Taking a short break from other things, and talk a short bit about the garden.
I finally got around to planting some lettuce. Seeds from two romaine lettuce heads that sprouted this spring, it was probably the last ones to bolt, so it was some of the better ones to save seed from. I planted thickly, sprinkling on an area 3ft by 3ft. I did two areas. On the one area I cut up comfrey and sprinkled it on.
It rained today, so I am hoping they germinate well, along with the cooler weather this week.
My peas are finally bearing pods. Picked a dozen today. The pole beans in one area are slowing down. The others farther down, probably getting more moisture are doing well. I am selecting the straight long ones for seed. I have saved out a dozen or two so far.
Some of my brassica are trying to be eaten by worms...
It is about time to plant shallots and garlic. I will probably plant garlic up by the fence, where it is drier, and closer to the deer. The deer don't like garlic, so it is better to have it closer to the fence where they well come. I really like shallots. The ones I grew were so pretty. A deep purple color. They are easier to grow than onions because they don't get as big. :) I'll probably grow some more from seed in the spring, and grow some from bulbs this fall.
The weeds are finally dying down. I will feel motivated to do a lot to the garden with the cooler and dryer weather. And when the weeds die down...
The greenhouse is in need of repair. It's gonna cost me $100 for the roof. The cost of the plastic is $70, plus $25 dollars shipping. I guess 4m plastic is fairly heavy...
Anyway, gotta work, see ya!
English Vintner
I thought you were planing to build a prymid green house? Would you still be useing plastic?
ReplyDeleteAnd what is brassica? That may sound like a very basic question to you but I have never heard of it before except from you. I have a little more knowlegde of shallots. But I am courious as to what you do with them. And I also would like to know how long the garlic will last if you are planting it now and how much you will get from what you planted. I can probably find the answers to these questions other places with very little effort, but you don't seem to mind passing on information. :)
At this point I am not planning to build a very big greenhouse pyramid at our house. Once I move out and I am on my own, say in 5 years (maybe longer) I plan on putting up a quite large pyramid greenhouse, something like 20x20 or something. If I could afford to I would probably go with glass for the pyramid.
ReplyDeleteBrassica is the cabbage, broccoli, kale, brussels sprouts, cauliflower family. So, the brassica being eaten by worms is kale and a little bit of Chinese Cabbage.
If I plant the garlic now it will have just time to establish roots and a little under ground growth upwards by the time it gets cold. Than it will remain dormant most of the winter with a fast start off when spring comes. Than, if it grew well and everything I would harvest sometime around August to September. I plan to plant probably 10 square feet or so, maybe less, depending on how much it costs. To plant it I will just buy several bunches of garlics, and than take them apart down to the bulbs and plant the bulbs, than the bulbs will grow into cloves (I think I have the clove/bulb thing straight).
Shallots. I will see if I can post a picture of them in a blog post. I can't post them in this comment. A shallot is basically a miniature onion. It resembles in looks closer to garlic, and grows more like garlic with several bulbs. But the taste is of a mild onion, as is the texture.