Artichoke – Never Enough Dirt

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February 19th, 2015: seed starting

By BrianT
on Feb 21, 2015
in Artichoke, Bulb, Determinate, Eggplant, Flowers, Gladiolus, Heirloom, Indeterminate, Oregano, Tomato, Vegetable

Seed starting 02/19/2015

The weather has warmed up for a couple of weeks now. Night temperatures have not fallen below 60 degrees. Now there is finally time to start more seeds. While it does not look time consuming, it was a bit of a surprise that this took a over an hour to do. One of the tasks was mixing up the 50/50 soil mixture of clay and peat moss. Then filling up the containers. Continue Reading

January 2015 garden tour

By BrianT
on Feb 14, 2015
in Allium, Artichoke, Bean / Pea, Berry, Bulb, Carrot / Beet / Radish, Celery / Fennel, Dill, Elephant garlic, Flowers, Freesia, Fruit, Garlic, Garlic chive, Leaf green, Navel orange, Ranunculus, Shallot

Bok choy and gai lan harvest. Incidentally, too much bok choy is potentially harmful.

Robertson navel orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck ) blossom.

Peas have really pretty flowers. Heirloom snow pea (Pisum sativum) called, "Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea" — Peas have really pretty flowers.
Heirloom snow pea (Pisum sativum) called, “Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea”

'Sharp blue' blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum sp) blossom. A young plant I didnt expect to start setting fruit. — ‘Sharp blue’ blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum sp) blossom. A young plant I didnt expect to start setting fruit.

Heirloom snow pea (Pisum sativum) called, "Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea" — Heirloom snow pea (Pisum sativum) called, “Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea”

Bok choy (Brassica rapa Chinensis group) Ready for harvesting and thinning out. — Bok choy (Brassica rapa Chinensis group)
Ready for harvesting and thinning out.

Water droplets from the evening's dew on the gai lan (Brassica oleracea). — Water droplets from the evening’s dew on the
gai lan (Brassica oleracea).

Water droplets from the evening's dew on the gai lan (Brassica oleracea). — Water droplets from the evening’s dew on the
gai lan (Brassica oleracea).

Fragrant hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis). The first of the spring flower bulbs to bloom.

Oriental poppy (Papaver orientale). I've been trying since 2010 to get a flower. The tiny seeds have high germination rates but once sprouted, they are super delicate. They are easily damage and uprooted by the terminal velocity of a droplet of water. Last year, I was able to nurse them to a good size-- about an inch tall. Then one day to my horror, I found all ten or so of them chomped down to soil level by a single catepillar. Furious and devasted, I swiftly dealt with the problem and held out little hope that the plant would grow back. Grow back it did. I have two plants that have leaves about 6 inches long. Now that we're in the clear, it is a waiting game. — Oriental poppy (Papaver orientale). I’ve been trying since 2010 to get a flower. The tiny seeds have high germination rates but once sprouted, they are super delicate. They are easily damage and uprooted by the terminal velocity of a droplet of water.
Last year, I was able to nurse them to a good size– about an inch tall. Then one day to my horror, I found all ten or so of them chomped down to soil level by a single catepillar.
Furious and devasted, I swiftly dealt with the problem and held out little hope that the plant would grow back. Grow back it did.
I have two plants that have leaves about 6 inches long. Now that we’re in the clear, it is a waiting game.

Freesia (Freesia) bud

Oriental poppy (Papaver orientale)

Gai lan

Some softneck garlic variety that was available at the supermarket. The fine green strands are garlic chive spouts. I had a gazllion seeds to scatter with haste after the rain got to the container holding them.

Strawberry

Shallots. These were first grown in the garden last year from shallots that sprouted before they could be cooked.

African daisy (Osteospermum)

This goji berry has been overwhelmed by the fugi that was triggered by the rain. The course now: strip the leaves.

My first time growing celery. I use it in gumbo and chicken noodle soup; and that's pretty much it. — My first time growing celery. I use it in gumbo and chicken noodle soup; and that’s pretty much it.

Bok choy grows quickly and will be my staple vegetable crop.

Recieved fresh garlic in a Community Support Agriculture (CSA) box last year and decided to dry it out and grow it. I dont know what variety it is other than that it is a softneck. — Recieved fresh garlic in a Community Support Agriculture (CSA) box last year and decided to dry it out and grow it.
I dont know what variety it is other than that it is a softneck.

The kaffir lime air layered last year by John. http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkind/landscape/air-layering/ This year, I hope to see more leaves on it. With the leaves, I use it for green curry. — The kaffir lime air layered last year by John.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkind/landscape/air-layering/
This year, I hope to see more leaves on it. With the leaves, I use it for green curry.

Carrots, celery, gai lan

wood sorrel (Oxalis bowiei)

'Green Globe Improved' artichoke — ‘Green Globe Improved’ artichoke

Elephant garlic with 'Chesnok' garlice (foreground) — Elephant garlic with ‘Chesnok’ garlice (foreground)

Elephant garlic

'Turkish Giant' garlic. Appears to be slow growing. — ‘Turkish Giant’ garlic. Appears to be slow growing.

'Turkish Giant' garlic — ‘Turkish Giant’ garlic

'Chesnok' garlic — ‘Chesnok’ garlic

Dill

Recieved fresh garlic in a Community Support Agriculture (CSA) box last year and decided to dry it out and grow it. I dont know what variety it is other than that it is a softneck. — Recieved fresh garlic in a Community Support Agriculture (CSA) box last year and decided to dry it out and grow it.
I dont know what variety it is other than that it is a softneck.

Blueberry blossom. Blooming early this year. 'Sunshine' blueberry — Blueberry blossom. Blooming early this year.
‘Sunshine’ blueberry

Blueberry fruiting early this year. 'Sunshine' blueberry — Blueberry fruiting early this year.
‘Sunshine’ blueberry

Garlic chive wintering

Heirloom snow pea (Pisum sativum) called, "Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea" — Heirloom snow pea (Pisum sativum) called, “Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea”

Daikon

Blueberry (Vaccinium x 'Sunshine Blue') The leaves have green from a rust color. — Blueberry (Vaccinium x ‘Sunshine Blue’)
The leaves have green from a rust color.

Mystery plant. Very likely planted by a bird. I like the purple fringe. I am going to see if it'll flower. A flower will certainly yield another clue. — Mystery plant. Very likely planted by a bird. I like the purple fringe. I am going to see if it’ll flower. A flower will certainly yield another clue.

Roquette Arugula (Eruca sativa) Ready for making a Bollini’s Pizzeria Napolitana, Monterey Park arugula salad: roasted chicken, bacon, goat cheese, corn, & arugula. — Roquette Arugula (Eruca sativa)
Ready for making a Bollini’s Pizzeria Napolitana, Monterey Park arugula salad: roasted chicken, bacon, goat cheese, corn, & arugula.

Tea (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis) seeds from Shenzhen, China. There is nothing particular about Shenzhen other than that this ebay seller had the lowest price. If I can get any of these tea seeds to germinate, I will have to wait three years before I can start making my own tea. — Tea (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis) seeds from Shenzhen, China. There is nothing particular about Shenzhen other than that this ebay seller had the lowest price.
If I can get any of these tea seeds to germinate, I will have to wait three years before I can start making my own tea.

Upon closer inspection they were indeed leaf buds (and not bugs). The is the Goji berry that had its leaves striped off because they were infested with fungi.

Goji berry leaf buds

Walking by this pot I spot what appears to be leaf buds.

Walking by this pot I spot what appears to be leaf buds.

Ranunculus tuber — Best I can do is to hope that these will still grow.

I might be a bit late on getting these Ranunculus tubers back into the ground. There's mold caused by the winter rain. — I might be a bit late on getting these Ranunculus tubers back into the ground. There’s mold caused by the winter rain.

There are a bunch of seeds attached to this Ranunculus floret. When loose, they resemble crushed red peppers. The germination rate is said to be very low. I have thousands. Surely one will grow.

Ranunculus seed florets

Gai lan

February: vegetables & herbs in the garden

By BrianT
on Feb 13, 2015
in Allium, Artichoke, Bean / Pea, Garlic, Herbs, Leaf green, Mint, Onion, Parsley, Pepper, Shallot, Vegetable

‘Green Globe Improved’ artichoke grown from seed last year

Arugula

Biggest bok choy grown thus far. It is in the spot with the most amount of sun.

The spot in the garden with the most sun.

The mint are coming out of hibernation.

Broad leaf parsley

Spinach. Update: I planted these two into the ground and they were immediately gobbled up by the pill bugs.

The garden’s second generation shallots. These were grown from the seeds of supermarket shallots.

‘Turkish Giant’ garlic

‘Stuttgarter’ onion

‘Purplette’ onion

I started some paprika peppers last fall and never got around to transplanting them.

‘Anahiem’ peppers set and grew through winter.

‘Fajita’ bell pepper

‘Fajita’ bell pepper growing despite it being winter.

‘Turkish Giant’ garlic slowly growing.

Fennel pretty much seeds itself.

Elephant garlic grown from the bulbils. Here the elephant garlic lifted its hard bulbil shell into the air. It is going to take at least a couple of years before they get softball sized.

First time growing ‘Chesnok’ garlic. Thus far the quickest garlic (aside from Elephant garlic) in the garden.

First time growing Daikon. It is a fast growing plant.

Broccoli floret flowering.

Broccoli. It produced only a bunch of tiny florets. Which made for a quick snack when I am outside checking on the plants.

IMG_6738_1 — ‘Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea’ heirloom snow pea

Bok choy

The bok choy grew faster than I can figure out what to do with them. I have to remember to thin them out more aggressively in the future. Otherwise, the slugs end up enjoying them.

IMG_6870_1 — Bok choy flower

‘Red Creole’ onion seedlings