I’ll provide a number of different plants’ growth charts throughout the season and certainly at the end.  The Lincoln Peas have a long way to go up the trellis before they start to bloom but today they are showing strong growth.

Related articles:

1. Planted: Lincoln Peas
2. On the Farm, June 19, 2009
3. On the Farm, June 6, 2009

Peas

The peas are looking good.  You can see from the photos that they need some training to work their way up the trellis.  But I’m confident they are good learners.

Tomatoes

The tomatoes are coming up slowly but surely.  They are at about 16 to 20 inches right now.  Last year, the tomato plants reached about 4 to 5 feet so they have a ways to go.  At the point, I’m more concerned about the root strength than the height.  A 5 foot plant needs a really strong root structure.

In one of the pictues, notice a huge batch of tomato plants (almost looks herb like).  I left some tomatoes on the ground at the end of last year and tilled them into the soil in the spring.  Much to my amazement, they are growing.  They aren’t in a great place to grow 4 feet, but I am letting them grow just to see how they fare.

Chard

After a couple misses, some of the chard is finally coming up.  I’m not sure why it didn’t all sprout (I usually don’t have chard problems), but the few buds look good.

Spinach

No complaints on spinach.  This is the second week that I’ve been able to cut the outer, larger leaves for spinach salads.

Radish

The biggest radish came out of the ground.  Take a look at the pictures above.  It’s about 2 inches in diameter.  I happened to go to the Green City Market today and found 3 inch radishes, but I’m happy anyway.  The radishes have a great spicy punch and are really crisp.  I also replanted another 16 radishes that should be ready in about 3 weeks.  They are just that easy to grow.

Rocky Top Lettuce

The rocky top lettuce has grown a lot in the last week.  You can see about 3 to 5 different varieties growing.  In another 2 weeks, I’ll start to trim back for baby greens and let some other plants grow for fuller heads.  I also replanted Rocky Top today.  I am growing this batch in a shadier area of the garden.  I’ll grow the lettuce all summer, but it needs a reprieve from the hottest sun.

Planted Today:

I’ll have a longer description of each variety but I planted basil, pumpkin, watermelon, and two varieties of cucumbers today.  All from seed.  Descriptions on the way.

Also notice the permaculturephotos.  I have taken one bed and I’m growing — in random — a variety of herbs, lettuces, radish, etc.  I’ll write up separately on my lessons on permaculture.

Related articles:

1. On the Farm, June 19, 2009
2. On The Farm, June 26, 2009
3. On the Farm, June 12, 2009

Weeds!  I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to wait until the plants established themselves before I pulled any weeds out (I wasn’t sure what was a weed and what was a plant).  I must have waited too long.  I’m almost done pulling weeds and look how much I’ve pulled out.  Remember, this is only 200 square feet of growing area.  And plenty of weeds.

Related articles:

1. Planted: Stowell’s Evergreen Corn
2. Spring Preparations

Carrots

Carrots among the Garlic

The carrots were planted on a windy day.  Good news, they’ve seeded and are growing nicely.  Bad news, they aren’t all in the places that they were planted.  This happens and I don’t get too worried about it.  The picture above shows a carrot growing among the garlic plants.  It will be interesting growing two in-the-ground plants right next to eachother.  So far — so good.

Tomatoes

Tomato Plant, May 27, 2009

The tomato plants are looking good.  For the first time, I planted the plants in the order in which they’ll bloom (early season, mid-season, and late season).  Not suprisingly, the plants are growing at the same rate.  Above is an early season tomato plant which is growing considerably faster than the other tomato plants.  It’s hard to tell from the angle, but the plant is about a foot tall (the other plants are still in the 8 to 10 inch range).

Peppers

Peppers, May 27, 2009

The peppers are strong, but they haven’t been growing high.  Peppers thrive in heat (which is the reason no many people grow hot peppers in the Midwest — the hotter the pepper, the more heat and sun you need).  We’ve been averaging upper 60s for the past few weeks and the pepper plants need 80s.  I’m hoping the weather picks up a bit and they’ll start to take off.

Herbs

Parsley and Cilantro, May 27, 2009

Cilantro and parsley are tough herbs to start.  I’ve had many failed attempts at getting both to sprout and I’m happy to say there were no problems this year.  Above you’ll see a few solidly growing cilantro and italian parsley plants.  If you’ve never grown the two, it’s actually a little hard to tell them apart.  Usually the smell test works — cilantro has a strong distinct smell.  Please disregard my lack of weeding.  Honestly, I’ve made mistakes and pulled herbs instead of weeds so I like to give it just a little time to establish themselves to figure out whether it is a weed or not.

Peas

Peas, May 27, 2009

The spinach is also going strong.  I have three different stages of spinach growing right now.  The picture above is from the first batch.  I can start cutting each of these plants for some baby spinach, but I think I’m going to let it grow just one more week.  There is another set of plants about 2 weeks behind and then a third set which just popped out of the ground.

A good start and plenty more pictures to take and a couple of more seeds to get in the ground in the next week.

Related articles:

1. Peas, Spinach, Radishes and More…Growing
2. On the Farm, June 19, 2009
3. Friday Growing

Upside Down Tomato

You may have seen the commercial or seen many covers of the Gardeners.com catalog of tomatoes growing upside down.  I don’t believe it works but I’m willing to give it a try.  I have an extra hook outside my kitchen window.  Instead of hanging a flowering plant, I’m going to try to hang a tomato plant.  The picture above showcases my tomato — about 4 inches sticking out of an 18 inch pot.

The tomato hanger went up over the weekend.  The concept is that the sun will warm the green bag of dirt and allow the tomato to grow faster and better.  It was extremely easy to put together — the hardest part is not ruining the seedling while trying to get it in the planter.

Not that growing a tomato in the ground competes with a hanging basket, I’ll keep an eye on how the tomato plant does.  It certainly is a good answer for someone who doesn’t have a full sun garden to grow your tomatoes in.

Related articles:

1. It’s a tough day for a Tomato
2. Transplanted: Mule Team Tomato
3. Spring Preparations

Spinach

Spinach, May 8, 2009

The spinach is looking great.  We’re at about week 3 with the spinach above.  It’s not yet considered “baby” spinach — maybe a week to 10 days more.  It’s about 2 inches high.  There are about 3 sets of 8 plants growing at different stages.  With about a week in between.  Spinach will continue to grow really big, so I just cut each week the amount that I’ll need.  These 24 plants will likely last me through to July.  In late June, I’ll replant for a fall crop.

Radish

Radish, May 8, 2009

The radish plants really came into their own this week.  These are also about a two inches high and all but one sprouted.

Radish Sets, May 8, 2009

As you can tell from above, only one seed didn’t sprout (bottom left).  They are spaced about 2 to 3 inches apart and should grow a nice 2 inch bulb.  The radish leaves will grow about 6 inches high when the radishes themselves are ready to pick.

Lettuce

Rocky Top Lettuce, May 9, 2009

The lettuce finally sprouted!  Above is the Rocky Top lettuce… not even an inch high so far.  You barely cover the seeds in the dirt when you plant them.  Two things generally happen.  1) They blow away.  2) Birds get to them.  As you can see above by the scattered growth, one of the two happened.  It’s ok.  You prune back (baby lettuce) as you go to let a few grow out big.  So it will all work out in the end.

Peas

Peas, May 8, 2009

Single Pea Sprout, April 24, 2009

Look how far we’ve come in 3 weeks.  The top was taken this morning and the bottom three weeks ago.  The peas are on their way to the sky!

Shallots

Shallots, May 8, 2009

The shallots are growing nicely.  I’m excited to cut those shallot scapes in the next few weeks to throw into a stir fry.  They are strong.

Tomatoes

Tomato Plant, May 8, 2009

The tomato plants have a long way to go before they grow a tomato.  These plants were 5 inches high when they were transplanted in the ground.  At transplant, you plant them really deep so only two inches showed above the direct.  Now they’re back up to 6 inches high.  Eventually they will reach about 4 feet.

More from the garden tomorrow!

Related articles:

1. Peas, Spinach, Radishes and More…Growing
2. On the Farm, June 6, 2009
3. A Growing Farm, May 27, 2009

I try a new variety of corn each year.  Last year was Illini corn (again favoring the local variety).  I’ve pulled the corn too early and I’ve waited too long and an animals has gotten to the corn before me.  I thought corn was pretty easy to grow but I always run into a problem.  Hopefully I’ll pay close attention and get a few good ears of corn this year.

It’s hard to tell from the photo below, but the seeds of corn are very white/light yellow.  I’m curious what this will taste like.

Stowell's Evergreen Corn from Baker Creek

Stowell’s Evergreen Sweet Corn
This is among the oldest sweet corn that is still in production, predating 1949. It is still a favorite of many, producing tasty white kernels. The plants used to be pulled up when completely ripe, and hung upside-down in a cool pantry; the ears would last well into the winter, in a semi-fresh state. In 1873, the seeds sold for 25 cents per pint.

Related articles:

1. Planted: European Mesclun Salad
2. In the Ground: Carrots
3. Planted: Radishes

Greasy Grits Beans from Baker Creek

I had no idea what the beans would look like, but I was pleasantly surprised when the beans looked pretty cool.  (I know it’s a little hard to tell, but the beans are lying on the seed package above.)

I’ve planted 12 seeds of the greasy grits so I should have plenty of beans to eat fresh and to dry for soups (and seed save for next year).

I chose Greasy Grits frankly because of the name.  Seriously, it’s a rare heirloom that used to be grown in the Midwest and they are good for soup beans.  Should be a fun bean to grow.  Here is the description:

Greasy Grits
A popular old Appalachian and Mountain folk heirloom that used to be common in much of the Midwest and South, but now is very rare. It gets the name because its pods are smoother and shinier than other beans, giving it a “greasy” appearance. Pods are harvested small and used like other green beans, or you can allow to dry for a brown soup bean that is easy to shell. Highly productive vines.

Related articles:

1. One Seed Chicago: Blue Lake Pole Bean
2. On the Farm, June 12, 2009
3. Planted: Lincoln Peas

The hardest part about growing Mule Team is paying attention.  With a 12 oz tomato, leave it on the vine too long and it will fall.

Mule Team
A great choice for a ‘main crop,’ all-purpose tomato. Vigorous plants bear plenty of 8 to 12 ounce round, bright red tomatoes with excellent flavor and texture. Not only are harvests very abundant, but production continues right up until frost. Heirloom variety. Indeterminate. 80 days

Related articles:

1. Transplanted: Grandma Mary’s Paste
2. It’s a tough day for a Tomato
3. Transplanted: Abraham Lincoln Tomatoes

Paste tomatoes are a great addition to the farm.  I purposely buy early, medium, and late season tomatoes so that I can spread the “wealth” around.  Paste tomatoes are a great addition because you don’t necessarily slice and eat them.  I grow paste tomatoes to make pasta sauce to freeze.  I generally finish the tomato season with about 12 to 20 cups of tomato sauce in the freezer.

Last year I had blossom-end rot problems with the paste tomatoes.  Blossom-end rot generally occurs when there is not enough calcium in the soil or the tomatoes grow to fast.  I have Stop Rot (a calcium soil supplement) in case that happens again this year.

Grandma Mary’s Paste
This familiar heirloom variety has large, pointed red paste tomatoes that are meaty and flavorful, just right for cooking into sauce or chopping up for fresh use. Expect abundant harvests, as these plants are prolific. Indeterminate. 70 days.

Related articles:

1. Transplanted: Mule Team Tomato
2. Transplanted: Abraham Lincoln Tomatoes
3. It’s a tough day for a Tomato