broken pumpkin stem

My big Long Island Cheese pumpkin stem broke, but not all the way off. It was growing half way up on my fence and, as the weight increased, it sunk lower. (I should have given it a support, but forgot.) Finally, the weight pulled the pumpkin all the way to the ground, but the vine couldn't stretch quite that far. It has partially broken. I don't dare touch it. It seems to me there may be enough intact stem for it to ripen. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Its a nice big pumpkin and very early in the season. Even if it doesn't make it, there is still plenty of time for others to set and ripen.

Read more ...

so cute ...

What to do about a very cute baby rabbit that has taken up residence in my garden? Every morning when I open the blind and look out to my side yard garden - there he is. Cute as ever. A rabbit is a bit of a novelty here in suburbia. As I watch, he mostly eats weeds I have missed: grasses and clover. Those, oh and the dill, soy beans, and all the perennial trilobia (a pretty black-eyed Susan type of plant) that I grew from seed last winter. But so far, he's cuter than the damage he's doing.

I have plans though. I'm thinking of 12 inches of chicken wire around the garden. My guess is he will eat more as he gets bigger. But maybe I will only put chicken wire around the cold frame (I will definitely add chicken wire around this). The cold frame is in the last sunny section of my side yard.

I am getting more and more disappointed about how poorly things are growing in my shady side yard. The shading trees grow by the day. I'm now moving what I can out to my community plot now. Eggplants and peppers are moving as I pull out spent peas, and harvest onions and garlic. Maybe I'll just sow sweet clover as I move the plants out....

Have you ever heard of a gardener who liked having a rabbit in their garden?

Read more ...

no soy beans

This is what the rabbit did to my soybeans.

I love edamame, especially fresh from the garden. And I prefer a variety called Butterbeans. It has big pods and very good yields. I planted a patch earlier this year using seeds left over from 2 or 3 years ago. They did not spout (about 1 on 20 sprouted and the rabbit ate the few that did sprout). Maybe this is a seed that does not store well.

So I looked up online to find more Butterbeans. It seems they are out of stock everywhere. I found them at advertised one website and ordered two packages. But when they arrived they were a different variety (Envy - it has little pods). But I planted them anyway just before I left on vacation.

To make a short story long - the baby rabbit ate all the sprouts. Before leaving on vacation, I asked my husband to barricade the cold frame so the bunny couldn't get in. He reinforced the edges, adding lattice and plastic stapled to the wood frame. The problem was in securing it to the house. Well, the rabbit must have found a way in. Its too late now for a third try. No homegrown edamame this year.

Read more ...

squirrel eats tomato

I've figured out why I have so few tomatoes this year. Unfortunately, I could put up chicken wire to keep a rabbit out, but there's not much that will keep a squirrel out of the garden.

The poor squirrel was sad to drop his pretty tomato from the fence post. After the last photo above, he went down, out of my sight and I suppose found it and finished it off.

Read more ...

Read more ...

Heron

It has been so hot here. Daytime temperatures have been up in the high 30°s C (97°F+), with humidity at around 50% plus. One night at 3.30am when I couldn't sleep, I checked and the temperature in the house was 31°C (88°F) and the humidity had reached 86%. Plants have been wilting fast, and so have people. We daren't open the windows at night because of the mosquitoes (including tiger mosquitoes) and so fans and air-conditioning have placed such a strain on the electricity supply, that blackouts have been frequent.

The only time that it has been possible to consider doing anything active has been around dawn (anti-mosquito lotion having been applied.) So just as it got light one day last week, Anthony and I grabbed the bikes and headed for the Parco Nord.

We weren't the only ones with the same idea - joggers, dog-walkers and other cyclists were out in force, despite the time of day. But not enough to frighten off the wildlife, which was also taking advantage of the few hours respite from the heat. We headed for the ponds, where we saw moorhens, turtles, shoals of fish, swallows and this grey heron.

We got quite close, and he didn't seem too fazed. But then he must have decided that enough was enough, and took off ...

Lombardy has two types of heron - the large Grey Heron that we saw, and the Little Egret - a smaller type, completely white in colour. Both types are fairly common in Europe (as well as Africa and Asia), but because Lombardy is an important rice growing region (the largest in Europe), they are particularly common here. They hunt in shallow water and, whether near rivers, canals, ponds,or flooded rice fields, both types are fairly easy to spot wading through the water in search of the frogs and fish that are their main prey.

I don't think I've ever seen one quite so close up though.

Read more ...

my garden after vacation

I love exploring my garden after being away. Every bed has surprises.

Especially the squash beds! I will have to get my squash bread recipe out to use the big ones I discovered. (Or sneak them over to the compost bin...)



I have an enormous Long Island Cheese pumpkin already. Must be about 1 foot diameter. Also a couple other types of pumpkins.




My popcorn needs fertilizer. I meant to do this before vacation, but ran out of time. It is 5 feet tall now, and tasseling. The ears will form soon. I want to figure out how to prevent the corn ear worms this year and will have to start on this soon.



The cabbages look nice. Always a very pretty crop. My Savoy and Radicchio have done well this year. The radicchio is bolting some. Some compact heads, but others are popping out of the top. They still have nice red leaves inside.



The basil needs to be harvested soon. I've waited too long already and the leaves have gotten small. The bees like the little flowers that I should have picked off long before this.



My onions are better this year than last since I planted further apart and they aren't shaded by nearby plants. Again though, I have no idea what variety is where - except the purple ones. I didn't label well, but they all look good. And lots of nice carrots too.



So many beans. I only planted a couple short rows. Thanks goodness. These may need to go to the food bank. Not sure there's any way I can eat all of them.




The peas and fava beans have totally burnt up. Lots of space now for more planting. Also the empty garlic beds are waiting for plants. I have little broccoli and greens sprouting in my hot frame at home.



My tomatoes are growing finally, but still small and only few fruits ripening. I noticed the gardeners who planted tomatoes in the community plots have lots beautiful ripe fruit already. Almost no fungal issues on them. Its a good year for warm weather crops but I rotated then out of my sunny community plot this year. Same with the eggplants and peppers.

In my frame at home I have cucumber and melons. I have a bumper crop of cukes! Time to make some pickles. The melon plants look very good too. Small fruits are trying to set.



I forgot to bring my wide angle lens, so I only got close up photos today. Tomorrow I'd like to get some of the whole garden.

Read more ...

Read more ...

drying garlic

Before leaving for vacation, I was short of time and threw my newly harvested garlic into a box in the basement. I found this nice video from Kitchen Gardeners about harvesting, curing and storing garlic. Hopefully my garlic will still dry OK after neglecting it last week.

Read more ...

late blight alert

I was disappointed to hear that late blight has been spotted in Massachusetts (links below) this week. On Tuesday, it was found on tomatoes in a field in Hadley MA (Hampshire County, western MA). Tests are being done to figure out where it came from.

Its also been found this year in a garden in Maine, and on commercial potatoes in Wisconsin.

I have been looking at tomatoes and potatoes in our plots and have yet to see any late blight.

UMASS late blight site
Cornell late blight site.

Read more ...

giant patty pan squash bread

After returning from vacation, I found this giant white patty pan squash growing in my garden. I should have weighed or measured it. I didn't, but it was pretty big. It made about 8 cups of grated squash. I made my old summer squash bread recipe. Its exceptionally good!

I also sauteed some grated squash for dinner. I added a bunch of chopped onion, fresh garlic and thyme, then lightly sauteed in olive oil. After it finished cooking, I grated on a bit of Robusto cheese. Delicious! I'd like to find a recipe for grated squash where it holds together like a potato pancake. The nice white squash looks very much like potato, but has delicious squashy sweetness.

These 2 recipes used up about 4 cups of grated white squash. Another 4 cups yet to go. And then there are the zucchinis and yellow squashes I found too....

Read more ...

garden work

Weeding
Harvested basil
Transplant eggplants from side yard to community plot for more sun
Weed whack paths around my plot
Fertilized popcorn
Transplant a small rudbeckia from side yard to community plot
Weeding, weeding
Harvested about 1/4 of onions, and some beets
Clean out pea and fava bean bed

In pea and fava bean bed, sow seeds for:
Carrots, Mokum
Beets, Chioggga and Lutz
Lettuce, Green Summer Crisp Loma

In garlic beds, sow seeds for:
Shell beans pole, Tongue of Fire, Flagrano,
Shell beans bush, Vermont Cranberry, Black Turtle Soup

More weeding....
My compost bin is way over filled now and I will need to add a second bin somewhere.

Read more ...

Read more ...

vacation wildflowers

I've been away the past week. Any guesses where from the local wildflowers?

I suppose you can't really tell where I was from the wildflowers, so here's a scenic photo:



This may have been one of the cooler locations around the Northern hemisphere this past week. Even so, it was warm here. The glaciers are suffering from the heat.

Read more ...