Solanum Post

It has been a while since I posted about the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants & potatoes so I thought I would group them into a Solanum post. Lets start with the potatoes shall we.

I planted the potato bin this evening with the seed potatoes I chitted way back when. I am glade they are in finally after being delayed so long due to the bed refilling. I have decided to hedge my losses and only fill the bin 4 boards high this year. If potatoes form up to the fourth board then next year I will fill in all the way up with soil.

You may also notice that new garden spigot at the side. It is a freeze proof one and I am currently installing it. All I have to do now is hook it up on the inside. Can't wait to get that done!

Here are the red fingerlings I have growing in a large container, about 24" I believe. They have sprouted nicely and in about a week I will be adding more soil. In addition to the bin & potted potatoes I am also going to try 3 compost bags planted with a seed potato in each. I have the bags but I am now waiting for the seed to sprout. I will show them as soon as I plant them.

Here are most of the 16 tomatoes I am growing this year. They have really gone crazy and are about two feet high. They are a little spindly because I have them spaced to closely though. Thankfully I can plant them out in the soil now so that should happen any day now. I will be burying at least half of their height below the soil.

I couldn't forget about Mister Early Tomato and of course its fruit is focused dead center. The fruit is bigger then a gold ball now and he had 3 blooms out when I took this photo. I have my fingers & toes crossed that it will ripen by the first week of June.

Here are the peppers, sorry about my crappy photos this evening, it was getting dark when I took them. The large ones in the back are Big Chili II & Jimmy Nardello's. In the front row we have Ancho's towards the end of the poly tunnel, Sport Peppers in the center square pot and the Purple Peppers on the end from Annie's Kitchen Garden. The purple peppers were a little slow to germinate but are coming along nicely now.

The last Solanum for this evening are the Eggplants, these ones are Rosa Bianca. They have a bit of yellowing but should do great once they are planted out and it warms up some more. I hope the eggplants do better this year, last years crop didn't even grow in the cool wet season we had.

To end this Solanum post I will share a photo of the 3 topsy turvy's that came today. I wanted to try the self watering ones like this one but once you order three, add shipping and tax they were almost 70 big ones, crazy. So I found these topsy turvy's on eBay and bartered a good deal from a Canadian lady. I will be hanging them off the redundant chimney and I should get that done tomorrow I hope. Cheers to upside down planting!

My Productive Saturday

Today was the day to fill the new beds. I have been putting it off due to the weather and because we have not had access to the side shared lane way. I ended up filling them in the rain, I guess some times you just have to work in the rain when things need to get done. This time we decided to haul the triple mix ourselves to save the delivery charge. Four of these scoops were brought home for a total of 2 cubic yards. For example, that is enough soil to fill a container that is 3'x3'x6', thanks to Daphne for the numbers. Here are a few photos of the beds:

The top bed will have the potato bin at the top,
melons trellised against the wall and greens in front.

The lower bed will have a couple tomatoes, trellised beans against
the wall and something in the front that has yet to be determined.

This small bed will be entirely peppers of all kinds and
maybe a row of shallots along the front.

After all that was done I used up the remaining triple mix to expand the perennial bed out front. It was changed from a straight edge to a curved edge so only slightly larger. Tomorrow I will be planting all the potted veggies into the new beds that needed to be planted a while ago. The warm season crops will have to wait about a week because the weather is turning pretty cold tomorrow. I am also putting in a garden beside the lowest bed to hold the potted tomatoes & potatoes, rhubarb and for herbs. It will just be a native soil garden and I will post about it once it is done.

Anyway I think I am going to go lay down for a while....

Thursdays Garden Meal

Spinach & Mushroom Quiche w/ Mixed Greens & Radish Salad

The Harvest

From the back forward we have easter egg radishes, two rows of spinach
& mixed greens. All of these crops will be harvested over the next week
or two so I can clear room to plant the tomatoes.

Here is what was harvested. Half the spinach,
a few radishes & fresh immature garlic.

The Recipe

Ingredients:

• One single pie crust, home made or store bought
• One package of mushrooms
• 8-10 oz of fresh spinach
• garlic (to taste)
  
• 1 cup half & half cream
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup cheese (anything on hand)
• salt & pepper (to taste)
  

Pre-heat your oven to 375. Then preparing your crust and place it in your pie dish or use a store bought one that is ready to go. Place the crust in the oven with pie weights and blind bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly brown.

Well that is baking chop the mushrooms, spinach & garlic and set aside. Then mix cream, eggs & cheese together and set aside. Now saute the mushrooms until soft and place in a bowl. Then saute spinach & garlic until just wilted and add that to the mushrooms. Allow the sauteed veg to cool well the crust is baking.

Now with the crust out of the oven combine the saute veg, egg mixture & seasoning and pour into the pre-baked pie shell. Place the quiche in the oven and bake until golden & puffed about 20-25 minutes.

Garden Update

After updating first about the arbor yesterday I thought I would update about it again today. I managed to finish it this evening just before the rain started. The only thing left is to source some of those fancy wood plugs to cover the leg bolt holes and I am thinking I need one more 2x2 on either end. What do you think, more 2x2's at the top?

After completing that I had some gardening to do and some photos to take for this post which then had to be done in the rain. I have been reader a few blogs that have been writing about the bad in their garden and it made me realize I rarely write about the bad. So I will start with the bad today.

One of my Broccoli died. The same thing happened last year in another bed were the plant just shriveled up and died. No cutworm marks but when the plant is dug up it has no roots. Any ideas? Thankfully I have spares in the cold frame so this one was replaced this evening.

Here is one of the 15 not dead broccoli. They are all about a foot tall now. In behind you may see the interplanted radishes, trying to really maximize space this year.

This photo shows two bad things. The first being that 3 of the eight bok choy have bolted. Not sure if this is common as I have never grown them before. The second bad is all the weeds that sprouted from my compost. I did end up getting that Japanese Weeder but have only had time to weed one bed so far.

Well that is enough bad news for today, here is some good news. The early planted tomato has one fruit that is a bit bigger then a gum ball now. I hope it ripens by the first week of June. It also has loads of buds that are just about to open. :-)

Here we have tatsoi & 'bright light' chard from Daphne's Dandelions. They really need to get in the ground but I can't plant them until my new beds are filled. Really need to make that happen soon.

Here are the broad beans that came all the way across the pond from Down on the Allotment. They have just started to flower which I am rather excited about, aren't
they beautiful? You will be seeing lots of these this spring.

The pot of radicchio & onion sets are doing very well. I think radicchio grows better as a fall crop though so we shall see how it does in the spring.

Lastly I plant two Romanesco Broccoli this evening. They are more like a cauliflower and it is recommended to hold off plant them until most of the cold has past. They can't take nearly as much frost as broccoli can. By July I hope to be harvesting some spiky, alien looking heads!

Tuesdays Photography

First off I had to share a photo of what I have completed on the gate arbor as of tonight. It is turning out very nice. All that is left now is to leg everything in place and top it with horizontal 2x2's. A post about its construction will be coming once I finish the fence.

If you look up at the window that is where
the idea for the fence framing came from.

Yard Photos:

I have been rather fascinated with how the dew forms on the brassica's
in the morning. The first photo is Kohlrabi followed by Broccoli.

A row of mixed lettuce in morning light.

Dewy Bok Choy

Dwarf Breaded Iris. I only grow the dwarf varieties because
the full sized ones always flop just as they come into bloom.

You may recall my post about Naturalizing Muscari in the lawn last fall, well
here is the fruits of my labor. They have done really well. Now I will just have
to resist the urge to mow until they die back.

Non Yard Photos:

We have been out photographing in the woods again. This time we found
a spot that is carpeted with trillium's. Found a few Jack in the Pulpit's too.

Found this Chipmunk well looking for Turtles to photograph.
He or she was trying to act invisible.







Lastly here are some photos of the small fair that sets up every spring
by our home. I am not one to ride but I do like to photograph them.