Mid May Garden Update

Things grow so quickly at this time of year with warmer temperatures and longer days that I could almost do an update every week. I just can't find the time to do that though and barely find the time to do just the highlights as I'm doing with this tour.

First an overview from up on the hillside. The favas in Bed No. 1 are tall enough now that they almost obscure the view of Bed No. 4. which is still covered with cardboard and awaiting final preparation for tomato and pepper planting.

In Bed No. 2 what stands out is the blooming-their-hearts-out Pink Lettucy mustard on the right and the reaching-for-the-sky Syrian Medieval chard on the left. Across the way there's a couple of green patches which are the potato plantings which seem to grow as you watch them.

The favas are really happy this year. It seems that they are more than happy to go into soil that has not been amended. I pulled out most of the tomato plants that occupied the space in early January and about a week after that I set out the fava seedlings that I had started in paper pots. I didn't add anything to soil and didn't even pull the tomato plants but just cut the vines off at soil level. I was not sure how the favas would do with a start in pots because they have a very strong tap root, but I made sure the beans didn't spend much time in the pots after they germinated. The best thing about starting the beans in the paper pots is that it significantly sped up the germination from a least 3 weeks in cold soil to about a week in the pots.

Fava Alley

The fava plants look very erect in the photo above but they actually needed a bit of restraining because they were leaning over the pathway and making it difficult to get through. I set a number of tall stakes along the length of the outer edge of the bed and used strips cut from old cotton t-shirts to hold them back out of the path. I still remember the days when I would plant an entire bed with favas and then let them flop every which way which meant that I literally had to wade in amongst the flopped over plants to find and harvest the beans. This method is much better!

Elsewhere in Bed No. 1 the Piccolo Dattero tomato plants that survived the winter and a big trim a few weeks ago are starting to fill out and are blooming. First tomatoes in June this year?

Piccolo Dattero From 2017

Aji Angelo is the most robust of the overwintered pepper plants.

Aji Angelo Returns!

But it's Craig's Grande Jalapeño that has the first flower buds.

Craig's Grande Jalapeño Bud

Aphids are being kept in check by parasitic wasps.

Aphid Mummy on Pepper Leaf

I think the Golden Sweet snow peas are hitting the peak of their production. The upper parts of the vines are loaded with peas and looking great.

Golden Sweet Snow Peas

Look lower though and the vines are getting to be a powdery mildew mess. So far I'm quite happy with my experiment with having the favas and peas share the trellis, each to their own side.

Here side by side are the Royal snow pea and Little Crunch snap pea vines. What a difference. The snap peas are looking snowy white with powdery mildew and the snow peas are vibrant green and healthy. I'll be pulling out the snap peas soon and plan to replant with some bush beans.

The garbanzos (chickpeas) are blooming. I'm hoping that the plants will dry down in time for me to plant some bush beans or perhaps more of the Royal snow peas for fall harvests.

Pico Pardal Garbanzo Blossom

I have been giving the I'itoi onions more water and also gave them a mulch of the coarse stuff left after sifting some shredded oak based compost. Most of the pots have responded positively.

I'Itoi Onions

The onions in this pot aren't so happy. Perhaps they are not healthy.

The highlights in Bed No. 2 include the bolting Syrian Medieval chard. Seeds please!

Syrian Medieval Chard Bolting

New Tennis Ball lettuce happily growing. They don't mind the foggy nights and mornings typical of May Gray days.

Tennis Ball Lettuce

Queen of Crunch lettuces are also looking good. I've harvested all of the interplanted extras as babies and now it's time to start harvesting the full sized heads.

Queen of Crunch Lettuce

Pai Tsai Napa cabbage is a non-heading type. It's growing incredibly quickly and I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't ready for harvesting in a week to ten days.

Pai Tsai Napa Cabbage

Purple Pac choi is ready for harvesting.

Purple Pac Choi

This was the broccoli plant that I showed on the previous tour that was just a rodent gnawed stump. Rodents allowing, it may yet produce a small head. I chose not to publish the photo that I took of a rat that was caught in a nearby snap trap and which was in turn snacked upon by something else in the few hours that passed before I found it. It was a gruesome sight and reaffirmed to me that there's an overpopulation of hungry critters out and about. It seems like everybody in the neighborhood has their own tales of rodent woe. One neighbor had $8,000 of repair work done on his car because of rodents. And my Dave discovered that he's been chauffeuring rodents in his car. One of my morning routines lately has been to check the traps in the garden, the traps under the house, the traps in the garage...

Batavia Broccoli

Back on April 25 the potatoes were mere tufts of green starting to poke some green leaves up through the soil in the potholes that I had planted them in. Look at them now. And under the Agribon fabric attached to the trellis beyond there were newly planted out Tromba D'Albenga vines sitting under water bottle cloches.

They are too big for cloches now and are ready to start clambering up the trellis. I had them covered with the fabric to keep the birds and the you-know-whats from nibbling devouring the tender young plants.

Tromba D'Albenga Squash Vines

Yay! There's basil in the garden. Summer must be nigh.

L to R - Corsican, Italian Mountain, Persian, Profumo di Genova Basils

That's the latest. Thanks for stopping by and taking the tour.