Tag: Beets

9/1/23 Garden Update

Wolsey2 Comments

I had a small surgery on the 24th of August, so I haven’t been as up and around as usual. However, my garden keeps on going.

Here’s some update thoughts on where we are at with it.

Glacier Bush Tomatoes from Botanical Interests.

The tomatoes have gone wild. Like I have more tomatoes than I can handle for two of us, especially since my wife has GERD. So it’s really like one of us, and occasional she has a bite. I got these Glacier Bush Tomato seeds from Botanical Interests, and they are a 55 day semi-determinate. They grew strong, fast, and blew up in my 8b area.

I definitely will be using some of these for next year, but less of them.

My cucumbers? Not so much. I just never got them off and running? I got a few cucumbers, but nothing to really brag about. I made a few refrigerator pickle jars, but it just was never enough to fully can them. I only got 2 or 3 at a time.

I got the Homemade Pickles Cucumber Seeds from Botanical Interests. I just don’t know if I know what to do with them much? The ones I did get, were amazing. Like I made some cucumber and tomato and feta salad with rice vinegar and olive oil and I could eat that for days.

I might have to figure it out this cucumber situation for next year. Some of my plants never really took off at all and I don’t know why.

Strawberry plants.

My strawberries also went crazy. I need to research how to manage them because they went wild. My plans for them is to transplant them into the front yard into another blue raised bed. I have the bed, but I have not put it together because my health was not super great that last couple weeks.

I am wondering if I can combine one of these raised blue beds with a raised bed situation and have the strawberries cascade down from above into the bed below? It would look cool, and remove an entire grassy area. I hate lawn grass.

Beets.

I got a misc beet mix from Botanical Interests, and planted that recently. I love beets, and I plan to make pickled refrigerator beets and some borscht with them. I should have enough for roasted veggies as well.

I’ve never grown beets, so I am just watching and waiting.

In all, for my first year here? This garden has done so damn well. I have not really ever had this kind of space and I am shocked at how easy it was, once I got the beds and green house set up.

The only downside, is I have had a squirrel incursion into my garden cage. I am not sure how they are getting in, but I plan to really go over the area once I am done for the season and patch up any holes in my perimeter.

Jam and Garden Update

Wolsey1 Comment

I managed to make Jam last Friday. I took it easy all week, so I could do it.

This is fifteen jars of strawberry rhubarb jam. I could not have done it without over six pounds of rhubarb my real estate gal brought over to me. I got up super early and hit the business version of Costco at 7am, and grabbed the strawberries. So far, in my area, Costco has better fruit than anywhere, and it’s cheaper in bulk.

I was up and jamming, done by 10:30am, and back to bed for the rest of the day! That’s definitely a success because I got it done. Baby steps!

As for the garden? See for yourself.

My garden is looking good. You’ll notice I am missing broccoli in the upper left bed. I harvested it, and then all it was doing was attracting cabbage moths like crazy. I decided to pulled it. It will compost it down for next years beds. My bush tomatoes are going crazy in the back. Even with careful pruning I am no match for them.

My cucumbers on the lower left are also doing amazing. I hope I have a lot to can as pickles!

This is my old broccoli bed. It was planted with beet seeds that I soaked overnight. I also laid out some of that Rainbird irrigation tubing so I can keep them watered with the rest of the garden.

I was using the dripper ends on the broccoli going to each plant, but honestly, I prefer the drip lines. They provide enough water, and may not go to each plant, but setting up individual drippers takes time, and is hard on me to hunch over and get it sorted out. This takes minutes and works just as well.

This right here? That is the first tomato of the season. Getting the 55 day tomato seeds from botanical interests really allowed me to hedge my bets. I got a version called Glacier from Botanical Interests which is a semi-determinate, whatever that really means is up in the air for me.

I have ordered seeds from a few different places, but I find Botanical Interests has way better packets, and has information on the plants inside the packets too. Plus, I feel I get a higher germination rate on their seeds. One of the guys who runs that business has a Youtube channel called Epic Gardening. He has good videos, and tutorials, and explanations on there, with a generous side of sales. That’s how I learned about Botanical Interests, so I guess it worked out.

I am in zone 8b, and am closer to the coast. I am in a weird little microclimate that is always breezy too. Like you could be blocked on either side, but our little valley is constantly just a little breezy to outright windy. In this heat, that is a bonus.

While I am not a fan of temperatures above 70F, my garden is loving it. I have been in the Pacific Northwest my entire life, and we hit record temps all July, and are looking to do it for August as well. I figure since this is happening, my beets may get a good bit of sun and warmth to grow up.

This is the first time I have ever had this much space, and a lot of the plants I am growing are first time plants. I am shocked and pleased at how well it’s all going.