Garden Evaluation: peas, onions, potatoes

Box 1: Early Spring Veggies
Peas, onions, potatoes
Planted: March 27

Peas: 4 squares x 8/sq.

Varieties: 'Sugar Daddy' (stringless pods) and 'Super Snappy' (edible pods w/ huge peas)
Of the two, I actually preferred the Super Snappy--the pods were thick, sweet, and crunchy.

Yield: About 75% came up. Plenty for eating fresh, enough to use in a recipe now and then.

Pests, Problems, Diseases: None to speak of

Finished: July 23: harvested the last and pulled up the plants.

Comments:

Since we will only be here until the end of June next year, this would be a good crop to plant. We'll get to keep most of the harvest, and it will look good in the box for selling.


Onions: 6 squares x 16/sq. + 2-3 squares in box 2, maybe 5-6/sq., from Lisa.

Varieties: um...don't remember, some yellow and some white. Also, some I bought individually (they were already about green onion size) and I got one bunch of the tiny ones.

Yield: at least one orange basket-full, most golf-ball size, a few tennis-ball sized. We used them up in a 2-3 weeks.

Pests, Problems, Diseases: None

Finished: end of July
Comments:
I've since heard that this was a bad year for onions. I don't know, but none of mine got to be really big for slicing. Also, they were all extra strong flavor, when I thought home-grown were usually more mild.

Very easy crop to grow.

Next time I want to plant more, all of them the kind to grow into big slicers. Green onions are cheap to buy, and you can get the quantities you want without taking up a lot of garden space
(or having to continually replant). Also, the big onions could be stored for fall/winter use if we had more than we could eat in the summer.
I'll have to admit, I didn't do anything with the ones from Lisa. They are supposed to be hardy, so maybe they'll come back on their own next year and we'll harvest some.

Potatoes: 6 squares x 4-5/sq. + some in a bucket
Variety: Yukon Gold--tasty
Yield: This much (see picture), plus 7 or 8 more, plus one huge one today! (10/31)

Pests/Problems/Diseases: none except dog jumping on them.
Finished: end of July
Comments: Potatoes are fun to grow! Harvesting them is like digging for buried treasure--you never know how many or what size will come up, with no sign of the seed potato pieces you planted. The plants themselves got to be 3 1/2 feet tall, and were beautifully green and bushy until they got smashed by Diamond. We had to harvest these early this year due to afore-mentioned smashing. We eat so many potatoes, that I wouldn't mind planting an entire 4x4 box (or even more) of just potatoes. Especially since they also store well for winter use.
Potatoes in the bucket didn't do nearly as well on any front. Top-growth was scrawny and diseased-looking, and harvest was very small. They probably needed a lot more water than they got. So unless there's a really good reason to do otherwise, all potatoes will go in the ground from now on.
Probably won't plant next summer, as we won't get any of the harvest.

Winterizing

After another long week of rain, we've had sunny skies yesterday and today. So we finally could get some winterizing done!
1. Pulled out all dead (or nearly dead) garden plants and put them in the compost pile.
* we found one more baking-sized potato as we cleared out the one box! *
2. Mowed lawn and leaves, and added the mixture to garden boxes.
3. Put away all hoses, and random gardening stuff left out (baskets, etc.).
4. Took down camp chairs from porch and put in garage.
5. Took down/threw away remains of the wading pool.

Just need to get the hyacinths planted, and perhaps some last weeding done and we'll be all set!

Chore List, revisited

1. Move peony that's next to rose bush over next sedum. DONE!



2. Weeding! Front flower-beds done, and around rose bush.
Still need to weed rest of bed along fence.

3. Pick all green tomatoes, and prepare them to ripen (see next post).
Picked, but not wrapped in newspaper yet.

4. Pick rest of vegetables, if any. DONE!

5. Plant hyacinth and daffodil bulbs. Daffodils planted.
Still have to do hyacinths.

Ripening fall tomatoes

I found some great info from the Iowa State Extension office. I want to try the method where you wrap them in newspaper.



How to ripen end-of-season green tomatoes
When frost is imminent, mature green tomatoes can be harvested and ripened indoors. The fruit should be solid, firm, free of defects, full-sized, and have a greenish white skin color. Remove the stems, then clean and dry the fruit.

Individually wrap each fruit in a piece of newspaper and place in single layers in boxes or shelves. Store the tomatoes in a dark, cool (55–60° F) location, such as a basement or cellar.
Inspect the tomatoes periodically during storage. Discard any soft or decaying fruit. When the tomatoes begin to color, remove the newspaper and place them at room temperature (not in sunlight—sunlight softens them without ripening and strips them of their vitamins A and C).

To ripen tomatoes more quickly, put them in a brown paper bag with or without an apple.
As apples or tomatoes ripen, they give off ethylene gas. Ethylene speeds up the fruit ripening
process when confi ned in a closed bag.

An alternate ripening method is to leave the green tomatoes on the vine, pull the entire plant, and hang it upside down in a cool, dark location. (Obviously, this method can be a bit messy.) Harvest the tomatoes from the vine as they ripen.

It also is possible to protect plants by covering with old sheets, blankets, tarps, newspaper, or paper bags.

Chores this week & winterizing

That is, if it ever stops raining!

1. Move peony that's next to rose bush over next sedum.
2. Weeding!
3. Pick all green tomatoes, and prepare them to ripen (see next post).
4. Pick rest of vegetables, if any.
5. Plant hyacinth and daffodil bulbs.


Winterizing chores for after hard frost/more leaves have fallen:
1. Tear out dead vines/veggies and add to compost pile.
2. Add mulch to all flower beds.
3. Mow leaf piles and add to all vegetable boxes. Extras can go to compost pile.

Autumn color

Sedum, 'Autumn Joy'

These are "before" shots without the afters, so please don't mind the multitude of weeds surrounding this lovely plant. I'm working on it! The flowers started off pale pink, and it attracted flies, bees, moths, and all kinds of buzzing bugs. Now it's this lovely sunset red color, and the bugs are gone.
Once I've finished the weeding, I plan to move the peony that's crowding the rose bush over next to it (so maybe next year there won't be quite so many weeds to contend with!). So we will have a late spring show and late fall. Maybe I can also put in some annuals in the front for summer color--add a few daffodils or tulips on the other side of the bed and we'd be set for all four seasons!
This is the first time I've planted sedum, and I like it so far.