The Garden on February 25, 2019

It's March already so it's past time for the February garden tour. I got out into the garden on what has of late been a rare event, a sunny (mostly) day. The latest Atmospheric River to pass through barely grazed us, we got mostly wind and very little rain, and I'm not complaining. But our turn is coming because there's another AR headed our way and this one is taking aim at Big Sur.

Anyway, on with the tour. Be forewarned, this is a long and detailed report.

Beds No. 1 and No. 4

First a view from the hillside above the garden. It's so wonderful to see green again!

Beds No. 2 and No. 3

And the wildflowers are starting to bloom.

Shooting Stars

Bed No. 1

I finally got around to clearing out the old pepper plants that were left over from 2017. In their place I've set out some fennel and cabbage seedlings.

Bed No. 1

Orion Fennel

I started the fennel in paper pots which is so much more reliable than trying to sow fennel directly into the garden. For the cabbage I sow multiple seeds into a 3.5-inch pot and then prick out the seedlings and put what I want into the garden and put the rest of the seedlings into individual 3.5-inch pots as backups.

Filderkraut Cabbage

In the cage further down the bed there's now an empty space where the Amsterdam Prickly Seeded spinach used to be. I've started some Yellow Heart Winter Choy to go into that spot when it gets to be large enough. In the meantime there's some bolting cilantro taking up space.

Next is the patch of daikon radishes that I've been harvesting from all winter.

Mini Purple and Bora King Daikon Radishes

Carrots that were sown back in October are growing slowly. I think that October is not the optimal time to sow carrots, September would probably be better and August even more so. It will be interesting to see if these will get to be a decent size before they bolt this spring.

Short Stuff Carrots

And then there's one lone Pixie cabbage. I sowed 6 seeds indoors but only 1 survived to make it into the garden and it's a bit iffy.

Pixie Cabbage

I had better luck with the napa cabbage.

Little Jade Napa Cabbage

Little Jade Napa Cabbage

The first sweet pea bloomed. It doesn't seem all that fragrant but I'll reserve judgement until more of them bloom.

Sweet Pea

The I'itoi onions are looking a bit sallow which I'm guessing is because it has been so cold.

I'itoi Onions

I'itoi onions don't usually bloom but there's a few flower heads appearing.

I'itoi Onion Flower Bud

I started some beets in paper pots indoors a while ago and got them into the garden. They don't seem to be all that happy with the cold wet weather either.

Red Baron and Badger Flame Beets

I figured that this would happen, the latest sowing of Speedy arugula is rather stunted. This always happens when I try to sow it in the middle of winter, even when we have mild weather. Some day I'll learn to just wait.

Speedy Arugula

I've never grown onions like the Yellow Potato bunching onions so I have no idea if they are doing well or just ok or should be better. They're alive, so I'm happy about that. And I don't see signs of downy mildew. Yet...

Yellow Potato Onions

Saffron should go dormant in the summer so I'm assuming that it's doing ok too.

Saffron

Bed No. 2

A mix of mostly overwintered veggies and some attempts at some new stuff.

Bed No. 2

There's a couple of harvests of Brussels Sprouts left on the plants which seem to holding well in the garden.

Gustus Brussels Sprouts

The top knot on the one plant that nearly got spoiled by aphids has recovered after I treated it with Pyganic and Neemix.

Brussels Sprouts Top Knot

The Kalette plants are looking a bit like palm trees now.

Kalettes

I'm still waiting for the final variety to make some decent sized sprouts. Next year I plan on getting the kalettes and Brussels sprouts into the garden in June instead of July so that I might have a chance of harvesting them earlier.

Snowdrop Kalettes

Weeds?

The parsnip patch is looking more like a weed patch now. The tops have mostly died and all that remains are some small tufts of leaves. There's roots down there but I think that most of them are pretty small. But they should be tasty after all the cold weather that we've had. There's been a lot of nights with temperatures in the low 30ºF's.

Not. Disappearing Parsnips

The last 2 celery roots are holding well in the garden.

Prinz Celeriac

Red Butter Romaine seedlings took the place of some old red beets. The lettuce isn't very happy about the cold weather and is just sitting there.

Red Butter Romaine Lettuce
Badger Flame Beets

Red Iceberg lettuce seedlings aren't any happier.

Red Iceberg Lettuce

Usually fast growing pac choi is also pouting. The last Rutabagas are holding well and there's a volunteer Syrian Medieval chard that's doing just fine (at least one seed escaped the rodent gullets!).

Improved Helenor Rutabagas
Baby Shanghai Pac Choi

I think that this patch of Orion fennel wants a rest, it has slowed down and some of the foliage is yellowing. I can' complain though, I lost count of how many bulbs I've harvested from this little patch.

Orion Fennel

 The chard that I sowed last fall never did thrive.

Peppermint Stick and Italian Silver Rib Chard

And it wasn't helped by being pounded with hail on more than one occasion of late.

Hail Scarred Chard

The celery seems to just shrug off the cold and wet and keeps producing. It's almost time now to sow it again.

Pink Plume Celery

Pink Plume Celery

I've resorted to covering up areas where I want to plant new seedlings because the soil is so soggy from all the rain.

Keeping Dry

Am I tempting fate here? This is where I tried to grow various brassicas last winter and they were some of the first victims of the ravenous rodents. Now I'm trying a couple of Tronchuda Beira plants again, hopefully with adequate protection. I won't know unless I try and I'm keeping my expectations rather low.

Rodent Defences

Tronchuda Beira

Bed No. 3
I finally got all the old dead stuff removed and the third of the bed in the foreground has been sown with a mustard cover crop.

Bed No. 3

I left the clump of Orion Fennel from 2017 because it is still producing a number of bulbs. That's all coming from one plant!

Orion Fennel From 2017

This patch of volunteer Golden Corn Salad has a few weeks to go or until the cardoon seedlings that I've started are ready to take their place.

Golden Corn Salad

Here's my one sort of success at an attempt to have winter flowers. They are just starting to send up flower stalks.

Bachelor Buttons

The artichoke was severely infested with ants and aphids but an application of Pyganic and Neemix has knocked them back for now. The plant is much happier in the garden bed than it ever was in a pot.

Artichoke

The rest of Bed No. 3 is empty at the moment but I plan on trying to grow some flowers in there and perhaps some flax seed (dual purpose, flowers and edible seeds).

And finally Bed No. 4

There's a pile of old cut down pepper plants at one end. Those are awaiting the day when I drag out the chipper-shredder so that I can get them into the compost bin. I need to get on that task because it's about time to start some chickpeas to go into that space.

Bed No. 4

Off in the far corner is a planting of Oregon Sugar Pod II snow peas. They are almost big enough for me to trim the tops for the greens.

Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Peas

This year I am determined to harvest some fava beans. Last year the rodents beat me to them so I'm not taking any chances on that again so I've constructed Fort Fava. I'll have to remove the cloches from the seedlings soon and then I'll put up more hardware cloth panels to enclose the space and put a cover on the top. I'm willing to go to the trouble to enclose the space because I won't need to get access to the plants until it's time to start harvesting the beans. It's a pain in the you-know-what to be putting up and taking down the panels so I won't make a cage like this for veggies that need frequent attention.

Fava Fortress

Fava Baby

I've left a few baccatum peppers that are surviving. I can't be bothered to harvest the peppers after the super glut that I worked through already. But maybe this fall?

Lingering Baccatum Peppers

Here's a glimpse of what's to come. Some choy, leeks, a couple more varieties of lettuce and the backup seedlings of Filderkraut cabbage and Tronchuda Beira.

Up and Coming and Reserve Starts

I'm experimenting with a 50-cell tray to start some Baby Tuscan kale and Special Baby Leaf chard.

Seed Flat with Baby Tuscan Kale and Baby Chard Starts

And finally a bit of wildlife. Oh it looks destructive doesn't it? But no, this guy/gal (snails are hermaphrodites) is a native species that can only be found on the central coast of California. I find these occasionally around the garden but they aren't interested in dining on my veggies so when I find them I put them in the native vegetation where they belong. I had no clue what they were other than that they weren't your garden variety veggie munching invasive species from Europe. When I spotted this one the other day it occured to me that if I posted an observation on iNaturalist that I might have a chance of identifying it and yes that worked.

Big Sur Shoulderband Snail

That's the latest going on in my veggie garden. Thanks for taking the tour.