Transplanting Tomatoes & Peppers

Today was a beautiful day! Earlier in the week, the forecast temperature for today was 93 degrees which I was somewhat dreading. My house does not have central air and it's early in the summer for that kind of heat, I'm just not used to it. Thankfully, the forecast changed. Today was in the mid-80s and a little cloudy most of the day with just a little wind. It was hot in the garden when the sun came out and I did end up with a bit of a sunburn, but I finally got some more planting done.

I transplanted the peppers into their designated area (I call this ring #3- though it's really more of a rectangle, it's named for the way it was built). I added the jugs of colored water and a couple dark rocks to absorb heat and there's plastic 3/4 of the way around the outside to add some warmth and cut the wind. I tied some row cover fabric over the top as well- sort of a pepper-incubator if you will. I add the extra heat steps because our nighttime temps dip pretty low all summer long- in part because of the altitude (we're at 7000'). I am just now planting them out because I think I put them out too early last year and the peppers were stunted until late in the season. I'm hoping I get some peppers before October this year. In this ring I have planted two Banana peppers, two Pimiento peppers and two Carmen peppers. I also have a third Carmen that I planted in a pot. I'm especially looking forward to the Carmen peppers, they sound like they'll be really good. The Carmens are the big plants in the foreground.

I also planted the tomatoes. Some of the little guys are still so very small. Hopefully they'll grow now that they're outdoors. The photo shows about half of a 4x10' bed. In that half, I've got 12 tomato plants. I suspect some won't make it or will remain small this year. The big ones you might actually be able to see in the picture are Galinas Gold Cherry (2) and Thessaloniki (2). I've also got a Jubilee Yellow, a Kelloggs Breakfast, two Black Cherry, three Rutgers and one Roma. Since it doesn't look like hubby is likely to be around this summer either, I'm not terribly concerned about tomato production. I'm not a big tomato eater (though I do sort of like the flavor of the gold and black cherries). At this point, I'm starting to think of growing tomatoes as sort of a challenge. Except for the cherries, we have not had great success yet.

When watering yesterday, I noticed there were a lot of ants on my larger Catnip plant. When I flipped over the leaves I found masses of aphids. I hosed them off last night but as you can see, I didn't get them all.

The lettuce & salad greens are growing pretty well now. The cabbage worms have discovered the Savanna Mustard though. I'll have to remember to look carefully when I pick them - I'll pass on the extra protein if I can at all help it. It's not a major infestation at this point, hopefully hand-picking will keep them at bay.

The poor started-too-early spaghetti squash transplants are still looking pretty sickly though there's actually a female bloom starting on one of them!. I planted some seeds just in case and I noticed one direct-sown sprout today. I wish I could remember how many seeds I planted though, the pumpkins don't look like they're going to make it and I hope I tucked in a few seeds.

I lost all the zucchini transplants (I think the wind beat them up too much) but the pattypan squash transplants are looking quite healthy.

I also planted two more varieties of beans today, Top Notch (yellow bush) and Burpee's Tenderpod (green bush). The Tendergreen Improved (bush green) and Cherokee Wax (bush yellow) I planted earlier are starting to sprout now. I'm still waiting on the Zi 28-2 Long beans and the Rattlesnake beans to sprout. They should be popping up soon.

Now, we just need a little rain... (just a little with no hail please) :-)

Mmmm...what's growing in my basement?

Ok, maybe I shouldn't ask that question, I'm not having the best luck this past week or so... While working on my caulking/weather-sealing project last week, I discovered the exterior trim around my kitchen window was in bad shape. It was wet and rotten. When I pulled it off, it got worse. I won't know the full extent until it's time to take it all apart, but at least I've got someone to fix it for me. He'll have to pull the trim & siding and the kitchen window for sure. Hopefully it's not too much worse in there.

Anyway, this is what I have and WANT growing in my basement!! This is my indoor lettuce (Mesclun) box and very soon it will be salad time!

It looks like the cat has stopped tromping through the seedlings now. I don't think she did too much damage in the end.

This is what else is growing in my basement. It's my collection of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini & squash. The spaghetti squash is off to a good (though accidentally too early) start. They are the tallest seedlings under the lights. Soon I may have to put them in the window by the mesclun and see if that's enough light for them. Otherwise I'll need to find more ways to prop up the tomatoes & peppers! My Carmen peppers sprouted and soon will be moved downstairs (or squeezed in I should say). Maybe next year I need to get another light (or self control?? Nah, another light).

New (to me) Varieties

I wasn't going to order any seeds this year. I didn't want to pay the shipping charge for what's sure to be a small order. I really had almost all the seeds I needed already (since I tend to pick up a packet here or there, I'm sure you know how that goes...). Then one day last month, I got an email announcing a free shipping weekend on seeds. I couldn't help it, I just HAD to look...

I couldn't help myself, I ended up placing an order (you KNEW that was coming, didn't you). Some of the seeds I got weren't ones I would have ordered on their own but there were these that I just HAD to try (since that shipping was free after all...). I just wanted to share the ones that convinced me to place an order.

Pepper Carmen

Small Enough for Flowerpots, Sweet Enough for the Whole Family!

Big, horn-shaped fruits have wide shoulders, a tapered shape, and green-to-red color.
75 days from transplanting. Here's a Sweet Italian Pepper you can grow on the porch or balcony as well as in the vegetable patch! Just 28 inches high and about 16 inches wide, these plants are so compact they'll "fit in" anywhere, yet so heavy-bearing and delicious they won a 2006 All-America Selection!
The peppers are horn-shaped, with wide shoulders and a tapering body. They turn from green to deep red, increasing their vitamin content as they redden. And the flavor is remarkable -- super-sweet, either raw or cooked!

Widely adaptable, Carmen is the Pepper your whole family will love. Stuff them, saute them, or chop and eat them fresh from the plant -- this is certain to become your new favorite!

Start seeds indoors or, in climate with short growing seasons, outdoors at least one week after last frost. If starting indoors, allow 7 to 10 weeks for the seeds to mature into seedlings large enough to transplant safely. Fertilize when the blooms appear, and water well. Fruit is most nutritious if allowed to turn red on the plant, but it will have its full complement of flavor even when green.

(http://www.parkseed.com/gardening/PD/5609/)

Cucumber Tanja
Cucumis sativus Tanja

Heavy Yields of Bitter-free Cukes
Very dark skin protects the tender flesh within.
60 days from sowing. Completely bitter free and packed with ultra-tender flavor, these dark green cukes are among the most delicious and succulent in the entire family. Every gardener who prizes the flavor of a cucumber fresh from the cool soil will adore Tanja!
Setting very heavy yields, this plant may be grown in a coldframe in short-autumn climates, proving quite cold tolerant. The cukes reach about 13 1/2 inches long, boast exceptionally dark skin, and are simply scrumptious. Expect heavy yields from these vigorous plants.
http://http//www.parkseed.com/gardening/PD/5553/

Cucumber Park's All-Season Burpless Hybrid
Cucumis sativus Park's All-Season Burpless Hybrid

Seedless, Burpless, and Super Early!
Sets more fruit than any other Cuke we've grown!
48 to 50 days. In just 7 weeks from sowing, you'll start harvesting beautiful cucumber, 8 1/2 inches long by 1 1/2 inches wide, with a sweet, crispy flavor! Completely burpless and without a trace of bitterness, they are also seedless if grown apart from other cucumber plants! The heavy-bearing vine needs no bees for pollination, so you don't have to wait till the garden gets going to start harvesting these scrumptious fruits! Strong and vigorous, these vines set more fruit than any other cuke we have ever grown--bar none! That's pretty incredible, considering the heavy-hitters we've seen over the years. Great resistance to Powdery Mildew, Scab, Downy Mildew, and Cucumber Mosaic Virus.
Direct-sow seeds in a sunny spot after all danger of frost is past, or start indoors and transplant when the first true leaf appears. Cucumbers can be allowed to grow on the ground, but for longer, straighter fruit and to save garden space, grow them in a cage or on a trellis, allowing 1 foot between plants. Keep them well-watered, and keep the fruits picked promptly to encourage new fruit sets.
(http://www.parkseed.com/gardening/PD/5553/)

I also ordered Purple Haze carrots (also new to me), Organic Black Beauty Zucchini (what I've grown the last 2 years), Super Sugar Snap Peas and Mustard Savanah Hybrid which I'm hoping is the green in the Mesclun Mix that we liked so much two years ago.

Of course, I didn't really NEED more peppers or cucumbers and now I have to figure out just WHERE I'm going to put them... Perhaps it's a good thing I didn't very specifically plan the beds, just a general layout. I can still work in some details. I might just have to try out some of those Carmen peppers in pots though (grin)!

I am now doing my best to stay at least 10 feet away from all seed racks. Of course, I do plan to purchase seed potatoes tomorrow... I'm only getting 2 kinds this year. That's the plan at least...

The Slacker is Back (and it's Seed Starting Time!!)

First of all, my apologies for the hiatus. I didn't do much outdoors this winter and found myself with very little to post about. It will probably take me a bit to get back into the swing of things but I'll try to be better!

I'll also admit, I am a bit slow with this post as well. I was thinking of you all and I did take pictures and I was thinking about my blog but alas, I was sidetracked. I also discovered I never re-installed my photo software when my hard drive crashed in December and I don't seem to be able to get it reload from the disk, grrr...

I finally downloaded Picasa so I'm at least semi-functional photo-wise (but I'm still annoyed about the other software).

Anyway... I'd like to show you my high-tech germinating set-up.

Spiffy eh?
The TV puts out enough heat to keep the seeds a little warmer than room temperature.

My lack of success with pepper germination last year led me to a better setup for those this year.

I have an old heating pad that my husband used so much over the years the "high" setting no longer works. Medium seems to do a good job keeping things at 75-80 degrees in the box though. The Rubbermaid box protects the pad from any moisture and a piece of plastic wrap keeps the humidity high in the box. One tray (those are Oreo trays just in case you wondered) has 3 types of onion seeds, thickly sown as they were older seeds and I was unsure of their viability. The other tray has pepper seeds. I planted 5 in each row. One row has Sweet Banana and the other two have Sweet Mixed Pimiento Dulce, also leftovers from last year. With the bottom heat I had germination in about 10 days or so. About 2/3 of the peppers have sprouted so far.

There are also some squash or cukes filling in the rest of the heated space. The tomatoes & the rest of the cucurbits were in the cooler box over the TV. Most ended up rotating into the warm box at some point but were doing well in the cooler box. My OOPS on this (also read "lack of planning or paying attention") is the fact that I STARTED the cucurbits. I will probably wish I had waited on those as they may be huge by the time they can go out. Oh well...

This feisty little Spaghetti Squash (Small Wonder), like some of it's companions, actually had a root coming out of the bottom of the peat pot about as soon as it sprouted. The cotyledons aren't even completely open yet.

I am anxiously awaiting fresh salad season. We haven't had a lot of warm days yet for planting outdoors (matter of fact, right now, my garden is completely covered by several inches of snow!). I decided to try an experiment. Using the "rooting box" that I retrieved from the front porch, I pretty thickly sowed Mesclun seeds (from 2008). It was fast and easy since it was already filled with seed starting medium. I gave the pots a little cleaning and added a little fresh medium and planted. I put the cover on the box (propped open slightly) and set it on the living room floor for about 4 days, until the seeds germinated.

Once I had sprouts, I moved it to the basement. It sits in a sunny, south facing window. The basement is heated somewhat but is very cool (it's unfinished space). When I check on the lettuce, I just look out the window into the cold snowy garden. It makes me think this might be a good idea! So far, they're doing quite well though the little cat keeps stepping on them. She's pretty sure the water in the pots is for her drinking pleasure.

Speaking of the little cat, here they are catching a little sunbeam in the morning sun last week. As they get older, they really seem to enjoy following the sunbeam through the house. I find the gray one laying in random spots around the house, like in the closet doorway, on the bedroom floor, on the stairs...

Annie & Gabby

So, there's the beginning of my catch-up posting. I'll be back again soon!!

Then & Now- October Review

Time for the final monthly review of the season!

I was a little worried about the spaghetti squash when I picked them. They nearly all had some yellow but weren't looking very ripe at all. I left them on the vine as long as possible even though the vines were looking pretty dead.

I had read they would ripen as long as they had started changing color and YAY they did! They spent about 3 weeks just like this on my dining room table. Only one looks like it may not turn. It didn't have any yellow when it was picked. I ate one for dinner tonight!

The yellowing bell pepper ripened off-plant as well and was eaten about 10 days later (it came on my road trip with me- it's the ONLY yellow bell that grew and I wasn't going to miss out on eating it!!

I had to pick everything that was approaching ripeness at the beginning of the month because I was gone for a couple weeks. I went back to Vermont for my class reunion. We had a whole weekend bash and it was a great time! As a bit of a gee-whiz, I tried to cover the garden to see what might make it while I was away. Temps had been hitting lows in the 30's before I left so I figured if the weather held out for a couple weeks, it might make it.

It didn't.

About a week after I left, the weather took a drastic turn. The forecast showed a low of 19 one night, high in the 20's and then a low of 14. I knew it wouldn't make it through that kind of cold. All of the covers had open spots for ventilation for the warm days and they would have needed blankets and probably lights to survive those lows. Oh well. I think the biggest disappointment was the raspberries. There were so many berries on the plants that froze before ripening.

I was part-way through the garden clean-up the other day when I had to stop for some reason. I didn't get to work outside again the end of this week for sure! We had a nasty storm roll through. We didn't get the 2+ feet of snow that some areas around Denver saw, just 3-4". Those 3-4" coupled with some wicked winds sure can make some good drifts though! This was my garden yesterday. I wonder how the baby lettuce in bed #1 are doing under all that snow.

Too bad my driveway looks like this too. We get the worst snowdrift across the drive with nearly every storm. I guess shoveling snow is good exercise at least which is probably good since I bought Halloween candy this week...

October Harvest Totals:

ZUCCHINI 6 OZ
LETTUCE 4 OZ
BEANS 1 OZ
TOMATOES 9 OZ
CARROTS 13 OZ
CUKES 5 OZ
PEPPERS 1# 11 OZ
DAIKON RADISH 3 OZ
SPAGHETTI SQUASH 27# 14 OZ
PUMPKIN -2 VOLUNTEERS- 18# 7 OZ
POTATOES 7# 6 OZ

October Total: 927 oz = 57# 15 oz

September total: 878 oz = 54# 14 oz
August total: 338 oz = 21 lb 2 oz
July total: 157 oz = 9 lb 13 oz
June total: 69 oz =4 lb 5 oz
May total: 10 oz .

Total: 2379 oz = 148 lb 11 oz

Then & Now- August Review

Time again for some comparison photos!

The green beans started the season looking less-than-great in June, mustered a good recovery in July and are now winding down production.

This bed has Landreth Stringless, Contender and French Filet bush beans. I would plant the Contender and French Filet again. They produce nice long, straight pods and seemed more productive than the Landreth. The raw flavor was also better. They were all mixed together for cooking so I didn't notice any flavor difference at dinnertime.

The sunflowers are going a little nuts now! The bees love the sunflowers as well as the bolted broccoli flowers. They have both sprawled out of the beds enough that I avoid those pathways to not anger any bees. Most of the time, I can see about 10 bees in the broccoli.

The spaghetti squash look like they're maturing now. They are starting to turn yellow though there is still a lot of green on the fruits. My understanding is they are ready to pick once they have fully turned color. The foliage is looking pretty shabby and appears to have some powdery mildew starting as well.

It took seemingly forever, but some of my peppers I started from seed are producing! I really thought they were never going to grow (my watermelon didn't...). Next year, I will not subject the peppers to such cool spring temps. They'll have to be babied a little more.

My pumpkin is nearly ready! I think there is also a second one just starting to grow. I'm not positive how many surviving plants I have on that ladder but it's at least 2, so the production is really low. On the other hand, I bought the seeds on clearance last fall for about a quarter so I'm not going to complain too much.

I also have what I believe may be a larger pumpkin that sprouted from some compost under my transplanted lilacs in the back yard. I must not have looked at it closely for a while because when I checked it earlier I had several male blooms and no females. I checked it yesterday and there's a fruit that's probably 10" long! There's another small one as well. I'm pretty impressed as this didn't receive any care at all. I think I watered the lilac once this summer as it looked a little wilted (probably because this large squash plant was sucking away all it's water). Maybe I watered twice.

-AUGUST HARVEST TOTALS-

Zucchini 74 oz (4 lb 10 oz) 15 fruits

Beans (all varieties) 150 oz (9 lb 6 oz)

Pattypan Squash 14 oz 2 fruits

Carrots 11 oz

Peppers 3 oz (2 fruits)

Potatoes 34 oz (2 lb 2 oz)

Cucumbers 33 oz (2 lb 1 oz) 6 fruits

Tomatoes 19 oz (1 lb 3 oz)

Total: 338 oz = 21 lb 2 oz

July total: 157 oz = 9 lb 13 oz
June total: 69 oz =4 lb 5 oz
May total: 10 oz .

Total: 574 oz = 35 lb 14 oz

If you'd like to re-visit my July review, click this link:
http://transplantedgardener.blogspot.com/2009/07/then-now-july-review.html

August Update

It's been a pretty quiet week in the garden. I have harvested just a few zucchini, a half pound of beans and just under 2 pounds of small potatoes. A few of the pots of potatoes were looking dead and I was pretty sure it's too early for most of them to be ready. When I poked down around the "done" plants, I discovered that they were dry! With all the rain we had in July I was worried that they were too wet. Most of the straw was wet but the compost at the bottom was dry. I watered the pots and I plan to take the moisture meter out to check everything tomorrow as it has been several days since we've had any significant rainfall.

Early week harvest - zucchini, beans & potatoes.

I hand-pollinated the little pattypan when the bloom opened the other morning. There are a few more female blossoms starting to form now as well.

The Green Dragon Burpless finally has a little cucumber! I need to look up when these started producing last year, it feels like they have been very slow this year.

The yellow bell pepper is growing nicely. The other peppers are showing more blooms now too.

I did make this unpleasant discovery on my Roma tomato today (grrr...). I'm going to try adding some calcium (and checking their moisture) though from what I saw online today, Romas are very prone to BER, so it at least makes me feel a little better. :-)

To end on a more positive note, I've got a couple of these blooming...

The sunflowers are planted along the edges of the corn bed in an attempt to aid pollination by possibly acting as a windbreak so the pollen doesn't all get blown away in our winds. I honestly don't know if this will make a bit of difference. It was a suggestion I received over on GardenWeb and I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it. As a bonus, I plan to save the seeds- some for the birds and some to sprout for shoots to add to salads.

That's about all for right now. This week we're supposed to have temps in the 80's so I should be seeing a little more production in the garden soon (I hope!).

Fresh from the Rain

After a few warm dry days, our stormy weather returned. We had temperatures near 90 at the end of last week then a cold front came through and dropped us to about 60. I think Colorado Springs had a record low for the high temperature yesterday. Today warmed back up to around 80 or so, at least until our afternoon storm arrived. We've gotten another 2 inches of rain this week! Last July was apparently one of the driest on record. This July is the total opposite!

Between rains, I went out for a few pictures.

The daikon seed pods are finally starting to dry.

My first blush of tomato color! Strangely, this is probably the smallest tomato plant I have.

Soon, I'll get to taste a Pattypan!

I don't think this is good... This potato plant (I think it's Yukon Gold, I forgot to check the tag) has black spots all over it's leaves. It doesn't look as healthy as it's neighbors. I'll have to look this up.

With all the hail that our area has had recently, I've been concerned about the garden. I've been covering what I can. The tomatoes have a chicken wire cover over the top (2 layers, overlapped to make the holes smaller) to hopefully protect them from any whopper hailstorms. Since I can't easily toss fabric over the top, I wrapped it around the sides. I don't think the fabric will stop huge hail but it should at least protect against smaller stones. Since I've covered plants, the hail has skipped us (thankfully). Of course, now I'm a little paranoid - I'm afraid the day I don't cover will be the day the hail comes...

I have one little bell pepper starting. This is a purchased plant though one of my seed starts looks like it might actually kick into gear and bloom soon.

The first borage bloom opened today.

My sugar snap peas have passed their prime. While I keep thinking I should cut them down, they still produce just a few peas. This is why I haven't cut them yet..