May 28, 2012 - Broccoli Pest

My hands off approach to pest control this season has lead to some pretty catastrophic damage to the broccoli and cauliflower plants.  Some of the plants are completely defoliated and others are noticeably stunted.  I've finally identified the culprit as the Small Cabbage Butterfly. 

And here's a caterpillar feasting away on the underside of the leaf.  There are also dozens of small eggs on nearly every leaf and the small white adult butterflies are fairly common around the field and garden.

 

It may be too late to do much for these plants, but I'm going to try and scrape off any eggs I see and squash the caterpillars.  The three cauliflower plants I have in containers on the deck have no signs of damage.

May 24, 2012 - A Fist Full of Peas

I picked my first handful of peas this afternoon. Awesome!

Here's a quick couple of shots of the containers up on the deck. 

 

May 12, 2012 - Plants are In

This year I'm approaching the garden in a little more loose way.  I'm not sticking to a specific plan nor am I placing all my plants in the plot.  I'm experimenting with growing some of the vegetables and herbs in containers on the porch to what difference some good dirt and more controlled conditions have on the same plants.  I've also had some mixed success with peppers and want to see how they do in a variety of containers.

The garden really got started a few months ago but I haven't been able to post about it.  I started some cauliflower, broccoli, and peas from seeds and all are up and established.  The first flowers on the peas bloomed this morning.

In addition to the plants I got at the market last week I picked up a number of tomatoes and peppers from the family owned garden center around the corner.  They were selling a four pack plants for under $2.  I ended up with 16 plants all together! All that is left is for some more herbs (especially basil0 and some summer squash.
 
Here's the garden plot:

 Peas and some peppers

 Broccoli

 

 Peppers are looking good

 Here's one up close

 The tomatoes

 

The tomatoes and peppers

 

 Here's what I have on the porch:

My three tomatoes in pots - Yellow Pear, Viva Italia, and Amish Paste

 Rainbow Chard.  I think they are a little crowded in this pot but I'm growing them more for decoration than for eating. There are two pots like this on the porch.

 Spinach.  This is the second set.

 Potatoes - I got two of these potato bags and thought I'd give it a try.  They are made of the material that a tarp is made from and they have velcro flaps on the sides to harvest the potatoes without ripping out the whole plant.  Kinda of an experiment.

 Scallions - These were from the grocery store.  Cut them with enough of the white part and stick them in dirt.  They began to grow in just a few days.

Peas and carrots are in the planter. And a pepper plant that was attached by birds in the round pot.  I'm hopeful it'll rebound but right now it's pretty sad looking.

 Four pepper plants in a window box

 Strawberries - there is a second identical pot not pictured.  6 plants altogether one of which is a few years mature.

 Broccoli/Cauliflower

My herbs are doing well.  The larger rosemary on the right and the tarragon plant in the long planter were from last year.  I was rather surprised the tarragon came back.

 The cucumber sprouts. 

May 5, 2012 - West Chester Growers Market

Every year the official garden season begins for me with the opening of the West Chester Growers Market.  This year was no different and despite being an overcast and drizzle filled morning we got there just after it opened. 

 

 For the past few years I've purchased nearly all my tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and herbs here from various vendors.  A few are now familiar faces I look forward to every year.  I didn't go too overboard this first day at the market, but I did come home with the following:

 

Tomatoes:  Two Amish Paste (plums), Black Krim (medium), Lemon Boy (med/large), Green Zebra (medium), and a Yellow Pear (grape)

Peppers:Crono di Toro (Sweet), Italian Roaster (mild chile), and a third pepper that I lost the ID for.  I'm sure it's some sort of sweet non-bell pepper.

Herbs: Oregano, English Thyme, and Sage.

   

Not a bad beginning, but I have a lot more plants to get!