, tomatoes, squash, watermelons, pumpkins. Get out and have some old fashion fun in your garden.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

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Made on a Mac

Cute Cukes Destined To Be Eaten

Cucumber seeds were directly planted on 27 May. I saw the first baby cuke starting on 11 July. At my age, if my math skills are any good at all, it has taken 35 days from seed to cute little cuke. 

I may sound a little like Kronos, but I can't wait to eat my babies.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Taste of Garden Harvest

The best producers measured by weight have been reported. Now it's time to talk about taste.

Since the majority of plants in the square foot garden were tomatoes, that is where I will start. Here is my list, starting with the best taste.

1. Black Krim
2. Mr. Stripey
3. German Johnson
4. Super Sweet 100
5. Husky Cherry
6. Big Boy
7. Early Girl
8. Chocolate Cherry

The first three tomatoes are heirloom varieties. The taste of all the heirloom tomatoes far exceeded the taste of the hybrids, except for the Super Sweet. The Super Sweet were just delightful, small, sweet with just enough acid to say tomato. The taste of the Husky Cherry was good but the thick skin detracted a great deal from the eating experience. The Big Boy and Early Girl were just pedestrian compared to the heirlooms. Compared to tomatoes available in supermarkets these two were much better as was their texture. Probably because they were vine ripened. I had great expectations for the Chocolate Cherry. Thinking that they would taste somewhat like the Black Krim because of their similar color, they fell short of my target.

The cucumbers had good taste and very few seeds. There was quite a bit of flesh compared to seeds. The cucumbers were firm and great raw in salads.

The bell peppers were crisp with good taste but there just weren't many of them. The cayenne peppers were productive for one plant but they were not spicy. At least not as spicy as I thought they would be.

The green beans had a strong taste. Especially when eaten raw in a tossed salad. They were good when boiled or steamed.

The potatoes, as small as they were, tasted quit good and very fresh. I will adjust the method of growing them next year with hope that they will grow larger.

In the early growing season the snow peas were very sweet and much fresher and smaller than if bought in the supermarket.

Even though the lettuce had a slow start the taste was delightful.

After evaluating the fruits and vegetables from the garden in 2012, I have decided which will return in 2013. And the winners are, in order of priority -

1. Super Sweet 100
2. Black Krim
3. Mr. Stripey
4. German Johnson
5. Snow Peas
6. Loose Leaf Lettuce
7. Burpee Burpless Beauty Cucumber
8. Russett Potato
9. Yukon Gold Potato
10. Red Norland Potato

Planning of the square foot garden for 2013 has begun.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Summer's Garden Gone - Recipes Needed

The last day of summer and the plants in the square foot garden had just about given all they could. Many of the leaves were yellow or brown and the fruits were very slow to ripen. The daytime temperatures were fluctuating between 68ºF/20ºC and 85ºF/30ºC, the night time temperatures dipped as low as 51ºF/10ºC. Not much more ripening was going to happen this year.

It was actually a couple of days past the last day of summer when I cut down all of the plants in the square foot garden. There were already signs of cold temperature damage.

There were some ripe fruits.

and even more immature fruits.

Once the produce was weighed and put into a bowl, it looked like this.

Above you see Mr. Stripey, German Johnson, Big Beef, Early Girl, Husky Cherry, Chocolate Cherry, Super Sweet 100 and some green volunteer grape tomatoes. There are also Cayenne, Red Bell and Orange Bell peppers along with cucumbers and two green beans.

I have been weighing all the square foot garden produce since first I planted a seed. I will post the graphic once I have it ready. For now I present some figures from just this one harvest.

Total weight of ripe fruit was 2187g / 4.8lbs. The immature fruit weighed 2889g / 6.4lbs. for a grand total weight of 5076g / 11.2lbs. 

The ripe fruits will go into salads, grilled cheese with tomato sprinkled with oregano sandwiches, omelettes and fritattas. I am not sure what to do with the immature fruits. I guess, what I need are recipes for fried green tomatoes, green tomato relish and the like. Maybe a mixed pickle would be good? If you have favorite recipes for green tomatoes and or cucumbers, please leave a comment so I can get to work.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Square Foot Garden Yield 2012

In order to quantify the production of my square foot garden, I will be weighing all the produce that is harvested over this growing season.

Available at Harbor Freight

I will be using a digital kitchen scale to do the weighing.


I saw some snow peas forming on the vines at 20:00 on Thurs., 24May. I was unable to capture any good quality images at that time because of the low natural light level.

I grabbed the above images the next morning.

There are also cherry tomatoes and some bell peppers showing signs of fruit. My expectations are high, especially with the potato towers.


I will start to harvest the snow peas on Sun., 27May.


We shall see.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Kronos and My Spring Garden

I get great satisfaction from growing plants, whether ornamental flowers, vegetables or fruit.  The satisfaction is like that of a proud parent, bringing an infant into the world and nurturing it to fruition.  Then someone who loves them, devours them, Kronos-like.  I think of Kronos every time I hear someone say, "That baby is so cute, I could just eat it up."


I began planning my 2012 square foot garden the minute my Johnny's Select Seed catalog appeared in my mailbox.  To get the most out of a 4' x 4' garden plot, I planned three plantings for the year.  As the first planting is harvested, the second planting will go into the square in its place.  The same for the third planting.  The crops will be rotated reducing the possibility of passing along disease and viruses.  Additional soil amendments will be dug in with each new planting.



My first planting will look like the graphic below.

The rough schedule for planting is as follows:
• Late winter -  approximately 17 March, St. Patrick's Day
• Late spring - Mid May to Mid June, after the last frost
• Late Summer - Mid August to Early September, several months   
                           before the first hard frost

Brandywine Pink
Source:BonniePlants

Cherokee Purple
Source:BonniePlants

Sweet and Thai Basil in my garden 2011

Thai Pepper
Source:BonniePlants

Bitter Melon
Source:Bonnie Plants

Over the last few decades, if I wanted good tasting produce, I had to start my own seeds.  The plants I wanted were not offered in garden centers.  Garden centers offered the same plants the commercial growers planted.  I found places like Johnny's Select Seeds, Seeds of Change, Seed Savers Exchange, Totally Tomatoes where heirloom seeds could be purchased.  Heirloom tomatoes taste like the tomatoes I remember from my yout' ("Excuse me, did you say yout'?").  Starting seeds is a difficult chore and a big commitment but until recently it was the only way to get good tasting tomatoes.  


While shopping in Lowe's garden center over the last few years, I noticed they sold Bonnie Plants, individual plants in 3"- 4" peat pots.  Amongst the usual garden center plants, Bonnie offered some heirlooms and unusual plants like Brandywine Tomato, Cherokee Purple Tomato, Thai Peppers, Thai Basil, Stevia and Bitter Melon.  Curious to see if Bonnie would be adding new varieties to their line this year, I went to the Bonnie Plant website.  There I saw a few new plants that I am eager to purchase, such as Black Krim and Black Cherry tomatoes and Epazote.


Inside my local Lowe's, last week, was a display of Burpee seeds.  I think I picked up each and every packet of seeds on the display.  I read each label.  I read when to plant, the expected height and spread of the plant and the number of days to harvest.  I spent a long time reading packets.  Lowe's employees frequently asked if I needed any help.  I think they thought I couldn't get up or fell asleep, or worse.  Having finished a preliminary plan for the garden plot, I knew which seeds I needed.  I purchased over $15.00 of seeds packets including a packet of inoculant for the peas and beans.  Later, if I change my mind about the seeds I purchased, I can always return the seeds.  Something I don't think I can do if I purchase via a website.  Nonetheless, I will probably purchase some seeds on the web to fulfill my plan.  Even though the cost of shipping seems to be quite high for the weight being shipped.  But you know what Kronos always said, "You gotta do, what you gotta do to get a good tasting kid."


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved