Highlights from the Jensen Garden

Greetings from the mosquito capital of the world! Okay, that isn't any official title, but if you have spent any time outside lately you certainly know what I mean. I am starting to think that something along the lines of a bio-hazard suit is the only way to avoid getting eaten alive. Bug spray doesn't even seem to stop the little buggers.

Someone asked why I didn't post a garden update for July. The answer: Embarrassment! On our first garden blog I admitted to being a neglectful gardener - you remember that, don't you? Our garden is a haven for weeds this year. Between the rain storms and the humidity encouraging rapid growth and the realities of being hard-working folk, we just couldn't keep up. Next year we will return to the newspaper and grass clippings method of weed control. It is biodegradable, ads nutrients to the soil, is very cost effective and reduces the weeds by at least 75% if you do it correctly. It takes a bit of effort to get this accomplished in the spring (which was the problem this year!) but we were very pleased with the results the season we did try it.

The picture in the upper left is what our garden looked like after the storms on Sunday the 8th of August. Flattened. We should still be able to harvest the corn that was ready, but the garden is in a sad state. I am very thankful that this is just a hobby and not what provides our income. It was very happy to see the acres of corn across the way from us were mostly still standing, just a few around the edges were down. We were disheartened at the sight of our little plot, I can only imagine what farmers go through when their entire livelihood is destroyed by a single storm.

In addition to weeds we had to contend with a fungus that took out the cucumber plants. This is the third year in a row we have had this issue with the cucumbers. Apparently the fungus is remaining dormant over the winter and reawakening to attack mid-summer when the plants are just starting to produce. It is a cruel fungus, killing off the plants just as your mouth is watering for fresh cucumber! According to the experts, this problem is called "brown spot" and should be treated weekly with copper sulfate. We have been directed to treat the soil with copper sulfate this fall after the plants are out of the ground to prevent it from returning next spring.

Among the weeds, fungus and bugs and a nibbling ground squirrels we have had some great garden successes. We have a TON of tomatoes this year, which is always a good thing - few things taste better than a fresh garden tomato. We harvested a few record-sized vegetables, which is exciting. One of them was a two pound, 8" long potato:

Another was an almost foot long yellow pepper:

And the last giant vegetable of the week was a 4x4 red pepper. You won't find them like this in the grocery store!

These are the finds that keep us going back day after day; fighting the weeds, mosquitoes, fungus and critters that want to gobble up what we are trying to grow!  It makes it all worthwhile when you find an exceptional vegetable to share and enjoy.

So that is what is going on in our garden. How about you?

Have a super week!

Keep it Green!

Jensen Garden Update

The Jensen Garden June 16, 2010.
It is amazing how much a square of land can change in a few short weeks. This is taken from the same spot as the picture posted as a blog entry on May 24th. The potato plants were barely out of the ground and the onions were just thin little blades. We weren't battling a horrible weed problem then either!

The weeds have been amazingly abundant this year. I swear every drop of rain that has fallen in the last week has created 50 new weeds. Two in particular invade our garden - Pigweed and Purslane.

Purlslane is sold as an annual in many garden centers. We received a Purslane plant as a gift many years ago and overwintered it for 4 years before it died. It was a lovely cascading plant with orange flowers. The Purslane that is invading my garden rarely gets the opportunity flower, but I understand that wild Purslane has yellow flowers. If you look closely at the picture you will see mounds in the background -- that is almost all Purslane pulled from the garden! You can still see plenty of it still growing in the foreground (the back can only take so much weeding in a day!).

Interesting thing I discovered while trying to figure out how to rid myself of this pesky plant. Purslane is an edible plant! I found this on Wikipedia:

Although purslane is considered a weed in the United States, it can be eaten as a leaf vegetable, providing sources can be found which have not been poisoned deliberately. It has a slightly sour and salty taste and is eaten throughout much of Europe, Asia and Mexico. The stems, leaves and flower buds are all good to eat. Purslane can be used fresh as a salad, stir-fried, or cooked like spinach, and because of its mucilaginous quality it is also suitable for soups and stews. Australian Aborigines used to use the seeds to make seedcakes. Purslane contains more Omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy vegetable plant.

So, I am thinking, perhaps we aren't bad gardeners after all!  I don't know if I am brave enough to actually eat this plant I have been pulling out by the handful, but it is good to know that if we fail to grow anything else, we can eat the Purslane!

Another garden pest we have had trouble with is moles. The little critters are not only tearing up my yard, but have snatched a large number of seeds out of the garden. We have planted corn twice and have only about 8 stalks growing of the 5 rows we planted (twice!). Mr. Mole ate part of the first and all of the second batch of peas and beans as well as all of the peanuts. I believe we have several of the little buggers out here. Any suggestions on getting rid of them are welcome!

Garden pests aside, we did get a good crop of strawberries this year. The radishes grew nicely, but were HOT even though I selected a mild variety. We have already been using the onions and herbs - it is so nice to walk down and pick what you need to use right away to make supper! The raspberries are just now ripening enough to eat. Just a few at a time now, but soon enough it will be by the bowlful. The cherry tree is going to be chock full of cherries this year. Time is just flying by, it seems the tree was just in full blossom, but the cherries are starting to turn red.

An exciting time of year for a gardener, new discoveries every day. Even if it is weeds!

Have a super week!
Keep it green!

Gardening Season!

Gardening time is here!

How does your garden grow? With rich Midwest soil, abundant and sunshine and adequate water you can grow just about anything.

The picture posted to the left is the first picture of our garden for the season. It always amazes me how something that starts out so sparse ends up to be so full of plants you can barely walk through by the middle of summer.

We have a variety of plants growing this year. The ones you see in the foreground are potato and onion plants. Those have been in the ground since Easter weekend. The potato plants took a good hit in the freezing temperatures we had a couple weeks ago, but they have recovered well. We also have planted asparagus, lettuce, tomato, sugar snap peas, peas, pole and bush beans, radishes, brussel sprouts, broccolli, yellow/orange/red peppers, muskmelon, watermelon and, of course, sweet corn. Galen's grandpa grew peanuts on his farm in Nebraska one year, so we are going to try Spanish Peanuts this season. We have some berry plants as well, the only berries in the actual garden are strawberries. We do have raspberries and blueberries elsewhere on the property, and rhubarb, too. 

We enjoy gardening, but admit we are rather neglectful gardeners. Due to the nature of our work life we have very little time to devote to maintaining our garden space. We water when it needs water and weed when we can, but otherwise leave the plants to their own devices. I do admire folks who have beautiful weed free gardens. I have tried to convince my children to invite their friends over for weeding parties but they never take me up on it!

All gardens need water. If the weather patterns are not providing your garden with adequate moisture you will need to provide supplemental moisture. We have a highly technical watering system that involves a sprinkler head on a post and a hose hook up for spot watering. Not really high-tech at all, but it does the job. If you have an underground sprinkler system the options are almost endless as to how you can water your garden.  We have customers who opt for the raised head option, like we have, and some that have drip irrigation that they re-install to match their garden layout each year.

How much should you water? It is dependent on many factors. Your plants will tell you what they need. I did find an article from "How Stuff Works", titled: "Watering a Vegetable Garden" by C. Colston Burrell, that explains very well about watering I will paste it here in it's entirety:

Some plants are composed of up to 95 percent water. Water is vital from the moment seeds are sown through sprouting to the end of the growing season. Plants need water for cell division, cell enlargement, and even for holding themselves up. If the cells don't have enough water in them, the result is a wilted plant. Water is essential, along with light and carbon dioxide, for producing the sugars that provide the plant with energy for growth. It also dissolves fertilizers and carries nutrients to the different parts of the plant.

Watering, whether for rows of crops or in containers, is often necessary to supplement
rainfall. Ideally, water for plants comes from rain or other precipitation and from underground sources. In reality, you'll often have to do extra watering by hand or through an irrigation system. How often you should water depends on how often it rains, how long your soil retains moisture, and how fast water evaporates in your climate. Soil type is another important factor. Clay soils hold water very well -- sometimes too well. Sandy soils are like a sieve, letting the water run right through. Both kinds of soil can be improved with the addition of organic matter. Organic matter gives clay soils lightness and air; it gives sandy soils something to hold the water.

Other factors may also affect how often you need to water your garden:

    * More water evaporates when the temperature is high than when it's low. Plants can rot if they get too much water in cool weather.
    * More water evaporates when the relative humidity is low.
    * Plants need more water when the days are bright.
    * Wind and air movement will increase the loss of water to the atmosphere.
    * Water needs vary with the type and maturity of the plant. Some vegetables are tolerant of low soil moisture.
    * Sometimes water is not what a wilting plant needs. When plants are growing fast, the leaves sometimes get ahead of the roots' ability to provide them with water. If the day is hot and the plants wilt in the afternoon, don't worry about them; they will regain their balance overnight. But if plants are wilting early in the morning, water them immediately.

So much depends on climate and the ability of different soil types to hold moisture that it's difficult to give specific directions for watering your garden. Generally, however, vegetable plants need about an inch of water a week. The best time to water your garden is in the morning. If you water at night when the day is cooling off, the water is likely to stay on the foliage, increasing the danger of disease. Some people believe that you shouldn't water in the morning because water spots on leaves will cause leaf-burn when the sun gets hot; this isn't the case.

When watering your vegetable garden, there is one rule you should follow: Always soak the soil thoroughly. A light sprinkling can often do more harm than no water at all: It stimulates the roots to come to the surface, where they are killed by exposure to the sun. 

So, fellow gardeners, that is how, when and why to water your garden. If you ever have a hankering to pull some weeds, I know a garden where you can get your hands dirty!

Have a super week!