Branching Out's Seeds and Sprouts

[Branching Out]

Currently the plants are about 3" tall, and very sturdy; the stalks look like small tree trunks.

My how Red Riding Hood has progressed since my May 6th post. I recently potted them up in bright red pots, to lessen the chance that I will confuse them with my other tomato plants. They are in a far corner of the garden to limit the risk of cross-pollination.

 

[heirloomgal]

Yesterday I picked up a pristine copy of The Victory Garden cookbook at a thrift store. It is in impeccable condition; I suspect that no one has ever even leafed through its pages. I like the fact that the recipes are organized alphabetically by vegetable and am hoping that this will be a valuable reference cookbook this summer, to motivate us to try new recipes with the produce that we grow. There is even a chapter on 'Greens', so I should be able to find lots of inspiration for collard and mustard greens.

Is the cookbook connected with the show from the 70's?

 

[Branching Out]

Is the cookbook connected with the show from the 70's?

Yes, I believe so-- the same cookbook that someone recommended last December. I took it out of the library once, and I am happy to have my own copy now.

 

[Branching Out]

Every few years there is a massive tent caterpillar invasion at our cabin , and this is one of those years. A couple of weeks ago we removed over 80 nests in the small orchard next door; now the ones that remained have left the nests and are wiggling their way out in the world. They seem to be everywhere. When I was in the yard I went to check my watch, and one was crawling on my wrist. My gardening shoes were left outside and they were all over them. They climb up the side of the house, and up the window screens. Our neighbour even found one in her ear!

This article sites the interesting fact that the white 'dot' on the forehead of some tent caterpillars (as shown in the middle photo here) is the egg of the Tachinid fly, which will eventually parasitize the caterpillar: https://theorcasonian.com/orcas-garden-club-has-a-warning-about-western-tent-caterpillars-this-year/

 

[digitS']

Marian Morash.

My personal feeling was that she benefited from her husband's executive role in the show. However, the orientation was right & proper for a gardening show and an appropriate program segment - yes, indeed.

A good cookbook find and one that I have had out of the library and would grab at a thrift store.

 

[heirloomgal]

Every few years there is a massive tent caterpillar invasion at our cabin , and this is one of those years. A couple of weeks ago we removed over 80 nests in the small orchard next door; now the ones that remained have left the nests and are wiggling their way out in the world. They seem to be everywhere. When I was in the yard I went to check my watch, and one was crawling on my wrist. My gardening shoes were left outside and they were all over them. They climb up the side of the house, and up the window screens. Our neighbour even found one in her ear!

This article sites the interesting fact that the white 'dot' on the forehead of some tent caterpillars (as shown in the middle photo here) is the egg of the Tachinid fly, which will eventually parasitize the caterpillar: https://theorcasonian.com/orcas-garden-club-has-a-warning-about-western-tent-caterpillars-this-year/

We've got those too @Branching Out, though not so severe . They're absolutely icky.

 

[Branching Out]

Yes, it's a full time job squishing them.

 

[Branching Out]

We had tacos for dinner tonight, made with lettuce and ripe tomatoes from the garden. These first tomatoes of the season are dwarf Doukhobors. One plant had fruit with rather tough skins, however these ones were tender and tasty. I had sown the seeds of this variety in mid-January, and grew them on under lights in our basement. The plants have been outdoors day and night for several weeks now, sitting on top of a retaining wall in a 2 gallon container. Doukhobor is an early cold-tolerant dwarf variety, and it does not seem to like extreme heat; one plant almost died after a few days with temperatures of 32C(90F).

And drat-- we ate the whole lot, and I forgot to save seeds. Clearly, I am out of practice. 😊

 

[Branching Out]

Most of the beans seeds that I planted last week are beginning to poke through the soil, including two of my network beans-- Orange Speckled Tepary and Van Gogh's Olive (semi-runner). Yay! Now I just need to keep them alive for the next four months. Lol. No signs of life yet in this one section shown in the photo below though. It is my Rio Zape out-cross from last year, which is in the hottest, driest corner of the back garden. I salvaged the vented sides from my parents' old box fan, and it is making a nice shade tent to help this little bean patch along.

Yesterday I started another dozen bean varieties but I used soil blocks this time. I am not sure how well this will work, but given that we have another brief hot spell in the forecast with temperatures reaching 32C(90F) the blocks will afford me more control over the moisture level for germination. My plan is to keep them in the soil blocks for as little time as possible, likely only a week or so. Then once the seedlings have a good root mass they should be able to survive on the hot, dry western-facing plot that I have earmarked for them.The ones that I am trying in blocks are all small-seeded varieties such as Cocaigne, Comtesse de Chambord, Empress, Flageolet Vert, Flambeau Flageolet, Tezier French fillet-- and the measly 3 or 4 seeds that I managed to salvage from Tendergreen bush snap beans last summer (that one was overlooked in the vegetable garden and didn't get enough water; it barely survived).

 

[Branching Out]

We seem to be in a pattern of hot sunny weather that is a little more than my tomato seedlings can handle, so they are spending their days under cover. The youngest ones are in a white Reemay caterpillar tunnel, and the teenagers are spending their days in a high tunnel. I am quite impressed by the protection offered by these structures. The tomato plants look fresh and hydrated, even at the end of the day. The lettuce fares well in the tunnel, but without it is dehydrated flat as a pancake.

Best of all, many tomato and pepper plants are finding their way to new homes. Today three plants went to a guy who grows limes for his gin and tonics-- but has never grown a tomato plant before!