Mid-June in an Austin Urban Garden June 16, 2013

For the second year in a row, I’ve planted tomatoes in February, and covered them on cold nights.  I don’t believe it ever froze at my house this winter, and the practice has paid off again, with lots of early tomatoes.  I have eaten lots of tomatoes, canned lots of crushed tomatoes, and made lots of salsa.  My larder is more than full with enough to last until next tomato season.  I will also freeze some before the season is over.

First wave of tomatoes

Canned Salsa

Fortunately, my anti-squirrel, anti-bird contraption worked, and I didn’t lose a single tomato to either.  I simply wrapped bird netting around a makeshift fence made from the foldable tomato cages.

Fence of Bird Netting

So, today is June 16, 2013, and the summer heat has set in, and the stink bugs are just starting to appear in one of my tomato beds.   I’m good on tomatoes, so I’ve begun pulling up those plants that weren’t good producers, and those who appear to be done for the season.  It isn’t cost effective for me to continue to water, more than a couple of plants that will bear fruit for another month.  And, its hot, and gardening isn’t fun in this heat.   By the end of today, I’ll only have 2 -3 tomato plants in the ground; 2 hybrids that will march through this heat, seemingly unaffected, and one hearty heirloom that is still producing new fruit.  I’ve  come to the conclusion that planting early is the only way to go.

The tomatillos grew into hearty plants, formed their lanterns, then made very few tomatillos.  I will baby these through summer, and expect to be greatly rewarded in the fall.

Tomatillos

The pepper bed is happy as can be and has given me lots of wonderful peppers.

Yesterday’s pepper harvest

I used some of these in salsa I canned yesterday, but will need to get creative to eat them all.  I will start pickling some next week.

The cucumber and watermelon beds are wild right now, and probably over crowded.  I’m literally tripping over cucumbers, that are well hidden under the big leaves.  Cucumber plants never stay in the bed, they creep over the sides and into the lawn/pathways.  It’s pretty fun finding cucumbers that I didn’t even know were there.

Cucumber bed

Cucumber and melon bed

Yesterday’s cucumber harvest

Watermelon!

So far there is just one watermelon with any size.  I’m really crossing my fingers for Moon and Stars melons, because I’ve never seen one in person.

That’s the state of my garden as we head into the dog days of summer.  I learn something new every season, and its nice to have this blog to look back and compare from season to season.  Remember, if you want pumpkins for Halloween, you’ll need to plant seeds around July 4, which is quickly approaching.

Happy Gardening!

Harvesting, Drying and Storing Garden Onions April 17, 2013

Onions are one of the most rewarding vegetables to grow, in my opinion.  I late Fall, I order onion sets from Dixondale Farms.  They come in bundles of sets that are bout 5-6 inches tall.  I plant them fairly deep into very well aerated soil, so that they can expand and grow large.  Some don’t do much, for whatever reason, but most of those I plant mature into good sized onions.

Onion sets

 

Last year, I planted a mix of 1015′s, named by the date the onion seeds are planted, October 15; Red Creole onions, and White Bermudas.  Several weeks ago, a few of the onions started to bolt, or go to seed, which means they will not mature any further and should be harvested.   When they bolt, a hard stalk grows up the center of the onion, and forms what would eventually be a flower, if you didn’t pull them.  They are still perfectly good after they bolt, but should be harvested.

Bolting onion

 

I harvested perhaps 15 bolting onions, mostly the red ones.  I’m not sure why, but the red onions seem to bolt first – perhaps because of our extreme and unseasonable weather variations.  (As I sit here on April 17, 2013, a cold front will soon roar into Austin, leaving temperatures in the low to mid 40′s at night.)

Last week, several of the onions had started laying down, a sign that they are finished maturing, and will need to be harvested soon.  After a ridiculously busy weekend, wherein I didn’t see my garden, I was surprised Monday, to find that nearly half of my onion crop was laying on its side.  I finally had time to pull the finished onions out of the ground today.

We are done!

Harvested Onions

Some were moderate size, some were the size of softballs, a new experience for me.   My best onion harvest yet, and some of the largest ones are still in the ground.

I rinsed them with the hose over the remaining growing onions, so as not to waste any precious water.  I then moved them to the top of my fire pit, which is metal mesh, which allows great ventilated space for the onions to dry and form the outer skin you see on grocery store onions.  Naturally, I kept some for immediate eating.  They are so tender and sweet, I sauteed some as a fajita topper for dinner.

Pile of onions

Once they have dried out a bit, I use the garden  snippers to remove the green stalk and some of the roots.  I then transfer them to a shady spot for a day or two until the snipped part dries out.

Drying onions

Once dried, the onions can be hung in a vented bag and will store for months.  I usually run out of my onions 7-8 months after harvesting.

So far most of the red onions that I’ve pulled are fairly medium to smallish.  Perhaps not enough for a good round of red onion pickling, a favorite of mine for pickling and canning.  I can rely on the farms and farmer’s markets for those.

Pickled onions

 

The universe appears to be in my favor this early Spring, as I have several peppers that will be ready for harvest in the next week, more fresh onions in the ground, and potatoes flowering and nearly ready for harvest.  I love little more than sautéed onions, peppers, and potatoes in some Springdale Farm scrambled eggs.  Such goodness almost makes the wait for the first tomatoes bearable, and then after that, its game on!    And then I’m all about salsa.  Eating seasonably is so satisfying; the wait makes every harvest taste so much better.

 

Reflections on an Amazing 2012 Tomato Season June 28, 2012

This has been one of the best tomato seasons I’ve ever had, and I did some things differently; so I’m wondering what really worked, and what was just nature being happy.  We did get some early rains that would have helped for sure.  For the first time ever, I had hearty volunteers sprout up in the winter, so on a lark, I kept them warm and watered, not knowing what varieties they were, and was rewarded with huge plants bearing a seemingly endless supply of Matt’s Wild Cherry tomatoes early in the season.  As I type this, there are loads of these tiny tomatoes still on the plants, undeterred by the heat.  They may produce all summer, if I continue to water.

Matt’s Wild Cherry

Because of these volunteer plants thriving in February, I took a chance and planted the seedlings I had started, and some I purchased, late February.  We had no March freezes, if memory serves and I didn’t have to cover anything.  Again I was rewarded with healthy heirloom and hybrids plants with fruit that ripened very early in the season.   The first Caprese salad was delicious, with Purple Cherokees and globs of Burratta.  The over styling of this plate can certainly be blamed on my exuberance for this treat.

First Caprese of the Season

Despite Blossom End Rot early in the season on the heirlooms, especially the Prudens Purple and Purple Cherokee, they set fruit the second time around and were less finicky.  The Celebrity, Early Girl and two grafted heirlooms onto hybrid stock (an experiment I found at Sledd Nursery) put on lots of smallish fruit.  At each harvest, I had more than I could eat, and started coring and freezing bags of them, and giving loads away.

Production Increase

They were delicious for the BLTs we made with homemade bacon.  (Previous post)

Slicers for BLTs

On June 1, still pretty early, I had some time and made some heirloom tomato jam.  I like to baste smoked ribs with this, although mine didn’t get to the desired thickness.  Jam maker’s error.

Tomato Jam (6/1/12)

I got into canning peaches, and only canned tomatoes once, opting to freeze the bulk of them.  Once the heirlooms really slowed in production, I started thinking of pulling the plants up, because gardening in 109 temperatures isn’t fun, but the hybrids kept cranking out the tomatoes.  The kitchen window filled to capacity again, and I decided it was time to can some tomatoes.

Kitchen Window

I did a simple crushed tomato canning, rather than make sauce.    I’d rather heat up the kitchen during cooler times, and fill the house with aromatic tomato sauce smells then.

The either Black Cherries or Chocolate Cherries, I can’t remember what I planted, (and all my markers have washed off) have proceed steadily for the past two months.  So, a typical harvest these last few weeks, looks like this, about every two days.

Routine harvest

Canned Crushed Tomatoes

These little sweet tomatoes are amongst my favorites, but there have been so many, I’ve given lots away.

Chocolate or Black Cherries

I gave some to my friend Kathryn, and they came back to me by way of a quiche, also including our home made bacon.  Bacon, tomato quiche is amazing.

Bacon, Tomato, Caramelized Onion Quiche

The only thing I did differently this season, was plant very early – earlier than any guide recommends.  I fertilized with Ladybug 8-2-4 every couple of weeks, and then with Rabbit Hill Buds and Blooms, after the plants set their first fruit.  Mid way through the season, I gave them some Minerals Plus.  I did not use Bat Guano this year, which was what I believed to be my secret last year.

What nature did differently, was rain.  We had some nice Spring rains which help to balance out the ph in the soil.  And, it didn’t get very cold much after the end of February.  And, I had relatively few stink bugs and no hornworms this season.

So, as with all gardening –  a little luck, some help from Mother Nature, and who knows what else.  I’m just thankful for another great tomato season, and have enjoyed sharing them.  I heart tomatoes.

I heart tomatoes

Taking Clues from Nature – Throwing Out the Planting Guide January 17, 2012

This has been a warmish winter.  Before Christmas, I noticed a volunteer tomato plant had sprung up in one of my Earthboxes.  I don’t get a lot of tomato volunteers, so I thought for kicks, I’d keep this one warm and see how things went.  I’m not even sure what it is, perhaps a Large Red Cherry.  After hauling it in and out of the garage and covering it during our few freezes, it has grown into a hearty plant and has been flowering for a couple of weeks.

January Tomato Plant

When I was watering this plant today, I noticed that there were two other volunteers it the same Earthbox.  In the empty pot next to it, there were 4 or 5 more, and another in the raised bed on the driveway-the bed that housed the heaviest producers last Spring.  It occurred to me that if conditions were good enough that all of these plants were coming up on their own, perhaps, I’d just help them along.  So, with cold weather expected tonight, I dug several of them up, planted them in pots, and brought them indoors.

My little volunteer army

They were all growing in awkward spots, so I’m going to put them into the raised bed on Thursday, ahead of a couple weeks of warmer weather.  I also decided, since seeds are so cheap, to experiment and sow some seeds directly into the garden.  Perhaps all of our freezes are done, perhaps not,  I can always cover the plants.  Nothing to lose, really.

In a more traditional seed starting manner, I have 5 or 6 varieties of tomatoes in a seed starting tray in the kitchen, under a light.

Seed Starting Tray

I’m tempted to build a bed solely for experiments and just toss a handful of various seeds into it, and see if each variety waited to germinate when the weather was appropriate.  I may do this too.  But, I have to save room for the corn experiment to come.  You all know how I love to grow corn.

Happy Gardening!  I’ll report back.

Tomatomania! June 14, 2011

What a fun tomato season this has been.  It seems like lots of folks are having the best tomato season ever.  It feels almost ridiculous, this tomato excess, but it certainly has been fun to supply so many gardenless  friends with tomatoes.  I can’t even say how many tomatoes I picked Sunday – I think I picked 6 or 8, at least 3 times.  They are rotating in and out of my kitchen window daily.  It is a myth that they need sun to ripen after picked, I just like the way they look in the window.  I’m not letting them ripen on the vine, to keep from tempting the thirsty birds from pecking them. 

Tomatoes!

Of course, I’ve eaten Caprese salad a number of times.  It is so quick and easy and delicious, sliced tomatoes, lightly salted, sandwiched between fresh Mozzarella with basil and olive oil, (or basil pesto).  I’ve made pico de gallo, with my garden peppers and onions, with cilantro.  For preserving, I’ve frozen whole tomatoes and  diced tomatoes, oven dried tomatoes with garlic and oregano, and Sunday night I scored, blanched and peeled tomatoes for future sauce.  The bag of tomato puree is in a baggie in the freezer.  I learned from my mistakes last year – freezing tomato sauce in Ball jars takes up too much space, and the jars burst.  I have not made the jump to to the pressure cooker, having been in litigation for most of my career – I’ve seen pictures of pressure cooker accidents – no thanks.

 

The cucumbers are coming on strong, and I’ve already pickled plenty, so the next plan for tomatoes  and cucumbers is gazpacho.  I’ve been scouring recipes for gazpacho, and haven’t picked one yet.  If you have a favorite gazpacho recipe, I’d love to have it.  I picked up some Full Quiver Neufchatel at the Barton Creek Farmer’s market, and I’m thinking a dollop of that on a bowl of great gazpacho sounds pretty refreshing.

 

While the plants in the big garden out back look just fine, a couple of those in the repurposed garden by my driveway are showing major signs of heat stress.  As soon as I’ve picked the last of the tomatoes on those, I’ll pull them up.   Only the Cherry varieties continue to set fruit, and they are slowing down in this heat.  I may try to coax the Black Cherry and Large Red Cherry through the summer, and prune them back for Fall.  Haven’t decided.

 

If you aren’t growing tomatoes and want some really delicious ones, visit the Boggy Creek Farm or Springdale Farm farmstands on Wednesday or Saturday mornings, or visit Johnson’s Backyard Garden at any of the local farmer’s markets.  Johnson’s is having a bulk tomato sale as we speak.

Memorial Day in an Austin Urban Garden May 29, 2011

I can’t believe the end of May is already here.  I feel so blessed with my harvest of tomatoes already, and there are more to come.  My kitchen window has housed the rotation of tomatoes from daily harvests for the last 5 weeks or so.

Yesterday's window

May 16th window

May 6th window

I have no idea how many tomatoes I’ve harvested this Spring, but it has been a lot.  Everyone who visits gets a bag full; everyone I visit gets a bag full, my freezer is full, and I’m eating them as fast as I can.  I’m in garden tomato heaven, and there are lots more where those came from.

More tomatoes!

The cucumbers have done fairly well, and I’ve harvested two very different ones, a Straight 8 and a long curly one.  Since those were harvested, the plants have taken off and started flowering more.

Cucumber plant

I pickled mine and some from the farmer’s market, yesterday.

Pickles

The peppers have been heavy producers as well, and I’m eating peppers every chance I get.  This morning I picked the biggest of the jalapenos, serranos, padrons and an Anaheim.  The Hinklehatz aren’t turning red just yet, but I have a plant full of them.

This morning's pepper harvest

The watermelon plants took off after I fed them some Buds and Blooms and gave them a good douse of water.  There are tiny watermelons making an appearance.

Watermelon

I still haven’t managed to grow fantastic corn.  It is delicious, but the ears never fill out as much as I’d like.

corn

 

My breakfast gets eaten outside these days, as I pluck nearly ripe tomatoes with blackberry stained fingers.

Superfruit

The citrus are coming right along, too.  Meyer lemons, key limes, and  Satsuma oranges have all set fruit.

Meyer Lemon

I have had a dwarf peach tree in a pot on my driveway for 3 or 4 years.  Each year, it has peaches on it, and each year, they get stolen, by some animal.  This year, my little tree has 18 peaches on it, and remains unmolested by nature.  I’m ecstatic.

Peaches!

I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful garden this year.  Yet, I have no idea why my garden, and everyone else’s that I know, are so very productive and trouble free.  Did the freeze kill the bugs?  Maybe.  But where are the squirrels?  I have no idea, but I’m thankful for it!

Tomato Takeover! May 16, 2011

I am in the midst of the best tomato season I’ve ever had from my garden.  I attribute it to the Texas Pot Method, getting water to the roots of the plants, the harsh and late freezes killing insect pests,  planting really early, and luck.  I’m not going to analyze it too deeply, I’m just trying to enjoy.   They are starting to take over my kitchen window.

Tomatoes!

There are Celebrities, and Early Girls, which are the largest ones.

Celebrities and Early Girls

The Large Red Cherries are perhaps the largest cherry tomatoes I’ve even seen.  The Black Cherries are the small darker ones, and the medium to smallish are the Stupices.

Variety of smaller tomatoes

I have let some ripen on the vine, and have pulled some about a day before the will be ripe, so as not to tempt any of the pests that have left me alone for the first time ever.

I have made Caprese Salad a few times, and Pico de Gallo several times, with my garden onions, peppers and cilantro.

Fresh Pico

I cut them up for salads, in this case Taco Salad.

Taco Salad

I put them in migas for breakfast, and everything else I can think of.  I’ve shared some of this glorious tomato bounty with friends.

Yesterday, I side dressed each of the tomato plants with Rabbit Hill Farms Buds and Blooms, to encourage the plants to keep flowering and setting fruit.  I’m about to have to step up my preserving game here pretty quickly!  Oh how I love the Spring garden.

Mid-Spring in an Austin Urban Garden May 10, 2011

I know, it feels like mid-summer.   Some aspects of my food gardens are reacting as if it is summer – the peppers are coming on early and strong and are fairly hot.  The tomatoes are well advanced, since I planted early.  I’ve been harvesting several tomatoes a day for the last week, although some have been the cherry varieties.

Won't be long!

More tomatoes

Another Tomato Turning

Another Ripening

All of these tomatoes are from the 24 foot raised garden in the backyard.  The strawberries have slowed to a near stop in production, and although the plants look healthy, I think it is not cost effective to continue watering them until next season.   I will probably pull them up this weekend.

I have been harvesting potatoes for several weeks, and there are still plants in the ground that can be harvested at any time.

Harvested potatoes

The corn in the back bed, has corn sprouted!  I don’t know why I get so excited about corn – it just makes me feel like a proper farmer.

My little cornfield

I love the purple cornsilks

Moving to the8 foot bed under my bedroom window, there are lots more tomatoes.  It is from these plants that I’ve already harvested.

Large Red Cherry

More Stupices

Celebrities

Several new tactics I employed this Spring seem to be paying off.  1) I planted more tried and true Hybrids, Large Red Cherry, Celebrity, Early Girl – rather than filling my garden with exotic Heirlooms.  2) Utilizing the Texas Pot Method of burying gallon pots in the beds around the tomatoes to water close to the roots.  I’m fertilizing through these pots too, which gets the food right down to the roots as well.  3) Planting early.  I think the hard freezes have helped with the stink bugs I had last year – I haven’t seen one.  I have only lost one tomato to blossom end rot, thus far and none to squirrels or mockingbirds.   I feel very lucky for this crop!

Moving to the side yard, you can see peppers galore.

Ancho Chile

Shishito Peppers

Shishito Peppers are so easy!  They are heavy producers too.

Serrano Peppers

Jalapeno Peppers Galore

The cucumber plants just took off last week and went crazy.  I’m a bit behind on the cucumbers, but they should catch up soon.

Baby cucumbers

Yesterday I was poking around under the leaves and found this!

Hello Melon!

It was covered by the tangle of Israeli Melon and Watermelon plants.  I’m fairly sure it is an Israeli Melon from the seedling exchange, potluck, birthday party.

The newest temporary wood bed, holds more peppers and a second planting of corn.  The corn in this bed has been looking pale, so I’m correcting for nitrogen deficiency, and have top dressed with bat guano.

Peppers and corn

At this point, with so much fruit set, I top dressed everything with some bat guano and watered it in well.   Bat guano is best applied when there is no wind.  Lesson learned.

The fruit trees in pots are well on their way as well.  I think I might even get to harvest peaches this year!

Peaches!

Historically, some hungry creature harvests them for me.  Fingers crossed.

Satsuma Oranges

I’m excited to have Satsuma Oranges this season.  I’ve never even eaten a Satsuma Orange, so I’m really looking forward to trying them.  They are supposed to me the most cold hardy of the citrus trees.

Happy Gardening!

Growing Tomatoes with the Texas Pot Method April 24, 2011

Last Spring was a very disappointing tomato season for me.  I had horrible leaf footed bugs, and squirrels and a Mockingbird competing for my ripe tomatoes.  Last Spring, I tried to grow mostly heirlooms that didn’t produce well.  And, many of my tomatoes had blossom end rot, partly because we were getting rain, and they were over watered.

This year, I changed everything up, and it appears to be working.  I bought tomatoes in late February, which was early, and transplanted them to gallon pots in the greenhouse.  While I did buy some heirlooms, I bought mostly Celebrity and Early Girl plants.  I have around 14 plants total.

Having read about the Texas Pot Method here:  http://www.fieldandfeast.com/gardening-tips/homegrown-tomatoes/, (via http://www.gardenaustin.com) when I did plant them in the garden, I buried the gallon pots they were in, into the garden next to them.  I have been watering into the pots every other day, until the seepage slows down drastically.  Every couple of weeks, I toss some 8-2-4 into the pots and water it in.  I am crediting this method to my current success with tomatoes.  I picked these Stupice tomatoes a couple of days ago.

Stupice Tomatoes

This morning, I pulled this Celebrity tomato.  It is perfect! No blossom end rot.

Celebrity

All of my plants are covered with tomatoes, and so far, there is no sign of any pests, or blossom end rot.

Loaded plants

Tomatoes everywhere!

In other garden news, I’m still picking lots of sugar snap peas, and the peppers have really taken off.

Harvest in a Hat

The potatoes have lost their flowers, but I still think they need another couple of weeks.  I’m tempted to pull some up anyway just to see how they are doing.  Potatoes are so satisfying.

Early Spring in an Austin Urban Garden March 27, 2011

I’m thankful for today,  the cooler weather, and the possibility of rain, which we sorely need around these parts.  My gardens are looking great, and I’m hopeful for some successes and fewer heartaches than last Spring, during which my crops were plagued by stinkbugs, leaf footed bugs, leaf cutters and an unrelenting either Mockingbird or Squirrel.  All is calm on all of these fronts, yet I remain cautiously optimistic, because they seemingly show up overnight.  I’m very enthusiastic about my fruit trees, all covered in blossoms and being visited by a bee daily.

The onions that had been bolting a breakneck speed, seem to have stopped, and are starting to bulb above ground.  I will have no shortage of rather large 1015′s this Spring, Summer and Fall.  The smaller, bolted onions have all been pulled, and I’m drying some for storage.

 

onions drying

 

Once they form their harder outer skin, I’ll store them in a cool dark place and use them as needed for the next 6 to 8 months, or however long they last.  I’ll do the same with the big ones when they let me know they are ready to be pulled by falling over.

 

Onions hanging in there

 

I took advantage of the available space in the other onion bed, to plant 2 jalapeno peppers and an Israeli Melon.  I predict the rest of the onions will be done in a couple of weeks and am looking forward to the space.

The big garden in the back yard is doing well too.  From left to right in the picture, are leeks, lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, and strawberries.

 

Big garden

 

I’m hopeful at the already abundant tomato production.

 

Stupice Tomatoes

Early Girl

 

The 4×8 foot garden behind the big garden is equally as full – I’m hoping not too full.  Through some creative planting, I managed to fill it with snap peas, corn, carrots, leeks, and potatoes.  If potatoes don’t make you feel like a roaring success, nothing will.  They come up big, grow fast, are dark and healthy looking, then provide you with a big crop, if all goes well.

 

4x8 foot garden

 

On the side of the house is the re-purposed garden, which I have made a dedicated tomato garden.  No matter how much food my gardens produce, I always judge my success as a gardener, by the tomatoes.  This is a 3×8 foot garden.  As I did last year, for education reasons, I planted tomatoes in Earthboxes for comparison.  This garden was unaffected by pests last year, so I’m hopeful that is the case again.

 

Just tomatoes

I’m very tempted to drop a few watermelon seeds in that bed, but I haven’t done so yet.  There is a fat Celebrity tomato in the center plant that should be my first ripe fruit of the season in a couple of weeks.

 

Right now, I couldn’t be happier or more hopeful about the status of my gardens.  But, with heat the pests come, so I’m not going to rest on my laurels just yet.