Container Garden Update — October 4, 2015

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here. October 4, 2014 post here. October 7, 2013 post here.

We harvested the last 9.8 pounds of tomatoes this week.

Monday saw us harvest everything except for the non-ripe cherry varieties:

Today we brought in the cherries. The girl cat is checking the sheet tray for potential deliciousness:

We removed the remaining tomato stems and cages today. Later this week we’ll plant Mache in those four boxes.

—————

This year we only weighed product from the EarthBoxes. We also didn’t count any overwintering veg, since the total was pretty paltry, and I was bummed out by the paltriness. Still, we harvested 282.5 pounds from the EarthBoxes — all of it between June 24 and October 4. That’s about 8.5% more veggies than in 2014.

2013 total weight: 228.0 pounds

2014 total weight: 269.4 pounds

2015 total weight: 282.5 pounds

For reference, 282.5 pounds comes out to just under 8 pounds of product (7.84) per square foot of growing medium. I’d guess that we’re getting close to the upper limit for our situation, short of swapping out the basil for something heavier — and that’s not going to happen.

—————

Each year I’ve done four garden Recap posts, looking at what worked, what didn’t, and what we think we might have learned. I’ll likely do the 2015 version of those posts over the next couple of weeks. As it gets colder I’ll also do updates on the progress of the new salad table and the status of the winter veg.

Wintertime also encourages turning on the oven again. I expect we’ll do more recipe and baking posts.

Looking forward to it.

Container Garden Update — September 20, 2015

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here. September 21, 2014 post here. September 22, 2013 post here.

The forecast calls for more 50-or-60-degree days, clouds, and rain. I’m guessing that’s as good as it’s going to get until May. This weekend became “clean up and harvest everything that’s at least mostly ripe.”

17.1 pounds for the day. 22.8 pounds for the week. 269.3 pounds for the year (counting only the EarthBoxes). We’ve now surpassed last year’s EarthBox total of ~260 pounds.

Yesterday’s harvest (with boy cat):

We harvested all of the tomatoes that were showing signs of color.

Closeup 1. (L-R: Iko Iko peppers, NuMex peppers) The Iko Iko have been a pleasant surprise — they ripened well, and the yield was good.

Closeup 2. (Top Left – Bullnose Bell. Top Right – Lipstick & Yellow Bell peppers. Bottom Left – Anaheim. Bottom Right – Jalapeno.)

I thought the “finish” on this Jalapeno sort of reminded me of a race car or a rocket:

Closeup 3. (Top Left – Oregon Spring & not-ripe Taxi. Bottom Left – Cosmonaut Volkov. Top Right – Black Krim & Roma. Bottom Right – Tomatillos.)

Closeup 4. (L-R: King of the North, Carmen)

The boy cat trying out a sheet tray (prior to the harvest photo):

The Tuesday harvest:

Friday (Cosmonaut Volkov, Taxi, & cherry tomatoes):

We haven’t had the time to really maintain the tomato plants. (Or anything in the garden for that matter.) Yesterday the tomatoes finally got a giant haircut. The pepper and tomatillos plants were removed:

For reference, here’s last week:

Our “Final Summer Harvest” date in 2013 was on October 7. In 2014 it was September 28. I’d guess we’ll pull the remaining summer veg when the forecast indicates a spate of 40-degree nights on the horizon.

The garlic and radishes:

We trimmed the salad table today. It’s on casters, so we can tuck it in the corner next to the door, then roll it out for access. This picture is after the trim. (top L-R – Little Gem romaine, dill, spinach, Jericho romaine, frilly cilantro, arugula):

The 2nd tier houses spinach, romaine, and miner’s lettuce. The bottom has mache and miner’s lettuce. I think I over-planted. On the bright side, seeds aren’t expensive, and nothing bolted when it was warm.

—————

2013 total weight to date: 157.5 pounds

2014 total weight to date: 211.4 pounds

2015 total weight to date: 269.3 pounds

———-

Visit Daphne’s Dandelions, host of Harvest Monday.

Container Garden Update — September 13, 2015

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here. September 14, 2014 here (includes a 35 pound day). September 15, 2013 here.

Late in the week we had a couple of days approaching 80 degrees. This morning I harvested vegetables in a light drizzle, which is more normal for this time of year. The forecast for at least the next seven days calls for rain and highs in the mid-60’s. Likely we’ll see cloudy and mid-60’s for the remainder of the month.

19.9 pounds of produce for the week. 18.3 pounds of that was harvested this morning. (Note that I’m only weighing the produce from the EarthBoxes. Everything else is an easy bonus.)

Today’s harvest:

Closeup 1. The peppers — ( [L-R] from top left – Anaheim, deformed Lipstick, Yellow Bell. [L-R] from Bottom Left – Carmen, Iko Iko, NuMex, Jalapeno.)

Closeup 2. Tomatillos. The tomatillo plants are really winding down, so I pulled the “most ready” fruits — about half of the remaining total.

Closeup 3. Tomatoes — (L-R) Sun Gold, Sweet Million, Oregon Spring, Taxi, Black Krim, Tigerella

Closeup 4. More Tomatoes — Romas, Cosmonaut Volkov. It’s about time the Volkov did something.

An overview:

We planted garlic about two weeks ago:

Some of the radishes are ready for harvest (French Breakfast, Cherry Bell, Dragon):

The “2015 Tomato Race” totals. (One plant of each. 122 pounds total.)

Type	Weight (lbs)	Weight (g)
Taxi	21.7	9856
Black Krim	20.2	9175
Roma	17.1	7764
Oregon Spring	16.7	7571
Cos. Volkov	13.6	6185
Sun Gold	12.6	5717
Tigerella	12.2	5558
Sweet Million	7.9	3601

—————

2013 total weight to date: 138.1 pounds

2014 total weight to date: 164.1 pounds

2015 total weight to date: 246.5 pounds

———-

Visit Daphne’s Dandelions, host of Harvest Monday.

The Salad Table – One Month In

by A.J. Coltrane

We planted the new salad table in early August. Last night we harvested this:

The harvest barely put a dent in the plant mass (Top shelf, L-R: “Little Gem” romaine, dill, spinach, “Jericho” romaine, cilantro, arugula) Behind the greens are the stairs to the front door — the salad table couldn’t be more conveniently located:

It’s supposed to get into the low 80’s the next couple of days. The salad table only gets sun until about 1pm, but I’m still concerned that something may decide to bolt and destroy part of the “work” we’ve put in. I’m hoping that the shade cloth will help discourage that:

I used a couple of shade cloth pieces we had lying around. There are 2 x 2’s “attached” with cable ties to the front of the table. The shade cloth isn’t sitting directly on the greens, much. I’ll remove the shade cloth by the weekend — I’ve found I’m much less inclined to harvest greens if I have to fiddle with a cover. Easy and spontaneous is good.

One more picture — a quick weeknight pizza with roasted red pepper sauce (peppers from the garden), mozzarella, and arugula (from the salad table):

Good stuff.

Container Garden Update — September 6, 2015

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here. September 7, 2014 post here. September 8, 2013 post here.

This week the weather reverted to what most people think of as “Seattle weather” — Cloudy and wet, and not very warm. Still, we harvested 27.9 pounds of produce this week. Below is 27.2 pounds of it:

Closeup 1. Oregon Spring, Taxi, Tigerella, Sun Gold, Sweet Million:

Closeup 2. Romas (6.2 lbs):

Closeup 3. Peppers – Carmen, Iko Iko, Lipstick, Yellow Bell:

Closeup 4. Tomatillos (4.2 lbs):

Closeup 5. Cosmonaut Volkov, Black Krim (far right), King of the North peppers:

Outside, the tomatoes are winding down:

Sun Golds:

The radishes seem to enjoy the rain:

2013 total weight to date: 123.3 pounds

2014 total weight to date: 154.9 pounds

2015 total weight to date: 229.6 pounds

I’m not sure how much is left on the plants. We may come out really close to last year’s total of 269.4 pounds.

——

The “2015 Tomato Race” standings (one plant of each):

Type	Weight (lbs)	Weight (g)
Taxi	20.4	9265
Black Krim	17.4	7893
Roma	15.7	7138
Oregon Spring	15.3	6930
Sun Gold	12.1	5498
Tigerella	11.4	5169
Cos. Volkov	8.1	3697
Sweet Million	7.7	3475

———-

Visit Daphne’s Dandelions, host of Harvest Monday.

Container Garden Update — August 30, 2015

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here. September 1, 2014 here. September 1, 2013 here.

On September 2, 2014 we had a huge windstorm that blew over the cages containing the tomatoes and Tromboncino. As it turns out, we had a huge windstorm yesterday, and the cages were rocked, though not to the same extent. (Gusts to 45 mph!) This time it mostly bent and twisted the cages, probably because they were braced a little better. We were able to haul everything more or less back to “square” without too much trouble. We got really lucky in that we did the “big harvest” for the week shortly before the wind hit. Still… ugh.

That’s two years in a row of having tomatoes fall over. It’s time to figure out something sturdier.

Having said that — Saturday’s harvest was 28.7 pounds (counting the basil leaves, but not the basil stems and branches):

Saturday closeup 1 — tomatillos (3.3 lbs). The tomatillos got roasted and frozen, to eventually become green salsa. Note the rogue strawberry:

Saturday closeup 2 — tomatoes. Mostly Tigerella, Taxi, Sun Gold, and Sweet Million. Some of the tomatoes are less than perfectly ripe — the plants are actively throwing fruit on the ground, and we decided to beat them to it. (16.3 pounds of tomatoes today, spread between a few sheet trays):

Saturday closeup 3 — The Last Of The Tromboncino (2.4 lbs yesterday. 26.0 lbs for the year. That’s a 27% improvement over last year’s yield.) Also pictured are Bullnose Bell peppers, Yellow Bell peppers, Tigerella tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, and one stray leaf of basil. The former Tromboncino box was replanted with garlic — The Tromboncino were probably 95%+ done anyway:

Saturday closeup 4 — Romas (6.6 lbs):

Saturday closeup 5 — Mostly Peppers. Carmen peppers on the right. King of the North on the left. Lipstick peppers on the top left. The tomatoes are Cosmonaut Volkov:

Monday’s harvest (3.5 lbs). The non-cherry tomatoes are Tigerella and Cosmonaut Volkov:

Thursday (8.8 lbs). Oregon Spring, Taxi, Tigerella, Sun Gold, Sweet Million:

The total harvest for the week was 40 pounds. Of that, 29 pounds was tomatoes.

An overview picture, before the Saturday harvest. You can see “Fall” if you look closely enough:

The radishes are exploding. For reference, here’s last week:

And this week (a reverse angle picture of the box):

The Carmen peppers, prior to Saturday harvest:

The Romas:

The salad table is overdue for thinning. Here’s the middle shelf:

The top shelf:

The scallion/bunch onion starts. Note the small amount of copper tape around the foot of the salad table. I doubt it’ll really deter the slugs, but it’s worth a try:

2013 total weight to date: 93.1 pounds

2014 total weight to date: 108.7 pounds

2015 total weight to date: 199.7 pounds

More Progress!

———-

Visit Daphne’s Dandelions, host of Harvest Monday.

Container Garden Update — August 23, 2015

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here. August 24, 2014 post here. August 25, 2013 post here.

47.1 pounds of produce this week, including 38.5 pounds of tomatoes.

The days are getting shorter, and the nights are getting cooler. The cucumbers are completely finished, and the Tromboncino may not be far behind. The tomatoes have begun to randomly drop fruit. If it’s not Fall already then it’s coming real soon.

To the pictures —

The “non-cherry tomato” part of our Tuesday tomato tasting (8.4 pounds).

(L-R) Roma, Tigerella, Taxi, Oregon Spring, Black Krim

The Comsmonaut Volkov is still doing it’s own thing. We’ve harvested one fruit. Three more are ripening on the vines. The rest are just sitting there. For reference, here are the yearly totals to date for the tomatoes (one plant of each):

Type	Weight (lbs)	Weight (g)
Black Krim	15.8	7168
Taxi	14.0	6348
Oregon Spring	11.7	5314
Sun Gold	7.8	3530
Sweet Million	5.8	2642
Roma	3.0	1357
Tigerella	2.4	1095
Cos. Volkov	1.3	581

The difference is that everything else except the Volkov have a whole bunch of ripe fruit on the way. We’ll see what the endgame looks like.

Monday’s harvest (8.1 lbs):

Wednesday (15.4 lbs):

A big day for Taxis and Black Krim. They were both dropping fruit.

Finally, three pictures from Saturday (13.2 lbs):

and

Peppers: King of the North (bottom left), Carmen (left), Lipstick (center), Iko Iko (bottom center), Yellow Bell (right)

The tomatillos and the last of the cucumbers:

The Yellow Bells before the Saturday harvest:

Two pictures that sum up the state of the Tromboncino –

Green leaves, dead leaves, powdery mildew, blooms, and fruit. I've given up trying to "control" it. — Green leaves, dead leaves, powdery mildew, blooms, and fruit. I’ve given up trying to “control” it.

The Tromboncino are invading the Sun Golds, and vice versa. Note the Tromboncino fruit all the way to the left of the photo. The trellis is about four feet to the right:

Many of the peppers are almost ripe:

and

Fall in Vermont has nothing on the tomato plants right now:

Not a healthy color. But kind of neat looking.

The salad table has been a pleasant surprise. The spinach will need to be thinned this week:

(L-R) Little Gem, Dill, Little Gem, Spinach, Cilantro, Arugula.

The radishes are doing well, I think. Or are they leggy?:

The scallion starts will go into the vacated cucumber box when they’re big enough to handle. They’re currently living at the foot of the salad table:

2013 total weight to date: 65.4 pounds

2014 total weight to date: 82.2 pounds

2015 total weight to date: 157.7 pounds

More Progress!

———-

Visit Daphne’s Dandelions, host of Harvest Monday.

Container Garden Update — August 16, 2015

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here. August 19, 2014 post here. August 10, 2014 post here. August 18, 2013 post here.

19.1 pounds of produce this week.

This harvest picture was taken on Wednesday, just before our first tomato tasting of the year:

(L-R, and top to bottom) Roma, Oregon Spring, Tigerella (top), Taxi (yellow), Cosmonaut Volkov (bottom), Black Krim

Monday:

(top to bottom) Boy cat, Tromboncino, Lemon cucumbers.

Tuesday:

(L-R) Sun Gold, Tomatillo, Sweet Million

We had a heavy rain storm on Friday, after basically no moisture for weeks. Some of the tomatoes split, and a pepper branch fell over. Overall though, we got off pretty light on damage. The next picture is Saturday morning’s harvest. 13 pounds total, including 6.7 pounds of Oregon Spring tomatoes:

The tomatoes are Taxi and Oregon Spring, with Sun Gold and Sweet Million. In the nearer sheet tray are King of the North peppers (the big ones), Carmen (top), Yellow Bell (the orange ones on the far top right), Lipstick (middle right), and Bullnose Bell (bottom right).

There are lots more yellow bells to go:

One Iko Iko is almost ripe:

The Black Krims are all getting really close to ready. It looks like we missed a few Sweet Millions (left rear of the photo):

The Romas. The cascading perspective of the picture reminds me a little bit of a Van Gough painting:

The Lemon cucumbers, Tomatillos, and Tromboncino. We almost pulled the Lemon cucumbers today to make room for garlic. That will happen next weekend at the latest:

The Marketmore cucumbers were pulled on Wednesday and replaced with radish seeds — French Breakfast, Cherry Belle, and “Dragon Hybrid”. The Dragon variety should overwinter, the other two types we’ll consume this fall and then replant with more Dragons. We used Ultomato stakes as a reference to make sure that we got even rows:

The salad table is taking off. The spinach (center) has a five day head start on the other plants:

(L-R) Dill, Spinach, Cilantro, Arugula. There are a couple of tiny Little Gem seedlings in between the Dill and Spinach too.

The girl cat in her favorite spot — basking in late afternoon sun on the bed:

2013 total weight to date: 52.0 pounds

2014 total weight to date: 62.7 pounds

2015 total weight to date: 110.6 pounds

More Progress!

———-

Visit Daphne’s Dandelions, host of Harvest Monday.

Container Garden Update — August 9, 2015

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here. August 10, 2014 post here. August 11, 2013 post here.

Total harvest for the week was 13.5 pounds. It was a little bit of everything, including the first Oregon Spring tomatoes and a sheet tray of tomatillos. We roasted the tomatillos, buzzed them up, and froze them for easy future green salsa (The link is to Rick Bayless’ Roasted Tomatillo Salsa on this website. It’s especially good when combined with avacado.)

Wednesday — (L-R) Two Tromboncino, Sun Gold tomatoes, Sweet Million tomatoes, tomatillos, a Lemon cucumber, Tigerella tomatoes:

Friday — (L-R) Oregon Spring tomatoes, Sweet Million tomatoes, Lemon cucumber, tomatillos, Tigerella tomatoes, Tromboncino, Sun Gold tomatoes.

I expect it’s going to be an even bigger week this week — everything pictured below is still on the plants.

We’re almost even with last year’s total harvest of Tromboncino, and there are still more to come. (20.7 pounds in 2014. 19.0 pounds to date this year.)

Pictures:

An overview from a 2nd-story window. In retrospect, we had the same bright idea for this perspective in the 2013 post linked above..

The peppers are ripening. The Carmen:

Iko Iko:

The Lemon cucumbers are still cruising along. The others varieties have all gone pfffft. I may remove the Marketmore vines this week and plant garlic or scallions in that box. The Lemons:

We’re going to have a lot of tomatillos this year:

The Cosmonaut Volkov tomato plant is finally “doing something”. The color of the leaves hasn’t ever been very good, and it hadn’t been growing much fruit, but the vegetative growth was crazy. I trimmed back the tops of the plant, and it seemed to set more fruit after that… or the fruit set was going to happen anyway…

The Black Krims:

Taxis:

The Taxis are sharing a box with the Oregon Springs:

The Romas:

This week will see some side-by-side tomato tasting!

On Wednesday we sowed spinach, cilantro, and dill in the salad table. The spinach is already popping up. The spinach should overwinter. We’ll enjoy fresh cilantro and dill for as long as it lasts:

2013 total weight to date: 37.0 pounds

2014 total weight to date: 44.1 pounds

2015 total weight to date: 81.5 pounds

More Progress!

———-

Visit Daphne’s Dandelions, host of Harvest Monday.

Container Garden Update — August 2, 2015

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here. August 3, 2014 post here. August 4, 2013 post here.

The 2013 post includes one of our more popular pictures — girl cat with bags and bags of green stuff:

It’s about 1.5 pounds of basil, though the internet must have other ideas.

11.6 pounds of produce this week, including the first tomatillos! Tuesday:

Today. The tomatoes are a mix of Sweet Million, Sun Gold, Taxi, and one Tigerella:

A pre-harvest picture of the Lemon cucumbers. They’re still doing well. Note the powdery mildew on the right. I believe that’s the pickling cucumbers calling it a year.

The Marketmores are about done too. In the top left of the picture there are still a few growing, but many leaves are looking terrible:

The Tromboncino. There were actually seven fruits at this size in a small area of the vines. Two lost their blooms early, so I removed those, with the idea that those will wind up being the “losers”. There are still five left, which may still be too many. Pictured are two of the winners: