Chinese Cabbage, and Radicchio.

I have some Chinese cabbage coming along.These were planted July 1st, You can see the Radicchio next to them that the groundhogs ate to the ground. It looks like they are recovering.

Some scallions I'm experimenting with.

I planted these scallions July 1st, variety Cipollotto do Mazzi. I don't know if they'll get big enough to eat this fall or not. I've never grown them before. I suspect they are best planted in the spring, and then picked in the fall in October and November. Some varieties survive the winter till spring, and some don't. I've never grown these before, so we'll see what happens. You can see the cracks in the soil. It's not really because the soil is dry, but because I have high clay content and not enough organic matter content.

Some Mesculin I started about ten days ago.

Mesculin is a mixture of Endive, leaf lettuces, Arrugula, Frisee, and maybe some Radicchio. It should make some nice salads in October and November.

The finished bed. Planted with Mesculin Salad Greens. Covered with Burlap.

This is the bed I dug up and planted with Mesculin salad greens the 29th of August. The package says ready in 45 days. I sprinkled the seeds on top and raked them lightly with a leaf rake, patted them in with my hands. They are covered with Burlap until they sprout to give them better germination.

Start a new trench and move the soil over the top of the compost.

Start a second trench and throw the soil on top of the compost. After the bed is dug in this manner, I dig several inches of compost into the first 12 inches of soil. Fluff it up with a potato fork, rake it and plant it.

Filling the trench with compost.

Fortunately, I have access to large amounts of compost. You can fill the trench with any organic material, such as : Wood chips, untreated wood pieces,manure,saw dust or perhaps leaves.

Loosen the soil at the bottom of the trench.

Break up the bottom of the trench with a potato fork. Then leave this layer undisturbed. Try not to step on top of your bed because you will compact it. You can place a piece of plywood to step on, on top of your bed.

Double digging

The first step is to dig a trench 12 inches deep, at one end of your bed. Temporarily set the soil aside.

Mole Attack

Saturday, I removed another groundhog that was eating everything in the garden. The next day the moles attacked undermining many plants. I read that you could put a bucket in the ground like this and cover it up. Then so goes the story the moles will fall into the bucket. It didn't work.

One of my assistants with the first three ears of corn.

Picking my first three ears of Venezuelan corn.

I am picking my first ear of corn. I am six foot tall. Even standing on a bucket, it was hard for me to reach the ears. I planted it May 1st. So it has taken four months to get it this far. We had enough to make two corn panckes. Vale la pena.

Beefstake tomatoe 1st prize largest tomatoe.

I've decided that next year I'm only growing heirloom tomatoes. All the modern Early Girl, Big Boy etc. feel like they are made out of wax and don't have good flavor and texture. The Beefstake had a world of difference in flavour. I very unimpressed with the modern tomatoes. Not worth bothering with.

Here are some of the ribbons we won.

This is my path before compost.I

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I like using wood chips for mulch in the paths. This way it never gets muddy, and I conserve all of the rain that we get. This raised bed I double dug, and filled all the trenches up with compost. So the bed is floating on about ten inches of compost. Also I dug in several wheel barrow loads in the soil. There are some small seedlings that don't show up very well. Some Endive, Cabbage and Kohl rabe. Also I am experimenting with Calcot forced onions. More on Calcot later. I just planted them last Friday night in the rain.

This is my first attempt at growing giant pumpkins. I had two early on , but groundhogs ate them. This one is nice, I think it's still growing..

I was hoping for something more substantial. I'm not convinced it is still growing. It did all of this in about two weeks. Kind of a fun experiment.

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The composter. I throw all my dead plants in here.

I have been able to put all of the old and discarded plants and weeds in here. I think I've only taken out one wheelbarrow full all summer long. It makes compost balls about as big as baseballs. I try to turn it everyday.

Blackberrys started as plants in May.

I learned that with the Blackberry's that you use two strands of wire in your trellis. One at three feet and one at five feet. All of this years growth goes on the same side. Next years growth goes on the opposite side. Then as soon as they are done fruiting, you can cut down the brambles. Someone gave me five plants in early May. They have really gone to town.

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Venezuelan corn 13 feet tall. I'm going to try to make some cachapas soon.

I found out that tropical corn varieties grow very tall and won't set ears until daylight hours are less than 13 hours each day. I think I had my first tassels in mid July, and just now they are getting silks on the plants. It's all very uniform. I have identified the first three ears to pollinate and hope to plant them next year. I'm hoping there is enough genetic variation that I can breed the corn into something more normal over several seasons. Even to pick any ears or check them for development I have to stand on a bucket to reach them. I was going to hybridize them, but couldn't reach the tassels. This corn will make a very delicious pancake that American corn doesn't work for.

Asparagas plants, planted last spring.

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These plants have gone crazy. They are in a very sunny spot. I originally dug a trench about six inches deep, and then filled it in with compost as the plants grew. Then I surrounded them with wood chips.

Some late Blackberrys.

Smothering weeds with newspaper. Then I covered them with wood mulch.

After mulch.

Todays project

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This mulch is an Elm tree stump that was ground up almost like sawdust.

One of my favorite tools is the mattock. It's a great giant hoe for busting roots and breaking up the clay hardpan.

A photo from August

Digging in the first wheelbarrow load of compost.

March 2010

Why I'm doing this blog.

I started a new garden last December, when I rototilled an area that was nothing but grass. I have a pretty good pictorial of the progress from the start to where it is today. I haven't gardened for 15 years and I want to encourage beginners and those that haven't gardened for a while. I have three grandchild helpers 5,7, and 11 years of age. We did pretty good i think for a first year and won 16 ribbons at local fairs. Including best of show in the childrens class with Blue Lake green beans.