Late Blight Chatter

I have been reading some interesting thoughts on the coming gardening season, and many folks are thinking 2012 has the potential to be similar to 2009 in regards to late blight infection on the East Coast.  There are some varieties that show moderate to excellent resistance.  I have been keeping a short list of varieties that are reported to perform best under the blight umbrella:

• Plum Regal
• Magic Mountain
• Defiant
• Matt's Wild Cherry
• Yellow Pear
• Black Krim

I may be changing my tomato list based on these predictions for 2012.  I did order Mountain Magic seeds from Johnny's, as well as some liquid copper.  This application alternated with Serenade seems to offer the best protection against late blight.  As for the disease itself it is actually a water mold.  Look for brown, water soaked looking areas on stems and leaves starting on the newer growth.  Eventually the white fuzzies appear on the undersides of leaves, and the fruit can become blemished as well.  It is said the fruit appears to be rotten but will actually be firm to the touch, which is not the case with other diseases.  I have had late blight on my tomatoes on more than one occasion so I am planning on being proactive this year (the photos shown on this post are from my garden in 2009).  Anyone else have thoughts or a plan of attack for this year if blight is back in town?

Life. Love. Loss.

This is not a gardening post, but as I went to post about seed starting this morning it just felt forced.  My heart is heavy today, and this is why:

As a family that does not subscribe to a cable TV service we are always a bit behind the times.  Last night we were catching up on the Discovery series Storm Chasers and we came upon the episode that was dedicated to the passing of a chaser.  I was upset to learn of his passing and immediately jumped out of bed and ran to the internet to learn what had happened.  I am thinking car crash, freak accident, underlying medical condition.....and then my heart sunk further into sadness than it already was.  This man attempted to take his life, and ultimately it ended his life.  I was thoroughly shaken by this news.  I was up all night, my mind racing with questions and anger, and sadness for all of those in that dark place.  You see, a member of my family attempted suicide very recently, and thank God they were discovered before life was lost.  But this has changed all of us forever.  I will never stop fearing another attempt lies in tomorrow.   I will never stop being in awe that this person hated life so much that they decided to stop living it.  People with addictions, depression, and such things expend a lot of energy in deceit.  People are good at pretending.  What we see projected is often not what people are filled with on the inside, and that is what makes me sad.  Maybe if more people felt true unconditional love for themselves and from others they would have the courage to share their pain with those that surround them.  Let your loved ones know you love them no matter what, and hope they know it in their core, because in a moment of bleakness it may be the only thing that saves them when they have no love left for themselves.  

Treats for Our Furry Friends

And now we wait.

The growing station is doing well.  The micro-greens have fed the bunny and found themselves on my eggs in the morning.  Aren't they just gorgeous?!?  Tonight I may even put together a micro-salad with dinner.  And speaking of salad, the lettuce mix is coming along nicely as well, a couple more weeks and it should be ready to harvest.  My sample seeds to grow and review arrived yesterday from Renee's Garden:

I am looking forward to growing these out and keeping track of their progress here on the blog.  I am most excited about the Tronchuda Beira Kale (a blog article here on using this kale for some authentic portuguese soup, and Cat Treats Gourmet Mixed Greens.  Our cat has shown some improvement over the last few days and we really hope he pulls through and gets to sample these treats!!  (I know a bunny and three dogs that will also be partaking in the treat sampling.)

HAPPY GARDENING!

When the snow finally flew.....

It wasn't much, but the kids did what they could.  They managed one run each on the sled, and this miniature snowman before the rain washed all the white stuff away.

2012 Seed List & Garden Changes

I am a 'variety is the spice the life' kind of gal, so that being said there are some new things coming our way this year in the garden.  Mainly we will be adding 10 more lowbush blueberries since they are just divine, and 3 more smaller highbush varieties that won't get much past three or four feet tall to our yard.  The berry bushes will be planted along the outside border of the garden now that the dogs are no longer roaming that area.

The strawberry line-up will be updated as well with an everbearing variety (Seascape) being grown.   I am curious to compare flavor to that of my favorite Honeoyes.

Seed List:  (sourced from Renee's Garden unless otherwise noted)

GREENS

Greens mixes, too many to list; 

some are cut-n-come, some for braising or stir-fying; some sweet, and some spicy!

Caesar Duo

Portuguese Kale

Lacinato Kale

Russian Kale (Johnny's)

Bright Lights Chard (Johnny's)

Baby Pixie Cabbage

Arugula

Claytonia (Fedco)

NIGHTSHADES

Pontaic Red Potato,

LaRatte Fingerling Potato,

& Purple Viking Potato (ME Potato Lady)

Baby Belle Peppers

Pizza My Heart Pepper

Corno di Toro Pepper

Spanish Padron Pepper

Tam Jalapeno Pepper (Baker Creek)

Carmen Pepper (Johnny's)

Fairytale Eggplant (Johnny's)

Little Prince Eggplant

Chianti Rose Tomato

Amish Paste Tomato (SSE)

Sungold Cherry (Johnny's)

Black Krim Tomato (Mariania's)

Ella's Pink Plum Tomato (Diane's)

OTHERS:
Green Fingers Baby Persian Cukes
Spanish Musica Beans
Dragon's Tongue Beans (Baker Creek)
Magda Summer Squash (Johnny's)
Trieste Bulbing Fennel
Herbs-a-plenty

That about covers it.  I have been immersing myself in garden planning to distract my weary heart from the new diagnosis of our precious kitty-cat Bob.  He is not well, and it looks as though he has FIP, which is a fatal disease for which there is no treatment.  He is fading on us a little bit each day and it is so hard to watch.  He and my kids had such a special bond from the beginning, I just hate that this is happening.  It was not that long ago we watched our dog Travis fall ill, I am not ready to again make the decision of when to take another animals life and stop their suffering.  So in the midst of my grief I obsess over seeds and bed composition, and do lots of yoga.  Lots.  (I even was out changing the configuration of a bed the other day,  laying down burlap where the blueberries will go, shifting cobblestones to their new place in twenty degree weather).  Physical work clears the mind I guess.

I will leave you with a picture that sums up how much we will miss this creature that has been with us for such a short time, sweet Bob laying on Ella's legs while they watch a show on the iPad.  This was taken last week, before we knew he was so ill.

Happy Gardening.

Growing Greens

Grow light system arrived today, and it was perfect timing.....the seeds have sprouted and are reaching for the sky.

Garden Plans

Though the garden does not look like this now, I have found a photo of the beds when planted- but not in full swing- to be the most helpful when planning for the next season's layout.  This photo was taken in May of last year before things became unruly, and I can tell for the most part what is growing where, and how much space it was allowed.  This is my mock up for this year's plotting:

Some changes are happening this year.  First, we invested in a CSA (full share).  Second, due to this share we are adding more fruit to the garden since that will be the one thing that won't be included in our weekly bounty.  The devastation caused by hungry rodents late last summer and through the fall is the main reason for the CSA.  I want back-up if my garden gets mowed again.  The other reason is that my kids and I just plain love the produce this farm puts out, and we certainly could use more veggies in our lives.  The farmer is very focused on nutrient density, and you can taste the difference.  This takes some pressure off my garden, and we can have fun trying some new veggie varieties and focus on increasing fruit production.......coming our way are 10 more lowbush blueberries, seascape strawberries, and another Liberty Apple on Bud 9 in the event we lose the tree that was just damaged by rodents.  I really hope our poor tree makes it.   It has a few years under it's belt, and starting from scratch would mean we lose fruit from it, and likely from it's apple buddy E. Spitzenburg as they bloom together for pollination.

I fell in love with the greens mixes from Renee's Garden last year, and so I went a bit overboard and decided to try doing just about the whole garden from her seed catalog.  I am hanging on to a few favorites from the past like Sungold & Ella's Pink Plum Tomatoes, Carmen Peppers, and Bright Lights Chard.  But other than that the garden will be full of new and unusual varieties of peppers, squash, greens, and cukes.  Fun, right?

Seed list and micro-green set-up coming soon.  :)

HAPPY GARDENING!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year gardeners, bloggers, and friends!   My how this last year flew by.   I was hoping that 2012 would make for a fresh start in the garden, but sadly on the first day I found one of my dwarf apples dug up and partially girdled.  I just about wept.  We stood the tree up and filled in the hole, but there is so much damage I think the tree is not likely to survive the winter.  It occurred to me then as I was outside in New England on the first day of January in a long sleeve t-shirt that THAT was part of the problem.  Normally the ground would be frozen and a rabbit could not dig up a small tree to get to the tender bark.  The creatures are certainly desperate this winter!  This destruction brought reflection on our recent study of the pilgrims landing in Plymouth.  We went to see the Mayflower II just after Thanksgiving, and it was brutally cold.  One can appreciate the struggles of finding/building shelter and trying to get some fertile land and a source of nourishment growing all the more when brutal winter is at your back.  I am thankful for not going hungry this past year because other things ate what we sowed.

In other news I ordered something I had been considering since last winter-  an indoor light set-up that would enable me to grow micro-greens.  Indoors.  Where rodents won't eat them first.  I googled the topic and happily came across an article in Organic Gardening (click here) mentioning particular seeds as being good for this application.  Well I just happen to have multiple packets of said seeds and I took that for a sign that I should go for it!  I will post more once the greens nursery is up and running.

I hope you all have been enjoying perusing the seed catalogs that have been rolling in since November.  I am just now finding time to sit down and look through the growing pile.  Dreaming up the garden plans over seed catalogs next to a warm fire......winter life just does not get any better than that for us gardeners, does it?

(P.S.- Somebody send us some snow!!)

Bob-Cat

Meet "Bob" (a.k.a Bob-Cat), the newest member of our family.  Bob's main job is giggle-maker, and kid-cuddler, but he got 'in' based on his reputation for keeping small rodents at bay.  C'mon Bob, the 2012 garden is now in your capable paws- (well, not yet officially......we will let him settle in before sending him out to intimidate the chipmunks).   Do you think word is out on the street and the chipmunks are trembling in their burrows?

What about now?

  Barn cats eat mice, right? 

My dogs are scared.  Well, 2 out of 3 are.  The one left standing wants Bob for lunch so things have been a little hairy around here.  

Right now Bob is in the dishwasher, this kitten thing is new for me.   Wish me luck as I am off to peruse the seed catalogs.