Tag Archives: Potager

Tree Gators, Aggies and Wildfires

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Well, Mother Nature finally sent a little relief to all of us that have been suffering under the heat of the HOTTEST AUGUST ON RECORD.  This cool front was much appreciated by all of the fall gardeners who really needed to get their seeds and seedlings in the ground.  The milder weather encouraged me to tear up and haul off an old brick side walk.  I was also able to get the beds of the potager ready for a slightly late Fall planting.

I also got to install my latest “garden gadget”.  Because of the drought, all of our neighbors are watering much more than normal.  This leaves us almost 0 water pressure at our house.  Due to the low water pressure, our sprinklers are just not covering the same amount of area that they used to.  It has made it somewhat difficult to get enough water on our trees.  So, to help ensure that my trees make it, I bought five “Tree Gators” If you are not familiar with Tree Gators, they are basically a big ziplock baggie that wraps around the base of your tree.  You fill it with 20 gallons of water and then tiny holes in the bottom of the bags drain the 20 gallons over a five hour period.  I was very impressed with this little invention.  It has an incredibly simple design, is ridiculously easy to use, and entirely effective.  What more could you ask of a gadget?  You can check out the entire line of Tree Gator products at http://www.gardenhomedirect.com/Treegator-Original-Slow-Release-Watering-Bag-by-Spectrum-Products_p_3.html.

Over 80,000 Aggies showed up for Sunday’s game. It was the fourth largest crowd ever at Kyle Field.

Despite getting to watch A&M beat up on SMU, the weekend was not perfect.  The tropical depression that brought a ton of much needed rain to Louisiana, brought us extremely high winds for most of Saturday and Sunday.  These winds caused a small personal tragedy for me.  I lost my greenhouse to the winds.  I know that this is in no way comparable to losing one’s home.  However, to me it was pretty heart breaking.  I just bought my little greenhouse a month ago.  It was very disappointing to drive up my road on Sunday morning and see all of those dreams of fall and winter propagation wrapped around a barbed wire fence.

My little greenhouse fell victim to the high winds on Saturday

The Texas Wildfires

I would also like to take a minute and talk a little about the fires that seem to be consuming most of Texas.  Right now, there are 64 wildfires burning in Texas.  Things are so bad that on Saturday, I heard something I have never heard in all of my 49 years.  The Brenham radio stations were making public appeals for all volunteer firemen, regardless of where they lived, to grab their gear and head to Bastrop.  The fire in Bastrop is awful.  I heard this morning that Bastrop State Park is gone!  How can that be?  Bastrop State Park was a huge stand of ancient pines covering acres and acres of beautiful rolling hills.  I have spent many painful hours pedaling up and down those hills on my bicycle.  While my thighs hated the hills, the place was so beautiful that I gladly accepted the burning in my thighs as the small sacrifice that my body paid so my mind and soul could be invigorated by the scenery.  I will miss this place dearly.

While Brenham is still fairly safe, all of the counties around us are burning.  Two of my nephews that live close to Bastrop were forced to evacuate on Sunday.  I cannot imagine leaving your home and all of your possessions knowing there is a very good chance they will not be there when you return.  According to the news wires, between 600 and 1000 Texans have lost their homes to wildfires this summer.  Please keep these people in your thoughts and in your prayers.  Also pray for the men and women that are battling these fires.

If you would like to see where these wildfires are currently burning, the Texas A&M  Agrilife Extension site hosts a Google map with data provided by the Texas Forest Service.  Here is the link: http://ticc.tamu.edu/Response/FireActivity/.

Preparing the Zone 9 Fall Garden

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Even though it was 106 yesterday, it is time to get your zone 9 gardens ready for fall planting. I have to admit, with all of the talk of water restrictions, I am debating how much of a garden I am going to have this fall. I really cannot imagine not planting a garden, but I do think that I am going to scale back. No row garden for me this fall. Instead, I will be doing all of my planting in my potager (if you are a reader of Texas Gardener magazine, check out this month’s article that details how I built my potager).

Carrots and lettuce love the cooler weather of fall.

Preparation – Before you plant, you need to get the garden ready. For me, this is a fairly simple process. I practice no till gardening in my potager. So, to get my beds ready I do the following things. Note: these steps work well for flower beds as well. Since most beds have a mix of annuals and perennial, they are typically no till as well.

1. Remove all plant material that is left over from the spring garden. If you have not pulled up those cucumber or pole bean vines, then now is the time to do it. Also, if there is plant litter on the ground, remove it and destroy it (burn if you can, haul off if there is a burn ban). Old plant litter can hold a lot of pests that can “bug” you in the fall and then again in the spring. Squash Bugs over winter in plant litter so DO NOT move this debris to the compost pile. The squash bugs will actually thrive in the warm compost environment and be ready for another invasion in the spring.

2. Remove weeds. Thank goodness, weeds are not as aggressive in the fall. A good weeding now will reduce the number of times you will have to weed in the fall and winter. If there are no seed heads on the weeds that you pull, go ahead and put them on the compost heap.

3. Fertilize. Since I grow organically, I fertilize with various forms of compost. I use primarily mushroom compost but I will occasionally add in composted cow manure, rabbit manure, cotton bur compost and an alfalfa and humate blend. All of these are good sources of nitrogen. However, for good flower production (and ultimately vegetable production) you also need phosphorus. I use rock phosphate. Also, don’t forget about the potassium. Potassium (or potash) helps plants use water. Clay soils generally have enough of this in our area. However, since we are in a drought, I am going to add a little supplemental potassium this year. The best source of potassium for the organic garden is greensand. You can also add wood ash but it is high in lime so it can lower your pH.

Cabbage, and all brassicas, thrive here in the fall

Planting – In my humble opinion, fall is the best time of the year to garden in Texas. The temperatures are falling to a bearable level, the rains generally pick up and weeds are not nearly as much of a problem. Also, my favorite vegetables are the brassicas that thrive in the Texas fall. Patty Leander creates the planting guide for the Travis County Agrilife Extension office.  Click the link below to see here updated planting guide for our area.

Texas A&M AgriLife’s Vegetable Planting Guide by Patty Leander

 

Turnips are a two for one deal in the fall garden. Both the turnip and the greens are delicious and nutritious.

The Potato Box Experiment Is A Complete Failure

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This is what failure looks like. Out of two large potato boxes, this is all I got.

Well, all of the foliage of the potatoes in my potato box died so I decided to take the boxes apart and harvest my 200 lbs of potatoes.   Imagine my shock when I took the sides down from the box growing the red La Soda’s and found — NOTHING!!!  That is right, nothing.  Not a single little potato.  So, much discouraged, I proceeded to take apart the box containing the white Keenebec’s.  I was relieved to discover that this box was not a total failure.  I found one tiny little potato, smaller than a ping pong ball.  So, I am calling both boxes failures. 

I don’t yet know what went wrong.  I followed the instructions that I found on the web very carefully.  I spent quite a bit of time, effort and money on this and it was a complete and total disaster.  I will be doing some research to see if I can get to the bottom of this mystery.

Everything looked so good in April. I really cannot figure out what went wrong.

I just cannot yet accept that this is a bad method for growing potatoes.  There are just too many magazine articles and web posts about it for it to be an unsound method.  Right now, I am going to write this off to a bad year.  My friend Cynthia Mueller tried to grow several varieies of potatoes in her BCS garden and she had dismal luck as well.  As I have talked to other gardeners I have found that this was a hit and miss year for potatoes in general.  Some folks did well, but many folks that I have talked to have not had any luck either.

I am not a quitter.  I will try this experiment again in the fall. Fall potatoes are a bit trickier than spring potatoes but I am going to try nonetheless.

Daikon

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The other day I was at lunch in BCS (that is Bryan-College Station for all you non-Aggies out there) with several Masters of Horticulture.  We were talking about our gardens and I mentioned that my daikon were doing really well.  To my surprise, not a single one of these PhD Horticulturists knew what a daikon was.  I found this somewhat amusing but I guess if you do not eat a lot of Asian food, then you would have no reason to know about daikon. 

Sydney Pickle, Hannah Michna and Lindsey Pickle pull the first daikon of the year from the yupneck's garden

If you are not familiar with daikon, here is a little background.  They are a root crop much like carrots or parsnips.  In fact, the Japanese translation of their name means “large root”.  Daikon is a radish and it is a staple of Japanese food.  They cook it, pickle it, stir fry it, stew it and eat it raw.  The Chinese, Koreans and Indians also eat a lot of this spicy root.  The greens are also edible.  One reason it is so popular in the Far East is it’s storage capabilities.  Unbruised daikon can stay fresh for three months in a root cellar.  When dried, they can last much longer.  This allows the Japanese to have a ready supply of a vitamin C throughout the long winters.  There are more acres of daikon in production in Japan than any other vegetable.

There are two varieties of daikon.  One looks like a big turnip and can grow to 100 pounds.  However, the one that I grow is much more common.  Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus is a long white root that resembles a carrot.  It has white flesh and skin.  It can grow to lengths of 36” but is most often harvested when it is between 12” to 18” long and the diameter is between “1” and 2”.  Summer diakon have a sharper and spicier flavor than fall diakon.  Also, the taste of the daikon changes as you progress up the stalk.  The hottest (and most radish-ey tasting) part is near the tip.  The flavor becomes milder as you move up the root toward the greens. 

Daikon, Chinese cucmbers and volunteer zinnias in the potager

Daikon are very easy to grow.  They like rich, loose soil and full sun.  Plant at the same time as you plant other root crops.  They actually work best as a fall vegetable but do quite well in the spring.  Since they produce roots that weigh over a pound, a small amount of space will provide you with lots of radish. 

I work with several Indian and Chinese ex-pats so I grow enough to share.  This year, one of my friends took some home and had his wife make me pickles.  They are AWESOME!!!!  I have enjoyed these pickles so much that I am including the recipe here.  It is a simple and delicious recipe that will make a perfect side for all of your outdoor summer grilling.  Hope you enjoy!

Debbie Kwan’s Daikon Pickles

Slice the daikon and sprinkle with about 1 tsp of salt. Use your hands to knead the vegetables for about 3 minutes.  Place in fridge and wait about 15-30min until water has been expelled.  Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water, then press gently to expel extra water.

 Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup rice vinegar and 1/2 cup of water in a pot on low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool then pour over the daikon. The brine should cover the daikon. Add peppers of your choice to make it spicy.  Let it marinate in the brine for at least 1 day before eating. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 weeks.

Daylilies-A Month of Blooms

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One of the daylilies that was passed along to me from my wife's grandmother

Very few plants in my garden give me as much enjoyment as my daylilies.  Early in April, I start watching them.  I am looking for that first sign of stalks. When I see these I know that soon, the green border around my potager will be covered in bright yellow flowers.

A masss of Nana's daylilies border my potager

My daylilies were passed to me by my wife’s grandmother.  Not directly, though.  A few years after she passed, we dug them up from her home place in the sandy loam of East Texas and moved them to the black clay of Washington County.  This sentence should tell you a lot about daylilies.  First, they lived at Nana’s for several years with absolutely no care.  So, daylilies are tough.  They also survived being dug out of a beautiful loamy soil and moved to a not so wonderful black clay.  So, daylilies are adaptable.  Throw in the fact that they are absolutely reliable, pest free and beautiful and you begin to understand why so many people love them.

A lovely daylily bred by Chris von Kohn. You can buy this and others from him. All of his contact info is at the bottom of the post.

History – Daylilies originated in China, Korea and Japan.  They found their way to the Americas by the 1700s.  The Tawny Daylily was one of the first.  It quickly escaped cultivation and is now so common on the east coast that many think it is a native wildflower.  This flower was often planted close to outhouses and so it derived the very unfortunate common name of “Outhouse Lily”.  Daylilies began to lose their popularity in the US in the 1800s.  In 1920, the “Hyperion” daylily was introduced.  This began the resurrection of the flower as a major bedding plant in American gardens.

Despite their name, they are not true lilies.  Daylilies belong to the genus Hemerocallis and there are over 60,000 registered cultivars.  Their name is derived from Greek and literally means “beautiful day”.  Since the 1950s, the US has been the world leader in daylily hybridization.  I have a young friend at A&M named Chris von Kohn.  He has already created over 1000 daylily hybrids.  He hasn’t gotten one named yet, but he is only 22!  Chris is an up and coming Master of Horticulture and I am betting that we are going to be hearing a lot more about him in the years to come.  Thanks to the efforts of people like Chris, you can now own daylilies in every color except blue.  Some have  a strong fragrance and others have none.  There are daylilies with ruffled petals and multi-colored petals.  Some have “eyes” and still other sparkle with “diamond dust”. 

Another lovely daylily bred by Chris von Kohn. He is about to start grad school so he will greatly appreciate every order. All of his contact info is at the bottom of the post.

Planting – Daylilies are incredibly easy to grow.  Plant them in direct sun (or dappled shade) in well worked soil.  Dig a hole about 8” deep and make a small mound in the center of the base.  Spread the roots of the plant over this mound and backfill to a point where there is no more than 1” of soil over the crown.  If the roots of the plant are too big for the hole, trim them.  Water them in and then apply mulch (but not around the crown).  Water regularly for the first year.  After that, the daylily should be able to survive with minimal amounts of supplemental water.

Dividing – Daylilies reproduce rapidly.  If their clumps become too dense, they will begin to flower less and less.  Because of this, you need to divide them every two or three years.  This is best done in late summer or early fall.  Also, it is a good idea to give your plants a good watering the day before you do your dividing and transplanting. 

There are two ways to divide your plants.  The easiest is to just stick your shovel in the middle of the clump and remove half of the plant.  Since they have an extensive root system you may need to push your shovel all the way into the soil.  Use the shovel to work around the new clump and remove.  Replant in a prepared hole at the same depth as the original plant and water.  Place them about two feet apart.

Another creation of Chris von Kohn. You can buy this and others from him. All of his contact info is at the bottom of the post.

If you want to get individual plants, you can use a sharp knife to divide your clump into fourths.  Once this done, you can begin to remove individual fans.  Replant these fans like previously described.

Very few beautiful plants are as hardy or as easy to grow as Daylilies.  There are varieties that are hardy from zones 1 to 11.  Once established, they have a low water requirement and they are relatively pest free.  On top of all of that, they are incredibly diverse in color and form.  With so much to offer there is no reason for you not to grow daylilies in your own garden.

Buy Your Daylilies Here – Chris von Kohn will be selling some of his creations this fall.  They are incredible!  He is currently taking orders.  They are in bloom now so if you live in the Arlington/DFW area you can go by and pick your favorite.  He will mark it and save it for you and you can pick it up in the fall.  You can reach Chris at cvk007@earthlink.net or you can give him a call at either 817-269-7474 or 817-483-5146.   If you don’t live in the DFW area, just drop him an e-mail and he will be happy to send you pictures and then ship your plants when they are ready.

The yupneck with Chris von Kohn. He has just been awarded the outstanding senior agriculture student for horticulture by Gamma Sigma Delta, The Honor Society of Agriculture.

Love-Lies-Bleeding

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For me, growing new things is a big part of the fun in gardening.  Each year, I like to try at least one new vegetable and one new flower.  Sometimes the new things work out and sometimes they don’t.  This year, one of my flower experiments has yielded a keeper: Love-Lies-Bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus).

Love-Lies-Bleeding flower heads just beginning to form

Love-Lies-Bleeding (and all amaranths for that matter) is easy to grow, tolerant of poor soils and incredible to look at.  In less than three months, mine have gone from seed to eye catching three foot tall plants covered in long red inflorescence that cascade almost down to the ground.  These plants have been grown for ornamental purposes for a very long time.  A. caudatus was included in a plant survey found in Colonial Williamsburg and it was very popular in Victorian English gardens.

Love-Lies-Bleeding is member of the amaranth family.  Amaranths are a diverse species with plants whose foliage and inflorescence range from yellow to red to deep purple.  In addition to producing very showy inflorescence, amaranths are edible.  Both the leaves and the seeds are harvested as food all over the world.  The leaves are used much like spinach and the seeds are used as grains.  However, since amaranths are not in the grass family, their seeds are gluten free.  Amaranth was a very important crop for both the Aztecs and the Inca.  To this day, the seeds are still “popped” like popcorn, mixed with honey, molasses or chocolate and sold as snacks on the streets of Mexico.

Up close on the developing flower head

The botanical name of Love-Lies-Bleeding derives from Greek and means “unfading flower”.  This is an accurate description as the flowers are very long lasting cut flowers and they can be easily dried  to extend the amount of time that you get to enjoy them.  For fresh flower arrangements, cut amaranths when ¾ of the flowers are open on the stem.  They will last 7-10 days in a vase.  If you want to dry them, harvest when the seed begin to set and the flowers are firm to the touch.  Cut and hang upside down for at least 10 days.  This is great for Texas as high heat during the drying process allows the flowers to better retain their color.

Love-Lies-Bleeding is easy to grow and extremely well suited for our hot Texas climate.  Plant seeds when the soil is around 70 degrees.  It is tolerant of both drought and poor soils.  In fact, too much nitrogen and the flowers will not be as bright.  Give it too much water and the plants may break.  Water deeply but infrequently.  It does not like wet feet.  Once it sprouts, thin to about 18” since it is not uncommon for these plants to reach five feet in height and spread to over two feet.

This is what the flower head looks like two weeks after the first picture was taken. Notice how the flower color has begun to fade. The soil in my potager has too much nitrogen for this plant that loves marginal soils.

Like all things that are easy to grow, Love-Lies-Bleeding does have its problems.  Since each plant can produce over 100,000 seeds, it can be a bit invasive (it is in the same family as pigweed).  However, when young, the plants have a shallow root system and are very easy to pull.  And, since I know I am going to have to pull weeds anyway, I might as well pull something that will grow into a beautiful plant if I miss it!

How to Harvest and Cure Onions

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This past weekend, I pulled up 52 pounds of 10/15 onions.  Definitely my best onion harvest ever.  Now the question is, “What do I do with 52 lbs of onions”?  Since my wife and I are empty nesters, it is going to take us a while to eat all of those onions.  Especially when you take into account the fact that I just harvested an apple box full of shallots and I am still growing Egyptian Walking Onions.  I am sure we will be sharing with our kids and neighbors, but we are still going to have to preserve a large number of these onions.  Here’s how we preserve our onion crop:

10/15 onions in the potager two weeks ago

First, if you are new to gardening, you may wonder when to harvest or pull your onions.  The general rule is “Pull when the tops fall over”.  Below is a picture of what that looks like.  I believe in letting nature take its course.  I do not pull until 75% or more of the tops have fallen.  Once they fall, you can leave them in the ground for a week to ten days.  This starts the natural curing process.  However, do not leave them in the ground much more than ten days as that makes them susceptible to soil borne pathogens that can cause mold and rot in storage.  Just a little note,  I have heard several people say you have to cure onions before you can eat them.  This is not true.  Onions can be eaten at any time in their growth cycle (tops and all).  You only have to cure onions that you want to preserve.

The same onions from the first photo after their tops have fallen over

Once you have pulled your onions, spread them out in the sun.  Make sure they have room between them for air circulation.  I put mine on an old screen door up on saw horses.  The length of time varies.  If you pull them on a dry, hot day in Texas, then a few hours should be sufficient.  If it has rained recently, the onions moisture content will be higher and you will need to leave them out until the roots become noticeably harder than when they were harvested. 

Once they have completed this initial drying period, place them in a dry, shady place to allow them to complete the curing process.  Many people put them on their porch.  If you do not have room on your porch or in your garage, put them outside on a board or screen door to keep them off of the ground.  Place a sheet over them for shade.  Do not use plastic or canvas as this traps moisture.  You can cut the tops off at this time if you wish but if you do, leave about one inch of top on the onion.

Placing the onions on an old screen door. Allow plenty of space around them so they will cure properly.

While they are drying, turn them every few days to make sure they are drying evenly.  This part of the process can take two or three weeks.  You will know they are ready when the outer skins are papery and the roots are dry and brittle. 

Once your onion’s have cured, you can place them in mesh bags (or braid their tops together) and hang them in the garage for a little more drying.  If you are going to put them in a root cellar where humidity is high, you want to make sure they are as dry as possible.  Properly cured onions can keep for several months.  Check them often and discard any that are becoming soft.  If you see any sign of sprouting, eat them immediately, replant, or discard.

Sunflowers (Helianthus Annus)

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 Sunflowers and long beans at Boggy Creek Farms in Austin.  Photo from their website

How many flowers do you grow that reach heights of ten feet, look great in the garden, last forever in a vase, and then feed you when it dries out?  As far as I know, there is only one; sunflowers!

Sunflowers are native to North America.  Indigenous people have grown them for thousands of years.  Archeological evidence shows that tribes in Arizona and New Mexico were growing them around 3000 B.C.  It is thought that the sunflowers were domesticated by Native Americans before corn.  The Aztecs were so impressed with sunflowers that they actually worshipped them.

Even though Native Americans grew them first, the Russians are responsible for producing what we most often think of as sunflowers today.  At last count, there are 82 species of sunflowers and countless numbers of varieties.  According to the USDA, in 1991, 2.7 million acres of sunflowers were grown in the U.S.   Commercial production is mostly for oil but considerable amounts are processed for human consumption, bird seed and cut flowers.

 

“Mammoth” sunflowers in the yupneck’s 2010 summer garden

How to Grow:  If you want to grow really big sunflowers, plant your seeds as soon as night time temperatures do not drop below 50 degrees.  Sunflowers love full sun.  In fact, the more sunlight they get, the bigger the seed heads they will produce.  6 to 8 hours of sun is the minimum.  Plant your seeds 1” deep in clumps of 5 or 6 that are spaced about 6” apart.  These “clumps” should be spaced about 20” apart.  Sunflowers are heavy feeders so make sure your bed is deeply worked with compost.  Water your seeds regularly.  With proper moisture, the seeds will sprout in 5 to 10 days.  As your seedlings emerge, slowly begin to thin them.  Cull the first bunch when the plants reach 6” in height.  Leave about four plants.  Cull the next bunch when the plants reach about a foot, leaving your best two.  When those plants get 2’ tall leave only the best.  If your sunflowers are grown to close together, they will produce shorter stalks and smaller heads.  Plant them too far apart and they may get so tall that the stalk will not be able to support the weight of the seed head.

Very few plants in my gardens give me as much enjoyment as sunflowers.  To me nothing says “summer in the country” better than a galvanized bucket full of the bright yellow heads on our dining room table.  I am fast approaching the age when grand children will soon begin to follow me into my garden.  Sunflowers will be the first plant that I use to get the next generation of gardeners in our family excited about growing things.  I can’t wait to see the wonder in their eyes as they watch that tiny little seed turn into a mighty sunflower!

 

Blooms in the Potager

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Over the past year I have slowing been shifting the focus of my potager from veggies to herbs and flowers.  Because of this, the potager is now lovelier than it has ever been.  Here are a few pics of some of the things that are blooming (or beginning to) in my little kitchen garden.

First up are the poppies.  I got the seeds from Carol Ann Sayle at Boggy Creek Farm in Austin.  As you can see, they are beautiful.

Here’s another shot

Mixed in with the poppies are some Byzantine gladiolus. 

Here is an un-named rose that I got from my sister.  She lost her battle with ALS two year’s ago.  Everytime this rose blooms I think of her and smile.  Since we don’t know what it is, we call in “Ginna’s Rose” in her honor.

My “Victoria” salvia is thriving after the harsh winter.  There is lemon grass in the white pot behind it

I bought these and they were labeled “strawflower”.  They look alot like dianthus to me.  Whatever they are, they are lovely and they last forever as a cut flower.

There are still a few veggies in the potager.  Here are some 10/15 onions, purple cabbage and English peas for the trellis

Here is what happens when you let spinach bolt.  I had never let it go this far before but I thought it made an attractive shot. 

Here are some Easter lilies that may actually bloom by Easter

And finally, a lovely spring bouquet from the potager (if you say that with a french accent it rhymes )

Garden Experiments

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I love to experiment in my garden.  Every year, I grow something that I have never grown before or I try to grow an old stand-by in a new way.  This year, I am doing both.

My first experiment this year is potato boxes.  I am currently growing white potatoes (Kennebec) and new potatoes (La Soda) in wooden boxes that I “add to” as the potato plants grow.  According to the website that I found (http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/gardening/how-to-grow-100-pounds-of-potatoes-in-4-square-feet-081760), these 2’ X 2’ boxes can yield about 100 pounds of potatoes each.  While I am a little skeptical of these numbers, I will let you know how accurate that estimate is in a few weeks. 

One of my two potato boxes

The process for this is pretty simple (see the drawing below).  Basically, make four corner posts 33” long ( I used 4X4’s).  Cut two 1X6’s 24” long and two more 25 ½ “ long.  Screw them to the corner posts.  Place your seed potatoes (I used 12 whole potatoes) in the bottom of the box and cover with soil (I used mushroom compost).  As the plants grow, keep covering with soil or compost so that no more than 6” to 12” of plant is showing.  As the planting area gets full of soil, add another row of 1X6’s and continue the process until the box has sides that are 33”.  Once the box is full and plants are coming out of the top, you can remove the bottom layer of 1X6 and harvest as you need. 

 So far, my experiment seems to be working just as it has was described.  The Kennebecs are doing great.  I already have three layers of 1X6 in place and I will probably have to add another this weekend.  The new potatoes had a slow start but they are beginning to take off now.  I can’t wait to finally weigh my harvest and report my results back to you.

 I am also trying an experiment with my tomatoes.  Normally, I plant my tomatoes in my potager.  However, since I have decided to grow mostly herbs and flowers in the potager, I moved my tomatoes to the row garden.  While visiting with my friend Bill Adams, I learned that he grows his tomatoes in pure mushroom compost.  Since Bill is a true Master of Horticulture and the undisputed Tomato King, I decided to follow his lead and do the same thing.   I took my Mantis tiller and dug a furrow about 9” deep.  I then took my tomatoes out of their pots and placed them in the bottom of the furrow.  Next, I back filled with the compost and watered them in.  I am supporting them with a cattle panel and I gave the whole area a thick layer of straw mulch.  So far, everything looks like it is doing great.  I planted the same varieties this year as last so I will have some ability to judge which method did the best.  (Check out Bill’s book “The Texas Tomato Lover’s Handbook –http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-AgriLife-Research-Extension-Service/dp/1603442391). 

In addition to these two “method” experiments, I am  growing three new vegetable varieties this year.  The first are daikon radishes that were given to me by blogging friend “The Gracelss Gaijin”.  Daikon is a staple of Asian cuisine and I can’t wait to try them.  I am also growing “Chinese cucumbers” that were given to me by my friend Emy Chen.  This variety of cucumber is supposed to have a very mild skin that makes it great for slicing.  Can’t wait.  My final “new veggie” for this year is the “Tigger Melon”. 

 

I got my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (http://rareseeds.com/shop/).  Tigger is a small melon with very sweet, white flesh.  These one pound melons have a great aroma and taste and are perfect for a single serving.  However, the most exciting thing about this melon is it’s orange and yellow stripped skin.  This heirloom has such a cute name and attractive wrapper that my wife had her second graders plant it in their school garden.  Check back in the summer to find out how these experiments went.