Today we will be evaluating our experience growing German Extra Hardy garlic (hardneck). This garlic, according to seed distributors, produces large garlic heads, and can also tolerate the cold of winter. We selected this garlic variety for its ability to tolerate the low temperatures of USDA zone 6. This is the first time we plant garlic, and we wanted to start with a seed that […]
I don’t know if these are considered “heirloom” Cherry Roma Tomatoes. They have been living in the beans bed for 2 years now. The plant dies during winter with some rotten tomatoes, and more tomato plants appear next summer. This year the tomatoes formed earlier. Hopefully, this means more tomato fruits. The plants survived the over 100-degree temperatures, the monsoon, 70-mph winds, drought, and beetle pests. […]
This is the first year that cucumbers grow in the garden. Basically, an experiment to see how cucumbers grow under the garden conditions. They were planted by seed in a 36 square feet raised-bed on May 27, 2018. High late fall temperatures made them grow very fast, and today, June 21st, they are already climbing an improvised trellis. To save on materials we built a […]
A day after the squirrels and some birds had a party with the Tiny Tim Cherry Tomatoes we moved them inside of a protected area. The cherry tomatoes are doing great, possibly because of the hot summer temperatures arriving a few days ahead of the season, and after a mixture of slow fertilizers. Read more about some of the edibles that are currently growing in the […]
The Purple Beauty Sweet Peppers are growing healthy in containers. There are two pepper plants growing in the garden’s shade area as an experiment, and other varieties grown under full sun. These are doing very good and are producing big fruits. The other varieties growing under the full sun are growing very slow and have remained as tiny plants for a very long time. One […]
The red potato seeds were planted between late March and early April 2018. The plants began dying by mid-June before flowering, so we decided to take them out. To our surprise, there were some small to medium size potatoes. The plants did not produce many, probably because they were planted in growing bags instead of directly into the ground. After some research, it is common practice […]
We got the Egyptian Walking Onion from a homesteader neighbor. They have been growing it for some time now. It is our first time growing this plant. We have it in a pot but plan to move it to the ground before the 2018-2019 cold season. What we like about this plant is that both the fruit and the stems are edible and can be […]
Our Blue Lake bush beans were planted on April 14, 2018. They started germinating on May 2, 2018 (18 days to germinate). After several frosts, some of the plant beans germinated with issues. Some of the plants had no leaves, but others look like they deserved a chance. Some very damaged plants were removed and new seeds were planted. Today they have flowers, and some plants […]