Gulf Fritillary

Unfortunately no photo from me for this (the above is from Wikipedia, but was taken in Berkeley), but I spotted a Gulf Fritillary today. Not something I have seen before, and the Bay Area is on the edge of its range.

From Wikipedia:
The Gulf Fritillary is commonly seen in parks and gardens, as well as in open country. Its range extends from Argentina through Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean to the southern United States, as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area on the west coast. It is occasionally found farther north in the US.

Shogoin Turnip

Tried some Shogoin Turnips today, planted seeds in a bucket left over from the Tomatoes topped up with fresh commercial compost. Lets see how they do over the winter. They are supposed to mature in 45 days, which would be mid-december, but I'm not holding my breath. This is going to be a small crop - even at 2-inch spacing, a bucket wont hold much - but it should be a test of how these things grow at this time of year.

Speaking of which, over the past few days, we have dropped down to cooler temperatures again, from the low 80's to the mid 70's during the day, and cold enough at nights to close all the windows and put a jumper on. Its also been getting darker; I'm switching the lights on inside about 6 pm now, summer time.

I notice the first sowing of Fava Beans has had pretty much 100% germination between the Kale plants, and are now about 3 inches high. The Kale itself is about 6 inches with about 6 medium-sized leaves on each plant - nowhere near harvesting yet, but well-established young plants.

I have noticed a plant disappearing here and there, a Kale or a Lettuce, so I reluctantly hauled out the old metaldehyde. I dont like using poisons, but slugs destroy plants - they dont just nibble. My entire sowing of a lettuce mix by the grape vine, about 12 square feet, has nothing now, just some Nigella, a garlic sprout here or there, and one or two adventurous weeds. Like the sowing of Lettuce, Radish and Carrot where the Leeks are now, I suspect that baby slugs just took out one seedling after another. I have no problem growing from seed in pots, but nothing survives at that stage in the ground. You see a few germinating seeds, then POW! Nothing left. So chemicals it is.

The Cos Lettuce continue to do well, so last week I sowed another few in small pots to replace these ones when the are harvested. Finally, I noticed some bumps appearing in the joints of one of the brussels sprouts, so it looks like these are going to start developing over the next few weeks. The plants are still 6 inches to a foot high, depending on the sowing, but there is a noticeable thickening of the stems to about thumb size.

October plantings

The Brussels Sprouts are doing quite well now, actually looking like plants, rather than seedlings or plantlets. It has been now since seeding (mid-July), and the stems are starting to thicken a little and lengthen. The weather is quite good, being not too hot, no too cold (70-80°F), and a little light rain here and there (nothing much, so I have to water, but it has evenly dampened the previously baked soil). I'm quite happy that a decent amount of growth has taken place by now, before the cold weather starts.

The leeks were finally put in about a week ago, and are starting to put on some growth. It's about time, because like last year, they have done almost nothing until now. Its as if they wait for replanting to get going, whether thats from soil (last year) or a pot (like this year). Maybe next year I will try seeding earlier in a bucket. In the picture, you can also see some of the Parris Island Cos; that, along with the Kale and Swiss Chard from the same sowing (early September), has all now been planted out, and is looking established, although still small. The space for the leeks was that ealier used for lettuce/carrots/radishes, none of which really did much more than throw up 2 or 3 seedlings.

The Kale you see here was sown earlier, pricked out into small pots, and has finally been planted out. I have planted some Fava Bean seeds and peas among the Kale, with the idea that these can provide nitrogen to the Kale, and take over in early spring when the Kale has all been harvested. I think the Favas are supposed to have deep roots, so they may not interfere with each other that much. Another experiment.

Winter Tomatoes

I cant say I'm optimistic, but seeing something labelled "Winter Tomatoes" at our local garden center sparked my curiosity enough to buy it. Apparently these varieties (the one I bought is "Siberian") set fruit down to about 40°F - that's a couple of degrees above freezing in Centigrade - but I can only imagine that the taste will be dreadful. Still, they are also bred to fruit rapidly, so maybe they will develop before things get really dark. If they are successful, I should be able to extend the tomato season by a couple of months either side, we shall see.
The main tomato crop is still coming in, but the fruit, taking far longer to ripen, tend to be soft, mushy and not as good as they were. OK for sauce though. I've also dried a massive jar of dried tomatoes by now, probably equivalent to 20 pounds or more of fresh fruit. So if these "winter tomatoes" dont work out, I'll still be OK for winter lycopene.

Brussels Sprouts woes

On the down side, Nature has thrown nearly all it has against the Brussels Sprouts; the first planting has somewhat lacy leaves, and the second planting has also seen some attacks. First it was the birds pecking the leaves (I put up netting), then I see some slug trails (did I wrongly accuse the birds? I think not because I saw them flying up from there and I know they eat the Sunflowers and Zucchini) and finally there are a few Cabbage White butterflies decorating the underside of the leaves with eggs. I put up some birdscarers, bought some new slug poison (Metaldehyde seems to work best, the one poison I will be using apart from peach leaf spray) and have been brushing off the butterfly eggs and killing the parents by splatting them. Three so far. Sometimes they come in pairs, and I only manage to kill one, so I feel a bit guilty as its partner will be lonesome, but goddammit, keep off my veg!
Or Else.
So far, I havent had club root. Touch wood on this one.

The plants seem to be surviving and developing, so hopefully they will get past these trials soon enough. I have more plantings to follow as soon as the ground opens up.

Fall Plantings

Alas, Summer is drawing to a close. While there are still plenty of tomatoes wandering in, its clear that no new ones are forming. Most (but not all) of the Zucchini have been pulled up, and the space has been used to sow some new seeds (see last post). Of that planting, so far the radishes have emerged, and I think a carrot. But its still early days on that. Today I started some Black Kale, Parris Island Kos Lettuce, and a small amount of "Five color Silverbeet" Swiss Chard and Lovage. Of the Lovage, I only need one or two plants, because its quite strong tasting. Its very useful though in soups and stews, with a very strong celery-leaf flavor. The Chard, like the Carrot, Brussels Sprouts and Kale, should hopefully provide meals through the winter. I'm hoping also for Leek (if they ever get bigger) and perhaps Broad (Fava) Beans. Now that I have saved my own Broad Bean seed, I have plenty to experiment with regarding planting times.



The Insuk's Runner Bean, above, is over now, and the only thing keeping me from tearing it all up is that I'm waiting for a few more seeds to ripen for next year. I have fully replenished my stocks at this point, but given the hardship I had this year in starting plants, the more the merrier. I also want to plant them more thickly next year. While I did get about 10 meals, I'd really like a few more. I'm also hoping that the steadily improving soils will help in yields.

I threw three buckets of home-made compost in the hot dry bed (about 5 feet by 3 feet), and its looking quite good. About 5 buckets went into the radish/lettice/carrot planting, and another 2 into the Brussels Sprouts by the door. More will be going into the ground wherever I prepare for a new crop. I know I said I was trying a no-till system, but I do want to get the fertility and texture of the ground up a bit more first. Then it will be top dressing only, I hope. I do notice a major improvement in soil texture this year, so previous compost additions have been working well.

If anyone in the area is reading this blog, feel free to give suggestions for Fall and Winter plantings.

Fall seeding

Above, I'm sundrying some of the August crop of tomatoes. This year, August appears to have been the glut month for tomatoes, and I have been freezing tomato sauce, sundrying, and giving tomatoes away to anyone who dares come near.
Sun drying seems to work here, but its clear from a failed experiment last week that you need to take all the seeds out and get down to a thin shell (otherwise they grow something that looks like either bacteria or yeast - undoubtedly unhealthful.

Above is what I assume to be "Omar's Lebanese", although I didnt label this one. The closest alternative is "Black Krim", but this plant seemed much more like the one "Omar" that was labeled. On average, the fruit are 1 lb each.

Today I cleanout out the Zucchini from the morning shade bed - they hadnt been doing much for a while anyway. In went a few buckets of homemade compost, and despite my desire not to dig, I lightly spaded it in. The soil had a fairly good crumby texture. The compost dug in last year seems to be doing something useful.
Threw some "Tom Thumb" lettuce, "Kuroda" Carrot and "French Breakfast" radish on, a little old potting soil on top, and watered it all in. I'm not expecting much from the carrots, given past experience, but maybe the improved soil and fall planting will make a difference. Time will tell.

Bought a dehydrator today, lets see if its useful.