Bummer of a year

Well, this has been a real bummer of a year in gardening. I haven't been posting, because there hasn't been much to post! Well, I do have some good news: I'm pregnant! The bad news is I've been too busy barfing and sleeping to get much done in either my garden or my community garden.

Between the slugs and the rain, about all that has survived at the community garden is some of the Federle paste tomatoes, but they haven't gotten green yet. There might be ripe corn by now, I'll have to check and see this weekend.

At home the weeds pretty much overtook everything, while I hid from the rain and then later the heat inside. We're starting to get some "Gold Rush" currant tomatoes, Tom says they taste good. I also got about one serving of green beans.

The flowers, however, are going to town! My butterfly bush is almost as big as the garage, we've got zinnia and a million zillion self-sown black-eyed susans. The Red Milkweed was gorgeous, and the phlox seemed to be brighter than ever before. Even the Bee Balm obliged by blooming this year.

The one food item I've had success with is fruit! I just picked about a pint of black currants for drying and making into scones. The spring black raspberries were delicious, and the fall raspberries look to be a gianormous bumper crop. The blueberries were tasty, and the quantity wasn't bad for the first year, and I had so many strawberries I was giving them away. Even the grapes are starting to ripen, and we finally got a plastic sheet over them, so we should be able to rescue some from the birds. I had gooseberries at one point, but I think the birds got to them, because they weren't there when I got the black currants. And soon, I'll have about 6 golden delicious apples from my little trellised apple-frankentree.

And that's about it. All my lettuces went to seed, the kale and broccoli got taken down by millions of slugs, the carrots never germinated, I missed the "good" window on the radishes, and the tomatoes had a very, very slow start. But oh! I forgot about the potatoes. Those are starting to die back, and I suspect there are tons of red, white, and blue potatoes waiting for me under the soil! I'm letting them cure a few weeks in the ground, but then I'll let you know!

Next year I'm scaling back. Kinda makes sense if I'm having a baby, right? No community garden, and I'm going to switch to just a few raised beds instead of half the yard as a garden.

I'm glad we have the CSA farm share! They at least managed to produce everything but tomatoes, even if their lettuce was a bit flea-bitten. It would REALLY be a rotten year if we only had to eat what we could grow!

Garden Timeline

Here's my Garden Timeline.  It's a work in progress, but so far it's been very helpful!

Garden Timeline for 2009

Mid winter (Jan - Feb)

Sharpen lawn mower 

Decide on a garden layout

-spacing

-crop rotation

-succession planting

order seeds and plants!!!

order bees!

Late winter (Feb)

Give houseplants a cool shower in the bathtub.

Spray fruit with dormant oil

Prune fruit trees and cane fruit ( everything except Rhododendron and spring bloomers)

Cut back:

-coneflowers

-sunflowers

-corn

-bird feeding plants

-asparagus

Very Early Spring (Late Feb - Early March)

Fertilize asparagus

Rake up any garden debris or unwanted mulch

PESTS - handpick asparagus and rhubarb

SAND blueberries and cranberries

Soil test?

Check soil for microbial life?

Replenish mulch - green on garden, brown elsewhere

BEES - put out bees and bee houses!

Start indoors:

-use mycorrhizal fungi on seeds and transplants

-onions

-leeks 

-lettuce

-peas

-slow growing flowers that need 10 - 12 weeks inside

-pansies

-snapdragon

-cabbage

-kale

-broccoli

-pine nuts

-mountain laurel

-celery

Start outdoors:

-Mache

Start hardening off:

-onions

-cabbage

-leafy greens

-pansies

-snapdragons

-broccoli

Early Spring (March)

Fertilize blueberries with Hen Manure

COMPOST!

Compost tea - soil & foliar application to reduce pathogens

Feed soil in lawn with soybean meal, corn meal, or corn gluten

Any other fertilizer

Plant any new trees or shrubs

WEED

Start a few early warm weather seedlings:

-tomatoes

-peppers

Plant/transplant outside with protection:

-peas

-radishes

-spinach

-mustard greens

Plant direct/transplant out:

-onions

-cabbage

-leafy greens

-pansies

-snapdragons

-broccoli

Harden off:

-leeks

-onions

Start seeds outdoors:

-Parsley

-Sage

-Rosemary

-Thyme

Mid Spring (April)

Set out early tomatoes with protection

Plant potatoes as soon as soil can be dug

Divide and transplant summer-blooming plants like asters

Weed

Start more warm weather seedlings indoors:

-tomatoes

-peppers

-celeriac

-eggplant

Start outdoors:

-sorrel

-peas

-swiss chard

-Switch lettuce & greens seeding from "cool" to "warm" types

-beets

-summer carrots

Transplant out:

-Leeks

-onions

Late Spring (May)

Harvest Asparagus, Rhubarb

Weed

After bloom, prune rhododendrons if neccessary

Spray lawn with compost tea

Start building projects:

-fencing

-trellises

Start outdoors:

-carrots

-peas

-beets

-scallions

Transplant out:

-onions

-potatoes

-cabbage

Start indoors early May:

-parsley

-dill

-basil

-zinnia

-melons

-cucumbers

-squash

Late late spring (After Memorial day):

Mulch

Weed

Plant/Transplant out:

-Tomatoes (if soil T>65°)

-Peppers (if soil T>65°)

-melons

-cucumbers

-squash (if soil T>70°) 

-beans (if soil T>60°)

Early Summer (June)

Plant out any remaining plants

Weed

Water as needed

Spray with seaweed

Spray and drench with compost tea, especially sick plants

PESTS - handpick or soap

Fertilize lawn, rake in compost

Plant out seeds (mid to late june):

--parsnips

--scorzonera

--salsify

--skirret

--corn (if soil T>70°) 

--sweet potato slips

Transplant out any remaining warm weather crops (if soil is warm, > 65):

--cucumber

--tomatoes

--peppers

--melons

--squash

--Celeriac

Harvest:

-peas

-strawberries

-leafy veggies

-radishes

Mid Summer (July)

Water plants regularly

Spray with seaweed in early July only

Deadhead flowers

Weed

PESTS - handpick or soap

Save seeds

Start fall crops indoors:

-brussels sprouts

Start fall crops outdoors:

--carrots

-fennel

-root parsley

Transplant out:

-celeriac

-okra

Harvest:

-Gooseberries

-Raspberries

-Blueberries

-Onions

-Garlic

-Potatoes

-early tomatoes

Late Summer (August - Early Sept)

Water plants regularly

Spray indoor plants/herbs with seaweed

Weed

Save seeds

Order bulbs

Order fall plants and trees

Preserve crops

Set up cold frame

Start seeds for indoor herbs:

-basil

-chervil

-parsley

Pot up indoor herbs (4" or larger pots):

-thyme (dig up or root soft tip cutting)

-basil

-rosemary

-chives (needs short chilling period)

-oregano

-parsley

-sage - tip cutting

Plant out:

-cover crops

Plant out fall harvest:

-string beans

-lettuces

-cole crops

-fall peas

-carrots

-swiss chard

-kohlrabi

Harvest:

-remaining onions

-tomatoes

-peppers

-squash

-pumpkins

-gourds

-melons

-herbs (including extra to dry)

Pull up overdone veggies:

-zucchini

Early Fall  (Late Sept - Oct)

Plant any new trees or shrubs

Clean up any diseased foliage or rotten fruit

Divide spring blooming plants, daylilies, hostas

Save seeds

Bring in and soak houseplants (including lemon, bay)

Mow lawn high

Overseed lawn

MORE COMPOST

Compost tea watering & spray

Plant out:

-additional cover crops

-spring bulbs

-garlic

-shallots

Start cold frame crops:

-kale

-mache

-claytonia

-spinach

-cool weather greens & lettuce

Harvest:

-remaining potatoes

-swiss chard

-collards

-kale

-cress

Late Fall  (Oct - Nov)

Soil test

Spray fruit with dormant oil

Gather leaves for compost & leaf mold

Clean, sharpen, and oil garden tools before storing

Plug in bird bath heater

Stock up on bird seed for the winter

Apply any fertilizer

Mulch garden

-Pine needles for blueberries

-Straw for garden

-Compost for asparagus - 3" deep, maybe straw also

-Thick layer on mums, roses

Plant out:

-additional cover crops

-spring bulbs

-garlic

-shallots

-more kale

Start indoors (for windowsill/light production)

-dwarf peas

-lettuces

-herbs

-chives

-radishes

-mini carrots

Early winter (Dec)

Spray fruit with dormant oil

Make cordials, jams, chutneys

Refresh potting soil for indoor plants

Mulch with Christmas tree limbs:

-Mums

-blueberries

-roses