Our Harvest Monday for May 16th, 2011, and, A Pictorial Garden Visit.

Thanks for all the well wishes and I'm happy to say that I'm fully recovered from my recent surgery and I've been hard at work in the garden. We had a small harvest this week, but we're thankful for it.

We picked 3/4 of a pound of green beauty snow peas, and they were delicious! They're good enough for me to consider letting the remainder of the pods ripen for seed saving.

We also picked 5 ounces of schav (or sorrel) to make homemade soup. This was a pretty good picking from just four plants.

Here's my grandson Noah checking the bait in the raccoon trap next to our garden. In the past, the raccoons have damaged or destroyed a lot of our crops. Hopefully we'll catch them and relocate them somewhere miles away.

It's hard to catch a raccoon when a mocking bird eats the bait which consists of a peanut butter sandwich.

This pic is from when Noah was watering the freshly sown fortex green bean rows. He's a great help in the garden and he remembers what I tell him about raising certain vegetables. His little sister Keira told him to "look at the white butterfly" and Noah told her it wasn't a butterfly, it was a cabbage moth. I told Noah last year about what the cabbage moths do to your garden.

A load of nine bags of fresh grass clippings for the compost pile. This should really get it cooking!

And there it is, all blended in. I'll be turning this every two or three days to keep it aerated sufficiently.

Here are some schav or sorrel plants that my mom saved from the tiller in her garden in upstate New York. Mom and my sister sent them to me by the next day via express mail. The plants have already grown larger than what they were when they arrived.

Still growing the scallions on the green onions I planted last year. I'll probably pick these next week for use in a dip with crackers.

The bouquet dill is growing nicely in this container. I may transplant it later to an area protected from the wind.

Raspberries are forming already. It won't be long before they'll be ready for picking.

The blueberries are doing very well, but still have a few weeks to go before they're ready for me to begin harvesting them.

I planted some Henderson baby butter beans in one of the half barrels this year to see how they produce in there. They will be easier to pick this way instead of being on my hands and knees trying to find them.

The Straight 8 cucumbers are sprouting very well. I keep the soil moist to help them along.

The California Wonder Sweet Peppers are showing new growth since being transplanted.

The two caged rows of tomatoes on the left are Burpee's Big Boys and the two rows on the right are Park's Whoppers. I bought some of the green metal fence posts five years ago and they are still in great condition. That saves the time and trouble of looking for cage staking material every year. When I figure in my annual garden costs, whatever was purchased in the current year is calculated in full against the total value of the crops for that year. I don't prorate things based on the life of the material for my garden.

This is the Whiteout corn a couple days after the first ones started popping up. We're looking forward to some great sweet corn!

The Fortex green beans are looking great! I planted two additional rows plus parallel seeded the rows for twice the harvest. One interesting thing about the beans at this point is that up close, the leaves all look like little hearts. That must mean it's a vegetable to love.

From this angle you can better see the parallel seeding pattern that I used. Basically one row on each side of each fence with space in between for the next seeding. As soon as these plants have attached themselves to the fence material and start climbing it unassisted, I will sow the next planting of seeds in between the two established rows. That way, each of the two established "rows" of each main row will guide the new beans to the fence material to grow up onto.

Remember the previous post about the Swiss chard seed that my little grandaughter sowed in the container in our kitchen? Well these are the plants from that seed sowing. Some in the foreground are smaller but most are about 4 inches high. I was able to transplant 156 Ruby Red Swiss Chard plants through the help of her sowing the seed for it.

Here are my two rows of San Marzano tomato plants compliments of Norfolk County Feed and Seed. These are reputed to be great sauce tomatoes. In the right side of the pic you can see the Giant Marconi green pepper plants. I had three plants last year that produced 182 peppers that weighed a total of 21.75 pounds. This year we have 15 plants, so the harvest should be substantial!

The two center rows are La Roma II sauce tomatoes. I plan to use those as a backup sauce tomato. On the far right edge of the tilled area you can see my 7 sweet banana pepper plants. These sweet banana peppers are supposed to be especially good when pickled. Pickling will be a new experience for me, but I have a large assortment of my grandmother's crocks to use for it.

These are my Petaluma Gold Rush beans compliments of Michelle in California. They look like strong plants at this stage. I can't wait to see how they produce!

The Reliance grapes are slower growing than the others at this point. Odd, but the opposite was true last year.

The Himrod grapes have several very nice clusters of grapes forming on the vines.

The Glenora grape vines have gone berserk with grape clusters! There are wonderful long clusters of grapes forming all over the vines!

The Schav is responding excellently to a dose of dried blood. These four plants were picked down to a couple of little leaves apiece just earlier this week and most of what you saw in the pot was soil. Now look at them!

Looking out for the pollinators, here is a larkspur for them to enjoy...

and a Bachelor Button as well!

Now...

THE HARVEST OF SEEDS.

These are the Brussels sprouts plants that I let go to seed. It's so top heavy that it's fallen over. You can see that it is loaded with seed pods.

Here are the Brussels sprouts plants hanging upside down to finish drying in my shop.







Now for the perplexing part of the seed saving process. Everything I have read about saving seeds from Brussels sprouts or broccoli says that you absolutely MUST let the seed pods dry on the plant before you pull the plant. Now I'm no expert, but look at the following pics of the conditions of the stalks of the plants that I pulled. I fail to see how any nutrients can be going to the seed pods through these stalks. They are completely dry. Even the green skin just cracked away when squeezed. Consequently, what is the need for keeping the plants in the ground until the pods are browning?

Look at how the rope just crushed this stalk by the weight of the plant.

Arouses one's curiosity doesn't it?

This is what the gathered broccoli seed pods look like while still on the plants. They are also hanging in my shop to dry. One thing that I noticed while in the yard working is that the birds started eating the seeds like there was no tomorrow! They were even going to these two bundles and eating them while I was still there working. They bite the bulge in the pods where the seed is. Is that an indication that these seeds are viable and now ready to be dried and stored? I don't know, but nature does have a way about things.

This is a pic of one piece of a branch of broccoli that had dried on a plant in the garden.

Now if you look close, you can still see debris in with the seeds. Some seeds are also green. Does that mean that they are not viable seed or just not dried completely? I don't know. I do know that if all the seed in this pic came from that little branch and I have two heavy bundles of broccoli seed pods hanging up drying... I'm going to have a LOT of broccoli seed! That's a good thing since it lasts for five years.

That's it! Thanks for visiting and reading about our garden adventures. Any comments or suggestions are always welcome!

Have a great vegetable gardening day!
Veggie PAK

Tell the EPA to keep toxic strawberries off America's plates

This is the second issue that I choose to share with you. Just because fruit is for sale in a supermarket don't think that it is safe to eat. The FDA and the USDA aren't looking out for us, the people. We can't buy their influence like corporations can.

Thanks for reading my blog and allowing me to share this with you. I hope you find it informative.
Veggie PAK

The excerpt follows:

"It’s springtime again and soon it will be summer and children across the country will be enjoying one of their favorite fruits — strawberries. Unfortunately, due to a poor decision last year by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and outgoing Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, America’s children will continue to be exposed to the toxic pesticide methyl iodide. [1]

Known as “one of the most toxic chemicals on earth”, methyl iodide is a proven cancer causing agent as well as an endocrine disruptor and powerful neurotoxin. Allowing it to be sprayed on one of America’s favorite fruits will endanger our children who eat them, farm workers and local residents in California.

Already banned in New York and Washington because of its toxic properties, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now reviewing the 2007 Bush era decision to approve methyl iodide for agricultural usage. The EPA is asking for comments from the American public in helping them make the decision on whether or not to ban this toxic chemical for agricultural use.

More than 50 scientists criticized the 2007 approval stating that the review process was hidden from the public and the focus of the research was too limited. There is little left to debate on the safety and necessity for this chemical use. [2]

Let the EPA hear our voices loud and clear: NO Methyl Iodide - now or ever.

Please take a moment to register your comments today. It's easy. We have suggested text for you, but encourage you to use your own words to make it more impactful. Click on here to send your message to Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/360?akid=307.293454.2535lx&t=8

Just today Time magazine revealed 3 different studies that demonstrate that pregnant mothers exposed to agricultural pesticides give birth to children with lower IQ's. [3]

It’s time to let the chemical pesticide industry and our government know that we’ll no longer stand idly by as they continue to put corporate profits over the health and safety of our families, farm workers and the American public.

Tell EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to ban the toxic methyl iodide from being used on our food and our fields.

Click here to add your voice to the public comment to make sure the EPA bans methyl iodide for agricultural usage.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/360?akid=307.293454.2535lx&t=10

Thank you for participating in food democracy,

Dave, Lisa and the Food Democracy Now! Team

Sources:

1. "The Terminator: Schwarzenegger's Killer Pesticide", The Atlantic Monthly, January 19, 2011.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/362?akid=307.293454.2535lx&t=15

2."Letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 50 Top U.S. Scientists Asking EPA to Ban Methyl Iodide", September 24, 2007.

www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/iodomethane_letter.pdf  

3. "Exposure to pesticides in pregnancy can lower children's IQ", Time Magazine, April 21, 2010.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/361?akid=307.293454.2535lx&t=18  "

Monsanto: Sowing the seeds of disease and infertility?

This is the first of two issues that have been weighing on me. I am compelled to share with you the following excerpt from an email newsletter I received recently from
http://www.fooddemocracynow.org/about/   on one of the issues. I have followed Food Democracy Now's efforts for years and agree with their approach to changing the current situation. You may want to subscribe to their free email newsletter. I'm glad I did. It's an excellent way to stay informed.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Veggie PAK

That excerpt follows:


"On January 17, 2011, Dr. Don Huber, an internationally-recognized plant pathologist and Professor Emeritus at Purdue University, sent a private letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack warning him of a serious problem facing U.S. agriculture. This letter, marked “CONFIDENTIAL and URGENT”, warned Secretary Vilsack of a previously unknown pathogen, “new to science” that “should be treated as an emergency”. 1

Huber’s letter discussed the new pathogen in the most dire terms, saying that the findings of this team of top scientists had already discovered a link between the new pathogen and the steady rise of plant diseases in Roundup Ready corn and soybean crops and in association with high rates of infertility and spontaneous abortion rates of 45% of cattle and dairy herds consuming feed that had been treated with the number one selling weed killer Roundup.2

Huber warned Secretary Vilsack that the discovery of the new pathogen was “highly sensitive information that could result in a collapse of U.S. soy and corn export markets and significant disruption of domestic food and feed supplies.”

On Feb 4th we saw Dr. Huber speak to a room of 200 commodity corn and soybean farmers in Des Moines, Iowa about the problems of Roundup that they were seeing in their fields. When the letter leaked on the internet, we decided to investigate and Dr. Huber agreed to go on camera to let the American people know about this real threat to our food supply.

Watch Dr. Huber explain the science and find out why he was so concerned about the approval of GMO alfalfa:
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/371?akid=313.293454.U7aX3K&t=7

In the letter, Huber requested assistance from the USDA and other federal agencies to help complete these scientific findings and urged Secretary Vilsack to delay the approval of any more genetically engineered Roundup Ready crops. The USDA chose to ignore this warning, and less than three weeks later, approved two new GMO crops, including Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GMO alfalfa (the primary grazing feed for US meat and dairy cows) and sugar beets.4

Earlier this spring, Food Democracy Now! caught up with Dr. Huber to investigate these new findings and uncover the latest science behind this threat to our food supply. We were greatly alarmed by what we learned and appreciated Dr. Huber’s courage in coming forward to warn the Obama administration about this credible and serious threat to the livelihoods of farmers, animal livestock and our global food supply.

It’s planting season now. If these new Roundup Ready GMO alfalfa seeds go in the ground, there will be little hope of preventing contamination of all alfalfa, as scientists and experts have warned. This puts the number one forage crop at risk, placing the majority of America’s food supply, livestock, and ultimately our families' health at risk.

We have drafted a letter to President Obama and Sec. Vilsack asking them to suspend the sale and planting of Monstanto’s Roundup Ready GMO alfalfa and sugar beet seeds until further research can be done. Will you sign on?

Sign the letter:

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/370?akid=313.293454.U7aX3K&t=9

If we can get 50,000 co-signers, we’ll fly out to DC ourselves and deliver the letter. We’ll show Secretary Vilsack photos of affected plants and livestock, and ask him directly how he can justify letting planting go ahead while these serious questions are unanswered.

This immediate crisis around Roundup Ready GMO alfalfa and sugar beet seeds, while alarming, is an opportunity for us, working together, to hold the Obama Administration accountable for not putting the safety of America’s farms and families ahead of Monsanto’s corporate interest. This can be an important step toward the long-term goal of reforming US agriculture policy so it favors building a sustainable food system that protects our natural environment, sustains farmers and nourishes families.


We are committed to this fight now, more than ever - please join us. Together, our voices will create the future we need.

Thank you for participating in food democracy-

Dave, Lisa and the Food Democracy Now! Team

Sources:

1."Senior Plant Pathologist Warns Secretary Vilsack of Discovery of New Organism, Threat to U.S. Agriculture", Food Democracy Now! February 27, 2011.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/365?akid=313.293454.U7aX3K&t=14

2. "Monsanto - Statement About Alleged Plant Pathogen Potentially Associated with Roundup Ready Crops", Monsanto, February 22, 2011.

3."Scientist Warns of Safety of Monsanto's Roundup", Reuters, February 24, 2011.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/368?akid=313.293454.U7aX3K&t=16

4. "U.S. Approves Genetically Modified Alfalfa", New York Times, January 27, 2011.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/366?akid=313.293454.U7aX3K&t=18"

Getting Ready for the Big Planting.

I had some unexpected surgery on the 6th of this month. I'm still on the mend, but I'm doing fine. My son Jonathan knew I needed the garden tilled so I could get my seeds put in. He came over and tilled it for me, even though it was 93 degrees outside. I sure appreciated his help!

Before he tilled the area, he picked the last 10 ounces of broccoli from it. He also harvested the remaining rainbow Swiss chard that weighed in at 2 1/2 pounds.

This is the tiller my wife bought me three years or so ago for just $199.00 from Home Depot. What a deal!






After the tilling was done the next item to check out was the irrigation source for the crops. This required an expert's evaluation of my system.  Jonathan's almost two year old daughter Celie was the expert I selected. It's a good thing it was 93 degrees!

Her question was: "Is it cold?"

 

Jonathan is tilling between the bean rows to get the area ready. I'll be planting the reliable stringless Fortex green beans from Johnny's selected seeds in Maine. I bought 2,000 seeds for $56 this year. I plan to harvest my own seeds at the end of the season. Notice how nicely the tiller fits in the 36 inch row spacing. I'll use that for weeding purposes again this year. It worked wonderfully last year. When the beans grow up, they shade out the weeds. This makes it easier to control weed growth.





Here are a couple of shots of the bean rows after I finished preparing them for the seeding. Notice the wide row bed. I used this idea last year after the fact, but this year, I plan to water my beans throughout the gardening season by flooding the row beds. I won't be doing overhead watering of the beans this year.

This resembles raised bed gardening, but my rows are narrower than what I see referenced in the books on raised beds. When I plant my bean seeds, each row will have a double sowing of seed. In addition to that, I plan on using the succession method and replanting all the rows about every three to four weeks. That's why I bought so many seeds ahead of time.

Grandaughter Celie is helping me tie up my grape vines so the wind won't break them off. She's a great helper!

As you can see, the broccoli seed pods haven't turned brown yet. The large size is very interesting though. Some plants are beginning to lay over but are still green. They are not as lush a green as they once were. My tomato seeds aren't germinating too well, so the broccoli will get a few days reprieve from being pulled. I have read that if you pull the broccoli plants up by the roots and hang them upside down, you will get viable seeds from the pods. Unfortunately I only read that in one place. Does anyone out there have any experience they'd like to share about harvesting broccoli seeds?


That's all the news about our garden for this posting. Thanks to all my visitors and commentors for stopping by.

Have a great vegetable gardening day and take the time to teach a child about growing vegetables. What you share with them will be remembered later in life if not now. It might make the difference in them becoming a wonderful vegetable gardener!

Thanks!
Veggie PAK

Our Garden Continues...

First of all I hope everyone is safe and secure after the violent weather we've had in the last few days throughout the gulf states and the east coast. Mother Nature has sure been flexing her muscles!

Now back to better things. I've run into a few delays on getting my garden started when I wanted to this spring, but now I'm on my way with it.

These are 3/4" mini soil blocks all made up and put in a flat ready for the seeds to germinate.

The upper flat in the gray plastic tray contains Swiss Chard Bright Lights seed in 2" soil blocks. The lower flat contains seeds for dill, red, yellow and orange bell peppers, common sage, and san marzano tomatoes. Old bread truck trays make excellent holders for two flats at a time. They're stackable, which is very handy when bad weather is on the way. I load them onto a flat hand truck and roll them into my shop. When it has cleared, I roll them back out into the sunshine and unstack them. Of course I won't be able to stack them when they sprout, but they are still easy to carry in to safety in case of bad weather.

The top flat in this picture contains 46 each 2" soil blocks with dwarf french marigold seeds sown in them. I harvested those seeds last year when I had the marigolds throughout the garden to help deter  various types of pests. The flat in the lower portion of the picture contains 40 each 2" soil blocks of Petaluma Gold Rush Bean seeds (Thanks Michelle!).






The following three pictures are of my high bush blueberries that are going into their fourth year. Each of the buds that you can see in the pictures will be a blueberry. You can see the blue color at the base of the buds. In addition to those branches in the pictures, there are new ones sprouting all over the bushes, so I anticipate a plentiful harvest this year.

I can't wait 'til they're ready to pick!

Early last year I planted a Brown Turkey fig tree next to the fence in our back yard. Here is the very first fig that it is producing for us.

My Glenora grape vines appear to be just beginning to show their new spring growth for this year. Upon closer inspection, I was suprised to find... baby grapes! On the very few green leaves and vines that are showing growth, there are nine clusters of grapes forming! I can hardly wait to see what the full vines will be bearing this year!

I need to plan now for installing bird netting before they begin tasting the grapes when they are ripening. If I don't, I'll lose a lot of the grapes.

The broccoli has gone to flower and is going to seed. Some of the yellow flowers are visible in the picture. When the flower petals dry and fall off, little green pods are left that develop into the actual seed pods. You can see the seed pods here that actually look a little like small green beans. If you click on the picture, it will show you a larger view. (Use the back arrow to return to the blog.) They look like crooked little green candles.

Here is a later picture of the same broccoli plant. You can see that the flowers have browned out and most of them have formed into seed pods that are larger than those in the previous picture. Click on the picture and you can see that the main stalk is becoming distressed and is shriveling as indicated by the indentations developing along its length. That means the seeds are growing just the way they are supposed to. If you look close at the pods, you can see the bulges of the seeds in the pods.


With a little luck, the weather will cooperate and I'll be able to do the final tilling of my soil this week before I can plant seeds in my garden. That's all the high points from our garden for now.

Everyone have a great vegetable gardening day!
Veggie PAK

Harvest Monday for April 11th, 2011.

I was able to assemble a meager harvest for this week's efforts. I pulled the salsify that has been growing for five months and also picked some broccoli florets.

These are the roots of the five month old salsify that weighed in at only 4 ounces. They don't even reach all the way across the tray of my table scale! By the time you clean them, there may be a tablespoonful left to cook. Sounded easy enough on the seed packet directions, but that shows that you can't believe everything you read! The packet pictures made them look like large white carrots.

Nine ounces of the small broccoli florets were pretty nice to get this week. Most of the plants are already flowering and going to seed. But that's a good thing! I'm keeping an eye on them so I can harvest the seeds. From the information I have reviewed, the seed pods MUST dry out on the plant while it is still in the ground. Even if you pull the plants out and let the pods dry, the seed will not be viable. Does anyone have any experience with saving broccoli seeds?

This is something I usually don't put on my blog, but it was so good that I had to share it with all of you. I used a bag of Mrs. Wages Dilled Green Bean mix last fall to make a few jars of dilled green beans. Well, I like how it turned out because I like dill and I like green beans, so I couldn't lose on that one. Today for lunch I gave my wife a sample of the dilled beans and she liked them too. Then we thought, "What can we make using these dilled beans?"  We had a can of chick peas/garbanzo beans in the pantry so we put them in the mix. We had a sweet red bell pepper in the fridge so I diced that up and mixed it in. For some extra juice, I poured the liquid contents of one of the two pint jars we used into the bowl, mixed it up and it was really great! It reminded me of a three bean salad, except this was a two bean and a pepper salad! I will be using many bags of Mrs. Wages Dilled Green Bean mix this year!


That's it for this week, and that just about depletes the garden of any future harvests from plants that are out there at this time. It's tilling time for the last time before the seeds go into the ground. I'm anxiously sitting here with 2,000 Fortex green bean seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine. I can't wait to get them into the soil! I plan to use intensive gardening methods and succession planting for them this year.


Happy vegetable gardening and good weather to everyone!
Veggie PAK

Harvest Monday for April 4th, 2011.

This week's harvest was a little better since the weather has warmed up so much. Today was in the low 80's.

The schav, or sorrel as it's known around here, looked pretty good so I decided to harvest it in order to make some potato and schav soup. I was able to get 5 ounces of it.

The Detroit dark red beets are the same size as they were last year with no bulbs to speak of. The root might be as large as the diameter of a wooden #2 pencil, that's it. They were planted on October 29, 2010, and this is as far as they have grown during that length of time.

My green beauty garden peas (courtesy of Michelle of CA) are doing nicely.

The salsify is actually growing this year. It was planted the same time as the Detroit beets.

This is the ruby red swiss chard that my grandaughter planted for me a while back. I'm going to transplant them into the garden so they can flourish.

These are Bachelor Buttons I planted for the bees and butterflies. They are supposed to really like them. I'll be transplanting them throughout my yard.

This is my French Tarragon. It is really starting to grow vigorously.

Here is some Tuscan Arugula (courtesy of Michelle of CA). It is growing very well. I'll need to move them to bigger pots.

These are three pictures of some of my heritage red raspberry plants. The smaller ones have sprung up from the root of the parent plant. Hopefully, more will be showing up.

Two new plants have come up near the house foundation.

These raspberry plants seem to be growing very well in this area of my yard. It's just the strip between the house and the concrete driveway, but they look happy there. I'll be happy to pick the raspberries they produce.

The Swiss chard did pretty good over the winter considering the snow that was on it for so long. I was able to pick 1 1/2 pounds of it for this week's harvest.

The Vates collards were picked today for the last time. I pulled them out as I picked the leaves off. I had a total of 7 1/2 pounds of collards for this week's report.

The broccoli has produced all that it could for this year. I have to pull it out to make room for the new plants. I picked 8 ounces for this weeks harvest.

My broccoli was the Waltham 29 type for this year. It did pretty well considering the harsh winter it went through. Since it bolted, I thought I would give seed saving a try. At first I thought something had gotten into it and eaten the parts where the seed pods would form. Thankfully, I was mistaken! If you look near the points of the yellow arrows, you can see the lighter green seed pods that are forming. I didn't realize that is what they were until I got very close to them and then could see the individual seeds in each pod. This is the first time in my life that I am saving broccoli seeds from my own plants.

Well, that does it for this week's report. I hope everyone is enjoying warmer temperatures and adequate rainfall.

Thanks for visiting!
Veggie PAK