Tomatillos and More - PAR Davies 6/12/13

A bounty!

Hi Everyone,

 TOTAL HARVEST TODAY 54 lbs

TOTAL TO DATE 384 lbs

What a great day. As usual a lot was accomplished with all our garden workers….Susan, Jamie, Melba, Greg, John, Mary Elizabeth, Trisha, Lauren and myself. First off, we had a great harvest of a variety of onions, beets, zucchini, a few cherry tomatoes, banana peppers, cabbage, chard, garlic and basil. We sent a good amount of basil and garlic to the women's shelter along with our pesto recipe. Suzanne was our delivery girl today. The peppers and cherry tomatoes are just starting, and next week we should start having more. I believe we will also be able to harvest some of Aunt Ida's Pole Beans.

Jamie, John and Greg got busy with the irrigation system and the fencing. It will be several weeks before they get everything accomplished in those two departments, but they did get a good start. As always guys….we appreciate you.

Melba checked beds for bugs/disease and did a lot of weeding along the way. Lauren tied up tomatoes and tomatillos, both of which look good. We are having yellowing of the bottom leaves of some of the tomatoes. Both Susan and I have that on our tomatoes at home too. Could it be all the rain that we got earlier as the problem? Is anyone else having this problem?

Our tomatillo crop. I believe we may be able to harvest some
within 2 weeks (3 varieties--green, purple and pineapple)

We uncovered the squash bed and have now left it uncovered. One of the plants has a vine borer but no squash bugs. I think with the cover being left off now, we will start getting more squash, as there are plenty of 'babies' on the vines. We did get several of the Cavilli zucchini from one plant that was not covered. Trisha fertilized with our Comfrey tea. We did not get a chance to harvest more Comfrey, but maybe the Saturday crew can. Susan and Mary Elizabeth harvested cabbage and cleaned out the beds. We did not put the cabbage leaves in the compost because there were still Harlequin bugs and eggs present. Susan side dressed the pole beans that were planted down the center of the cabbage, and watered them in good.

All of our peppers are doing well. We have many varieties of peppers planted this year….Jalapeno, several varieties of Bell, Yellow Snacking, Shishito, Corno di Toro Rosso, Habanero, Purple Beauty, Regular Banana and Giant Banana, Serrano and Pimento, in addition to two more of the seeds I got from Peru--Rocoto (a vining type) and Aji Amarillo. Except for the Bell, we have just a smattering of each variety.

Here are the bananas, the first variety to get ripe

The okra is up and needs to be thinned out. These are the seeds that spent 7 years in a freezer and 3 years in my fridge. Obviously, there was not a germination problem, and they will have to be thinned soon. Greg finished mulching the okra bed today.

The voles are still at it, and so far they like potatoes, carrots and beans. We re-armed the traps, and this time we propped up buckets over them as advised by Mary Elizabeth.

We fixed the containers so the Minnesota Midget cantaloupes could climb on fencing. All the containers were watered and the last of them were mulched. With a thick layer of mulch, the containers aren't drying out so fast. All container plants seem to be doing very well. The watermelon and cantaloupe beds that G.A. planted are really thriving.

Below is the Ciagua (S. American 'cucumber') that is finally taking off. It should climb our 10-ft. fence and then some.

The Scarlet Runner Beans (below) are pretty, and they are starting to get little beans. These beans are supposed to be edible, so I will check to see how they are prepared. The arched trellis will be beautiful when covered, so being able to eat them is just a bonus.

Scarlett Runner Beans

A good bit of the garlic was harvested, and Jamie, Susan and I took it home to dry. We will get the rest of the garlic next week. I wanted to get some more things planted today, but we ran out of time. Most of our beds are planted full, but there are a few empty spots and those areas where the voles took out things that can be planted with beans or peas or whatever seems appropriate.

We were really hot and thirsty by quitting time. If you haven't been to the garden in a while, remember to bring something to drink and hats, sunglasses, towels, etc. Take a break if you start getting too hot. Susan is going to start coming to the garden on Wednesdays at 7:00 a.m., in case anyone wants to start work when it's cooler, and I will be there by or before 8:00. We will still work until at least 10:00. So come when you can and work whatever time is convenient for you. We appreciate whatever time you can give us.

The weather looks favorable for Saturday, and I will be sending out a 'To Do' list Friday. Stay cool.

Dianne