My New Square Foot Garden Raised Bed

Yesterday I told you about my new PVC raised gardening boxes in the far top left corner.  At $59.97 each on sale, they certainly were not a cheap way to build raised garden beds especially since between the two I ended up with 16 square feet of growing space.  My husband doesn't like the new PVC beds so he picked up some spruce to build me a wooden raised bed.



The new raised bed is 4' x 12' x

Corking in Jalapeno Peppers

Corking in Jalapeno PeppersOctober 22, 2010
I picked a fair amount of various peppers over the last few days in anticipation of frost soon to come.  Pictured are some of the jalapeno peppers.  See the thin white striations on the lower three jalapeno peppers?  These striations are known as corking.  Some believe that corking is an indication of that jalapeno pepper being hotter than those without

A Pot of Onions

Potted OnionsOctober 22, 2010

The milder weather has given me extra time to get plants indoors.  Yesterday I brought in a pot of onions.  I planted the onions in early June but by mid-July they were pretty much done.  I intended to dump the pot and replant but forgot.  When we returned home from our September vacation I was pleasantly greeted with some rather healthy looking growth.  It looks

Last Large Vegetable Harvest of 2010

Last Large Vegetable Harvest of 2010October 20, 2010 
My gosh, by any stretch of the imagination home gardeners and commercial growers in our area have not had a good growing season.  Despite that the fall has been rather on the mild side meaning the garden has been producing longer than normal.   It is beyond our ADFF and we have yet to have a frost.  The weather is turning and based on the

A Small Harvest

A Small HarvestSeptember 7, 2010
This really has been a bad year for gardening here.  August has been so dry that it is more than affecting the local growers.  Irrigating has been the only way to save the crops but still that may not be enough.  I did a clean pick of the garden a couple of days ago.  The tomatoes are producing nicely and despite the weather the sweet peppers are really performing

Swiss Chard

Swiss ChardSeptember 7, 2010
I didn't plant  a lot of Swiss chard this year but the 2 square feet are producing nicely.  I've been cutting the outer leaves then letting the inner leaves mature which seems to be keeping the plants a bit more productive.   I picked enough for freezing a couple of nights ago.  It wasn't a lot but it was enough for about two cups of steamed greens for the freezer. 

Raccoons and Corn

Raccoons and CornAugust 19, 2010
Our neighbours to the north put in the most amazing raised bed system I've seen.  It consists of 3 larger beds joined together forming a flattened Z shape.  They are not growing using the square foot method.  In one of the runs they planted corn and they even added a really neat support system that I will use if I decide to grow corn next year.  I haven't grown

Jalapeno Peppers

Jalapeno PeppersAugust 15, 2010

The Jalapeno pepper plants are also laden with peppers.  They are almost ready for picking, just in time for salsa making!  I'm surprised at how well all the pepper plants are doing this year.  Even the sweet pepper plants are performing nicely!  I'm already making plans for all the great ways I going to use the pepper abundance. 

Happy Gardening!

Garden

Habanero Peppers

Habanero PeppersAugust 15, 2010
The Habanero pepper plants are looking quite healthy and laden with peppers.  I'm hoping they will be ready within the next day or two when I plan to start making tomato salsas.  If not I will change my plans to start with roasted tomato sauce.  Either way I'm looking forward to having a lot of Habanero peppers to work with this year!

Happy Gardening!

Garden

A Small Picking

Mainly TomatoesAugust 12, 2010
Yesterday I noticed a few tomatoes were ready for picking.  I like doing a clean pick each day to prevent any problems and spoilage.  The larger two tomatoes to the top right are brandywines growing in the raised beds.  To the left middle the largest tomato is also a brandywine grown in a container.  There is a noticeable difference in size.  Much of this is a

Brandywine Tomatoes in Containers

Brandywine Tomatoes in ContainersAugust 12, 2010
Traditionally I have to work at growing tomatoes in containers.  I think it is more luck in picking the right variety though.  This year I have brandywines in two 5 gal containers.  In comparison to the brandywine tomatoes planted in the raised beds the vines in the containers are considerably smaller but they still seem to be producing rather well

First Ripe Brandywine Tomato of 2010

First Ripe Brandywine TomatoAugust 8, 2010
I am so excited!  I picked the first ripe brandywine tomato of 2010 yesterday.  We have had an extended hot spell so the tomatoes are not ripening as quick as they normally would.  Brandywine is a lovely heirloom tomato.  The tomatoes are a good size with a firm, pinkish red flesh and nice tomato flavour.  The vines are in raised beds and looking quite

Pickling Cucumber Update

I planted 4 planters with pickling cucumbers.  To date I have managed to get 2 pickle sized cucumbers off the vines.  I'm not impressed!  Tomorrow I will be replacing these vines with likely geraniums since the nursery has them at 50% off.  If it were closer to fall I would be planting lettuces but good gosh the summer this year has been just too hot for lettuces.  It has been a very frustrating

Brandywine Tomatoes Progress

Brandywine TomatoesAugust 3, 2010
The brandywine tomato vines are healthy looking and laden with tomatoes.  So far there have been no ripe ones to pick but that is to be expected with the recent weather.  At temperatures of 85ºF of which we have had an extended period of time the ripening process for tomatoes stops.  The lycopene and carotene that gives the beautiful red colouration isn't

First Tomato of 2010

First TomatoJuly 24, 2010

I picked the first ripe tomato of the season on Saturday.  It is a Tiny Tim and as you can see from the picture of the tomato on 2 - inch ceramic tiles it does live up to its name.  While this little tomato won't be enough for a sandwich I used it in a loaf of Italian Garden bread.  I'm looking forward to many more tomatoes to come!

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
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The First of the Zucchini Summer Squash

Zucchini Summer SquashJuly 16, 2010
I picked the first of the zucchini a couple of days ago.  The zucchini is growing in a 5 gallon container.  It has been looking quite promising but it will be interesting to see how the zucchini performs overall in the container.  I don't know the variety of this zucchini as the tag was missing when I bought it.  So far the squash is a bit misshaped but that

My First Marketmore Cucumber

First Marketmore Cucumber(Cucumis sativus)July 13, 2010
I picked the first Marketmore cucumber on Tuesday (July 13).  Marketmore matures in about 60 days.   produces a long 9 - 11 inch straight cucumber with white spines.  It is resistent to many cucumber diseases.  It's important to keep the cucumbers picked to prevent the seeds from maturing otherwise the vine will stop producing.

The cucumber

The First of the Marketmore Cucumbers

Marketmore CucumbersJuly 7, 2010
The marketmore cucumber plant went in the herb bed along with the main garden planting in late May and early June.  It showed a few signs of transplant shock but all new growth has been quite healthy looking.  The lower leaves have a few brown spots possibly Alternaria leaf blight caused by Alternaria cucumerina fungus on them so I will spray with a milk solution

New Raised Beds (2)

Yesterday I posted about the new raised beds going in.  The beauty of raised beds is they are easier plant and maintain as well as being easier to protect against critters like rabbits.  If rabbits are a problem the bed is already raised by at least 8 - inches so simply adding low fencing meant as garden edging that is about a foot tall around the inside perimeter at the soil level is high enough

First of the Zucchini and Tiny Tim Tomatoes

Things are progressing nicely in the garden.  I am still planting but that is normal for the square foot garden method.  I have a lot more vegetables and herbs planted in containers this year.  This does seem to be the year of dealing with various insects and their damage but with the wild rabbits mysteriously absent there is no large scale damage so far. 

I only have one zucchini plant this