Harvest Monday- August 20, 2012

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelion's.  Stop by and see what other bloggers have harvested this passed week.

'Diva' made her real debut this week.  Each time I went to pick the cherry tomatoes there was another 'Diva' waiting for me.

The humidity this week was very high.  It was to uncomfortable to even think of going outside after work.  Even picking this small amount was an effort.  It has finally broken and this should be a much more comfortable week,



Zinnia 'Cha-Cha-Cha'

A new variety for 2012 from Renee's Garden Seeds.  I received these as a gift for entering their 2011 photo contest.  The description sounded good as it was touted to be a shorter type in mixed colors.  I started them at the end of may and planted them along my front walk in mid June.  They quickly took off and have been exactly as advertised.

 Description from the website.  "Cha-Cha-Cha's fully double bright blossoms will illuminate your garden all season in festive hues of deep red, gold, cerise, orange, yellow and rose.  Pick these free flowering beauties often for instant bouquets.  Easy to grow, these zinnias produce large richly colored flowers on shorter 2 to 2-1/2 foot stems, perfect for low borders, garden beds or containers.  best of all butterflies are drawn to Cha-Cha-Cha's masses of joyous colored flowers from dawn to dusk."

The colors are bright and vibrant, the red is particularly attractive as is the bright pink.  The butterflies do flock to it.  Yesterday I was watching a cloud of skippers flitting from bloom to bloom.  The plants ahve food structure amd have not yet reached 24 inches tall.  The plant structure also has a certain grace not found in taller zinnias.  The colors for me are bright red, bright orange, deep pink, plum, peach and yellow.  The pictures do not do the colors justice!

I will be growing these zinnia's again and would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a good mixture of mid height zinnia's.

Harvest Monday- August 13, 2012

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions.  Stop by her site and see what other bloggers are harvesting from their gardens.

The 'Ambition' shallots finished curing and were trimmed.

The bean harvest has slowed down,  The heat has caused a lot of the blooms to drop.  Once the weather cools down a bit, the pole beans should be loaded with pods.

The cherry tomatoes are starting to come fast.  'Black Cherry', 'Amy's Apricot' are really starting to come fast.  The first 'Reisenstraube' are starting to turn.  The larger tomatoes are 'Victor' and 'Silvery Fir Tree'.  This week also saw the first 'Diva' cucumber!

There were more tomatoes harvested this week, they were eaten as soon as they were brought into the house.

Today in the Garden- August 11, 2012

There's not much going on in the garden right now.  The frantic planting is over, expansion of the potager is on hold due to the heat.  Right now it's maintenance, watering and harvesting.

Pool Bed #2 is coming into it's own.  The marigolds and zinnias that replaced the lettuce and escarole are in full flower.  The peppers are starting to turn color and the basil is huge.  One disappointment has been the 'Sonata Mix' dwarf cosmos.  It is dwarf, but it seems to flower late.  It is just beginning to produce lots of buds.

View from the second floor deck.

View from across the pool.

Marigolds 'Janie Primrose' in full flower and 'Bolero' just coming into bloom.

'Bon Bon' striped zinnias.

'Sonata Mix' dwarf cosmos just coming into bloom.

'Siam Queen' Thai basil.

'Red Marconi' pepper, seed from Granny.

'Janie Primrose', 'Bolero' marigold with 'Purple Ruffles' basil.

The lettuce pots are doing great.  The summer mix is ready to pick and the 'Thai Oakleaf' is growing fast. 

'Summer Bouquet' mixed lettuce.

'Thai Oakleaf' lettuce.

A baby butter head lettuce.

This week I did harvest my first 'Diva' cucumber!

Harvest Monday- August 6, 2012

Harvest Monday us hosted by Daphne's Dandelions.  Stop by her site and see what other bloggers are harvesting from their gardens.

This was one of the best weeks harvest wise so far this summer.

Clockwise from the top left, 'Cornetto Largo Verde', 'Greencrop', 'Cherokee' and 'Velour' beans.

'Silvery Fir Tree', 'Victor', 'Black Cherry', 'Amy's Apricot' and 'Italian Dwarf Cherry' tomatoes.

Pole beans and mixed tomatoes.

Volunteer tomatoes and mixed beans.

'Cherokee' and 'Purple Queen' beans.



'Victor' tomato, 'Primero' cabbage, 'Quadratti D'Asti Gialo' peppers and 'Greencrop' beans.

 The shallots won't be included until next week after they have had their preliminary curing.

The bean harvest was well over two pounds this week.  'Greencrop' and 'Cherokee' are tied as the most productive bush beans.

'Ambition' Shallots

This was the first year that I have grown anything in the onion family from seed.  I purchased the seed from Johnny's Selected Seeds last year.  In February when everyone else was sowing their onion seeds I sowed 18 cups.  I sowed the cups thickly as onion seed is supposed to have a very short life.  The germination was excellent.  I never did thin them.  They went out to harden in April.  Twelve sups were planted in the potager and the other six sat there until late May.  The remaining six cups were planted in the driveway bed.  Those planted in the potager were harvested a little at a time,  the thinnings were used as green onions and the larger bulbs harvested when the tops fell over.  Today I harvested the ones that were planted in the driveway bed.  WOW!!!

The bulbs were large to huge and they seemed to have suffered no ill effects from being crowded.  I harvested 19 bulbs and they are in the garage curing.

I will definitely be growing them again next year.  I am also thinking of trying some other types of onions next year.  If you have never grown shallots from seed I highly recommend giving them a try.

Fusarium Wilt

I've identified the problem with my black tomatoes.  After doing some research I've discovered that it is fusarium wilt.  

The plants will start to wilt on one side and very soon the whole plant will be affected.  Apparently the bacteria blocks the phloem in the stems.  Phloem is the carrier of nutrients through out the plant.  The bacterium can stay in the soil for up to six years.  Resistant varieties are the only hope when this wilt is present. 

Now that I have identified the problem, I realize that it started last year.  Three varieties met an early demise in 2011.  'Russian Black', 'Black Sea Man' and 'Burpee Table Talk' had died by early august.  This year I again have lost 'Burpee Table Talk' and 'Black Sea Man'.  Also, 'Purple Pear' and 'Ivory Pear' have succumbed this year.

It seems that I am going to have pay attention to resistance if I continue to grow tomatoes in the potager.  The caveat is that for most heirlooms this information is not listed.  There are some OP's that are thriving in the potager.  The list includes 'Black Cherry', 'Amy's Apricot', 'Victor', 'Reisenstraube', 'Pritchard' and 'Snowberry'.

I'll have plenty of tomatoes this year despite the losses.  I'll just have to do additional research when looking for new varieties to try.  Of course, there are always the hybrids...