Summer harvest

Hi beebonnet, I will keep you posted about the sweet potatoes. I think I am far enough inland to be a little warmer than you during the summer, so I am not super confident you can grow them, except maybe with a plastic tunnel or a greenhouse. But, if I can get some, then it might be worth a try for you!
I canned some also - a few each of beets, pickled beets, beans, 3 bean salad, carrots. I don't know how carrots will taste canned; tried them for the first time this year. I hope I can get some tomatoes to ripen before the vines are toast. I really want canned tomatoes!
I froze a whole bunch of pesto, too.

summerkid, isn't it fun to eat from your own garden! I've been having fun with that, too. Beets and carrots and zukes and cukes out the yin yang. Dug up a spud the other day, too!

poinget, gardening is great fun! I agree with summerkid that the roof deck is best. See if you can convince your DH to do a little. Maybe plastic containers instead of heavier ones?

Maury, Jack & I are thinking of staying a couple of nightz up around Seattle next month, ideally on some beach we've never visited before. I've found a couple of nice waterfront joints on Bainbridge Island, which would have us driving right by you! So prepare!

Or perhaps you have some strong feelingz on the subject of where we should go. We've stayed in Seattle lots and in some cute coastal town whose name escapes me, we passed through LaConner (?) to reach it & there were tulipz. The end.

Summer, you are welcome to come for a visit here! You can stay the night at my place if you wish, or come during the day for a garden walk-about and go on to your beach relaxation spot for the night...whatever you choose is fine with me. I am happy to have you come by. However, I only have fairly rustic accommodations and not a romantic place by the shore.,... just so you are forewarned. I don't really know of any places to stay on the beach except the keepers quarters at the Pt. Robinson lighthouse (a short way from my house), but this is on the Puget Sound, not the Ocean coast and is not very private as it is located right by a public beach. I'm sure the places you found on Bainbridge Island are better for your final destination.

Let's see: four servings of zucchini (yup, too FEW zukes!), 4 servings of kale, almost 4 servings of snap peas, lettuce - bolted in April, cukes deceased, garlic deceased. Oh, but I have had glorious dozens upon multiple dozens of cherry tomatoes since June. Only 4 dozen made it into the house, and only because I had guests! I'm happy enough.

My veg garden is 6 feet by 30 inches. And about 12 inches deep - waist high container. {:~D Ever hopeful for more garden next year.

I love everybody's pictures; they are all beautiful. And beebonnetSue, your garden doesn't look small to me!

Turtle

Turtle, the cherry tomatoes sound delicious. They're my favorites too. Garlic would have naturally died back by August. Did you try digging down to see if bulbs developed?

Maybe not far enough. I'll go try again :~)
Thanks.

If you didn't get 'em, they'll sprout again soon.

Well cool that.

>> I live in a microclimate where the temp rarely gets into the 80s

Me, too, but I was able to grow 'Sungold' cherry tomatoes and 'Stupic' small red tomatoes (in the ground). I bought plants "too early" and carried them into the house at night for their first few weeks.

My theory is that it's the cool nights that limit us, even more than the seldom-hot days. Can you rig hoops and put plastic over them at night, to start seedlings outside earlier and maybe keep them tasty longer?

My 'Stupice' lost all their flavor after just 1-2 nights that got extra-cool. The 'Sungold' cherries stayed tasty for weeks after that.

Any floor or deck has most strength right near the support beams or around the edges - wherever it rests on supports. Or you could shore up one spot with an extra 4x4 post, then cover that spot with some inexpensive plywood or extra composite decking.

P.S. Whatever is under the pots is unlikely to be as good a heat insulator or heat reservoir to protect the plants during cold nights. So maybe some sheet rock (gypsum board) would help you hold the days heat. Maybe it's just wishful thinking that it would help, and maybe totally unnecessary for some tomato varieties.

Shade plus our cool summers make ripening tomatoes difficult! But if you stick with cherry tomatoes and 'cold climate" varieties, you can succeed.

Here's a list of some tomato varieties said to ripen unusually early, and/or to have unusual cold tolerance.

For example, in the PNW, 'Oregon Spring' can be planted four weeks before the last frost, and needs protection only when there's frost.

ULTRA-EARLY & COLD-TOLERANT:

'Glacier' - ultra-early, cold-tolerant, SEMI-DET
'Stupice' - ultra-early, cold-tolerant, compact DET
'Northern Delight' - ultra-early, "for the Far North", 2' DET
'Beaverlodge' series - ultra-early, compact DET, containers (not sure about cold tolerance)

EXTRA-EARLY & COLD-TOLERANT:

'Manitoba' - extra-early, cold-tolerant, 3'-4' DET, "Canadian for colder climates"
'Matina' - extra-early, INDET, "dependable even in cold/wet summers"
'Sub-Artic Plenty' - extra-early, "Canadian", DET
'Oregon Spring' - extra-early, very cold-tolerant, "plant 4 wks before last frost & protect only when there's frost"


EXTRA-EARLY:

'Early Wonder' - extra-early, 3'-4' SEMI-DET, med red globe
'Siletz' - extra-early, reliable, DET, 4"-5" red
'Ildi' - extra-early, yellow grape pear, 8'-10' INDET
'Gold Nugget' - extra-early, 2-3' DET, bland yellow cherry
'Sungold' F1 - extra-early, 4'-8' INDET, containers, orange cherry


EARLY:

'Yellow Plum' - early, productive even in cold, 4'-6' INDET, yellow cherry
'Bloody Butcher' - early, cool climate, 4'-6'
'Maskabec' - early, 18"-36" DET, 4-6 oz. red globe
'Golden Rave' (hybrid) - early, gold Roma plum6'-8' INDET
'Husky Cherry Red' - early, semi-DET or dwarf INDET
'Sub Artic Cherry' - early, DET, pink, "developed in Alberta for short seasons"
'Early Cascade' - (hybrid but seems pretty true) - early, short-summer, PNW, "reliable: sets fruit in any climate", red-orange

Silvery Fir Tree is another determinate that does well here. And it's really a beautiful plant. I'm trying Jolokia this year but somewhat befuddled by its shortcomings.

Summer, when you make your trip up to Seattle, and are thinking about your visit to Vashon Island, this article might interest you.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/travel/vashon-island-near-seattle-a-rural-throwback.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Here is another one, though a bit outdated has info of interest.

http://seattletimes.com/html/outdoors/2004103885_nwwisland03.html

Here is the official Chamber of Commerce link, which has an up-to-date restaurant list, among other things.

http://vashonchamber.com/


Captain Joe did offer lighthouse tours last weekend, but I don't know if that will be possible when you come. Pt. Robinson beach is still a nice park to visit, even without the tour.

Rick, great list of reliable tomatoes (if there is such a thing for PNW). I have generally had great luck with Matina and Sungold. Juliet is a good sauce tomato, I have found.

This message was edited Sep 19, 2013 3:43 AM

This message was edited Sep 19, 2013 3:54 AM

Thnaks, 'Matina' is high on my list to try soon. Oregon Spring is at the top of that list.

Plus, I want to find a good OP early, cool-tolerant cherry variety like Sungold, maybe a little more acid to complement the sweetness.

Thank you for the encouragement for growing veg. For tomatoes, I bought Black Cherry, Sweetie, and Gold Nugget. They were the ones they had at the nursery. I'm not a fan of cherry tomatoes, but my kids devour them like candy, so they will be eaten with relish here. What a great list, Rick. I will look into those. I already ordered a bunch of onions and I bought two types of garlic, Music and Legacy. However, if I don't buy more garlic, they're all going to end up in my food instead of the soil. That Music smells divine.

Momlady, absolutely on the plastic containers. Rick, on the hoops and plastic, I will look into that, too. Maury, when you say sauce tomato, do you mean that Juliet is less sweet with a deeper, richer flavour?

So much to do!

As I understand it, a sauce tomato has a thicker, denser flesh, with not as much water content or as many seeds as a slicing tomato. They also tend to be smaller in size. Roma tomatoes are some of the more widely sold sauce tomatoes found in a grocery store. They don't necessarily taste better fresh, but they cook down nicely. I find them to be pretty flavorful when home grown... wayyy better off the vine than any hothouse tomato trucked in from who-knows-where. However, the large slicing tomatoes I grow (Black Krim and Moskvich are my favorites) have a richer flavor fresh than either Matina or Juliet.

In the winter, if I am reduced to store-bought tomatoes, I always go for the romas. I guarantee that they will serve you better than any of the other forced beefsteaks on offer.

Summerkid..I absolutely agree with you about the store-bought Romas. They are quite good when stored on the kitchen counter until they are completely ripe. Refrigerate only when they are ripe. So much better tasting then.
I had interesting tomato results this year. They ripened much earlier than usual....that is to say the early and mid ones did. The late ones....Boo Hoo....got late blight and I did not get a single one of my most fav tomato and it had tons of gorgeous greenies. Then the blight, and nothing. I still have to clean up those wasted beautiful tomato plants.
I saved seeds from the early and mid ones though.
I should never try to grow late tomatoes here but I just can't help myself. Sometimes they make it.
Spring always brings new hope and visions of perfection.

So sad about the blight, beebonnet. With all the rain and chilly weather lately, my tomatoes have stopped ripening, so we picked all them, green ones included, and made green tomato salsa.

Yeah, think I'll probably end up doing the same and making mini-green-tomato relish or something.

Condolences beebonnetSue. Losing tomatoes is heartbreaking. Probably part of why I only grow the minis.

So speaking of harvest, what besides garlic ( and trees n shrubs) can I plant now in this region?

Cole cropz, turtle! And greens. There is a decent book called "Gardening West of the Cascades" that you should pick up. And the Territorial Seed company, up in Washington, is a very good source for regional info.

Watch those slugs, though. They are running amuck right now and they love cole crops. Use bait.

Thanks guys. I was hoping those were the answers - I'd already pulled out the seeds for them. And unless slugs start flying I think I'm pretty safe from them. My 15 s.f. garden is up on legs which I've wrapped with 8" of copper deck flashing. I actually haven't had a one in the bed all summer. Lucky me. But I do appreciate the warning and learning!

I'm gonna go look for that book right now, thanks 'kid. I didn't think about Territorial being a place to look for info if I didn't need seeds ... duhh.

:~)

Territorial Tutorials:
http://www.territorialseed.com/category/523

It might not be too late for Bok Choy and Tatsoi:
http://www.territorialseed.com/product/14050

You can also click on an individual seed packet, then scroll all the way down. That usually brings up a page of general advice for that kind of vegetable.

I actually prefer to use the paper catalogs from territorial for that.

Johnnies Selected Seeds paper catalog also has advice for each type of vegetable. Or, online:
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-growers_library.aspx
http://www.johnnyseeds.com

/t-Growers_Library_Vegetables.aspx?source=GrowersLibraryLanding_062013

videos:
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-video.aspx

Wowee, thanks Rick. And I too prefer paper, the info seems to impress itself upon me more.

I'm totally with you, better for reading in the bathtub.

Thanks! I love the "growing suggestions" in each vegetable section of the paper catalogs.

Somewhere I saw a seed vendor that called it "cultural advice". That sounded like taking my lettuce to the opera or ballet.

Do you dress it first?
With Green Godess?
Rofl

Good idea. Probably emeralds would be more appropriate than sapphires for garden greens.

With peridot to the sides.

Funny!

Now that it is Fall I may start a new thread, since this one is getting rather long. But....I am announcing this here anyway:

Apple Pressing at my house on Sunday afternoon. If interested in stopping by for a cup or to help toss apples in the hopper, d-mail me for directions.

Also, there is an open house and sale at a local nursery, Robinwood Nursery, this weekend. They specialize in hardy fuchsias, but have a selection of other things also including quite a few native plants (lots of evergreen huckleberries). They supply to big name nurseries and are only open to the public for a few days in the Fall. It's not like going to the huge nurseries on the mainland that have huge acres of plants and a massive selection, but they prices were good, and their daughter was in my class some 20 years ago or so, so it was fun to see her all grown up!

We had our first frost this week and harvested the last of the ripe tomatoes. We are cooking up some stuffed peppers tonight with the last peppers to be picked. We still have potatoes to finish digging and a little bit of kale out there. Mostly all done now in this neck of the woods. There might be one or two melons still OK if the frost wasn't too bad last night.

Sunny and warm today - got to get out there while I can!

"Cultural advice" sounds like taking my lettuce to the opera or ballet.

>> Probably emeralds would be more appropriate than sapphires for garden greens.

>> With peridot to the sides.

Really? Periodot? I was thinking lots of small, tasteful diamonds. To go with the tasty greens.

I suppose using all three would be best: use the periodot and diamonds like a blanched interior, and emeralds for the dark green outer leaves.

I was trying to decide what opera or ballet would be best to take greens to, but couldn't think of any.

"La finta giardiniera"? (Mozart, "The Pretend Garden-Girl")

"Cardillac"? (Paul Hindemith, an opera about a psychopathic jeweler)

So funny, all of you. If I weren't so exhausted I would try to be clever back.

Thank you for the invitation mhf. It sounds very fun. Hope you got good juice.
:~)