Category Archives: general

Lettuce bolting

When daytime temperatures get warmer, it will only be a matter of time before cool season lettuce that we planted in early spring bolts. Bolting is when lettuce starts to get a center stalk and eventually it will make flowers and become bitter. What makes lettuce bolt? Both summer heat and more sunlight in our longer sunnier days contribute to bolting. If you find your too late and it is already bitter, either compost it or give it to chickens. They don’t seem to mind the bitterness.

I read a tip where you can make bitter lettuce sweet again so I decided to try it as my winter lettuce is pretty much finished and bitter. The tip said to mix up 4 TLB salt with 1 liter of water till dissolved in a bowl and then soak your lettuce in it for ten minutes. Then rinse and it should be sweet. I did try it and the lettuce got totally wilted. Not edible. After I rinsed it, I soaked it in fresh water hoping to revive it and the lettuce was still salty and wilted. Still not edible. I didn’t even want to give the wilted lettuce to my chickens or compost it for fear of too much salt still in it. Oh well, so much for that tip!

If you still have lettuces that haven’t been picked, get out there soon before they bolt! To get the best from your lettuce, water your plants the evening before you plan to pick it. Then pick lettuces first thing the next morning before it gets too hot. After I wash it and spin out the water, I put lettuce in a ziplock baggie with a wet piece of paper towel folded (squeeze out excess moisture). Lettuce should last a good amount of time when doing this in the refrigerator.

There are other lettuces we can grow here in the shade in the summer. I will write a post soon about growing these warm season lettuces for the summer that are heat resistant and don’t bolt. They are called Batavian or Crisp lettuces. More on that later.

 

Wait to plant peppers till June 1

These Jimmy Nardello peppers were gifted to me by my good friend, Bob Z. They were out of them at the nursery and it was too late to start them by seeds in April. Giant pumpkins in the background are waiting too.

Peppers like heat-more heat then even tomatoes. When transplanting anything outside, we must consider both air temperature and soil temperature. Our soil temperature right now is not warm enough yet to plant our pepper transplants out in the garden even though the air temperature is warmer now. Tomatoes went outside in the garden for me last week inside wall of waters but my peppers are still inside the house under lights waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting. The soil temperature is in the 60’s which is still too cool to transplant peppers.

If you plant peppers while the soil is still too cool, they tend to stall out meaning they stop growing altogether and don’t restart growing even when the soil gets warmer. You’ll have to re-buy them. Trust me, I know from experience. I’ve even tried growing them in wall of waters (WOWs) and the air temp stays warmer inside the WOW but the soil temp can still be cool. Peppers would love the soil temp to be 70°F when transplanting outside. So it is best to wait. How long? I plant all peppers the first week of June when I know the soil temp is much warmer.

Growing giant pumpkins again this year!

Closeup of giant pumpkin-Isn’t she beautiful?!

This year I’m going to attempt growing giant pumpkins again. Back in 2011 I grew a New Mexico state record of 448 lb pumpkin. That’s not big as far as giant pumpkins goes but it was big enough back then to set a New Mexico state record. Since then the record has been shattered with a pumpkin grown in Albuquerque over 900 lbs.

My best giant pumpkin for 2012-‘ORANGE CRUSH’-385 lbs

I don’t think I can grow a bigger pumpkin than that one up here in Santa Fe at 7000 feet high with such a short season, but I’m going to go for a personal best. I have tried since 2011 to grow these behemoths again but to no success.

This was back in 2008-my first year of growing giant pumpkins

I once asked a giant pumpkin grower friend of mine from Colorado how he got 2 Colorado giant pumpkin state records and he said it took him 20 years to get it twice. If it was easy he said, you could get it every time but it is not easy to grow giant pumpkins.

My best pumpkin for 2011-set a NM State Record at 448 lbs

They require a lot of time, work and water to get them big. You must baby them. You must coddle them. I think this will be a good year to try giant pumpkins again as I’m spending more time at home.

Here are the pumpkin plants I just germinated for 2020. The seeds came from a 2009 lb pumpkin! Let’s see what happens this year! I hope this year will produce a big beautiful pumpkin!

Tomatoes are in-May 3rd-woo hoo!

Today we put 31 tomatoes in the garden. Enjoy the time lapse!

This is the earliest I have ever been able to put them outside. We always put them in Wall-of-Waters (green cylinders) to protect them from the chilly nites or if we have a late freeze.  Now I’m dirt tired-time for a cocktail!

Nurseries allowed to reopen!

Grow on

In addition to being able to go back to the nurseries which is fantastic, please don’t forget to support the tiny growers and farmers mentioned in the previous post as well-there is room for all! Here is what was released. Looks like the petition worked! This will help all the nurseries.

‘Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office said it has reversed course on its closure of plant nurseries and will allow them to provide curbside and delivery to customers. Following the last round of emergency orders, nurseries lost their essential service status, leaving many of them concerned about their live plant stock. Thousands signed a petition asking the governor to allow nurseries some capacity to operate, a request she said she was considering during last week’s public briefing. “They must take all necessary social distancing precautions and must continue to abide by the mass gathering rule,” Lujan Grisham’s press secretary Nora Meyers Sackett told SFR via email yesterday.

Agua Fria Nursery owner Bob Pennington tells SFR he plans to offer both delivery and curbside. “We can hire back some employees, we can pay some bills, we won’t go totally down the tube,” he said.’

Credit: The Santa Fe Reporter

IN ADDITION: I think all nurseries are open now but suggest you call them individually to see what their protocol is regarding shopping. The people from Paynes emailed me and asked if I would give this info:

https://www.loc8nearme.com/new-mexico/santa-fe/paynes-nurseries-north/5667926/

Plants suffer in 21°F weather/changes for the better by Friday April 17

Well, almost all my tulips bite the dust with the cold weather but these pictured above lifted up their heads and survived. At least I got about two weeks of glorious color to brighten my days before this latest cold snap and they will come back every year.

Looks like the weather will get above freezing from Friday nite April 17th when it is suppose to be 38°F to Saturday April 25th. But this is not carved in stone. As the saying goes here, if you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes.

Everybody needs to become a weather bug to see what is happening as the weather can change day by day and sometimes even hour by hour. I call this the ‘shoulder season’ where one day it is warm and sunny and the next day/nite cold and freezing and always windy here in spring. These are our springs-ever changing but of course then June will come and we will get too hot! It is way to soon to plant any warm season crops yet. To be safe, wait till May 15 and later.  Last year we got snow on May 27 and the year before I was able to put out my tomato plants on May 7 in Wall of Waters. If the late spring weather really warms up or if you are a gambler, you may be able to plant warm season crops earlier but not without some protection. Otherwise you may be replanting…

If you are looking to start cool weather crops by seeds or starts in your garden, be sure to cover your plants with row cover. Winter weight row cover is best but 2 layers of mid-weight will work as well if you don’t have the heavier weight. I even keep the areas where I plant seeds covered and you can water through row cover till they are acclimated. That way as they germinate, they will get some protection. The row cover is also really good to protect baby starts from our ferocious spring winds which can wipe them out as well as our cold nights. I do flip row cover off the plants on nice days, then back on at nite. You can get this online. I have had friends put sheets over their plants and even one who wrapped a tree in a sleeping bag! Both froze-after all you need a body to keep things warm in a sleeping bag! I never said it would easy growing here in our area BUT you can do so with a few protections.

Beets planted by starts survived

I planted a week ago by seeds-carrots and arugula-they are not up yet. At the same time, I planted beet starts. They are suffering from those 21°F nites out in the garden but are alive. Shallots bulbs, kale and fava beans are all very cold hardy and doing well. Peas got eaten by some thing 4 legged. All were put out one week before this cold snap and all are alive because of row cover on them. All lettuces and spinach were in either my greenhouse or a coldframe and did fine, but they too were covered with 2 layers of row cover.

It seems like from Friday, April 17th the nites will get above freezing for at least a week. This would be a good time to start cool season crops outside whether by seed or starts. So watch the weather and don’t forget to hand water them!

More sources for veggie starts

Trying to research resources as to where we can buy veggie starts besides the Big Box stores. Read on.

The Vagabond Farmers, are farming Lauren’s farm this year (Lauren as many of you remember of Las Farminitas, was the tomato grower who sold tomato starts at the Master Gardeners Garden Fair for many years). The Vagabond Farmers told me they will have many veggie starts in May. Email them as to how you will get them.   TVFgardenstarts

Just click on the pdf above and email them directly for veggie starts. Email address is on their flyer above. Sounds like they have lots to offer.

Another source to check out for veggie start is of course the farmers at our local Santa Fe Farmers Market. I hear parking is now very easy.

Ampersand (amanda@ampersandproject.org) will have their plant sale in Madrid the 19th April. If enough persons are interested Amanda Bramble will deliver in Santa Fe. Her starts are fabulous and she will be selling compost.

These are three more possible sources for veggie starts. If anyone has any other info or sources, please comment below and I will add them. Good Luck!

PS: Some individuals have written and mentioned they may have too many tomatoes started.  And some have written other sources as possibilities but gave no info as to what day, time and what someone may be selling. Be sure to read the comments section of this post as you may be able to find more sources and you will have to research it out for yourselves. Good Luck!

UPDATE ON LOCAL NURSERIES-April 14th

UPDATE ON LOCAL NURSERIES-April 14th

The Governor’s office has mandated all nurseries are suppose to be closed until April 30, thereafter subject to review.

Agua Fria Nursery: Closed. I just talked to Bob, the owner of Agua Fria Nursery who called State Ag and Governor’s office yesterday (Monday April 13) and asked if nursery curbside orders/pickups would be allowed. Both entities said curbside orders and pickups are illegal and all nurseries are suppose to be closed to the public.

Paynes (both): Closed-They were made to close down their curbside orders

Plants of the Southwest: Closed.

Newmans: Message says as of Monday, April 13: curbside orders and pickups only. No message today as to what they are doing and if they are now closed.

For those of you who need veggie starts, you can go to Lowes and Home Depot as they are allowed to stay open for their supplies and happen to have garden centers.

But there is another solution. See my next post.

Paynes open again

Paynes store is now open again. They are offering curbside pickup. Here is info from people from Paynes themselves:

https://www.loc8nearme.com/new-mexico/santa-fe/paynes-nurseries-north/5667926/

Weather FREEZE Alert!

The next few nights are going be below freezing here in Santa Fe area. Tonite (Sunday) is not too bad only 30°F but still below freezing and Monday and Tuesday will be in the low 20’s at nite so protect your veggie plants with row cover (preferably with winter weight or 2 layers of medium weight) for those tender transplants you may already have out. Prepare now and protect those plants! Hate to see them wiped out especially since all nurseries are now closed due to governor mandate.

And of course this cold snap comes right as our fruit trees are flowering-ah poop!

Tip Toe Through the Tulips

In these trying times, we need to appreciate nature and gardens. Being in my garden helps ground me, always has, but this year in particular I need to feel the earth under my feet. It is one of the few things that keeps me sane right now.

Last fall I went bonkers ordering so many tulips online and I thought what have I done? So much work planting them all (65 in all I believe). Well, now they are blooming and I am so loving their beauty plus they will come back every year.

To keep my cat from digging in the dirt around the tulips, Elodie suggested I put rocks around them. Works like a charm. No more tramping on them, digging around them and breaking them.
Not all gardening is food for the belly. Some of it is food for our souls. Something we all need right now.

Coronavirus and gardening

Well it seems that the Coronavirus is making gardeners out of a lot of people who have never tried vegetable gardening before. Many people are interested in trying to grow food now. That makes me happy. I know it feeds my soul as well as my belly. There is a good article, ‘An onslaught of orders engulfs seed companies amid coronavirus fears’ about how the seed companies are super busy filling orders for seeds right now.  Glad some companies are doing well in all this chaos.

Being out in the fresh air (by yourself) and in a garden grounds me (no pun intended) and god knows we all need that right now-at least I do. I can’t stay inside all day and be on TV or the internet and watch or listen to all the doom and gloom news. I need to hear good news too. Growing vegetables brings me joy and makes me feel productive-in a way I’m creating my own good news and food.

Here in our area and in lots of area throughout the country, a lot of veggies can be started from seed in April, like carrots, beets, onions, greens like kale and chard. Some lettuces and spinach can be started from starts and transplanted into your garden. Warm weather crops like tomatoes, corn, winter squash, and summer squash all need to be started AFTER danger of frost which is after May 15 here in Santa Fe.

I want to encourage any of you interested in growing your own food to start now. You will feel more productive and less depressed about the worldwide Coronairus scenario.

This site has a lot of free information and tips about how to grow, what to grow,  and when to grow veggies throughout the year. Please feel free to explore the site and on the right side column, there is wealth of topics to explore.

That’s it for now. Take care of yourselves and be safe!

Kalibos cabbage-unbelievably beautiful!

For the last 2 years I’ve grown Kalibos cabbage. A friend of mine, Alessandra turned me on to it. This beautiful Eastern European variety is cone shape with huge outer leaves that surround the cone. The cabbage has a high sugar content and intense reddish-purple leaves. The flavor is sweet. Finally a cabbage I like! I never liked cabbage before. It is so beautiful in the garden and makes quite a statement.

I especially like planting it with flowers like in the picture above. It will be equally beautiful nestled in with other plants or in the veggie garden. Needs full sun and takes 2-3 square feet in the garden. Start seeds indoors and transplant them outside under some lightweight row cover. Harvest in late summer or fall. I got my seeds from rareseeds.com (Baker Heirloom Seeds). 90 days to harvest.

What can gardeners do while we deal with Coronavirus?

So while most of us are holed up in our houses, I imagine we will get pretty bored. There are only so many Netflix videos I can watch. I’m a bit shell shocked and finding trouble getting motivated right now to do anything. But I must. I can’t sit around here moping around when actually there are many things I could do around the house and garden.

Since I need to do something else and I am a gardener, I can start getting my garden up to speed. There are always things I never seem to have enough time to do during the garden season as planting always takes precedent. Well, now I have the time to do some of those garden chores I always seem to put off. Plus I can share more on my blog with all this time off.

So what am I going to do? First, I have a lot of cool season veggies started in my house under grow lights. Lettuce, spinach, chard, beets, fava beans, onions and peas are growing inside and just waiting to go outside. But not in the next few days as we are cold in the day and freezing at night. So they will stay tucked in the house for a few more days before I transplant them outside in my main garden. When I do put them outside, I will put row cover over them at night. If you don’t have winter weight row, then two layers of medium weight will work to protect them. Don’t forget to water.

Meanwhile there are many other gardening chores I can do. Here is my list so far:

-The raspberries need to be pruned now before new growth comes in

-The greenhouse needs a fresh coat of paint

-I need to start new compost piles and turn old ones

-feed my worms in my vermicompost pile. Screen some of the castings out to put in the holes when I do plant

-The greenhouse needs to be straightened up and reorganized.

-Collect stuff I need to take to the dump. Are they even open right now?

-Weeds-pull any that are coming up right now or take your hoe and scrape the ground, cutting them off before they get big

-Rake and smooth out my raised beds

-Add 2 inches of compost on each bed and sprinkle a little Azomite on each bed to remineralize them

-Lightly rake in the compost and azomite in the beds

-Start tomato seeds at end of March

-Order garden stuff from Amazon

-Watch gardening clips on Youtube

-Cook my raw tomato sauce that is in my freezer from last season and make some good pasta sauces.

-If you haven’t started any plants, you can plant any cool weather SEEDS OUTSIDE like spinach and beets.

-Plant lettuce, carrots, more beets and chard in April

-I’m sure there are lots more things to do but it is exhausting just thinking about them-think I’ll go take a nap!

 

 

 

 

 

Growing onions

I use to think growing onions was a waste of time but I’ve changed my mind. A home grown onion is better than a store bought one that is really old. There are a couple of ways to grow onions. Go to your nursery and get ‘sets’ which are little onion bulbs and just plant them according to instructions. But what if they don’t have a particular variety you want to grow this season? Then you need to start them from seeds.

What type of onions should we grow here in Santa Fe? There are three types of onions, each one does better in certain parts of the country. Both short day and day neutral onions (sometimes called intermediate onions) will work here in Santa Fe (and of those two, day neutral do best but you can grow short day as well). Long day will NOT have enough daylight hours to work here and the onions will be puny. So when shopping for onions, be sure to ask if these are short day or day neutral types and if you are shopping online, read the description-it should say what type it is. Short day need 10-12 hours of daylight and day neutral need 12-14 hours of daylight. All can be planted in fall or early spring but not in the middle of summer.

GROWING FROM SEEDS: Next if starting from seed, you should start now or even earlier (next year-but you can start now too). In the top pictures are some Cippolini Italian onions that I could not find in sets so I started them last month from seeds. Now I am not quite ready to plant them out, and their tops were getting tall so I read it’s perfectly fine to trim off the little skinny tops. They will continue to grow. I used the cuttings on my scrambled eggs in the morning. Later this month I will separate each one and plant them out in the garden. Those spindly little green tops will grow out to be beautiful onions. I had a bumper crop of onions this last season.

If you think growing onions from seeds instead of sets might turn out smallish, then look again. These red onions from Italy turned out fantastic and I harvested them last fall and they are still good.

GROWING FROM SETS: Now if you prefer to buy sets instead, plant each bulb 1 inch deep with the round part of the bulb facing down in a well composted bed, 4 inches apart in full sun. Water moderately. For spring planting, plant bulb sets now.

HARVESTING ONIONS: When the necks become soft and the tops fall down, stop watering and when 50% of the green tops die back, the full size onions will be ready to harvest. If the bulb is poking out of the soil, that’s ok. Harvest before it freezes. Do not clean off the dirt or cut off the tops until you cure the onions. Curing is the process of letting the outer skins harden off and is necessary for them to store unless you are using them right away. Let dry in a protected area like under a porch or in a shady area for about a week and then clean off the dirt and trim off the tops. Store inside in a dark area like where you store potatoes.