The Garden of James

Watermelons - they grow fast!

2010-08-04T09:39:00.003-06:00

I think the first picture is taken on July 25th. The most current one, on August 4th. Happy birthday Julia and Barack!

should be nowgrowing.blogspot.com

2010-07-23T20:29:00.007-06:00

All of these pictures are from July 11th - July 23rd (starting with the most recent ones). We are enjoying greens and herbs almost every night. We have more than we could ever imagine at the moment. Enough to feed us and our friends, without hesitation. The herbs, especially, are super productive at the moment. You can see the heart filling in nicely. Julia did some good work as well. We harvested a solid dozen, dozen and a half, garlic bulbs and shallots from the patch, not including a few here and there before this big harvest. We plan on filling the space again with rainbow beets, carrots, and onions for a fall harvest. Gone are the days that we eat lettuce for dinner. Enter an era of fresh herbs, chard, beets (oh my god beets! probably 20 or so harvested so far), and carrots (probably around 20 so far).

The rain: 16 out of 23 days this month it has official rained in Boulder, 1.56 inches (1.88 is avg for July). Last month: 2.10 inches (1.99 is avg for June). Next month: 1.63 inches is avg for August.

There is a 30% or greater chance of rain seven out of eight days left in July.

The weather: a dozen days over 90 degrees so far this month, including a 102 degree day that was in the middle of eight days in a row over 90. But, typical Colorado, five days before that streak began, we enjoyed a high of 64 degrees, and, we broke the streak while enjoying a 77 degree high.

Our Daily Harvest

2010-07-11T20:17:00.002-06:00

Tonight's harvest.

Garden is Growing

2010-07-03T10:55:00.001-06:00

Tomatoes are coming in, peas tasted good, and it is hard to weed parts of the garden without accidentally pulling up some garlic.

Tomato Description

2010-06-22T12:21:00.002-06:00

Tomato Growers Supply Company

Descriptions from some of the tomatoes we are growing this year in our front yard.

black cherry-perfectly round cherry with classic black tomato flavor, sweet yet rich and complex. fruit picks clean from the stem and is produced in abundance on viogorous, tall plants. indeterminate, 65 days.

black from tula-dark reddish-brown beefsteak tomato has a rich, sweet flavor that is delicious. fruit is smooth in texture and weighs from 8 to 12 ozs. very productive and seems to set well even when weather turns hot. russian, indeterminate, 75-80 days.

black krim-dark brown-red tomatoes are large, 10 to 12 ozs, very richly flavored and sweet, with just a hint of saltiness. color is darker in hot weather, and fruit seems to set well even in the heat. prone to cracking, but a very heavy producer. heirloom from the Black Sea of Russia. indeterminate, 75-90 days.

cherokee purple-very productive plants bear loads of 10 to 12 oz dusky rose/purple fruit with deep brick red interiors. absolutely delicious with a pleasantly sweet and rich flavor. with thin skin and soft flesh, the fruit is somewhat perishable, but they taste so good they will be eaten quickly anyhow. heirloom from tennessee, indeterminate, 80 days

isis candy-produces yellow-gold cherry tomatoes with red marbling, which varies from just a red blush to extensive streaking. what is consistent, however, is the sweet taste that is also rich and fruity, and very delicious. 3/4 inch across, very productive, bear throughout a long season. indeterminate, 67 days.

brandywine-legendary for its very exceptional rich, succulent flavor. large pink-red fruit can become 1-1/2 lbs with creamy flesh. vines grow quite tall and have potato-leaved foliage. amish heirloom since 1885, indeterminate 80 days.

stupice-from Czechosloakia, extremely early cold-tolerant tomato that bears an abundance of 2 oz flavorful and sweet tomatoes. a garden favorite for its earliness, productivity, and truly wonderful taste, indeterminate, 52 days.

Ok, so it's June

2010-06-12T17:45:00.004-06:00

The tomatoes are in and they are taking root. We started putting them in early May, a few a day whenever we had time. That is the beauty of having a garden in you front yard: it is right there- quick and easy power gardening sessions are possible. It doesn't seem like a daunting task as it does having a garden a mile away from where you sleep. No packing of the car of filling of water bottles necessary. Hell, in my garden, plenty a beer has been consumed.

Twenty tomatoes plants are now growing in our front in what we call 'the wave.' Check it: (from left to right) 1) isis candy, 2) black ethiopian, 3) yellow pear, 4) black cherry, 5) yellow pear, 6) ploe, 7) stupice, 8) black from tula, 9) golden sun ray, 10) black heart, 11-12 & 14) isis, 13 & 15) brandywine 16) Isis? 17) ? not sure... could be some kind of tomatillo 18) yellow pear, 19) tomatillo (grown wildly, reseeding themselves in Jesus' backyard 20)? no idea.

(Peppers: A-Tangerine Pimento, B-Golden California Wonder, C-Aji Amarillo, D-Habenero, E-Big Boy George (not it's scientific name))

A little bookkeeping in regards to the tomatoes.
- Nine were bought at the Growing Gardens Plant Sale(1,2,4,8,9,11,12,14,16)
- Eight were started by seed by me
- Two were gifts (10,19)
- One grew really fast for a few weeks thanks to a Cozy Coat (aka Wall O' Water) (13)

Big Boy George is more than a year old, huge, and came from Michael and Kristine's apartment. They gave it to us when they moved last week.

The lettuce, chard, kale are plentiful as we have enjoyed a green almost every day for the last month.

Julia planted the heart mound with herbs (basil, cilantro, lavender, parsley, mint, oregano, etc.) and they are all doing well.

We have snow and snap peas ready to pick off the plants (not many of course) and the garbanzo beans are about a foot tall.

Many of the carrots sprouted and are doing well. So are the beets. There is celery and artichoke in the ground as well. The onion/garlic patch is over grown with weeds and gigantic stocks (of garlic and onion...).

One of the surprises of the spring has been the rogue, wild garlic that has jumped three feet and gone through a concrete barrier to sprout on our side of the side yard. It came from Karen's side. Garlic scapes are everywhere and we have enjoyed perhaps 40 baby bulbs of garlic, with plenty left.

We planted eight rows of four different kind of corn in the Hawthorn garden. We have also planted a lettuce patch, cucumbers, a melon, some of the rogue garlic, and shallots. We picked four of the juiciest best tasting strawberries I have ever had a few days ago.

Now for some cool pictures, YEAH!

Notice how much the garden has grown in only ten days. The first picture was taken June 2nd, the last two pictures today. The radish came from Abbo. The rose bush does it's own thing. In the first picture, you can see green and purple basil growing in between the tomatoes. We have harvest some good leaves thus far.

Spitfire Nasturtiums

2010-05-02T19:07:00.002-06:00

I got fooled by warm weather and decided to put a few things in the ground, including the first crop of Spitfires. Reference the last post and see if you can figure out why they didn't do so well...

The second crop of nastys are looking nice, still in a warm, controlled atmosphere: my window sill. I put one seed in its own square inch cell. I think they liking living with each other as they tend to curve around, almost supporting each other. I believe the last frost for Boulder Colorado is mid May. I promise not to put them outside until then.

The third crop of nastys were direct sowed by Julia around our mail box. They are looking really nice: dark in color, low to the ground with promising growth.

All in all, I am pleased with the seeds. Easy and.... easy!

Uprooting

2010-04-30T15:51:00.001-06:00

April in Colorado, never a dull day.

Taking Root

2010-04-19T10:04:00.004-06:00

Almost all of the plants that are now outside have taken root and are thriving. The tulips are blooming, the eight month old lettuce is growing fast, and the chard is hardening and getting deeper in color.

Julia and I had a HUGE salad last night using nothing but our own lettuce. Five different kinds.

Notice the gigantic heart shaped mound on the left side of the front garden.

Renee's Garden, Chard, Red Cabbage, Carrots, & Beets

2010-04-08T19:34:00.004-06:00

IN THE GROUND! Julia planted too rows of (Abbo) carrots and beet, direct sow. Today, I created the 'Pizza Pie,' planting a red cabbage (G.G. plant sale), Lucullus chard, two Bright Lights Swiss Chard, and three Renee's Garden Spitfire Nasturtiums (as well as four seeds, directly sowed).

March in Colorado / Fence / Photos of starters

2010-04-03T11:03:00.005-06:00

Sappho has already figured out the fence. Kelsey's belly is just higher than the snow. She is investigating something hidden underneath the snow.

We had two snow storms that dumped about a foot each in late March. Check out how heavy the snow is. The fence around the garlic/shallot patch barely held up. That picture was taken on March 24th, the day after the second big snow. The picture of the plants (we bought them at the Growing Garden's Plant Sale) was taken four days later on the 28th. It was 63 degrees that day, 79 degrees the next day. How quickly the weather chances here in Colorado!

I bought the twine for $3 at McGuckins and the stacks at Resource for $2. We spent about $25 on starters, $10 on seeds at the Plant Sale.

Today was the first farmer's market of the year. We bought some beets, shallots, onions, eggs, starter's from Bunny ($3), and breakfast.

Renee's Garden Nasturtiums

2010-04-03T10:53:00.004-06:00

It's the beginning of April and the Nasturtiums are doing great. They are resilient and steadfast in their hopes of grabbing more sun. I am always amazed how fast nasturtiums grow. While some of my other plants haven't made it, the nasturtiums are thriving. They basically take care of themselves, curling around each other to support long (leggy) stems. I plan on starting some more outside and expect those to look very different than the ones I started inside (i.e. more bushy). I am growing the nasturtiums for three reasons: to be a part of this experiment, to eat the flowers in salads, and because I like growing plants that grow fast and spread. Julia, with her incredible and delicious cooking abilities, mentioned that she wants to candy edible flowers, nasturtiums included.

Renee's Garden / More Starters!

2010-03-08T09:37:00.009-07:00

Like I posted before, I started four Renee's Garden Spitfire Nasturtiums on February 26th. I planted these in roughly 2 in. x 2 in. x 4 in. (depth) pots using a mixture of Black Gold potting soil and cheaper, sandy garden soil. I left two seeds alone while nicking the other two. The ones that I nicked have each come up while only one of the others is barely poking out of the soil. The first one germinated in about 8 days, which would beat what it says on the back of the seed packet by one day (it says '9-12 days').

To the right, I have created a quick and easy reference point to when I started the Spitfires. Time permitting, I will plant these in several different ways, times, locations, and perhaps even different soils.

***

More Starters! I went to work one day and came back to discover that Julia planted 7 (SEVEN!) egg cartons of seeds. This was probably two or three days ago.

Egg Carton #2 (as we already have a Egg Carton #1): Marigold, R.G. Rose Cosmos, Purple Dahlia Zinnia, Bright Lights Cosmos, Mixed Zinnia (two of each kind, four mixed zinnias)

Egg Carton #3: Cali Poppy Orange, Mikado Cali Poppy, Tall Shasta Daisy, Larkspur, Lobelia White Lady and Crystal Palace (two of each kind)

Egg Carton #4: Delphinium, Cosmos, Blue Love in a Mist, Snapdragons (multiples)

Egg Carton #5: Celeriac di Praga (celery root, the whole carton)

Egg Carton #6: Scented Basil Trio, Victorian Blue Sage, Lemon Bergamot

Egg Carton #7: Tomatoes, Bradywine, Yellow Taxi, Yellow Pear (2008), Yellow Pear (2009), Purple Cherokee

Egg Carton #8: Peppers,Criolla Sella, Aji Amarillo, Bolivian Rainbow, Tangerine Pimento

Some of the above seeds are from R.G., some from Abbo, and some (snaps, purple cherokee, some cosmos) were harvested by us.

The other egg carton (#1) is doing well. The snaps, basil, cosmos, blue love, morning glory, arugula, forellenschluss, swiss chard, and yellow pear are all coming up. The only ones not germinated yet are basil, lucullus chard, and aji amarillo. In the pots, everything is up except for one nasty, one chard, and the cilantro.

I have started to put the chard and some of the lettuce outside during the day to harden off. I would like to put these in the ground in a week or two. I know that I still will have to worry about a snow storm or two but perhaps I can figure out how to cover them quickly and easily if necessary. These plants should be okay outside in March in Colorado.

Expansion!

2010-03-05T18:19:00.004-07:00

Our front yard garden just got a lot bigger. With help from Michael, we expanded the garden today. I am excited about the potential to grow lots more.

Also, I was looking at the Renee's Garden Media Kit and apparently, because I signed up for this nasturtium grow project, Renee is going to give me up to 18 packets of her seeds. That is pretty sweet!

Below are pictures of the expansion. Before, during and after. Estimated square footage added is approximately 120 square feet.

New Starters

2010-02-28T10:18:00.004-07:00

Started more crops two days ago. I used an egg carton that we had around, poking holes in the bottom and using the lid as a water catcher. Twelve cells in all I planted: snapdragons (2), basil, R.G. double cosmos rose bon bon, nigella blue love in a mist, morning glory, arugula, lucullus chard, forellenschluss, bright lights swiss chard, aji amarillo pepper, and a yellow pear tomato.

I also planted twelve pots that are about 2 x 2 x 4. I planted four of the spitfire nastys (experimenting with clipping part of the seed in two (I will go in further detail about this later for the GROW project), four more chard, 2 more snaps, 1 cilantro, and one violet wave kale.

This brings me up to 50 cells/pots/containers of plants. All strategically located on the window sill.

Sunny Day / Renee's Garden

2010-02-26T11:20:00.005-07:00

Pretty sunny morning as the snow continues to melt. Cold frame is already at 82 degrees. The top number is the other part of the temperture gauge (the 57.9 is apparently the temperature of some cold closet in my house). Also, check out the bulbs coming up. I have no idea what they are...

I got a package from Renee's Garden yesterday. In included seeds of cosmos and the spitfire nasturtiums. The nastys are a part of a garden blogger experiment, check it out --> http://grow.gardenbloggers.com/

As part of this experiment, I am encouraged to blog about my experiences, successes, and failures.From the grow.gardenbloggers.com website, the following are a few 'Ideas for topics after the 1st month: growth rate, what kinds of insects are visiting your plants, what kind of fertilizer are you using, how are you using the plant in your garden, what uses are you finding in the home and kitchen for the plants, photo essays, video reports, and an artist? show us your painting or crafts created from your plants and flowers.'

I'll volunteer Julia to tackle a few of those topics. I have only just begun to brainstorm about different ways I can experiment with seeds. (Obligatory end of blog post questioning) Do yoooouuu have any ideas?!

Squash 2 and GG

2010-02-25T12:04:00.004-07:00

The first squash flower has come and gone (Taylor and I ate it). But, don't fret, the next flower will bloom tomorrow. Then, there are a half dozen more coming right after that one. Still no signs of any actual fruit, but like I said before, I'm sure when I plant it outside, it will go crazy.

I've been reading more about this guerrilla gardening idea. Who knew that the Boulder Public Library would have the book 'Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto'? Anyways, I came up with a few possible locations. When I walk to work, I try to take the straightest route possible, cutting through alley ways and yards. It would be cool to scatter seeds (like snapdragons, hollyhocks, and nasturtiums) along the route.

I would also enjoy planting edibles (flowers, greens), specifically plants that are native to Colorado (and therefore need little human care) and that will blend in to the natural environment.

Thus, the GGs can be both visual appeasing and nutritional.

Squash

2010-02-23T08:11:00.004-07:00

The squash bloomed this morning. Looks really cool but there are no signs of fruit yet. Perhaps when it is planted outside it will start doing it's thing.

The fence has held up nicely. No dog has taken the plunge over the fence and into the garden. Hopefully, this continues.

Guerilla Gardening

2010-02-22T10:45:00.005-07:00

http://www.livingoffgrid.org/the-basics-of-guerrilla-gardening/

http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

I found two websites that I thought I would share. I like the concept of guerrilla gardening. At the very least, it creates a few more plants in the world. Flowers and plants are visually pleasing and are enjoyed by, not only the owner, but also to anyone passing by. Plants create an environment or habitat for animals and can even feed these animals.

At the very most, guerrilla gardening feeds people. Though Colorado is quite dry, I'm sure I could find a few plants that could thrive with little or no attention. I know I could not commit my time to going somewhere other than my front yard and plot to water plants.

However, if I could find a spot close by, I could easily visit once a week perhaps. For example, there is a trail head pretty close to my house. As you enter the trail, you pass over a farmer's ditch. All I would need is a cup if I wanted to water. I could find a little hidden corner, plant some lettuce or some plant that doesn't demand attention.

Like the article suggests, GGs are like Johnny Appleseeds of the urban landscape. I think there is a purpose in this idea as well: to grow something that is either visually pleasing or can feed somebody.

GG ties into rogue eating: the act of scavenging, either the cabinet or in the environment, to supplement a meal. Rather than go to the grocery store to get lunch, I can piece together a lunch with the food I already have. Similarly, like Brookstar knowing all the good apple trees in the neighborhood, one can find food by simply walking around. Native Americans are a great example of a group of people who were able to live off the land (they did this with very low impact to boot), eating roots, wild onions, and fruit.

Perhaps, when the weather turns warm, I will guerilla garden. Until then, I can walk around and have fun scoping out some potential spots.

How to spend an hour on a snowy day...

2010-02-19T18:26:00.005-07:00

...creating a compost cocktail!

What I used:
cinderblocks, scrap wood (leftover from James' coldframe supply scavenge) and bamboo poles lying around the backyard
hands
shovel

What goes into the ultimate compost:
1. our old "special compost" pile, consisting of organic food scraps from Abbo, Builder and our own garden, mixed into the topsoil at the end of our lettuce bed
2. coffee grounds (most coffee shops or juice bars will give you these if you're not a coffee drinker at home)
3. organic veggie pulp obtained from a juice bar (you must sign a waiver to take it home - don't eat it!)
4. wheat grass mats, also from a juice bar

I started by building a little wall around the area I want to fill with compost cocktail. Always start with the perimeter and define your boundaries.

Then I turned over the soil and the old "special compost" pile that had been living in that spot since the fall. To my surprise, many of the veggie scraps still looked vibrant and green! They've been living in the cold, snowy ground like it's a refrigerator. I stabbed at it with the tip of the shovel almost parallel to the ground to aerate the soil and break up the scraps a little.

In went the veggie pulp and the mixing continued.

I also threw in some old squash seeds as an experiment. If a few sprout when it gets warm, I'll let them be and see how they do. They are in an unobtrusive spot, but it may be too shady for them to thrive. We'll find out! I call this the Juliatific Method...not quite scientific, but experimenting and observing nonetheless.

Then I just covered it up with some boards and a plastic lid I found out back. As another experiment, I put one mat of wheat grass on a little patch to compare whether the compost underneath breaks down more quickly. The boards and wheat grass mat can all be easily lifted to add to the cocktail.

I plan to continue adding the aforementioned cocktail items and turning it over for the next few months. Hopefully it will result in delicious, black, nutritious garden food come summer!

Transplant

2010-02-19T11:28:00.005-07:00

Did a little transplanting this morning. The chard and lettuce are looking good in their new homes. The anise looks a lot better too. We need to pinch off the tops so that it doesn't get too leggy.

Julia picked up a nice wooden box (originally for 125 lbs of kiwis) that is perfect for a raised bed. It is about 2 feet by 3 feet by 1 foot (depth). We still have left over windows from the materials I gathered when I was making the cold frame. I think one of the extra windows will fit perfectly on top. If we use it for cold tolerant plants like lettuce and chard, I think I will use the window as a top but not secure it onto the box so that it can easily be taken off. Also, our backyard has some trees and the house blocks the sun there as well. When it gets too hot, we could move this kiwi box to the back yard so that the lettuce can live in partial shade.

I read somewhere that chard is a good container crop. This made me start to think... I am too lazy (and I don't want to mess up too much of the yard) to expand the garden in the front yard. The wave and shark fin are fine. However, container growing is a great way for me to increase my gardening space. We have a nice flagstone patio that we could literally fill with container plants if we felt like it. We could even line the 'wave' with containers. Perhaps this can act as a buffer between the dogs and the garden.

Julia did some work on our compost heap as well. This is located close to our backyard at the end of the lettuce patch.

On a side note, the Russian women's curling team is really hot.

Milk! and Valentine's Dinner

2010-02-15T10:50:00.011-07:00

Our hearts they beet as one.

Julia and I lowered our carbon footprint by buying premium (priced and quality) local milk from Longmont Dairy Farm. Every Monday (that's today!) at 6:30am, the company will deliver the milk to our front doorstep, left in a cooler. If we wanted to, we could order cream, eggs, and cheese from this dairy as well.

Oh, how tasty it is!

***

Because of work schedules, we had valentines dinner on Saturday. Yesterday, however, I cut back six (count 'em six!: green leaf, wild card, forellenschluss, 'rugy, hyper red rumble, merlot) kinds of lettuce. Just enough to make a small salad. I know it is nothing much; it is a sign of things to come.

For Valentine's Dinner:

-Our Daily Red organic California table wine
-Pomegranate Spritzers
-Beet Soup
-Grilled asparagus with a pomegranate cream sauce
-Ribs with NC style sauce (a la Pitmaster)
-Baked brie with a homemade red onion marmalade
-Cake - strawberry shortcake layers with fudge frosting and pomegranate soaked cake
-Homemade ice cream - vanilla bean custard with three different kinds of cookie dough marbled into tiny hearts

Needless to say, it was delicious.

2010-02-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

Snow

2010-02-09T18:21:00.003-07:00

Here are a few good ones from my hike around west and north Boulder this afternoon. One of the pictures is North Boulder Park; check out the ski tracks. There was a class going on in addition to about fifty other skiers. All of the other photos can be found at the bottom left of this screen. I walked about five miles in all.

Star of David

2010-02-07T15:21:00.005-07:00

Check out the perfect snowflakes falling on our neighbor's dog.

Julia cooked a wonderful chicken last night for our friends. Lemon, apples, egg noodles, rosemary, onion, with a pomegranate cream sauce.