Hectaro Lagrimoso

Overcrowding

2012-03-04T19:55:00.001-05:00

The shower filled up, so we moved half the plants upstairs.

I know what you're thinking: if I've got seedlings in the shower AND the bath, then where in the world am I storing my vacuum cleaners? In the middle of the living room, of course!

Conquering the land

2012-03-02T13:25:00.001-05:00

Though the HOA says I can't plant veggies on the side of my house, I plan to any way. Any ideas for a nice design? This is the only area left that gets any sun at all.

Would like something that looks a little nicer than my typical not-quite-a-rectangle raised bed. Something that can hold a LOT of stuff.

I plan to think about this for months, then throw together something using scraps of wood and nails I find on the ground. But in my imagination it's going to be gorgeous.

Sunny days

2012-02-26T01:37:00.001-05:00

These oats were grown as a cover crop. All planted at the same time, but some more shaded. What a difference a little sun makes:

Freak

2012-02-25T19:27:00.001-05:00

I went to one of the world's nicest spas...and spent my time touring their gardens, learning about composting, and swapping tips about cover crops.

(Just HAD to take a picture of the people who couldn't be bothered to dress themselves before coming.)

Already?

2012-02-22T20:22:00.001-05:00

Microgreens!!

Incoming

2012-02-14T00:36:00.000-05:00

No sooner had we packaged up hundreds of extra seeds to distribute to others did I hit the internet and order more.

Soon arriving in my mailbox from rareseeds.com:

Dragon's Egg Cucumber
Green Doctors Tomato
Black Cherry Tomato
Golden Midget Watermelon
Orange Flesh Tendersweet
Jack Be Little Pumpkin
Chioggia (Bassano) Beet
Cockscomb - Dwarf Coral Garden Mix
Kiwano - African Horned Cucumber
Mountain Princess
Tess's Land Race Currant
Snow White
Dr. Carolyn
Chinese Red Noodle Bean
Romanesco Italia Broccoli

Time to build some more raised beds!

I learned it by watching you!

2012-02-13T01:50:00.001-05:00

Anxious

2012-02-09T08:15:00.001-05:00

Brussel sprouts (child's request. Gross.)
Broccoli
Mesclun mix
Red onion
Lilac hybrid peppers
Snap peas

I have a dream this year that I'm going to build a trellis that allows peas, etc to grow from my raised beds up to the bottom of my deck. If it works, it will provide a nice screen to hide all the crap I store under the deck. Going to work more on growing up this year, as there's not much more sun to be had in my yard and we're running out of space to grow out. Then again, I did just get a new chainsaw, and some of those trees are looking past their prime...

Recycling

2012-01-08T13:19:00.002-05:00

Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow!?

Ceased work on my deck to work on a raised bed. Took my old one which never was tall enough, added a second story plus a 2x6 trim to the top. All was done using scraps from deck construction.

Before (front):

Is it Spring yet?

2012-01-01T21:41:00.001-05:00

Last year I wasn't terribly inspired to garden, but for some reason this week's arrival of the Tomato Growers' seed catalog has awakened the beast within. I cannot wait to get started!! Must resist. In the meantime, I'll be plotting my next project destined for disaster--I want to put in a raised bed on the side of our house. It will technically be in the front yard which is against the ~~great leader's~~ HOA's rules, so I need to make it look all fancy like and pretty. This is the only spot left in our entire yard that has even a bit of sun. Unless I figure out how to plant things on my roof. Don't underestimate the power of crazy.

Accidental fertilizer

2011-10-13T22:39:00.001-04:00

Growing lettuce for the first time and it's doing really well. Only now it's coated in sawdust from pressure treated wood. Hmm. Wonder if that's problematic.

The small green stuff in front is my cover crop. (I think this bed is red crimson clover.) First time I've tried cover crops--it's nice to have some green around as everything else is turning brown.

Award winning

2011-08-10T00:01:00.000-04:00

The snow white tomatoes were actually not too good to eat. In fact, after picking up my ribbons, I ate them while walking to my car.

Loved the comments! 'Tis never too late to live life. Or be the freaky old lady entering the 4H fair with a bunch of 4 year olds. Same difference.

Health Kick VFFA Hybrid. Way more delicious and beautiful than I remember from 2010. Definitely going to plant more of these next year; they make a great salsa.

Teeny tiny tomatoes

2011-08-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

The sweet pea currant tomatoes are about the size of raisins. They grow faster than one can pick them. Which is why I invited a friend over to do it for me.

After she had several hundred (pretty sure I'm not exaggerating) we let our girls ~~make our dinner~~ cook. Those tiny tomatoes go a long way when smothered in cheese and other nacho fixings. Mmm, good!

Look away!

2011-08-08T23:55:00.000-04:00

(Salsa not properly canned, merely stored to be consumed over the next few days. Or hours. Whatever.)

Harvest

2011-08-06T00:17:00.003-04:00

When we returned from our 2 week vacation we had a few tomatoes ready to be picked. This isn't all of them; in the end we had about 30 lbs, not counting the half rotten ones I left throughout our yard as offerings to the tomatovores that live in the woods behind our house.

Fast food

2011-07-07T01:28:00.001-04:00

Our first non-cherry tomatoes have arrived!

The label vanished for these but I know they are Glaciers due to their very unique leaves.

We carried two in for dinner. By the time we made it up the 10 stairs, we had one. My kid stuffed THE WHOLE THING in her mouth.

It begins

2011-07-06T02:07:00.000-04:00

Tonight my kid made (and ate!) mini-pizzas using tomatoes and basil from our garden. Thanks, Michelle Obama for convincing my kid that veggies are cool.

My kid and I had a long discussion tonight about why some people think tomatoes are a fruit and others say it's a vegetable. (I remember being obsessed with the same topic in 5th grade. Kids today just grow up so fast.)

Jalapenos are coming in by the handfull. The tomatoes are slowly but surely joining the party. I'm ready to salsa, so let's get moving, tomatoes!

We have some beets and turnips that look ready to pick. Not going to take the plunge until I've figured out how to prepare them.

Finally laid the two soaker hoses I bought and hooked them up to the handy automatic timer. I'll bet it's a lot easier to lay those hoses at the beginning of the season rather than trying to squeeze between 4 foot tall tomato plants.

Red

2011-07-01T00:20:00.000-04:00

Had to shell out $7 for tomatoes at the farmer's market this week. I've resisted buying any so far, knowing we have a backyard full of green ones on the verge. But who could resist an adorable four year old begging her mom for veggies? I only bought one pint, but then she ate half of it before we left the market, so I bought a second.

Soon after arriving home we found this:

They look even fancier on the vine with a few special effects.

Most are still green, but just as I predicted we should have a decent first harvest by July 4.

Per tradition, I planted everything entirely too close together and have already had to cull the herd. Some items were transplanted elsewhere and others were just thrown on the grown to wither as I silently screamed at myself for planting stupid things like turnips.

And we're off!

2011-06-12T23:33:00.000-04:00

Out of town for 8 days, the temps shot to the upper 90s. I was sure I would come home to parched if not dead plants, but my husband came through for me and kept them watered. In the week I was gone, almost all of my plants doubled - if not tripled - in size. Some of the tomatoes are already completely unruly and required massive pruning to get them back inside their cages. (If they don't at least start out growing inside the cage, there's no hope for keeping them under control.)

I planted marigolds to keep away bunnies and bugs. I didn't really notice they were the kind that would get to be 3 feet tall, and shade the very plants I was trying to save. Had to uproot a bunch of them.

The zinnia are blooming. My daughter helped grow those from seed and is quite proud.

The tomato plants have flowers, and some even have tomatoes!!!

The beets and turnips are growing incredibly fast. It's fun to watch but makes me wonder what in the world I will do with them once they have reached full size, a question I'm now facing when I look at my purple basil.

The cilantro has been my only disappointment so far. I was hoping it would do a great job reseeding itself as it has done in the past, but no such luck.

The grow houses in the bathtubs have been shut down, and all operations have relocated outside. Let the countdown to deliciousness begin!

Unclear

2011-05-22T17:54:00.001-04:00

Dad was in town and pointed out my onions were flowering/going to seed and I needed to pick them.

Now what do I do with them exactly? I never actually expected the onion seeds I planted 9 months ago would amount to anything.

I think I'm supposed to cure them and store them in preparation for the apocalypse or something, but they don't seem large enough to make that worthwhile. I suppose I could eat them but I'm not even sure if I can just eat the white or the green too? This is a puzzler.

Stay tuned and I'll report back. (Most likely outcome: I forget about them until the fruit flies become so thick I investigate and find the onions' moldy remains.)

DONE. Well, with this part anyway.

2011-05-02T21:16:00.001-04:00

(They are all ~~even~~ lined up, the angles are just weird from above on the deck.)

Eventually grass will fill in (I did add seed), we'll make cute paths, or we'll just get some pigs to play in the mudhole. Not at the top of my to do list right now. If anything does grow, our lawn mower fits through the "aisles."

Rip-off

2011-04-27T14:41:00.000-04:00

I spent TEN DOLLARS on this Disney growhouse for Marielle. In my defense, I didn't know it was $10, because Home Depot had it marked as $4, and I didn't see the receipt until later. She has been quite excited by it, but I guarantee will not be getting a new one next year. I'll probably just wash this guy out!

We grew Zinnias - for Z sharing week at school - using a different packet of seeds than the one that came with the kit. I didn't want pink and red and whatever Disney assigned me; I wanted purple. Marielle insists they will be pink, because Sleeping beauty is pink, but she didn't see the switcheroo I pulled.

Anyway, here is proof that Disney even give you overpriced-shitty dirt. The plant on the left (top) was grown with the soil disc thingie that came with this set. The one on the right (bottom) was grown with one of those Jiffy refill thingies that costs 25 cents. Everything else was exactly the same. The seed, the lighting, the watering, the day planted -- everything.

Sorry about the orientation of the photo. I was going to fix it but then I decided I wanted to take a nap instead.

After, part 1.

2011-04-27T14:35:00.000-04:00

Before

and

After-ish:

This is taking a very, very, very long time. Very. But I did move all that dirt PLUS the actual box by myself, which makes me feel like a total badass.

One down, one to go. (See that pesky little guy in the far left? He's moving too.) Luckily the second one is only 10" high, not 20", and doesn't have posts inside sticking another foot into the ground, so hopefully I can finish this project before August.

I'm already fantasizing about what else I can squeeze in there to make it look even better. A bench? A long, skinny raised bed or two? All of the above?

Much work remains to be done

2011-04-19T00:34:00.003-04:00

Here's my new box.

Actually it doesn't look so bad; you almost can't tell it's not symmetrical. Pretty lined up with the fences too, but then you see the other problem. I've been digging out the old box (and soon his next-door neighbor too) to relocate them about 2 feet east but still haven't had enough daylight and strength to finish.

Today was spent driving to Spring Break camps, activities and playdates. (And then napping to recover.) So far I am unable to convince my four year old of the fun of doing things like relocating a half ton of dirt about 2 feet to the right. I am dying to get it done, but also know I can't really plant much for awhile, so I am trying to relax about the whole thing.

I envision eventually I can con someone into helping me make beautiful paths between the beds, but until then we're gonna stick with our current whatever-the-heck-grows-can-grow motif between the boxes. My only job is to make them wide enough to get a lawnmower through.

I'll be relocating the onions, which started as seeds last summer, went mostly dormant during winter and now are thriving. Looking into a lot of companion planting this year to maximize space. Planted several rows of carrot seeds today. I don't love carrots and don't even care if they end up edible, but I hear they're great for tomatoes. I can never remember which plants make the tomatoes taste better (basil?) and which keep away bugs (marigolds & carrots, I think) but I do know which ones are BFFs with tomatoes for whatever reason. And, for good reason, it's all about what's good for the tomatoes.

A farmer's work is never done

2011-04-17T21:07:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago our back fence blew over. I briefly considered not replacing it right away until my father reminded me bunnies et al would eat my vegetables. We had a new one 3 weeks later!

The new fence is shorter and lets in more light. (Let's say we wanted it that way, and not that we were too poor for another privacy fence. That's the ticket.) I'm hoping this means a little less shade in our backyard and more sun for our garden(s). We expanded our fence all the way to the property line, which opened up some space for another raised bed, right in the prime sunny spot of our yard!

Farmer Nacho helped me procure supplies, top soil, leaf gro, etc. from our favorite local garden center but was smart enough to flee town right after we unloaded it all. I went at the building alone in my garage, learning many lessons, most of all, I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN SHOP IN HIGH SCHOOL. Stupid other electives - what good are you to me now?

I had a couple of pieces of leftover wood I never got around to using last year. I recommend 10"x2"x8' for beds. (Yes, I probably did that in the wrong order. Figure it out.) You can make one long bed or do a nice 4'x4' bed too.

One piece of wood turned out to be warped pretty bad. Rather than stopping what I was doing and getting a new piece from Home Depot, I just though I could make it work. Due to this and many other misteps along the way, I've ended up with more of a 6.5'x4' bed that is slightly trapezoidal rather than the 8'x4' I had envisioned.

The frame is now in, but in order to leave enough room for a path, I had to put it pretty close to the old beds. This means I'm going to have to remove all the dirt from the other two beds and move them slightly, which I kind of needed to do anyway since the new fence shows just how crooked I put them in the first time.

The more I work, the more I realize needs to be done. I can't wait for the depressing part of the season to be over and the harvesting to begin!

Adoption Day Instructions

2011-04-16T18:45:00.005-04:00

The Hectaro Lagrimoso grow houses were overflowing this week as our tomato plants took off. I needed to make room for more plants so I distributed many of my precious tomato plants to good homes. (Peppers = slow & not ready yet.)

There are a million websites that will tell you how to plant tomatoes, like this one or this one. But for those who have better things to do, here's a short summary of what to do with my babies:

1. Don't put them outside yet. I swear, do NOT do it or I will forever ban you from my list of suitable homes. Wait until it's warm. No earlier than Mother's Day, but if you can wait until Memorial Day, even better. The plants will not grow any faster if you put them outside, and you might even stunt their growth. I relearn this lesson every year.

2. Keep seedlings in a sunny place like a windowsill, or next to a sliding glass door.They need as much sun as possible. (I keep grow lights on 14-16 hours/day!) When the stem starts to grow towards the sun, turn them around.

If it is an especially sunny, warm day, feel free to temporarily put them outside. I move mine to the deck. But you have to bring them back in at night! Put them in partial shade the first few times they have go outside.

3. Water them, but not too much. Allow the soil to dry slightly between waterings.

4. If your containers start to disintegrate or the plants just get too darn big for their peat pot, transplant into a larger container, but leave them indoors. If they get to be 10" tall and it's not yet warm enough, you'll have to transplant them into a larger pot (at least 4-6", but the bigger the better).

Curious what varieties you have? I actually remembered to label the plants this year, so you can look them up by using the search box here or find them elsewhere on the internet.

Go ahead and start preparing their outdoor homes. Turn the soil, add fertilizer if needed, buy and put out tomato cages and stakes, etc. (But do NOT put your plants out. I will mock you publicly if I catch you.) If you want to build some raised beds, now's the time. Each plant needs about a 3 foot x 3 foot space at minimum.

If you are growing in containers (pots), get the LARGEST pots you can find. Add all new potting soil because in such a tiny home they will need all the help they can get. I like Costco's Miracle Gro Moisture Mix. You don't have to water it quite as often, and at Costco you can get a huge bag for about $11.

You should definitely cage & stake plants in pots. Remember containers dry out fast and you will need to water almost every day, so make sure a hose can reach wherever you put your containers.

This concludes today's lesson. As we get closer to super-sunny-fun-time, I will provide more instructions for you to ignore.

He's back!

2011-04-15T08:27:00.000-04:00

And I put him right to work.

Well, after we ate nachos of course.

What's a margarita without a nacho?

2011-04-10T15:18:00.001-04:00

Remember when Farmer Nacho fled for Thailand, leaving me with sole custody of Hectaro Lagrimoso?

Well it's time for some serious garden prep, which is why Farmer Nacho is returning to the US!! (Or maybe it was for a wedding? Unclear, so let's go with ~~TO BE MY BITCH~~ to provide 365 days worth of entertainment in one day.)

I have been assigned one day, which I am going to take to mean 24 hours rather than 9 am to 5 pm or something similarly inadequate. Many uppers have been obtained and will be used in an attempt to be awake for every one of those 1440 minutes.

My to-do list for ~~him~~ us is growing so long I fear it's reached the point where he will arrive, we'll read it over and say, "Let's sit down and think about what we want to do first." 24 hours later we will wake up hungover, half naked in a Korean spa, with our new RV in their parking lot, wondering what just happened.

Waiting.

2011-04-10T10:23:00.000-04:00

Now is the time to pick your carrots and onions that grew through the winter, and start your lettuce, broccoli, kale, etc.

Or, if you're like me, you can just be lazy and spend all energy forcing yourself to wait another month (or more) until the REAL food can go in.

Seriously, I'm not wasting time on carrots. I want something that tastes amazing and cannot be bought for 20 cents a pound at every other store in America.

Gimme delicious tomatoes!! They are taking over my bathtubs and anxious for warm days ahead.

On the third day

2011-03-27T09:01:00.001-04:00

Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed!

Ready, set, go!

2011-03-20T20:13:00.000-04:00

It's time!! Well, probably not, but I couldn't contain myself any longer.

Rather than run to the garden center where I would be tempted to spend hundreds on things I don't need, I fired up the web. A quick click and 2 days later I was all set. Hundreds of seeds remain from last year's stash, so no need to buy more. Even though I really, really want to!

Things I did differently this year -
- Planted 1-2 seeds per pod rather than 4-5.
- Labeled them so I know what is what. Ground breaking stuff, right?
- Planted fewer varieties of tomatoes and only 2 peppers. I had a whole box of peppers last year and never ate 90% of them. This year we'll be doing herbs, tomatoes, jalapenos and giving the Jamaican Hot Chocolate pepper another go. (Mostly because we like to say "Jamacian Hot Chocolate.")

Even after filling 100 pods, I have tons of seeds left - especially from the tomatoes not making a return appearance in this year's garden. I'm just not a fan of the big beefsteaks. All I want is salsa, salsa, and more salsa!

If you would like any pepper or tomato seeds, leave me a comment or email me your mailing address. (mjp3md at gmail). If you're local and want some seedlings, let me know that too. Right now I've got 100 pods going so assuming all goes well, I'll have more than enough to go around.

Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

2011-02-28T21:38:00.000-05:00

Dying to bust out the grow house supplies and get to work! Trying to resist just a little bit longer though so I don't again end up transplanting seedings three, four or five times before it's finally warm enough to move them outdoors.

Last year I resisted until March 7. This year I should be able to make it a little longer due to impending travel commitments. Stay tuned.

In Remembrance

2010-11-11T08:06:00.000-05:00

How quickly you can go from just a couple of bugs to OH MY GOD APHIDS HAVE TAKEN OVER OUR BATHROOM. And just like that, the pepper winter shower garden experiment has come to an end. It's a shame, as I was finally getting some of the long awaited Jamaican Hot Chocolate peppers.

Not only were the bugs just plain annoying, but they were killing the plants. The leaves were dropping off and/or being eaten. There are so many that I don't even think it's worth resuscitation efforts. If only a couple aphids make it back inside, we're doomed. Not to mention my mom is coming to visit in a month, and I wasn't quite sure how she would shower around the peppers.

This was less about having peppers growing through the winter (and in huge quantities next summer); I don't even like peppers very much (except you, beloved Jalapeno). It was more about being able to deliver peppers to friends and proudly say, "I picked this while I was on the toilet yesterday." Because who doesn't love a nice toilet pepper (not to be confused with toilet paper, because that could end very, very badly).

Hibernation

2010-10-02T17:31:00.000-04:00

A select few have been chosen and moved indoors for the winter. Some of these plants just started producing peppers. They may continue producing for a few more weeks but will probably go dormant soon.

If all goes according to plan, I'll be able to put them back outside in April and grow some gigantic pepper plants next year. More likely scenario is we will grow tired of having pepper plants filling our bathrooms for the next 6 months -- and/or forget about them -- and they will end up in the trash can.

Not sure what we're going to do when it's time to start next season's seeds. Perhaps it's time for the growhouse to expand?

Growhouse resurrected earlier than planned?

2010-09-10T18:25:00.000-04:00

Somewhere between the weather forecast and the sports talk I heard a random "expert" on our local radio station this morning talk gardening tips. It was strange, as this station usually just repeats exactly the same thing every 10 minutes. Traffic is on the 8's (12:08, 12:18, etc) which is the only reason I listen; there's about 8 minutes of commercials and maybe some sports talk to round out the rest of the 10 minutes. Usually I have to listen a good 30 minutes before I remember to pay attention to the traffic report rather than thinking about things like how much I love nachos or how badly I need a nap. But it's all cool, because in half an hour you go about 2 miles in DC traffic, so no big deal.

Anyway.

He claims I should bring in all my pepper plants now. I don't have a nice sunny window as he recommends but I do have a decent sized grow house just waiting to get back to work.

His theories were -

If you bring pepper plants inside they will last through the winter and be even bigger and better when next season rolls around. He claims his have lasted 8 years.
If you wait too long to do it, you will be half asleep when you hear the frost warning and be too lazy to do it at all.

I do have quite a few in transportable pots that I can just toss in the bathtub/grow house. Many of the peppers are in the garden, but their understudies remain on the deck, in tiny pots. It's tempting. Not sure what I'll do with them once it's time to start the seed growing again. Buy more grow lights? Dear Santa....

Random fist shaking

2010-09-09T03:01:00.000-04:00

The tomato production of the remaining plants has slowed considerably, yet I still have to water as often as before. Seems unfair.

I have pulled more of the tomatoes I hate; still trying to transplant the understudies into garden space in hopes I can extend the growing season.

Went to the local hippie farmer's market today -- everything is grown within 100 miles and I swear people wear fake Amish hats to sell more food. (OK, OK, maybe they were Mennonites, but I still think they were milking it; those hats didn't even fit.) Before me was the most delicious spread of onions, peppers, tomatoes, etc. for $2/lb or less. All that work I do, and I could drive 3 miles to get a wider variety of produce at 1/50000th the cost.

This weekend I spent over an hour chopping/squeezing/washing to make salsa for a relative's birthday. Barely ended up with one full jar.

To review: Gardens are a lot of time/work/energy and not necessarily cost effective. Also when fall comes and everything starts to die, you will get so depressed you will want to snuggle your shriveled up Arkansas Traveler vines. Oh winter, I hate you already and you're still months away. Still though, it gives me a reason to live for Spring and start all over again.

Speaking of the farmer's market

2010-09-09T00:21:00.000-04:00

Here's what we had for dinner. All of it was produced locally unless otherwise indicated.

Free range chicken coated in goat cheese with dill. Marielle's chicken was transformed into nuggets, while I just ate the cheese alone in my salad. Both items came from the fake Amish people. (It's OK to talk about them, because if they are truly Amish the shiny knowledge box doesn't infiltrate their homes and they will never know.)
Green, yellow and purple beans.
Salad of tomatoes from my back yard plus grocery store lettuce & tomatoes left over from a previous meal. Marielle didn't eat the salad, but did eat cucumber sticks.
Nectarines & plums.

It was absolutely delicious and probably the most vegetables my daughter has ever eaten in one setting. I really do think it helped that she explored the market with me and I faked excitement over every single thing we saw.

Of course two hours later I was starving, but it's a good start.

You might be a garden nerd if...

2010-09-05T20:12:00.001-04:00

You pay Virginia Tech $10 to analyze your soil.

Will to live

2010-08-24T18:53:00.000-04:00

I uprooted a cherry tomato plant I found particularly repulsive and replaced it with one of my smaller understudy tomato plants that had just been waiting for a nice, spacious home. I went out today to check on everyone and noticed a weed growing like crazy in the pot.

Curious to see what would grow so fast and so concentrated, I pulled it out. Verdict:

The tomato plant that wouldn't give up!

Prize pupil

2010-08-22T19:01:00.000-04:00

Due to several clumsy mishaps, I had no idea what varieties I planted where on our farm. I was hoping I could figure it out after they bloomed, but I'm probably only 50/50. Some are very obvious - due to freak sizes or color - but others I'm stumped.

I have one variety of tomato that has been producing consistently and rapidly. It is great for sauce and salsa. Almost perfectly round, it tastes like nothing I can buy in the store. I envision planting at least 50% of next year's farm with nothing but this variety. Thank goodness for google and the record of seeds I bought. I now know without a doubt my star student is the Arkansas Traveler. Finally, an heirloom tomato that doesn't suck!!

Speaking of tomatoes that suck, I actually pulled some plants out of the ground this weekend. They were taking up too much space. The losers had end rot, too much cracking, or I just didn't like the taste. Good bye, orange banana and friends. Hope the squirrels like you more than I did.

It's baaaaack!

2010-08-21T21:42:00.001-04:00

Just in time for the peak of salsa season, my beloved cilantro returns! It bolted and I let it go to seed, then re-seeded the pot by hand and voilà -- deliciousness.

Options

2010-08-20T16:29:00.000-04:00

What do you do when Farmer Margarita hands you so many over ripe tomatoes that you don't think you'll be able to use them before they all go bad?

Tomato and mozzarella salad bay-bee! Then eat it all yourself before anyone notices how yummy it is.

Progress report - 3 1/2 months in

2010-08-20T13:31:00.000-04:00

The last progress report was just about 2 months ago, and the first one was June 4 (those were the days). Sorry, I disappeared for July (which resulted in the loss of all garlic and onions.) Here's your August photo montage -

These are the two smaller boxes:

Due to planting the tomatillos next to a weed like currant tomato plant, they have kind of melded into one giant mess of plants. I've attempted selective reduction several times, but those pesky tomatillos just keep coming back. They are growing through, over and around all the peppers. Annoying, but shades them which they seem to like.

This is the large bed. When I go to harvest, I just dive in and hope I can find my way out:

Many tomatoes have rotted in the center because I didn't see them in time. I think I have 8-10 plants in here, but who can know; they're all growing on top of each other at this point. Some of the vines are probably 10 feet long and could stretch to my deck if I got off my ass and constructed a fancy trellis.

(You will note however my ass is quite lazy. That is why our deck is 2 colors - we got tired halfway through staining it 8+ years ago and never finished. You got a problem with it, you're welcome to pay for a new one.)

Pest control

2010-08-20T13:20:00.000-04:00

Many of my fellow farmers are having trouble growing tomatoes this summer, suffering mysterious disappearances most likely caused by critters.

I haven't had this problem -- in fact have had more tomatoes than I can pick -- and will now share my secrets:

1. Plant 28 tomato plants for a family of 3. You'll hardly notice if even half your tomatoes go missing.

2. Leave offerings of your less than perfect fruit, preferably on an easily accessible surface like the ground, or a deck railing.

You're welcome.

If only they came in blue

2010-08-10T08:56:00.000-04:00

I guess it's about time to figure out what exactly you do with peppers.

Screw you, delicious peppers.

2010-08-09T20:45:00.001-04:00

These are red Thai chili peppers. I hate them.

I hate them because they remind me that Farmer Nacho is halfway around the world in Thailand, and not here cooking for me and doing all my canning.

Parasitic twin

2010-08-09T20:12:00.000-04:00

Mystery

2010-08-07T10:36:00.000-04:00

What is happening to my peppers? Farmer Margarita, I may need your input.

So that's what you do with a tomatillo

2010-08-02T20:02:00.001-04:00

Roasted tomatillo salsa

Freak show

2010-08-02T20:00:00.001-04:00

Which way to the 4H fair?

2010-07-31T17:26:00.001-04:00

Actually I was joking when I wrote the title of this post, but I just found out that adults can enter into the veggie competition at the annual fair. I'll check out the competition next weekend so I can be sure to be crowned the 2011 champion!!!!!!!

Harvest

2010-07-25T18:26:00.001-04:00

White and purple bell peppers, purple jalapeños, a million kinds of peppers, world's tiniest tomatoes, kelloggs breakfast tomatoes (orange), green zebra tomatoes, and more!!!

In the beginning

2010-07-19T02:32:00.000-04:00

Dilemma

2010-07-01T15:12:00.000-04:00

I'm leaving town tomorrow for 3 weeks and of course now everything is blooming/ripening full force. Luckily Farmer Nacho informs me I can actually freeze these peppers and save them for salsa making!

Not sure what I'll do with the eggplants. Road trip snack?

Hope my husband likes tomatoes, because he's going to be eating a lot in my absence.

We Have Color

2010-06-24T19:26:00.001-04:00

I just realized Farmer Nacho and Farmer Margarita never gave me a farmer name and I'm kind of pissed about it. So I'm giving myself a farmer name: I would like to be known henceforward as Farmer Emperador Señor Dios del Universo, thankyouverymuch.

Farmer Emperador Señor Dios del Universo is pleased to report that over here on the North Forty, we have red tomato.

One. Red. Tomato.

I'm already planning the salsa I shall make out of him.

The pepper plants look much more bushy and plentiful than our tomatoes, but in the bloom and fruit department, they are lagging seriously behind. The angry infestation of aphids appear to be stunting their growth, but I think I see way down in there, the beginnings of a fruit to come to be. Or maybe just a pregnant aphid.

A hot mess

2010-06-24T12:44:00.000-04:00

Remember the update from June 4?

A lot can happen in 20 days.

June 24:

Sowing my seeds

2010-06-24T03:01:00.000-04:00

I grew about 200 seedlings too many and I had plenty to go around. I dumped them with anyone and everyone. My chiropractor provides me a weekly report on hers and asks hilarious questions like, "What's that purple thing I'm growing?" (Eggplant.)

Other updates have surfaced online - here and here. A little later in the growing season I will have to visit and see who ended up with what. There was a slight labeling mishap leaving everyone with a grab bag special.

The leaves of my plants seem to suggest I did manage to end up with a nice variety of tomatoes and peppers, I just don't know what. Fingers crossed for some Jamaican Hot Chocolate!

Random report

2010-06-23T21:54:00.000-04:00

It was 99 degrees today. 99!!!! My tomatoes may soon cook themselves. I don't know what this heat does to tomatoes, but it can't be good.

Due to the heat all my gardening is done by the light of the moon, and I still come in drenched in sweat laced with potting soil. This update would be much improved with pictures, but no go at 10 pm.

I had to abort some peppers and tomatoes tonight. They were just growing terribly. Really this blog could be a what-not-to-do if nothing else. Let's just sum it up and say -
1. Drainage is important. Your plants can be too wet. Even when it's 99 degrees.
2. Miracle gro moisture control mix is totally worth it. I used some organic bullshit that smells like crap and holds onto water way too long.

My raised beds are so overgrown right now. I should've planted half that number of tomatoes in that space, but I just couldn't choose! I can't imagine what it's going to look like by August. I may lose a child in there. Or a dog. Which wouldn't be all bad.

My deck is also overflowing with pots of all shapes and sizes. I even moved a lot of things to the platform around my HVAC system. So little of our yard gets sun and I'm desperate for space! I know my neighbors just love the scenic view of our yard-o-buckets. But it's all cool, because I busted our HOA President for violating our neighborhood rules (which prohibit growing veggies in your front or side yard). If he comes for me, I'll just mention his squash situation.

I have one tomato that's orange. I am so eating it tomorrow, whether it's ready or not. I'm jealous of my farmer friends to the south who've had ripe veggies for weeks.

This concludes your stream of consciousness farm update.

Progress report, 1 month post transplant

2010-06-04T15:22:00.000-04:00

I squeezed onions, garlic, 7 tomato plants and an eggplant into this tiny box.

Lots of pruning, staking and caging will be required. I'm guessing by the end of the summer the tomatoes will be 20 feet tall, or I will have given up and it will just be one giant mess of tomato plants.

The peppers are putting up a valiant fight against the aphids. It's been raining almost every day here and I swear they doubled in size in under 48 hours.

I still wish the 18,000 ladybugs I ordered 3 weeks ago would hurry up and get here!

(There's one other raised bed not shown, home to 9 more tomato plants.)

Fruit!!!!

2010-06-02T08:02:00.001-04:00

June 1:

The potted plants are growing fastest - probably because they are in fresh 100% miracle grow potting soil. Mmmm, chemicals!

Pesto - it's not just for basil anymore

2010-05-31T16:06:00.001-04:00

We had a bumper crop of cilantro this week. Most of it's in the flower bed in the front yard - my best guess is I reused some potting soil that grew last year's cilantro? The cilantro I was actually trying to grow isn't doing nearly as well. Further proof that more effort does not equal better results.

First I made pico de gallo, using store bought tomatoes (gasp) as mine are still blossoming. I did harvest an onion to add to my bushels of cilantro. Served it with bean and cheese taquitos.

I was still left with a TON of cilantro so I made a pesto of cilantro, walnuts, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and salt. I stuffed a chicken breast with provolone, then coated it with the pesto. Pretty impressive concoction for a vegetarian, don't you think?

How does a 3 year old's garden grow?

2010-05-23T20:47:00.001-04:00

My three year old decided to fertilize some of my seedlings. With toothpaste. As you can imagine, that didn't end well.

ETA: sooner than I thought

2010-05-16T23:24:00.000-04:00

As of yesterday we have blossoms on one of the tomato plants!!! It's about 3 feet tall, growing in a pot on the deck. I'm leaving town for 3 weeks in July, but maybe there's hope I'll get a tomato or two before leaving town.

The raised bed filled with peppers is being devoured by bugs. I'm debating between horrific chemicals and ordering thousands of ladybugs. As a back up, I'm still growing peppers indoors (in the bathtub, of course). Once they get nice and big I may replace some of the ones in the garden.

Learn from my mistakes

2010-05-02T11:24:00.003-04:00

Mistakes I made when putting my plants in the ground-

For the first four tomatoes, i didn't keep track of which varieties I put in! I should have just thrown them out and started over, but instead I'll just be surprised. And maybe have a lot of one type and none of several others.

I put them in the day before it poured rain for 24 hours straight. Some didn't survive the beating. Good thing I have 50 more understudies ready to fill in.

One week after planting, it got so cold at night that the next county over had a frost advisory! I always plant too early, which can stunt their growth. The seedling were just sooo huge though, and I was so anxious.

A lot of the plants are quite close together. I had a lot more varieties of peppers and tomatoes than I had space. I'm hoping with staking and/or cages, I can make the magic happen. I'm also planning to selectively reduce tomato plants if needed.

Stay tuned for more page turning (mouse scrolling?) stories of life on the farm.

Staff turnover

2010-05-02T11:24:00.001-04:00

Farmer Nacho is leaving me. He's going to be summering in Southeast Asia, leaving me with a big sombero to fill.

My master plan definitely included having him around conme August to supervise our salsa production. Instead, he has only a few weeks to teach me how to properly hold a knife as well as can salsa.

I picture many lessons via Skpye in my future, as well as a severed finger or two and a nice case of Botulism.

Waiting

2010-04-20T22:39:00.000-04:00

I'm resisting the urge to plant everything in the ground immediately. It's a predictable cycle -I always plant too early, plant growth gets stunted, husband says "I told you it was too early!" for the next 3 years.

Instead I have larger and larger specimins taking over my house. I've given away quite a few seedlings, yet it seems like I still have hundreds left (probably because I do).

So we wait. And wait. And wait.

Maybe I could just plant a couple and see what happens? Not like I don't have understudies waiting in the wings.

Now with more bling

2010-04-05T09:35:00.001-04:00

My big box

2010-04-04T19:27:00.001-04:00

I was loving this, until I figured out it will hold 5 tomato plants, max.

The green edging is supposed to be a beagle deterrent. We shall see. I wanted to buy some wire fencing, but after realizing I spent $100 on lumber plus another $120 on 40 bags of topsoil, manure and humus, I figured I had spent enough money for the day.

Now please pause for a moment to contemplate me hauling FORTY bags weighing 40 lbs each, to my backyard. Damn.

Admire my box

2010-04-03T21:08:00.001-04:00

Before, 11 am:

After, 5 pm:

I have a car full of topsoil, humus and cow manure to add tomorrow.

Not pictured - giant new garden space I just put in around the corner.

Many thanks to NG and KoH for their assistance. Plus, KoH showed me how to use a circular saw and I am hooked! Guess what somebody's getting for Father's Day!

Grow house

2010-03-30T19:51:00.001-04:00

My little seedlings are quickly outgrowing their bathtub incubator. It's a good thing it's going to be in the 70s - 80s the rest of the week. Time for some sun for all of us!

Until then, every 12 hours I rotate the plants. They spend half the day under growlights and the other half spread throught the house, wherever I can find a flat space. The lights run 24-7. So far no housefires.

I'm counting on a gorgeous weekend. I want to finally plow and build the raised beds. Otherwise I may just stiffle any common sense I have left and shell out mucho dinero on this slice of heaven I saw at Costco:

Must resist!

Suicide mission

2010-03-21T16:23:00.000-04:00

Seems my peppers made a suicide pact. My beautiful little sprouts were sunning themselves when they threw themselves over the side of the deck. Some survived the fall, but many were decapitated. Their remains were thrown all about and now I don't know which are the Thai chili peppers and which are the bell peppers. I suppose I will just have to be surprised.

It's been in the high 70s here the last few days so I had everyone out in the sun during the day. I guess I'll just stick with the grow lights until they are all bigger and stronger.

I received the giant seed shipment last week and finally finished planting today. Some of the seeds I planted earlier are already ready for transplant, but I can't find peat pots anywhere. With all this warm weather the garden centers are wiped out.

My vision continues to take shape in my head. Unfortunately my dreams come together faster than my reality. (e.g. the tiller is still in the box it came in.) Good thing I started early.

A star is born

2010-03-12T21:48:00.001-05:00

The first cherry tomato seed has sprouted! Four days. Hopefully his friends will feel some peer pressure and put an end to their laziness.

Honest, officer, it's for the tomatoes.

2010-03-11T22:29:00.000-05:00

Why is my shower glowing?

Today we MacGyvered some grow lights with random parts from Home Depot and some pink twine I found in the garage.

Admit it, you're jealous.

I now have two showers that have been unused for years that are finally serving a purpose.

We also bought a tiller kind of like this one. I have a feeling once we fire that up, nothing is safe. We shall conquer the land!

Click happy

2010-03-10T10:08:00.000-05:00

At least four times over the past few days I have fired up the Tomato Growers website and oogled the different seed varieties. Each time I fill my basket with goodies, then realize they don't take Amex. (It's the only credit card number I have memorized.) Getting up off the couch clearly wasn't an option, so I would just wait. Problem was, it never saved my cart. So each time something new caught my eye, and the grand total grew a little higher. Today I finally placed an order....$88!

Here's how I selected my seeds:

For tomatoes, I selected mostly stuff we can make into salsa. But then I would be mesmerized by the strange varieties and throw some of those in too. Their fancy marketing language would sucker me in to others. Other times the names were just funny. I think those will jump right out at you.

I always like to plant crazy stuff you won't find even at most farmers' markets. White eggplants. Purple jalapenos. Ivory cherry tomatoes. One year I was so excited to grow purple green beans. Imagine my disappointment when I cooked them and they all turned green. BLAST!

We do have some space limitations, so I generally pass on growing things you can buy cheap in the grocery store - e.g. carrots - or things that take up too much space like pumpkins. I like to focus on the weird stuff and the expensive stuff like tomatoes. And this year we're aiming to make a LOT of salsa, so that was taken into consideration as well.

If you're curious, here's what I ordered today:

#7492 - White Lightening Hybrid - 30 seeds.
#9716 - Santa Fe Grande - 30 seeds.
#9437 - Purple Jalapeno - 30 seeds.
#9543 - Mucho Nacho Hybrid - 30 seeds.
#9007 - Jamaican Hot Chocolate - 30 seeds.
#9022 - Bulgarian Carrot - 30 seeds.
#9030 - Ancho San Martin Hybrid - 30 seeds.
#9206 - Lilac Hybrid - 20 seeds.
#9352 - Bianca Hybrid - 20 seeds.
#4927 - Tumbling Tom Hybrid - 30 seeds.
#5362 - Sweet Pea Currant - 30 seeds.
#6334 - Patio F Hybrid - 30 seeds.
#6970 - Florida Basket - 30 seeds.
#3524 - Baxter's Early Bush Cherry - 30 seeds.
#6044 - Health Kick VFFA Hybrid - 30 seeds.
#3566 - Arkansas Traveler - 30 seeds.
#2912 - Crimson Fancy VFFA Hybrid - 30 seeds.
#2768 - Bush Champion VFFA Hybrid - 30 seeds.
#6701 - Cisineros Tomatillo - 30 seeds.
#6273 - Purple Tomatillo - 30 seeds.
#5678 - Powers Heirloom - 30 seeds.
#6822 - Snow White - 30 seeds.
#4701 - Orange Banana - 30 seeds.
#5833 - Kellogg's Breakfast - 30 seeds.
#5213 - Big Zebra - 30 seeds.
#4518 - Glacier - 30 seeds.
#5268 - Viva Italia VFFNA Hybrid - 30 seeds.
#5070 - Rocky - 30 seeds.
#5542 - Mama Leone - 30 seeds.
#6099 - Grandma Mary's Paste - 30 seeds.

I think I'm going to need to get some more seed starting kits!

Sprouts

2010-03-09T15:53:00.000-05:00

I was cuddling my seeds earlier today when I realized that SOME OF THEM ARE SPROUTING! After 48 hours.

Imagine my disappointment when I saw it was just the sunflowers. But those seeds did expire 4 years ago, so that's kinda cool.

Maybe the sunflower sprouts can inspire the other lazy seeds to get their act together. Nobody likes salsa made out of sunflowers.

Busy day in the fields

2010-03-07T21:02:00.000-05:00

I've started a spreadsheet of everything I've planted so far, and their ETA. They better not disappoint me!

Many of these say to sow indoors 6-8 weeks prior, so maybe I'm not really that far ahead of the game after all. I would be much happier if I had some grow lights or warming mats, but I'm trying to make sure the total cost of my ~~garden~~ doesn't exceed $100 per tomato grown. I'm still stalking craigslist though, should a marijuana farmer decide to retire and purge his supplies.

I turned over all the dirt in our existing plot this afternoon. I even got fancy and removed the stray dog droppings that found there way to that end of our yard. Years of horse manure and care have made this section of our yard prime farm land. I saw worms all over the place, including one as big and thick as my ring finger that I initially thought was an old piece of rope. Strangely, it instantly reminded me of something I saw at my bachelorette party, the thought of which grossed me out even more than the worm itself.

Premature Germination

2010-03-07T15:00:00.000-05:00

The sun came out today for the first time in about 8 years. Against my better judgment, I started a few seeds. And by a few, I mean around 200. Some of them I bought at Home Depot, others from Merrifield, and some I found on top of my fridge - where they had been since 2006. It will be interesting to see what happens to those.

Last time I grew from seed I started even earlier (mid-February) and had to transplant everything twice. After that mess, I decided it would be easier to just buy the plants every year. You would think I would have learned, but you would be wrong.

This year I'm especially motivated to grow some crazy stuff, so back to seeds we go. Plus, Badger asked me several weeks ago if I had ordered my seed catalogs yet, so it's been on my mind ever since. (Apparently Badger has morphed into a 80 year old farmer who is not aware of the series of tubes we call the internet.)

Today I planted-
1) Cherry tomatoes
2) Roma tomatoes
3) Thai red chili peppers
4) Assorted bell peppers
5) Cilantro
6) Parsley
7) Dill
8) Japanese eggplant
9) Sunflowers
10) Teddy bear sunflowers

That's only the beginning. I also ordered about $40 worth of seeds from Tomato Growers. If all goes according to plan, I'll have a huge pile of plants I can give to friends.