Interstate Movement
We’ve moved to New Jersey. Maplewood, New Jersey to be exact. Reasons for the move were more economic in nature than lifestyle, the latter being the main reason for our move to Maine in 2002. One of the candidates for Maine governor this year likes to say “Maine’s best days are ahead, not behind.” What she neglects to say is those days are way too far in the future to be seen. Over the 8 years we spent in the state, it became painfully clear that it’s hard to make a living and even harder to get ahead, and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. But we can’t fully quit you Maine. We’ll be back as vacationers and visitors, if not part-time landlords.
I wrapped my season in mid-August: dug out all the potatoes from the bags and beds, gathered 8 green tomatoes, snipped an eggplant, cut 2 bell peppers and 6 serranos, and harvested about 2 lbs. of beans. Our new home was previously occupied by a gardener with serious landscaping abilities, so the karma is definitely intact. Vegetable plots will be scattered around the property out of necessity due to the huge, mature maples and oaks that overshadow our neighborhood. They are beautiful, but they squeeze out the sun from most areas. Looking forward to a longer and warmer gardening season next year.
Garlic Harvest
garlic harvest
Close to a third of the shoots were yellow, so I took that as my cue to uproot the lot. I ended up with 32 heads … and one scape. No scapes all spring and summer, then one all of a sudden? Very odd.
These suckers smell, let me tell ya. Since I’m storing them, I have to dry them somewhere, shoots and all. And it being so hot and humid the last couple of weeks and for the forseeable future, they can’t be in the house. So they’re under some big shady pine trees in the backyard.
1st Bean Harvest
Picked my first pound of Provider bush beans a few days ago. This is the earliest I’ve had them.
Also picked the last round of peas – those are done for the season – and 3 serrano peppers. There are 4 bell peppers on the way as well.
I was behind other gardeners in tomato starting/planting, but my toms are catching up fast with the warm weather. Tripled in size last week and some already have blossoms. Eggplants have some blossoms as well. If I am ever to eat home grown eggplant in Maine, this is surely the year for it.
Peas Have Arrived
A little out of control
We’ve had about 20 pods’ worth so far. But as you can see from the picture, I didn’t really plan well and many of the vines are bent almost in half. I should have had something much taller for them to climb on and more supportive. I don’t know what I was thinking.
Still picking and eating quite a bit of lettuce, kale and herbs. Munching on some broccoli here and there. Potatoes are hilled/filled and all set for the season. Looking forward to some garlic soon. Tomatoes have all been potted and about half of the plants are in large containers – I decided to grow all of them this way and forego the beds. Again, this is due to poor planning on my part. Two full beds are occupied by crops (garlic, asparagus) that hog most of the growing season.
Maxwell’s, our favorite pick-your-own strawberry fields, opened for the season last week. We went Friday and picked about 12 pounds of berries. They are glorious. And you won’t find a better car air freshener.
Harvest Action
We’ve been eating a lot of lettuce, about 7 heads’ worth so far, and pretty much all the spinach from the beds the past 2 weeks. I finally succeeded in actually growing spinach, so the fact that I’ll likely end up harvesting under 16 0z. when all is said and done gives me no grief. It’s the journey, man.
Lettuce and Broccoli
Also cut the first head of broccoli and one stalk that was going to seed today.
Squash (Cost.Romanesco, Zephyr and Z. Elite) went in the ground over the weekend after I removed half a beds’ worth of bolted spinach to make room. No room for the pumpkins and sweet dumpling squash seedlings yet.
Tomato seedlings are up. I’ve got 9 of them potted and another 15 or so in waiting. All are in limbo until I get some more room in the beds. I should have started these earlier and will probably break down and buy some plants at some point. Otherwise, I’m facing the prospect of being without a home grown tomato for another two months. Yikes, I know.
Tom Seedlings
Potted Up
End of May Progress Report
Other than a few pests, things are looking pretty good in the beds.
Asparagus Foliage
Asparagus has foliage and is doing well.
Peas 0526
Peas are reaching for the sky.
Beans 0526
All my bean varieties germinated and were transplanted yesterday.
Potatoes 0526
Taters are doing well. Round 1 is about halfway to the point where I stop piling on the dirt. It took a while for round 1 to put on some growth, about 2.5 weeks. This was much longer than last year. During that time I panicked, thinking I’d started them too early (seed taters should not be planted in soil that’s under 45F and it was getting down there at night) and they were rotting away, so I ordered replacements from Wood Prairie … which arrived just as round 1 started to sprout leaves. Then I did what anyone else would have done, ordered more potato bags and put round 2 in them when the bags got here.
Broccoli 0526
A few heads on the broccoli. I figured out what’s been chomping on the leaves, as well as the kale: cabbageworms.
Cabbageworm on Kale
I picked off 7 or 8 of these over the weekend and squished the daylights out of them. No free lunch here, kids. Tell your friends.
Lastly … we ate our first strawberries of the season! It’s still MAY for goodness sake.
More Seed Starting
For documentation’s sake …
Started 5/12:
Beans: Lima/Fordhook, Green Snap (bush)/Provider, Green Snap (pole)/Fortex
Squash: Zuch/Costata Romanesco, Summer/Zephyr, Baking/Sweet Dumpling, Pumpkin/Small Sugar
Tomatoes: Bloody Butcher, Brandywine, Cherry/BHN-624, Japanese Black Trifele, Pantano Romanesco, Red Pear-Piriform, T.C. Jones, Thessaloniki, Valencia, Wapsipinicon Peach, Wonderlight
Need to Start 5/15 – 5/16: Cukes, Melons, Herbs, Potatoes Round 2. Direct Seed: Carrots, Beets Round 2, Corn
More random spring pictures …
Irises
Quince Bush
Quince Closeup
Asparagus!
Man, we love asparagus. And though we try to eat seasonally, we occasionally break down and pay dearly for the out-of-season, decidedly non-local Peruvian asparagus at the store. This year I decided to interrupt that cycle by growing my own. I ordered and received 24 one year old crowns of Jersey Supreme from Johnny’s a couple of weeks ago, planted them Saturday according to the instructions and …
So far so good. Just about each one has a few spears emerging. They’re in a bed by themselves so they won’t crowd out other things trying to grow once the foliage starts to get going. And I won’t cut any foliage or stalks this year (unless they are finger-width) so that the roots get established. I mention all this to honor our friends Jerry and Lianon, who are currently in Walla Walla, WA helping to harvest this stuff at Jerry’s parents farm. Hope I got all this right, Jer. 🙂
Ode to Bleeding Hearts
A friend said one day
“I hate them. They remind me of old ladies.”
But how on earth can a heart be full of hate
Towards your leafy, graceful lines?
I hope you weren’t listening.
Progress Report
After an unprecedented early start, things are moving along slowly but surely. I’ve been putting the row cover over two of the beds most nights, leaving the garlic and broccoli in the 3rd bed to fend for themselves.
Spinach (about 20), lettuce (8) and kale (5) doing well.
Peas are coming up nicely, about 35 plants so far. I need to get something in the bed for those guys to start climbing on.
Peas
Broccoli is doing OK. I bought 3 plants from the nursery – my 5 seedlings are not doing so well.
Broccoli
The beets are off to the same bad start as last year – something gnawed the lot of them and I’ll probably need to bring in reinforcements. *%$@#!
Bitten-on Beets
And I put 2/3 of my seed potatoes into 2 bags and the remaining 1/3 into the back part of the spinach/lettuce kale bed back on April 22. I’ve got Russian Banana Fingerlings in addition to Prairie Blush this year.
Southern Maine Gardener 