The First Ripe Strawberry

Well, my strawberries are starting to come in, and one is already getting ripe. Looking forward to each some fresh strawberries soon.

Ladybug sunny on my Hops

Well, I was walking through my garden the other day and noticed that I had quite the aphid infestation. So I ordered myself some ladybugs and let them go last night. Today, I am happy to report that a lot of the aphids have “disappeared”.

Ladybug Tips:
1) Release the the ladybugs at night, this is when they feed and search for water, so they are less likely to just fly away.
2) Water your garden prior to releasing the ladybugs, so they can find the water.
3) Some of the ladybugs will be dead, this is normal, don’t worry.

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Topsy Turvy Tomatoes

I decided to try something new this year with my tomatoes and grow a few of them (4 to be exact) in the Topsy Turvy hanging growers. From talking to the ladies at my local Sunnyfarms Nursery, they told me to expect great results, they all love them and use them.

I have to say so far so good, all 4 tomato plants are doing extremely well in their Topsy Turvy growers.

It was a little cold when I first planted them, but the sun was out, and the Topsy Turvy grower made it very easy to move the plants inside at night to protect them from the cold. So basically I would put them out in the mornings, let them get the day of sun and then move them back inside at night. Now, it’s much warmer out, so they stay outside day and night. They are growing extremely well, and look very healthy.

Some Topsy Turvy Tips:

1) Use potting soil – Since the Topsy Turvy is basically a pot, it’s best to use potting soil rather than garden soil. I used Miracle Grow Organic Potting Soil.

2) Put the plant deep in the soil – This tip was given to me by the nice ladies at Sunny Farms. What you do is cut a lot of the bottom branches off so you have about 4″ – 6″ inches of bare stem. All those little bumps you feel on the stem will become roots. You do this to that your plant has a strong grip in the soil.

3) Keep it watered – Make sure you keep the plant watered.

So far I have only used my Topsy Turvy for tomatoes, but it says you can use it for other vegetables like cucumbers, etc. So maybe I will buy more and give that a try also.

A Photo of Kohl Rabi

Well I pull out all the spinach in Garden Bed #1 and planted some Kohl Rabi seeds in it’s place. The Spinach wasnt’ doing well, and some of it already went to seed, so I yanked it all out, threw it into the compost bin, tilled up the dirt to make it all nice and then planted some White Vienna Kohl Rabi seeds.

I had already started some Purple Vienna Kohl Rabi plants, and I also planted those in Garden Bed #2 in between the Broccoli and the Leeks.

If you have never tried Kohl Rabi, it’s really good fresh and uncooked, it’s very very and sort of like a mild turnip. You just peel off the skin, and then cut it into bite size pieces. Great in salads. I have never had it cooked, but I am sure you can cook it, and I’ve also heard you can use the leaves as well.

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You can see the nibbles on my radishes

Well I went out and picked some of my radishes today, and it seems as though something is nibbling at them. Must be a worm or some grub? I don’t know, I’ll have to do a search on it and see what I find.

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A View of Garden Bed #5

The 5th garden bed is where I planted some potatoes (California Red, Yukon Gold, and Blue Potatoes). I also have some Lemon Cumcumbers growing on that wood trellis. I don’t normally like cucumbers, but the lemon cucumbers are pretty good.

As you can see the potatoes are doing well.

At the far end is garlic, but the dirt there is hard and not good, so I will pull those up and add better dirt.

A View of Garden Bed #4

This is my 4th garden bed. Those are peas growing, snow peas and little marvels, more little marvels are just starting to sprout up on the far side. I love eating peas right out of the garden. In the front there I planted some squash, Butternut, Spaghetti, Zucchini, and Yellow. I put the starters in yesterday but looking at them today, maybe some of them aren’t going to make it. Luckily I have more starters ready to go in the greenhouse.

The farside of the peas is empty, I think I am going to grow eggplant there or Kohl Rabi. At the very end are more hops growing up the trellis.

A View of Garden Bed #3

This is the third garden bed, it’s where I have planted tomatoes. Unfortunately, the tomatoes you see in the picture were planted outdoors too early, so the cold weather hit them and stunted their growth, I just today pulled them up, and will be replacing them.

I went to Sunny Farms today and bought 3 new plants and a tomatillo plant, so I can make some salsa

I will plant those soon, they are in the greenhouse right now.