Cool Season Crops Wrap Up

Posted on March 20, 2013 by lars1273

Spring is here in San Diego and it’s time for me to write the wrap up about my first time growing cool season crops. The picture was taken in mid January. The garden was full of nice green healthy plants. The weather was still pretty ‘cold’ in January (I know, I’m a sissy from MN who can’t tolerate cold weather anymore). The chard did really well as you can see, and the broccoli was very productive.

In early January, I received the Gardener of the Month sign. Grant had come down and asked if we ever had the sign in our garden, and two days later it was. There weren’t too many people with gardens full of cool season crops but I still felt good getting the award. When the sign was moved 2 weeks ago, it looked like a gopher hole and I was looking for a tunnel and realized it was from the sign.

Here is the right half of my garden in the middle of February. You can see that the lettuce is doing great. I pick it every other day and can eat a salad a day with it. The chard is huge, and you can see a brussel sprout plant with monster leaves behind the white planter box. This plant grew big, but the brussel sprouts didn’t stay compact, they were ‘open’. We ended up taking this plant out since we weren’t getting any sprouts. Below is a picture of the one plant that gave us good sprouts.

Here is a shot of the left half of the garden. The picture above is of the plant in the lower left corner of this picture. This plant gave us 30 or so brussel sprouts before the aphids took over. We just ripped it out 2 weeks ago. You can see the artichoke plant is growing out of control. After clearing out some of the lower leaves, I realized there are 3 plants growing there…and now it is starting to fruit. The broccoli is also doing well. It is continuing to give us side shoots. We eat broccoli at least twice a week and it tastes delicious picked fresh out of the garden. I’ll post pictures below.

Here is a picture of our romanesco broccoli growing. This tasted great! We used this recipe to cook it. I will definitely be growing this again next fall.

Next season I will not be growing cauliflower. It only puts out the single head, attracts aphids and other bugs, and frankly, I don’t really care for it. I need to remember that if I don’t like it, no need to grow it, especially if it brings bad bugs to the garden.

I’m still having issues with gophers… They are attacking my onions now, and have taken out more lettuce and swiss chard. No matter how many I trap, there’s always more.The photos below are of a onion that just has the leaves above, and two dead gophers.

I should mention that I bought an egg timer to help make hard boiled eggs out of the eggs we get from the garden. I bought this on amazon to make it easy to know when they’re done. If you eat a lot of hard boiled eggs, you should get this:

Four Weeks Later – My Plot at the Ocean Beach Community Garden

Posted on February 11, 2013 by lars1273

These pictures are fours weeks after the last post, so around November 1st. You can see that the flowers at the end are dieing, but everything else looks great. Going around the picture clockwise from the flowers, there is cauliflower, lettuces along the border, and a kale plant in the corner. In the bottom left are carrots, above that near the path is the swiss chard, and to the left are some beets.

The broccoli, peas and brussel sprout grew quite a bit. The peas look good but they will soon die out… Once the broccoli grew larger, I was unable to get my big body to the fence to help them up the fence. I also lost two of the broccoli’s to gophers. Gophers will be the next blog topic since they have done nothing but cause trouble in the garden…

The carrots and beets that we inherited with the garden ended up getting pretty big. We only harvested a few carrots and one beet because of the gophers. The one food my dad doesn’t eat is beets so I was curious to try them. I also wanted to save him a few since he was coming to visit over thanksgiving. The chard that is planted next to them also fell victim to the gophers.

Here is a close up of the swiss chard and a few beets. I did take a few of the beet leaves and add them to my salads. I was hesitant at first, but they actually tasted really good. I’ve heard that about other brassica family plants but am too afraid to try them. I’ll get some when I get back from mexico and give them a try.

Here is the one beet we harvested and some romaine leaves that we pulled from a couple of our plants. Greens are pretty easy to grow and I tend to not eat the salad out of the bags very fast and end up throwing it out. The lettuce out of the garden is nice and fresh, tastes great and lasts longer in the fridge. I’ve been able to pick enough to have a large salad every other day.

I have one last picture of a radish we pulled. We tried growing them at the house in a planted box, but they weren’t doing well. I moved the planter box to the garden and will try growing them there.

Introduction to my new plot at the Ocean Beach Community Garden

Posted on February 5, 2013 by lars1273

About a year ago, I moved one block from the Ocean Beach Community Garden. I called to see if there were any open plots but there were none. I was put on the waiting list and finally received a plot in late September.

This is the entrance to the garden. It has a nice archway to go through before getting to the locked gate. There are 51 plots in the garden, but 2 are used for chickens and ducks. I have received plenty of chicken eggs and 2 duck eggs from the garden. The eggs are tastier than store bought eggs. I used the duck eggs to make some Christmas cookies and they were uber tasty. To get to my garden plot, you go through the gate and make your first left and walk past two gardens and it’ll be on the right. Most of the plots are 10 feet by 20 feet depending on where the plot is located.

The picture to the right is the plot that I have. This picture was taken a few days after I started to weed out the plot. The plot was completely covered with weeds, along with those flowers, some carrots and beets, and an artichoke plant. My plot receives full sun and I can’t wait to grow summer crops! The garden has a bunch of garbage cans for green waste. I think I loaded three of them after all the weeding.

Speaking of weeding, here’s a picture of me digging into the ground to loosen them up before pulling them out. It’s been a while since my last post, but you can tell I haven’t upgraded my wardrode…still rocking the sleeveless Corona shirt. We had some really nice weather out here in San Diego last fall which really made it easy to get out there and churn through the plot.

So after weeding was completed, it was time to plant. There is a fence that wraps around one end of my garden. I decided to plant peas along the fence so that they can climb up it. The plant on the far right is an artichoke. The previous owner had dug out the artichoke and left it in a garbage can. I pulled it out and replanted it since I had never grown one before.

This is across from the other peas. You can see the rest of the fence and more peas next to it. I decided to plant broccoli in this corner and a brussel sprout plant is on the far left. It’s fun seeing these pictures now because these plants are monsters now. I have been eating broccoli pretty much every day for the past two weeks.

I planted 2 purple and 2 yellow cauliflowers, some romaine, and a dinosaur kale plant. I didn’t know there were different colors of cauliflower until I found these at the nursery. Kale was an experiment and it turns out that it is super healthy for you and doesn’t taste bad like I imagined. You should check out this recipe if you like kale.

Here’s a picture of some of the beets and carrots that were in the plot when I took it over. My dad hates beets so I’ve never eaten one. As you’ll learn, we ended up having gopher problems and were unable to eat any of the beets. We got a couple carrots, but the gophers got the rest… There is also some swiss chard growing here too. The gophers will eventually eat 5 of the 6 plants…

In this corner of the garden, I planted a bunch of ever bearing strawberries. They taste great straight from the garden. Eventually I ripped up the flowers when they were dieing and planted 6 more strawberry plants. I have been pulling the flowers since I have planted them in order for them to grow a nice root system to supply me with bigger/more berries this summer.

In the corner opposite of the strawberries, I planted some herbs. I planted sage and lavender next to each other. We used some of the sage this past thanksgiving. I was told that sage and oregano are good things to plant to bring in the beneficial organisms. The lavender flowers are now blooming and I need to learn how to use it. I have seen a lot of drinks that had lavender in it so I’m interested in harvesting it. After ripping out the flowers, I additionally planted oregano and some dill in this herb corner. I would like to use the dill this summer when we are making pickles.

So that was all of the planting I did after weeding. The picture on the right is the garden after planting. I must have been shaking when I took the pic because it’s pretty blurry. Ill post a few more pictures below for you guys to check out. One is of the chickens and the one turkey, another of me bending over and weeding, and lastly a close up of the artichoke. I can’t wait to post the most recent pictures of it…it’s taking over the plot!

Price increase for salads?

Posted on February 4, 2013 by lars1273

I was reading msn.com today and saw this article about an increase in price for vegetables and salad because of the cold weather that California had in January. Click here to read it.

I am glad I am growing my own lettuce, kale, chard, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and artichokes.

Zucchinis Gone Wild

Posted on August 6, 2012 by dowd0019

These photos were all taken back on July 19, when I did my second real harvest. am still playing catchup with my posts, and unfortunately my garden isn’t looking as pretty today as it was a couple weeks ago when I took the below pictures. The real story here is my zucchinis. Check out how these guys totally took over the expanded patch. They came, saw and conquered the already growing eggplants and onions.

I hope the onions still turn out. But the huge submarines we’ve been pulling off zucchini plant have made it worth it. I really wanted to try this squash blossom recipe too, but all the flowers started flowering before I got around to picking them.

Zucchini 1 Zucchini 2

The tomatoes were still doing pretty well and producing at this point. Here’s the second haul that we got that day. We got these just in time in time to take up to Big Bear. The awesome bruchetta we made is shown in the pictures in the Big Bear post, and the recipe will be available soon too.

Last and most certainly least is my struggling fruit/lettuce plot back by the fence. You can see the little lettuces trying to come up in the background, bless their hearts. Keep fighting the good fight guys. Poppa needs his greens. All the berries in the front are pretty much on their last legs.

I have to do some reading to figure out what went wrong here. I know Paul suggested that I need another blueberry plant because you have to have two to get them to cross-polinate. But I don’t know what happened to the strawberries. I am just hoping the raspberries over on the right hold on and by next year grow into an actual producing plant. Wish me luck.

Stay tuned for my next updates with an awesome bruchetta recipe and finally the building of my trellis.

Koom’s Planter Box Update 7/26/12

Posted on July 26, 2012 by briankooman

Sorry these picture are not the best. However the planter box is doing well. All pepper plants have flowers on them. My mint in the middle is growing fast. I think some Moscow Mules are in order this weekend!!

Lettuce is doing great as well. The pepper plants are taking up most of the sunlight from the window. I think in a couple of weeks I will have nothing but the peppers and mint.

All for now. I’ll let everyone know how the drinks turned out.

Back From Camping

Posted on June 17, 2012 by briankooman

I went camping this past Tuesday and Wednesday at Tettegouche state park on the north shore.

When I left my pot of lettuce was doing great!

However when I got back home from the trip this is what I have left after an army of green bugs ate my leafs.

This is the second time this has happened to me this grow season. Does anybody have any ideas about what to do?

Update On Koom’s patio Garden

Posted on June 11, 2012 by briankooman

Going for back to back post. Got a call from Paul yesterday so here we go.

All of my plants are growing well in the pots. I fertilize once a week. Here are some pictures.

My Basil is growing well and smells great. Unfortunately I had four plants going but two died.

Small pot of mixed lettuces. This is the second time I tried growing lettuce this season. The first batch was eaten my small green grubs!!

My pepper plants are in the background. There are tons of budding flowers. Hopefully we will get some peppers. I got the seedlings from a friend from work, so I do not remember what types they are. In front of the peppers are multiple plants of swiss chard.

The tomato plants are growing in a hurry. Lots of small flowers starting to bud.

My hop plant is really taking off!! Starting to train it to go left up the string. Its hard to see but there are two more strains starting to grow on the right. Below is a picture of the whole garden. That’s all for know. Off to go camping on the North Shore with the kid and wife.

Kooms Garden – Introduction to my Patio Garden in MN

Posted on June 11, 2012 by briankooman

My name is Brian and I live in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis. I have a small patio that I have been growing a few plants on since I moved into this condo two years ago. I am a chef at Muffuletta in the Park in St Paul MN. My co worker and I have saved some heirloom tomato seeds and sprouted over 200 this year. I gave six seedlings to another Agridude, Sam, for his work garden. I also have two on my patio, along with hops, basil, thyme, and some lettuces and spinach. I haven’t grown hops before but I do brew my own beer so I am hoping to get some off of this plant so that I can use it in my beer. I am trying to start a micro brewing company called Brown Bottle Brewery. I will be blogging this season to show what I am able to grow.

These pictures are from May 12th. Paul was in town and we had a perfect early summer day to hang out and catch some rays while having some brews. We invited some of our friends and Paul’s family over to hang out too. Here are some pics:

The two pots closest to you are my tomatoes. I am growing two heirloom tomatoes that we sprouted from the restaurant. I can’t remenber what types they are, but I know they will be small cherry like tomatoes

I made the trellis by myself to grow the hops on. I bought the root from my local home brewing store and I was told to only let two sprout. One of them did not make it so next year I’ll try something different. These are supposed to grow 2 feet per week so I should have some great updated photos for you guys in a few weeks.

Here are some other planters that I planted lettuce, spinach, basil, thyme and two peppers. I started these from seed as well. My wife won a small green house at a work event raffle. I am looking forward to having these at my disposal for cooking at home and work.

Here is a picture of Paul’s cousin Andy and our other friend Wyman playing bags/cornhole in the side of my yard.

Paul’s Potted Patio Garden

Posted on June 6, 2012 by lars1273

I live in an apartment that has a 7×10 deck on it. I have been growing romaine, thyme, basil, sage, blue berries, and one patio tomato on it since I moved in. Here is a picture when I just started it. My goal for the patio garden is to produce enough lettuce and spinach so that I don’t have to buy bags of salad at the grocery store. I am planning on building some planter boxes and filling it up with lettuce soon.

I get limited sun due to a large dead tree blocking the sun, and also because my apartment building is behind a large hill. This should be ideal for growing lettuces. I received a bunch of free seeds from Heirloom Seeds when I ordered a bunch of tomato seeds from them. I can’t wait to plant them.

Here are pictures of the other stuff that I have growing on the deck. I did not take pictures of the blueberries, but I will get those up soon. I have not had good luck with getting them to produce any fruit. I learned recently that it’s hard to grow them this close to the coast. I need to find someone inland to grow them for me…

Parsley Grown from Seed

Sage and Rosemary

Chives Romain Basil

Thyme Romaine

Patio Tomato Plant

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