Old hat, zone 4, cold climate garden blog.

This year we tried a new kind of summer squash and an old reliable zucchini. I for one am not impressed with the new squash. Since I did not order the seeds, (turns head to both sides looking around) but I can guarantee the crook neck will be on the seed list for next year.
As for the zucchini, what we have picked has been nice but what there has been of it is scant compared to past years. After asking around we found that other gardeners are experiencing the same results. Naturally we we right away try to assign blame to the weather. After all it can have been our superior gardening skills.

The weather has been hot, true, but we have had water in the garden well all season long. As a matter of fact a rather large bull frog has taken up residence. I can’t imagine how he got there because the stone sides of the well are nearly 3 foot high. I suppose he could have jumped it but why would he? Can frogs smell water? Maybe a trick from a tricksty neighbor?
Only the frog knows for sure and he is not saying. As long as there is water in the well he should be fine but he might be better off out of the well. Trouble is getting him out of the well. He has a little ledge to rest on but the minute anyone peers over the top he dives into the water. We will try a net attached to a long pole.

As far as the water goes we seem to be OK. It is raining right now, a slow soaking rain, and that should keep the tomato plants hydrated. Our garden is the low spot for at least 50 acres and so it usually does not need much watering which is good because we pay for the water. When we looked at the property to buy, everything out back was unmowed and very wet. The ground quivered under foot and there were legions of leopard frogs. At that time it was too wet for gardening but mowing helped to equalize the moisture content and it is fine for gardening now.

The tomatoes are coming in great. We grew a number of cherry tomatoes as well as early girl, better boy and brandywine.

The cherry’s are coming in first for us but they all are late compared to other gardeners. We started late this year but we are only a bit behind at this point. Growing so many cherry tomatoes was an experiment that is going well. The main problem is how to get rid of them. Giving them to friends and family works fine but we had high hopes of selling them at farmers markets. Farmers markets are fine to visit but for us the time spent is not productive. Our present arrangement does not allow use enough space out front for a proper vegetable stand. So we will continue to experiment in the hopes that we can find a better spot in the future.

The peppers are going gang busters. We set about 100 plants and with a yield of about 5 peppers per we have a bumper crop. The walls are not quite as thick as some we have grown but they are juicy and the flavor is great.

What we do not sell or eat fresh get cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces and frozen for future use. Already there are at least 10 stuffed quart bags in the freezer. We cull the crowders so the others have room to grow. More will be picked green and about 1/2 the crop will be left to turn red. The peppers sugar increases as they ripen so we ill have tart green and sweet red peppers for stirfrys and casseroles for a year or more.

Other choirs are winding down. Most of the perennials are sold and it looks like we will be starting fresh next year which is find because some of the old pots were full of weeds. Plus we don’t have to water them. I think we are not keeping the green house going this winter. We will be using a smaller version, yet to be built.

I procured a greenhouse hoop bender that will turn 2 pieces of 10’6″ 17 gauge chain link fence top rail into a 12′ greenhouse hoop. This make s the hoops much less expensive and there is no shipping cost. A larger bender available for 20′ hoops but we figure it’s better to start small and move up. Judging by the requests on Craigs List for greenhouse hoops we may be able to sell a few as well.

We are still putting up the end of the pickles. Last week we picked a wheel barrow load of cucumbers for pickles and they are nearly all caned as bread and butter or dill pickles, depending on the size.

Corn is everywhere. We don’t grow it because it takes up quite a bit of space so we get it from a road side stand. One stand we like is Hunters just outside Plessus on rt 26. They usually have a good supply of corn, pumpkins and other crops for sale all season.

They have an interesting way to buy the corn. It make buying just a few ears easy. They also furnish a can for husking and this year they are selling totes to carry the corn.

We had the corn last night night with our tomatoes and cucumbers. Perfect.

A week ago we had the opportunity to pick blueberries at Farnham Farms in Sandy Creek NY. We stumbled on the place by accident while picking up gift boxes for our wedding favors. We went on a weekday evening and there was a steady stream of customers picking. Wire baskets are provided for pricking and each basket holds about 9 or 10 pounds of berries.

2 types of blueberries were offered. A smaller sweeter and a large berry with a big blueberry flavor. The small bushes were brimming with ripe berries, so many that they could be picked with both hands. The larger berries were less plentiful but by no means skimpy. It was easy to pick a basked full from just a few bushes.

We transferred the berries to peck sized splint baskets to take home. The baskets were so full that we broke them into 2 baskets so the berries would not crush under their own weight.

We brought the berries home and sorted out all the bad berries, stems, insects and other debris and froze them on cookie sheets covered with waxed paper. When they are frozen solid we put them in plastic bags for future use.

They can be thawed for pies, jam, fruit salads and muffins.
Now we have a stock of blueberries and strawberries to use until they come into season next year.

The annual plants are done and we have just a few perennials left. We have had little time to work on garden projects between life happening and other exciting events.

Tonight we are putting up pickles, both bread and butter and dill. We grow 2 types of cukes for out pickles. Eureka for the bread and butter and regal for the dills. The eureka get fat and meaty for perfect bread and butter pickles while the regal stay smaller and tight for dills. It’s a bit of work but worth it for great pickles. By the looks of the vines we will probably do 2 or maybe even 3 more batches this season.

The summer squash is coming in great and the peppers are doing well also. We got the tomatoes in late but they are starting with some really nice sun sugar cherry tomatoes. In all we grew 7 types of cherry tomatoes including red, yellow, orange, white, black and others. The brandywine tomatoes are big but still green.

The peppers are getting big but the walls are still a bit thin. We fried some but for good eating they need to have thicker walls. Hopefully they will beef up in the next week or so.

It’s been a busy week, with the garden and other work around the house and yard.

We have picked lots of cukes for pickles. We grow eureka for bread and butter pickles and regal for the dills. They get washed and stored in the frig until we have enough to run a batch.

Finding the dill was a bit of a challenge.

Trying to call the grocery stores is an exercise in futility. After numerous hang ups, and goof ups, no we are not looking for dill pickles, we abandoned that approach.

We should have grown it but for some reason it was overlooked. It was a hectic spring with numerous emergancies and life happens but we will not forget next year!

We finally found some dill on Wesley Island at Cross Island Farms.
Dani, one of the owners, gave us a tour of the farm and a great deal on the dill. They sell organic vegetables, eggs, and more.
It looks like we will have enough for this batch but we will have to find some more.

The tomatoes were reaching a point where they needed some support. Many of our tomatoes like the super sweet 100s are indeterminate and tend to grow very tall. As a matter of fact a neighbor had one that was around 7 feet tall. These plants yield a lot of cherry tomatoes and especially if they are kept off the ground. In our case, where we plant 3 foot rows separated by a 3 foot grass access row, it is important to keep the plants where they are suppose to be so that we can mow between the rows. This way we can easily pick from both sides.

This means staking them with bamboo, a job I never looked forward to because the bamboo is about 1/2 inches wide and the hammer head is around an inch. Striking a solid blow every time is very difficult and the hammer head often glances off making it slow work at best and ending up with bruised hands at the worst. I thought there must be a better way.

While looking through a garden catalog I saw a post driver that is made from a length of steel pipe with one end sealed and handles on the sides. The idea is to slide the driver over the post and use the weight to drive the post. If driving a bamboo stake seems dangerous think about swinging a sledge hammer trying to hit a post. I have done it and it is not as easy as it looks.

Why not make a smaller version or the post driver for garden stakes? No reason why not so that’s what I did.

A one and a half inch piece of pipe would be wide enough so I checked with the metal supply and they had a piece that was about 2 feed long. The weight was good, not too heavy to use but enough oomph to drive the stakes. The metal supply company spun some threads on one end and I think they charged me something like $12.00 for the whole thing.

I bought a one and a half inch pipe cap for around 2 dollars from the plumbing section of a hardware store.

The cap gets threaded on the pipe. Hand tight is good enough.

The pipe is slid over the end of the stake. It’s nice to have someone handing the stakes because this method works fast.
Having a helper means there is no bending or stooping to pick up supplies.

Slide the pipe up and down to drive the stake, using the weight of the pipe to do the work.
If a stake should split the splinters are held safely inside the pipe.

The job went quick and easy compared to driving with a hammer. Now all the tomatoes are tied up with pieces of old t-shirts, just tight enough to hold them up and out of the way of the lawnmower.

Other than that we have just been busy trying to get things in order to move the “storage” greenhouse to the back of the property. That meant moving one of the boats up and putting it undercover for restoration. As a matter of fact we started a blog to document the progress. It is Collecting Fire Wood.
When fiberglass boats became popular the dealers would burn the wooden boats taken in trade thinking there was no value in these old relics. They would strip the hardware and power then burn them in a pile.

The weather had turned more seasonal with 70′s and low 80′s and that makes working outside easier, and more fun.