It is the end of another gardening season.  This was a very dry summer, and I found that I had to do a lot of watering because my flowers and shrubs were wilting.  I found that a lot of "crops" struggled this year and didn't do so well:  cucumbers, squash, and watermelon, for instance.  My pumpkins, on the other hand, turned orange in August and started rotting.  In the end, I was able to collect lots of eggplant, kale, peppers, green beans (which came really late this year!) and one lovely watermelon.

 

The rain and cooler temperatures are finally here, and at this point the only thing I am gathering in is my beloved dahlias.  This huge raspberry-colored dahlia finally bloomed this week.  I thought for sure the frost would come first.  This is a new dahlia for me, "Raspberry Punch", so I'm glad I get to see what the blooms look like.

 

I work full-time now - the first 40hr./week job I have held since my student teaching days, and before that, 1990!  I am not teaching, however, and I'm going to miss my summer days spent in the garden.  It's going to be much harder to grow all the things I've been growing throughout the years.  However, where there's a will - there's a way!

 

By September, I'm usually ready to put the garden to rest.  I, like many gardeners I know, give up on the weeds by mid-July and just focus my attention on harvesting and preserving the bounty!  The only thing I preserved this season was herbs - lots of them!  I grew lots of chamomile for tea and dried it out.  My son and I are now enjoying lots of home-grown tea!

 

At this point, I am trying to get out for a few hours a week to clean up and feed some plants.  This weekend is supposed to be a beautiful one - warm and sunny, with temperatures near 70!  I love walking out to the beds and seeing the startled birds take flight.  I love that they love to hang out there.  The rabbits that slept in my perennial garden this summer seem long-gone.  The frost is soon-coming, and they know it!



Flea Beetles on the Eggplant and Tomatoes

I'm not sure what flea beetles look like, but The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control (Ellis and Bradley) says they cause damage that looks like this:

 

The book says to use a spray or dust containing pyrethrin.  The book is for organic gardeners, so I'm guessing pyrethrin is safe enough (?)  I used a dust, which I found in the organic gardening section in Home Depot:

 

I did NOT like using this dust at all, and will go back to the spray I used on the cucumbers earlier in the week.  I dusted the eggplants and tomatoes on June 8th:

 



Setting Up the Vegetable Garden

This has been an extremely busy time.  For more than a week, I have been gradually exposing the seedlings to higher and lower temperatures, as well as more and more hours of sun.  It's made for a lot of running around, since many afternoons have been both rainy and sunny.  I have been watching the weather reports to make sure that the plants never sat outside below 50 degrees.  They have been getting maximum sunlight, too, so I have had to make sure the plants didn't dry out.  All and all, they have gotten used to being outdoors.

The weather report said the cold nights were over - meaning not really going below 50 degrees, so I decided to start putting the plants n the ground.  I had fertilized the soil weeks ago, so all I have to do is dig the holes, add a little fertilizer for each plant (3 T).  It's an organic fertilizer for tomatoes and vegetables.

 

 

So far, I have planted 9 Bellstar Tomatoes, 7 Yellow Pear Tomatoes, 8 cabbage, 8 eggplant, 8 bell pepper, 8 watermelon and 7 cantaloupe plants.

 

 

For the tomato plants, I cut off the lowest branches, as they seem to suck up a lot of the plants energy/food, but won't bear fruit.  At least I don't think those branches will.  I read on a gardening website that it's good to do this, as well as plant a bit of the tomato plant's stem in the ground - I think this is so it will grow more roots and strengthen the plant.

 



So, now some of my concerns:

1. Only after I put the plants in the ground did I discover that the next 2-3 days are going to be cold.  One of the nights will actually dip down to 38 degrees!! I think I may try to cover the seedlings at night to protect them.  I'm not sure how yet, but I'm going to have to act fast.
2. I did not rake/level the garden as thoroughly as I should have, so it is pretty uneven in parts.  I'm not sure how this will effect the plants, but in the fall I'm going to rototill everything! I would have/should have done it this spring, but as always, I just can't seem to get to everything.
3. I'm worried about pesky critters eating my plants.  I still haven't figured out how I'm going to enclose this huge garden....
4. I did not even think to leave paths between the rows of vegetables, so it's going to be a little challenging moving about the garden.  I have only planted half of the garden, so I will be sure to leave myself more room when I plant the rest.
5. I did not put any stakes in for the tomato plants and am considering doing it this weekend so I don't disturb the roots later.

Hardening Off

After it was suggested that my plants have "fungus mites", I was told to start bringing my seedlings out into the light and air.  So, I decided to start hardening them off.

 

 

I know the goal of hardening off is to get the young plants gradually used to hotter and colder temperatures.  The other night, I left the plants out until it reached 50F.  The tomato plants looked like they were cringing:

They did recover, and I've been putting them outside and keeping them there until the temperature hit 48F.  When I brought the seedlings in, the eggplant seedlings, cantaloupe seedlings and cucumber seedlings didn't look so hot.  They looked very pale, and like they were losing their green color.

I went on line to see if I could find out more about hardening off.  I learned that certain plants should not be kept outside in temperatures below 60F, because they are tender.  I also read that the hardening off process should begin a week or 2 before planting day.

I have decided to bring the plants in when it gets down to 60F, and take a couple of weeks to fertilize the plants a bit.  I am starting with Super Thrive.

Recommendations Taken From Washington State University

1. Harden off gradually, so that seedlings become accustomed to strong sunlight, cool nights and less-frequent watering over a 7-10 day period.
2. On a mild day, start with 2-3 hours of sun in a sheltered location.
3. Protect seedlings from strong sun, wind, hard rain and cool temperatures.
4. Use an automatically opening cold frame, if you have one.
5. Increase exposure to sunlight a few additional hours at a time and gradually reduce frequency of watering, but do not allow seedlings to wilt. Avoid fertilizing.
6. Keep an eye on the weather and listen to the low temperature prediction. If temperatures below the crop's minimum are forecast, bring the plants indoors or close the cold frame and cover it with a blanket or other insulation.
7. Know the relative hardiness of various crops. Onions and brassicas are hardy and can take temperatures in the 40's. After they are well hardened off, light frosts won't hurt them. Warm-season crops such as eggplants, melons and cukes prefer warm nights, at least 60° F. They can't stand below-freezing temperatures, even after hardening off. (See chart below for more detail.)
8. Gradually increase exposure to cold.
9. Root-prune plants in flats a week before setting out. Use a sharp knife and cut down to the bottom of the flat between the plants. Water thoroughly.
10. After transplanting to the garden, use a weak fertilizer solution to get transplants growing again and to help avoid transplant shock.

Recommended Minimum Temperatures

Hardy	40° F.	Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, cabbage, onions, leeks, parsley
Half-Hardy	45° F.	Celery, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, endive
Tender	50° F.	Squash, pumpkin, sweet corn
	60° F.	Cucumber, muskmelon
	65° F.	Basil, tomatoes, peppers

 

This chart has been taken from Washington State University

 

 





New Method of Transplanting Seedlings

I had many new seedlings to transplant this week, but I wasn't quite sure how to deal with the peat pellets.  Should I try to take the seedlings out of the pellet, or leave them in an put the whole thing in a larger container?  I decided to go online and see what other gardeners are doing, and I discovered a really good video that demonstrates how to transplant seedlings that have been grown in peat pellets:

 

 

Also, several of the tomato seedlings that I had transplanted were leaning over:

 

 

 

One thing that this video taught me is to plant seedlings low in the cup, so as they grow and get taller, you can add more dirt.  The other important thing I learned is that it is important to keep the seedling as straight as possible - so it will grow upright and be strong.  So, I re-transplanted some tomato plants, and then I did a bunch of tomato seedlings, pepper seedlings, and eggplant seedlings.

 

 

 

I feel bad that I am resorting to plastic cups and not recycling old newspapers, but this saves me a lot of time and I like this system better.  Plus, the cups only cost 4cents apiece.





Sowing Eggplant, Thyme, Marigold, and Pepper Seeds

I started some new plants today, and I found it was super-easy because I purchased a couple of "greenhouses".  These include the tray, a clear plastic "greenhouse dome" and 36 pellets (or "plugs").  For only $5.00 apiece at Ocean State Job Lot, this seems like the way to go!

So easy!  I filled 2 trays with warm water until the pellets expanded into little pots with soil.  Then I put a seed or two into each one, covered with a little peat moss, put on the dome and finished!  I didn't forget to label the trays, so I won't forget which plants are growing in which tray.  Then, I placed them on the heating pads in my bedroom.  And, I won't forget to take the domes off and give the plants light as soon as they begin to emerge!

What I'm growing: 

• German Winter Thyme:  14-21 days to germinate (this took 3 days with heat)
• Eggplant, "Galine" (this took 5 days with heat)
• Marigold, "Snowball":  7-14 days to germinate (this took 2 days with heat)
• Pepper, "California Wonder":  10-21 days to germinate (beginning after 7 days, but slow)

These are the thyme sees, after just 3 days.

April 7 - These thyme seedlings are now a week old, and still tiny-tiny.  I wonder how I'm supposed to thin them and transplant them, as they seem so small and delicate.  I wonder if I should have sprouted them in wet paper towels first, and then transplanted each one in its own, separate pot?  Maybe I'll try that next time.

Here are my eggplant seedlings after 7 days.  They look pretty good: