Hades Returns to Claim Persephone from my Garden

Persephone must return to her husband, Hades, deity of the underworld. Her poor mother, Demeter, begins her slow decline into a dark depression. And so the garden begins its slide down the same path. But, not before the cornucopia is full.

It was a good summer for tomatoes, in my garden. Specifically the production of Mortgage Lifter and Tami G varieties. The above bowl of fruit was harvested on October 8. What you see amounts to 7.75lbs/3.5kg of ripe tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumbers and Nacho chiles. Of that total Mortgage Lifter contributed 3.36lbs/1527g and Burpee Burpless cucumber 2.9lbs/1327g of weight. After culling out the unripe fruit, the Tami G grape tomato weighed in at 0.5lbs/259g.

Mortgage Lifter, Rutgers, Tami G, Red Bell Pepper and Burplee Burpless

Mortgage Lifter was by far an away the largest producer of any plant. The total weight of Mortgage Lifter tomatoes harvested, from one 11'/3.35m vine starting July 6 and running through Oct 8, was an amazing 35.53lbs/16.114kg. Let me say that again. Thirty-five pounds of delicious heirloom delights. As for the next runner up, the Tami G grape tomatoes total weight was 11.6lbs/5.67kg from one 9'/2.7m vine.

Mortgage Lifter and Tami G

The third must prolific producer was one the the two varieties of cucumber planted, Burpee Burpless and Tender Green. Burpless was the winner for both production and taste. The total weight of Burpless harvest 30 July through 8 October was 9.58lbs/4.68kg from two 6'/1.8m vines.

Burpless

Overall, it was a good year of gardening in two 16 sq ft/1.48 sq m raised bed square foot garden beds. A grand total of 91.5/43.47kg of produce was harvested. I am a happy gardener in 2013.

During the dark hours that cover my garden until Hades allows Persephone to return to Demeter, I will plan the garden for 2014.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Cuke in a Bottle

The first cucumber in a bottle project ended when the cucumber stopped growing, turned brown, died. It was too young to meet such an end.

The second cuke in a bottle project is still going well. I started this project with a larger cucumber and a much larger bottle.

I pinched off a leaf in order to push the stem deeper into the bottle. It looks as though it is growing fine.

Not to give up on the smaller Coke bottle, I found another slightly larger cucumber to try again. Although I originally had the bottle turned upside down to keep out any rain. I didn't do that this time. If any rain collects in the bottle I should be able to pour it out. That is, if I catch the cucumber before it completely fills the bottle.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

First Cucumber Harvested 30 July 2013

This cucumber started at a very early age on 11 July.

It appeared to be growing into its prickles on 18 July.

Almost ready to be harvested on 26 July.

Weighing in at 226g/0.5lbs this Burpee's Sweet Burpless Hybrid Cucumber was cut free from its vine early on the morning of 30 July. A meeting with dill and sour cream is scheduled.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Teenage Cuke

Baby Cucumber 11July2013

Two weeks have passed since the first baby cucumber arrived.

Toddler Cucumber 18July2013

Last week it had grown to the toddler stage.

26July2013

This week it's hanging out, a fresh teenager. It will be a legal adult before you know it.

I sneaked a peek at its calendar. I believe it has a lunch meeting at the beginning of next week with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers and radishes.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

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Made on a Mac

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



Made on a Mac

Cute Cuke Growing Fast

What a difference a week makes.

July 11, 2013 baby cucumber. Cute little bugger.

July 18, 2013 toddler cucumber. My cute little bugger.

Its body will catch up to it's head. Won't it?

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

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

Raised Bed Square Foot Garden End of June USDA 6b

Below are photographs captured in late June of one raised bed square foot vegetable garden, bed 2.

Lettuce and carrots in squares #1, #2, #5 and #6.

Lettuce and bush beans in squares #3, #4, #7 and #8.

I have been picking the outside leaves from all the lettuce plants leaving the centers to continue to grow.

A close-up of a lettuce in square #3.

These bush bean seeds were planted on Sunday, 23 June in square #8. This photograph was captured Friday, 28 June. The ambient temperature and sunshine have kicked their sprouting into high gear.

Likewise, these Easter Egg Radish seeds were planted on Sunday, 23 June in square# 5. This photo was captured on Friday 28 June. They were planted in the same square that carrots were growing for the last two months.

This is bed 2 from the ESE side at 09:52am EDT. The nearest tomato is a Tami G grape variety. The tallest is adjacent to the Tami G, a Mortgage Lifter and was at least 5'/1.5m tall. Behind the tomato trellis squares #13 and #14 were planted with small watermelons. Squares #15 and #16 were planted with cucumbers. The plants in all four squares may be suffering from diminished sunlight because of the dense foliage of the tomatoes. They are not growing as fast as I think they should.

On the whole, I am satisfied with the progress.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Raised Beds Progress

There are two raised beds planted as square foot gardens. Each bed is measured out into 16 squares. Numbering starts with the square on the near left as square #1 and and continues on to square #4 on the lower right. The row above has square #5 on the left and #8 on the right and so on until you get to square #16 in the upper right corner.

Above is bed #2 positioned northerly of bed #1. 

On April 20, lettuce seeds were planted in squares #1-Buttercrunch, #2-Superfresh, #3-Winter Density Green Romaine(Cos) and #4-Red Rosie Red Romaine(Cos). Carrot seeds were planted in squares #5-Kaleidoscope and #6-Scarlet Nantes.

On April 20 the following squares were planted with commercially started tomato plants, #9-Beefstake, #10-Mortgage Lifter, #11-Mr. Stripey, #12-Bonnie Grape.

On May 13, the following squares were seeded with varieties of lettuce, #7-Butterhead #8-Adriana MTO, #2&3-Red and Green Romaine(Cos) Mix.

On May 27 the following squares were seeded, #13&14-Watermelon, Bush Sugar Baby, #15&16-Cucumber, Tendergreen

Above is bed #1 which is southerly of bed #2.

On April 30 commercially started tomatoes were planted, #9-Super Sweet 100 Grape, #10-Black Krim.

On May 7 the following commercially started pepper varieties were planted, #1-Carmen, #4-Sangria, #5-Anaheim, #6-Mucho Nacho, #7-Red Bell and #8-Orange Bell.

On May 13 lettuce was seeded in squares #2 and #3. Unfortunately, I didn't note the varieties. #11&12 planted with Rutgers commercially started tomatoes. 

On May 27, #13 and #14 were seeded with Sweet Burpless Cucumber.

Above planted in bed #1, square #4 is an ornamental hot pepper called Sangria that has buds and blooming flowers visible.

The tomatoes planted back on April 20 have progressed to the point that they need support. I started to rip some lumber to make four more trellises. I hope to have them finished and installed soon.

©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

Square Foot Garden - Season Yield Totals

From the very start of the gardening season 2012, I weighed and recorded the yield from my square foot garden. All the entries are below on the spreadsheet.

The top three producing vegetables in the garden by weight were:

1. Cucumber - 3835g / 7.85lbs.
2. Super Sweet 100 Tomato - 30g / 6.85lbs.
3. Husky Cherry Tomato - 3099g / 6.34lbs.

The two patio type tomatoes were planted in mid-May and produced fruit steadily from mid-June through late September. The cucumbers were planted in early June and harvesting started in the third week of August. Once they started to produce, it was like a cucumber explosion.

The total weight for the full size tomatoes was 9022g /19.89lbs. The full size tomatoes were, as usual, late to harvest. There were a few that ripened in mid-July but most were harvested in mid-August.

There were a few bell peppers of orange and red and dozens of cayenne peppers harvested. All the peppers weighed in at 1371g / 3.2lbs.

Lettuce amounted to 805g / 1.77lbs.

Snow Peas totaled 321g / 0.71lbs.

Although two squares were planted with four melon plants, no fruit materialized.

Several varieties of potatoes were planted in two towers. Only three varieties produced potatoes.

Yukon Gold - 237g /0.48lbs

Russet - 418g / 0.88lbs

Red Norland - 376g 0.77lbs

Potato total - 1037g / 2.27lbs.

Not a great total and no where near my expectation.

Now can I get a drum roll, please?

The 2012 fruit and vegetable total weight harvested from the 4' /1.2m x 4' /1.2m plot, two potato towers and one pot containing the Chocolate Cherry tomatoes was 23.323 kilosgrams / 48.39lbs. (Crash a cymbal, here, please!) Not a bad amount for the small space.

However, the plot could have produced much more. If I had used the plot to its fullest potential. For there were several 1' squares that went unplanted the whole season and several other squares that were fallow for some of the season. Plus the melons needed something I wasn't giving them.

One of the reasons for not utilizing the plot to its fullest was the heat. I just didn't want to go out into the high temperatures this summer. Maybe its because I am old. Maybe its because I am lazy or disorganized. For what ever reason I just didn't get it done in the garden this year.

I did, however, enjoy beautiful home grown organic tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, snow peas, cucumbers and potatoes. As for the garden's potential? 

Just wait until next year! There is always next year.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved