Come On, Summer. Let Go.

Summertime is hanging on by some very thin roots.  Kind of like a guest that simply can’t take the hint to leave even when you turn out the lights.
The weather here has been like summer in most of the country…highs in the 70s with sunny skies.  Volunteer tomatoes and watermelons are trying to make a go of it.The tomatoes are trying to reclaim the pea patch and the watermelon is trying to survive in the garlic bed.  I suspect they would grow even with shorter supplies of sunlight.Even the remaining Gold Currant Tomatoes may find it harder to survive later this week.  By Friday, those warm temperatures in the 70s will give way to a rainy day in the 50s.  You can imagine my delight.  I’m hoping for loads of frosty, freezing weather to help kill any bugs on/in the deciduous fruit trees.  Farmer Fred has posted a nice checklist of things to do to get ready for winter. 
The winter garden is beginning to mature.  Radishes and beets have been harvested along with some stray green onions.  This might be a good weekend to pick the last of the tiny tomatoes and peppers and make way for more onions.
Summertime will be showing up way before I’m ready for it – just like that guest that can’t take a hint.

Winter Garden Planting

Planting is in full swing in the fall garden. 

Winter garden fall 2010

Already planted in August are:

• Beets – Early Wonder
• Broccoli – Waltham 29
• Cabbage – Copenhagen Market
• Cauliflower – Early Snowball
• Radishes – Sparkler

Planted the 1st weekend of October:

• Carrots – Scarlet Nantes
• Carrots – Tendersweet
• Garlic
• Oregano
• Peas – Wando
• Sage – Broad Leaf
• Thyme – Common

To be planted 2nd weekend of October:

• Beets – Early Wonder
• Carrots – Royal Chantenay
• Lettuce – Marvielle of Four Seasons
• Lettuce – Parris Island Romaine
• Onion – White Lisbon

The summer sweet peppers and Golden Currant tomatoes are still producing.  Once those have given up, more onions will be planted.

That should be pretty good to live on through the winter.  Soups – Basque, minestrone, broccoli cheese, cauliflower, garlic , squash – are all within reach of the garden.  Salads should be plentiful too.  Of course, peas and carrots go great with all that winter comfort food.

I just hope that I can beat down the bad bugs and get some great production.  The squash bugs that were disturbed when the pumpkins came out tried to lock onto the Butter Bush squash vines.  I’m picking them off as I see them plus the cooler weather might discourage them from doing much damage.  Along with the cool weather came rain.  It was great!  It was fantastic!  The garden is happy and so am I.

Don’t Bug Me

 

The tomatoes vines were ripped from their summer bed today.  12 plants that grew about 9’ tall was quite a jungle to mow down.  I started by hand; but Farmer MacGregor came to the rescue with a gasoline powered gizmo that made quick work to the labor.  Not only were the vines dislodged but their parasites were hopping all over the place.  Farmer MacGregor had them locked onto his T-shirt.  One flew into my hair on my neck.  Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww!  That was it.  War was in full swing.  I used my hands, feet, pruners, and shovel to push these creepy creeps to the other side of life.  Farmer MacGregor used one of his size 10 1/2 sneakers to smash the buggers into the wall they were clinging.There’s gobs more hanging out in the spent tomato vines.  Once there is room in the green waste we will have another battle.  Hopefully, the birds will swoop in and help themselves to a Sunday banquet.  Hornworms, caterpillars, and grubs were cleaned out of the garden as well as the smashed hoppers.

Plans are to have the beds prepped and planted by Saturday, October 1 (or there abouts).

PS – Good news to anyone heading to Bakersfield.  The high today is only expected to reach 79°!  That won’t last long though.  Mama Nature will probably keep testing us well into October.

Summer, I would like to introduce you to Autumn.

This evening the garden tour revealed that most of the tomatoes and all the watermelons need to be ripped from the summer beds to make way for the winter garden.  As I was picking the first of the pumpkins and the last of the tomatoes, the wind kicked up and the big, fat splashes of rain came down.  Looking at the photo you could imagine that it was time to fly inside and get some warm, comfortable clothes on and hibernate.  Negative.  When I went back inside, I needed to crank up the AC.  It was 102° today.  With 100% humidity, it was gross.  If this is what it’s like in the South, count me out.

Tomorrow, the ripping commences with hopes of getting some seeds and seedlings planted.  Thank goodness Mama Nature is going to cool it down a bit this weekend.  There’s lots to get done before the real autumn arrives.

PS – What’s going on in the blogosphere?  Most blogs that I follow have slowed way down on posting…just like me.  There must be lots of stuff to get done before the real autumn arrives everywhere.

Here Comes Fall!!!

Well, here comes fall planting.  It’s still hot enough for swamp pants.  It’ll be that way through October.  The seeds need to get in now that the first 3 Sisters bed has been pulled.  There’s a few beans that remain on the west end of this east end bed.

The photo is oriented north and each drip line has something planted (or soon will have planted) on either side.  It looks pretty pitiful now but so would you if you spent an endless summer under blistering sun.    Here’s what’s planted from west to east.  (That’s from left to right).  I’ve noted the dates the seeds were planted and the days to maturity.

• Lettuce – Merlot (8/15/11, 50-60 days) – loose leaf, dark burgundy.  It grew well last winter.
• Onions – White Lisbon (8/15/11, 60 days)– bunching.  These grow fast and will give immediate gratification.
• Beets – Early Wonder (8/15/11, 50 days)– dark, round, and delicious pickled.  It’s the seeds I had on hand.  I ran out on this row and need to grab more seeds.
• Cabbage – Copenhagen Market –  Planting is pending acquisition of seeds.  This variety has grown well in the garden a couple of years ago.
• Beets – Early Wonder (8/15/11, 50 days) – Do I like beets?
• Cauliflower – Early Snowball (8/13/11 & 8/15/11, 65 days)- tight and white.  Does great in this garden.
• Beets – Early Wonder (8/15/11, 50 days) – What the heck?  I plan on canning pickled beets.  Sue me.
• Broccoli – Waltham 29 (8/13/11, 80 days) – A proven variety in this garden.  Tender, tight, easy to grow.

At the top of each irrigation line are planted Buttercup squash(8/13/11, 95 days).  It’s a winter squash I’ve never tried; but Floyd’s had the seeds and I was game.  Sparkler radishes (8/13/11, 25 days) are sprinkled throughout.

This bed is about one month ahead of planting last year.  My goal is to harvest by Thanksgiving.  It’s nice to have goals.  Another goal is to survive swamp pants season and enjoy a cool – cold and wet winter.  Come on October!

The garden was pumping along nicely at Thanksgiving 2010.  Come on October!

It’s Our Turn – Finally

The rain has come to the San Joaquin Valley and the snow has fallen on the Sierras and Tehachapis.  The much needed rain has washed away the cruddy air the Valley is famous for.  Pollution from the north get caught in the Valley with no escape until a nice rain clears things out.  There is a cool breeze, warm sun, and beautiful skies.  For about five months, gardeners in the Valley can enjoy bearable weather.  Dressing in layers, we can stay warm or cool; but most importantly, we will not experience swamp pants until April or May.  We have endured.  We will survive.

Most all of the deciduous plants are beginning to change colors in preparation for their pending dormancy.  The colder weather helps these plants produce during the growing season and any freezes can help destroy some pests.

  The winter crops are thriving along with some of the flowers.  Today’s bounty included lavender, lettuces, radishes, beets, carrots, and onions.  The peas are blooming.  It would sure be nice to have fresh peas at the Christmas table.  The garden staff is happy.

Not a Believer

There are some unbelievable blooms blooming in the garden in mid November.  A little chrysanthemum that my mother brought to Thanksgiving dinner last year is making a comeback in 2010 with not much attention from me.  I need to reconsider this plant since it’s nice and tough – just the way I like a plant – nice and tough.

The peach tree is behaving as if it’s Spring.  It did this last year.  Perhaps it’s trying to convince me that global warming is real OR perhaps it’s simply a tree attempting to reproduce before it gets cold.  And it will get cold.

 

The plum tree also has a few buds.  Maybe six months from now I will be enjoying the prospect of harvesting plums for the 1st time from this tree.

There’s a volunteer tomato thriving in the cabbage patch.  It’s doing so well that it now has about a half dozen buds on it.  Wouldn’t that be crazy to have tomatoes in the winter?

 

Since global warming believers label me a “non believer”, I thought I would chart out the hottest days ever in Bakersfield since record keeping began (which ain’t very long); so how can you argue global warming or cooling?  I know.  I know.  Lake varves, tree rings, glacial markers.  I get that. The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration provided the data I plotted out.  Here’s what I found.

It seems that the hottest days on record were in the 1st half of the last century; so I threw in a trend line to show me that the trend is that the highest temperatures are cooling through time.  This is in no way a scientific study.  I was simply curious to learn if the temperatures in my area are warming.  I’ll play around with some other data to see if I get a different picture.  Either way, I still believe that humans that think they cause climate change or have the power to change climate change are souls with the best of intentions for the most part.  I could be wrong.  It’s happened before.  No kidding.  It has.

I do believe in the Monkees and so should you.

Do You Know What is Sprouting?

This final blast of heat was good for something.  All the fall seeds are up.  The broccoli pictured here came up in about 2 days.  BAM!  Not only did the seeds that were lovingly planted in straight rows successfully germinate; but clumps of seeds punched through the damp soil into the hot fall air.  An example is that stand of seedlings behind the dirt clod above.  Do you know what is sprouting?

Two of the vegetable beds have these seedlings coming up in random clumps.  Do you know what is sprouting?

You can submit your guess here on the comments or shoot an email.  Oh, there isn’t any prize except the fact that you know you’re right.  And sometimes knowing you’re right feels pretty good.

Harvest Moon / Planting Moon

Fall planting is almost complete.  I’m a bit late but I hope to see some results.  As expected, the radishes are up.  The radishes pictured above are Jaune D’Or Ovales.  These were planted on September 16 and the photo was taken this evening (September 22).  These radishes are planted in the lettuce bed that was most recently the Lemon Squash bed.

I use stakes and old tomato cages to keep garden kitties (any kitties) out.  Redwood stakes are used to mark the rows.  Even though I write down what I planted on the seed packet and on my garden plan, the stakes are a handy reference.

This evening, I planted as long as I could thinking that the light of the harvest moon would help me complete my planting.  No way.  I’m almost done though.

Here’s what’s in the ground now:

Bed 1	Bed 2	Bed 3	Bed 4
Peas – Tall Telephone	Lettuce - Merlot		Cabbage – Early Jersey Wakefield
blank	Radishes - Watermelon		Onions – Yellow of Parma
Peas – Tall Telephone	Lettuce - Cimmaron		Cabbage – Mammoth Red Rock
Peas – Tall Telephone	Beets - Crapaudine		Beets – Early Wonder
Carrots – to be determined	Radishes – Juane D’Or Ovale		Cauliflower – Purple of Sicily
Carrots – Atomic Red	Onions – He-Shi-Ko		Onions – Flat of Italy
Carrots – to be determined	Lettuce – Brune d’Hiver		Broccoli – to be determined
Carrots – Cosmic Purple	Lettuce - Iceberg		WILD CARD
	Stevia		Lavender
	Strawberries - established		Orange Thyme
	Basil - established

The beds are listed from west to east.  The crops are listed from west to east with framing crops at the bottom of each list.  Grey italic means the seeds still need to be planted.

The hot peppers in bed 3 (Serranos and Black Hungarians) are producing like mad and I’m going with the flow.  This bed may be reserved for early tomato planting in about six months.  I don’t know.

Fall 2010 is Underway – Finally!

There’s loads of work to do in order to get fall planting underway; but it’s finally underway.  Tentative plans, seeds, a reference book, and a pencil (erase as needed) come out with me to get things started.

The twine is cut from the tomato supports.  Any good fruit is harvested for distribution to neighbors, work associates, and family.  There are only 5 tomato plants remaining; so my source for fresh tomatoes is coming to an end.  The plants are clipped and tossed into the green waste leaving only a stump from what started out as seeds planted on March 1.

All the tomatoes had companion beneficial plants growing with them.  Radishes, basil, onions, carrots, and chives were planted to benefit the growth of the tomatoes.  If anything was harvested from those beneficials, that was a bonus.  One bed of tomatoes had chives growing with them exclusively.  I found that those plants grew the tallest (some over 9’) and the roots were extensive.  Some of the plants needed to have their roots cut with a shovel to enable the rest of the plant to come up.  Sheesh.

Grasshoppers were thriving in the remaining tomato patch.  When they were disturbed, they flew everywhere.  My exterminator Crocs got busy and did the pest control clog dance on as many bugs that would hold still.  Pumpkins were ripped out and a wave of squash bugs was crawling along the ground like moving gravel.  My dance routine moved to the pumpkin patch to send as many squash bugs to the other side as possible.  Note:  The pumpkin vines did not produce any pumpkins worth putting up with the squash bug infestation; so out they went to make way for blueberry bushes (I think.).

There were more tomatoes planted this year and there were more hornworms.  Here’s one with it’s winter coat on already.

So far, this is the list of seeds planted:

Peas

Lettuce (2 types)  - germinated

Radishes - germinated

Beets

Bunching Onions

Still to be planted:

Carrots (2 types)

Cabbage (2 types)

Garlic

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Onions

Thyme

Stevia

 

The planting schedule may be a bit behind schedule but I’m doing the best I can.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I’ve been busy getting the garden ready for fall planting.  Growing a successful crop of tomatoes has delayed planting broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, onions, radishes, beets, & peas.  The garlic can go in as well IF the seed company ever ships my order from August.  I’ll reveal more about them if they make good on my order OR if they continue to ignore my inquiries.  I’ve never ordered from this seed company out of Missouri. 

I placed a backup order with Baker Creek for carrots, cauliflower, lettuces, beets, and onions. 

A good source for organic potatoes is what I’m looking for now.  The last time I tried growing them, they were planted in February so I have some time still.

I’m Late!

I was looking through photos from last year at this time.  Most of the summer crops had been cleared.  The fall planting of spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage had been sown in place.  I was much, much further ahead in 2009 (above and below). Only one of the four raised beds has been cleared.  All 37 tomatoes remain and have blooms. 

However,  any fruit produced from this point on is usually a bit inferior so I’ve made the decision to yank out all the tomatoes. Time it ticking and the calendar pages keep flipping.  Those seeds need to get started.  I’m Late.

But as Farmer MacGregor is famous for stating…It’s better late than pregnant.

It’s nice to put things in perspective.

The Finish Line is in Sight

Autumn officially begins in less than 3 weeks.  The days are getting noticeably shorter and there is hope that this weekend will be some of the last days over 100 degrees.  The chrysanthemums are showing up in the nurseries.  I just picked up a big potted Mum at Costco.  I know.  I know.  That’s not a nursery; but I was filling my cart and had room for one.  Come on.  It’s not like you never did any impulse shopping.  To be fair, I put back some shorts I was going to use for fall gardening; so it’s a wash.

Some official markers of summer ending in Kern County are the Wasco Rose Festival, Village Fest (sells out regularly), Bakersfield College Football,  Kern County Fair, and Oildorado Days in Taft.  None of these events are big time Disneylike galas.  They are all small town good fun.  If you’re travelling down the spine of California and find yourself looking for something to do, give one of these a shot.  All of us here in Kern County have something to celebrate.  We made it through another summer.

The Fall Seeds Are Here! The Fall Seeds Are Here!

My order of new fall seeds arrived from Terroir Seeds out of Chino Valley, Arizona.  By now, you probably know that I support Arizona and its new law (SB1070) regarding illegal immigration.  I prefer to throw my almost worthless dollars to the state of Arizona rather than a sanctuary city or a blowhard state like my very own California.  Nonetheless, the fall seeds arrived and here’s what I’ll plant:

Nutribud Broccoli is an early-maturing variety, having a large central head with medium-sized side shoots on vigorous, attractive plants. Unusually high in free glutamine, a building block of protein and an important healing nutrient.

Harvests of mature heads extend over about a two-week period. Plant succession crops for continuous harvests. Consistently good results. Difficult to find.

Mammoth Red Rock Cabbage is an heirloom from 1889 that have solid round flattened purple-red 7-10 in. diameter large 6-8 lbs heads.

Excellent keeper with hard and tightly wrapped leaves, large-framed medium core that is great for pickling, boiling and general use. Excellent quality cabbage.

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage was introduced about 1840. These small 2-3 pound distinctly pointed, conical shaped heads are fast growing, ready for early summer harvesting. Best cabbage for early spring planting.

Regarded by many as one of the best tasting cabbages. Compact size is ideal for raised beds; it's easy to space four or five closely across the width of a raised bed without over crowding.

Cimmarron Lettuce is an heirloom from the 18th century. Also called Little Leprechaun. Beautiful deep red romaine, 10”-12" tall with a crisp, creamy yellow-bronze center with a tender texture and great flavor. Large, sturdy plants virtually impervious to bolting. Both cold and heat hardy.

Merlot Lettuce is absolutely gorgeous, frilled leaves of the richest, dark wine-red. Smooth, full bodied flavor. Loose leaves work well for “cut and come again” culture, as well as baby salad mix. Dark-red lettuce is very high in flavonol, a compound that acts as an antioxidant. William Woys Weaver believes this is destined to become a classic. Finally getting more well known. For the longest shelf life, harvest greens late in the day.

He-Shi-Ko Bunching Onion is a perennial bunching onion, nonbulbing, 3 to 5 slim tender 12-14" silvery-white stalks grow from base with a white pungent flesh.

The Tall Telephone Pea is a Swiss heirloom dating to 1878. Vigorous vines produce a profusion of large, easy to pick, dark-green pods, with 8 - 10 delicious peas in each. Long season. Good in most areas for home gardens, fresh markets and freezing.

Orange Scented Thyme has the traditional flavor of Old English Thyme with a refreshing orange-mint fragrance and pale pink flowers that attract bees. When used in cooking, the clear orange flavor lingers without the harsh aftertaste of other thymes. Excellent with fish, roasted vegetables, stews and soups. Grows short & compact to 4” tall & 12” across.

Stevia leaves are 100-300 times sweeter than table sugar, have virtually no calories and are not broken down by heat. Studies show this non-caloric, natural sweetener lowers blood pressure, regulates heartbeat, is antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-yeast and retards dental plaque. No calories, no carbohydrates, no tooth decay!

In addition, I will plant garlic, carrots, and onions.  I just need to decide the combinations to plant and which beds to use.  All seeds will be sewn in place if the current crops poop out in time.  If not, I will need to start the seeds in peat pots and transplant whenever the beds are ready.

Note:  DBE gals, I did a terrible tutorial job on yesterday’s post.  Let’s try one more time.  Please read these instructions to the end then give it a try.  In the paragraph above you can see the word “garlic” in a different color type.  When a word or group of words are in a different color that generally means that those words are linked to something related to the topic.  Give a single left click on that green garlic.  That action will take you to a post that shows my garlic braid.  If you want to come back to this post click on the back button.  The back button looks something like this.   An arrow pointing to the left will take you back one page.  If you want to know what a button does just put your cursor (mouse) arrow over the button and some words should pop up to tell you what the button does.

That’s enough for now.  Go out and practice.  Remember, your breed ruled an empire.  You can do this.

Fall is Finally Here

This was taken out at Lake Ming this morning when we were walking the dog.  The weather has finally cooled down and everyone was out taking advantage of the situation.  Golfers, bike riders, walkers, picnickers, and BBQers were all out.  We even saw deer that had wandered down out of the Sierras.

Today, the tree trimmers are coming to thin the Chinese Elm.  The leaves and seeds from the tree are truly never ending.  Hopefully, this will keep the tree healthy and produce massive amounts of shade when we return to “Hades” type weather.

Garden Flowers

Here’s some flowers that are popping in the garden now that the weather have moved into bearable temperatures.  I’ll label the images as best I can.  Note: the images are straight out the camera.

Pansy – Mammoth Red Pansy – Yellow Pansy – Butter Yellow Lobelia – Crystal Palace LantanaEnglish Lavender – Munstead Marigolds Nastersium Texas Ranger – Green Cloud Rose – John Paul II Rose – Pink (unknown) Impatiens Oxalis Rose – Bakersfield Centennial Rose – Lucille Ball Duranta- Repens Geranium Stock – Vintage White Butterfly Bush – Pink Perfection (I think the label was wrong.) Gardenia Rose – Jaune Desprez

And here’s the more edible varieties.

Basil  Eggplant – Black Beauty Serrano Peppers Strawberries – Fern Bell Peppers Lemon – Variegated Pink Lemon (blossom) Lemon – Variegated Pink Lemon (fruit) Plum – Santa Rosa (This tree is crazy.)

That’s it for today.  I just wanted to chronicle how much better we (plants, animals, and people) behave when the weather is nice.