This week has been quite a week.
Monday- interviews for my class project at the Mission in Partners Food Bank and the Loving Spoonful.
Wednesday-We saw our first Robin, and we had our Lennox & Addington Horticultural Meeting.
Thursday- St. Patricks Day- dinner at home with homemade Potato Pancakes, Irish Stew and buiscuits. Of course Kilkenny and Guiness beer as the refreshments.
For the weather watchers, a pretty fierce thunder and lightning storm came through
Friday-We went and saw “Paul” and saw our first Heron flying , so spring is here.
Saturday- we are on our way to a get together on planning the Community Garden for the Salvation Army Food Bank this year. I certainly hope there is not as much squash as last year, it was monster squash.

When we come back , there will be some solar observing, moving the cold frames, transplanting the onion starts which are not too happy right now, and prepping the soil for tomatoes for next week, and possibly more lettuce (thanks mice). Get some spinach out of the cold frame, which came through the winter and is growing very well.

It is such a beautiful day , though cool, you just want to get out and do some yard work, just to be outside.

Gardening at Starlight Cascade Gardens is for food, seed saving, therapy, and getting to know the land and the vegetables and fruits you grow.

We mainly grow environmentely, and organic food. We do not use pesticides, fungicides,or herbicides. All bug squishing is done with fingers and heels. This also gives you the chance to see the plants up close, and learn what is normal, and what is now.

Heirloom Tomatoes, beans, peas, potatoes, broccoli, dill, cucumbers, egg plants, zuchinni, lettuce, radishes, leeks, onions, carrots and peppers are what is being grown for food and seed saving in 2009. The garlic is getting ready. The potatoes have flowered, and the Blue Victor has produced seed balls. Some of the potatoes had to struggle to grow this year, due to the seed potatoes sprouting to early, and expending all their energy. For three of them, Carola, Warba, Russet, these potatoes will all be kept for seed next year, and better cooler storage for the fall of 2009.

This is the first year we have grown onions, leeks, egg plant, broccoli, which is an Italian variety, and the cabbage moth and worms, love them.

There are a few garlic plants that were harvested last night (July 30, 2009). This year is the first year that the Leek Moth showed up in our garlic in April/May, and right away we were squishing the little worms. the 2008 plantings were in Garden 1, which is located on the North side of the fence line. Good drainage, and most was covered with straw. There were three rows of uncovered garlic that were lost to the winter cold.

Here is a chart of what was harvested July 30, 2009

The Tomato plants have lots of green and flowers some tomatoes, but not as many as last year. We tied them up to late this year, and this may have hampered some of the growth. Lots of rain, not many days of sunshine or heat as well.

The tomatoes where hiding the carrots, though the tops are quite tall. I only had a few seeds of each varieity, the Scarlet Nantes, and Chateney.

I grew an Italian Broccoli this year, not sure if I would grow it again, lots of leaves, hardly any broccoli bits, and they go to flower to quickly. The Cabbage moths love them.

Only two cucumber plants came up and are now in bloom, the others died off. Only one eggplant has grown, so this will be for eating. The three zuchinni plants are finally blooming, and there are small zuchinni’s growing.

There are many new varieties of tomatoes this year. One called Elbe from 2001 seed, is growing nicely. Many little experiments with the types, Eros, the Green Tomato?? unknown, growing for identification. Three plants that are a red tomatoe, apparently early and likes cold weather, growing for identification. One tomato plant from a set of 4 French Tomatoes from France is growing. We have Traveller, Mortage Lifter, Black Krim, Yellow Pear. Our favourites, Black Prince, Pineapple, Brandywine, Golden Yellow, Burgess Stuffing, Orange Russian, and ground cherries that have a husk coat over them.

Again, I planted too much. We ending up getting a few more potato types, Irish Cobbler and Green Mountain and these went in the large dirt pile, we have have Potato Hill. The deers like the Irish cobbler tops, and the potato beetle bug like the all. Including the other potatoes, Morning Glory, Blue Victor, and the Blue Victor potatoes grown by the 2008 seed ball seeds from Kathy Rothermel of Windkeeper Farms, who got them from Robert and Carol Mouck.

Another project, the Japanese radishes have gone to flower and seed, but I took a radish from the market, and planted one out. It grew leaves and went to seed. It has produced seed pods, but they have not dried out yet.

The three types of peas, Alaska, Grey Dwarf (my favourite) and Monk Peas, are drying on the vines now. The lettuce (Honey Crunch, Rouge Hiv’re, Black Seed Simpson, and Artic King have gone to flower. I only had about 6 seeds of the Black Seed Simpson left this year, and they all came up, but I don’t know if the flowers all opened or not. We have had so much rain, and so little warmth and sun this summer.

The garlic bulboul tests are doing well, one as noted above is harvested, there are still three sets not ready yet.

Lots to do, so hopefully tomorrow we can get some more garlic harvested.

Now my question to everyone, when do you pull the potato seed balls and smoosh them out for seed, and when do you lie down the onions to make the bulbs bigger? Do you do this with the leeks as well?

Saturday December 20, a bright sunny day after a blizzard storm on Friday, and Kevin goes to check the greenhouse.  I have had seeds in paper bags drying out, not cleaned yet, waiting in the queue.  Kevin took pictures and snow had come in the north window vents, and landed of course into the bags of heritage seeds.  I saw the pictures and rushed out to get the seeds.

The ones effected where dill, blackeyed susan’s, artic king lettuce, rouge hivre lettuce.  I put these on plates to dry out.  They should be ok, but I will have to watch for mold. All the seeds have been brought into the house to dry out, and to get cleaned. I should have gone out to bring them in sooner….woulda, coulda, shoulda………now time will tell.

Kevin doesn’t like the headline…………but I said it was a disaster for a seed saver

This post has been taken from an older blog program but I wanted to share the world of Heritage Tomatoes

Today, I am making a batch of an old recipe of Tomato jam. Had it when I was a kid on the farm, and loved it, but mine seems really liquidy at the moment, hopefully once the raisins go in, it will solidify. I used Heritage tomatoes, the only ones we grow. Good year for tomatoes, except they are ripening late. Lots of rain, but not enough warm weather.

The picture is from the Tomato Day that was held at Sisters of Providence, Seed Sanctuary on August 23, 2008. There were over 103 different types of Heritage tomatoes cut up for people to taste.

This year we only grew out 15 varieties, but there are a few rogue plants in veg garden 4B.

A project is to extent garden 4a and 4b by another 6 feet x 20 feet and build a strong fence of cedar posts up to 8 ft to keep the deer out. A new entrance way of cedar posts will be built, so next year we can plant the scarlet runner beans that came from Sandi, Kevin’s mom.

Still trying to find out the type of bean this is. So far I have found something similar called a Coco Blue bean. These are from 2006 and from Grandma Lida’s garden (Kevin’s Grandma)
If anyone can tell me for sure. The pod is purple, and the beans a white/cream colour.

Tomorrow we are going to the Garlic Festival in the morning and a wine tour in Prince Edward county, with dinner at the Warring House, a wonderful old stone house with gardens to die for.

The rain is slowly falling today, and the plants are thankful, its been 12 days since no rain…..