Blue Lake Pole Beans
*not yet planted
Showing posts with label Vegetable. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vegetable. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2009
Peppers
There are two medium-sized pots of Baby Belle peppers... each containing 2 red and 1 yellow-fleshed plant. Because they are "baby," they're supposed to be compact plants and heavy producers.
My mom highly recommended peppers as an abused yet prolific container plant... considering the heat and drought experienced by her outside plants, this is a glowing recommendation! The package says to thin them to every 15", but considering the extremely crowded tiny windowbox my mom used (2 peppers plus a small rose bush plus several daffodils at once), I'm pretty confident that 2 or 3 will fit into each of my 3-gallon pots, and I'll leave it up to nature to see how many sprout.
My mom highly recommended peppers as an abused yet prolific container plant... considering the heat and drought experienced by her outside plants, this is a glowing recommendation! The package says to thin them to every 15", but considering the extremely crowded tiny windowbox my mom used (2 peppers plus a small rose bush plus several daffodils at once), I'm pretty confident that 2 or 3 will fit into each of my 3-gallon pots, and I'll leave it up to nature to see how many sprout.
Radish
Radishes are everywhere!
The Sparkler White Tips take about 4 weeks to harvest, and the Cherry Belle just 22 days, so repeated plantings are necessary if one wishes to have a constant supply. I have planted Sparklers in all the bigger plant pots (tomato, zucchini, gourd) as well as in the empty spot in the wine barrel, and Cherries in the Radish Bin. I won't be re-planting the bigger plant pots... by then the squash shall be producing shade.
Radish Bin: Every wednesday, I'm planting a tiny row of radishes... theoretically, every wednesday I will be able to harvest one row and replant it, giving me an average of one radish a day. I've begun staggering the rows in a zig-zag, as this allows space for 2 more radishes. I'll expect to be clipping leaves here and there for salad additions when the mood strikes.
* radish bin picture
These are some Sparklers at 26 days in the wine barrel, 2-3 inches wide... definitely nowhere near harvest time (expected at 20-30 days), and it hasn't bulbed at all under the soil. Temperatures have been super chilly up until a few days ago and growth has suddenly spurted, so I'm assuming that they've been so slow due to autumn chill.
The Sparkler White Tips take about 4 weeks to harvest, and the Cherry Belle just 22 days, so repeated plantings are necessary if one wishes to have a constant supply. I have planted Sparklers in all the bigger plant pots (tomato, zucchini, gourd) as well as in the empty spot in the wine barrel, and Cherries in the Radish Bin. I won't be re-planting the bigger plant pots... by then the squash shall be producing shade.
Radish Bin: Every wednesday, I'm planting a tiny row of radishes... theoretically, every wednesday I will be able to harvest one row and replant it, giving me an average of one radish a day. I've begun staggering the rows in a zig-zag, as this allows space for 2 more radishes. I'll expect to be clipping leaves here and there for salad additions when the mood strikes.
* radish bin picture
Here is a tiny sprout! It's about half an inch wide, and deceptively cute.
These are some Sparklers at 26 days in the wine barrel, 2-3 inches wide... definitely nowhere near harvest time (expected at 20-30 days), and it hasn't bulbed at all under the soil. Temperatures have been super chilly up until a few days ago and growth has suddenly spurted, so I'm assuming that they've been so slow due to autumn chill.
Tomato
Tiger-Like tomatoes all summer long.
At the farmer's market, a friendly boothmaster suggested that as a first-time tomato grower we choose one of 3 types of cherry tomatoes... once he described the Tiger-Like, we were smitten! Red-orange with vertical stripes of lighter orange, very prolific and indeterminate. Our seedling was about 4 inches tall, and because we were newbies and I had regaled him with tales of how much the iguanas loved cherry tomatoes, he gave us a 50-cent (off of $2.50) discount.
We put it into the cauldron after drilling 2 drainage holes because it was the largest container we had, and added a generic tomato cage. There's just something terribly satisfying about growing tomatoes in a cauldron... though I hope the black plastic doesn't overheat the roots. I removed the bottom-most leaves and buried that node under soil... roots will sprout from here and give the plant a stronger root system.
At the farmer's market, a friendly boothmaster suggested that as a first-time tomato grower we choose one of 3 types of cherry tomatoes... once he described the Tiger-Like, we were smitten! Red-orange with vertical stripes of lighter orange, very prolific and indeterminate. Our seedling was about 4 inches tall, and because we were newbies and I had regaled him with tales of how much the iguanas loved cherry tomatoes, he gave us a 50-cent (off of $2.50) discount.
We put it into the cauldron after drilling 2 drainage holes because it was the largest container we had, and added a generic tomato cage. There's just something terribly satisfying about growing tomatoes in a cauldron... though I hope the black plastic doesn't overheat the roots. I removed the bottom-most leaves and buried that node under soil... roots will sprout from here and give the plant a stronger root system.
Radishes are around it for a bit of early harvest fun, and Wormie stands guard.
Zucchini
Raven Zucchini has one of the highest phytochemical counts of all zucchini due to its very dark green skin, and is also a type that is prolific throughout summer.
As zucchini is my favorite "daily vegetable" for grilling and stir-frying and souping, I planted two large pots of it, about 5 gallons each in mounds (as is done typically in gardens), with radishes around, 3 weeks apart. I'll decide later whether 'tis prudent to cage them as they get gigantic... but I'll definitely have to thin them down to 2-3 per pot.
As zucchini is my favorite "daily vegetable" for grilling and stir-frying and souping, I planted two large pots of it, about 5 gallons each in mounds (as is done typically in gardens), with radishes around, 3 weeks apart. I'll decide later whether 'tis prudent to cage them as they get gigantic... but I'll definitely have to thin them down to 2-3 per pot.
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