Sunday, March 19, 2017

Carnage

The snow is gone.  The ice on the pond is melted. The gazillion oak leaves that were embedded in the ice on the pond have sunk to the bottom and begun their transition into stink goo.

I cannot actually go out and look around  the yard as everything is too wet.
What I can do is look out the window to evaluate the carnage....hmm

OK thats done.  Its... bad.  
Pity I can't go out and fix any of that today.  I love the windchill when its 45 out!  
Poor me will have to instead spend the afternoon on the couch, under fuzzy blankets reading.

A review of other blogs out there is showing pristine perfection at- well everywhere.  
One day I will learn to garden so that mine also looks pristine.  Until that time, I think I will go lop the heads off the onion seedlings to gain some satisfaction.

Seedling Update March 19


Weather:  sunny  45F
Temp in pop up greenhouse at noon, 84 degrees

Seedling updates:

Tomatoes:  all but three cells up, replanted those cells a week ago with a new variety.  Plants thriving, stocky, with first set true leaves.  Got weak organic balanced fertilizer this weekend.

Peppers:  Six are up, all fresher seed.  Replanted the rest this week.  Weak fertilization given and replanted cells without sprouts.  Not on bottom heat and doing OK

Basil:  100% up.  Starting to thin.

Eggplant:  One up with no bottom heat.  replanted the rest.

Lettuce; cauliflower and most broccoli:  its all up, now with first set true leaves.  Days and some nights outside in popup greenhouse now.  Thinned

Purple peacock broccoli:  10% germination.  replanted.

Onions and Shallots.  Old seed.  Doing terrible.  about 50% up.  replanted.  Germination testing on two seed packs.  Got a haircut and weak fertilizer this weekend

Chard:  100% but leave style seems variable.  May need to partially replant to get the colors I want

Celery:  Up but not thriving.  Replanted

Purple potato seed:  10% survival.  Out of seed.  I bought seedling potatoes for this year will go back to fresh seeds next year.

Various flowers:  Stretched and about 50% germination.  Need to be replanted.

Chamomile:  0% germination.  tossed seed pack and replanted with fresh seed.

Malbar spinach.  Up and looks OK

Stevia:  100% germination but all died.  Will not replant.

I have to go to Singapore for business for a week soon.  I don't really trust the spouse and the teenagers to take care of the seedlings so the next ten days will be all about getting everyone optimized for a week of neglect.



Sunday, March 12, 2017

2017 Tomato Selection



    I really like tomatoes but only in summer and only those open pollinated varieties bred for great     optimum flavor.  In my opinion there is no point in spending time growing your own tomatoes if the varieties you select are meh in flavor, and meh in texture.  Great tasting tomatoes are so good that in the summer I have been know to make up a quick batch of low cook salsa and just eat the bowl of salsa for lunch.  No chips required.

Compared to the willy nilly selection I often do with other varieties of vegetables, I spend a lot of time picking my tomato varieties each year.  I do most of my research at Tomatoville which is the best planting community on the internet.  There is no comparison.  The expert breeders hang out here, the community does its own experimentation and they share results and often seeds freely.  If you do some reading and want to read about tomatoes you heard about and what zones of the country are growing them, the best place it Tatianas Tomatobase wiki.  Warning.  There are thousands and thousands of varieties here from all over the world.  Its the most comprehensive list of tomatoes you will find with excellent reviews.  You can spend hours or in my case days here.

I planted my 2017 varieties a few weeks ago.  They are up and looking great.  Here is who made the cut for 2017 and why.

Chocolate Stripes:  Favorite tomato Pictured above.  I plant it every year.  It grows great for me here (Chicago burbs).Its gorgeous but more important it tastes great produces well, resists diseases better than others and does really care about our whacky weather.

Gajo de Melon: Favorite cherry  This is a very productive, very sweet cherry.  The fruits are sort of red and orange swirled together.  It stays on the vine (unlike sungold) and tastes awesome right off the vine.  Fruit flies LOVE this one so dont leave it hanging on the counter.

All of these have good to great taste in common.  Other awesome qualities are noted.

Amazon Chocolate  black tomato, very rich complex taste.  Up to a pound.
Illini Star  Earlier, does not crack, no BER, does fine in high heat, very productive, smaller size
Sherrys Sweet Heart  slightly pointy end but not really a heart.  Delicious sweet flavor 
Anna Russian heirlom pink, early for a heart.  productive for a heart.  delicious. wispy leaves
Marizol Bratka aka Purple Brandywine:  Very big, rich and productive for a brandywine.  Big plant
Katja from siberia, early producer of big pink 1 pound fruit.  Productive

Pork Chop:   Favorite Yellow tomato  True yellow with faint green strips, citusy notes.  medium

Indian Stripe Maroon purple with green shoulders, high yields, outstanding rich, sweet flavor
Shuntuski Veilikan  Russian.  Huge fruit.  Earlier.  good for short seasons.  Excellent taste
Midnight in Moscow  Russian.  purple/black medium fruit with excellent flavor

Persimmon: Favorite Orange tomato:  Persnickety as a seedling but worth it.  High yield, delicious

Darbys Orange and Red:  Earlier.  Medium Red with Orange stripes.  Tasty  
Eva PurpleBall  x Big Beef  Productive disease resistant.  My seeds F3 so not yet stable

Forest Fire:  Favorite Early:  Early, 60 Days with very good flavor and productivity.   

Crnkovic Yugoslavian:  mid-season.  reliable.  large pink sweet beefsteaks, excellent flavor
Hege German Pink:  Big pink very tasty
Black from Tula:  Heirloom from Ukraine.  Brownish red.  Very dense foliage.  Rich taste

Woolly Kate:  Favorite Weirdo:  Rare:  Yellow with purple shoulders and fuzzy
Orange Russian 117   Bicolor 8 oz oxhearts. Meaty and very delicious.  Mid-season. 
Gary O Sena  Earlier purple brandywine with good production.  Some disease for me though
Brads Black Brandywine:  Planting because I dont remember anything about this plant
Black Seaman Attractive brown/pink marbled.  potato leaf determinate
Cherokee Purple:  awesome.  read about this very old variety here

Saturday, March 4, 2017

The Real Reason I Bought all these Damn Seeds

Well the blog was mostly a fail last year.  I was faithful right up until vacation.  Then upon return after two weeks in the sun, there was no time for anything but weeding.  Turns out Mar-Duke allotments has a whole lot of rather aggressive weeds just below the surface, that grow a foot if you turn away for a few moments.  Nevertheless, I harvested enough and enjoyed it enough to give it another go this year.

Today I chose my new allotment space.  This year I was smarter.  Last year I went with  the "I dont want to be near anyone" theme and paid for it by long long walks to water and my car and also getting regularly creeped out by creepers stalking around near the bushes.  This year, I went with "less walking more gardening, in the people zone and organic too".  I snagged up a double organic right next to the water and the car.  I am as always, optimistic!

The sprouts are off and running.  I have no idea what to plant when anymore.  I typically ignore all the finger wagging rules and go with what feels right and it has always worked, however Global warming is giving us week long stretches in the 60's in mid february and we have had virtually no snow all winter--in Chicago.  So this year..should be interesting.

I've decide to kick off the season with a full confession.  I will share what I am planting, and why.
If you are a novice gardener, run away.  Not much learning is forthcoming.  Marketing students, however may clean a bit of intel here.

East Indian Lemongrass:  I have no idea how to grow it or cook with it.  I bought it because I can't have a lemon tree in Chicago.

Celery:  Peppermint Stick:  Celery is rather annoying to grow, but I do like Christmas so maybe this one is OK.

Onion:  Flat of Italy  All the other onion pictures were yellow this packet had purple onions on it.  (Not a single one of these have sprouted yet.)

Onion:  Walla Walla:  I like to say walla walla

Onion:  Yellow Sweet Spanish Utah:  I read an internet post that said walla walla sucked and spanish was better. I almost didn't buy it because it had Utah in its name.  (take not marketing students)

Leeks:  I cook with leeks maybe once a year.  I planted King Richard and King Mussleberg both because leeks look like swords and the image of the dueling kings amused me.

Shallots:  (Zebrune):  They cook with these a lot on top chef so they must be superior right?

Malabar spinach: red Stem:  I like this stuff.  Its like a spinach vine with thick leaves and alien purple berries.  It never bolts either.

Kale:  Beira Tronchuda: they used the words "exceptionally sweet" and rare gem in the description.

Kale:  Redbor:  ITS MAGENTA!

Chard:  Joys Midnight:  Because when I was growing  Rainbow Lights chart I had to spout so many extra seeds to get the colors I really wanted: Dark leaves and red stem.  In this variety, ALL seeds yield that coloration.

Golden Purslane:  The seed package said "succulent" and "golden" and "soothing".  Its like magic
lettuce.

Lettuce:  Truchas:  "Breathtaking"; "crimson with green ribs"  "refined"  "delight to each"  "melt in your mouth"  "utterly bitter free"  Talk about magic art deco lettuce!

Lettuce:  "Flashy Trouts Back"  Because this is the dumbest name for lettuce ever and I felt sorry for it.

Lettuce:  "Flashy Butter Oak":  Its green with maroon spots and a butterhead.

Lettuce:  Avicenna:  ITS RUBY COLORED!

Watercress:  Does good floating around the pond on the floating islands.

Daikon:  Because I thought this was a radish and the picture has a lettuce on it that looks like a plant from the little shop of horrors so it had me puzzled.  $4.95! for these seeds that I bought just because I wanted to know what it was.

Chicory:  Treviso Mesola and Grumolo Rosso Because both of these sound pretty and if it turns out I dont like chicory, at least they will look nice.

Zinnas:  3 different packages of purple and orange.  Because I like their gall
Zinnas:  Flower is green   Because its so weird

Amaranth:  Rio San Lorenzo:  Because the flowers were so pretty and amaranth seems so old and wise.

Cabbage:  Ruby Ball  Because its red and "can sit in the garden for 6 weeks unfazed..." at my neglect.

Cauliflower:  Veronica  BECAUSE ITS CHARTREUSE, which in my head meant red, until I remembered it was neon green which disappointed me at first until I decide neon was also cool

Cauliflower: Mulberry:  "the color deepens to a blue-purple!  Are you kidding me.  MUST HAVE IT

Broccoli:  Purple Peacock:  Last year I bought it because it was purple.  It would not sprout.  This year I have it because its a battle of wills thing.


Broccoli:  Di Cicco:  Because if you want your kids to eat veggies some of them have to look normal.

Brussels Sprouts: Rubine  Because my sister in law makes tasty brussel sprouts and I am currently annoyed with her and this variety is purple red, which is obviously superior to her boring green ones.

Poor Mans Weather Glass:  first it is a blue flower, second it tells the weather.  No brainer.

Cosmos:  Double Click Cranberries:  Because they look less straggly in their picture 

Basil:  Sacred:  Because I liked the zen seed pack.

Basil:  Napoletano:  Because I love it

Basil:  Genovese:  Because everyone grows it.

Basil: Cinnamon:  Its a PIA to grow but it tastes sweeter so I love it.

Oregano:  White Flowered Greek:  Because the seed was organic and an heirloom and its for the bees, maybe the bees need so more old fashioned awesome in their diet.

This is getting kind of long.  I will do tomatoes, peppers and other stuff tomorrow.  Its time to cook tilapia and do my evening seedling stalking to see who sprouted.