August 13 Harvest

A few vegetables harvested within this last week from my raised bed square foot garden.

One Nantes and several Kaleidoscope carrots

In this one bowl are 2.9 lbs/ 1343g of Tami G grape, Beefsteak and Rutgers tomatoes and one bell pepper.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Produce Harvested from Garden as of July 30

I have been keeping track of all the produce harvested from my raised bed square foot garden, with the exception of lettuce. Following are the vegetable varieties and their weights harvested since the first planting/transplanting into the garden on 20 April 2013. 

Clockwise from the top - Cherokee Purple, Mortgage Lifter and Rutgers

Starting with the most total weight to the least:

1. Mortgage Lifter Tomato - Heirloom 4.291kg/9.46lbs
2. Cherokee Purple Tomato - Heirloom 3.334kg/6.82lbs
3. Tami G Grape Tomato - 1.088kg/2.23lbs
4. Rutgers Tomato - Heirloom - 0.589kg/1.21lbs
5. Anaheim Pepper - 0.305kg/0.62lbs
6. Sweet Red Bell Pepper - 0.274kg/0.56lbs
7. Sweet 100 Grape Tomato - 0.267kg/0.55lbs
8. Mucho Nacho Jalapeño Peppers - 0.255kg/0.52lbs
9. Carmen Pepper - 0.09kg/0.18lbs
10. Kaleidoscope Carrots - 0.067kg/0.14lbs

Total weight of all produce through July 29 2013 from two 4' x 4'/ 1.219m x 1.219m raised beds was 11.034kg/23.26lbs.

That is an amazing amount of produce for July here in USDA zone 6B. It must be a combination of the raised bed, non-soil planting mixture, red plastic mulch, ambient temperatures and earlier than normal planting/transplanting. No matter what the reasons I am happy with production. I have the tomato seeds running down my chin to prove it.

©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

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

Mid-September Harvest

I picked more fruit from the vines today and a beautiful day it was. High temperature was 81ºF/27ºC with mostly sunny skies. Night before the temperature dipped to 61ºF/15ºC. For tomato ripening, the daytime temperature was great, overnight temperature is low and will retard or stop ripening. Tomato harvesting will not last much longer. 

Above you see cucumber, cayenne peppers, Big Beef, Super Sweet and Husky Cherry tomatoes. I also harvested two Early Girl tomatoes.

I have been recording the weights of all the garden's produce since planting the first seeds back in March. I was and am curious to see just how much a 4' x 4' garden will produce and which were the most prolific plants. I will put up some charts once harvesting has ended. In the mean time, I will enjoy eating the harvest.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Early August Harvest

Graphic:Weather Underground

Early August and the square foot garden has survived a hot July. There were 21 days with temperatures 90ºF/32ºC and above, with very little rainfall, 1.48"/3.75cm of actual month total precipitation compared to 4.35"/11cm normal month total, as reported by Weather Underground. With the help of irrigation and nighttime temperatures over 70ºF/21ºC the tomatoes and peppers are ripening. I am picking grape/cherry tomatoes daily.

From top center, Orange Bell Pepper, Chocolate Cherry Tomato, Green Bush Bean, Cayenne Pepper and Husky Cherry Tomato

This is a sample of the harvest on 2 August. Not much, I will admit, but great in a salad.

From top right clockwise, Red Bell Pepper, Super Sweet Tomato, Early Girl Tomato, Green Bush Bean, Husky Cherry Tomato and German Johnson Tomato

This sample was picked on 5 August. We have been waiting for a large tomato that will cover a sandwich with one slice, one is finally here.


©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

Garden Seeds

I planned to have three plantings for this growing season.  With my square foot garden plot plan finished, I purchased some seed packets at Lowe's.  I based my decisions on several criteria.

• Type of vegetable

• Planting time

• Days to harvest

• Height of foliage

• Easy to grow

Above is my early planting grid.  At Lowe's, I purchased bunching onions, carrots and snow peas along with their inoculant.  I liked the varieties of lettuce and radishes I saw in the Johnny's seed catalog.  So I will be online to purchase the other seeds at Johnny's Select Seeds.  I looked online at seeds from Totally Tomatoes and like what I saw there, also.  Here is the problem with mail order, shipping and the price of the seeds themselves.  The difference in the price of seeds isn't that great especially if I can only get those seeds online.  However, the cost of shipping must also be considered.  I think it is better to order all your seeds from one place to keep the ratio of shipping costs to seed packet as low as possible.  At a Lowe's store the prices are lower and there is no shipping (there is the cost of gasoline, though).  Plus if I made an error in choosing seeds, I can return them without spending money for return postage.  But, Lowe's doesn't have all the varieties I desire.  So, I will order some seeds from Johnny's.

The second planting will follow the above grid.  I purchased the melon, cucumber and zucchini seeds at Lowe's.  I still need lettuce, beans, peppers, and tomatoes.

The final planting will follow the above grid.  I will have enough seeds remaining from the early planting of carrots, lettuce and radishes.  I need to add broccoli and cabbage to my order.


Lowe's also sells vegetable plants when the weather warms a bit.  I like the plants sold under the Bonnie Plants label.  I perused their website and chose tomato and pepper plants that I wish to purchase.  I talked to the Assistant Store Manager in charge of the seasonal area at Lowe's to see if they can request the kinds of plants to put into their store.  I was informed that Bonnie Plants places their plants in Lowe's on a consignment agreement.  Which means that Bonnie Plants decides which plants to deliver to Lowe's.  I guess I need to contact Bonnie Plants.


Here are the Bonnie Plants I would like to purchase for my garden.


Tomato
• Mortgage Lifter 
• Black Krim 
• Black Cherry 
• Super Sweet 100 
• Sweet Cherry

Pepper
• Cajun Belle 
• Cubanelle

That is my plan.  I have about one month before my early planting.  I will order the seeds from Johnny's and they should arrive in time. If not, I will look for seeds at other local stores.  I am sure I can find seeds there that are close to my criteria.


I will email Bonnie Plants and see if I can request the above plants delivered to my nearest Lowe's.  I have one month to ready the soil and prepare my supports and stretch string to delineate the grid.


Are you planning your garden?  Leave a comment and tell us about your 2012 garden.


PS - At the last minute I found a free shipping code 12-1005 that saved me $10.00 at Johnny's.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved