Tomato Tasting #1 Great White

If you "Google" Great White tomato you find a lot of information about this indeterminate beefsteak tomato that makes it stand out from the crowd.  (When I first bought my start 3 months ago, I could barely find any information on it.)  It has been hailed as the "un-tomato",  meaning is has nuanced flavors akin to pineapple, guava or melon instead of your classic tomato flavor profiles.

I bought my 4 inch start from the Master Gardner plant Sale this year on May 4th.  (I also found them at Fred Meyer in Overlake.)  I had it on the balcony for a week to harden off then I planted it in a large pot at MCGA and protected with with clear plastic stapled to a tomato cage.  After the middle of June, I removed the plastic.  With our early summer, it grew well and produced giant fruit right away.  I harvested my first tomato yesterday, from planting to first harvest was exactly 3 months and 2 days.  UPDATE:  I picked one today that was 1 pound and 3 ounces.

This heirloom tomato is ripe when slightly yellow in color and gives to gentle pressure.  The fruit are large and the plant needs strong support.  This indeterminate is stocky in nature and did not get out of control in my garden.

The Great White was amazingly free of seeds.  Its super beefy texture was not mealy at all.  It is thin skinned so must be handled carefully.  I sprinkled with it flaky Maldon sea salt and sliced 1/4 inch slices.  I kept taking small bites as tried my hardest to pretend I was a tomato sommelier.  As I closed my eyes these flavors came to mind....apricot, golden raspberry and melon.  I knew I was eating a tomato but these words came to mind...light, creamy, delicate, juicy, bright, low acid, refreshing and sunshine.

-Gia

Summer's Around the Corner Garden Checklist

Summer is a beautiful time in the Pacific Northwest; it's the time our gardens leap into full production of deliciousness and beauty.  There is a lot to do in the garden as the soil is now warm enough for us to plant our "warm" crops and the ambient temperature is warm enough to grow most things out of hoop houses or cloches.

There is a laundry list of things to do in the garden and since I am a fanatic, feel free to include the bits that you can benefit from and pass over the bits that seem like a crazy garden rant.

Here goes:

• Time to harvest your spring crops,  lettuce, spinach, broccoli, kale, chard,  spring onions, green garlic, and other greens should be ready now.  My peas are coming along but not ready to harvest yet.

• Time to set up a regular feeding program for your summer veggies.  Make sure you water your garden before applying fertilizer to prevent 'burning" your plants.  Roots needs moisture to access those nutrients.  Follow the suggested feeding instructions on any good vegetable/tomato organic fertilizer.

• Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/17/6411042/garden-checklist-warm-weather.html#storylink=cpy

• Time to mulch your blueberries with a thick mulch of conifer needles (conifer needles because they are acidfiying).  They are very shallow rooted plants and you want to make sure that they do not dry out in July and August.  If you did not fertilize your plants in the spring, then you should take the time now to add a cup of acid fertilizer per plant.

• Time to stake and prune your tomatoes, if you do the minimal of pruning, you should remove all the lower leaves on your tomato plants and make sure no leaves touch the surrounding soil, this helps to prevent the spread of diseases.  

• Time to build or make supports for your vining plants like snap peas, peas, pole beans and cucumbers, this make harvesting easier and leads to straighter cucumbers.  It also keeps more of your tasty produce off the ground and away from critters like slugs.

• Time to pinch flower tips off onions, garlic and leeks, especially if they were planted in the fall.  Do the same for basil if they have started to produce flowers.  Since we want the plants' energy to go into producing the bulb, stem or leaves NOT flowers.

• Time to hill up your potatoes.  Gather the soil you have in your garden and mound up the soil at the base of your potato plants.  This will help more little taters form!

• Weed, Weed, Weed and Water.   If you cannot water consistently, consider mulching with leaves to conserve moisture. Try hard not to water the foliage of your crops, if that cannot be avoided, then try not to water in the evenings.  As summer heads our way, wet leaves and high humidity around our plants leaves them very susceptible to fungal diseases like blight. 

• Time to keep a keen eye out for pests and squash them when you see them. Top summer pests are: aphids, asparagus beetles, flea beetles, cucumber beetles and squash bugs.  Be sure to look on the undersides of leaves and squash anything that looks like these critters as well as their eggs.

• As it gets warmer, cool season crops should not be planted as they tend to 'bolt' in hot weather. They send up a seed spike and go to seed instead of growing and producing a harvest for you, such plants are lettuce, spinach, radish and other cool season crops.  You can plant them again in the Fall.

I hope these tips are helpful, stop by my garden if you need advice and I am happy to help.

-Gia

Top 10 Tips for New Gardeners

I was a new gardener once.  I was 5 when I first began to grow plants with my parents on our little sustenance farm on Guam.  We grew sugar cane, lemons, melons, guava, sweet potatoes, eggplants, Thai basil, chili peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, lemon grass and much, much more.  Now let’s fast forward to 2007, when I rented my first garden plot at MCGA.  I did not know much about growing food crops in the Pacific Northwest but I was an eager learner.  Here are my top 10 tips for new gardeners to the PNW and to MCGA, this is a compilation of some the things I have learned and taught myself through trial and error over the past 7 years.

1.  Grass and weeds are evil, remove as much as you can as they suck vital water and nutrients from your crops.

2.  Plan out your garden.  Do you want to build raised beds?  If you do make sure the beds are not so wide that you cannot reach the middle of the bed to weed.  It might also be a good idea to make sure you can reach all parts of your garden bed from the edges as well.  Next plan out your paths, even if you do not build raised beds make sure to plan for paths as it is not wise to step into your beds.  It compacts the soil and destroys its structure. 

3.  "Make" the best soil you can.  Add the best soil amendments you can afford.  Here are the names of some great things to add to your soil, some are free, some will cost you some change. These things are NOT the same as fertilizer although they do provide some nutrients. You do not have to add them all in 1 year, also follow the application directions.

a.  Compost, make your own or buy some.  (free and $)

b.  Sustainable peat moss for your blueberries at planting time ($$), pine needs as mulch (free).

c.  Earthworm castings ($$$)

d.  Lime in the fall. ($)

e.  Manure, steer, chicken, rabbit, etc... Beware that horse and cow manure contains the highest salts, use sparingly and make sure it has been aged 6+ months. ($$)

f.  Coconut fiber or coir fiber ($$$)

g.  Coffee grounds (free) 

h.  Leaf mold (free)

i.  Perlite or horticultural vermiculite, great natural products for heavy soils, they help with aeration but provide no nutrients.  ($$)

1j.  My favorite amendments right now re-mineralize the soil:  Biochar, rock dust and glacial rock dust, AZOMITE (wear a mask when you apply powdery amendments).

4.  Start your seeds at the right time, see seed packet for information.  Make sure the soil is wet before you make your furrow to sow your seeds. Tamp down the soil around your seed; many seeds need to contact the soil before they can germinate.

5.  Learn about cold crops and hot crops:  These crops are planted at different times at the garden.

Some example of cold crops:  arugula, lettuce, mache, radish, spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, spinach, turnip, carrots, beets, garlic, onions, shrubs can be planted early in the season, asparagus, snow peas, sugar snap peas, parsley just to name a few.

Some examples of hot crops (usually like day temps 55F and above and night temps about 50F and above):  tomatoes, okra, eggplants, melons, beans, potatoes, cucumbers, peppers, corn, squash, tomatillo, basil, pumpkins, just to name a few.

6.  If you wish to plant starts, make sure they are hardened off before you plant them in the garden.  Do not assume they are hardened off when you buy them from the hardware store or nursery.  Hardening off means to get them ready or accustomed to life outside the cozy comfort of your home or the greenhouse.  Remember they have never felt wind, rain, direct sun or cold nights.

Here is a quick and easy guide to hardening off your starts:

a.  7-10 days before you are ready to plant your starts at the garden you should begin to harden them off.  If you have a balcony or a terrace, this is ideal!

b.  Reduce the amount of water and place them outside in the shade for 1-2 hours on day 1 to day 3.  Bring them in at night. 

c.  Gradually move them outside more and more, adding 1-2 hours at a time, they should be able to stay outside at night after days 3-5. 

d.  By the end of the 7-10 days they should be able to stay outside day and night.  Now they are ready to plant at the garden.

7.  The best time and condition to plant your starts are early in the morning and when it is cloudy.  I DO NOT recommend planting starts out on a sunny day, doing so often causes them to wilt dangerously.

8.  When planting starts in the garden, dig a giant hole, loosen the soil, add about 1 handful to 1 cup of vegetable fertilizer, depending on the plant.  Stir the soil and the fertilizer together.  Fill the hole with water, back fill as necessary as you place your start in the hole.  Water at this time again, tamp the soil around firmly and you are done!

(Exception!  For tomatoes and tomatillos, bury 1/2 to 2/3 of the entire plant in the hole, this practice encourages root growth along the buried stems and make for a stronger plant.)

9.  As you watch your crops grow over the coming weeks; weed often and water deeply.  I only water 1-2 times a week when it is dry.  I watch the weather report and avoid watering when we expect rain.  Avoid watering overhead whenever you can, use drip hoses or water right at the base of your plants.  Deep watering encourages stronger roots.

10.  Continue weeding and watering deeply.  Now it is time to control those pests who are enjoying your lovely crops.

Enemy #1 SLUGS

The slugs that do the most damage are the tiny ones.  There are many ways to get rid of slugs and I usually employ all methods! 

a.  Iron phosphate products like Sluggo and Escargo are pelleted, read the directions and avoid sprinkling directly on plants.

b.  Beer traps-set out a small container at soil level and fill with cheap beer, slugs will be attracted to the beer and drown.  Empty the container often.

c.  Sprinkle egg shells all over, this works only on the bigger slugs.

d.  Use copper tape to protect the really special plants, this tape is expensive.

e.  AVOID salt; this is not good for your soil.

f.  Hand pick at night when they are the most active.

g.  Place a wooden board or wet cardboard in the corner of your plot, when the slugs go there to hide you can get rid of them.

Enemy #2 RABBITS

These little guys love your greens, all greens and young sprouts.  I was so frustrated last year I had to put up a metal fence after they chewed through our plastic fence.

a.  You can put up a fence. 

b.  Buy some mink, fox or predator urine/feces and sprinkle around.  Believe it or not you can buy this online but it is stinky and expensive; NEVER spill it in your car.

c.  Build a small lettuce cage to protect your tender greens or sprouts until they are big enough to withstand a nibble here and there.

Enemy #3 VOLES

Voles are also known as field mice, they are small, like a small mouse and live mostly underground.  They are herbivores and love your crops.  MOLES are carnivores and eat only grubs and worms and NOT your plants.  Here is what voles look like:

They make underground burrows all over the garden but they also eat above ground crops as well.  See some underground and above ground damage.

Here is vole damage to beets, they love beets and carrots!

This really gets me boiling; they eat all the roots of the plant from underground. If you water and water your plants and they still wilt, check for vole damage.  If you water your plants and suddenly a giant sink hole forms in your garden, it is a vole hole.  The bad news is that we cannot do much, plant extra so you have more than they can eat up!

-Gia

Antsy Gardener

 It's March 1st today, only 20 more days until spring which is marked by the vernal equinox, when the day and night length are equal.

 As an avid gardener, I've spent the past winter months perusing garden catalogs and dreaming about fresh tomatoes. With the anticipation of more light and warmer temperatures, I have begun ordering seeds to start indoors.  Here is what I was looking at today:

Recently the temperatures have been uncharacteristically NOT "spring-like" but that did not deter me from sprinkling some seeds on the ground and covering them with a row cover.  The wild arugula and other greens should sprout in a week or two and I'll have some micro-greens for salads.

When I got home I ran to the garage and pulled out my garden lights, much to the hubby's dismay because he really doesn't like to see all those little pots of dirt on our kitchen counter for the next two months.  I on the other hand, revel at the site of little seedlings poking their heads out of my peat pellets. Last year I started seeds inside for the first time.  The starts did amazingly well and I am anxious to try again this year.  See this post to read about my seed starting adventures.

 If starting seeds at home is not in your plans, then spring is the perfect time to prepare your garden for planting.  Over the next few weeks it will be time to till under cover crops that have overwintered, remove winter mulch or weed small sections of your plot in preparation for some spring planting. Compost can be added to your plot as well as organic fertilizers and mineral amendments.

After you've prepared a small section of your plot, you will be ready to plant your cool season crops such as spinach, lettuce, and many other greens.  I often remove my winter mulch in stages so that every 2 to 4 weeks I uncover more and more of my plot. During my first year at the garden I learned that preparing my entire plot too early resulted in weeds growing back in the areas that I was not ready to plant.  I learned my lesson that year and now prepare my plot for planting in stages.  

A gardener can always dream of what ahead and so I am going to leave you with some garden eye candy to brighten your day!

-Gia

Fall Fog and Frost

There is a general sense it's time to batten down the hatches and close up shop as morning autumn fog greets us.  Fall does signal the end of most of our gardeners' gardening season, summer crops have mildewed, gotten frost bitten and stopped producing.  

 It's time to amend our gardens, to give the critters in the soil a head start at taking lowly organic matter and turning into something magical that will awaken in spring.

It's time to protect those tubers, bulbs, fall plantings as well as suppress weeds and undesirables that might want to nestle and find a place in our plots.

It's time to pick that funny pumpkin that has decided to grow in between the chain link fence that borders our garden and the dog park.  (It's located down towards the pet memorial garden.)

It's time to admire the amazing purple/black kale that grows all over the garden.  Does anyone actually eat this plant or is it just so dark and brooding that it's grown as a character all its own.

It's time to pick winter squash:  butternut, acorn, delicata, cinderella,, kubota, uchiki kuri, hubbard, turban, you name it we are growing it at the garden.

It's time to pick your winter greens, those salads with bite that scream texture and fall flavor when you bite into them.

It's time to add pine needle mulch to your blueberries, as the pine needles rot and help make your soil more acid, your blueberries are gearing up to give you a bounty next summer.

Last but not least, it's time to pick those fall veggies, you know the ones that taste better after a light frost, artichokes are one but there are many more.

Other things to do this fall:

plant onions, leeks, shallots and garlic
clean up all fallen debris from your crops, to help curb the spread of disease
spray a dormant oil
dig up or bring in frost sensitive plants
clean and sharpen your tools
plant bulbs
turn your compost pile

End of the Season Bounty

My children and I went out to the garden yesterday after our big Fall Work Party.  It was an extremely warm Sunday afternoon and we had some serious work to do.  We were quite surprised that of our summer /warm plants, the green beans and pole beans were still growing well.  Their pods were large and thick, thicker than the diameter of a pencil but with no seeds in them whatsoever!  We filled up half of a five gallon bucket with these wonderful beans.  Our patty pan squash plant needed to be pulled out of the ground but as I yanked the large plant up the from its roots, 3-4 decent sized summer squash clung to its stem.  The eggplants were pulled up, the rest of the tomatoes, the basil and some marigolds.

Leaves and straw are a gardeners best friend in the Fall, they added wonderful organic matter to your soil as well as provide an organic blanket for fall sown crops, such as garlic, leeks and onions.  Compost is wonderful added in the fall as it gives fodder for organic life over the winter months.

 The best thing you can do to prevent disease for next spring is to cleanup all the fallen fruit and leaves from this year's crop. Now is the time as the leaves fall off your perennials, to spray them down with a good organic horticultural oil.  The oil smothers insects that might overwinter on your plants.  Fall is a wonderful time to plant bulbs if you enjoy flowers in your garden.  Lilies are my absolute favorite.  I've also read that if you want to get a jump start on your flowers in the spring, you can sow many types the seeds in the fall, as it imitates plant's natural behavior.

Other than that, I tried to take a minimalist approach to winter gardening.  I like to tidy up, protect and amended, then sit at home pouring over seed catalogs in January, February and March until I decide to put on my gardening boots and head out to see what Spring has sprung.

-Gia

Blueberries Galore!

I have gotten many, many compliments on my blueberries.  I have 6 plants and have been tending them for 5 years.  I have 2 early season, 2 mid-season and 2 late season plants.  I wanted to ensure a good crop from June well into August and even September so I chose a nice variety of ripening times.

Here are my favorite varieties of blueberries to grow because they do well at the garden, they are easy to care for and most of all produce delicious and nutritious fruit.

 http://www.raintreenursery.com/Olympia_blueberry_Gal_Pot.html

http://www.raintreenursery.com/Darrow_Blueberry.html

http://www.raintreenursery.com/ChAndler_blueberry.html

Tips for planting are:  Dig a giant planting hole, fill half of the hole with peat moss (acidic and boggy), add 1 full cup of organic acid loving plant fertilizer, water well, add blueberry plant, back fill the hole with soil, top dress with compost, water and then mulch with 3-4 inches of pine needles.)  For the first year, keep your berries watered, after the first year, I only water about once every 7-10 days in moderate temps. In warm weather, 1 water once a week.

Tips for growing:    In spring, prune away all dead and broken branches from winter.  Mulch, mulch well with pine needles!  Pine needles are acidic and blueberries have shallow root systems so they do not like to dry out.  Plant an herb (chives, clover, oregano, sage, thyme) that attracts lots of bees near your blueberries to help with pollination, you can even do this in a pot then move the pot when all your berries have set.  After fruits have formed and begin to ripen, watch out for birds.  If they come after your berries you will have to put a net over them to protect your crop or use flash tape to scare them away. Once your berries start to ripen, withhold water until you have picked all your berries.  Next, spring, add 1 cup of organic acid loving fertilizer per plant (gently scratch it into the top inch of the soil around your plants), top dress with compost, mulch with new pine needles then sit back and relax as you harvest a bumper crop of berries.

-Gia