Friday, May 13, 2011

The Plots on May 13

This morning I finished turning Bed #3 (Tomato Alley) over again and removing some weeds. This bed does not seem to have the weed problem that I have in Beds #1 & 6. I am planning to plant the tomatoes there tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be over cast and not as hot as we have had this past week. It should be perfect weather for planting the tomatoes.

Tomato Alley almost ready for planting. The dark spots are some manure that I had left in a bucket. This will be spread around a bit more before I put the tomatoes in.

Savoy Cabbage...looking good! The white powder you see in many of the pics is diatomaceous earth. I really need to get some BT tomorrow for the plots.

I'm not sure which variety of purple cabbage this is. I didn't take notice when I took the picture.

A few of the Calabrese Broccoli are forming some heads!!!

The Weedy Pot Garden
I took the all of the pots off of the Broccoli, Cabbage & Brussels Sprouts. I left the pots on the cauliflower since they were planted much later. I will remove them when the plants get bigger.

The potatoes are coming up really well. The Caribe reds on the left are smaller then the Kennebecs on the right. Yesterday I had quite a few Colorado Potato Beetles around the plants, today nothing. Yesterday, I also removed some orangish eggs from the underside of many of the leaves. Every single beetle got squished...EG would be very proud of me! I really need that BT for the potato plants. Next year I am going to plant all of the potatoes at home and plant the garlic at the plots. That will help with the beetle problem.

Some insect has been nibbling on the the Oregon Giant & Mammoth Melting Snow Peas in Bed #2.

The eggplant and peppers are doing well. They have a little wind damage...but that is expected there. They should be toughened up now.

These are the Carouby de Maussane Snow Peas. They are doing much better then the other Snow Peas. The Sugar Magnolia Purple Snap Vine Peas and Little Marvel Peas seem to be untouched so far.

You can now see The Little Marvels coming up all along the edge of  Bed #5 where I also have the Bell Peppers & Kohlrabi planted.

My neighbor who gave me the Calla Lily bulbs is going to bring me some compost....he is such a nice guy! Another neighbor brought me some really nice containers for carrying water. They are going to be needed since we may not be able to have any type of water catching system. There is a big meeting at the plots on Monday evening regarding some "New Rules"....it's going to be interesting! We are still going to bring a few 55 gallon drums to the plots. Some of the guys have pumps and go to the creek and fill barrels on the back of their trucks. They will fill your barrels with water if you ask. What a nice community of people at the gardens!

12 comments:

  1. We seem to be about the same in our plant maturity. I found my first broccoli head today, first tomatoes yesterday. Good luck at that meeting!

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  2. Not having running water would be hard at a plot especially once summer hits. It is very nice of them to bring you water.

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  3. Thanks for the reminder, I need to pick up some BT before I need it "emergency style"!

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  4. Granny, It does seem like we are at the same plant maturity. I will be behind you with the squash and cucumbers though. I don't plant my cucumbers until the peas are about done and I just started my squash and melons. The meeting will be interesting.

    Daphne, They have never had running water at the plots. They are supposed to have a water truck there where you can get some water. It's going to make it difficult for some of the gardeners if they no longer allow water catching systems.

    Erin, I have never used BT before. I was told by a very experienced gardener there that it is a must.

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  5. I like how you named it Tomato Alley-and can't wait to see it growing. Broccoli forming already!--I just got mine in the ground 2 days ago. It's a long time until harvest for me!

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  6. Your plots look great! They should do very well. I had to resort to the use of Bt powder last year, but I checked it out thoroughly and it is organic. I was told that the "bad" BT is not available to the typical consumer.

    How far is the water source? If you have a small generator and an electric centrifugal pump, you could run hoses to water your plants if push comes to shove. Not allowing water catching systems is a strange rule for a place that rents garden spaces. Good luck with it!

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  7. Love the name tomato alley! You are going to have such a lush garden by summer!

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  8. We've planted Carouby de Maussane too. If the peas are nibbled around the edges of the leaves I'd suspect pea and bean weevil. They nibble our peas and broad beans every year.

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  9. Robin, I just got my tomatoes, green peppers, and potatoes planted this last week. All seem to have survived the transplanting. This next week I'll be turning up the watering system and deep mulching (four to six inches) all the plants. That potatoes I'll mulch even deeper as they grow. Hopefully, I can get up to 12 inches of mulch around the potatoes. Since it's now time to plant the cucumbers I'm just going to plant seeds directly into the garden this year. Mom never started plants indoors. We even planted tomato seeds directly into the garden and they grew just fine. I am really loving this time of the year.

    Stage one of the poor man's patio trellis has been completed. It consisted of four hanging baskets of Impatiens as the patio is mostly shade. I have the begonias bought to plant in containers up both sides of the trellis. I am hoping that it will be better than last year with the poorly thought out pole beans that need a lot of sun to grow. It was definitely a bust for beauty.

    I had to tweak up the rain barrel with a direct connect to the main 700 gallon supply tank. So far just with one rain barrel, I have filled the main tank half full with the spring rains. Hopefully, I can keep up with the watering demands for the summer. I figure I will be needing at least 15 gallons a day to direct root water the tomatoes, green peppers, and cucumbers. Good luck with your gardening watering this year.

    Have a great garden day.

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  10. The plot beds and plants look good. Always a constant battle with bugs and weeds. I am planning to spray with Bt in a few weeks - once the rains appear to be done for a while. The current forecast is showing a fairly long stretch of soggy weather so there is no point in spraying today only to have it washed off immediately on Sunday when the heavy rains start up.

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  11. It looks like you're growing quite the variety at the plots! I agree with Daphne that not having running water for that much space could be a drag. Hopefully you'll have plentiful rain all summer long :)

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  12. Your plot looks very.... british! :D haha. Those brocolli heads look tasty :)

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