Pole Bean Trellis.

I made this trellis out of electrical conduit, ten feet long. I didnt cut any pieces. They are wired together at the top, anchored with wire tied to wooden stakes, with two poles running horizontally on both sides. The horizontals are connected with plastic wire ties. There is a guy wire at each end tethered to a stake. It made it all summer through every storm. It was wrapped with light weight bird netting for the plants to grow on. To reach the beans, for picking, you can just tear a hole to fit your hand through. I am quite encouraged that it survived every storm, and most of the materials can be reused year to year.

Nine foot tall tomatoes. Eight foot tall tomato cages

I made some eight foot tall cages out of reinforcing wire. They really worked well. The tomatoes grew inside of them and didnt even need to be tied as they grew.

Among others, they are Radiator Charly, and Big Zac.

Venezuelan Corn-Cachapas. Venezuelan Pancakes

This is some of the corn from this years Venezuelan seed. My theory is that maybe it has a higher protein content than U.S. corn. The flavor is very different with U.S. corn and you can  use field corn to make these pancakes, but they taste horrible. All they are is a little bit of milk and sugar mixed in with the ground kernals. I run the corn through my Cuisinart after the kernals get a little doughy. The cachapas are delicious with Mozarella cheese.Here in Illinois the corn seems to take 100-110 days.

Pole Bean Trellis--- Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans.

I made this trellis out of 1/2 inch electrical conduit. I used reinforcing rod wire to connect the poles to each other . At the bottom where they go into the ground, I drove wooden stakes, and wired the poles to the stakes.Then at each end I drove a stake and ran a wire from the peak to the stake, to stabilize the contraption.It really seems pretty solid and stable. Last year a big wind storm flattened my beans. I don't know if this will survive the summer or not. I also covered it with mesh netting for the beans to climb on. It will work great as long as the wind doesn't blow it down. It is probably about nine feet to the peak, and I think it can be picked by standing on  a bucket.

Fort Laramie Everbearing Day Neutral Strawberries

I planted these last spring, they are loaded with flowers. My grand kids are keeping a sharp eye on them.

Texas Supersweet White, and Sweet Red Onions

These were plants and have been in the ground about eight weeks. I planted them about six inches apart.

Top Setting Onions, Egyptian onions, or Walking Onions

I bought a handful of these online last year, and planted them in August. I tried one as a green onion at the end of November, it was really strong. Then I tried another one in March and it was really sweet with no strong flavor the plants are about two feet tall. I've never grown these before, but I think they are foolproof and quite an interesting plant..

Big Zac, Radiator Charly's Mortgage lifter, Beefsteak, and Aunt Gerties Gold Tomatoes

The tomatoes are getting off to a good start. I dug in lots of leaves last fall, double dug the beds and put in about 20 inches of compost.

Grey Griselle French Shallots

I planted these Shallots last fall. I planted 24 bulbs, and it looks like all but one came up. We had a really cold and hard winter, which I want to mention, because some literature says they might not handle a bad winter very well Regarding the Grey Griselle the literature says you have to acclimatize them to your micro climate. I don't know about all of that. As far as here in Northern Illinois they are really doing well..

Bright Lights Swiss Chard

I think you can plant the Swiss Chard as early as you want. We had really cold weather and I still had great germination. Theses plants are eight weeks planted. I almost could pick some if I wanted to. They are really pretty in the garden, and good to eat if you like greens. They will grow back every time after you cut them and take the heat really well They will grow until they freeze..

Yukon Gold Potatos planted March 22

The potatoes are really doing nicely. They have really nice color. I planted them on nine inch centers with the rows nine inches apart also. They are sitting on top of ten inches of compost and I did double digging with these beds as well.This is what they have done in eight weeks.

Double Digging and Spring Seeds planted

Last week I worked into the garden 3 cubic yards of compost. All of the garden was "double dug" last fall, and then a second time this spring. I open up a trench and then fill it with compost. Before I put in the compost, I use a potato fork and break up the subsoil. The second time through the beds are pretty much fluffed up to about three feet. I planted Bush Crop Cucumbers,Atlantic Giant Pumpkins,Yellow Doll Watermelons,Bush Sugar Baby Watermelon, Royal Burgundy Bush Beans,Butter Cup Squash,Honey Bun Hybrid Cantaloupe,Double Yield Cucumbers,Reimer Bush Baby Squash,Homemade Pickles Cucumbers,Spacemaster Cucumbers,Dill, and Venezuelan Corn. Then we had a very nice rain over the weekend. I also transplanted some Swiss chard, and various lettuces.

May Illinois Tulips

With all the rain and cool weather the Tulips are really pretty this year. This is the second year for this bed. I planted them in October, 2009. I used peat moss compost and lots of bone meal. They are in a sunny location.

Calçots-Spanish Style Green Onions, or Scallions.

Last August 20th I purchased and planted some white onions. I cut the tops off and planted them in trenches, covered with about 4 inches of soil. They didn't sprout until October. It took so long that I thought they had rotted away. I don't know if the had been treated with a growth inhibitor or needed to break dormancy. maybe it would help to refrigerate them before planting. There was some growth last fall and then this spring just as soon as the snow melted they really took off. You want to mound them up as they grow. They are really large and sweet. The Spaniards grill them and make a special hot sauce for them. Enter Calcots in Google and you can find the recipes. So this is how onions can be forced

Straw mulch. Garden overview.

Someone gave me three bales of straw, that I used as mulch. It really gives the garden a nice appearance. You can see here Blackberries,Beets-Detroit,Onions,Garlic, Shallots, and strawberries.

Tomatoes planted today. With eight foot tall cages, and Alfalfa meal.

I planted 6 plants today. Some Beefsteak, Aunt Gertie Golden,Radiator Charley's mortgage Lifter, And Big Zac. The soil temperature is 48 degrees, and I'm hoping that with the plastic surround it will raise the temperature a few degrees. I made some eight foot tall cages out of concrete reinforcing mesh. I also worked a whole bag of Alfalfa meal into the soil. I used it last year and was pretty impressed with the quantity of tomatoes. It is supposed to help with blossoming and fruit set.

My potatos have sprouted

It looks like it took a month and four days for the first sprouts to break through. I was surprised because its been so cold. So far from seed, I have lettuce, radishes, Swiss chard, carrots, Evergreen Onions, and some peas that have sprouted.

Allium Oschanini Griselle Grey French Shallots, and Red Janice Garlic

The Shallots and Garlic were planted in October as bulbs. All of this growth has come this spring already.

Bloomsdale Winter Longstanding Spinach

I picked my first bag full of spinach this week. If you don't keep it picked,. at some time you will have a huge amount ready all at the same time.

This spinach was planted last September.

Semi Erect Blackberries

I applied the compost fertilizer to the blackberries today.

Texas Supersweet Onion and Sweet Red Onions

I planted today 100 each of the Sweet Red Onions, and Texas Super Sweet White onion plants. Also planted underneath the burlap are Giant Prague Celeriac, Sunrise Red Carrots, and Purple Haze Carrots. I also planted this week Bright lights Swiss Chard, and Evergreen Long White Bunching Onions. Covering the seed beds with the burlap helps with the germination of small seeds. It has been real dry here so far, In the last month we really haven't had a decent rain. Its been pretty cold also. but its supposed to warm up this week.

This years potatoes Cobbler White and Yukon Gold

I planted 5lbs each of White Cobbler and Yukon Gold potatoes. I dug a trench about 9 inches deep and then broke up the substrate with a potato fork. Then I back filled the trench with compost, and planted the potatoes on nine inch centers with rows nine inches apart.Then I dug a new trench and did it all over again.I used whole potatoes about the size of eggs and didn't cut them. The stick is how I marked where they were planted, then as I advanced and covered them I knew where to plant the next row.

Swiss Chard

I would highly recommend Swiss Chard as a substitute for Spinach. Spinach can be very touchy to germinate. Here in the Midwest it really does best planted in the fall, and then picked in the following spring. It can produce nice fall crops too, given the use of the proper variety at the right time. However Swiss chard is an awesome but under appreciated garden plant. It is probably the prettiest plant in the garden Last year my grand kids were begging to try it. It can be planted early or late. It likes cool weather, but handles the heat perfectly well. It will produce all season long until almost December. Also you will have multiple harvests, probably three or four. Scatter some seeds,and thin them to 8 inches apart, or transplant them later. Its quite a foolproof plant.

Radicchio that survived the winter.

I think I probably planted this about September 1st last year. It was under plastic in a hoop house in the winter.

First bed of the year planted. March 17th

At one end I planted Cherry Belle,French Breakfast, Icicle, and Easter-Egg Radishes. At the other end I sprinkled and raked in various Cole family seeds

I planted Earliana Cabbage,Green Sprouting Calabrese Broccoli, Purple Cauliflower Di Sicilia Violetto,Romanesco Precoce, and Early PurpleVienna  Kohl Rabi. If they come up and can handle the freezing, frosts, and snow we will have, I'll transplant them. If they don't make it I'll be out several dollars.

Semi-Erect Blackberries

I planted these last May. A friend gave me 5 plants. All the growth that you see is last seasons cane production.On the trellis, I placed one wire at about 2.5 feet off the ground, and the other at about 5 feet. As the canes grow I tied them to the wires with cloth rag strips. Then I snipped them off  4 or 5 inches above the 5 foot mark,You have to repeatedly keep them trimmed as they will keep growing again and again.It's quite simple, I keep a pair of scissors handy. This year I will string wire on the opposite side of the trellis at the same height, and then put all of this years growth on the opposite side from last years growth. The berries will all come on last years canes. After they are done producing, you prune them at ground level. At some point in time the next several weeks I will side dress the plants with a liberal amount of compost. They are really quite simple to maintain They are also huge about the size of your thumb, and easy to pick. They don't have an overabundance of thorns.

March Radicchio

Here is some Radicchio that has survived the winter, and taking off again.

Unnamed variety of Lettuce march 9th

This is a lettuce I sowed last fall in a Mesculin mix. It did great last fall, and here it is taking off again this spring. If any one knows which it is, please leave me a comment. I would like to grow more of it. Maybe it will go to seed and I can harvest it.

Shallots march 9th

I think these are an unnamed variety I bought at the grocery store. They are doing pretty good considering the weather is in the 30-40's.

March 9th Winter Bloomsdale Spinach

Here is a close-up of the Spinach. Considering the brutality of the winter we just had, I'm pretty impressed.We still have a fair amount of piles of snow on the ground.

Winter Bloomsdale Spinach

I planted this Spinach on September 15th. I just visited my garden today for the first time since Christmas. It looks like in a couple of weeks it might be ready to pick.

Hawaiian Sweet Corn

Friday morning I helped plant some Hawaiian sweet corn in Pereira, Colombia. Unfortunately I didnt have my camera with me. It is an open pollinated variety developed by the University of Hawaii. They dont have American style sweet corn here. Corn is very light sensative. Tropical corn grows with daylight of twelve hours. Tropical corn grown in the north grows almost 13 feet tall and it messes up the coordination of tassels and silks. And Northern regular sweet corn grown in the tropics, does who knows what and doesnt have the insect resistance they need in the tropics.

I think the gardening year is officially over.

I picked some radishes about a week ago and had some radicchio surviving. But since then we've hit zero degrees and has consistently been very cold, so I think that's it till spring. I didn't have time to cover my spinach and garlic with leaves, however we have about six inches of snow and ice which will serve perfectly well to protect them. It is when they are exposed and not covered that they suffer. With the bad weather I've focused some creativity on some art projects. i made and installed this wall fountain. It will have a switch, a little light and a circulating pump. I used  Moroccan Tadelakt plaster.

My new seeds are here.

I ordered Corno di Toro Rosso (Red bulls horn) seeds from
Ohio Heirloom Seeds, and they sent me two free packets. The same pepper in yellow and one called Quadrato Giallo D'Asti, which I suspect is a yellow bell pepper. For tomatoes, I'm going with Big Zac ( current worlds largest tomato record holder),Radiator Charlies Mortgage lifter,Beefsteak, and Aunt Gerties Gold. I have a friend who has a greenhouse and he said he'd start the seeds for me. the Italian peppers are supposed to be very prolific. I'm tired of peppers that produce 3-4 nice ones about September 1st. I'm going to try to plant the peppers in a block 10 inches apart. I think maybe with the plants too far apart there is a pollination problem.

Corno di Toro Rosso

This Italian pepper goes by the common name “Red Bull’s Horn”. Fruit turn a stunning red when ripe and have a long, curved, tapered shape. Fruit are 6-10 inches long x 1 ½ inches wide at shoulder. Please be aware that these peppers can have a mild spiciness, though they are still regarded as sweet peppers. A traditional favorite of Italy. 75 seeds minimum.
Open-Pollinated, 72 days from transplant.


Click on Image to Orde

Watermelon Radishes

These are green on the outside and red on the inside. Quite sweet also, and very crisp.

This is the Kimchee I made.

It's setting on the counter fermenting for five days.

Mustard Greens, Scallions,Watermelon Radishes, and Turnips

I picked all of these on Saturday. I used them as ingredients in Kimchee. The watermelon Radishes are red on the inside and crisp and crunchy. They are a type of winter radishes.

Purple Broccoli

Here are some Broccoli and Cabbage plants inside one of the tunnels. I have some cabbage worms shredding some of the plants. I forgot that still might need to spray them with BT. I bought the cabbage seeds for ten cents somewhere. They haven't produced very well. I think they are a long season variety, and didn't get enough time to form the heads.

Bloomsdale Winter Spinach

I planted this Spinach on September 15th. It is supposed to over winter and take off early next spring. I might cover it with leaves after it gets frozen.

World class Lettuce

Without any insects, wind and with perfect temperature and humidity, you can grow pretty good lettuce. One day inside the tunnels it was raining off the top continuously. the lettuce was planted September 15th.

Hoop Tunnels

I thought I would experiment with plastic hoop tunnels to extend the growing season. Saturday it was in the 40's but maybe 70degrees  inside the tunnels. The plants are still growing. the hoops are made of 3/8 inch pvc pipe stuck inside of 1/2 inch pipe cut in short sections.  Then I weighted the plastic with rock and bricks..