Fly-By-The-Seat-of-Your-Pants Gardening

   We had three rain-free days in a row this week.  It actually felt strange - but good! - to see the sunshine.    I picked our first bunch of beans on the 12th (Romano bush on the left, Red Swan on the right).  We blanched them, as well as the peas picked so far, to freeze later that day.

   My poor garlic patch.  I'm not sure what to do with it.  Usually, the garlic is all harvested, labeled, and hung to dry at this point.  I pulled a "Red Russian" bulb to see what kind of shape it was in.  The bulb is perfect, but the skins are very thin (I could have guessed that from the lack of dry, brown leaves - they should be dry about halfway up the stem before harvesting).  It flakes off the bulb very easily, even just from being touched or removed from the soil.  I won't be able to store the bulbs for very long and I don't think I can successfully plant them without a few protective layers of skin on the cloves.

   The fragile skins peeled off the bulb on the left side when I removed it from the ground.

   While I am not thrilled about not being able to store or replant the 50 bulbs of Red Russian I planted, at least I can obtain this variety fairly easily.  A friend grows thousands of this variety and has some for sale.  (Clearly, she did not get the awful weather we did in town.  I've seen pictures on social media, and her garlic looks as great this year as it does any other!)

    I'm more invested in trying to salvage the varieties I obtained from Seeds of Diversity and started from bulbils 3 years ago.  Some of those are less common and are hard to obtain here.  Brown Tempest, Siberian, and Central Siberian are still small and will likely take 5 years to reach full size.  I think those will be alright, as the pots containing them are inside so the soil can dry down.  This morning, I pulled the Kiev bulbs (five) and three bulbs of Baba Franchuk's.  As expected, the skins are thin; most of the leaves on the garlic are still green.  I will hang them to dry and will hopefully be able to plant them in September/October.   

Kiev bulbs

   More rain and cool weather is in the forecast, so I took my chances pulling some of the garlic early to prevent more mould from developing on the stems and to prevent the bulbs themselves from starting to rot.  Even if it turns out that I can't store or replant them due to underdeveloped skins, I would still like to be able to eat them and share some with others.  No sense in risking a complete loss!
 

   I have one Kiev bulb, two Baba Franchuk’s, and one Red Russian with the scapes left on, hoping I’ll get some bulbils when all is said and done.  They are all still underdeveloped.

Kiev and Baba Franchuk's

A little bee on a Red Meteor zinnia, just because.

Take a Hike, Jack Frost

   
   The overnight temps of August 9th/10th appear to have dipped below the 2 degrees I spotted on the thermometer yesterday morning.  

   In the North garden, some of the snap beans were touched by frost...

   ...as were the dry beans and the Gold Nugget squash plants.

   The zucchini plants (East garden) were partially zapped...

   ...and so were a number of zinnias.

   Last night was another chilly one; it was 4 degrees at 6:00am.  It's 2:30pm as I'm typing, sunny and 18 degrees.  It feels almost tropical!  (I suspect the tomato plants would disagree.  They would prefer 28 degrees.)

Too Cool for Comfort

   A chilly mist was hanging in the air when I stuck my head out the front door this morning.  It was just after 6:00am, and to my alarm, only 2 degrees.  The furnace has been coming on during the last few days and I have been tempted to dig out my long, flannel nightgown!

   Everything is covered in heavy condensation except the Woolly Thyme, which is covered in frost.

   There hasn't been much progress or growth in the garden since my last batch of pictures, but it felt like I should do a little documenting in case the temp drops below zero in the next while and does some damage.

Curly Kale

   Dahlietta - this one changed from a solid, pale yellow to a warmer yellow with orange streaks. It is a little hard to make out here, but it's a very pretty effect. (Click the picture to enlarge.)

 
   Lower Salmon River squash bed, potato bed, cabbage and onion bed, carrot and onion bed.

   "Early" Romanesco cauliflower, Milta Black dry beans, and Coastal Orange Pride tomatoes.  I don't plan on ever growing this variety of Romanesco cauliflower again.  It is very large, heavy, sprawling, and late to mature compared to the "Veronica" variety I've grown for the last few years.

    Sunflowers, Summer Savoury, Cucumbers, and Early Annie tomatoes.

   Dwarf Roza Vetrov tomatoes

   The East garden

   Crabapples ripening

   South garden - snap beans (Slenderette and Calima), kale and collards, Red Chantenay carrots, zinnias, cosmos, and two Early Prolific squash that are going nowhere.  It looks a little ratty.  Not enough sunshine and so much chickweed. That seems to be the theme this summer.

   South garden - carrots on the left and two very small Early Prolific squash plants.  These should be large and putting out squash, at this point.

    South garden - peas (Green Arrow and Lincoln)

    Tiger Eye beans (dry bush w/short runners)

    North Garden - Red Swan and Roma snap beans, cabbage, zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, garlic. 

   North Garden - Tene's Beans, Ireland Creek Annie, and Vermont Cranberry dry bush beans, marigolds, sunflowers, and Gold Nugget squash.

    I left the scapes on a few varieties of garlic so I can save bulbils.  This one is Red Russian.

    Even the tomatoes along the fence are loaded with flowers, which is unusual.  We need SUN and HEAT so they will actually GROW. (That CD is attached to one of the poles.  It keeps crows and magpies from messing with the newly set tomatoes).

   South side of the house: tomatoes (Work Release Paste, Anna Russian, Hungarian Heart, and Scotia), Beka Brown dry bush beans, Summer Savoury, marigolds, English Thyme (in the terra cotta pot),and  a potted cucumber and volunteer garlic (bottom, right-hand corner).

    Hungarian Heart - this is a productive variety!

   South side of the house - dahliettas, tomatoes (Striped German, Early Annie, Black Sea Man), gazanias and nasturtiums in the window boxes.

   This is a Gold Nugget squash plant on the South side of the house.  The first flower has opened. Not able to hand-pollinate it, though (no male flowers).

   One of the Gold Nugget squash plants in the North Garden.  Six female flowers have opened but couldn't be pollinated, so those squash are lost.

    The two Gold Nugget squash plants in the North garden.  They are much smaller than they should be at this point in August.

   Purple Vienna Kohlrabi, Dukat Dill

   Detroit Red Beets, Lacinato kale, and Dukat dill.  The beets have beautiful greens but the very small beets.

   Dukat dill

   The apple tree

    This is the only one of 5 dinnerplate dahlias to bloom.  Another looks ready to bloom (and like it will be lilac coloured).  The others are still forming buds.

    A dinnerplate dahlia plant behind the flower.  It is nice and large, but it's only just now beginning to form buds.

    All but one of the sunflowers are still forming headings and look like this.  We had lots of sunflowers blooming at this time last year!

   A close look at the garlic yesterday morning revealed mould growing along the stems and lower leaves.  I removed the in-ground pots containing the varieties that were started from small rounds last Fall  (e.g., Brown Tempest, Siberian, etc).  I brought them into the plant room to let the soil dry and am hoping the rounds and small bulbs can be salvaged.  I also dug up one of the Kiev bulbs to see what kind of shape it was in.  There are small speckles of mould along the stem and on parts of the skin covering the bulb.  And, of course, the soil is very wet.  We have hung the Kiev garlic bulb in the laundry room to dry it and will see what condition it's in after that.

Peas, Raspberries, and Still More Rain

   It is 7:00am, 13 degrees, and it has been raining all night.  Again.  The forecast high for today is 18 degrees, cloudy with continuing rain.  For the first time in my life I am tempted to set up my daylight lamp in August.  I loathe that sick, flat feeling that comes with extended periods without sunshine.

   I was out poking around the yard a half hour ago.  It’s nice to see the zinnias and dahlias opening, and the cosmos are starting to really put out flowers.  Volunteer pansies are coming up in all sorts of funny places: from the base of the rock wall, up through a crack in the cement behind the house, in between the rows of peas, among the cucumbers.  One cluster of little purple and yellow pansies looks like it is playing “peek-a-boo” from beneath the row of kohlrabi.  Very sweet.  :)

   Two more Lower Salmon River squash were open.  I hand-pollinated those and discovered yet another Gold Nugget squash that will go unpollinated (there are no male flowers).  Another huge zucchini flower has opened.  I had to replant the zucchini seeds so many times at the start of the season that I don’t know what kinds are in the East garden!  I hope they are hybrids.  There isn’t male flower in sight, so they won’t give me zucchini otherwise.

   With the exception of Midnight Sun and Polish Linguisa, the tomato plants have lots of yellow flowers on them. Some of the yellow flowers have been open for more than a week but aren’t setting.  I assume this is because of the lack of sunshine and summer heat. The varieties that have done the best are those that are recommended for short seasons/northern climates:  Early Annie, Scotia, Hungarian Heart, Anna Russian.

   The first raspberry picking was on Saturday and we picked again yesterday.  So far, we have just over 15 lbs. 

   I did a little preliminary pick of peas Sunday, and shelled, have just under a pound.

   Looking ahead at the 14 day weather forecast does not leave one optimistic.  More rain and clouds than anything else.  One day this week is forecast to have a high of 12.  The day after that?  A high of 14.  Fingers crossed that the end of August brings seasonal weather and that September is unusually sunny and warm.  If things don’t pan out that way, the majority of things in the garden will not reach maturity before hard frosts hit.  That is a lot of work – and a lot of seed – wasted. 

   On an up note, Sunday we (mercifully) had a sunny day.  This fellow was basking in the warmth on the fence.  Although I can count on seeing damselflies, especially in May-July, this was the first dragonfly in the garden in years.   

   A new gazania opened yesterday (gazanias only open in the sunshine!). 

   Also, this is the first summer in recent memory that wildfires are not an issue in the province.  I looked at the fire risk map this morning and most of it is blue, green, and yellow – very low to moderate.

   Hoping to pick a few more peas today.  Maybe I should invest in a Sou'Wester.

Should I Build an Ark?

   At risk of sounding like a broken record, I will report that it is raining.  Again.  It has rained almost daily for weeks.  At 10:30am, it is a whopping 12 degrees.  The daytime temps have been in the teens or low 20s.  I don't think it has hit 30 degrees all summer, and I can count the number of times it has reached mid-to-high 20s on one hand.  The 14 day forecast indicates more of the same. It feels dismal.  The winters here are long and I spend them looking forward to being able to be outside, gardening or just reading in a lawn chair.  It feels like we could well head into the autumn without having had a summer.  

   Garden notes and grumbles follow below...

    Three zucchini plants have put out flowers, but they are female flowers - no male flowers with which to pollinate them.  A Golden Nugget squash has put out two small flowers, but is in the same boat - there are no male flowers.

   The "Veronica" Romanesco cauliflowers have started to develop.  It is always neat to see their pale green fractal shapes emerging from the leaves.

   The lettuce is starting to rot in the containers where it's planted from all the water/wet soil.

    Loads of raspberries are ripe in the patch.  I had planned to pick them today.  Maybe I should bite the bullet and just do it in the rain.  Even if I wait until the rain has stopped, I'll still end up soaked.

   The potatoes are all very well hilled with layers of dirt and straw, but when R. poked around to check for rotting, he discovered that there are few potatoes and that they are all at ground level.  That is so disappointing.  Too much nitrogen in the soil?  Not enough compost?

    The bottom leaves on the container-planted tomatoes are turning yellow, as are the leaves of the potato plants in the raised bed along the driveway.  The tips of the garlic leaves (1-2 inches on each leaf) have been brown for weeks.  I am going to assume this is from being too wet.

   Norland Potatoes

Garlic

   Most of the tomato plants have begun to develop tomatoes and/or have a decent amount of flowers on them.  I discovered the first Dwarf Purple Heart tomato the other day!  I didn't think this little plant was going to produce, so that was a happy surprise.

Early Annie - producing like mad!

Scotia - another good producer!

   The bean plants seem to be doing well, and are covered with flowers.  Some, like Red Swan and Beka Brown, are developing pods.  If/when we get an extended period of heat and sunshine, they will produce well.

   North garden, dry bush beans (Tene's beans and Ireland Creek Annie).

    I typically harvest garlic in the middle of August (two weeks from now, in other words).  One generally refrains from watering the garlic patch about two weeks before harvesting so the garlic skins can dry.  That patch hasn't been dry in weeks, so I am concerned that some of the garlic might have rotted.

   The volunteer bean plant in the East garden is going strong, vigorously climbing the stake we put in beside it. 

    The jalapeno plants are still oddly stunted - just a few inches tall - but a few have developed flowers.  I had assumed when I transplanted them that I would be swamped with jalapeno peppers come September.  It doesn't appear that this will be the case!

   East garden...

   There are about fifteen sunflowers growing.  The fourteen I planted haven't developed heads yet.  The one volunteer sunflower is already nodding with a large, heavy head!  I will definitely be saving seeds from this one.

   I have hand-pollinated several Lower Salmon River squash but haven't spotted any more female flowers in the last few days.

   The peas are coming along nicely.  One of the few things that seems to have done well start to finish despite the cool temps and sporadic sunshine.  We haven't done a big harvest yet, but I could resist no longer and did some snacking in the pea patch yesterday.  Delicious!

   The cabbage seems to be doing ok, especially the Red Express and Cour di Bue.

 Meteor zinnia

Springtime Cassis pansies

The first dahlias to begin opening.

Fingers crossed for sunshine and warmth next week...