Onions

....sort of :(

This year we are once again seeing our multitude of onions go to seed and fail to grow into decent bulbs....eek!

As I found out last year Onions are very weather dependent and our fluctuating winter temperatures confuse them into thinking it has been 2 seasons so they flower in order to propagate.

The plants never develop a sizable bulb and most of that is an inedible core.

Tho this is actually a leek (also going to seed) the idea is the same. A very hard inner core with only a few usable outer layers. I used 20 white onions in a pot of spaghetti sauce just to get enough actual onion. ....sigh.

The only ones that seem to be avoiding this fate are the red onions (planted as transplants vs. the sets used in the other bed). Of course I didn't plant very many of those....sigh.

From the Plant Answers Website---
Most folks want to grow onion bulbs NOT onion flowers! What causes bulb onions to send up flower stalks? Flowering of onions can be caused by several things but usually the most prevalent is temperature fluctuation. An onion is classed as a biennial which means it normally takes 2 years to go from seed to seed. Temperature is the controlling or triggering factor in this process. If an onion plant is exposed to alternating cold and warm temperatures resulting in the onion plant going dormant, resuming growth, going dormant and then resuming growth again, the onion bulbs prematurely flower or bolt. The onion is deceived into believing it has completed two growth cycles or years of growth in its biennial life cycle so it finalizes the cycle by blooming. Flowering can be controlled by planting the right variety at the right time.

So for all of you who live in HOT summer areas, when do you plant your onions and what kinds do you have the most success with?

Beans

The beans are up...Yippee Yahoo!

Provider green beans were a HUGE success for us last year, we still have bags in the freezer and cans in the pantry. This year we are even dedicating one bed just to save seed, if we get too many we can always use them as soup beans (very versatile bean, this one :)

Tomatoes

We've had such warm weather that we decided to go ahead and get a few of our 'first time ever growing tomatoes from seed' tomatoes into the ground. We have never planted outside this early and have already been informed that another storm is on it's way, but the freezing weather should be over at this point and I think/hope these little guys can withstand what's coming.

The bulk of seedlings are still in little pots in our back yard.

We planted 10 and have 100 (I kid you not) left....what was I thinking...eek!

Provider green beans went into the ground also,

but a box of dirt does not make for a good photo :)

Kale

....flowers :)

We grew kale for the first time this year, but still haven't actually eaten any. We grew it for the chickens, who BTW....LOVE it!

Spring

Transplanting tomatoes and peppers over at our other blog.....go take a look!

Why it's OK to be Lazy....

....occasionally.

Letting the broccoli bloom attracts bees!

Broccoli

....in all it's glory!

We have the better-looking than anything in the grocery store speciman...

...the going to seed even tho it hasn't been above 70 degrees plant...

....and lastly, the barely 6 inches tall what the heck ?!?

They were all planted in the same soil, the same day.....heck they all came from the same six-pack.....sigh.

Garlic

We planted a 4x8 bed full of garlic (foreground).....and it all came up....eek! We really weren't too sure what would happen here. I was less than the purist on this one, bought garlic bulbs at the grocery store for 5/$1....considerably less than the organic at $3/bulb. We'll see how they compare when we start pulling them up.

We don't do anything special with our garlic, other than amending with homemade compost. Because our winters are fairly mild (freezes occasionally, but no snow) we don't even have to cover them. Tho we did put another hefty helping of compost on top after the cloves went into the ground. The brown tubing is part of our drip irrigation system, but during the winter we don't use it at all. Even in a drought year we get just enough rain to not have to water our winter gardens except when the plants first go into the ground and maybe a little in the spring as it starts to warm up. This year we've been happily drenched by storms and tho I hesitate to say the drought is over, I'd like to think we're at least on our way! These were planted at the end of November and we hope to harvest in May, if only so the summer crops can get started :)

Potatoes

I am alive.....just lazy. If it makes a difference,

I've been neglecting the garden as well as the blog :)

So, this week I will do a little garden tour to kind of catch up on what's been going on here in our California zone 9 garden....starting with the potatoes.

The furrows were pretty weedie, but the plants were big enough to start covering the lower parts...or hilling up. This is done to prevent growing potatoes from peeking out from under the dirt and turning green and toxic. Potatoes grow up from the original tuber and by hilling up around the plants, you give them more dirt to grow in (make sense?)

Guess I should've brought a ruler to show scale:)

Not sure why there is such a difference in the size of the plants.

As I was weeding I did unearth a marble size potato on one of the smallest plants (still attached, which is why I covered it back up and didn't get a photo) so I know they are growing down there.

The joy of potatoes is when you dig them up in the spring, obviously; we all know that harvesting veggies is the fun part. But with potatoes there's that element of surprise as well. There's just something magical about finding these edible goodies underneath all that greenery.

Brocolli

We are almost ready to harvest some of our broccoli....yea! These went in ground on October first (as nursery seedlings....next year we plan on trying more from seed).

Tho their growth rates are a bit inconsistent, we are happy that most (not all) actually look like they will produce our favorite veggie. I didn't get a photo, but some of the seedlings still look like....seedlings. They are alive but seem to be in a state of suspended animation. Not sure what's going on there; good thing we planted plenty. And looking on the bright side, if those don't make it they will be the first beds planted in the Spring.

On a side note we are getting our FIFTH rain storm today.....the drought may actually be ending....yippee yahoo. Still plan on conserving water as much as possible, but it sure is nice to see the rain barrels filling up!

Planting Potatoes

These went in the ground about a week ago....

This is actually after planting...the potatoes went in about 6 inches from the top of the boards, then were covered with just a couple inches of soil. As the plants grow we'll hill up around them with the excess dirt.

I ordered quite a few seed potatoes from an organic source but also planted a couple of regular spuds that we bought from the grocery store....we'll see if there is any measureable difference.

November Tally

I'm posting this on both blogs this month,

about half of our harvest this month came from this garden

and half from our yard.

Sweet Potatoes .................27.5 lbs.

Butternut Squash...............23.5 lbs

Feijoas..................................13 lbs.

Green Peppers....................9 lbs.

Tomatoes...............................6.5 lbs.

Peanuts..................................4.5 lbs.

Soup Beans..........................3 lbs.

Salad Greens........................2 lbs.

....and 159 eggs!

Total for November.............89lbs.

We are finally eating Feijoas from our tree,

and by we I mean 'I' am finally eating them....

....if I eat it I get to count it :)

Mostly I'm eating them because my sister finally showed me how to eat them (let's not go there). I was peeling them and leaving too much of the pith around the fruit so they always tasted bitter. We have for years just thrown them in the compost. But after smarty pants sis showed me the 'cut in half and scoop' method.....I'm hooked, these things are delicious!

ps. lucky for the tree too, we were about to take the dang thing out and plant something worthier in it's spot. SO glad we are not complete idiots.

Garden Tour

Here's an overview of the mostly winter garden. The first 2 beds as you enter (from the right) are broccoli...and the artichoke is in the wine bottle bed.

Future DG walkway....maybe in the Spring.

Still cleaning up some of the beds, gotta love Bermuda grass!

Cabbage and Leeks

Not sure why some are kind of stunted.

Onions in front (we planted close to 180) and the back bed is peas and carrots.

With the ever popular crushed egg shells as snail deterrent.

Just today I picked the last of the Butternut squash hiding in the bed...got 24lbs. total from 6 plants.

Makes great pumpkin pie:)

The tomato plants look pretty good....

...tho I'm not sure if the fruit will ever turn red in this cold. I'll probably bring them in and set them on our windowsill.

Peas and Spinach

Future potato bed in the foreground.....

Peas and broccoli against the fence.

View from the back - Lettuce and broccoli in the foreground and the bed back between the squash and tomatoes is more onions....not sure why I ordered so many....hope they store well!

What's Left in the Garden

Still harvesting peppers...

... butternut squash...

...green beans...

...and tomatoes,

....tho they do look a bit sickly.