Hot Pepper Harvest.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?LUSES 24 September 2009 Hot Pepper Harvest.
Four plants, purchased from a supplier, hence no name for the cultivar. All the peppers were picked.The pods are dried in the greenhouse, then will be placed in the blender and reduced to make red hot paprika, for use as a condiment. There is still some left from last year. All peppers grow well in my garden with little care, except for a drink of vinegar and water periodically to locally decrease the pH.

Shed Roof Replacement with Suntuf Panels.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?BNPIX 21 September 2009 Shed Roof Replacerment with Suntuf Panels.

In 2004 a shed was build and typical PVC panels was used for the roof. Similar to Palruf, but am not certain of the name at this time. It may even had been Palruf. This was desired for having ample light in the shed. The material went through about two seasons then it got brittle and cracks appeared. Clearly this material is almost useless for building. The roof was replaced with Suntuf, which is supposed to have a long life and is UV resistant. Both products appear flexible and strong when new. Suntuf is about $50.00 for a 2 by 12 foot sheet, whereas the old PVC panel is about $30.00 for a similar sized sheet.

Edamame- Soy Beans in the pod.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?DIVNK 18 September 2009 Edamamee- Soy beans cooked in the pod.
Edamame- a soybean that can be eaten fresh and is best known as a snack with a nutritional punch.
Soy beans are picked before drying out and boiled in water for a few minutes. The pods are soft and the bean can be removed by pulling through the teeth and lips. This is an ideal nutritious snack, far superior to junk food. Try them you may like. The cooked beans can be frozen for later use. The Chinese have been using soy beans for about 5000 years.

Mulching Benefits

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?MVECR 17 September 2009 Mulch Benefits
Pictures of the yard with comments regarding the mulch.
The prime consideration for mulching is moisture retention due to evaporation, to prevent the top few inches of soil from hard panning. If the top layer of soil dries out, essentially a great part of a growing area has become ineffective for plant growth. The plant roots cannot be aerated if the top layer is basically impregnable. Therefore to enhance conditions mulch is used.

My garden area is now mulched with wood chips, which are picked up free of charge from the city. Wood chips are relatively loose and water and air can seep through. The chips decompose in about a year and more are added each Fall. In my case wood chips are an ideal mulch.

When wood chips are utilized in the vegetable garden, after harvest the chips remaining are rototilled into the soil. A small amount of urea is broadcast to supply some nitrogen to aid decomposition.

Viburnum Leaf Beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni) control

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?XKTMT 17 September 2009 Viburnum Leaf Beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni) control
This pest devastated my European snowball (Viburnum) bushes in the Spring of 2009. Originally from Europe and Asia, established breeding populations were first recorded in 1978 in the Ottawa-Hull area. Attempting to preempt an attack in 2010 spraying with a mixture of lime sulfur and horticulture oil was commenced. This is about the only commercial insecticide in my arsenal. Pictures depict the procedure undertaken. Does it work? Spring of 2010 will be the time for evaluation.

Snapdragons

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?WZVTS 16 September 2009 Snapdragon
Snapdragons are planted throughout the garden in various free spaces. They are treated as an annual in my area. Usually the small plants are bought from a supplier in the Spring. Snapdragons are perennial plants often sold as cold-season annual plants and do best in full or partial sun.

Concord Grapes

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?YLZVT 16 September 2009 Concord Grapes.
This is the only grape vine out of four varieties that produced reasonably well this year. The clusters should be fully ripe in about two weeks. Concord is probably my favorite table grape, and if I have extra juice is made. It requires a lot of grapes to get any reasonable quantity of juice about 8 pounds per liter- but wonderful juice. This is the four year for this plant.

Wood Chip Mulch

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?WXDVC 14 September 2009 Wood Chip Mulch
City of Brantford supplies wood chip mulch for public uses all year around. A removable box of half a cubic yard is installed in my minivan, and chips are picked up as required. This load was stored in a large soil/mulch bag for later use on the garlic bed. Each load is about 3.5 wheelbarrows of material.

Test planting garlic bulbils.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?INPKG 14 September 2009 Test planting garlic seeds.

Visiting an abandoned garden, I found some healthy appearing garlic seeds, and decided to try and grow them. Normally garlic is propagated from the clove, since most seeds are not fertile, but there has been some research success in propagating from seed. This is my minor attempt. Wish me success.

I just found out that those bubils (small cloves at the top of the scape), that I am are calling seeds are not really seed.They are simply the same as the bottom cloves (clones) and it will takes a few years to get normal size cloves. Anyway, I will plant a row of the bubils this year and again next year and see what I get.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?TXPKZ 22 Septembder 2009 Garlic and Bubils.
The abandoned garden was re-visited and some more bubils were collected, also a main bulb was dug up. It appears the main bulb being quite small was produced from a bubil last year. The bulb produced a large cluster of bubils. The cloves are exposed, since it is late in the season, and the protective sheath has disintegrated. The small cloves collected will be planted along with the bubils to compare the size come harvest time in July 2010.

Asparagus bed.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?MNJPH 13 September 2009 Asparagus bed.
Growth is excellent for one year. The bed was planted in May 2008. Only a few spears will be taken in 2010, then the main harvest will begin in the Spring of 2011.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?SummaryA Summary: Asparagus

Luffa cylindrica (Sponge Luffa)

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?AVITH 12 September 2009 Luffa cylindrica (Sponge Luffa)
There are about seven large fruit, but they must dry on the vine before making sponges. The growth has been poor this year due to cool weather and not enough sun. The trellis should be completely covered with vegetation ina good year.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?OGBJC Summary: Luffa 2009

Chinese Lantern (Physalis alkekengi)

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?MDKUH 12 September 2009 Chinese Lantern (Physalis alkekengi)
A clump is grown in the garden. It is kept contained by digging a trench around the area. It is more decorative than anything, but the fruit is eaten if the berries are extremely ripe. If green, solanine is present, and should be avoided. Craft people use the pretty cups to make various items.

Planting seeds to insure maximum germination.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?IGNNG 12 September 2009 Planting seeds to insure maximum germination.
Pots used are are plastic cups. Five drainage holes are burnt around the periphery using a common soldering iron. The periphery is chosen to supply drainage, and to leave a small space to retain water.

Soil is my own mix previously prepared. The seeded pots are placed in an individual gusseted bag so the pots are on a essentially level surface. The bag presents an environment that is high in humidity, which is probably the most important necessity for good germination. When the plants have germinated well the bags are opened. The bags also prevent water from draining out of the pots, which can be a nuisance.

Pots are placed in a bright window. Grow lamps are avoided. A heating pad is sometimes used under the containers, if deemed necessary. The pad is one of those simple body heating pads used for muscle treatment. Cheap and effective.

The plants will be thinned to one per pot after they have reached a strong appearing condition. When transplanting the pots are often cut open to minimize any root disturbance.

Germination is near 100% using this method.

Dracunculus vulgaris Seed Head

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?APBHH 11 September 2009 Dracunculus vulgaris Seed Head
Dracuncul vulgaris seed head now a bright red throughout. The seed pods are soft and mushy and essentially ripe. There are two seeds in each pod. Stalks are getting soft and starting to fall over.
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?Dvulgaris Summary: Dracunculus vulgaris

My observations regarding raised garden beds.

A raised bed is not always the solution. If a yard is wet for long periods then it is probability prudent to put drainage tiles in place. A wet yard with poor drainage and a raised bed only means that the raised beds will be wet, due to wick effect.

My yard was a bog six years ago. I put in about 300 feet of tile and ran the water to the city storm sewers. There was a elevation drop of about 2 feet from the back to the front of the property. Now the surface water is gone. My yard is basically dry. The raised beds are convenient to contain an area, since it gets sort of sloppy on the edges if not fenced in.

The drainage was a trench 18 inches deep and 12 inches wide, Gravel in the bottom, five inch plastic weeping tile, gravel on top, and some soil added, and the sod returned to improve the appearance. The work was dug by hand in 2004 all by myself.

Also, drainage tiles will not work if the top layer is at hardpan level. There must be some drainage into the ground. The backfill in my yard was done properly in that there is about two feet of good clay backfill before hitting hardpan.

Some contractors sell the top soil when building, and simply lay sod onto the hardpan. The yard will always be soggy no matter what steps are taken in his case. This can be improved only by adding about two feet of reasonable soil, and then adding the drainage ditches.

The point is: Before installing raised beds, and applying drainage techniques, insure that you know what you are working with. Every situation will be a little different.

Preparing Garlic Bed for Planting in October

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?RLQJG 10 September 2009 Preparing Garlic Bed for Planting in October
The area was contained, rototilled, two wheelbarrows of compost added and rototilled into the soil. The bed will settle for about a month then the garlic cloves will be planted, on or about the 10 of October to overwinter. This bed will contain about 200 garlic gloves at 6 inch center spacing.

Completion of Garden Bed for Spring 2010 Planting

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?OXCTM 9 September 2009 Completion of Garden Bed for Spring 2010 Planting.

Today the garden beds were essentially completed for the Spring of 2010. There is about 2000 square feet of growing space. Various plants are completing their growing cycle, and I worked around these. All weeds were removed. The beds were all conditioned by the addition of a layer of sand. The beds were planted with red annual clover, which will grow considerably before freeze-up. This clover will be mostly Winter killed. Some compost will be added in the Spring and worked in before planting.

Peat moss and Coconut fiber comparison.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?BRTHJ 8 September 2009 Peat moss and Coconut fiber comparison.

Using my home potting mix and planting seed, it was found that wetting of peat moss in the mixture is often incomplete. I attribute this to the dust-like structure of the peat moss. The water makes the small peat particles float and wetting throughout the pot was often marginal. For the last two year coconut fiber has been used in place of peat moss to eliminate the problem.

Peat moss is environmentally unfriendly. Coconut fiber is a renewable resource.

Coconut fiber has structure and absorbs water readily. I suspect when peat moss is mixed with potting soil that many of the dust like particles do not absorb water. Often the water simply makes the small seeds float to the top along with unwetted peat moss. This is most annoying when planting seeds in small pots. My opinion is that coconut fiber is superior to peat moss for most applications.

Removing (Phytophthora Infestans) devastated tomato plants

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?OQXBU 8 September 2009 Removing (Phytophthora Infestans) devastated tomato plants

Tomato plants were devastated by potato blight (Phytophthora Infestans). Usually at this time of year, with no frost, the plants should be all green and thriving.

The support system was removed and stored for next year's use. Plants were disposed of in the garbage to reduce the chance of spore infection in the garden. The bed was rototilled.

Curiously one tomato plant did not suffer from the (Phytophthora Infestans) as much as the other 15 different varieties. This one tomato plant was Burpee Supersteak, a hybrid.
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?TRFOE Here is one supplier of seeds.

Thornless Blackberry

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?CMASD 8 September 2009 Thornless Blackberry.

There are two plants on the 8 foot trellis. These two plants were purchased two years ago from a supplier and there was no name, except thornless blackberry. The berries are quite sweet and are excellent, provided they are picked when just about ready to fall off the plant. This is my first experience with blackberries in the home garden. This is the first picking of the fruit.

Conditioning a garden bed 8 by 20 feet with sand

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?XYGAD 7 September 2009 Conditioning a garden bed 8 by 20 feet with sand.

The underlying bed is composed of clay and much compost. A layer of sand was added to make the soil more friable. This small area could supply a family of five with a lot of vegetables during the growing season. Corn and cucumbers were grown in his area in 2009. There are eight pepper plants at the end, and some sand was left to condition this area when the space becomes available.
The removed vegetation was put through the chipper/shredder and added to the compost heap. Pictures depict the operation.

Escapade Rose, Cluster Rose (Floribundas)

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?OIJWY 6 September 2009 Escapade Rose, Cluster Rose (Floribundas)
This Escapade Rose, Cluster Rose (Floribundas) blooms profusely all summer, with periodic deadheading. The vegetation is very prickly. The rose withstands adverse conditions. During heavy rainfalls the rose roots are in water for several hours. It always manages to survive and thrive. It survives severe Winter conditions well. This rose is a plus in any home garden.

Clay Soil Observations

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?FOHEI 6 September 2009 Clay soil Observations.

The garden bed is composed of good clay soil. To make the clay more useful for my requirement, it has been modified utilizing much compost over the last five years.Compost alone as a clay modifier still allows the soil to coagulate or lump. The addition of sand to the clay/compost appears to reduce the lumping problem. The thrust of my note is to suggest that compost alone is insufficient to adequately condition clay. Picture of the soils are presented to substantiate my views on the matter.

It should be noted that the clay alone or with compost is still an excellent growing medium. The area is relatively small so modifying is practicable and feasible.

Initially sand, screenings, peat moss each alone was tried as a mixing agent for making the clay more friable. These efforts were all failures. I am of the opinion that compost in large quantities is best for breaking up clay, then to make the mixture more friable sand should be added. It appears to be working well in my garden. My growing area is about 2000 square feet or 186 square meters.

Marigold Patch

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?XZQKY 4 September 2009 Marigold Patch

This bed just off the deck in full sun was planted with various low marigolds, purchased from a supplier. There are some snapdragon plants along with some portulaca. The bed is heavily covered with black mulch and requires no care. The black mulch/flower contrast is pleasing to the eye. A nice addition to any garden and little room is required.

Adding Sand to the Garden Bed.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?AENBM 5 September 2009 Adding Sand to the garden bed.

The garden bed is a clay base, mixed with plenty of compost over the last five years. By inspection I felt the structure was too tight and compacted too much, so decided to a add a layer of mason or play sand. This modified the soil to make it more friable.

The sand was worked into the underlying soil using the Honda FG110 minitiller and raked smooth. The area will be seeded with double cut red annual clover as a Winter cover crop, which will be rototilled into the soil in the Spring.

Bigleaf golden-ray Ligularia dentata 'Othello'

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?FPPMU 4 September 2009 Bigleaf golden-ray Ligularia dentata 'Othello'
This large leaf plant is now in bloom. there is a bit of insect damage on some leaves.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?QYLVR Summary: Bigleaf golden-ray Ligularia dentata 'Othello' 2009

Mixing Compost Pile

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?UITUF 4 September 2009 Mixing Compost Pile

The 5 HP rototiller is used to mix the compost pile periodically. My neighbor adds his grass clippings so the pile is always working.Spent vegetation is put through the chipper/shredder as required.In the first picture note the smoke from the working compost pile.

Making Seed Soil Mix

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?VZAFV 4 September 2009 Making Seed Soil Mix

Soil for seeds in the Spring of 2010. The ingredients are coconut fiber, sand, garden soil, compost and some partially composed grass to add microbes. Sphagnum moss is not used because it now comes in bags that are basically dust, and I consider it useless.

The mixture is about equal parts of the basic ingredients and is decided by trial and error, based on experience. Constituent parts are placed in an suitable area, and thoroughly mixed using the Honda FG110 minitiller.

Storage is in 20 liter buckets, ready for March 2010 plantings.

Cleaning up Cornstalks

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?EUVHN 3 September 2009 Cleaning up Cornstalks
Clearing corn stalks from the garden can be difficult to reduce if they are allowed to dry. My method is to pull up the whole stalk, when still green, loosening the root with a fork. The stalks are then put through the chipper/shredder and blown onto the compost pile. In lieu of a chipper/shredder a machete and block or laying the stalks on the ground and running over them with a lawnmower does a reasonable job of reducing the stalks.

Garden Bed Preparation for 2010

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?KRTDN 3 September 2009 Garden Bed preparation for Spring 2010.

All weeds were removed, the ground was rototilled deeply, raked relatively even, red annual clover was planted as a cover crop. The clover seed was lightly packed into the soil. I find germination is much improved. The clover is usually Winter killed. but even if some remains rototilling in the Spring kills it. Clover fixes nitrogen, and feeds the earth worms.

Aunt Molly Ground Cherry ((Physalis pruinosa) Harvesting

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?TLTVG 1 September 2009 Aunt Molly Ground Cherry ((Physalis pruinosa) Harvesting
This fruit drops off the plant under the lush vegetation. Vegetation is propped up with a stake and the fruit is picked off the ground. The fruit has been slow ripening due to cold weather. There is always numerous unripe fruit, when frost ends the season.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?HHVTD Summary 2009: Physalis pruinosa

Harvesting Litchi Tomato

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?DYKRI 1 September 2009 Harvesting Litchi tomato
Litchi Tomato (Solanum sysimbrifolium)
Scissors and gloves were used to pick the Litchi fruit, due to many thorns. The fruit is prone to splitting if heavy rainfall and sun follow each other. There are many blossoms and immature fruit left, and if the season allows an 8 quart basket will be the total harvest. The fruit is pleasant to eat and will be used for snacks raw. One of the two plant in the garden was much superior in growth and fruit production. I grew it as a curiosity.
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?LitchiTm Summary: Litchi Tomato