Vegetable Gardening

[Owlie]

I'm so jealous. I have nothing put potted herbs on the windowsill--save the mint, not quite enough to do anything with.

My parents' potted garden (herbs and a pepper plant, mostly) hasn't done well this year at all, as they haven't gotten much in the way of rain this summer.

[OakLeaf]

Now that we've FINALLY had some rain, I'm starting to get a few peppers and lima beans.

If the frost will only hold off...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

my growing season this year was a total bust. None of the tomatoes ripened on the vine, no zucchini, just little nubs that fell off, and carrots never got any bigger than a baby size. I had great luck with beans and snow peas, but they kind of had a boom then busted really quickly. All in all it was quite disappointing this year.

Hmm...sounds like maybe a pollination issue. Poor pollination will produce stunted fruit or small fruit that doesn't grow beyond baby stage, then shrivels.
Are there many bees where you are?

[OakLeaf]

Aren't tomatoes (and peppers) self-pollinating?

With squash, yeah, I'd agree (and they're so easy to hand-pollinate, I'll often do that regardless).

[badger]

Hmm...sounds like maybe a pollination issue. Poor pollination will produce stunted fruit or small fruit that doesn't grow beyond baby stage, then shrivels.
Are there many bees where you are?

yes! my garden actually attracts quite a number of honeybees and bumblebees, even though I'm in a very urban area.

My guess is things didn't thrive this year because while we had clear weather, it was quite cool in temperature. We never got "hot" weather, just "warm". And all my gardening is done in pots where space is an issue and I hadn't had the heart to space out some of the tomatoes and carrots. So I think it's a combination of cool weather and lack of space that produced not-so-stellar harvest. And I lose a lot of sun past mid-August due to hi-rises near me.

I'm thinking of joining a community garden for next year, some of the crops there are so big and beautiful!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hmm, then I can't figure out your problem Badger- sorry.


News in my vegetable gardening life:

This was my first complete year with my new large vegetable garden.
Everything but the tomatoes I grew from directly seeding in the ground, and I had quite a lot of surplus veggies of various kinds all summer. Mostly lettuce, but other stuff as well. Right now I have surplus scallions, kale, lettuce, and some extra cherry tomatoes...but all through the summer I was giving away literally bags full of lettuce, chard, cucumbers, etc.

Well it suddenly dawned on my last month that pretty much all the friends I was giving extra veggies and greens to all summer could afford to buy their own vegetables. A light bulb went off in my head and I realized I probably should be giving this surplus to people who were in trouble. (like, duh) Many people are jobless and are really having a hard time nowadays.

So I found out info about my town's Silent Food Pantry, and I've started bringing bags of fresh lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and kale. The bags disappeared, and I brought more. There was always canned beans and rice, macaroni&cheese mix etc there,...but there seemed a need for more fresh produce.

I saw what a good thing all these dozen or so volunteers in my town were doing, so I decided to volunteer to work at the pantry too, a few hours each month.
So simply because of my vegetable garden, I'm now working a shift at the food pantry once a week and finding the best use for my extra home grown produce. It feels good.

I also found this cool site:
http://www.ampleharvest.org/about.php
It's a national registry where food pantries and home gardeners can find each other. Pantries can list themselves, and vegetable gardeners can go there and punch in their zip code to find out where their nearest needy food pantry is- so that home gardeners have a place to bring their surplus harvest where it will really be appreciated.

If you have extra produce from your garden that you can't preserve or store, or if you know of a local food pantry that should register, please contact the site and help make the connection work.

[mudmucker]

This is my new project. I am making a passive root cellar for my vegetables. Well, all root cellars are passive but this one's in the basement. I don't have enough refrigerator space for some of this and I wanted to do this without electricity. This project is pretty fun and easy.

This link gives more description.

I already have an orchard rack where I can put in potatoes, winter squashes, onions, cabbages...and I will put standing wire shelves next to it. The shelves above will have my canned peaches, applesauce etc and the bottom 2 shelves will have wire baskets lined with jute. These bottom baskets will have carrots and beets in stored in sand.

Next to that, not in pictures yet, I am going to make apple storage. I am keeping the apples seperate because the ethylene gas that they give off will prematurely ripen other vegetables that are near them.

To make this all work and have cold air I am going to install pvc piping coming in from the outside. I will have one pipe that is high to pull warm air out. I'll have another pipe low to pull cold air in. All of that will provide a siphoning of air exchange. I'll also put ball valves in each of the pipes so I can close them down for those less than 32 degree days, and for better regulation.

Next is to line the framing with a vapor barrier. Then I'll be putting in 2 inch rigid foam insulation. Over that I'll put drywall. I will have to make the doors because it's not a standard size.

[badger]

that is awesome, Lisa!! I'm glad that food you grow has brought you closer with your community and its needs.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Thanks Badger.

Mudmucker- that's a very impressive root cellar you are constructing.
How cool is that? (pun intended, lol!)

[mudmucker]

I made a little more progress on my root cellar (see post #442). Haven't had too much time. Basically cut the rigid foam insulation, made the fruit/apple bin, put the vapor barrier on, and cut the drywall for the ceiling. Still a little more to do. See the link for better descriptions. Here's a few photos posted.

I also made 9 quarts of applesauce. I don't peel and cook my apples. I leave the skin to keep good nutrients as much as possible and just put everything in the blender uncooked and whip it up. You don't really distinguish the peels after that and the water bath. I used cider for the liquid in the blender.

[badger]

you guys are making me so jealous!! bountiful crops and root cellars! the apple sauce sounds and looks so yummy!

[GLC1968]

Mudmucker - I love the root cellar! I totally wanted to do something very similiar in one corner of our basement. Our problem is that it's rarely cold enough outside to make it work. Winter lows are typically only around 45F (sometimes it'll drop below freezing if we have a clear night).

I use our basement as it is (unfinished and unheated) and now that we've insulated all the heating ducts, the temps do remain very constant year round. It's only about 60F though - not quite cold enough for most produce. It is perfect wine temp though!

[spokewench]

I love the root cellar! Wish I had a basement!

[badger]

does anyone know what this is? quick search online didn't yield anything worthwhile. I noticed this on a few carrots. It looks like warts, and they just look so nasty!

[mudmucker]

Well, I know this is a vegetable gardening thread ....is mead a vegetable? Chuckle But I am at least using local produce.

Here are some pictures of my latest batch of mead, 2 yrs old, vintage 2008. I took a wine thief to it this morning and wow, this is a nice batch. I stole a glass this evening because I was that excited about it. And whoo boy, alchohol content is nice . I threw a vanilla bean pod in the carboy and a couple of cloves for some subtle undertones. I'll bottle this soon. There is a local apiary in the next town over and I make all my mead with his honey. It might be high time to get some hives in my own yard. I'm going to try some cyser next as I haven't done one yet. Again, I'll use local apples/cider. There is a farm/orchard a mile from my house where I pick all my peaches and apples.

Root cellar continues. I made doors for it last weekend. I'll post more pictures when I have a little more done.