A great day to pick some potatoes

I'm back from our lovely vacation, and the farm did quite a bit of growing while I was gone.  Mike had to do more serious tomato plant maintenance - the plants are so huge that they're cascading out of their cages, and so he's had to rig reinforcements of rope and extra metal stakes throughout the tomato beds.  He also picked a ton of tomato hornworms (he says 50-75, at least), and so is my forever hero.  The chickens love him for this, too.

Tomato hornworm munching on a green tomato.  Bastard.



Look how big they are!  The tomato plants are officially taller than me!

Tomato hornworm on branch

Today we decided that it was time to harvest the potatoes.  The plants were all on a spectrum from thoroughly dead to trying very hard to be alive but not doing a great job of it, so we thought it was time to pull them and see what we had.  I'm very happy to say that we've had a bountiful harvest.

We thought that one bed was all Yukon Gold potatoes, and the second bed was our mystery bed, but then we uncovered red potatoes in both beds, so who knows? 



Potatoes from the "mystery bed"



Red potatoes on the vine



Potatoes from the "Yukon Gold" bed.  Ooops.

We laid out the potatoes on the ground to let the dirt dry, and then we're going to take them down to the basement to cure.  I hope this is right - that's an awful lot of potatoes and I don't want to ruin them now!

Two of the zucchini plants are doing very well, but the third was brown and very sick looking this morning, so we pulled it, hoping that whatever it had won't spread to the other two plants.  The eggplants had a productive week while I was gone, so it looks like we're having eggplant this week along with potatoes. 

Hansel eggplant 8-21-2011

We still don't have many ripe tomatoes.  Most of the fruit that has turned red had blossom end rot, so the chickens have been enjoying the first tomato harvest.  We did get to have a few small heirloom tomatoes the other night, but sadly, they weren't that great.  Kind of mushy, and not a lot of flavor, so I was disapointed.  We have so many other kinds, though, and so many green tomatoes, that we should have better luck in the next few weeks.

The giant pumpkin plant is living up to its name, and has taken over it's plot in front of the run-in.  The vines are snaking dangerously close to the chickens, which I don't think will end well for the plant.  We have several pumpkins starting to grow, and I think we're supposed to decide soon which pumpkin we want to cultivate, and then cut off the rest.  I've been a bit negligent in my giant pumpkin reading, so I need to double check this before I make any rash pumpkin amputations. 

Giant pumpkin 8-21-2011

Largest giant pumpkin 8-21-2011

The squash plants in the squash field have also been very busy.  The sweet dumpling plants look like the most productive so far, as all three of those plants have set multiple fruits.  My spaghetti squash plant only has two squashes on it, but I hope it's working on sending out more.  And the rouge vif d'etampes pumpkin plants are the fastest growers.  One of the pumpkins looks like a real pumpkin already, although I think the color will deepen once it's mature.

My little Uncle David's Dakota Dessert squash is still trying to be a contender. The poor plant is tiny, and I can't see how it will possibly be able to set fruit at this point, but I appreciate the effort.

Sweet dumpling squash 8-21-2011

Spaghetti squash 8-21-2011

Rouge vif d'etampes pumpkin 8-21-2011

Uncle David's Dakota Dessert Squash 8-21-2011

In our last bit of farm maintenance for the day, we pulled the blossom end rot tomatoes and fed them to the girls, along with a few more hornworms that we found.  We have very, very happy chickens.  Mike also bought them an automatic door to their yard, which I think is a sign of affection.

Tomato hornworms. Ick.

The other day when we were re-staking the tomatoes, Mike and I noticed some brown chunks on the leaves of the plants.  After playing a fun round of "eggs or poop" (a common farming game, I'm sure), I consulted the internet and learned that these were tomato hornworm droppings.  I've been dreading the tomato hornworms all summer, as other more experienced vegetable gardeners frequently bemoan these pests.  After three days of fighting them, I have to agree.  Tomato hornworms are incredibly hard to see, as they are green, blend in thoroughly with a tomato plant, and cling stubbornly to tomato leaves and stems.  They are also supposed to be very destructive and can get up to 4-5 inches long, so I have an incentive to find and destroy them as quickly as possible.  In addition to being well camouflaged, tomato hornworms are unpleasant to handpick.  The big ones are very difficult to pull off, and once you manage to get the worm off the tomato plant, the worm makes this creepy clicking sound.  Clearly, this task required much bravery on my part. 

Today I was able to get about seven of them, and found the one upside to having tomato hornworms.  The chickens absolutely love them.  I gave the worms to the girls, and in a matter of seconds they were gone.


Tomato hornworms (with an extra potato bug)

Chickens munching on tomato hornworms

We are heading off on a family vacation to the Cape tomorrow, so in preparation I harvested a good amount of veggies.  I think this is a particularly good looking selection, with carrots, eggplant, beets, summer squash, and zuccini.  I also grabbed some chard, potatoes and bell peppers, which aren't pictured.

Siamese twin eggplant!

Harvest for the Cape

This vacation means I'll be leaving the farm in Mike's hands for the next week and a half.  He told me that he's praying for rain, which I said is a terrible thing to ask for when your wife is going to the beach (although I do sympathize with him - it's nice not to have to water).  I'm hoping to come back to ripe tomatoes and more eggplant.

My husband is a structural farm miracle worker

While I was having a fantastically productive wedding planning weekend in Connecticut with Anne, Mike managed to fix the failed cucumber trellis, so the vines are once again supported and upright.  He also did some serious magic with twine and rope on the tippy tomato bed, and so our plants are mostly all growing skyward again.

Fixed cucumber trellis 8-7-2011



Tomato disaster!  Before the fix, 8-7-2011



Mike adding a new support post for the tomatoes 8-7-2011

Reinforced tomato bed 8-7-2011

The tomatoes are just beginning to ripen, which is fantastically exciting.  Sadly, both of the fruits below, which are the first to turn orange and red, both have blossom end rot, so they aren't likely to be the first tomatoes that we eat.  Maybe the chickens will be interested, though, and at least it's promising to see some color on the vines.

The other mystery squash plants, which are growing out of my compost, are looking fantastic.  Mike's guess is that they are butternut squash, which would be nice since we didn't grow that variety this year.  We had so many different kinds of squash last year, though, that they really could be anything.

Mystery compost squash

The squash plants in the squash field are looking great, for the most part.  Nearly all of the plants are covered with flowers, and several varieties have begun to set fruit.

Spaghetti squash 8-7-2011

Sweet dumpling 8-7-2011

White pumpkin (or, it could be the rouge vif d'etampes pumpkin - I've lost my labels...) 8-7-2011

I haven't posted about the barn cats in a while, but can confirm that all three are still around.  We've also renamed Oreo and Persephone.  Oreo is now Ricky Bobby Barncat, and he seems to spend all of his time outside.  Mike saw him the other night scavenging onions from Mike's sandwich bag (that "mysteriously" was in the driveway rather than the trash...).  I'd prefer that he eat mice and voles, but at least he's still here.  The ladies don't seem to leave the barn.  Persephone is now Staci, and she's the least timid of the bunch, having figured out that if she doesn't run away when we show up with the food, she gets first dibs.  Pam is still Pam, and lives behind a board up in the barn.  Mike put together a makeshift cat house for them in the barn out of a dog igloo that the previous owners of our house left behind, so I'm hoping they'll cuddle there in the winter to stay warm. 

In comparison with the barn cats, the chickens are downright sociable.  Last night we brought them another cauliflower plant, and had some serious chicken bonding time.  I had to teach Mike how to pick up a chicken, and he ended up having a lovely cuddle with one of the Rhode Island Reds.  The girls know that when I show up at their gate I usually have something yummy for them, and so they swarmed us in the pen.  The aracaunas are definitely the least shy, and one even tried to peck a blade of grass off of my leg (I declined to let her do this).

Me and an aracauna 8-7-2011

Mike cuddling a Rhode Island Red

Rhode Island Reds 8-7-2011

Structural Difficulties

This week we've finally gotten a decent amount of rain, which has been great for the plants growth-wise, but not so good for their ability to remain upright.  Earlier this week Mike had to do emergency tomato support maintenance, as the plants in the tomato/eggplant bed were leaning at 45 degree angles (over the eggplants).  He rigged some twine to help keep them from falling, but they still need a bit of help.  Part of the problem is that I was negligent in my sucker-pinching, so several of these plants have heavy branches that escaped the cages early on.  I think we'll have to set up stakes outside of the cages to keep them up.

Jungle of tomatoes 8-5-2011

When I went out to harvest veggies to bring to Anne and Eric, I discovered that the cucumbers are also experiencing structural difficulties.  The twine at the top of their trellis snapped, so the vines have collapsed.  I'm quite sad about this, as I've spent significant amounts of time training the cucumber plants to use the trellis.  I'll have to ask Mike to see what he can do to fix it this weekend while I'm visiting Anne and Eric.  I'm not sure if it's possible to repair, but finding the cucumbers without the trellis is nearly impossible, so I'm crossing my fingers that Mike can figure something out.

Collapsed cucumber trellis 8-5-2011

I warned Anne that she should not buy any produce this week, and I hope that she listened, because I'm heading down to Connecticut today with two bags of chard, a red cabbage, two green peppers, the (first!) purple pepper, carrots, beets, snap peas, and green beans.  Also, I'm bringing an ample amount of catnip for Tut and their new addition, Frodo. 

Anne's loot 8-5-2011

First purple pepper!

As I was washing the produce, and admiring how nice and straight the carrots are, I realized that the dogs were silent.  As any parent of children or young dogs knows, silence is often a warning that something very bad is going on.  Sure enough, when I went into the living room I found Bullet and Lily busily shredding, and eating, Anne's cabbage.

Red cabbage, post-Lily and Bullet

Because I love Anne, I gave the pre-chewed cabbage to the chickens (they appear to think it's a soccer ball), and went out and harvested a new one for her.  I guess counter surfing is something we're going to have to work on with Bullet....

Moving on, the flower bed is looking wonderful, finally.  The cosmos that I started from seed started to bloom today, and the zinnias look gorgeous.  I love having flowers mixed in with the vegetables, and will definitely be doing a similar layout again in next year's garden.  I'll probably mix the flowers into the vegetable beds rather than having a bed entirely devoted to flowers, though.

Zinnias and cosmos 8-5-2011

Yesterday I did my planting for the fall garden.  I planted the rest of the carrots, beets, and scallions.  I was thinking about doing a fall planting of snap peas, but need to put up a trellis first.  If we get to that in the next week (which I think may be unlikely given the tomato/cucumber situation), then I'll plant more snap peas, but otherwise I think I'll leave it alone.

Mystery squash

I have many garden updates, but the most puzzling is about a discovery I made this morning while I was out saying hello to the chickens.  In the run-in, underneath/intertwined with the chicken wire that failed to protect more-dead giant pumpkin from its untimely demise, is a squash plant - a pretty healthy looking one, at that.  Is this the return of more dead giant pumpkin?  Or a holdover from the squash crop that our neighbor planted in roughly the same area last year?  I have no idea, but many questions.  Also, how did I not notice this plant until today?  It's fairly sizeable.

I suppose I'll find out what it is eventually if it bears fruit, and it is awfully exciting for me to have a bonus squash plant, regardless of what kind it turns out to be.

Last night, we harvested our first lemon cucumber.  Bullet was very excited about it - maybe he thinks it's a tennis ball?  Sadly for Bullet, Mike and I ate it ourselves, and it was a delicious cucumber, with no bitterness.

The eggplants are also beginning to produce more, and I was able to pick four different kinds last night.  I think the mix is lovely, and I sent my mom home with all but the apple green eggplant. 

From top left:  Calliope, apple green, swallow (purple), and gretel (white)

I used the apple green eggplant for our dinner, and pan fried slices of the eggplant with green beans.  I made my own pizza dough (you wouldn't believe the time you have for cooking when you're 75% unemployed), and topped it with pizza sauce, cooked lentils, soy sausage, and the veggies.  So delicious!

Mike helped me mulch several of the beds last night, which I'm hoping will keep moisture in, weeds out, and potentially confuse the bugs away from my plants (I'm skeptical of this last hope, but a book I read said that it's a possibility).  We mulched the tomatoes, leeks, eggplant, and potatoes.  The rest of the beds looked like they didn't need it, to my expert eye, so we left them alone.  We also mulched the squash field, and discovered that our little Uncle David's Dakota Winter Squash, a plant that has been severely damaged by cucumber beetles, is still trying to hang on.  At this point, I can't see how it will have time to bear fruit, but I do appreciate its determination.

Mulched squash field 8-1-2011

Uncle David's Dakota

Peppers and tomatoes 8-1-2011

eggplant and leeks 8-1-2011

The lima bean plants have begun to set pods, and the purple bell peppers are beginning to turn purple.  Even better, for some reason they grow upside down, so the bottom of the pepper is facing the sky.

Lima beans 8-1-2011

Purple bell pepper 8-1-2011

Lastly, no post is complete without a chicken picture for Taperman, so here they are as I found them this morning.  The girls love to hang out in the shade of the crab apple tree in their yard when it's hot.  As usual, the bravest aracauna is coming right up to the fence to say hello to me.  I rewarded her and the rest of the girls with a broccoli plant.