Here's To You, Barry Manilow!

No, I didn’t quite make it through the rains. But it’s not the total write off I’d expected.

Just completed a survey of what I have, and what I have to do.

The tomatoes that survived actually are flowering. Hard to believe, as sickly as most of them look. And I’m concerned about whether the plants are strong enough to support the weight of fruit once it appears. Time will tell. I have from 1 to 3 plants each of four varieties. Two of them are in the ground, the other two in 5-gallon pails. Neither the Uncle Mark Bagby’s, nor the Barnes Mtn. Yellow made it, though.

The row of basil has bounced back. The plants were all pale and sickly looking, but not droopy. Now they have returned to their healthy green color. So it looks like there will be pesto this year after all.

The summer squashes are doing ok. I had started them indoors, and transplanted them to 5-gallon pails, planting them three up. My figuring is that a 5-gallon bucket is almost the equivalent of an old fashioned hill, and it seems to be working. All the plants (there are 5 varieties) have at least one set of true leaves.

The hot peppers (also in pails) are acting kind of strange. Foliage is kind of washed out (well, why not, with only about 20 total hours of sunshine since I put them out), yet they are mostly flowering. And some of them have set pods. So we’ll see what happens.

The Sweet Apple peppers, planted in the ground, aren’t fairing as well. They’re pale, sickly looking, and have gone on hold. They’re not dying, that I can see. But not growing, either.

The potato plants look super. Strong, green, and they’ve been flowering. I’m concerned, though, that without their daily dosage of sun they won’t produce tubers. Or if they do, the spuds will be small. Tubers, for those who don’t know it, are a plant’s method of storing excess sunlight. And there’s been no excess. Hardly been any at all.

I transplanted six okra about a week ago. Didn’t have high hopes for them. But five of them seem to be taking hold. The last has bent over and is lying on the ground. But the leaves are still green. Maybe if we get some sun it will perk up?

After despairing of having any beans this year things have taken a turn for the better. I planted Striped Bunch in the ground last week, and right now there are 57 plants that seem to be growing strong. At the same time I planted the Striped Bunch in situ, I started several others in the Parks Bio-Domes. I really like those sponge starters, btw, as they produce good seedlings that, because of the tapered shape of the sponges and their holding compartments, promote roots that grow straight down instead of curling.

Anyway, I started Faulkner’s Cornfield; Leona Dillon; and Kentucky Goose, and got close to 100% germination. Tuesday and yesterday I transplanted them, and they seem to be doing fine. So that will give me four stick beans at any rate. Plus I had given seed for four or five others to a friend of mine. All of them are up and growing, she says, except that the brown seeded Big John I got from Gary Perkins didn’t germinate well. Only one seed has sprouted. Too bad, as this is a very rare variety, even less known than the standard Big John.

Once the alliums are done, I’m planning on putting in two bush varieties: Bailey’s Six Week, and Aunt Rhody.

So, it looks to be a decent bean year after all.

Speaking of alliums, I had to lift the Kettle River Giant garlic yesterday. The leaves were not yellow and dry, yet. But the plants were laying over, and Leo Keene, of Blue Moon Farm (commercial garlic growers) suggested it would be a smart idea to harvest them. BTW, Leo told me that commercial growers like him cannot wait on the dry-leaves cue, and harvest based on the calendar. He already was selling Lorz Italian at the Lexington Farmer’s Market last week, so maybe it’s time I dug one up to see how it’s doing. Same for the other softnecks. Maybe this weekend.

At any rate, I had started the Kettle River Giant from two smallish bulbs Sharon Vadas had sent me. From them I got 19 bulbs, each of which measures from the same size she sent to considerably larger. Up to about 3”. Kettle River is supposed to grow almost as large as Elephant, but is a true garlic. So I have high hopes that it will adapt nicely, and I’ll see the 5” heads in another year or two.

I also lifted the multiplying onions and shallots. The onions did fine. Poppa Gary’s is very prolific, but the bulbs are on the small side. A 2” onion is a monster. Grandpa Achor’s isn’t as prolific, but the bulbs are a decent size, averaging near 3”. At a guess, I’d say the total usable biomass from the two is about the same. And, being as Poppa Gary’s is a Kentucky heirloom, I’ll likely choose that as my main crop in the future.

The shallots, on the other hand, were mostly a disappointment. Too much wet and too little sun, I guess, but they died back early, and bulb sizes were small, to say the least. The Griselle, for instance, had bulbs barely wider than the top shoots. The Drittler’s Nesting Onion did the best, producing nests of small, white shallots from the size of a dime to the size of a nickel. And absolutely delicious. I’ll be growing them again for sure.

Sharon’s Shallots are the only ones weathering the storms. Tops are tall, thick, and deep green. I let a few of them go to flower, as a further check on how this effects bulb size. If they repeat last year’s performance, they should be ready in another three weeks or so. Sharon’s is a very large shallot, growing as big as some onions. Last year they produced on a 4:1 ratio, but they’re supposed to do better than that. Judging from the amount of leaves I have, I think they will.

The leeks seem to be doing fantastically. About as thick as a carpenter’s pencil, they are buried about six inches and the tops are about another 7-8” tall. They’re in a special raised bed, so the rains haven’t disturbed them as much as the rest of the garden. I have very high hopes for all three varieties.

As I'm typing this...I can see the sun!

Brook... Despite the hazards the weather brings, your list still makes me want a vegetable garden. Good Luck!

All in all, it still sounds hopeful and also successful, Brook. And just think of all the info you've garnered from this sloppy-wet year that is going into your gray-matter for future reference.

The sun is finally shining bright on my old Kentucky home. Tis summer and the people here are pretty dam happy about it.

Due to the rain and a recent flood, I’ve pretty much written this gardening year off. I still have a few tomatoes and various alliums in a small plot near my home, but my main garden is a complete loss. The attached photo shows my garden two days after it was under 8ft. of water. This is the second occurrence of flooding in three years, and I’m finally convinced that I need to look for a new location to garden. Like Melody mentioned in another thread, I too am thinking of going to raised beds.

Brook, not to put any pressure on you, but I lost the last seed I had of the Brown seeded Big John Bean in the flood. The lady that gave me the seed no longer grows them, so the one seed that you have germinated may be all that’s left of this variety. (I’ve been unable to locate anyone else that grows them.)
Gary

“The good rain, like a bad preacher, does not know when to leave off.”
Emerson

Gary,

We'll be sure to baby it, then. I would hate to be a contributor to the extinction of a variety. Will keep you informed.

Fortunately, a friend is growing it, who doesn't have the problems I do. So maybe we'll luck out.