387 replies to this topic

[laurel]

Got my first snow peas yesterday. Stir fried them with some chard, broccoli, radish flowers, mustard flowers (all also from the garden) and ling cod (not from the garden), with lots of ginger and garlic.

Also, for those who are not yet aware of it, 4 square feet of spinach is enough to eat spinach for every meal of every day.

Does anyone have any suggestions or references for fall and winter gardening?

[reesek]

Feed tomatoes fish fertilizer.

will my cats go insane over it?

any brand in particular? i have little tomato-lets on a bunch of plants and tons of blooms.

[DRColby]

Does anyone have any suggestions or references for fall and winter gardening?

Two good books on winter gardening are Steve Solomon's "Growing Vegtables West of the Cascades" and Bonda Colebrook's "Winter Gardening in the Maritime Northwest." Both published by Sasquatch.
Suggestions are:
1. Build a small, cheap clotche; plants will drown before they freeze here.
2. You should be starting you seeds for wintwer crops shortly. Savoy cabbage. beets, endive and harder greens all do well as does B. sprouts,cauliflower, leeks and other onions.
Seems strange not to have yet picked a tomato and be talking about starting winter seedlings. We are picking faas, peas, artichokes, pulled some garlic and shallots and are doing battle with the birds for a few red raspberries.

dave

[reesek]

are doing battle with the birds for a few red raspberries.

the birds keep eating our strawberries.

[laurel]

Part of the lawn at work is covered in landscaping strawberries... there are tons of squirrels rooting around in them.

[tsquare]

Feed tomatoes fish fertilizer.

will my cats go insane over it?

any brand in particular? i have little tomato-lets on a bunch of plants and tons of blooms.

Hmm, Alaska Fish Fertilizer is the old tried and true.
The neighborhood cats love my yard but stay out of the plants mostly. They just like the bare spots. Never thought about that aspect. I have heard dogs will dig up a garden if you use bone meal. And I think dogs like the fish fertilizer too. The scent disappates pretty quickly - ie, after a day or two, you can pick the strawberries.

Edited by tsquare, 11 June 2004 - 09:29 AM.

[DRColby]

Our dog loves AK fish fertilizer as well as blood meal and bone meal. You work it in, she digs it up.

dave

[kiliki]

Isn't fish fertilizer usually too high in nitrogen relative to its other nutrients? The kind I have is a 5-0-0, but for tomatoes you want something with a higher phosphorus content (the second number) than nitrogen. I use time release organic fertilizer (5-10-10) as a side dressing, twice per season.
Here is something from the TImes that might be helpful:


By Valerie Easton
Special to The Seattle Times

Q: I want to try growing tomatoes in pots on my deck, which is the only sunny place in my yard. Do I need to buy a special kind of tomato, and what about the dirt?

A: Tomatoes will thrive in pots if you give them sunshine most of the day and plenty of water and fertilizer. Choose stocky plants, and don't put them outside until the nights warm to 55 degrees. If this spring is as chilly as last, that could be well into June.

It is best to use large pots, at least five gallons, filled with rich potting mix to which a little granular time-release fertilizer has been added. A stake, cage or trellis should be stuck in the pot at planting time (tomatoes are vines, after all), and plant the tomato so far down in the soil that the lowest leaves are buried, thus encouraging more root development.

Water deeply and daily, and use a complete liquid fertilizer every two weeks (yes, as well as the time-release in the soil — tomatoes are greedy and vigorous).

You can grow any kind of tomato in a pot, but you'll make your life easier if you choose a determinate type, which stops growing at 2 to 3 feet high, and don't need any pinching during the season. They produce fruit earlier and over a shorter period of time than indeterminates, which bear fruit until frost.

Oregon Spring, Tiny Tim, Viva Italia, Italian Gold and Celebrity are determinate types easily found in nurseries. You can grow popular, indeterminate types such as Sun Gold, Big Beef and Early Girl in pots, too, but be sure to use a large container and a sturdy staking system. And pinch out suckers all season long.

[reesek]

oh that's very helpful - thank you!

i have bought (and used) the time release - any recs for a brand (location) to buy the liquid? home depot freaks me out - though to be fair - we bought our seeds there and the yield and quality of our peas, arugula, spinach and sugar snaps was very impressive.

[tsquare]

Oh yeah, Alaska FF is high nitro - why I commented not to overdue it as you get all plant, less fruit. I guess I usually go for making a healthy plant, and then shock the plants into submission. Somehow, I get great fruit quality and flavor this way.
Here's anothr fertilizer idea - and it's down the block from Maritime Ale House.

Walt's

[kiliki]

I harvested my first (two) tomatoes yesterday.

[laurel]

I harvested my first (two) tomatoes yesterday.

I have some Stupice and Red Grape that are starting to turn orange... I can't wait :)

[girl chow]

Cool -- I love harvest reports.

I am going to harvest my first zucchini squash tonight -- woohooo! I saw it peeking under the leaves last night. It's a small one, about four inches, but the flower is still full and attached, so that's what's for dinner tonight.

AND I have lots of big, green fruit on my heirlooms (and all my other tomato plants), but no ripening yet.

My pumpkins are going nuts. Bumper crop? I hope so. I cannot believe this, but I have somehow managed to grow a beautiful basil plant. This is the first time I've grown a basil plant that didn't look like it was going to die at any moment. I think the trick is that I'm growing it indoors?

[DRColby]

am going to harvest my first zucchini squash tonight -- woohooo! I saw it peeking under the leaves last night. It's a small one, about four inches, but the flower is still full and attached, so that's what's for dinner tonight.

Don't let them overtake you. We left home for two days and had to make a trip to the food banlk to get rid of the excess.... "The Attack of the Giant Zucchinis!" Look out!

dave

[girl chow]

Don't let them overtake you. We left home for two days and had to make a trip to the food banlk to get rid of the excess.... "The Attack of the Giant Zucchinis!" Look out!

dave

Heh heh heh. That happened to me last year. Obviously, I didn't learn my lesson. I have two zucchini plants this year (doh!)

[DRColby]

It's not the attack of the giant zucks I fear anymore......
We're going away for a week so tonight I pulled garlic and shallots (which I let set for week or so and then dry store). Taking over their space were four cucumber plants which I have just spent 15 minutes trying to train on a trellis.
I have news for you: unlike the zuks the cukes fight back. I itch all over from my thought-to -be-conquest. I hear thunder; they will all be on the ground again come morning.

Dave

[reesek]

we've had a few tomatoes already - a couple of orange and red ones. we have billions (ok, maybe millions) of tomato-lets. the tear drop and cherries are very green still...the slicing tomatoes are huge.

i planted basil with my tomatoes and am stunned that it's still producing, and i'm not left with only limp huge bitter leaves. it's wonderful. i have to pick buds off them everyday though.

i planted some cippolines and i can't stop myself from picking them, though they're not much bigger than very plump bottomed scallions. the flavor is absolutely extraordinary...sweet, almost garlicky. i wish i'd planted more.

what should we be planting now for fall harvest? is it too late?

i should post a pic so you all can see the woodstock that is my tomato box.

[tsquare]

The figs are by far the best I've harvested in the few years I've been growing them! Biggest, sweetest, and perfectly plump. Yes, the green ones. Only wish the second crop could actually mature.
Green beans, cukes, and squash are coming on strong.
Snow peas are fizzled.
Corn is tassling.
Potatoes have been dug (volunteer purple and gold.)

[trillium]

I picked my first 3 Early Girls and a handful of Sweet 100s earlier this week. This has been a great year for tomatoes in pdx. They are in containers and taller then I am. They actually managed to yank their stake (bean pole) out of the pot and throw it to the ground. I resorted to nailing the stake to the side of the house.

The bitter melons are blooming like mad but not setting any fruit. I must be doing something wrong. The Thai eggplant has a few that are ready to harvest, the rau ram is going nuts, the shiso is competing with the tomatoes for the most crazy growth, and I have more tarragon then I know what to do with. The Thai and red and green holy basils are kind of lagging behind, as is the cornichon varietal cucumber I planted, but I put them out late.

And the figs... the tree here is about 10 years old and I'm actually tired of figs.

My chervil gave up the ghost and the mache, lovage and parsley all look very sad. It's too hot for them.

regards,
trillium

[Foodie-Girl]

This was my first vegetable/herb garden and I am loving it !

Green beans...tons of them and delicious

Tomatoes....just starting to ripen and oh-so-good

I think it was tooooo hot for the cauliflower as it never got very big and seemed to be burnt from the sun

Tassles now appearing on the corn stalks

More lettuce than I know what to do with

Shallots are delicious !

Walla Walla Onions almost ready

The carrots? Who knows...I'll start checking on those next week

This is fun !

[halland]

Any seed savers out there interested in trading good seeds for the PNW? I've got 2 varieties of tomatoes that work well, a large beefsteak heirloom, and another, Isis Candy, that produces clusters of red and yellow fruits.

I'll also probably have some chile seeds for Thai Dragon chiles, and probalby an extra plant if someone wants to pot it for winter.

Hal

[girl chow]

Cool Hal! Thanks for putting the offer out there. It'd be great to get an exchange going here.

I'd love some of your seeds if they're heirloom (or open pollinated) seeds. I'll be saving some seeds from my brandywine and orange oxheart tomatoes this year (both heirloom/open pollinated... and I'm still getting tons of the ripening right now) I'd be willing to swap with you or anyone else who wants them.

I've had freaky results from hybrid tomatoes (and squash, pumpkins, etc.), so I'm off the hybrids (especially if they're F1 hybrids)

For those who want to save seeds, but haven't before, here's a good link about saving seeds: Article on seed saving

[girl chow]

Here's another link to the same story (for some reason the other link I posted goes to a different link)
http://www.hgtv.com/...3103442,00.html

[kiliki]

Has anyone had any experience growing black huckleberries? I found some black (they had red, too) huckleberries in Swanson's native plant section yesterday and bought two. I already have the native evergreen huckleberry, but I'd been on the lookout for these, which are so abundant and tasty in the mountains, for quite a while. I read they do "okay" at lower elevations so we'll see if I get fruit.

[eatrustic]

What are your favorite varieties of cherry tomatoes grown from containers?
After succesfully growing three tubs of heirloom tomatoes on my second floor balcony last year (and having them completely take over the space) ....and losing my barbecue space to boot. I've decided that a couple of varieties of cherry tomatoes are the way to go.

I'm looking for something with lots of flavor that works well tossed in a pasta or salad and hopefully (or is that the nature of the beast?) that doesn't have too thick a skin.
Thanks!

[beccaboo]

What are your favorite varieties of cherry tomatoes grown from containers?

I grew Koralik in pots last year, and they did pretty well. They're determinate, so they didn't get too big, and they tasted good. They didn't all ripen at once like determinates usually do, either.

[stevea]

Has anyone planted their tomatoes this year yet (out in the open, that is)? I'm getting antsy, but I ordered several heirlooms from Territorial and they haven't arrived yet.

[dandelion]

I have -- I couldn't stand to wait any longer. It's the first year that I've planted them in the ground instead of pots, so my expectations are pretty low (but my fingers are crossed).... I took pictures so I have something to remember them by when they're dead.

[laurel]

My favorite cherry tomatoes last year were Sungold.

If you're starting late, lots of tomato and other vegetable plants will be available next weekend at the Seattle Tilth plant sale:
http://seattletilth....gPlantSale.html

[stevea]

I received my tomatoes in the mail yesterday from Territorial. I have never ordered by mail before and was concerned how they would weather the trip. Although I haven't planted them yet, they look healthy. I decided to go heirloom this year to try to focus on taste over quantity and got the following:

Koralik (a cherry tomato)
Delicious
Brandywine
Purple Calabash (very cool looking purple/red interior, at least, in the picture it is)

Since they're here, I'll be planting today. But I do need two or three more plants. I'd appreciate suggestions for other great-tasting tomatoes that grow well in the Portland area.