Preserving

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Long Day at the Plots & Plant Identification

I was the plots nearly all day today. First thing this morning I went over to uncover the eggplant and peppers. They were all fine and happy. Then I went home for a bit and went back to do some much needed weeding and tidying up.

The first bed that I worked on was Bed #2. This bed has potatoes at the one end and some snow peas on the side.

I dug out some small thistles, loosen the soil in the entire bed and pulled the big weeds in the paths. Since everyone at the plots complains about potato beetles, I decided to throw some pieces of dried up garlic around the potatoes. It may help and it may not, but it certainly won't hurt. I have only seen a couple which were killed immediately....squish. As you can see the Kennebecs are coming up much quicker and are much bigger then the Sagres.

Then I started on Bed #1 a/k/a The Weedy Pot Bed. I removed each and every pot weeded, loosen the soil and also put a piece of garlic near each plant.

This bed took a bit of time since it is the weedy garden.

All of the cauliflower that were planted are doing well. The cabbage, brussels sprouts and broccoli are really growing nicely. I also put pieces of garlic in this bed to deter insects.

Next I worked on the Purple Passion asparagus bed.

I removed a few weeds and leveled out the bed. Later I planted some parsley in the front of this bed. Parsley is supposed to be a great companion plant for asparagus. No pics though...I'll tell you why later.

The next area to be tackled was Berry Alley. You would not believe all the runners from the blackberry & raspberries bushes. There was also a lot of thistle to be removed back there.

The berries are definitely filling out.


The new Heritage Raspberries that I planted are also doing well.

When I was working behind the blackberries I found this growing up between the posts and stakes I have back there.

Is this just a nasty weed or could it be a variety of rhubarb? The stalks that are white were under the posts. It's not like I've never nursed along a weed before or pulled a perfectly good plant.

Next I loosened up the soil at the end of the strawberry bed where the Fava Beans were planted.

The beans are all popping up!

Then I started on the strawberry bed. By this time I was getting a bit tired.

There are some areas in the strawberry bed that have weeds under the straw and some don't. This bed is along the side as is the Pot Garden. The weeds in both the beds are due to the neighboring plots. I decided to stop working on the bed since there were a couple of other things that I really needed to get to before I left to go home.

A few small radicchio plants had to go in.

Then I really needed to get to the other asparagus bed.

While I was working on the Jersey Supreme Asparagus bed. I undercovered ants!! They were bitting me and I really had to potty!!! So I packed it up and headed out. I really had intended to take some pictures of the eggplants, peppers and parsley....but there was no way!!

24 comments:

  1. Wow! That's so much space! I'm jealous but exhausted thinking of how hard you're working! Great job thus far!

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  2. I am exhausted just reading this post. Whew! You were busy today, but you got so much accomplished.

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  3. You have certainly been a busy bee! I think that little plant is Rubarb! The first one I had was a beauty and I didn't know what to do with it because the stems were white in some places and red in the other...I ended up loosing it , but now I know better..take care of it and with strawberries it makes a great pie :o)

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  4. I definitely think that is rhubarb. Surround it with a bunch of composted manure, and give the poor thing some light. It might be a green stalked variety, rather than red, but some of the old green types are actually less tart.

    Man, you got a lot done today!

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  5. I really like your raspberries. They are so leafy already. Ours are still just sticks.

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  6. I'm exhausted from reading and I certainly cannot work as hard as you, your garden will be so beautiful and bountiful harvest this summer.

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  7. I just can't get over the transformation of this space. You should be very proud of all your hard work-it's beautiful!

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  8. Holly, Yes, it is pretty big and I was pretty tired last night!

    Rachel, I think it was the longest day that I have put in over there so far...at least it felt like it!

    Ginny, I thought that it might be rhubarb. I have had a strawberry rhubarb pie in years!

    Granny, I am going to move those posts and give it some composted manure to make it happy. It should get enough light back there. It is at the south end of the plots. I really don't want to move it right now.

    Jody, Your raspberries will leaf out soon.

    mac, I was very tired last night and slep quite well. I can't wait until the garden is full and green!!

    Sue, It's really quite a change from when we got the plots. I have been happy to recieve many compliments from gardeners who have been there for a long time.

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  9. It's amazing how much you've gotten accomplished so far. Your harvest totals this year will probably off the charts!

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  10. The garden beds are looking so tidy and well tended. I need to start cycling through my beds, now that they are planted up, and do some weeding and cultivating too. You are getting so much work done -very inspiring.

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  11. Thomas, I sure do hope so. It would be a great reward for all of the hard work.

    Laura, Thanks a bunch. I have to say that I am feeling it today.

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  12. I seem to be in the minority but that doesn't look like rhubarb to me - I asked martyn to have a look and he isn't convinced either. Are the leaves felty as they look very much like coltsfoot leaves.

    If rhubarb leaves are forced thet are a yellowish colour not greyish green.

    I do know what you mean about blackberries suckering - they travel miles!

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  13. Sue, I'm going to leave it and maybe I will see the relatives of the people who used to have my plots. They might know if rhubarb was planted there. By suckering I do mean traveling.

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  14. Wow, that is a lot of work, and I just can't wait to see it all pay off. Don't forget to update us next week on the mater babies!

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  15. Barbie, I am paying for it today! The maters are doing well and are outside getting a little sun today. They spent a couple of days inside due to the weather. I will definitely do an update on them.

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  16. I don't know if the garlic will scare away the insects, but I bet there won't be a werewolf within a mile of your plots!

    Your hard work is really showing in those photos. It's truly amazing how you have whipped the plots into shape. And I can't hardly believe you have peppers and eggplants in the ground. It's still too cold here! We even had some light frost this week.

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  17. Villager, They say to plant garlic near potatoes to ward off potato beetles. I had some garlic that was starting to dry up and we don't need any more garlic powder around here so I thought that it wouldn't hurt.

    The lowest we got all week was 40 and now the night time temps are supposed to be in the high 40's to mid 50's.

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  18. Wow you have been busy. I had to be careful of ants at my last house. The ones near the fruit garden bit occasionally. The ones at this house are the tiny small ants. I haven't been bit yet, but then haven't stuck my hand in a nest yet. I guess I'll find out.

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  19. Daphne, I don't think that I have been bit by ants since I was about five. We were playing hide and seek and I was hiding under my grandmother's porch. Needless to say, I was found!

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  20. The plant looks like burdock to me, a weed. Break off a piece of the leaf and smell it, then compare to the plant you know is rhubarb. Cut the burdock root under the soil surface. They produce the burrs in the second year.

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  21. Robin, I bet you are tuckered. I'm sore today and you did a lot more than I did! I'm thinking I need to find someone with a Sam's Club membership so I can buy giant sized bottles of aspirin!

    As for the mystery plant, I'm with anonymous, I think it looks like burdock. Supposedly the root is edible. I've never tried it but I can tell you it goes deep, deep deep. I would keep cutting the leaves off to add to the compost pile. It will add deep minerals to the compost and weaken the root to make it easier to remove.

    Take a day off!

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  22. I can't believe you didn't get tired until you made it to the strawberries! LOL! I would be tired if I were you too!

    You are really moving along! Everything looks awesome!

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  23. I'm home, sick with a cold, and reading garden blogs. I'll bet the mystery plant was burdock. I'm also looking forward to reading if you got any berries. Seems to me that they fruit on 2nd year canes, so this harvest might have been a disappointment.

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  24. Hi lisa, sorry to hear that you are home sick. The mystery plant was burdock and the new raspberry canes did get some fruit on them. Not many though. The older canes that were there did produce fairly well. I need to trim and separate them soon.

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