The grass is slowing down in its growth now, and the cool season is here. This morning it was 16 Celsius out by the South Garden. So that signals it's time to get moving on my greens. Most of them are very sensitive to nighttime temps, particularly lettuce and cole crops. Cole crops aka cruciferous veggies include turnip, broccoli, collards, mustard, and pac choy.
The cole crops are nutritional powerhouses, in addition to tasting really good in salads, soups, and stir fries. Look up turnip greens somewhere and check out the nutritional analysis...it's really impressive.
I felt a little better this morning, so I got outside around eight and got to work mixing potting soil and setting up pots. I set up three 34 cm pots with radishes and pepper plants. It's a hassle sometimes, fussing with containers and mixing soil...especially when I'm feeling ill. But this morning I felt enthusiastic for a change. It's hard to stay enthusiastic when you're in a lot of pain every day...but that's another story for another blog somewhere.
I've had a running debate in my head for years...containers or planting beds in the ground? Containers are winning lately. My potting soil is much richer and better able to grow a variety of veggies. But the planting beds can at times produce really impressive yields of things that tolerate the calcareous soil...like tomatoes, cole crops, and beans. So I've been trying a little of both. After a spectacular failure with some sweet potato plants in the South Garden, I'm currently focusing on the containers.
I might just plant the whole garden in emmer wheat to see what happens. The grass family has an impressive ability to grow in almost any soil...in fact there's a species of African grass that is absolutely determined to make that garden its own...Dactyloctenium aegyptium. No matter how much hoeing I do, it always comes back somehow. Grain sorghum has always done well in that garden, so I might try the wheat this cool season...I have a nice fat envelope of seed I recently bought.
As for the containers, I have plans for lots of peppers and greens. Lately I've been planting Jwala peppers and Poblano peppers. My favorites include Serranos, Caribbean reds, and Tabascos. I like bell peppers too, but they are very disease-prone, so I've given up on them for a while. In the past I have grown some very nice bell peppers in the containers...maybe I'll get back to them again.
I'm also going to plant lots of Golden Ball turnips. I like them the best of all the varieties I've tried, and apparently European foodies agree with me...the Golden Ball is supposed to be the most popular turnip throughout Europe. Those white turnips with the purple tops give me too much indigestion, so I just won't eat them anymore. I do love eating rutabagas or turnips mashed half and half with potato, like my grandmother used to fix them. Unfortunately the weather is only suitable for turnips for just a few months if that. The rest of the time they struggle in the heat and the roots get very strong-tasting and pungent. I'll put their pots at the northern side of the racks so the soil stays cooler, or maybe plant a row of them in a planting bed.
I rarely grow great quantities of anything. Instead I plant a little of this and a little of that. This gives me great variety in my meals. If you have a choice, why not live well? I pity those who have to get by on supermarket food...how sad their lives are. Having lots of toys doesn't bring you happiness...good food, good music, pleasant surroundings, good company, good sex, being close to trees, plants and wildlife...now that's living.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
A Tad Cooler
The really hot daytime temps seem to have exited, along with the warm nights. It's not really chilly, but the cool-weather crops can tolerate what's happening now.
The nice thing about the cool season is that many of the things I grow during the cooler months, like mustard and lettuce, are fine for salads. Sometimes I worry a bit about not eating raw foods during the warmer months, since I rarely eat fruit. Fruit gives me toothaches.
So I'm looking forward to planting all kinds of salad greens. I've already got radish greens and pac choy coming along, and today I'll probably start some mustard seed. Young mustard greens are so good in salads...more nutritious and tastier than lettuce. I've been wary of planting lettuce, turnips, etc., since the weather has been so warm on most days. But the radishes and the Shanghai pac choy can take a bit of heat for a while, so they're well along now. In fact the radishes seem to be thriving, especially since the heat eased up a bit and the sun has been losing some of its intensity.
Right now I'm concentrating on getting my radish seedlings into larger containers...they've almost outgrown their six cm pots. I usually sow seed in a pot that's about nine cm or so, then separate the seedlings into individual small pots later. It takes about a month give or take to get a seedling that's ready to plant in a large pot or a planting bed. I always have trays of seedlings coming along.
Yesterday I planted some Hattorikun radish seedlings in 40 and 43 cm nursery pots, those are grown for their tasty greens rather than their roots. The roots are edible, but they only form after the plant has been around for some time. For roots, I'm growing Miyashige and China Rose...two varieties bred for fall harvest in temperate climes. Everest is another good one for me, I've had very good results with that variety. I like radishes in salads, as a garnish, in soups, or in stir fries. For a subtropical gardener radishes are a good choice because they tolerate a bit of heat and they grow like weeds generally. Of course if you want crisp, mild roots it's best to grow them in rich soil. The temps should not be too hot when the roots are forming or they'll be really pungent and strong-tasting.
So right now I'm focusing on getting my radish seedlings transplanted, along with my Jwala peppers. This year I plan to keep growing sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) right through the cool season. I have three varieties growing, and I don't want to have to buy slips again when the weather starts to warm up. With the warm weather we've had in recent years, I'm gambling that the Ipomoea will continue to make tubers in the coming months.
They are so easy to propagate. Today I noticed that a potato vine had put down roots into one of my Jwala pepper containers. If I snip the vine and cut it off from its parent, it will grow and produce potatoes in that pot. So all I really have to do for propagation is set pots of soil on the racks and lay the vines from existing plants across them. But usually I snip leaders from the vines, strip off most of the leaves and stick them in the pots or planting beds. It's that easy. There's nothing else I grow that produces more food than Ipomoea batatas...you can even eat the greens, though I've never tried them.
Once I give the lawn areas their last cutting, I should be able to forget mowing for a few months. Our grasses don't seem to grow during the shorter days...thankfully! So I'll be able to spend more time gardening...assuming the air is breathable for me. This morning I got a strong stinging sensation if I tried to breathe through my nose...no idea what was causing the irritation. We'll see how things go...as usual.
The nice thing about the cool season is that many of the things I grow during the cooler months, like mustard and lettuce, are fine for salads. Sometimes I worry a bit about not eating raw foods during the warmer months, since I rarely eat fruit. Fruit gives me toothaches.
So I'm looking forward to planting all kinds of salad greens. I've already got radish greens and pac choy coming along, and today I'll probably start some mustard seed. Young mustard greens are so good in salads...more nutritious and tastier than lettuce. I've been wary of planting lettuce, turnips, etc., since the weather has been so warm on most days. But the radishes and the Shanghai pac choy can take a bit of heat for a while, so they're well along now. In fact the radishes seem to be thriving, especially since the heat eased up a bit and the sun has been losing some of its intensity.
Right now I'm concentrating on getting my radish seedlings into larger containers...they've almost outgrown their six cm pots. I usually sow seed in a pot that's about nine cm or so, then separate the seedlings into individual small pots later. It takes about a month give or take to get a seedling that's ready to plant in a large pot or a planting bed. I always have trays of seedlings coming along.
Yesterday I planted some Hattorikun radish seedlings in 40 and 43 cm nursery pots, those are grown for their tasty greens rather than their roots. The roots are edible, but they only form after the plant has been around for some time. For roots, I'm growing Miyashige and China Rose...two varieties bred for fall harvest in temperate climes. Everest is another good one for me, I've had very good results with that variety. I like radishes in salads, as a garnish, in soups, or in stir fries. For a subtropical gardener radishes are a good choice because they tolerate a bit of heat and they grow like weeds generally. Of course if you want crisp, mild roots it's best to grow them in rich soil. The temps should not be too hot when the roots are forming or they'll be really pungent and strong-tasting.
So right now I'm focusing on getting my radish seedlings transplanted, along with my Jwala peppers. This year I plan to keep growing sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) right through the cool season. I have three varieties growing, and I don't want to have to buy slips again when the weather starts to warm up. With the warm weather we've had in recent years, I'm gambling that the Ipomoea will continue to make tubers in the coming months.
They are so easy to propagate. Today I noticed that a potato vine had put down roots into one of my Jwala pepper containers. If I snip the vine and cut it off from its parent, it will grow and produce potatoes in that pot. So all I really have to do for propagation is set pots of soil on the racks and lay the vines from existing plants across them. But usually I snip leaders from the vines, strip off most of the leaves and stick them in the pots or planting beds. It's that easy. There's nothing else I grow that produces more food than Ipomoea batatas...you can even eat the greens, though I've never tried them.
Once I give the lawn areas their last cutting, I should be able to forget mowing for a few months. Our grasses don't seem to grow during the shorter days...thankfully! So I'll be able to spend more time gardening...assuming the air is breathable for me. This morning I got a strong stinging sensation if I tried to breathe through my nose...no idea what was causing the irritation. We'll see how things go...as usual.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Shift in Tactics?
I have difficulty working within limitations sometimes. Lately my health hasn't been that great, and I've had to deal with problems in air quality. When it's smoggy in the morning, I have to wait a few hours to work outside. That cuts way back on my gardening time, since I'm also susceptible to sunlight and heat.
So I'm thinking about how to maximize productivity within those limitations. I've considered raised beds, going back to just smaller containers, or pushing ahead with the very large (57 cm) nursery pots.
Right now, the 57 cm pots on concrete blocks are winning. They're cheaper to set up than the raised beds, and they seem to more consistently productive than the beds I have in the South Garden. Another issue is the fact that the front lawn area was the only place I had that doesn't stay flooded or waterlogged through half the year. The house is built on a big mound of contractor fill, the rest of the property is level for the most part...and very wet in the rainy season. I need a garden that produces year-round, since I rely on it for most of my produce. You can't grow much in waterlogged soil...kang kong (Ipomoea aquatica) grows well I'm sure, but it's a felony to grow that here...no, I'm not kidding. Too bad, it's very easy to grow and very nutritious. (All right you, put down that trowel and come out of that garden with your hands where I can see them!)
So I chose the front lawn for my latest garden effort...it never floods out there. Unfortunately so did the people who installed the drain field. I think the effluent is leaching into my garden beds, and who knows what's settled into the bottom of that septic tank in 25 years of use? Could be all kinds of toxic cleaners and disinfectants down there after all those medical people came here to help take care of Dad during his later years.
So this urban gardener is choosing to at least temporarily plant cover crops in the South Garden and shift back to container gardening for a while. I plan to use a lot of #20 pots, those hold 20 gallons in case you're familiar with the Old English system of measuring. Since soil is measured in "dry gallons", that comes out to nearly 90 liters capacity. Most garden vegetables can really stretch out their roots in a pot like that. I layer some pine twigs in the bottom, followed by a piece of landscaping cloth, then fill them with a blend of my potting soil, compost, some vermiculite, glacial rock dust, and pulverized rock phosphate.
As I recycle pots of various sizes, I blend in more compost and rock dust. The seedlings I plant in that potent mix usually take off really fast. To help them along, I layer more compost on top as they grow; then cover it all with a layer of hay, chopped palmetto fronds, or pieces of rotten wood.
I try to buy the big pots locally, but the nursery crews like to cut them with a box knife when they take the young palms and citrus out of them. So buying the used ones from nurseries hasn't been going well. Still, any I can buy used for five bucks is better than the ten dollars I would have to pay if I ordered them online and had them shipped. For those who measure soil in cubic yards, a yard of soil will fill about eight of those big pots. It annoys me that local people insist on using the Old English system, even though they seem to know almost nothing about it. They seem to universally believe that a #20 pot holds 25 gallons. It would if it were measured in liquid gallons, like a beer keg...but soil is measured in dry gallons, not liquid gallons. So it's 20, not 25.
Maybe if I habitually drank a lot of whiskey, that kind of vague measuring might make more sense to me...LOL. Call me picky, but being off by five gallons seems significant to me.
The new crops in the 34 cm pots are growing well. I've got Miyashige radishes, Pac Choy Shanghai, Bangladeshi eggplant, Clemson Superb okra, molokhia, Evergreen onion, and Jwala pepper plants coming up. Those are all plants that tolerate heat well...it's still hitting the 32C/90F mark almost every day lately, with overnight lows around 24C/75F. Never used to be quite this hot in October years ago. I'm glad I didn't plant the cool-season crops like lettuce yet. I tried some White Lisbon onion seed, but the seedlings seem to have mostly died. I guess I'll wait for cooler nights and more temperate days to plant things like lettuce and kale. For now, I'm thinking of sticking to my okra and peppers and such. Some years it never does get that cool during the shorter days...just have to wait and see.
I refuse to call this "Fall", even though the transplanted people from northerly climes insist on it. Temps of 32C/90F are not "Fall" weather. People are infuriatingly illogical. This is the end of the rainy season here, not "Fall".
So I'm thinking about how to maximize productivity within those limitations. I've considered raised beds, going back to just smaller containers, or pushing ahead with the very large (57 cm) nursery pots.
Right now, the 57 cm pots on concrete blocks are winning. They're cheaper to set up than the raised beds, and they seem to more consistently productive than the beds I have in the South Garden. Another issue is the fact that the front lawn area was the only place I had that doesn't stay flooded or waterlogged through half the year. The house is built on a big mound of contractor fill, the rest of the property is level for the most part...and very wet in the rainy season. I need a garden that produces year-round, since I rely on it for most of my produce. You can't grow much in waterlogged soil...kang kong (Ipomoea aquatica) grows well I'm sure, but it's a felony to grow that here...no, I'm not kidding. Too bad, it's very easy to grow and very nutritious. (All right you, put down that trowel and come out of that garden with your hands where I can see them!)
So I chose the front lawn for my latest garden effort...it never floods out there. Unfortunately so did the people who installed the drain field. I think the effluent is leaching into my garden beds, and who knows what's settled into the bottom of that septic tank in 25 years of use? Could be all kinds of toxic cleaners and disinfectants down there after all those medical people came here to help take care of Dad during his later years.
So this urban gardener is choosing to at least temporarily plant cover crops in the South Garden and shift back to container gardening for a while. I plan to use a lot of #20 pots, those hold 20 gallons in case you're familiar with the Old English system of measuring. Since soil is measured in "dry gallons", that comes out to nearly 90 liters capacity. Most garden vegetables can really stretch out their roots in a pot like that. I layer some pine twigs in the bottom, followed by a piece of landscaping cloth, then fill them with a blend of my potting soil, compost, some vermiculite, glacial rock dust, and pulverized rock phosphate.
As I recycle pots of various sizes, I blend in more compost and rock dust. The seedlings I plant in that potent mix usually take off really fast. To help them along, I layer more compost on top as they grow; then cover it all with a layer of hay, chopped palmetto fronds, or pieces of rotten wood.
I try to buy the big pots locally, but the nursery crews like to cut them with a box knife when they take the young palms and citrus out of them. So buying the used ones from nurseries hasn't been going well. Still, any I can buy used for five bucks is better than the ten dollars I would have to pay if I ordered them online and had them shipped. For those who measure soil in cubic yards, a yard of soil will fill about eight of those big pots. It annoys me that local people insist on using the Old English system, even though they seem to know almost nothing about it. They seem to universally believe that a #20 pot holds 25 gallons. It would if it were measured in liquid gallons, like a beer keg...but soil is measured in dry gallons, not liquid gallons. So it's 20, not 25.
Maybe if I habitually drank a lot of whiskey, that kind of vague measuring might make more sense to me...LOL. Call me picky, but being off by five gallons seems significant to me.
The new crops in the 34 cm pots are growing well. I've got Miyashige radishes, Pac Choy Shanghai, Bangladeshi eggplant, Clemson Superb okra, molokhia, Evergreen onion, and Jwala pepper plants coming up. Those are all plants that tolerate heat well...it's still hitting the 32C/90F mark almost every day lately, with overnight lows around 24C/75F. Never used to be quite this hot in October years ago. I'm glad I didn't plant the cool-season crops like lettuce yet. I tried some White Lisbon onion seed, but the seedlings seem to have mostly died. I guess I'll wait for cooler nights and more temperate days to plant things like lettuce and kale. For now, I'm thinking of sticking to my okra and peppers and such. Some years it never does get that cool during the shorter days...just have to wait and see.
I refuse to call this "Fall", even though the transplanted people from northerly climes insist on it. Temps of 32C/90F are not "Fall" weather. People are infuriatingly illogical. This is the end of the rainy season here, not "Fall".
Friday, October 3, 2014
Transition
It's time to plant seeds for crops that will mature in late November and early December now, so I'm getting my radishes, pac choy, etc. started.
I haven't done a lot, the air in the mornings has been very irritating...so I've been staying indoors during the best hours to garden. Not sure what's causing the irritation, but there's a strong odor of chemicals before the sun heats the ground and causes the stagnant air to rise. I don't deal well with sun and heat, so I'm just working in the shade on containers or getting caught up on infrastructure repairs like sharpening the flails on my chipper/shredder.
I did get three varieties of radish planted...Miyashige, China Rose, and Hattorikun...all in containers...plus pac choy, more okra, pepper Jwala, more molokhia, and onions. The bulb onions I planted withered away, but the bunching onions (Allium fistulosum) are subtropical and they're doing fine. I bought what I thought was fresh seed in Home Depot, but when I put on my reading glasses and read the packet fine print it was all 2014 seed. Those are seeds grown in 2013, so they might not be any good. Note to self...read labels before buying!!!! The seeds I bought at the hardware store were all labeled 2015, so those should be fine. I hate it when I get a container or a planting bed all set up, plant the seed, and absolutely nothing happens. That's why I favor using small pots to start seed, then transplanting.
Daytime temps are still hitting 32 Celsius (90 F), so it's difficult to get some young plants going for harvest in November and December. So I'm hedging my bets and planting both cool-season and warm-season crops now. It could be freezing cold in November or roasting hot...no way to know.
I get all my veggies from the garden, so I have to be careful to avoid dead spots in the harvest and failed crops. The only produce I usually buy includes things like potatoes, garlic, ginger, and occasionally onions just because they're cheap...LOL. I don't have good luck with bulb onions, but I keep trying every year. I have had good results, but not often. Generally I stick with a lot of faithful standbys like bunching onions, pac choy (I grow the sub-tropical Shanghai variety), mustard, blackeyed peas, long beans, kale, radishes (the big ones), turnips, chard, sweet potatoes, broccoli, molokhia, Malabar spinach, oregano, basil, etc.
I'm sure I forgot lots of things in that list. I'm getting so I'm lost without my gardening notebook. I strongly advise keeping one, nobody ever remembers it all. The notebook will help keep you thinking in orderly ways, too. It's invaluable for crop rotation. After all these years of gardening, I rarely remember what I planted last in each bed. That's why they invented paper and pens, computers, and all the rest, folks. If something doesn't grow well in your garden, don't keep planting it year after year just because you think you should.
There are so many different varieties and species of edible plants, don't fixate on what they have in those microwaveable dinners in the supermarket...especially if you're gardening in the subtropics. Don't be ethnocentric about things either...purslane is super-nutritious, incredibly easy to grow, and very good if prepared well. It's used as food all through Latin America, Europe and around the world. Calling it a weed and refusing to eat it is just stupid. In Spanish it's called verdolagas and they sell it in bunches in Latin-American street markets.
Time to go look for the mail, I like to keep to a regular routine...helps keep me from going over the edge...LOL.
I haven't done a lot, the air in the mornings has been very irritating...so I've been staying indoors during the best hours to garden. Not sure what's causing the irritation, but there's a strong odor of chemicals before the sun heats the ground and causes the stagnant air to rise. I don't deal well with sun and heat, so I'm just working in the shade on containers or getting caught up on infrastructure repairs like sharpening the flails on my chipper/shredder.
I did get three varieties of radish planted...Miyashige, China Rose, and Hattorikun...all in containers...plus pac choy, more okra, pepper Jwala, more molokhia, and onions. The bulb onions I planted withered away, but the bunching onions (Allium fistulosum) are subtropical and they're doing fine. I bought what I thought was fresh seed in Home Depot, but when I put on my reading glasses and read the packet fine print it was all 2014 seed. Those are seeds grown in 2013, so they might not be any good. Note to self...read labels before buying!!!! The seeds I bought at the hardware store were all labeled 2015, so those should be fine. I hate it when I get a container or a planting bed all set up, plant the seed, and absolutely nothing happens. That's why I favor using small pots to start seed, then transplanting.
Daytime temps are still hitting 32 Celsius (90 F), so it's difficult to get some young plants going for harvest in November and December. So I'm hedging my bets and planting both cool-season and warm-season crops now. It could be freezing cold in November or roasting hot...no way to know.
I get all my veggies from the garden, so I have to be careful to avoid dead spots in the harvest and failed crops. The only produce I usually buy includes things like potatoes, garlic, ginger, and occasionally onions just because they're cheap...LOL. I don't have good luck with bulb onions, but I keep trying every year. I have had good results, but not often. Generally I stick with a lot of faithful standbys like bunching onions, pac choy (I grow the sub-tropical Shanghai variety), mustard, blackeyed peas, long beans, kale, radishes (the big ones), turnips, chard, sweet potatoes, broccoli, molokhia, Malabar spinach, oregano, basil, etc.
I'm sure I forgot lots of things in that list. I'm getting so I'm lost without my gardening notebook. I strongly advise keeping one, nobody ever remembers it all. The notebook will help keep you thinking in orderly ways, too. It's invaluable for crop rotation. After all these years of gardening, I rarely remember what I planted last in each bed. That's why they invented paper and pens, computers, and all the rest, folks. If something doesn't grow well in your garden, don't keep planting it year after year just because you think you should.
There are so many different varieties and species of edible plants, don't fixate on what they have in those microwaveable dinners in the supermarket...especially if you're gardening in the subtropics. Don't be ethnocentric about things either...purslane is super-nutritious, incredibly easy to grow, and very good if prepared well. It's used as food all through Latin America, Europe and around the world. Calling it a weed and refusing to eat it is just stupid. In Spanish it's called verdolagas and they sell it in bunches in Latin-American street markets.
Time to go look for the mail, I like to keep to a regular routine...helps keep me from going over the edge...LOL.
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