Saturday, June 14, 2014

Current State of the Garden

Friday, June 13 - Not that I am Superstitious

While I have records of when produce is picked I don't have anything to look at that tells me what state other crops were in on a particular date.

Summer squash - have buds (not flowers). I wrapped and tied cheese cloth around the stems yesterday to try to keep away the squash vine borer moth, which is due around mid-June. I plan to spray them with kaolin clay soon when it is a dry day.
Cucumbers (only two) - have flowers but are under row cover material. They were sprayed with kaolin clay when planted more than a week ago and will be sprayed again when we have a dry day.
Blueberries - the berries have filled out but are not turning blue yet. The bird netting frame is up but the netting still has to be attached.
Cherry tree - the cherries are beginning to yellow. The tree near the screen porch has very few berries this year compared to last year. Generally this very cold 2013-2014 winter was hard on fruit trees.
Rhubarb - growing very vigorously and needs to be picked again.
Grapes - not affected by the cold winter. Once again there are far too many bunches of grapes forming and I need to cut some of them off.
Asparagus - this is the one known disappointment this year. The original 25 (and very weak looking) roots that were planted four years ago developed into 22 plants. I believe the number was less last year (the number 16 sticks in my mind) but the harvest was fine. This year the harvest has been very poor and very few shoots have been coming up. Part of the bed, near the grape arbor, is devoid of asparagus.
Blackberries - these were planted last year. There is little or no growth on last years canes, which would produce the canes that flower and fruit this year. What growth there is is in flower. Growth from below the soil surface is fine, but won't produce any fruit this year. The dead canes need to be pruned out.
Garlic - good growth as usual. Scapes are forming and the leaves are just beginning to yellow. Time to stop watering them.
New raspberries. - Similar to the blackberries. Little growth on the mostly dead canes from last year. Flowers on what growth there is. New growth from below the soil.
Old raspberries - Some of last year's canes were cut at the level of the horizontal fencing and those canes are flowering. And there is new growth from soil level and it seems that some of that growth is flowering also, but closer examination is needed.
Basil - growing nicely, needs to be pruned to encourage side growth.
Leeks - look good, growing well. Could they have been closer than 6 inches?
Peppers:
    Bullnose - just a few buds. These are outside the fenced garden.
    Purple and sunshine have buds.
    Chocolate have tiny peppers starting.
Tomatoes - all are in flower but no little tomatoes yet.
Kale - growing well. We have been eating it.
Parsley - growing well. We need to begin harvesting some.
Pac choi - we are eating it. Will it regrow after most of it is cut off?
Scallions - if the chipmunk would stop digging holes in that area with would be better. But it is growing well and I am still transplanting some of what I had started in the garden.
Collards - I didn't start any early and the ones I seeded in the garden are not quite ready to transplant.
Lettuce - after a slow start the lettuce is growing nicely. My labels have faded but the merlot is a very deep, dark red; flame is leafy and red tinged; lolla rosa a also quite red but green deeper inside the plant; Yugoslavian red is red and green and is or is like a bibb lettuce. Merlot will become the lettuce of choice.
Beets - growing slowly but are taking off now. I haven't grown many beets before so I don't know if their slow growth is typical or caused by being chewed on when small.
Fava beans - have been in flower for about a week.
New kale - this is kale started from seed in the garden. It was transplanted recently and looks fine.
Ground cherries - I collected ground cherries from various places in the garden where they have appeared and put them together. They are small but are beginning to grow. I have lots of replacements if necessary.
Peas- the peas are flowering but I plan to pull them out because they will not produce very much and I need space for more productive crops.
Gooseberries and currants - both a developing berries and since neither was pruned early in the year, access will be a problem.

In short, the garden is doing well. I doubt that it will produce as much as last year (over 600 pounds) because there may be no pears and I am planning to have fewer grape clusters. Tomatoes, however, could weigh in quite well. The plants look great and I have somewhat more than last year, especially considering that I had three plants last year that I pretty much ignored.




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