2013 garden documentation beans, cowpeas, sunflowers and tomatoes

Here is how the garden is doing this year... the sweet corn was a success and went in the freezer a few weeks ago. We've had enough tomatoes already to make about four quarts of good sauce, and the sweet peas and beans have been producing a good amount as well up until now.

Bosnian bean (with one dried pod from the sweet peas).  I planted one plant at the base of the sweet peas and it is now starting to really take off climbing the old vines and the wires.  I have saved about four pods and am waiting for them to dry and see if the beans are like they should be.

 Connecticut field pumpkin growing well

 Glass gem popcorn has been hit by something... wondering if we'll get an ear for seed out of it this year.

 Dark red cosmo flowers

 Lady peas - another heirloom given to me by a local.  The seeds were small and white, oblong, but about the general size of a black eyed pea.  I'm curious to see what the pods look like filled out.

 Another shot of the pods starting out.

 Black  Prince tomatoes, I think...

Japonica popcorn growing.. it is VERY short... hmm..

 Principe Borghese tomatoes from the seedlings we started indoors.

There are TONS and tons of these coming in now.. glad we bought the variety.

 Blue black Shackamaxon bean flowers

I have planted these in several places in the garden and they are doing well.

 Heirloom brown speckled cowpeas (whipporwill, as they were given to me) - is this the third or fourth year we've grown them?  It looks like there will be a good crop this year.  And the purple flowers are so showy..

 Whole line of plants at the end of where the sweet corn was up until a few weeks ago.

 Speckled cowpea pods starting out...

Autumn Beauty sunflowers - this was a seed packet from Azure Dandelion
I have two heads drying from the other seeds I had saved last year - they are growing much smaller than these.. but that happens.  The birds have favored the smaller sunflowers - goldfinches have flown away every time I've been out there.

Morning collections : pink zinnias and sunflower seeds

Pink zinnias from the garden


sunflower seeds ready to process


sunflower seeds processed out of the heads
ready for further drying before storage

Bits of this and that

Our garden from the back


same place from the front
Those cornstalks are not entirely dead - and they are supporting some beans as well.


florida speckled butter pea lima beans


A place I cleared and reclaimed to plant more corn


pimento peppers on the go again


The volunteer zinnias


An interesting 'double petals' specimen in the volunteers


collecting sunflower heads to dry for seed


some purplish ones in the mix

I cleared a space for more corn - my hands looked like a warzone when I was done. I hope there is enough time left in the season to get something out of it. Also planted a few new beans and some more packaged purple zinnias for Esme because hers did not come up. I was treated to a display of bravery between the hummingbirds - fighting and swooping at each other in the honeysuckle. Harvested a few small things... mostly just doing maintenance today. I should make soup - I have a counter of small tomatoes and black eyed peas and a pepper that needs to go in there. I took some dried sunflower heads and got the seeds out of them - bringing some to Grandma for her stash. I am afraid there are only a few stalks of sorghum out there - so might have to plant a bit more.

Planted:
white kernel sorghum from storeroom
a few sunflower seeds - to test
red marigold head seeds - to test
Incredible sweet corn (85 days)
Lina Sisco bird's eggs beans (2nd run - 1st produced some, then died)
Kentucky Wonder brown seeded pole beans (2nd run - 1st died)
Purple package of zinnias

Hot days call for tents...

the tent kit put 'somewhat' together

It has gotten really hot, and Esme enjoys the heat a lot more than I do. She is content to sit halfway in a bucket of water and play for hours... I intend to put a sheet over this and soak it down and sit in there :) This was the same tent I designed last year during my vacation (June 2011) It did not have a floor then - and it was longer, designed to sit in the back of our truck bed. I've used all the same pieces, just put them together in a different way. It is fairly sturdy, but a creature could knock it over if they tried (note the goat trying to eat the chair in the background and the pup chewing on a deer antler in the tent itself). So you can see it is both well-received already and I have my work cut out for me!


with the sheet and clips
It stayed up all night with no major catastrophes.



There are three sizes of 'stick' in the tent kit we made last year - 28" sticks (I should measure them because I think they might be a bit shorter than that), '4 to 5 inch sticks' and a single pair of 'half pipe sticks'. I will try to get a measuring tape to get accurate measurements. Other than that - all of the sticks that are not marked as 4-5 or half-pipe are the same length and the plan can be worked out by anyone on that scale. I was working with last year's kit in a new way - so I am certain the design itself can be done easier from scratch.

Now I'm ready to go read a few chapters on corn breeding out of my 'new old' book 'Principles of Field Crop Production' 1949, Martin and Leonard. I was expecting the 1980s version from the Abebooks seller but am not sorely disappointed to have received the older copy. It is in almost never-read condition and still has a very good basic concept of how to improve varieties and keep track of things in general.


The fenced garden looks happier


Autumn Beauty sunflowers

I have joined a site called YourGardenshow.com and it is very interesting. Find me over there as knitowl, zone 7a House at Shepard Lane

popcorn harvest, canning tomatoes, Esme games

With the threat of a small amount of rain in the air (which we did get some later) I pulled in the strawberry popcorn and the rest of what looked like keepable for seed in the beans. Esme saw me tying bean pods on string and requested a piece - she had some interesting games tying her little figurines to it and there are pictures to follow of those.


the entire popcorn harvest





sunflower seeds
There are a lot of heads to process out in the garden still...


some random beans
Bosnian pole, pinto, Mayflower, Kenearly yellow eye and maybe a few others



Esme was trying very hard to do something with these figures tied to string on the fridge. She kept crying it was too hard, but not telling me what the goal was.



This was the goal. She said the boy and the girl are at a party and they have balloons and they go flying. I would not have thought that - but yes, it makes perfect sense *ha*


This one ended in disaster later...
She said she was tying them into the bike so she could take
them to the gorcery store. But riding the bike in this condition proved difficult and scissors were then involved...

We have about two gallons worth of tomatoes canned up downtairs, mostly Mark's effort on the processing end. I need to look at making another thin fabric dress for Esme like the one in the pictures - it has been her favorite lately (read hard to get off her and wash).