2021 Garden list

[D.J. Wolf]

Thanks! I will try to resize them before posting more I guess.

I haven't grown taters in years, really have missed having them. Roughly half of them (the closest ones in the first picture) are Yukon Gold, which I love. The rest are Red Norland, which seem to be a basic red potato.

The lettuce is black seeded Simpson, it's looking like I'll be able to get a good cutting off it for a fresh salad for Memorial Day weekend, with some of the spinach thrown in as well!

[TerpGal]

I planned a pretty ambitious year this year although I don't know how it will go. I started a 150 sq ft no dig garden space for this year. Did the cardboard and compost method. Being a noob to no dig, I brought in compost from a local landscape place. Well that turned out to be (not yet finished) composted wood chips. So yeah.......nitrogen and everything else deficiency galore. So things are struggling a bit. I applied both blood and bone meal about 2 weeks ago and have also since done a fish emulsion feed. I am cautiously hopeful. So what I have in addition to the 15 tomatoes are

Sweet Peppers: Quadrato d' Asti Giallo, sheepnose Pimiento, King of the North, Etuda

Hot: A seed that I started from my Cayenne pepper last year. Don't think this plant actually is a cayenne looks like I got a cross, Fish (that also might be crossed), Habanero, Jalapeño, Scotch Bonnet, Sugar Rush Peach, Poland

Bush Beans: Dragon Tongue, Blue Lake

Cucumbers: Boston Pickling x5

Muskmelon: Charentais x3

Okra: Clemson Spineless x3, Jing Orange x3

Watermelon: Orangeglo

Winter Squash: Waltham Butternut

Basil: Genovese, Siam Queen, Blue Spice, Tulsi (Holy Basil)

Other Herbs: Cilantro, Flat Leaf Parsley, Silver Thyme, Tricolor Sage, Oregano, Chamomile

Flowers: Double Dutch Purple Cosmos, Candy Cane Mix Zinnias, Orange Flame Marigold

[D.J. Wolf]

With the weed issues I have here, there is absolutely no way I'm going to try a "no-dig" or "no-till" garden. I don't have the energy to deal with the ground ivy and morning glory that seems to pop up out of nowhere and spread everywhere. Last year, my rototiller died (first year planting in this garden) so I did kind of do a "no-till" thing. After half killing myself trying to pull the morning glory out of the corn, and the pig weed, button weed, morning glory, ground ivy, maple seedling, and everything else out, I broke down and went back to my farming roots and used Roundup to kind of control almost everything. That was a pain in and of itself, having to shield good plants from the spray while making sure the weeds got a good dose. But it worked, and I had a fairly successful harvest of most things, especially the tomatoes. This year, new tiller, entire plot got worked up, and things are growing great!

Lettuce is in full production mode now. Salads almost daily, and I managed to give away 4 gallon bags full last week! Spinach is doing ok, got a gallon off the one row last week, a quart or so Memorial Day weekend. Sure tastes good.

Zucchini and cucumbers are blossoming, hoping to start seeing some "cukes and zukes" soon. Pumpkins are about to start blossoming, seeing a lot of male blossoms that just haven't opened yet.

Had to replant the corn. I don't know if it was bad seed, bad conditions, or what, but out of the entire patch I had maybe 15 plants come up on the first seeding. Replanted June 4th, corn is all up and probably 6-8" tall already.

Tomatoes are starting to blossom and set fruit. Thinking first one ripe will be Sun Sugar, although the cherry baby's are catching up quickly to the Sun Sugar.

We had a big thunderstorm here on the 7th. It rained 1.75", most of that in the first 20 minutes or so. It knocked a lot of the potato plants down, but they still seem to be growing ok. They just don't look as pretty all spread out all over the ground instead of standing up. It rained so much so fast that I had water standing all through the garden.

Biggest problem right now is fighting the maple seedlings. Some of my rows I only spaced 2' apart, and can't really get between them with the tiller. So it's all hand work, and after the rain the ground is pretty hard. So I've been pulling a lot of these stupid seedlings, a handful at a time, whenever I have time to work on it. Eventually I'll get them all.

[D.J. Wolf]

This post is a test. This is only a test.


And it was a successful test! More pictures coming soon, I promise! (My phone is full of them!)

[D.J. Wolf]

Ok, so a few "then & now" (well, close to now anyway) posts will follow. But first, then and now of the entire garden. Obviously from opposite ends of the garden, but that's how it happened

[D.J. Wolf]

Lettuce

[D.J. Wolf]

Pumpkins. So much difference between May 23 and June 18th. Not even a month...wow

[D.J. Wolf]

Final post for now. Tomatoes then...and now.

Then taken on plant out day 5/16, now taken 6/18

[D.J. Wolf]

Finally, some things are ready to harvest! I got busy Friday (7/9) and finally managed to get a few things picked.

[Koala Doug]

Very nice!

[D.J. Wolf]

All I can say at this point is what a challenging year this has been! I don't think I've ever had the issues with plants that I've had this year! First, the low notes:

1. Pumpkins. Terrible crop. I have 1...count it 1 pumpkin as we speak. All the vines have died from something. There were 2, one rotted on the vine AFTER it was fully orange.
2. Zucchini. Maybe my biggest disappointment. Heavy rains set in this year in July, and the powdery mildew took the zucchini out in a big hurry. I got a whole 3 zucchini.
3.Spinach. Too hot. Way too hot early, it just bolted and went to seed.
4. Oninons. Where did the onions go. They were growing great, nice and tall, and then suddenly I can't even find them!
5. Corn. Let me tell you, nothing makes you feel like a failure more than not being able to grow good sweet corn in Illinois! Mine was very poor this year, to the point that I don't know if I'll even bother with taking up the room next year.

Positives:
1. Potatoes. Although a lack of moisture and me not getting as much water on them as I should have led to early dry down and small tubers, they did pretty well. And the flavor is so much better than store bought I think.
2. Lettuce. First crop of lettuce brought me gallon after gallon of lettuce.
3. Tomatoes. Both pluses and minuses here, but overall a decent year. Managed to make up and can around 20 quarts of salsa even. Cherry tomatoes have been wonderful all year
4. Jalapenos. Other than the ones used for salsa, and the one's I've cooked with, I've actually had and continue to have jalapenos to share with friends.
5. Green Beans. I saved the best for last. If I was looking for a go to veggie that is fairly easy to take care of, and that I've proven I can grow this year, it would be the green beans. The first planting has put out over 30 pints of beans. Second planting is now picking up, and has already put out 7 or 8 pints. The surprising thing is that I always thought that bush beans were supposed to do 3 or 4 good pickings of beans and then be done. Well, the Blue Lakes have proven that wrong this year. These beans refuse to stop producing at least some beans. I have been picking weekly, and just today picked probably another pint to pint and a half off these worn out plants. I've decided that I am leaving whatever is still on the plants to dry down and try to save for next years seed.