Pepper Paradise

Pepper season officially began two days ago. I stalked my way to the first ripe lady bell pepper and pulled it from the plant, turning the sun-warmed fruit in my hand. With pure, simplistic gratification I relished the thought of having seen a seed sown so many months ago finally achieve its biological goal. Felt like a parent's pride. Nature, sweet diviner of the harvest that awaits the patient gardener.

Christian's Garden-- Sprouting

A few days ago I visited my friend Christian to check up on his garden. Amazingly, in less than a week, he has sprouts from each of the seed varieties we planted, with carrots being the lone exception.

A row of kale sprouts

Through my experience I've found that seeds planted in late summer tend to have a much easier time germinating than seeds planted in late spring. Obviously the warmer soil temperatures have much to do with this, but nevertheless I've had much more success with late summer plantings as a general rule. The only trick is to maintain soil moisture while seeds are still germinating, which usually means watering in the morning and night to keep the bed fairly wet.

Christian devised a rather clever way to incorporate the stones we pulled from the bed at the time we tilled it by using them as a border between his garden and the surrounding yard. It won't keep the cats out, but aesthetically it's quite pleasing. Eventually he plans to construct a more permanent barrier from all the curious animals on the property: raccoons, possums, squirrels and the aforementioned cats.

I also gave Christian a handful of tags to mark the rows, as well as an oregano seedling to plant in the 'herb garden' at the south end of the bed. Once the sprouts attain a larger size (perhaps a couple of inches in height) it will be time to thin them out and spread some additional compost. Until then we're hoping for more beautiful late summer weather.

Planting List

Something I've been meaning to do for quite some time now, but for whatever reason have neglected the task: a complete list of the vegetables and flowers I've planted this year (in an order that probably only makes sense to me).

Veggies
Tomatoes: Pear
Peach
Cherry
Heirloom
Better Boy
Peppers: Ancho
Jalapeno
Purple Bell
Lady Bell
Golden Bell
Popper
Eggplant: Black
Hybrid
Turkish Orange
Peas: Snow
Sugar Snap
Beans: Scarlet Runner
Rattlesnake Pole
Squash: Zucchini
Straight Yellow
Potato: Purple
Onion: Yellow Bulb
Leeks
Carrot: Cosmic Purple
Nantes
Spinach
Quinoa (technically a grain)
Broccoli

Herbs
Basil
Oregano
Chives
Cilantro

Flowers
Sunflower
Marigold
Snapdragon
Texas Hummingbird Sage
Nasturtium

A little closer to the end of the season I'll be reporting on what worked well and what I plan on trying again in a future garden endeavor, and conversely what seeds I plan on depositing straight into the garbage can.

Winter Garden Installation

Two days ago I lent a hand to my good friend Christian in building his first vegetable garden. Because of the lateness of the season, his initiatory gardening adventure will be of the over-wintering variety.

Christian just moved into a quaint, old (1920's) rented home that sits atop a bluff alongside the Puget Sound. His proximity to the water could offer the added benefit of slightly warmer temperatures in winter. To begin construction, we first designated a spot, southwestern facing, that receives the most sunlight for the longest part of the day. Lacking a tape measure (which I forgot to bring) we used a flattened cardboard box to measure out the basic shape of the garden, which we estimated at about 4' X 10'.

Christian gloves up

Next we dug a line to form the perimeter of the garden, and then began to dig up the grass. This is the most labor intensive aspect of the installation, though it was ameliorated by the fact that the grass was dry and dirt separated from the roots quite easily. The removed grass will be used to start a new compost pile and, after it is decomposed, returned to the same soil to fertilize the ground. Cycle of life.

Christian's friend Steve(at left) stopped by to lend a hand as well.

As this is garden installation on a budget, we made due with the soil that we found beneath the layer of grass, which, all things considered, was not all that difficult to work with. With the exception of one large, head-sized rock, only moderate sized stones were found and subsequently pulled from the new bed.

Christian pulls the last of the sod from the bed

Once the bed was cleared of grass and rocks, compost was added to amend the soil and prepare it for the next phase.

Christian looks over the dark, rich humus of the added compost

With the addition of a thin layer of compost, we were ready to plant seedlings and seeds in the final step of installation. We first planted a chocolate mint and dill plant at the southern end of the garden, which will be reserved for herbs. Three broccoli seedlings (which I started indoors a couple of months ago) followed the placement of the herbs. The remaining space was sowed with seeds of various overwintering vegetable and greens varieties: collards, kale, arugula, endive, spinach, beets, carrots and leeks. Each row is marked with a small stick at either end and a diagram was drawn up so that we can be sure of where each variety is planted.

Christian and I pose behind the planted garden

The seeds will have a good month-plus to get established before seasonal temperatures begin to drop, which should be an adequate amount of time for them to get set. As long as there are no continuous below-freezing days this winter, the plants will continue to grow, albeit very slowly, until temperatures begin to increase in the spring.

The Eggplant Thief

Yesterday I was perusing the garden to check on the state of various plants and the ripening of their fruit when I stumbled across a subtle mystery: my largest black eggplant had been stripped bare. For the past few weeks I've been watching the fruits develop, growing larger with each passing day. In wanton anticipation I waited for the first fruit to finally ripen. But now, not a single purple vessel remains.

Our former roommate David--who's been squatting in our backyard in his tent for the past couple of weeks-- informed me he heard many noises in the night. Besides frequent cat fights he reported hearing distinctly the sound of animals rustling and chowing down. My best guess is raccoons are the culprits; I've often caught them wandering in the alley behind our house and even out front on the main street.

The price all gardeners pay for trying to tame nature, I suppose.

Mobile Pepper Planter

The handiwork of my friend Erik, these portable planters provide a number of great solutions for the temperate climate pepper grower.

When planning his vegetable garden Erik quickly realized that containers would be the best option; the topsoil in his backyard contains numerous bowling ball sized rocks and various construction debris left over from when the house was built. To accommodate his needs he has employed various large plastic containers, including these storage totes which have a capacity of around 15-20 gallons.

Erik drilled between 15-20 3/8" sized holes in each container for drainage, and planted six equally spaced pepper seedlings grown indoors from seed.

On the left are a nice pair of purple bells and to the right a prolific 'popper' pepper

Erik also planted jalapeno, cayenne, golden bell and anchos (seen fruiting on left)

In addition to avoiding the very unusable ground, these containers have the advantage of mobility. This can be of particular use as fall approaches and the position of the sun changes. The containers are easily moved to follow the sun's declining arc. Another exciting advantage will be the ability to move the peppers indoors when the temperatures drop. I recently learned that peppers are a perennial--which, unlike most other annual garden vegetables which grow for one season and die-- and can live and continue fruiting for several years if grown under proper conditions.

Erik plans to experiment with growing a few of the plants indoors. It will be interesting to see how they respond to the new conditions.

The Patient Gardener

According to the forecasts I've been reading lately, we're finally going to get some rain in Seattle. Almost seems strange... And not just a sprinkling, but steady, heavy rainfall this afternoon through tomorrow. Hopefully it will recharge the water table enough that I can avoid watering the garden for the next little bit.

In my gardening endeavors, I have learned many things, and have too many more yet to learn. Aside from all the technical information and facts though, the most important thing I have learned thus far has been patience. Hard to believe that I planted tomato seeds indoors over 5 months ago, and am only now beginning to reap the reward. Indeed I have even begun to display the slightest bit of impatience at how long the fruits have remained green. Only a very few of them have ripened. Corralling one's desires is no easy task.

A small handful of tomatoes and an ancho pepper picked this morning

I have realized that gardening, like life itself, is more about the processes and (seemingly) endless toiling rather than the final result. If you cannot find enjoyment in these things along the way, you will likely be disappointed when winter bears down. Silly as it sounds, some of my best memories of the garden this year involved some of the hardest work, in preparing the soil and planting the seeds and seedlings. The valuable lessons I will have learned from all this work will exceed any physical bounty I pull from the ground or off the vine, though those are certainly fringe benefits.

Quinoa continues to be a garden success story. I almost can't wait for the first frost so that I can finally harvest it.

Autumn in the air

Like a scent on the breeze, autumn calls across August's divide. We've emerged from the past week's heat wave only to find fall's cool and overcast days waiting on the wings. The last string of days this week marked a rather sudden and welcome transition. Temperatures on average have dropped about 30 degrees from the week before. I'm sure the heat will be back in some respect before summer officially ends, but for now, this respite feels just fine.

One good thing about the advent of fall though: HARVEST! The first of the tomatoes are finally ripening. Each plant's vines are overflowing with fruit, but very little of it has actually ripened with the exception of a few cherry and pear tomatoes. Peppers and eggplants continue to flourish and swell in size; the first fruit from each should be ready within the next week.

I recently (finally) installed some 'pesticide free zone' signs in the garden, one for the front and one for the back. I received the signs from the green festival way back in March, and procrastinated putting them up for fear of sending the wrong message (greener than thou). Now that they're up I'm glad I got around to it.

Fall crops sprouted

The few rows of fall crops I planted a couple weeks ago are making full use of the summer sun. All three rows (carrots, leeks, and spinach) are thriving in the August heat. I tried a slightly different method when planting this time. After making a small furrow in the dirt, I lined the row with moist peat moss. Peat moss retains water well, so I figured it might be worth a shot to plant the seeds in the moss with the hope that it would keep them moist better than plain soil. Moisture and warmth are key to getting seeds to sprout. Hard to tell just how much it increased the rate of germination, and how much can be attributed to the heat. Regardless, the germination rate was a lot higher than I expected. I certainly had more carrots sprout this time than when I sowed them earlier in the season in only soil.

Carrots reaching for the sun

The eggplant planted in the cold frame has a nicely developing fruit and a couple blossoms ready to bloom

Urban Grown roots

While I'm still on the "featuring urban gardens" kick I thought I'd include a couple of pictures of the garden where this all got started. From the time I was a young child, I helped my parents with their modest vegetable garden, planting seeds, weeding, and (especially) eating tomatoes from the vine. Eventually I earned my own plot next to the compost pile. I believe it measured about 5 feet square. The rest is, as they say, well, whatever. Anyway here are some shots of my parents' garden from about a week ago. I'm sure it's grown substantially since then. In the foreground are peas, followed directly by broccoli, bush beans, zucchini, lettuce and carrots (hidden by the zucchini), and way in the back, an artichoke plant.

Against the south-facing garage wall is a row of tomato plants. The plants receive direct watering from a simple drip irrigation system my dad rigged up to deliver water straight to the base of the plant. Using a five gallon bucket and a length of pvc pipe with small holes drilled at equidistant intervals, he can give each plant an equal amount of water by simply filling the bucket. The system does the rest. He usually fills the bucket and leaves the hose trickling (so that the bucket remains full but does not overflow) for about 15-20 minutes so that the plants receive a thorough soaking.

Urban garden update

Just wanted to take a minute to update the growth of my friend Nick's garden. Here's Nick tending the radishes:

As of now Nick is growing peas, carrots, radishes, onions, broccoli, lettuce and cucumbers. Everything seems to be responding well to the relentless heat wave we've been experiencing in past weeks. We've set two rather impressive(sobering) records so far this summer in Seattle: hottest summer since SeaTac started recording weather in the 40's, and lowest amount of precipitation, at less than half the rainfall of the former lowest recorded amount.

Nick has run into a small insect problem with his broccoli plants. It appears as if the leaves have been chewed by cabbage moth caterpillars. I struggled with the same infestation, of which there are two solutions known to me. One involves picking the caterpillars off the plant as they are seen, which has its obvious limitations. The other is to cover the plants with a floating row cover. These can be found at any nursery and perhaps even big box stores that have a large enough garden center. Essentially it's a tightly woven synthetic fabric that is draped over the plants to prevent the moths from landing and laying their eggs nearby. As the fabric is merely sitting, or floating, on the plants, it does not restrict their growth.

Nick's radishes growing splendidly

Squash and Potatoes

Dug up the first mound of purple potatoes this afternoon. Not a bad haul considering I took so long to actually begin mounding the plants. I imagine if I'd done so earlier, or if our soil was more loamy, the harvest would have been greater. Still they turned out to be much bigger than I'd hoped, and who can beat that color?

Also picked the first zucchini and yellow squash. I'm going to my girlfriend's annual family barbecue later today so I figured I'd contribute something from the garden to the grill. Kabobs anyone?