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.

Things I Learned This Week

These dinky grape sized golden tomatoes are called Gold Current.  Farmer MacGregor prefers these over the red cherry tomatoes.  He claims they are more “tomatoey” flavored.  Did you know that one plant can produce up to 100 tomatoes?Leaving the watermelon patch in place for the last few hot weeks of summer did, in fact, produce more melons.  There’s at least a half dozen melons tucked in under the vines.  The irrigation has been cut back in an effort to intensify the flavor.  We’ll see.  Did you know that watermelon contains about 92% water and 6% sugar?  I have no clue what makes up the remaining 2%.  Do you?Lemon-Cream Cheese Pound Cake continues to be the number 1 reason to grow lemons.  Did you know that a basic pound cake is made up of a pound each of butter, flour, sugar, and eggs?I wanna go to the National Heirloom (seed) Exposition in 2012.  Lisa Paul and Farmer Fred attended and gave a couple of nice posts.  Geez.  You would think something like that would be a smash hit in the gigantic San Joaquin Valley.  Oh well.  It will be a nice excuse for a little vacation.

Nice Melons!

Farmer MacGregor enjoys watermelon; so this winter I searched the Baker Creek seed catalog for the perfect variety.  The Malali seemed like it would fit the criteria.   A small, seeded, sweet melon that grows well in the oven-like garden known as Bakersfield, California.  Sold!  The seeds were planted on April 28, sprouted on May 6, and they haven’t stopped since.

They share a bed with the Lemon Squash (left).

April 29, 2010

 

May 31, 2010

 

June 10, 2010

  June 19, 2010

 

For some reason, whenever I work in the melon patch I have the desire to do a little tweezer work.  Sadly, these will not be ready for the 4th of July; but old MacGregor will have the rest of the long, hot summer to enjoy melons.  I’m now on the lookout for the dreaded pests that are sure to show up.

Long Live the Queen

The Queen of the Garden celebrated her 19th birthday on Cinco de Mayo.  She enjoyed all the treats she could eat then perched up on the steps to oversee her staff (me) work in the garden.  This is a routing (sans treats) she does most every evening.

Here’s what’s going on today:

The Malali Watermelon have sprouted (05/06/10).  They were planted 8 days ago (04/28/10).

 Lemon Squash is planted adjacent to the watermelon.  It was also planted 8 days ago (04/28/10).

Volunteer potatoes are sprouting amongst the green bunching onions.  They will be removed to make way for the tomatoes.  Potatoes and tomatoes do not grow well together because of the spread of blight.  So…the potatoes gotta go.

The lavender will probably be harvested Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, I do not know what variety of lavender I have.

The Red Flame Grape vine is getting a grip on the arbor.  Color and intensity was boosted to see the twining.

Yesterday, the potted citrus (lemon & mandarin) had all the pansies removed, soil fluffed, and were deeply irrigated.  Today, they look a bit better.  I’m confident the lemon will progress; but the prognosis for the mandarin isn’t good.

As the sun sets, the Queen gives her approval to her staff for a job well done then takes a nap because it’s so tiring being the Queen.

Happy Birthday, Your Majesty.

Summer Crops – Part II

In the last post I highlighted the western most raised bed.  Now let’s move east.  There are still onions developing.  They were planted on September 20, 2009.  The heat has really pushed their growth.  You can easily see the location of the Candy Hybrid onions.  The stakes are placed to prevent garden kitties from littering where they ought not litter.  The bed is trimmed with lobelia, freesia, and strawberries.

From left to right I have planted seeds from Baker Creek.

Crapaudine Beets – are planted under the squash support (4/29/10).  Here’s the description from Baker Creek: In 1885, the French book, The Vegetable Garden stated this is one of the oldest varieties. Today some experts feel this may be the oldest beet still in existence, possibly dating back 1000 years. This unique variety is one of the most flavorful, with carrot-shaped roots that have rough, dark colored skin which looks like tree bark. Inside, the roots are very dark, with almost black flesh that is of superior quality and sought after by chefs who want real flavor. We are proud to offer this rare old selection.

 Beets are cool weather crop; but I wanted to see how they would grow in the shade of the squash as the vines cover the support.  This is a simple experiment.  There’s plenty of seeds to plant at the end of summer if this is a flop.

Lemon Squash – has a custom made support to climb.  Farmer MacGregor installed his workshop creation the same day the seeds were planted (4/28/10).  The idea is to have the lemon shaped squash dangle through the hog wire of the support.  They will stay out of the dirt and moisture and should be easy to harvest.  Lemon Squash has received great reviews at Baker Creek.

The description is this:  The shape, size and color of a lemon, it grows great here, has huge yields and the best resistance to insects I have seen in a summer squash. Very tasty, great fried! A favorite, this is a superb market variety and is very attractive. Our most popular summer squash!

Planting radishes with the squash will help to repel beetles.  I’ll just pick up regular old radish seeds for this purpose.

 

Malali Watermelon – from Israel rounds out the bed.  I picked these because they don’t grow to the size of Guinness Book of World Record prize winning melons and they can take the heat.  The seed company has a wide variety to choose from but these should be perfect.  A sugary-sweet watermelon from Israel; this variety is great for warm climates. Small fruit weigh about 10 lbs. Green-striped rind and delicious light-red flesh is really refreshing. A good little melon for small families and market growers.

I try to mark the date I plant seeds on each packet whenever possible.

Good luck with your Kentucky Derby wager.

Spectacular!

Bird damage control just got cranked up a notch.  The checkout stand at Von’s had a variety of miniature kites for the kiddies on special.  Butterflies, turtles, dragons, and owls once filled a display.  The inventory was reduced to turtles and owls.  For a little over $3, I had something to add to my arsenal of bird detractors.  Perfect.  I snagged an owl to stand guard over the strawberries.  Along with the scare tape, things look fairly good. This little guy is tethered to the post for the squash support.  Strawberries are planted in the cinder blocks that form the bed where squash and watermelon will grow this summer.  The squash is called Squash Lemon and the watermelon is call Malali.  It’s from Israel.  More on those crops another time. Farmer MacGregor was not distracted by Hootie’s bobbing and weaving in the breeze.  The gentle farmer was on a mission to complete the installation of the squash support.  I’ve planted the squash along the right side of the support.  The plants will be trained to grow up the wire.  I will help the blossoms poke through to the other side.  The squash should dangle down on the other side out of the dirt, moisture, and sun.  Pretty cool. Since the area on the left side of the support should be shaded, I may plant beets under there.  I have a few days to decide.  Note the drying rack in the background behind Hootie taking a dive. This evening was nice enough to not only plant the squash and melons, but I planted radishes and onions too.  Then the storm moved in and it rained.  It rained!  This weather is spectacular.

Fall Planting Part I

Last evening, we pulled out the last of the watermelon.  There were still a few melons developing.  There were even some blossoms; but they were past their prime.

Here’s some of the Crimson watermelons in the garbage heap.  They just didn’t have any flavor left in them this late in the season.  Crimson can be recommended for flavorful, round melons that produce well in zone 9.

This morning, I got out there and turned the empty bed to prepare it for fall planting.  I have read that to encourage healthier soil, there should be a minimum of disturbance.  “Hog wash,” I say.  Around here, tractors disc under crops aerating the soil and helping with the health and drainage of the earth.  This isn’t a scientific study or anything, it’s just what I’ve observed farmers practicing here in the San Joaquin Valley.  Nuff said.

The western most bed has been cleared and planted with fall crops.  See the brick wall?  I’m trying to determine what to plant back there.  It’s 60’ long and the planting bed is about 3’ wide.  Camellias?  Wisteria?  Boston Ivy?  Any suggestions are welcome.  I’ll post the progress of planting that bed here whenever I figure it out.

1.  Cabbage  2.  Spinach/Cabbage  3.  Fallow Lettuce  4.  Cauliflower

October 10, 2009

February 6, 2010

The fallowed row will be planted with more spinach once this round has sprouted.  I thought I had broccoli seeds out in the shed; but I couldn’t find any.  Next,  we’ll clear out the cantaloupe to make way for more fall crops.

I’m also looking for a recommendation for garlic in zone 9.  Taste is the driving factor in my choice.  Looks don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that zing!

Please feel free to leave your suggestions for the brick wall planting and your choice for garlic in the comments section.

 

September 12, 2009 -

 

Cabbage sprouts.

Spinach sprouts.

Cauliflower sprouts. Cauliflower harvested on January 31, 2010.

September 13, 2009 -

I decided to plant a row of lettuce rather than another row of spinach.  Half of the row is planted in Romaine and the other half is planted in Iceburg lettuce.

September 17, 2009 -

Romaine sprouts.

Iceburg sprouts.

When I went out to turn the dirt in preparation for broccoli and onions, I noticed that the lettuce had sprout already.  It was only planted 4 days earlier.

October 10, 2009-

Cabbage

Lettuce

Cauliflower

Cabbage harvested (1 head) December 31, 2009.  Some minor freeze damage.

Hidden Melons

I thought that the Crimson watermelons were less than the size of a golf ball at this stage. The vines are loaded with melons; but they're dinky still. Yesterday, I went out to gather the zucchinis (They are rabbit like in their breeding!) and I found 3 melons had been developing in the holes of the cinder blocks that form the raised beds. Carumba! They are larger than softballs. What a pleasant surprise.

Melons have taken over where the cantaloupe once played. They are now marching into the zucchini. See the melons in the left of the photo above?

This sweet thing was growing in a hole of a cinder block that forms the raised bed.

Here's another baby that I moved out to the gravel pathway to mature.

I was tempted to leave them in their cubby holes and see if they would form into square melons. Then, I couldn't figure out how I would get them out; so they are now developing on the gravel pathways. Note: The cantaloupe that were evicted because of the monstrous growth of zucchini and water melons are beginning to thrive. It was touch and go for a bit; but I believe all 6 plants are going to make it.