Assessing My Garden Thus Far...

Today, it is just raining torrentially! It seems to me to be a good day to stay inside while Nature waters the garden for me and take stock of my garden's progress so far...

First, here are some tomato photos that I promised would be forthcoming in Tuesday's post. Without a doubt they are, as usual, the biggest success in my garden. I most definitely have a green thumb as far as raising tomatoes is concerned! The top photo is a long shot of the tomato bed, although it's hard to gauge just how tall they really are from this view! The next photo is my Brandywine and, again, the photo doesn't do it justice in terms of how large it actually is at this early point in the season, topping out at well over three feet tall! The last photo is the Patio tomato, which is not leafing out much and seems to be rather gangly. However, I have already harvested three tomatoes from it.

So, back to the focus of this post -- assessing my garden so far.

The other successes:
1) The leaf lettuces, romaine, and chard grown from seedlings have done very well and have fed me and the geese quite well!

2) The fava beans are a pleasant surprise! Twelve seeds, out of thirteen, sprouted to my delight. Flowering is almoist finished and a few pods are forming. Can't wait to harvest these soon!

3) The carrots seem to be doing well and are ready for thinning.

4) Onions, so easy to grow, are doing nicely!

Mixed Review:

1) Greens planted from seed mixes seem to be heavy on the arugula (which I do like), but lean on other types of greens. An aside -- Phoenix actually likes it, but it's too spicy for Syd!

2) The red lettuces and Swiss chard (Lucullus) planted from seed seem to be rather slow-growing -- but, hey, they ARE growing!

3) I think I will go back to growing beets from seedlings purchased from my local nursery. Germination of the Detroit Dark Red seeds has been marginal at best.

4) Some of my pepper plants appear to be stunted by the cold spell we had shortly after they were planted. Overall, though, I think they will thrive and I will have a good harvest as time goes on.

The disappointments:

1) I love fresh peas and before I left on vacation, they seemed to be progressing nicely and I was looking forward to a good harvest upon my return. However, while I was gone, they just seemed to shrivel up to nothing! I'm not quite sure what happened, but I suppose I will need to get my fill of peas from another source. Actually, I can plant a fall crop, but I think I will try something other than 'Alaska'.

2) Only one edamame seed (out of about 15 planted) has sprouted.

3) The Dandelion Ameliore, planted especially for the geese, has not materialized! I bought four packs of seed from The Cook's Garden last fall and the one pack that I planted last year didn't germinate either. So, I called them and they located my order and shipped more seeds out to me. I will plant these shortly and see if they fare any better. Keep your fingers crossed!


Now, I move on to plans for the "Summer Garden"! But that's a whole other post...

My Burpee Live Plant Order Has Arrived!!!!

Package in the mail today -- no mistaking that it was from Burpee when it said "Live Plants Inside"!! When I placed my order a few weeks back, I specifically asked the customer service representative when my order would be delivered because, very shortly, I will be going on vacation to Cape Cod (yea!). I certainly didn't want my live plants arriving while I was gone! She said they would arrive around April 20th. They came today, on the 21st -- close enough! I have always had good luck ordering from Burpee. The plants have aways arrived healthy, but then, my location in Virginia is about four hours away. Native Pennsylvanian that I am, I like supporting a company from whence I hail (Burpee is located in Warminster, in the eastern Philadelphia suburbs), even though I live elsewhere now.


My order consisted of tomatoes and peppers.

For tomatoes, I chose the Burpee Heirloom Taste Collection, which includes: Brandywine (I love the large, beautiful leaves); Black Krim (so pretty and tasty); Big Rainbow (new to my garden); and Supersteak (ditto).

The catalog describes Big Rainbow as "yellow streaked with scarlet", 85 days, indeterminate. The fruits are large -- 16+ ounces! Supersteak is also indeterminate, 80 days, and described as "the original 'giant' with beefsteak taste and meaty texture. The fruits are huge at 32+ ounces. Yum!

My taste in peppers has evolved over the years, from favoring the mild to the more spicy. Now, DO NOT expect me to eat a habanero -- I will NOT! But, I am now more receptive to heat.

I ordered 3 plants (this is what you had to order) of Tangerine Dream, considered a sweet pepper, with three inch fruits and having some heat at the stem end. This will be my perfect "popper" pepper, stuffed with some spicy pepper Jack cheese, drizzled with olive oil and roasted in my oven! So good...

My next choice was Ristra Cayenne Hot Hybrid Pepper(also, three plants). Who could resist a plant that is a "super producer" of peppers that are a foot in length? They are billed as good drying peppers because of their thin walls. I love this, because I can use them fresh when harvested, freeze some, and dry them, to crumble into chili in the fall and winter!

OK...the problem is I need to get busy and clear out the rest of the garden to get these babies planted!