The Great Cucurbita Experiment

Oh God, do I even want to go there this year...

2006-03-16T16:37:00.000-08:00

Against Lawn

The midnight streetlight illuminating
the white of clover assures me

I am right not to manicure
my patch of grass into a dull

carpet of uniform green, but
to allow whatever will to take over.

Somewhere in that lace lies luck,
though I may never swoop down

to find it. Three, too, is
an auspicious number. And this seeing

a reminder to avoid too much taming
of what, even here, wants to be wild.

Copyright (c) 2004 by Grace Bauer

At it again, albeit slowly

2005-06-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

Over the past week, I've put the tomatoes in that I got from the farmers market, and the Red Cheese peppers, plus a couple of the tomatoes that Rob's mom gave me. I put them all in big pots or in the dirt-filled trunk that I call the "Asian Soup Garden." I'm paranoid about putting anything in the ground because of the

(whew... earthquake! 4.8 and epicenter about 4 miles from me...)

Anyhoo... paranoid about putting anything in the ground, because of the random bug problems that I'm having. I'm still not sure where to put the squash that Carol gave me, but it's got to go in the ground soon.

Well, she's good for SOMETHING

2005-06-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

Mothers-in-law. Feh. My MIL and I have always resided on completely different planes of existence. These two planes very rarely intersect. But... I've always admired her way with a garden.

Her back yard is a rambling, shambling mess of roses, hollyhocks, primroses, shade trees, vines and creepers, and assorted pretties that she finds at garden centers and brings home to let run to riot. I love her garden because its the antithesis of planning and forethought. If I were to try to duplicate it, I would fail miserably. It's just a comfortable, informal space that people actually like to hang out in. There are twinkle lights in the trees, and a couple of fountains, and two porch swings, and the entire yard is dripping with dangling, twirling geegaws that catch the breeze or dance in the sunlight. My son loves it. This last trip home, the family gathered out on the back porch and drank and talked late into the night. My husband and I wandered around and smooched among the Agapanthus(es?) after it got dark.

She always sends me home with cuttings or seeds or full-grown plants, which I have horrible to moderate success with. Yesterday, she sent me home with Sweet Dumpling squash seeds, three volunteer tomato plants from her pepper pots and a volunteer squash from her compost heap, and a shit-load more cuttings from her pink primroses, since I've been pretty lucky with those so far. She also sent me home with a mesh onion bag full of "naked ladies" (Amaryllis belladonna). We'll see how those weather out here in the desert...

We'll probably never see eye-to-eye on anything, and are probably destined to drive each other crazy for the rest of our days, but we've found a peaceable kingdom in her back yard, with my son--her grandson--flitting about from pot to dirt pile to fountain to pot, and she and I companionably digging up pieces of this and that, a handing-down of plants and green wisdom, all arguments and petty squabbling set aside for at least one afternoon.

Waaaaaah!

2005-06-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

I guess its just easier at this point to name off the plants that are still viable than to list what has died:

Acorn Squash
Tigger Melon
Golden Sweet Melon
All six Lavenders
Sage, Oregano, Mint, Chives

Plus the hot peppers and loofah, but only because they were still residing on my kitchen counter the night of the (doot-doot-daaaah.....) FREEZING RAIN.

Monday night around 10 pm, I'm sitting here at work, and I notice some kind of movement outside my window. I peer out, and wouldn't ya know... it's snowing. Not a flurry, not a sprinkling, but all-out snow. My window overlooks the dumpster and the parking lot of the Mexican restaurant next door, none of which was visible because of the DRIVING SNOW.

So I finish up here, race home, and it had been raining down there. Bad news. I would've probably been better off if it had been snowing down in the valley. DH followed me around with a flashlight in the back garden while I put plastic bottles, kitchen bowls, cardboard boxes, basically everything I could get my hands on, over my plants. I brought in everything that I was still hardening off.

The temps continued to dive during the night, and when I checked on everything in the morning, the tomato plants were all standing tall and proud and bright green, but only because they were completely and perfectly frozen in place. As soon as the sun hit them, they collapsed in a black and soupy mess. As did the pattypan squashes. And the basil and lemongrass.

I went to the farmer's market on Wednesday and bought a few plants: SugarPie pumpkin, Rainbow scallop squash, Green Zebra tomato and Black Plum tomato. The plant booths were doing a booming business, because everyone's plants here in the area died Monday night. That was comforting at least, to know that it wasn't just me. The lady that I bought the squashes from had the audacity to tell me, "Terrible, just terrible... but GREAT for me!"

Last week, I dug up all my winter squashes and tossed them out on the compost pile, and started new with seed. The only one to sprout so far is the Black Futsu.

I also decided last week to pot up the lavenders instead of putting them in the ground. A lot less work, and more portable in case we move anytime soon. Six lavenders sold as the "Learning to Love Lavender" six-pack from Mountain Valley Growers: Alardii, Sweet, Dutch Mill, English, Fred Boutin and Provence. They're in 10-inch pots right now. A bit on the small side, but I'll either put them in the ground next spring or pot up into bigger containers. Assuming I don't kill them before then.

The entire family went to the farmers market, and we bought shaved ice and ate it in the park afterwards. I fell in love with the little garden area where we sat down and ate. The picnic tables are underneath a shady, trellised area, and right next to that is a beautiful little perennial garden with a gravel path and raised beds. The only things I could identify without a book or anything were mullein, japanese maple, russian sage, lavender and artemisia. I've been obsessing about it ever since. It would be so easy to put together something like that if we actually lived in a place that we owned.

Everyone's roses are obscenely prolific right now. It's so disheartening to drive around town and see people's ugly-ass, neglected, weed-filled yards, absolutely EXPLODING with gorgeous roses. They didn't do a god-damned thing in the way of gardening, but are rewarded with these beautiful displays of roses. I, on the other hand, have worked my ass off this spring, only to be rewarded with fresh fodder for the compost pile.

Boy, this is the worst garden of any garden anywhere, ever. Meanwhile, I still torture myself with episodes of Victory Garden, Curb Appeal and City Gardener on television, thinking to myself, yeah, try growing some o' that shit *here* in one of the most inhospitable environments on planet earth.

This is all too much to bear...

What's the opposite of success?

2005-05-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

Resounding failure! At least in the winter squash department. I covered my squashlings with soda bottles last night, cuz it was kinda breezy and felt like it would probably go into the low 40s by morning. I uncovered them this morning and took a good, hard, honest look at them. They suck ass, bigtime. I'm going to give them another few days to see if they perk up or not, but, when they don't, I have a couple choices:

* Tear them out and plant seed. It's a late start, I know. I'd be gambling against early September frosts like I did the first time I planted them two years ago (I lost, BTW). But they did so well, and were sooo healthy through the summer. But the heartbreak of the early frost cannot compare to the heartbreak I'm feeling now for my little guys. This is a definite "maybe."

* Tear them out and replace them with something from the garden center. I'd really like to try an eggplant, maybe some bell peppers.

These are the squash that are affected: Red Kuri (Hokkaido), Black Futsu, Winter Luxury Pie and Sweet Dumpling. The Black Futsu are the most viable of the bunch, maybe salvageable, maybe not. I tore out the Winter Luxes last night and threw them on the compost heap. Those are the ones that we're eaten by something. The Red Kuri and the Sweet Dumplings are just sad, sad, sad. Weirdly, these are all the plants that I put in on the east side of the garden.

On the other side of the garden, the Table Queens are perky and healthy, and so are the melons. The Yellow Scallops and the Costata Romanescos look kinda baked, but look like they're taking hold and will make some sort of comeback.

List of things to do early Wednesday morning, before the Jakester wakes up (I'll have to work super-fast):

* Get the tomatoes in the ground
* Pot up the lavenders (I decided to plant these in containers, after looking about on the web yesterday, and reading that it is possible to pot these guys. Next year, I'll probably have to put them in the ground, but pots are good for this year)
* Get the sunflowers in the ground
* Get the loofas in the ground
* Pot up the rest of the herbs in the Asian Soup Garden (I found Thai basil plants at Lowe's yesterday! Their cilantro was horrible-looking, so I picked up some oregano and sage, instead. Not very Asian, I know, but will fill in the gaps and will taste great with tomatoes later on.)

I feel so bad about my pumpkins. They were the whole reason I wanted to start this garden this year. I probably will try to start some seeds. I wonder what I did wrong.... Scratch that, in hindsight, I know what I did wrong. I started the squash seeds waaaaaay too early. So in essence, I was transplanting full-grown plants. A definite no-no. Well, live and learn. Next year will be different.

Oh, the carnage. The CARNAGE!

2005-05-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

Yeah, not going so well thus far. I hardened my seedlings off for about a week. Okay, maybe not quite a week, but they were doing well, so in the ground they went late Thursday afternoon. All the cucurbits and the four melons. So far, so good. Friday morning I got up to check on everything and water before I went to work. One of the Winter Luxury Pie pumpkins was eaten down to bare stalk. All the leaves were eaten, leaving just the veins. Whatever had eaten it was gone by morning, and (I don't know what I was thinking!) I just left the other Winter Lux, hoping whatever had eaten its mate was satiated and would leave it alone the following night. It did! But last night... it came back and ate the other one. So, goodbye, Winter Lux for this year. No punkin pies. We'll try again next year.

Other than that, still no good news. It was really windy yesterday. REALLY windy. The wind really boffed my plantlets about, and they're looking kinda the worse for wear. AND... the 4x4 foot square where I was supposed to put the loofas, HUGE anthill. Don't tell anybody, but I let Rob "Ortho Ant B Gon" them again yesterday. So I'll probably rip out the Winter Luxes tonight and put the loofas there. Yes, I'll cover them up at night with plastic bottles. In fact, I'll cover *everything* up tonight.

The Thai basil and cilantro that I tried to start from seed is not doing well at all, either. They're under lights in the garage. They keep drying out faster than I can water them. I'm not crazy about trying to start herbs from seed, but its hard to find the herbs that you really really want at the garden center. The mint and chives went into their planters in the Asian Soup Garden yesterday, and (knock knock) they seem to be doing well so far.

I still need to put the tomatoes in the ground, but I'm scared shitless at this point. I have absolutely NO confidence anymore. They look so strong and healthy right now, I'm afraid I'll ruin them. Same with the lavender and the lemon grass that I got in the mail last week.

I read up on how to plant the lavenders, and its going to be a huge project for this coming Wednesday and Thursday: mixing up compost, gravel, sand, native soil and lime, and making six separate mounds. Not to mention weeding and loosening the soil underneath each mound. Yawn.

So, here's my current list of stuff to do:

* Plant tomatoes, loofa and sunflowers in the ground
* Plant lemongrass and peppers in containers
* Prepare soil for and then plant the lavenders

This is definitely more fun when there's less carnage.

American Life in Poetry poem forwarded to me today…

2005-05-20T10:03:00.000-07:00

This poem makes me want to plant moonflowers...

Moonflowers
Milly Sorensen, January 16, 1922 - February 19, 2004

It was the moonflowers that surprised us.
Early summer we noticed the soft gray foliage.
She asked for seedpods every year but I never saw them in her garden.
Never knew what she did with them.
Exotic and tropical, not like her other flowers.
I expected her to throw them in the pasture maybe,
a gift to the coyotes. Huge, platterlike white flowers
shining in the night to soften their plaintive howling.
A sound I love; a reminder, even on the darkest night,
that manicured lawns don't surround me.

Midsummer they shot up, filled the small place by the back door,
sprawled over sidewalks, refused to be ignored.
Gaudy and awkward by day,
by night they were huge, soft, luminous.
Only this year, this year of her death
did they break free of their huge, prickly husks
and brighten the darkness she left.

Poem copyright by Karma Larsen.

Almost time...

2005-05-19T15:09:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. I'm growing pumpkins in the garage. The Winter Luxury Pie "seedlings" have itsy-bitsy "pre-pumpkins" on them. All of the squash seedlings are out of control. Reminder for next year, either don't start them so early, or plant them in bigger tubs.

But the forecast this week looks pretty good. High 70s and low 80s for the rest of the week, and low at night in the high 40s. I'm going to start hardening off this week. Today, actually. But dude, you should've seen how hard it was snowing on Monday up at the Lake. Almost total white-out at times. Totally frickin' ridiculous.

In the meantime, I've gone and started more seeds: cilantro, basil and a dozen more sunflowers. And I bought a huge, beautiful new rosemary plant today at Raley's for a mere $4.

In regards to my list of stuff to do in an earlier post, I'm slowly checking things off. I've started my manure tea, for one. Bought a cheap-ass bird bath at Rite-Aid for $7.99, not bad. Jake keeps tumping it over, though, and drinking the run-off. That'll have to stop as soon as birds actually start bathing in it.

Someone previous tenants must've grown herbs at some point. Last year I noticed a random thyme plant coming up in the side yard. I transplanted it to the back yard, and it's now a good-sized bush. Then last week, I noticed a totally random mint plant growing in the grass in the side yard. I forgot until yesterday to dig it out to transplant it somewhere, and raced home after work and got here literally two minutes before the yard guys came to mow. I dug it up and put it in the back yard as well (the yard guys mow the side yard, but not the back yard). Noticed more mint in around the primrose patch, too. Weird.

Speaking of pretty pink primroses, I'm going to take cuttings off of those in the side yard a little later in the summer, and plant them out back. My plan is to overrun the back yard with invasive stuff that I actually like, like mint and primrose, to take the place of all the weedy crap that's back there now.

Rough sketch

2005-05-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's a rough sketch of how things are supposed to look this year. Don't let the luxurious green background fool you, though. That's all rocks and dirt. My, am I in super-anal mode today or what.

List-mania!

2005-05-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

Making lists soothes my soul just about as much as gardening does, and since I need some soul-soothing right about now, I'm going to make some lists.

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK

re-weedwhack the backyard
re-pot some of my bigger squash seedlings
re-pot sunflower seedlings
fertilize tomato seedlings with weak fish emulsion
fill up outdoor pots with potting soil
prepare "Asian Soup Garden": drill holes in planter, top up with potting soil, start cilantro and Thai basil seeds inside, arrange concrete planters for mint
prepare 3 more 4x4 planting sites outside

THINGS TO DO NEXT WEEK

prepare 6 spots for incoming lavender plants
start my manure tea
re-locate thyme plant

THINGS LEFT TO BUY

3 bags manure/compost
6 bags garden soil amendment
24 bamboo stakes
1 cheap-o garbage can for manure tea
over-sized watering can
4 mint plants
garden twine
(optional) rock mulch for Asian Soup Garden
(optional) bird bath and pump
(optional) garden bench

FINALIZED LIST OF THINGS I'M PLANTING THIS YEAR (and where)

6 lavender plants (along the north fence)
4 mint plants (in small concrete planters lining the "Asian Soup Garden")
1 crop of cilantro ("Asian Soup Garden")
1 crop of Thai Basil ("Asian Soup Garden")
3 lemongrass plants (in pots around "Asian Soup Garden")
3 Red Cheese peppers (in pots around "Asian Soup Garden")
6 Black Cherry tomatoes (north end of garden)
2 Riesenstraube tomatoes (north end of garden)
2 Green Zebra tomatoes (north end of garden)
2 Lemon Yellow tomatoes (north end of garden)
3 loofa plants (along the east fence)
2 Plum Yellow melons (along the east fence)
2 Tigger melons (along the east fence)
2 yellow scallop summer squash (along the east fence)
2 Costato Romanesca zucchini (along the east fence)
1 Red Kuri winter squash (along the east fence)
1 Black Futsu winter squash (along the west fence)
1 Sweet Dumpling winter squash (along the west fence)
1 Table Acorn winter squash (along the west fence)
1 Winter Luxury winter squash (along the west fence)
various sunflowers dotted around the garden

Oh dear God. So much to do. So much to plant. And the growing season is getting shorter and shorter the longer this cold weather continues. I'll try and come back to this post and cross off things as they are accomplished.

I can't wait til it's all in the ground and all I have to do is water and weed, and keep my son from pulling it all up.

Addendum: I was worried about the primrose in the side yard, cuz at this time last year, it was pretty well re-established for the season, but so far this year: nothing. But this week it started springing up again in random spots. So no worries there. Welcome back, little guys!

Gaaaah! When will it ever end!!!

2005-05-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

Special Weather Statement - SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL POSSIBLE SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY IN THE HIGH SIERRA... A POTENT STORM SYSTEM SOUTH OF ALASKA WILL MOVE TO THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST ON MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. A COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE NORTHERN SIERRA SUNDAY EVENING... AND MOVE INTO WESTERN NEVADA MONDAY. SNOW LEVELS WILL START OUT AT AROUND 8000 FEET SUNDAY AFTERNOON...BEFORE FALLING TO AROUND 6000 FEET MONDAY. OVER A FOOT OF SNOWFALL IS POSSIBLE IN THE SIERRA ABOVE 7000 FEET SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. SOME SNOWFALL ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE FOR LAKE TAHOE MONDAY AS SNOW LEVELS FALL BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. IN ADDITION TO SIERRA SNOWFALL...AREAS OF NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND NORTHWEST NEVADA SATURATED BY RECENT RAINS COULD RECEIVE ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT AS THE STORM SYSTEM SLOWLY MOVES INLAND.

Cold... so cold....

2005-05-05T23:52:00.000-07:00

Well, last frost date is May 15. Ha! It's May 6, and night-time temps are still hovering just above freezing. I can't see how little more than a week is going to make a difference. I've resigned myself to waiting until June 1 to transplant everything. We'll see.

I've put my heart and soul into this garden this year. It's going to be a HUGE disappointment when September rolls around with its first killing frost, especially if I don't have any decent pumpkins yet.

Anyway, just a handful of 4'x4' squares of earth left to prepare to accomodate all the transplants. Not very pretty out there. Kinda looks like unmarked graves.

I've given up on the White Cushaws. They just don't want to grow. That's okay, apparently they're just pretty, and not good eating at all. Author Amy Goldman categorizes them as "spitters," cuz that's what you do when you taste them.

Other recent impulse purchases: lavender plants from Mountain Valley Growers (the "Learning to Love Lavender" Six-Pack, with 6 different kinds of lavender), and lemon grass plants, cuz the ones that I'm growing from seed are pathetically small and wussy. Mountain Valley Growers emailed me back and said it was too cold where I am to send them, and that they would wait until May 16. Yeah, good luck with that.

Note for next year: order seeds ONCE at the very beginning of the season, then BURN the catalogs and somehow block the seed sites so I can't get to them online. I swear, it's like PORN!

The "little tree that could" that's in the side yard busted out with a bunch of buds a couple of days ago. Like this:

Poor thing. He gets a leeeetle bit bigger every year, bless him.

Garden helper

2005-04-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

Finally, I've got my shit together and can post some photos. This is my son Jake, helping as only he can. Everything I do takes ten times as long as it should when he's around. Rock borders? Fuhgeddaboutit! He thinks you're laying down rocks just to make it easier for him to find them and chuck them about. Sharp objects? He's all over 'em like crap in a diaper. I love him, though. He keeps me company, and for the most part, he stays out of trouble.

His favorite thing to do outside--besides running around with sharp sticks--is moving dirt from one pot and putting it in another pot. A very Zen-like activity.

So I had to wait until he went to sleep last night before attempting anything as delicate as repotting my tomato seedlings. I buried them in deep, and divided up the ones that were more than two to a cup. Now I've got more black cherry tomatoes than I know what to do with. I'll either give them away, or wind up planting them.

Notes for next spring: tomatoes I'll probably start in peat pellets, because they'll wind up needing re-potting before going in the ground anyway. The squashes I'll start in bigger cups. The peppers can probably go in pellets also.

Still sore...

2005-04-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I bought a longer extension cord and weed-whacked the rest of the back yard. It looks so flat and smooth and angular out there now.

I've often wondered how entire civilizations can disappear under layers of earth, only to be found a mere thousand or so years later, completely by accident. I'm starting to understand now. After only two years, the vegetable bed that Rob and I built in the back yard has been almost totally obliterated. There's a ghostly outline of rocks around a handful of indestructible green onions and a very persistent thyme plant. But other than that, its buried under dirt and weeds like it was never there.

So yeah, I did chuck about five tumbleweeds over the fence into my vacant neighbor's lot. And while I was looking through the fence, I saw a bunch of old lumber arranged into what looked like what might have been raised beds at one time. Certainly not from the last tenants, but sometime within the last ten years or so. THEN, last night (I'm getting bolder now that the neighbors have actually moved out...), I peeked over the fence and saw three or four roughly made potting benches stacked up against the wall. I am sooooo over there tonight when it gets dark to bring those puppies home. Dressed up with a little white paint, they'll look DARLING in my little garden paradise.

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's ever tried to make a go of it here in the Gardnerville Ranchos.

I'm gonna be sore tomorrow

2005-04-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

I actually got a lot done today. I finally weedeated the back yard. Well, most of it. I need to buy a longer extension cord. I built two 4x4 "no-dig" beds. My version of no-dig beds, anyway. I'll post pix later.

These first two beds, I amended the soil with a manure-compost mix, but I think I added too much. I don't know, is a whole big bag of it too much for a 4x4 area? For the remaining beds, I'll just go with a half a bag.

The hardest thing is outlining them with rocks. I've no doubt I'll have enough rocks for 12 of these squares, it's just a lotta extra physical work; bending ... scooping ... placing ... repeat.

So tomorrow, more of the same. Plus, I want to find some time to re-pot my tomato seedlings.

Gah, it snowed so hard a couple of days ago. It didn't stick on the ground long, but there was a tiny mound of it in the back yard when I first got up this morning. It seems like it will never warm up enough to put plants in the ground.

Anyway, yesterday, while the backyard was still a little wet with snowmelt, I Garden Clawed a small area, just to remind myself of what kind of dirt I was dealing with. I remembered thin, rocky, compacted CRAPOLA, but what I was churning up was surprisingly dark, moist and healthy-looking. I mean, I'm no soil expert, but I was just gettin' good vibes from my dirt, knowhuddimean?

And, oh yeah, starting RIGHT NOW, this very minute, I'm an organic gardener. Earlier today, not so organic... There's a huge ant colony in the middle of the yard, and they keep getting on my son and biting him. My husband buried it today under a large coating of Ortho Ant-B-Gone.

Okay, so I found this at www.cog.ca/documents/Tomatoseedlingswithoutagreenhouse.pdf

2005-04-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

Potting deeply
Tomato seedlings have the remarkable property that they grow roots from their stems wherever they contact soil. You can bury the stems right up to the leaves, and they will happily just grow more roots. To help keep my tomato seedlings compact, I repot them once or twice while they’re indoors. At the two-leaf stage, I dig them out and carefully replant them at the very bottom of a small container. By filling the container, burying the stem so that only the leaves stick up above the soil, the seedling is shortened and it becomes stouter and stronger. If you have room for larger containers, you can keep re-burying seedlings to shorten them until planting time arrives. When you plant in the garden, you have one more chance to shorten the seedlings. Even if your tomatoes are very long and stringy, plant them so that only the top four or five leaves are above the soil. This helps prevent the stems from blowing and breaking in the wind, and it adds to the root mass. The seedlings will grow very quickly once they take hold, and the lost height will be made up before you know it.

Pruning without mercy
The easiest way to shorten tomato seedlings is also the most difficult for beginners. You have to do this a few times before you can really have faith that the little plants will grow back. Believe me, you can prune your beloved seedlings quite hard, and they will thankfully grow back healthier and stronger. My favourite method of pruning tomato seedlings is to pinch the tops when they have three good, strong leaves and a fourth emerging—about 3–4 weeks old. Tomato seedlings have alternate leaves—one leaf grows out one side of the stem, then another grows out the other side a little further up, and so on. The original seed leaves fall off soon after the true leaves start to grow: don’t count these. When you see the fourth leaf beginning to unfurl on a little stem, snip or pinch it off above the third leaf. What happens? Nothing seems to happen for about a week, which is good because the plant is growing a stronger stem and roots instead of more leaves. Then you should see more strong growth at the top and sides, which you can pinch or train as you wish. This happens anyway later in the plant’s life (many people call the side growth suckers) and there are many theories and religions based on suckering (whether or not to, and how and when to do it). I won’t get into that right now. By the time you plant your seedlings, they will be stockier, fuller and healthier than the long, stringy tomatoes that they might have been.

Assassin!

2005-04-17T11:21:00.001-07:00

This week I thinned out the squash seedlings. I felt like a murderer. Now there's only one in each party cup.

The tomato seedlings are starting to look much better. Stockier, not so fragile. They're finally getting the beginnings of the first true leaves. The peppers are slooooow.

I've GOT to start focusing. I'm starting to believe that I've bitten off more than I can chew this year. Once everything is in the ground, I'll be fine, but right now, I've got so many grand plans, and I'm not sure I can implement all of them. My downfall is all this downtime before the last frost date. I keep thinking up all this neat stuff I can do: the Asian soup garden, the herbs in the strawberry pot (or will it be strawberries in the strawberry pot?!), a new compost pile, companion plants... and on and on. I've got to just sit down and make a list of the things I know I can do, then stick to it.

I've found that there's a huge information gap in all the books that I have regarding seedlings/transplants and so forth. Once they sprout, am I supposed to transplant to bigger pots before they actually go in the ground? That's definitely going to be the case with the seeds I started in the peat pellets. I guess I'll have to move them up to party cups. So why didn't I just start them in cups in the first place? I probably won't use peat pellets again; what a pain in the ass.

And the tomatoes (in cups)... am I supposed to move those into something bigger? They're pretty tall, if I move them, I can plant them deeper and get more roots started on them before they go in the ground next month. Totally confused...

Wow, that was fast!

2005-04-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

As of this morning, a few of my latest round of seeds have sprouted: the Mexican sunflowers, the zukes and the lemongrass. I swear, if I had sat there and watched them this morning, I would've been able to actually see them grow. I checked on the sunflower just peeking through early this morning, sat down at the computer and did a little bit of work, then looked again, and it was totally out and trying to shake off the seed coat. Eeeeee!

I had such an awful time with my sunflowers a couple of years ago. I planted seeds directly outdoors, and they took FOREVER and EVER to sprout, and then ants chewed on them, and they just never looked very good. I hope to have better luck this time.

Took me all day...

2005-04-10T16:44:00.000-07:00

...but I finally finished a whole tray of last-minute peat pots: a couple more each of the Costata Romanescos and pattypan squashes, some loofa, some lemongrass, and six each of the Mexican sunflowers, wild sunflowers and brown-eyed susans, plus a couple more White Cushaws. It took me so long because my son was very needy yesterday and constantly wanted to be in my lap. It's hard to put seed to peat pot with a squirmy little boy climbing on you.

Yeah, I had to scrap the first round of White Cushaws. They finally started to grow, but they were growing upside down or something. They looked stunted, with roots sticking UP out of the soil. That can't be healthy, can it?

As the time draws closer to actually start messing about with the soil outside, I'm growing more and more confused and anxious about how exactly I want to cultivate my soil. I'm still undecided on what I want to do.

As of today, my plan is to make about a dozen 4ft x 4ft squares. Each square will be weeded, then amended with a compost/manure mixture. On top of each, a layer of newspaper, then a layer of the landscape fabric, then a layer of straw. That should take care of my massive weed problem. Then each square gets either one winter squash, or three summer squash, or three tomatoes, planted into holes cut into the center of each square.

And since my pumpkins did so well initially a couple years ago, I'll try the same thing with this crop: each planting will also get a mound of bagged garden soil, mounded on top of the hole the plant goes into.

Whew, sounds like a lot more work than I had anticipated, but I gotta do it. I'd love to just be able to stick my seedlings in the ground, but I just don't have that kind of soil.

Eh, if it took me all day just to sit and put seeds in tiny pots, wonder how long it will take me to do this to my back yard?!?!?

Last-minute seeds

2005-04-05T23:28:00.000-07:00

Well, the White Cushaw finally came up (barely). It definitely is taking its own sweet time. These are the last to be moved from the warm spot by Bernice's cage, out into the garage under the lights.

This weather's screwy. Chain controls going up the mountain to work yesterday, but today, short sleeves and iced tea. 72 degrees tomorrow, and 50-something on Thursday.

Yesterday, on a whim, I jumped online and bought two packets of seeds: lemon grass and loofah. The loofah I read about in You Grow Girl (sounds like a fun project) and lemon grass because I killed my pot of lemon grass this winter by keeping it outside. Hope they get here soon so I can get them started.

My husband Rob gave me his uncle's trunk this week. It's his mother's brother. He committed suicide back in the early '70s after he had been back from Vietnam for a while, and this trunk is the only thing Rob has of his. It's a pretty non-descript trunk, handmade of plywood and covered with peeling yellow (!) paint. Rob's always kept his guitar magazines and his songbooks in it. I've asked him repeatedly over the years if I could have it, or refinish it, and he's always said no. But this week he finally relented. I asked him if I could fill it with dirt and plant something in it this spring. He said yeah, and that his uncle probably would like that. Then I asked him if it was okay if I drilled some holes in the bottom. He gritted his teeth, but said, yeah, that would be okay, too.

I think I'm going to start an Asian soup garden in it: lemon grass, cilantro and Thai basil. I don't know if all those will like being in a space together, but it's a cute idea, no?

Shit, now I have to buy some basil and cilantro. Okay... here: http://www.gardenguides.com/seedcatalog/herbs/herbs.htm

Lemongrass, East Indian

Scientific Name: Cymbopogon flexuosus
Common Name: East Indian Lemongrass
Plant Type: Perennial
Where To Plant: Full Sun to Partly Shady
Soil Types: Average
Zones (See US Zone map): 11+ or Pot plant
Germination: Easy

Basil Thai
Siam Queen
(Ocimum basilicum citriodorum)

Thai basil is known to the Vietnamese as "Hung Que" (and eaten raw with noodle soup in the morning) and in Thailand as "Horapha". Siam Queen basil is a distinct improvement over old Thai basils; the yields are impressive because the leaves are twice the size of other Thai basils - 3" to 4" long by 1.5" to 2" wide. Acompact plant with beautiful pink & purple flowers on red-purple stems makes Siam Queen a very attractive container variety. This packet plants 1 - 8 foot row.

Plant Type: Annual
When to Sow Outside: In spring, 1 to 2 weeks after average last frost, and when soil is warm
When to Sow Inside: 6 to 8 weeks before transplanting outside.
Seed Depth: 1/4"
Seed Spacing: 1"
Row Spacing: 1'
Days to Emerge: 5-10
Thinning: When 2" tall, thin to 6" to 12" apart.

Cilantro
(Coriandrum Sativum)

For a couple of herbs, coriander and cilantro sure do cause a lot of confusion. There's really no need for the fuss because they're just two parts of the same plant: cilantro is the pungent leaf and coriander is the citrusy seed. Cilantro is the staple ingredient in salsa and other Mexican dishes. Coriander is used whole or ground in curries, Oriental dishes, and savory baked goods.
After the flower umbels have formed, allow them to go to seed. Cut and dry the heads, and harvest the seeds.

Life Cycle: Annual
Height: 12 - 24 inches
When to plant: In spring, after the last frost. Plant seeds every 2-3 weeks for a long season of harvest.
How to plant: Plant in the garden, directly where the plant will grow. It's not a good idea to start indoors because cilantro doesn't transplant well. Plant seeds 1/2 inch deep and 1" apart in rows 8" apart. When seedlings ar 2" tall, thin to 6" apart. Seeds can take 10-15 days to germinate.
Ideal location: Cilantro will grow in almost any type of soil as long as there is adequate moisture and lots of sun. Perfect for containers on your deck or patio.

Ah, impulse shopping on the web.

A confession

2005-04-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

I'll admit this here, but nowhere else, and certainly not out loud. It's nice to have something to obsess about that's not work or baby-related. Since the birth of my darling Jakey, I'm either working or mothering. These past couple of weeks of getting ready for the growing season is a welcome respite. And I've discovered that my son loves being outside with me, doing his own thing and discovering all sorts of new sights and sounds and textures and flavors, while I'm digging and rooting around and hauling stuff from one side of the garden to the other.

Did I mention that I wish it would quit snowing? I love snow, but this is ridiculous.

Thirsty

2005-04-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

Today I watered my seedlings for the very first time. They's kinda thirsty. I watered from the bottom and let them sit through one movie ("After the Sunset" with Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek), then drained the remaining water out of the trays (cookie sheets).

Note for next year: label the bottom cup, not the top one. Now that the tops are off, the bottom ones now have to be re-labeled. DUH!

White Cushaw is still holding out on me. Those are the only seeds left to sprout. I still have a handful of seed cups hanging out near the lizard cage.

The book that I mentioned in the previous post: another copy of "You Grow Girl" for my friend Cherie. I want her to get all excited about gardening this year with me! I also passed her one of my Costata Romanesco zukes.

I'll probably start another couple of the zucchini seeds, and pass on the one seedling cup that I have left. They sprouted first and got large really quick. They'd be pretty huge before late May when I plan to get stuff in the ground.

Tomato seedlings seem so ... frail. Tall and skinny and little little little. I wish they'd bulk up a bit and I'd stop being so afraid for them. Jakey got his hands on a couple of the seedling cups and shook them like a Polaroid. I had to gently press everything back into place.

I bought a cheap-o thermometer for the garage and set it out today. I'll have to check first thing in the morning to see just how cold it gets out there. Right now at 10:30 pm, it's 60 degrees. It was pretty warm today overall.

Yard-wise: I've straightened up the side yard, mainly because the lawn guys will start up their routine soon (I live in a rental, and someone comes by and cuts and edges every other week). If the side yard is messy, they get pissy and don't do a very good job. I still don't know what I'm going to plant in my little dirt patch there in the side yard. I'm waiting for the primrose to come back, and also the lavendar, but there's probably room for some herbs too, so I'll probably get some from the home store that are already started, and stick those in sometime late May. Nothing complicated, I'm saving all my efforts for the stuff I'll be growing out in the back.

what a difference a day makes...

2005-03-29T16:34:00.001-08:00

Man, I just typed this post, and Blogger lost it, so now I've got to type it again.

Anyway. What a difference a day and about 20 degrees makes. I brought the tomatoes inside yesterday morning, and as of today at 4:30 pm, every single one of them has sprouted. Sorry, you poor little guys, I didn't know!

The seeds have shifted themselves around a bit. I tried to put them in the cups uniformly spaced, but several of them have seemed to cozy up to one another and sprouted cheek-to-cheek.

My 14-month-old son has been helping me out in the backyard soon-to-be garden paradise. He runs around with sticks and stones and does all sorts of things that nana probably wouldn't approve of. This afternoon he found one of last year's rotten tomatoes, and had it in his mouth before I could tackle him and wrestle it away from him. He's great company when I'm out there.

Stopped off at Borders on my way home from work today, and bought even more gardening books. These were in the remainder bins though, so I got three books for less than $10. Plus another cool book that I'll talk about in a couple of days.

I don't know what to do with myself until (hopefully) frost-free late May. There's a lot of un-fun stuff left to do, like cleaning up the back yard. Or maybe washing and sterilizing last year's containers. And making a couple of trips to the dump. Ack.

I plan to weed-eat in the next couple of days, if nothing else. I want to nip that shit in the bud this year, so to speak. The weeds were so high in the back last year that you couldn't even open the gate and had to squeeze through.

Duh!

2005-03-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I didn't do it sooner: This morning I took all my tomato cups and put them in the spare bedroom near Bernice's (my iguana) cage, which is heated with a radiant heater hung from the ceiling. Super-warm there, but far enough away that they don't get scorched. One of the Green Zebras is poking out just a wee bit, but that's the only tomato so far. So tiny!

I've really got to quit blogging about this at work. It's just hard to think about anything else right now. I'll be here until midnight!

I can hear the tomatoes protesting

2005-03-27T11:36:00.000-08:00

Every one of the seedling cups has something poking through as of this morning... except for the tomatoes. Thass fine, I know they just need a bit more time. I got kinda creeped out yesterday when I looked at one of the squash cups. Nothing poking out the top yet, but a little white root had already pushed through to the bottom of the cup and was curling around the bottom. I don't know why that's creepy, it just is. Magical, but creepy.

It's like old-time alchemy of a sort. You take these inanimate, dried-up little pods out of a paper envelope, add soil, moisture and light, and they come to life. The zucchini seedlings are already at least five times bigger than the seeds that I planted. Where's all this extra matter coming from?

Can you tell I'm new at this?

Okay, here's what I'm going to do. I just read somewhere that tomato seeds should sprout in just a few days, and here it is 12 days later and they haven't done anything. I'm going to bring them inside and set them somewhere warm, just until they sprout. Then I'll take them back out to the garage under the lights. Like I mentioned in a post below (but did not make the connection until today...), apparently they need warmth to germinate (70-80 degrees) but not so much warmth once they're up (55 degrees or so). That's do-able.

You lil' fellers must be freezin!

2005-03-26T07:21:00.001-08:00

Just took a look this morning, and now I've got Golden Sweet melon, Black Futsu squash and yellow scallop squash coming up.

Just between leaving for work yesterday, and coming home, the Costata Romanesco grew twice its size.

This is so exciting!

Found this link this morning. Want to keep it handy for when I finally do have tomatoes:
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/comm/staff/zakour/faq/faq_search.cgi/post

According to the above link, perfect germination temps for tomatoes are between 70 and 90 degrees. Whoa. Once the seeds are up, though, it says 55 degrees is fine. Hmmmm.

...and the winner is Costata Romanesco!

2005-03-25T11:23:00.000-08:00

Rob banged on the door this morning while I was taking a shower to tell me that the Costata Romanesco sprouted this morning under the lights. Both party cups each have a seedling peeking through, despite the biting cold out in the garage.

I tried to put a heating pad under the cups yesterday, but -- haha, joke's on me -- found out that my heating pad has an auto shut-off and turns itself off after 20 minutes. Useless, totally useless.

This morning I took a lamp from the bedroom with a 60-watt bulb and set it next to them. Not very warm, but maybe will keep things from freezing in the general vicinity of the lights.

My neighbors on the other side of our duplex are moving out. I'm hoping that there's some lag time between them leaving and new tenants moving in, 'cuz I'm planning on chucking my tumbleweed pile onto their side of the fence. No really, it's a perfect solution. Their yard is already full of tumblers, and I reeaaallly don't want to try and haul these things to the dump, so -- one of these nights -- oopsie, over they go!

Am I bad?

Getting started…

2005-03-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

I bought a shit-load of seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (link at right). Good folks, fast and cheap shipping. No matter how many seeds you buy, shipping is only $2.95.

Anyway, here's what I'm going to attempt to grow this season (descriptions from Baker Creek catalog):

WINTER SQUASHES:

Black Futsu
(cucurbita moschata) Rare, black Japanese squash, the fruit is flattened, round and has heavy ribbing. Very unique and beautiful. The black fruit will turn a rich chestnut color in storage. Flesh is golden color and has the rich taste of hazelnuts. Fruits are 3-8 lbs. each and vines give huge yields.

Cushaw White (Jonathan Pumpkin)
100 days (cucurbita mixta) A rare Cushaw type, white skin and sweet pale orange flesh. Easy to grow, huge yields, and good resistance to squash bugs. A popular heirloom from the south. (1891)

Red Kuri (Hokkaido)
92 days. (cucurbita maxima) A red-orange Japanese winter squash, fruit are 5-10 lbs. each and teardrop-shaped. The golden flesh is smooth, dry, sweet and rich, a great yielding and keeping variety.

Sweet Dumpling
(cucurbita pepo) One of the sweetest of all! The small flattened ribbed 1 lb. fruit has a white skin with green stripes. The sweet, tender orange flesh makes this variety the favorite of many.

Table Bush Queen
(cucurbita pepo) Here is an exciting true bush version of "Table Queen Acorn", 36" plants stay compact and produce heavy yields of these delicious squash, with dry orange flesh. A great variety for small gardens almost anywhere in the USA.

Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin
(cucurbita pepo) This beautiful pumpkin was introduced by Johnson & Stokes in 1893. Lovely 6-lb golden fruit have white netting and are perfect for pies. In fact, this is one of the best tasting pie pumpkins you can grow, with very sweet and smooth flesh, a favorite of all who grow it.

SUMMER SQUASHES:

Costata Romanesco
52 days. Famous, ribbed zucchini from Rome, Italy. The distinctive, long fruit are flutted with medium, green-striped skin. The cut slices are scalloped. When small, they are popular fried whole with the flower still on. Rich and very flavorful. A perfect, gourmet variety for the market grower.

Yellow Scallop
(Golden Custard) Beautiful bright yellow fruit with a rich, mellow flavor. Likely predates Columbian times, a rare native American squash. Bush plants with good yields.

TOMATOES:

Green Zebra
Beautiful chartreuse with deep lime-green stripes, very attractive. Flesh is bright green and very rich tasting, sweet with a sharp bite to it. A favorite tomato of many high-class chefs, specialty markets and home gardeners. Yield is excellent. Around 3 ounces each.

Black Cherry
Beautiful black cherries, look like large, dusky purple grapes; they have that rich flavor that makes black tomatoes famous. Market growers report that this variety is an incredible seller, large vines yield very well. Very unique and delicious.

Riesentraube
This old German heirloom was offered in Philadelphia by the mid-1800's. The sweet red 1 oz fruit grow in large clusters and the name means "Giant Bunch of Grapes" in German. It is probably the most popular small tomato with seed collectors as many enjoy the rich, full tomato flavor that is missing in today's cherry types. Large plants produce massive yields.

Plum Lemon
70 days. The bright canary-yellow 3" fruit, looks just like a fresh lemon. This variety was collected by Kent Whealy of Seed Savers Exchange, from a elderly seedsman at the Bird Market in Moscow. Delicious, sweet taste.

MELONS:

Tigger
The fruit are vibrant yellow with brilliant fire-red, zigzag stripes, (a few fruit may be solid yellow), simply beautiful! They are also the most fragrant melons, with a rich, sweet intoxicating aroma that will fill a room. The white flesh gets sweeter in dry climates. Small in size the fruits weigh up to 1 lb. - perfect for a single serving. The vigorous plants yield heavily, even in dry conditions. This heirloom came from an Armenian market located in a mountain valley.

Golden Sweet
Totally groovy looking, with their gorgeous, lemon-colored rinds and small size. The flesh is white, crisp and good. The skin is so thin that many people do not peel them prior to eating, but enjoy them straight out of the garden. This Oriental variety is also very early, and the compact vines produce like crazy! Pick fruit when they turn golden color. Easy to grow; these are popular in Taiwan.

ASSORTED WILDFLOWERS:

Black-Eyed Susan
A popular native variety from the Great Plains of North America. Large yellow daisies with dark brown centers. Good in heat and drought.

Mexican Sunflower - Torch
(Tithonia rotundifolia) (GOLDEN FLOWER OF THE AZTECS) Brilliant red-orange 2"- 3" flowers; an excellent butterfly plant. These bloom over a very long season, and the plants produce masses of blooms. The large 5' plants are very beautiful. Common along roadsides in the high mountains of central Mexico.

Wild Sunflower
The small yellow sunflower that grows wild over so much of the USA. They do very well in dry or poor soil--great for birds.

Wildly ambitious? Yes! Foolhardy in the extreme? Yes! Setting myself up for disappointment? We'll see!

Here's how I've started my seeds (March 16):

I bought a shop light ($17.95), two 40-watt flourescent bulbs ($5.95) and a timer ($4.95) at Lowe's. I've got the lamp housing set directly on two cement blocks on the shop bench in the garage, about 3-4" above the tops of the seedling cups.

The seedling cups are 30 sets of two clear plastic party cups, set one on top of the other, and taped together with masking tape. Each bottom cup has three holes drilled in the bottom, the top cups are labeled with a label-maker.

I've filled each with a 50/50 mix of moist sphagnum moss and vemiculite. Each cup has three seeds and about 10 spritzes of water from a spray bottle. I forgot to spray the Black Futsu before I taped them up, so I'll have to keep an eye on those and see how fast they dry out.

My only concern at this point is the temperature in the garage. It's snowing like a mofo right now, so it's pretty cold out there. I don't have anything at this point to regulate the temp near the seedlings, so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that they're not too terribly cold out there.

Looked online today and found out that the average date of last frost in Northern Nevada is the middle of May, so I'm pretty much on schedule for starting the tomatoes, but kind of early for starting the squashes. I'll have transplant to bigger containers at least once before they go in the ground.

Haven't started the wildflowers yet. Probably next week. I'm in the process of finally buying a digital camera, so look for more pictures, less yapping, very soon.

Like I said, its snowing today. Probably the last big one for the season, but you never know. It's nice to be pro-active inside, though. I'm drawing garden diagrams, whispering to my seedlings, dreaming of a bountiful harvest. Last night before the storm hit, I cut back a bunch of last year's growth and added to the compost pile (if you can call a 6-foot high pyramid of dry, crunchy tumbleweeds a compost pile). I also emptied out some of last year's containers. I need to scrub them out and add fresh soil for this year. Not sure yet what I want to put in containers.

So that's what's going on for now. I'll probably just be tidying up the back lot and checking on seedling for awhile now. I'll post later with any breaking news!

40 acres and a mule...

2005-03-20T11:58:00.000-08:00

...or not. I actually have about a quarter acre of rocks and desert hard-pan. My previous gardening attempts here in the high desert of Northern Nevada have not been runaway successes, to say the least. I have coaxed a few things from the soil, mostly weeds, but also a few herbs, some wildflowers and sedges, miscellaneous flats of pretty things from Home Depot.

Year before last, I had a pretty good start on a few hills of pumpkins/squashes (Luminas, Jack-Be-Littles, Connecticut Fields and Sugar Pies), but I started too late in the season, and in late September, everything was killed off with one mighty frost. Heartbreak.

So this year, I'm doin' it up right. I've actually bought some books, ordered some interesting heirloom species online, and started seedlings indoors for a targeted plant date in early May.

So this is where I'm going to record everything: times, dates, processes, etc. Then I can look back on this when everything dies in a freak snowstorm in August, and see just how much time and effort and money I've wasted.

Wish me luck!