Picked on October 26th… Would have left them in the garden, but the forecast was temperatures in the 30’s overnight! The oregano was harvested the day before.
Looking forward to next year’s growing season!
Archive for the 'Urban Agriculture' CategoryPage 5 of 8
Lately I have a lot of sympathy for the small farmers who depend on their produce – it’s their livelihood, not just a hobby like it is for me. The small farmers don’t have crop insurance to cover their loses unless they grow commodity crops. I read an article in the local newspaper that mentioned how the small farmers are trying their best to eke out an income during this drought – replanting after the initial planting died from the heat and lack of water; trying out new plantings that are more heat and drought resistant so the can fulfill their CSA obligations and have a product to sell at the farmers markets.
During the last few weeks the temperatures have normalized here in St. Louis and we are getting rain so hopefully fall crops can be salvaged.
Here are the photos I snapped in my garden throughout this brutal summer (click on the photos to enlarge the image):
Photos from July 20th:
Photos from August 1st:
Photos from August 14th:
Garden bounty from August 18th:
Garden bounty from August 25th:
Photos from September 3rd (after 3 days of rain):
Garden bounty from September 25th:
Hoping for a better growing season in 2013…
Things are popping up nicely in the garden this year! It’s amazing how much the plants have grown in the past two weeks. I’m very pleased w/ the current status of my garden, especially in comparison to last year at this same time. The following link will take you to the post I did around this time last year so you can see for yourself. The only things that were doing better last year were the zinnias. As w/ everything else this year, the zinnias were started from seeds. They are forming flowers so it won’t be long before I get the bursts of color they provide to my yard all summer long. In the veggie garden this year I have 12 tomato plants (4 pineapple, 3 black krim, 3 yellow brandywine and 2 yellow tomatoes), 6 butternut squash plants, 4 jalapeno, 2 New Mexican chile, 1 ancho chile and 6 Swiss chard plants. The herb garden has a new location which provides more space and more sun. Due to the mild winter we experienced in St. Louis, my rosemary plant survived (a first since I moved to this house seven years ago!). Also new this year is another butterfly bush added to the wildflower garden and wisteria (which you will see in the photos). The plan is to attract more butterflies and bees to the yard to pollinate the vegetables. Although it’s been hot and very dry, everything is thriving due to my new watering regimen (1 hour daily early each morning). Also, I finally have piece of mind that my veggies will not become food for the local squirrels and rabbits thanks to my new garden enclosure (definitely lovin’ it!!). However, it seems that the resident rabbits have developed a liking to the type of zinnias I put in this year (Hot Crayon Cutting Zinnias). They’ve eaten the leaves off 5 of the plants so I’ve begun applying Bobbex… so far so good!
The following photos were taken on June 20th:
Rabbit-eaten zinnias and what’s left of the asparagus
Left to right: butternut squash, chard, and hot peppers w/ tomatoes in background
New home for the herbs and wisteria (next to trellis)
Herbs (clockwise from top left): basil, oregano, rosemary, chives, sage, lavender, tarragon and thyme
Wildflowers
Wishing everyone a Happy Summer and a successful gardening season!
I’m excited to report that my new garden enclosure has been completed!! Now I can have peace of mind that my garden bounty will be shared w/ the squirrels and other garden critters only when I want them to taste the garden goodness! The enclosure is wrapped from top to bottom in a sturdy metal mesh and is tall enough for me to stand up in it completely while I work. Here are a few photos:
All the plants for this year are being grown from seeds and are currently being hardened off. They should be ready for planting in their new home by next week.
Hoping for a great gardening season!
This year’s asparagus crop is a reflection of the damaging heat and drought we experienced in St. Louis last summer. Out of the 15 plants I started w/ last year, only 7 have survived. The rest died from an insect infestation last season. The surviving plants are producing stalks that are much smaller than those from previous years. I plan to dig up the remaining plants after they have finished producing for the season and start from scratch w/ a new batch of asparagus crowns.
Fingers crossed for the rest of this growing season!
Happy Gardening…
Here it is mid-September and I hardly have anything to show for all the hard work put into this year’s garden. It’s been a very disappointing year in terms of garden bounty. Despite all the extra feeding and watering I’ve done, the extreme heat and extra dry conditions in St. Louis this year have done considerable damage. Flowers dropped off and fruit didn’t set in mid-summer. Now fruit is finally forming but it’s getting cool and wet. Out of the four years I’ve put in a veggie garden this is by far the worst year for yield. Even my herb garden has been effected by the weather conditions of 2011. I hope this isn’t an indication that global warming has progressed to the point that these weather conditions are here to stay. I’m hoping that’s not the case!
The following photos were taken 3 days ago:
A single habanero pepper
A paltry amount of jalapeno peppers
One butternut squash which may not mature
One of the few puny Cherokee Purple tomatoes
Pineapple tomatoes which are smaller than normal
My sickly asparagus plants
The zinnias tolerated the 2011 summer fairly well
The fading wildflower garden
The herb garden showing meager basil and a barely alive tarragon plant
The game plan for next year is to move the herb garden to a new location that gets more sun. Also, I’m considering building a permanent structure which will totally enclose the veggie garden w/a chicken wire fence (even above the plants). That may be the best solution to the ongoing battle w/ the squirrels and other critters that seem undeterred by the current fence!!
Hoping for better days to come…
Here’s the latest news on this year’s garden.
All the plants have grown but there is very limited fruit production so far. I think the extreme heat we’ve been experiencing here has stunted the progress of most everything.
Some highlights (and lowlights):
The few near ripe tomatoes that were on the Black Krim plant were eaten by either a squirrel or an opossum. Can’t say that I blame them… those are extremely tasty tomatoes!! The green zebra tomato plant is dying as it did last year. I trimmed the dead branches and sprayed it w/ organic pesticide/fungicide. Hopefully it will survive because I’ve been looking forward to trying this variety of tomato since last year. I also sprayed and fertilized all the other plants.
My butternut plants were torn apart ( but fortunately not completely) – probably by a squirrel looking for moisture in the vines. They are such destructive critters!
There are a few jalapeno peppers and one habanero ripening.
Four of the six Swiss chard plants survive so this fall I’ll be enjoying these tasty greens!
For some reason my tarragon is not thriving but other herbs are doing well. I’ll probably transplant the tarragon to a different spot in the fall in hopes it will do better next year.
The zinnias and wildflower garden are going gangbusters!
The temperatures are forecast to be in the upper 80’s this week. Maybe this will help the plants to stabilize and start producing. Fingers crossed!!
Here are the latest photos taken on August 6th:
Better days ahead!
Hello, and welcome to the 2011 edition of my garden! This year is an experiment of sorts – I saved seeds from last year’s crop and grew most of the plants for this year’s garden from those seeds. Started from seed were butternut squash, jalapeno peppers, cherokee purple, yellow brandywine and pineapple tomatoes. I also purchased some basil and Swiss chard seeds. Additionally, I bought a couple of tomato plants that I had no seeds for (green zebra and black krim) and a habanero pepper plant. The seeds grew into nice little plants which were transplanted into the garden on June 1st. The flowers were planted on June 2nd. As you will see in the photos, I rotated the location of the plants this year to improve growth and yield. The zinnias and marigolds that were planted this year are also in new locations.
This year’s garden is truly a labor of love as you will understand after a brief explanation. On May 23rd I was out for a bike ride in Forest Park (this was the day after the tornado that hit Joplin, MO). About halfway through my ride a fast moving thunderstorm was approaching. It began to rain and the winds started kicking up so I decided it would be best to seek shelter to wait out the storm. As I was heading to the shelter a branch fell out of a tree, hit my handlebars and knocked me off the bike. I took a pretty hard fall on my left side which resulted in some cuts and bruises, a few cracked ribs and a separated shoulder. The pain has been severe at times. Despite my injuries, I was determined to get my garden planted before the weather became too hot here in St. Louis. I pushed through the pain and got the job done. It took at least twice as long to get everything planted but I’m so glad that I persevered. I’m hoping the rewards from this garden will be extra sweet!!
The herb garden has a new look as well. My sage, tarragon and thyme didn’t survive the winter so I replaced them w/ new plants. As usual I put in rosemary and basil (that I started from seed).
So far everything is looking pretty good! All total I have 4 pineapple tomato plants, 4 cherokee purple tomatoes, 4 yellow brandywine tomatoes, 1 green zebra tomato, 1 black krim tomato, 3 jalapeno pepper plants (one plant was snapped during a strong rain storm), 1 habanero pepper, 6 Swiss chard plants (2 plants are struggling and probably won’t survive), and 5 butternut squash plants. I had extra plants that were adopted by grateful friends.
On the flower side, I put in tall and short zinnias for bursts of color all summer long. Marigolds were planted along the northern and southern edges of the garden to deter rabbits and squirrels
Last fall I planted several new additions in the wildflower garden to attract more bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. New to the garden are a red coneflower, anise hyssop, gooseneck loosestrife and a butterfly bush.
And now on to the photos (taken yesterday):
Asparagus that has ferned out (northern view of garden)
Tall zinnias w/ butternut squash to the left and marigolds to the right
View from the southern end of the garden
Pineapple, yellow brandywine, cherokee purple, green zebra and black krim tomatoes
Swiss chard in the foreground w/ jalapeno and habanero peppers in the background to the right
The short zinnias and marigolds at the southern end of the garden
Herb garden: in front from left to right are English thyme, basil and oregano; in back from left to right are sage, tarragon, rosemary and chives (behind the oregano)
The wildflower garden
Western view of the garden
Notes for next year:
Transplant plants into larger pots and plant stems deeper for stronger, less leggy plants. Provide nutrients at this time as well.
Start Swiss chard seeds in separate pots to improve survival rate and simplifly transplantation.
That’s all folks!
First Growth
First Harvest
For me Spring represents renewal, brings inspiration and, best of all, marks the start of the growing season! What about for you?
Celebrate Spring :-)
…almost! There are still a few green tomatoes hanging on the vines. We had our first near freezing temperatures last night so I hope they aren’t ruined.
Butternut squash; Yellow Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Red Brandywine and Pineapple tomatoes; Jalapeno peppers
Looking forward to next year’s growing season!
Until then…