My New Square Foot Garden Raised Bed

Yesterday I told you about my new PVC raised gardening boxes in the far top left corner.  At $59.97 each on sale, they certainly were not a cheap way to build raised garden beds especially since between the two I ended up with 16 square feet of growing space.  My husband doesn't like the new PVC beds so he picked up some spruce to build me a wooden raised bed.

The new raised bed is 4' x 12' x 10" giving me an additional 48 square feet of growing space.  The new bed construction took a couple of days due to weather but finally it was ready for soil.  Again we were delayed due to weather but finally the bed was ready to lay out the grid then plant.

The cost for the lumber and brackets totaled $38.45, considerably less expensive per square foot than the PVC beds.  I've had wooden square foot garden beds last well over five years so if you want neat and tidy raised beds that are easy to set up for square foot gardening, untreated spruce is more than reasonably priced.

By then end of the afternoon, I had the bed mostly planted.  Three squares remained unplanted.  I planted bistro salad blend, dill, habs, golden acre cabbage, super chili peppers, muskmelon, watermelon, holy moly peppers, celery and sweet million tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, roma tomatoes and lemon boy tomatoes.  Within a couple of days something had got to the celery and dill but the dill is coming back.  I noticed a couple of small grasshoppers so that is not a good sign.  Something is already eating the cabbage but I haven't seen what yet.  I'll just have to keep and eye out to identify the pests then work on control from there.

Happy Gardening!  

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Corking in Jalapeno Peppers

Corking in Jalapeno Peppers

October 22, 2010

I picked a fair amount of various peppers over the last few days in anticipation of frost soon to come.  Pictured are some of the jalapeno peppers.  See the thin white striations on the lower three jalapeno peppers?  These striations are known as corking.  Some believe that corking is an indication of that jalapeno pepper being hotter than those without corking.  However, Cook's Illustrated tested this theory and found no correlation between corking and heat of the individual jalapeno pepper.  Rather corking is a genetic trait this this particular variety of chili pepper that has no bearing on the heat level of the pepper.  Corking is a desired trait for jalapeno peppers grown in Mexico.  Some hybrid varieties of jalapeno peppers are less prone to corking. 

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

A Pot of Onions

Potted Onions

October 22, 2010

The milder weather has given me extra time to get plants indoors.  Yesterday I brought in a pot of onions.  I planted the onions in early June but by mid-July they were pretty much done.  I intended to dump the pot and replant but forgot.  When we returned home from our September vacation I was pleasantly greeted with some rather healthy looking growth.  It looks like I will have a few fresh onions for salads!

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Last Large Vegetable Harvest of 2010

Last Large Vegetable Harvest of 2010

October 20, 2010 

My gosh, by any stretch of the imagination home gardeners and commercial growers in our area have not had a good growing season.  Despite that the fall has been rather on the mild side meaning the garden has been producing longer than normal.   It is beyond our ADFF and we have yet to have a frost.  The weather is turning and based on the week's weather predictions I decided to pick whatever vegetables I could yesterday.  I was surprised at how much there really was left to pick!  By far the majority was peppers but still enough tomatoes to do something with.   Those two lone tomatoes are the last of the Brandywines so we are really going to enjoy a couple of toasted tomato sandwiches!    They will be the last decent toasted tomato sandwiches of the year but will keep our mouth watering for next year's crop.

I will be doing clean picks until a good frost which likely won't happen for a couple of days or more given that we are in a pocket where we enjoy a bit of warming effect from the water.  There will be smaller amounts of vegetable coming in and today if it is dry I will be harvesting herbs.  I'm still bringing in clippings as well.  There are a few busy harvest days ahead yet, if we are lucky  :)


Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

A Small Harvest

A Small Harvest

September 7, 2010

This really has been a bad year for gardening here.  August has been so dry that it is more than affecting the local growers.  Irrigating has been the only way to save the crops but still that may not be enough.  I did a clean pick of the garden a couple of days ago.  The tomatoes are producing nicely and despite the weather the sweet peppers are really performing nicely!  Doesn't it look wonderful?

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard

September 7, 2010

I didn't plant  a lot of Swiss chard this year but the 2 square feet are producing nicely.  I've been cutting the outer leaves then letting the inner leaves mature which seems to be keeping the plants a bit more productive.   I picked enough for freezing a couple of nights ago.  It wasn't a lot but it was enough for about two cups of steamed greens for the freezer. 

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Raccoons and Corn

Raccoons and Corn

August 19, 2010

Our neighbours to the north put in the most amazing raised bed system I've seen.  It consists of 3 larger beds joined together forming a flattened Z shape.  They are not growing using the square foot method.  In one of the runs they planted corn and they even added a really neat support system that I will use if I decide to grow corn next year.  I haven't grown corn mainly because of space limitation.  It takes up a lot of room for what you get.  However, this neighbour has grown corn and the neighbours two and three houses down both grow corn so perhaps I will try it but I will definitely be making some modifications. 

I recently talked about our garden visitor.  He is being rather persistent but other than getting into our garbage once we don't have a real problem.  I make sure the master bedroom and kitchen windows as well as the kitchen patio doors are closed enough that he can't get in.  I also keep foods off the counter especially during the evening hours when this little guy is busy.  Well he got into our neighbour's with the raised beds corn!  I didn't realize that they were new gardeners because they had a smaller raised bed last year.  Anyway apparently they left it a bit too long so the corn it too tough then to add insult to injury as pictured the raccoon has been helping himeself.  What is rather interesting is he hauls the corn stalks from their garden ove into our yard to feast!

I've already decided that if I grow corn next year it is going to be protected by chicken wire to the point squirrels and raccoons can't get to it.  It's a shame to have a crop that is over ripe or pilfered by garden pests.  We are now exchanging a lot of gardening ideas :)

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Jalapeno Peppers

Jalapeno Peppers

August 15, 2010

The Jalapeno pepper plants are also laden with peppers.  They are almost ready for picking, just in time for salsa making!  I'm surprised at how well all the pepper plants are doing this year.  Even the sweet pepper plants are performing nicely!  I'm already making plans for all the great ways I going to use the pepper abundance. 

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Habanero Peppers

Habanero Peppers

August 15, 2010

The Habanero pepper plants are looking quite healthy and laden with peppers.  I'm hoping they will be ready within the next day or two when I plan to start making tomato salsas.  If not I will change my plans to start with roasted tomato sauce.  Either way I'm looking forward to having a lot of Habanero peppers to work with this year!

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

A Small Picking

Mainly Tomatoes

August 12, 2010

Yesterday I noticed a few tomatoes were ready for picking.  I like doing a clean pick each day to prevent any problems and spoilage.  The larger two tomatoes to the top right are brandywines growing in the raised beds.  To the left middle the largest tomato is also a brandywine grown in a container.  There is a noticeable difference in size.  Much of this is a result of the weather we have been having lately.  I'm going to use an organic fertilizer on the containers to help boost their yield.  The smaller orangish red tomatoes are Tiny Tim.  This heirloom tomato is a good producer with tomatoes about the size of golf balls.  They are a bit more on the tart side for flavour.  The Thai basil is wonderful and as with the other basils is producing nicely.  Two Hungarian wax peppers rounded off the basket.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Brandywine Tomatoes in Containers

Brandywine Tomatoes in Containers

August 12, 2010

Traditionally I have to work at growing tomatoes in containers.  I think it is more luck in picking the right variety though.  This year I have brandywines in two 5 gal containers.  In comparison to the brandywine tomatoes planted in the raised beds the vines in the containers are considerably smaller but they still seem to be producing rather well.  It has been an off year for tomatoes here due to extended periods of high heat that affect the ripening process. 

The reality is unless growing indoors you can't control the weather.  All my tomato vines are looking very healthy so I'm just now starting to take a few clippings for growing indoors.  I'm still haven't identified what is eating some of my tomato vines although I suspect the tomato hornworm BUT there has been no other signs including the tell tale droppings.  'Tis a mystery for now.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome ©2006-2010

First Ripe Brandywine Tomato of 2010

First Ripe Brandywine Tomato

August 8, 2010

I am so excited!  I picked the first ripe brandywine tomato of 2010 yesterday.  We have had an extended hot spell so the tomatoes are not ripening as quick as they normally would.  Brandywine is a lovely heirloom tomato.  The tomatoes are a good size with a firm, pinkish red flesh and nice tomato flavour.  The vines are in raised beds and looking quite healthy.  The only problem I have notices is something has been clean cutting a few of the stems.  It's rather odd because the stem looks like it has be cut with scissors.  I suspect the tomato hornworm but have seen no tell tale signs of them.  Over the next few days I will be checking the garden at various times of the day to find out what is doing the damage.  It could be that the problem has already resolved itself since the damage is quite minimal and appears to be old. 

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Pickling Cucumber Update

I planted 4 planters with pickling cucumbers.  To date I have managed to get 2 pickle sized cucumbers off the vines.  I'm not impressed!  Tomorrow I will be replacing these vines with likely geraniums since the nursery has them at 50% off.  If it were closer to fall I would be planting lettuces but good gosh the summer this year has been just too hot for lettuces.  It has been a very frustrating gardening season to say the least.  I'm already planning my fall garden so hopefully that will go a bit better!

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Brandywine Tomatoes Progress

Brandywine Tomatoes

August 3, 2010

The brandywine tomato vines are healthy looking and laden with tomatoes.  So far there have been no ripe ones to pick but that is to be expected with the recent weather.  At temperatures of 85ºF of which we have had an extended period of time the ripening process for tomatoes stops.  The lycopene and carotene that gives the beautiful red colouration isn't produced so the tomatoes take on a yellowish green colour.  Unfortunately there isn't much I can do about this problem other than wait for the temperatures to come back down to normal where ripening will resume.  This really has been a year of battling the weather.  I'm hoping things will settle down for a good crop in the fall!

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

First Tomato of 2010

First Tomato

July 24, 2010

I picked the first ripe tomato of the season on Saturday.  It is a Tiny Tim and as you can see from the picture of the tomato on 2 - inch ceramic tiles it does live up to its name.  While this little tomato won't be enough for a sandwich I used it in a loaf of Italian Garden bread.  I'm looking forward to many more tomatoes to come!

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The First of the Zucchini Summer Squash

Zucchini Summer Squash

July 16, 2010

I picked the first of the zucchini a couple of days ago.  The zucchini is growing in a 5 gallon container.  It has been looking quite promising but it will be interesting to see how the zucchini performs overall in the container.  I don't know the variety of this zucchini as the tag was missing when I bought it.  So far the squash is a bit misshaped but that could be due to a lot of factors.  The largest of the squash was a little over 10 inches so that is just perfect size for sautéing the way we like them.  I like picking zucchini before it reaches the 10 - inch mark for best flavour and texture.  Picking at this size encourages more fruit usually resulting in being able to pick one squash daily. 

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

My First Marketmore Cucumber

First Marketmore Cucumber

(Cucumis sativus)

July 13, 2010

I picked the first Marketmore cucumber on Tuesday (July 13).  Marketmore matures in about 60 days.   produces a long 9 - 11 inch straight cucumber with white spines.  It is resistent to many cucumber diseases.  It's important to keep the cucumbers picked to prevent the seeds from maturing otherwise the vine will stop producing.

The cucumber came in just a little over 9½ - inches!  This is a beautiful looking cucumber if you ask me.  I've grown cucumbers in the past usually the seedless varieties and straight eights but neither performed the way this marketmore plant is performing.  I will certainly be saving seeds for next year.  The plant is loaded with cucumbers so it looks like I'm going to have a bumper crop.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The First of the Marketmore Cucumbers

Marketmore Cucumbers

July 7, 2010

The marketmore cucumber plant went in the herb bed along with the main garden planting in late May and early June.  It showed a few signs of transplant shock but all new growth has been quite healthy looking.  The lower leaves have a few brown spots possibly Alternaria leaf blight caused by Alternaria cucumerina fungus on them so I will spray with a milk solution which has anti-fungal properties.  The upper leaves are perfectly healthy looking so that is encouraging.  There are a lot of blooms and small cucumbers with the largest about 6 - inches long.  I'm looking forward to picking fresh cucumbers from the garden!  It looks like the first one will be ready for picking before the weekend.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

New Raised Beds (2)

Yesterday I posted about the new raised beds going in.  The beauty of raised beds is they are easier plant and maintain as well as being easier to protect against critters like rabbits.  If rabbits are a problem the bed is already raised by at least 8 - inches so simply adding low fencing meant as garden edging that is about a foot tall around the inside perimeter at the soil level is high enough to deter rabbits.  Even nicer is only those beds with plants the rabbits are attracted to need protecting. 

The two new raise beds are oriented to the west of the two larger beds along the north side.   They follow the line of the old garden that we ripped out.  I do have an overall plan of what I want the finished garden to look like if we don't sell so I'm follow through with achieving that look.  In the early stages of constructing my garden that really consists of several smaller garden beds joined together via a series of paths, I leave the actual paths bare.  If weeds pop up they are scraped away with a hoe.  This gives me a chance to decide exactly what type of cover I want for the path.  My last garden had gravel pathways and the one before that large wood chips.  This time I'm thinking of using cedar chips that will help keep some insects at bay.

Pictured are the two new raised beds planted.  The bed in the centre of the picture is planted with sweet banana peppers, California wonder peppers, Spanish onions and one North Star Pepper.  The furthest bed is planted with Beefsteak tomatoes, Jalapeno peppers, Cayenne peppers, Habanero peppers and one square of Spanish onions. 

The two new beds increased my raised bed growing space to 112 square feet, just slightly over the 100 square foot garden challenge.  It is surprising how much a 16 square foot garden bed can produce so the growing space I have while less than my previous garden is still quite productive.  I'll post more about the garden's progress over the growing and harvest season. 

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

First of the Zucchini and Tiny Tim Tomatoes

Things are progressing nicely in the garden.  I am still planting but that is normal for the square foot garden method.  I have a lot more vegetables and herbs planted in containers this year.  This does seem to be the year of dealing with various insects and their damage but with the wild rabbits mysteriously absent there is no large scale damage so far. 

I only have one zucchini plant this year planted in a 5 gallon container.  It is growing well and appears to be quite healthy.  I haven't noticed any signs of squash borer yet so that's a good thing.  Hopefully I can get through the growing season without having to deal with squash borer!

There are 4 small zucchini on the plant but the first one to the left of the picture started shriveling shortly after the zucchini was planted.  This is like due to a bit of transplant shock.  The largest zucchini is about 2½- inches long so it won't be long now.  I can hardly wait to harvest the first zucchini!

All of my tomato plants were planted late by some home gardeners planting but the majority of mine were planted when the local farmers were planting theirs.  So they are still in line with our area's growing conditions.  I have 4 Tiny Tim tomato plants in one of the raised beds and 2 in 5 gallon containers.  The plants in the raised beds now have small green tomatoes on them so that was a surprise.  They appear to be healthy with plenty of blossoms although they are shorter than I expected they would be.  Hopefully the abundance of blossoms are is a sign the garden will yield plenty of tomatoes this year.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010