Seedling Update

I started a batch (batch?) of seedlings on March 5, so this is almost three weeks later.  Many of the tomatoes and peppers (the majority of the seeds) were successful but not all.  Although I have always found hot peppers to be the easiest to grow, I think the seeds I am using are just a bit old (2012).   Otherwise, most of what I planted are well on their way.

And, YAY, I managed to get a 72% successful germination on those pricey Xanthi peppers (8 seedlings from the 11 seeds).

Xanthi seedlings

Another batch of 72 peat pellets have been started.  The peppers are a second seeding due to poor results from the first seeding.  The broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts are a regular indoor start and will be planted out later in May or June.  New this year for me is starting the kale (2 types), chard and kohlrabi from seed as these would normally be direct sowed.  I also have plenty of the same seed that I will direct sow as these indoor starts are just an experiment (the outdoor sowing has always worked fine).  I am just looking to get an earlier harvest.

Six pellets each of the following were started today:

1. Jalapeno M Strain (the previous jalapenos haven't germinated well)
2. Cowhorn hot peppers (same as jalapeno)
3. Ancho peppers (same as jalapeno - what the heck, these weren't old seeds!) 
4. Tiara cabbage
5. Snow crown cauliflower
6. Gypsy broccoli
7. Jade brussels sprouts
8. Di ciccio broccoli
9. Nero di Toscano kale
10. Kohlrabi
11. Ruby red chard
12. Scarlet kale

And more from the March 5th start includes this Italian lettuce leaf blend ... Sugar Ray decided to get into it a bit so it's a bit mangled on the right side.  I also have a similar container full of shallots that are doing quite well (not very photogenic tonight).

And how about those sweet potato slips?  These were placed into jars of water on March 6 so here they are at day 18 ...

This one in particular is doing well ... looks like a pretty bonsai tree.

We've had a last (I hope) kick of winter this week with about 4 inches of snow over the past several days (today was more about freezing rain).  But the coming Easter weekend shows some promising warm weather and I look forward to getting some work done outside!

Preparing Garden Bed for Peas

I waited until just about three weeks ago (April 13) to plant peas ... they can handle a light frost and prefer cool temperatures for germination, but I thought I should wait until I was sure it would be above -10 C overnight!

For the bed preparation, I have plenty of wood ash from using the wood stove all winter.  This worked into the soil provides for a more alkaline condition which peas like.

I also set up a teepee for them to grow on.  Last year they were in the greenhouse growing on a trellis.  This is my first time using the teepee set up.  I suppose I'll have to train them up the poles??

When I planted the seeds, they went into the soil all around the base of the bamboo poles.  Some of the seeds popped back to the surface (I assume from all the rains?), but you can see that after about 9 days some were already sprouting.

I also planted some radish in between (can you see the thin lines of green below?):

 The radishes should be ready before the peas start climbing the poles so I should be OK to harvest them (I hope?!).  Radishes tend to prefer a more neutral or acidic soil, but they seem to be doing fine so far.  Here is the radish tonight (3 weeks old):

I will likely follow these with a mid-summer planting of brassicas.  I do not plan to start any brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower or brussels sprouts) too early as the heat of our summers always leads them to bolt and/or not form heads properly.  So I'll start them later in the year.

Seed Planting Schedule

I find it very helpful to sort seeds into piles based on the time they will be planted - whether they will be planted indoors or outdoors.  I spent just an hour or so taking care of that this weekend.  I have the most seeds this year that I have ever had; I have saved quite a few of my own seeds from last year including varieties of tomatoes, pumpkin, squash and okra.  And I have also ordered more varieties of veggies, flowers or herbs than ever before.
 
There are two packets that I no longer need and I'll see if I can find someone who can use them: thyme and sage.  Perhaps I should wait until the snow is gone (will it ever go away?!) to make sure last year's plants have survived.  Assuming they are OK, I have plenty of each already.  And I'm just going to toss the packet of Russian Tarragon.  I ordered this thinking it was the right kind for culinary use only to discover it is tasteless (but a pretty herb plant and grows like crazy).  I managed to find a few French Tarragon plants at a plant sale and I hope they make it through the winter; they were a bit straggly even in the fall so I don't have high hopes.  But seeds for French Tarragon are hard to find and so, if necessary, I'll hunt down seedlings.

Herb garden in the fall

My seeds have been stored in separate containers for vegetables, herbs and flowers.  This helps when it comes time to order seeds.  But at this time of the year, that is no longer relevant.  The first step is to split them out into two piles: which seeds will be started indoors and which can be directly seeded into the soil.   The latter group is set aside and will be sorted through again much later.

The indoor seeding pile

The indoor pile is split out again by timelines.  For me, this is based on a combination of experience and the guidelines on the back of each packet.  The packets usually indicate the number of weeks before the last frost that seeds should be started indoors (so they can be transplanted into the soil at the right time).  I generally follow those guidelines other than adding a couple of weeks depending on my past experience.

Seeds are sorted into three piles:

1) Seeding indoor mid-March - here I've included all peppers (hot and sweet), tomatoes, tomatillos, okra, parsley (which takes forever to germinate), catnip (first time I'm growing from seed this year), pumpkin (in this climate I need as much of a head start as possible) as well as some flowers including hollyhock and asters (my asters took forever last year);

2) Seeding indoor early April -  Nasturtium and cucumbers;

3) Seeding mid to late April - summer squash (could easily be planted direct into the soil as they grow quickly but I like to stagger the start of a few); basil, cantaloupe and other melons and flowers including cosmos, delphinium (first time this year), marigold and Kong sunflowers.

The rest which are for direct seeding into the soil include beans, peas, beets, carrots, winter squash (which grow very quickly) as well as various greens (kale, lettuce) and the rest of the flowers.  Also there are brussels sprouts, broccoli and cabbage which will likely wait for a later planting for fall harvest.

For direct seeding outdoor

This is a very loose schedule; as I get closer to each deadline, I'll get a bit more detailed.  But this is a good start to getting myself organized for the coming season!  Being only my third year growing from seed, I welcome advice on my planned timing so please let me know if you do anything very different from this for the Eastern Ontario growing season.

Romanesco Cauliflower - Growing Challenges

 

This is what Romanesco cauliflower should look like (above).  And these pictures below show what my "Veronica Hybrid" Romanesco-style cauliflower looked like a week ago, 5 months after it was planted ... they ranged from almost normal but ridiculously small to full-on deformity (and why some are purple I have no idea):

I have never attempted to grow cauliflower before this year and clearly have no idea what I'm doing.  I know that it is generally a fall weather crop, but when am I supposed to start growing them?  I know these types of crops can handle frost, even a hard frost, but we've already had a light snow and even if they weren't deformed, they still would not have time to grow before full-on winter (sorry to bring that up).  The summer's are just so hot and humid here which is what I assume caused the deformed versions ... so when do I start fall crops (in Eastern Ontario)!?  I started some broccoli late summer to have a fall crop and they are still tiny.  I really want some broccoli and cauliflower of my own next season. 

This post is nothing but a cry for help from experienced gardeners who may have some advice.  To avoid this from being completely pathetic, here is a very tasty idea for eating cauliflower that I originally found years ago from Mario Batali, but it seems everyone is making it these days.  Otherwise, please help me grow cauliflower!

Roasted Cauliflower

Remove core and chop into florets.  On a baking pan, toss the cauliflower with olive oil (about 4-5 Tbsp per pound of cauliflower) and season with salt and pepper.

Roast for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees F or under the broiler (about 4 inches from broiler) for 15-20 minutes, until cauliflower is tender and just starting to char in spots.  Squeeze some lemon juice over top and sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

Squash Update - Last of the Summer and First of the Winter Squash

 

The last of my summer squash plants was struggling along with one more green zucchini on it until last night ... when the plant died.  It was not quite cold enough for a frost, but the temperature dipped down to 4 degrees C, and I think the plant was so exhausted it just gave up (I swear it was perfectly healthy yesterday).

But overall, it was an incredibly prolific year for summer squash - not only have I stored a lot of grated zucchini for use in the winter, I've made many dishes (including one of my favourites: Zucchini Malai Kofta) and have also given away bags and bags of various summer squash to city friends who don't have their own gardens.  So a good year so far!  In fact, too good at times.  But I'm not sure staggering the start of the plants will make much difference?  It's a short season, so I've got to get them in as early as I can - I'll have to do some research on that over the winter.

In fact, I just made another zucchini dish (since I just followed someone else's recipe, I didn't bother posting this, but it's really delicious and moist, and I highly recommend it):  Cinnamon Sugar Zucchini Coffee Cake.

The winter squash has also been very healthy this year.  I have already started to harvest the acorn and butternut squash as you can see in the main picture above, and there are many still growing (Note: the picture has some cantaloupe as well, don't start thinking I'm growing some crazy strain of squash!).

I think I picked this batch of acorn squash a bit early. For some reason, I never bothered with the "fingernail test" when I grew butternut previously, it just seems obvious from its colour.  And the colour of the acorn squash made me think it was ready.  But the skin isn't as tough as it should be.  So I'll use this batch up or give some away, and I'll be sure to harvest the rest of them only when the skin is tough enough, otherwise they may not store well.

Watermelons, Pumpkins and Cantaloupe

This watermelon was so ripe it almost split itself open once I started cutting into it.  I was hesitant to pick it; until now, I had only bought watermelons at the store.  I had read somewhere that the vine attached to the stem would brown and shrivel a bit when ready, but that did not happen.  I simply decided it sounded and felt ready.  And it was very heavy (8 lbs) for its size (these are Jade Star Hybrid Watermelon).

 

I have several of these left, but also planted some other watermelon seeds that I purchased at the local store to ensure a bigger crop when many of my first batch did not germinate - watermelons seem really hard to germinate, or am I the only one that experiences this?




 

I accidentally knocked a watermelon off the plant a few weeks back so cut it open to see if it might be ripe.  It was white inside!  I had no idea they grew like that.

The small Sugar Pumpkins appear to be ready as well.  And they really are small (1.75 lbs)!  I only managed to get a few for now, but there is still hope for more.  These are supposed to be great for making pies, so I suspect that will be my first use for it.

And finally, one of the white (lumina) pumpkins growing from seeds that I saved from the previous year has started to grow (most of my pumpkins died early from the area flooding during heavy rains).

I had purchased one seedling of a muskmelon from the local farmer's market this year and I put it in a container. It grew well enough to grow a single fruit.  I thought the plant and the fruit were dying but then all of a sudden the fruit was ripe (but much smaller than I expected - which is probably why it has a bit of brown at the top; I probably left it too long on the vine).  I don't normally like cantaloupe so was hoping that eating a melon fresh from the garden might improve the taste for me.  Not so ... I still don't like it.

In addition to the single muskmelon plant, I also planted cantaloupe.  I will give the taste another try when those are ripe, but most likely will be giving those away to friends.

Storing Borlotti Beans (Part 1)

I am referring to this as part one because I am obviously not done with these beans.  I have been happily cooking these berlotti beans as if they were french beans ...whole.  Well, it recently occurred to me that I should confirm harvesting times and such only to discover that although they can be eaten like french beans when young and still tender, they are most commonly shelled and cooked like dry beans (and thanks to my friend Paul for confirming that - I look forward to trying your recipe!). They were all crimson-coloured on the outside so I thought they should be harvested.  I spent some time shelling the beans while watching something on Netflix only to discover that I am still not doing it right!  I was too early ... they should be white with crimson flecks when fully mature, and these are still pale green.

In fact, some of them were extra early ... but very tasty!

It's not a total failure; I've frozen this early batch and they will be more than delicious when I use them in a soup or otherwise.  But lesson learned ... open up one of the pods to check for "doneness" before picking a basketful (as small as the basket actually was).

Growing Winter Squash

Winter squash seems to be a lot easier to grow than its relative, the pumpkin.  Or at least it is a much more successful plant for me to grow!  I don't bother with seedlings, rather I just put the seed direct in the soil - a week or two before the last frost is usually OK, but not much earlier as it does not take long for the seed to germinate and sprout.

This year, I have planted both butternut and, for the first time, acorn squash.  I have several of each in raised gardens.  They are flourishing; in fact, I regret putting them in the raised gardens so close to the herb garden as their vines are becoming difficult to contain.

I have a number of butternuts already.  The immature fruit is pale green with white stripes.  They are not ready to harvest until they've fully turned tannish brown.

Being the first time I've grown acorn squash, I'm not sure of the full maturing process, but most certainly they will need to become a dark green before harvesting.

Freezing Zucchini

Although I still have plans for a few more fresh zucchini dishes this season, I have decided to take a break from eating it for now.  I've given bags away and I still have so much coming.  So I've decided to freeze it.

After grating it, I strained out as much liquid as I could.  Then one cup went into each little bag, and the little bags into one big freezer bag.








I can now look forward to some deliciously fresh tasting zucchini dishes in the winter without having to eat something that was shipped thousands of miles.





The morning after I packaged it all up, I found this one ... guess I should have checked a bit closer.  Maybe I can find someone to take this one too.