Garlic Patch 2018

I finally got the garlic planted today.  I moved it back to the North garden this year.  The varieties planted are Brown Tempest, Siberian, Central Siberian, Kiev, Baba Franchuk's, Northern Quebec, and Red Russian.   

The Brown Tempest, Siberian, and Central Siberian cloves (started from bulbils in 2016) are still fairly small, so I planted those in pots in the ground.  

Kiev and Baba Franchuk's garlic (also started from bulbils) were big, beautiful bulbs when I harvested them in August.  I planted these cloves in-ground.  To my surprise/disappointment, I found that the inner skins of these two varieties were quite thin and peeled off a number of the individual cloves when I split the bulbs for planting.  The bulbs were so large that I thought their skins would be thick and sturdy, like Red Russian.   I forgot to count the number of cloves planted this year, but I estimate about 9 Kiev and 18 Baba Franchuk's.

Finishing off the plot is one row of Northern Quebec (about 11 cloves) and five rows of never-lets-me-down Red Russian (about 50 cloves).

Just have to cover the plot with shredded leaves, and the garlic will be ready to settle in for the winter.

Update: A-ha...now I realize why the Kiev and Baba Franchuk's garlic had such thin skins.  Both are rocambole varieties, which are easy to peel (thin skins!) and not the best for long-term storage.   Red Russian garlic is a Marbled Purple Stripe variety and is good for long-term storage (thicker skins). 

Tomato Notes 2018

May 8 – Started hardening off tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant.

September 7 – First hard frost was September 3rd.  Flurries, freezing rain, and overnight temps of -4 forecast for the week of the 9^th, so I will have to bring in all the tomatoes this weekend (Sept 8-9^th)

Work Release Paste  (pink, heirloom, heart-shaped, paste, indeterminate, large, origin Italian, mid-season ~80 DTM)

Date sown:  March 17

Transplanted: May 20

Observations:

March 29 – good germination rate even though these seeds are a few years old. 

June 19 – I read on several forums and in seed reviews that this variety produces well.  I hope so!  The plants themselves are droopy and need to be staked and tied with twine to keep them from flopping outside of the tomato cages.  Not a robust or sturdy plant. 

September 7 – These plants have been productive!  Not early to ripen, but a lot of meaty tomatoes per plant. Nice heart shape that will be easy to process.

Approximate date harvested: 

Would grow again? YES

Early Annie  (red, heirloom, 3-inch round, canning/slicing, DETERMINATE.)

Date sown:  March 17

Transplanted: May 20

Observations:

March 29 – these have been slow to germinate, and only about half planted germinated. 

September 7 – Productive and early to mature.  Nice round shape that will be easy to process.  Plants compact and easy to manage.

Would grow again? YES

Mazarini (pink, heart-shaped, heirloom, few seeds, meaty flesh, paste, wispy foliage, indeterminate, rare Russian tomato)

Date sown:  March 17

Transplanted: May 20

Observations:

March 29 – these were quick to germinate and are robust even as seedlings.

June 30 – The Mazarinis I planted (3) all ended up being snapped in the extremely windy weather we had earlier in the month.  I had to replace them with other varieties.

Would grow again?  Yes, this variety was a favourite from the last time I grew it.  Similar to Work Release Paste.

Dwarf Roza Vetrov  (pink, open-pollinated, dwarf/determinate, small/salad fruit, round pointed fruit, origin Russian “Wind Rose”, early)

Date sown:  March 17

Transplanted:  May 20

Observations:

September 7 – Very happy I tried growing these!  Productive, sturdy plants.  Small, heart-shaped pink tomatoes that will be easy to process.

Would grow again?  Definitely, yes!

Black Krim  (black/purple, beefsteak, indeterminate, Russian heirloom, juicy, rich flavour)

Date sown:  March 17

Transplanted:  May 20

Observations:

September 7 – When all was said and done, after the windy weather in June that snapped tomato and even some cabbage plants, I only had one remaining Black Krim.  That plant wasn’t particularly productive, though typically this variety puts out a decent number of tomatoes.

Would grow again?  One of my favourites, so yes

Russian Rose

Date sown:  March 17

Transplanted:  May 20

Observations:

March 29 – these were quick to germinate and the seedlings are robust.

September 7 – Happy with these plants!  Productive and early to ripen.  Large and pink.  The tops tend to be wavy/scalloped.

Would grow again?  Yes, but I’m not sure if I’d grow them every year. I like everything about them except a fair number have bottoms that are wrinkled, which can slow down processing.  That is the only (minor) drawback, though.

Bush Beefsteak  (red, open-pollinated, determinate, medium sized 6-8 oz globed-shaped fruit, early 65 DTM, slicer)

Date sown:  March 17

Transplanted:  May 20 in large pots

Observations:

March 29 – average germinate, the seedlings have been weak and many malformed.  Not living up to my expectations so far.  I received these seeds in a trade; perhaps they are old or were taken from a hybrid variety.

Would grow again?  Meh.  Doubtful.  This is the second time I’ve tried growing them and the production was underwhelming both times.  I didn’t see anything that resembled a beefsteak, either. 

Rutgers  (red, “commercial heirloom”, determinate, heavy yields, medium sized 6-8 oz round fruit, ~75 DTM, canner/slicer/general use)

Date sown:  March 17

Transplanted:  May 20

Observations:

September 7 – I either got seeds in a trade that were mislabeled Rutgers, or else Rutgers isn’t really a determinate plant!  These things branched and grew like mad and I had to top and stake them in August.  The tomatoes are nicely uniform and round.  Average production – I wasn’t blown away, though.  Not early to ripen – in fact, these are among the last of the varieties I grew this year to ripen.

Would grow again?  Yes, I would give these another try.

Scotia  (red, open-pollinated, determinate, medium fruit, origin Nova Scotia, early 60-70 DTM, prolific, slicer/canner)

Date sown:  March 17

Transplanted:  May 20

Observations: June 19 – first tomatoes of any of the plants!

September 7 – Fairly productive, round tomatoes that will be easy to process.

Would grow again? Yes

Principe Borghese  (red, heirloom, determinate, small, dry, few seeds, good for sundried tomatoes,~ 75 DTM)

Date sown:  March 17

Transplanted:  May 20

Observations:

March 29 – quick germination.

September 7 – this variety is always crazy-productive and fairly early to begin ripening.

Would grow again? Yes, one of my favourites.  We slice and dehydrate these.

Malakhitovaya Shkatulka  (green, heirloom, indeterminate, medium sized fruit, Russian origin “Malachite Box”, early – 70 DTM, slicer)

Date sown:  March 17

Transplanted: May 21

Observations:

March 29 – these were quick to germinate and the seedlings are robust!

September 7 – Very productive!  Large, smooth fruit.  None ripened on the plant.  Looking forward to tasting these once ripened indoors.

Would grow again?  Maybe.  I find them very mild.  I think I might prefer Emerald Evergreen for flavour.

Golden Jubilee  (orange, heirloom, indeterminate, round, medium sized fruit, 70-80 DTM, slicer)

Date sown:  March 17

Transplanted:  May 21

Observations:  June 19 – These plants have remained small but are quite sturdy and lush.

September 7 – All foliage and no fruit.  Not productive, late to ripen, and a number suffered from Blossom End Rot.  Disappointing, as many of the reviews I read about it were glowing.

Would grow again? Doubtful

Amana Orange   (orange, heirloom, indeterminate, large beefsteak, midseason DTM ~80-85)

Date sown:  March 17   (Only had 2 seeds, trying to grow out)

Transplanted:  May 20

Observations:

March 29 – Only 1 of the 2 seeds planted germinated!

June 19 – The wind and cool temps of the past few weeks have beat the heck out of this plant.  It’s still standing, but not looking all that healthy.  Fingers crossed it still produces a few tomatoes.

September 7 – Pleasantly surprised!  Large, bright orange beefsteaks that were early to ripen.

Would grow again?  Yes

Auria   (red, heirloom, paste/canner/cooking, elongated/banana, “suggestive shape”, sometimes called “Adam” in the Ukraine (origin), indeterminate, wispy foliage, midseason)

Date sown: March 29

Transplanted: May 20

Observations:  

September 7 – Of the three seeds I started, only one plant made it through to the transplant stage.  The plant is large and sprawling, needed a fair bit of twine and staking.  Productive, but most of the fruit suffered from Blossom End Rot.  Not early to ripen (none ripened on the plant) but I have brought some of the larger tomatoes inside.  I’ll try to ripen them and save seeds.

Would grow again?  I’d like to try this variety again at least once.

Damascus Steel  (stripe/bi-colour purple & red, high anthocyanins, bred by Dean Slater, open-pollinated, 2-3” fruits tapered to round, “sweet with a bit of acidity”, indeterminate, midseason DTM ~80)

Date sown:  March 29

Transplanted:  May 21

Observations:

September 7 -  Wow!  An eye-grabbing, deep purple colour.  The bottoms (as of this date) are pale green with small, dark-green stripes. I won’t know what “ripe” looks like for this variety until after I’d brought them inside and put them in boxes for a week or two.  Much more productive than I expected.  As far as I can tell (?) none have ripened on the plants (the fruit is still hard).

Would grow again? Yes

I managed to get a start on canning tomato sauce this past week.   There are still boxes and boxes of ripening tomatoes stacked in the kitchen, so there is plenty yet to do!

Speedy Wrap-Up

It has been a busy month. 

Before recapping the month below, I updated my garlic bulbil post HERE.  Scroll to the "August 2018" section to see recent pictures of the bulbils I started in 2016.  Baba Franchuk's and Kiev are already full-sized bulbs.  The rest will need another year or two before they develop into large bulbs.

Heavy frosts started early this year, around September 3rd.  Temperatures between -6 and -8, along with freezing rain and snow,  were forecast for September 10th -14th.  The push was on, thanks to Mother Nature, and we were forced to harvest most of the garden on the weekend of the 8th/9th.

September 5th, we dug up the volunteer potato plants that had grown in the East garden ("The Jungle").  Most turned out to be purple potatoes.   We ended up with half a bucketful - a very nice gift from the garden!  I cubed and roasted some of them with carrots, onions, rosemary, thyme, and olive oil.  

We picked all the tomatoes (still mostly green) and brought them inside on the 9th.  I spent the next two days putting them in boxes lined with newspaper.  As they ripen, most will be cooked down for plain tomato sauce and either frozen or canned. 

Most of the dry bean pods were still green on the plants.  During the same weekend as the tomato harvest, I brought as many beans as I could inside to finish drying, hung from the plant room ceiling.  Some of the beans were so immature (especially Black Coco) that they wouldn't have been fit to eat even if I had dried the pods/plants indoors.  Almost all of the Black Coco plants and about half the Coco Jaune de Chine plants had to be composted, pods and all.  

Some of the bean plants (dry bush beans w/runners - Purple Amish Gnuttle and Swedish Brown) waiting to be liberated of their leaves before being brought indoors to dry.

The following week, I harvested the remaining carrots and processed/dehydrated most of them for storage. It is time consuming, but worth it.  We don't have a root cellar or cold room, so this is easiest way to preserve the amount of carrots we grow.

Left outside until the weekend of September 22nd: potatoes in the raised bed, few leeks, a few of the remaining cabbage (small ones), a few beets.

Bea and Loulou resting after a strenuous weekend of overseeing the speedy harvest... 

Romeow (actually named, "Freddy") is a neighbourhood kitty who is a frequent visitor to our yard.  He likes our house and cat food, too... 

A Tad Early...

First Frost

    The first frost was forecast to hit last night, so we covered as much as we could, focusing on the tomatoes, summer squash, and some of the bush beans.  There wasn't much we could do to protect the winter squash in the "jungle" (East garden).  The plants are too sprawling and frankly, we don't have that many old sheets! 

These pictures were taken around 8:00pm last night:

   The first thing I did this morning was look out of the window.  There were thick, white sparkles on the sheets covering my plants.  Arhg!   I took a quick look around the yard.  Not too closely, mind you, as I still want to maintain a certain degree of denial.  I have a feeling the winter squash (North Georgia Candy Roasters) plants and my beautiful dahlias all got zapped.  Time will tell; the sun will be fully up in an hour or two.

These were taken around 7:30am this morning:

Carrot tops

"Illumination" Zinnia

Frost-tinged winter squash leaves.  Uh-oh.   :(

One of the dahlia plants, still in a bit of shade.

12:00pm - I spent the last hour pulling out and composting the zapped North Georgia Candy Roaster vines.  Two small squash had sections on them that were frozen, so those were composted as well.  Here is what I ended up with.  The vast majority are much smaller than this squash's potential.  These could have used another solid 3 weeks of warmth and sunshine.  All are still pale yellow and their skin is extremely soft - softer than than skin of the zucchini when we harvested it.  I have them set out on the step in the sun and hope that they will cure.

    The zucchini plants were zapped, as were the tips of almost all the tomato plants even though they had been covered with sheets.  Strangely enough, the Early Prolific squash plants at the back of the house made it through the night unscathed.  It looks like several days of rain are headed our way at the end of the week, which means I will have to bring the dry bean pods indoors even though it is pretty early to be harvesting those, too.  (If they get wet for a prolonged period of time at this stage, the beans sprout in the pod and/or develop mold). 


No leisurely entry into September this year!

Carrot Cake Jam

A few jars of the Carrot Cake Jam I made yesterday.   The house smelled heavenly!  Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, pears...this is such a nice recipe for the Fall.  :-)