Calyces Ripped My Flesh & Eyeball-Busting Humidity

Transition time here at the urban garden. Salad boxes have been put back into service with surrey arugula, broccoli raab novantina and a "kitchen sink" micro-green mix. In the EarthBoxes, the fungus-challenged squashes and tomato, as well as all the tiring bush bean plants have all been pulled and in their places went sowings of waltham and calabrese broccoli, snowball cauliflower, rat's tail radish, noble spinach, wakefield cabbage...all of which are seeking sun through their mulch covers already. Picked up some more Etruria basil plants and anise hyssop from Silver Heights Farm.

Still enjoying regular harvests of lacinato kale, swiss chard, collards, basil, rosa bianca eggplants and jalapenos. All things considered it's been a successful season here so far. It hasn't been without its challenges, but we've managed to eke out some good harvests from six EarthBoxes and three salad boxes; next year I plan to keep a record of our yields.

Issues edition

Some less serious updates on flickr.

Blossom end rot on tomatoes. There is much information on this around the internet, but of interest to urban gardeners is that on the EarthBox forum there have been comments about this being somewhat prevalent in first-year EBs. While precise explanations weren't offered, it seems that it has something to do with needing a year for the box to shake itself in terms of calcium distribution from the added lime. We'll see what happens next year; while many of the fruits on the tomato have succumbed, we do have a number remaining and waiting for warm weather to boost ripening.

Not entirely positive on what this is, but it affected many of the tomato plant's branches. Tomato spotted wilt virus? I pruned the most affected branches and am now playing the waiting game.

Powdery mildew. I had noticed this on a few leaves early on in the growth of the two ronde de nice plants and ignored it. After a few days, it had spread to the entire plant. There has been new leaf growth on the plant and even these young leaves have been affected. Next year I will be more vigilant about treating with natural fungicide in the early stages. Also noted that the adjacent vegetable marrow squash is not affected, so perhaps the ronde de nice is a susceptible variety.

Healthy and since-harvested ronde de nice on the left, starved, failed squash on the right. Happened on all three squash plants. Not sure what causes this, but since the squash fruited so heavily, and I've read that squash are heavy feeders, I imagine that the EarthBox, which is supporting three squash plants and a cucumber, simply couldn't support all that fruit at once. We had our initial harvest of squash and I was concerned that was it, as there was no apparent additional fruit. In the past week though, the squash has advanced, and a second fruit set is well into development.

Delicious set of aphids. Again, I was a little too enamored with all the jalapeno peppers on these plants and I slacked on my aphid vigilance. They received a dose of neem oil-based spray and will be dust in a few days.

balcony update in pictures

Calyx of forming rosa bianca eggplant.

Wind-blown rosa bianca eggplant.

Forming tomato on adopted tomato (unsure of variety).

This pic of the tomato has a very jack and the beanstalk feel to it. Will be researching tomato pruning this winter.

roof update in pictures

ronde de nice summer squashvegetable marrow summer squash
competition for a squash blossom
the four earthboxes, two bucket SIPs

HVSL Seed

Below are all from Hudson Valley Seed Library seed.

Black valentine bush beans have been providing us with amazing amounts of beans, and judging by the flowers they are just getting warmed up. Put some rainbow chard and dino kale seedlings in the front row for fall harvest.

Catskills brussels sprouts in a bucket SIP. Hoping for some good sprouts this fall, though I don't know how I did with the transplant timing on this one.

Dino kale and rainbow chard. The chard ended up all yellow and has provided us with great yield. The dino kale is obviously doing well...it's perhaps our favorite green so to have it grow so well upstairs is wonderful.

Double-yield cucumber, looking for sun. Next year I'll be more prepared with support!

Roof Garden Overview

There was some shuffling around last weekend - regular readers will note that the EB "trench" that was built based on the "tyrus" design is now being used simply to create windbreak using some leftover landscaping fabric we had on hand. Definitely not the most aesthetically pleasing solution, but the wind on the roof was really doing a number on everything. I was hoping once summer rolled around the wind would diminish, but it doesn't seem as though that will ever happen. We don't remember it being so windy in the summer but perhaps we're more in tune with it due to gardening concerns. I'm already thinking about a semi-permanent windbreak design for next year.

The back row is all bush beans, black valentines on the right and pencil pod & royal burgundy on the left. I pulled another aesthetically pleasing solution out of my hat to support the plants, which were wind-whipped and leaning over the side of the box. Cut-up old t-shirts tied to a string!

In front of the black vals remain carrots, though I will probably not attempt carrots in the future. Some of them did not survive the removal of the radishes, and that's left me with about four carrots. I may even just pull them up and put in some lacinato kale and chard seedlings I have languishing in cowpots.

You can seen our chard, kale and collards are doing well...these are real winners and we may double our EB dedication since we love them so much and they seem to grow decently well on the roof.

In front of the pencil pods & royal burgundies are golden beets. I love golden beets and their tops, but the harvest will tell me if I need to grow them again. The bonus of eating both tops and roots is a big one, but we're still only talking eight plants...and I don't think it's possible to harvest the tops while the roots are still forming.

In the bucket SIP is a Catskills brussels sprout. It will soon be joined by another bucket SIP containing Waltham broccoli.

Last but not least is the MONSTER box in the foreground, on the right. The box contains direct-sown ronde de nice and marrow squashes, with a transplanted HVSL double-yield cuke (which I just realized is not in the frame). We haven't harvested anything from these yet but judging by all the forming squashes this is a slam-dunk for a repeat effort in 2010. I'm generally not a huge fan of cucumbers and the only reason I planted them is that it was one of the early seed packs I had on hand, but maybe my opinion will change if I have fresh cucumbers at hand throughout the growing season - and ms. mapleton-bklyn loves her some half-sour pickles.

So, that was a long-winded way of saying things are growing mostly well on the roof for now. Our harvest is a bit later than what I imagine is standard for this area due to our later start on things, but it's shaping up to be a pretty good first year.

EB harvest

Lacinato kale, rainbow chard, watermelon radishes. The radishes weren't really ready but things were getting crowded in that box, with the radishes, black val beans and danvers carrots. Next year I'm seriously considering limiting the varieties to one per box.

This is a summer squash (2 x ronde de nice and 1 x vegetable marrow) and cucumber (HVSL double-yield) box, though you don't see a cucumber in the picture. I know cucumber tends to take over everything but mine did not know it would be sharing a box with summer squash. That marrow leaf in the foreground is bigger than my head, and my head (physically) is pretty big. Yes, there is some weird white stuff on the veins of the ronde de nice leaf in the back, but like a patio farmer I know I choose to look the other way for now.

Okay, so cherries were from Locust Grove Farm but making pie was a nice break from aphid management. Wonder if a sour cherry tree will produce on our roof...

Beginning Gardening Tip #1

From one first-year gardener to others - don't let the joy and Jonas-Brothers-tween-squeal-inducing presence of an eggplant flower or forming tomato distract you from the presence of aphids.

I've had to ditch two tarragon plants and four pansies due to aphid infestations. One minute things are hunky-dory, maybe some brown edges or other signs...then THEY'RE EVERYWHERE.

I returned from a two-day trip to find an eggplant flower and impressive progress of our first tomato and jalapeno fruits. Doubling back later to admire them again, I noticed some tiny holes on the eggplant leaves; sure enough, with closer inspection on the underside of the leaves, there were aphids. Being an urban gardener without a hose to spray them away, I gave the eggplant and tomato plants a treatment of neem tree seed oil-based insecticide. I've had good results with insecticidal soap in the past on bush basil that was aphid-infested.

Of course, that is a rain-dotted balcony door you see in the photo above, so hopefully the neem did its trick before being mostly washed away.

I'm a little concerned about my urban crop because I've been seeing bugs more often these days, and a little image Googling has identified them as flea, cucumber, squash and insert-vegetable-name-here beetles. Yes, where there are vegetables, there are bugs...I was hoping that the leaf-shredding winds of our balconies and rooftop would at least provide us the benefit of blowing away insects. Who knows? Perhaps we would have much bigger problems if we were ground-level in-ground gardeners; at least our plants are not sitting in puddles of water.

On a positive flying-thing-note, there has been noticeable increased bumblebee presence this year over last.

Surprise Guests

While clearing out salad box 1.0 for another sowing, I came across a number of surprise guests - I imagine they are red wigglers, as fifty-percent of the mix in the box is LES Ecology Center compost. I don't know whether there were eggs in the mix when I brought it home or if there were already mature worms hanging out in there. Needless to say I was a little less aggressive with the hand fork upon discovering my squirming friends.

I decided to pull this box because, as compared with the simpson & usb mix in box 2.0, its produce was bitter. It was sown in late April, was (maybe) allowed to dry out a bit too much a couple times in the early days, and was (probably) thinned a little late. I'm chalking up the bitterness to gardener error, but I wonder how much the growing media influences produce bitterness, and whether there are any amendments that can be made to improve the produce. The only tips I could find are to keep lettuce evenly moist and cool to keep it growing fast and sweet. Any suggestions?

Up next in box 1.1 - radichetta, lolla rossa, red sails and merveille des quatre saisons. Is that last one part of the Named Vegetables Trend? Bittman calls this the trend that means, "you no longer eat just, say, gremolata, but 'A Relish of Flat Leaf Parsley, Meyer Lemon Zest, and Bob's Iranian Garlic.'" If so, next month's chez Mapleton-BKLYN guests should be prepared for a "La Merveille des Quatre Saisons Early Summer Harvest Salad with Charcoal-Grilled Baby Ronde de Nice Squash, Evolutionary Organics Watermelon Radishes and Green Goddess Dressing featuring Hudson Valley Seed Library Forest Green Parsley & Chives." Maybe I'll cut the lettuce super early so I can add "Baby" to the name. Oh yes, and it's a pass on the anchovies in the dressing for my vegetarian friends, in case any of you were wondering.

Summer is on its way, and though this afternoon we had a brief showing of sun and respite from the humidity that has been plaguing us here in NYC, dark ominous clouds have rolled in right now. I was feeling a little moldy myself and it doesn't look like that will end any time soon.

Since my sowing and setup activities have dwindled, and you probably don't want posts like "wow, my squash leaves just grew 1.2mm in the past six hours," I'll be turning off the computer and spending the summer outdoors. I will post if I think it worth posting for the benefit of fellow freshmen gardeners or anyone thinking of diving headfirst into urban container gardening. I'll also be posting regularly on flickr as growth and harvest warrant (hint, I think one can use RSS to keep track of new posts if so inclined).

As always, I welcome feedback, suggestions, flames and token gifts...especially token gifts. Comment away and have a safe and productive summer.

Thinning out is so hard to do...

Thinned out my golden beets (above), watermelon radishes, rainbow chard, ronde de nice squash & marrow squash plants. Radish and squash tops in the compost queue for the LES Ecology Center; beet and chard tops destined for tonight's salad.

flickr updated - pencil pod and royal burgundy beans are up and in general, everything is growing. I was astounded at the growth of the black valentine beans and radish plants while I was out of town for a couple days. It's been rainy and cloudy here, but everything seems to be managing just fine. Some plants have evidence of bug damage, so I may give everything a gentle dose of insecticidal soap. I gave my second sowing of lettuce a taste and it seems a touch bitter, so some internet research is in order. The first sowing is already coming again after its first mowdown.

If I can find a moment in this weekend, I'll finish the two bucket SIPs and construction of another EB support structure. We may have a revolving door of guests this coming month so it would be nice not to have the apartment look like a construction site.

Edible Update Speed Round

silver hts genovese basil - in EB and seemingly OK

silver hts rosa bianca eggplant - in EB and seemingly OK, growing

greenscaper tomato - in EB and bottom leaf sets wilting

herbfarm - all OK, thyme starting to yellow at bottom a bit

northsky & northblue blueberries - OK - leaves lost their red tinge

lavender - providing steady harvests of fragrant buds

usb/simpson/prizehead - harvested for the first time this week (thinned out)

cilantro/parsley/chives - good, cilantro thinned

usb/simpson/deer tongue - coming along very nicely

black valentine beans - true leaves coming in

watermelon radishes - true leaves are in and flourishing

danvers carrots - progressing nicely amongst radishes

rainbow chard - OK, a little slow in growing but true leaves coming in

lacinato kale - same as chard

golden beets - thriving - true leaves coming in

ronde de nice summer squash - bursting through ground

vegetable marrow summer squash - still sleeping

italian mix microgreens - sprouted

asian mix microgreens - sprouted

calendula - sprouted

waltham broccoli - sprouted

black krim tomato - sleeping

rainbow cherry tomato - sleeping

sage - sleeping

catnip - sleeping

rainbow mix coleus - sleeping

double-yield cukes - thriving in 4" pot

rainbow chard/lacinato kale - OK in 4" pot

brussel sprouts - OK in cell pack

bridge to paris peppers - doing well in 4" pot

sweet basil - doing well in cell pack

First Harvest 2009

I'll let the pictures do the "typing."

Pepper Thoughts

I've been pondering the possible issues on the balcony that has turned into a place of dread for seedlings and transplants everywhere. It is a windy, open spot and this past week has been a particularly gusty one, not to mention pretty cool in temperature. Yes, there are many people growing peppers and the like successfully on balconies and rooftops; however, one of the interesting notes in The City Gardener's Handbook is the idea of microclimates existing in such spaces. The example is the converse of my situation - a perennial that, "according to the canons of zone maps won't tolerate New York cold," but was thriving on an eighteenth-floor terrace (it was a south-facing terrace with walls that all but eliminated the wind and retained the radiant heat of the building).

You'll notice in the picture that the white side of the EB cap is facing out, as opposed to the recommended black side. While I was transplanting, I had noted the soil temperature at the surface was over 100 degrees F and 90 degrees at about 5" deep - on a day during which the high was probably 80F. This balcony gets sun pretty much the entire day, which is why I chose it as a site for sun-lovers such as peppers. Coupled with the summer wind, it may be more akin to a desert, and not really ideal for anything. My blueberry bushes are there too and unfortunately, those are in a planter that is not being moved any time soon.

So, on that balcony in EBs I have a rosa bianca eggplant transplant that seems to be doing well, a tomato plant gift from greenscaper that is hanging on, and two basil plants that went in after the peppers were pulled up. I may grab a few more test subject peppers this Wednesday (and maybe more eggplant just in case).

Stay tuned. 

Good morning heartache

What can I say? They're dropping faster than I can get them planted. Additional pictures on flickr (click through slideshow on right).

Challenges posed to rooftop gardeners

Yes, those are EBs in bondage. Warm weather today here in Brooklyn woke up many of the direct sowings I made this past week (see flickr feed for details). A wind rolled in and the black plastic mulch cover of the EB was whipping the seedlings about. Fortunately I was hanging out with my father-in-law so I asked about this slick knot I saw him use to roll and secure a rug. Of course I thought I had a handle on it, but when I went up to secure the mulch cover, I was stuck with some butcher's twine and ten thumbs.

I do have some lumber in early stages of prep for a GRG-style setup, but haven't gotten around to getting everything together. This will provide the windbreak as well as the support (when needed) for the plants.

Tomato Update

Here are the two tomato transplants that were adopted from greenscaper that haven't exactly taken to their new EB home. He forwarded me a link that will change my transplanting technique forever. From now on, I won't be handling transplants with kid gloves, as I was a bit disappointed that these sturdy-looking plans that greenscaper raised from seed are now struggling in my hands.

Guerrilla SIPping?

In my web travels I've seen several video features on guerrilla gardening, so given my present activities it got me thinking about expanding the concept to SIPs and urban food production. What if, say, we left a DIY SIP complete with edible somewhere, with a brief info card about the SIP and the edible? Would someone take it to their home and care for it? Would it remain where it was left (in which case the donator could monitor and care for them)? Would it be vandalized and end up in the waste stream? Would it be successful if one out of every five left opened someone's eyes to the possibility of food production in urban settings? Should we start by leaving them near home gardening sites visible from the street, in the hope the home gardener would take it in?

In my mind the most significant cost of doing this would be the potting mix...everything else can be re-purposed waste (buckets, tubing, etc.). The edible would have to be a no brainer...and I seem to be better off with greens and lettuce than tomatoes.

Let's call it Covert SIP Distribution. The term "guerrilla" in my mind better aligns with causes of deeper significance. Gotta have perspective, folks.

This one's for a patio farmer I know on the other coast

If I had any inkling of diligence when it comes to that little box in Blogger that says "Labels for this post," I'm sure this blog is the soda bottle planter, bush basil capital of the internet. But this one plant of three that I am tending holds a special place in my re-purposed plastic world (a world into which, I may add, Ms. Mapleton-Bklyn has been hurled deeper than she could have ever imagined). It is the survivor of a rampant aphid infestation and is now bigger and more globular than the other two. Yes, that is the first time in my life I have used "globular."

Anyhow, also on the bottle SIP herbfarm the others are doing well; in fact I'm running out there in a little while to clip some oregano for a sea trout destined for dinner. There is one tomato and one pepper, both awaiting transplant and both adopted from greenscaper. Unfortunately, the two tomatoes planted last weekend in an EB are not doing well. They were leggy and long overdue for transplant and I've read that this is not a good combo for a transplant. I also popped them straight outside, but probably should have "hardened" them a bit considering that they were in an apartment environment all winter. I'm taking greater care of the one tomato and pepper...they're up to five hours outside in sun.

Caving In

This past Wednesday I caved to the "siren song" of Silver Heights Farm. Damage = two Genovese Basil and one each of Early Jalapeno, Thai Yellow Chili, Garden Sunshine (sweet pepper) and Rosa Bianca eggplant. There was an aphid issue that I did not discover until unpacking but I seem to have managed eradication for the time being. Yes, organic IS slower, and with more bugs. Destination for these, EarthBox SIPs.

I am going to the market again this Saturday and I beg Ms. Mapleton-Bklyn to keep me honest as I think about my failing tomato plants.

AeroGarden starter fail 1.0

It's a bummer, but IMO the AeroGarden (holiday gift from Mom!) is better left to growth of seed pods than used for a seed starter system. I figured I would give it a try since our first round of seed pods was pretty much spent and due for a change soon anyway. I think I lost an above-average number of seedlings due to damping off, which I think is quite possibly due to the design of the starter tray. The grow plugs extend down into the reservoir, which basically means the sponges are always sucking up moisture. I took it as a sign to abort mission when some of my previously robust-looking brussels sprouts seedlings keeled over. Then again, my disappointment could just be my unrealistic expectation of perfection the first time out! Only time and more experience will tell.

So, the pic above is the survivors' new home.

back row:

lacinato kale/rainbow chard - double-yield cuke - bridge to paris pepper

front row:

brussels/rainbow chard - basil

Two seedlings for two sowings on the peppers is probably a good result in the seed-starting world since I read these are difficult to germinate. I've since learned that cukes are best directly sown. Other than that, I'll give all the other participant seeds in my experiment another go next season - with more appropriate sowing timing - using methods found in The New Seed Starter's Handbook and The New Victory Garden. But since I still pine for those brussels, I might give one of the methods a shot now.

Soil Moisture

One of the ideas that greenscaper is advancing is use of bottle planters to become familiar with the relationship between plant, light and moisture. He can articulate the concept and how-to better than I can, but through a combination of measured watering, observation/measuring of light levels, observing the plant growth and simply peering through the clear container at the roots and soil, one can gain a better understanding of plant needs (rather than blindly subscribing to self-watering container dogma).

While the measured watering method is easily achievable with bottle planters, how should this be applied to commercially available sub-irrigated planters, where their heft makes it impractical? Use of a soil probe and common sense. I'll post more on this in the future.

Weekend Update

Met with greenscaper to talk about urban greenscaping initiatives and pick up some adopted tomato plants and a pepper plant. The two larger tomato plants made it into the balcony EB yesterday; I'll wait until they perk up a bit for their first photo-op. I'll give the smaller two plants (pictured left) a little while longer in their bottle planters.

Picked up some buckets for DIY SIPs which will probably be planted with some wildflower seed. This morning all the bottle planters will have a weigh-in.

flickr posts

Started a flickr stream here. Tried to use the slideshow gadget in the sidebar but for whatever reason it wasn't linking to my username. Will try again in the future.

Not much going in the spaces...did prep all the EBs by positioning and filling with mix but waiting on the lime, fertilizer and rest of the mix. Growth updates on flickr.

Lettuce Round 2

Trying to be all crop-stagger-savvy, I sowed a second round of HVSL lettuce. The grackles were observing.

I'm going to set up a flickr account so I don't have to do a post per photo (yes, I am completely lacking in Blogger proficiency). Will post some updated lettuce and herb round 1 pictures. I'm pretty geeked out over them.

Bottle Herb Farm

More soda bottle planters - for thyme, rosemary and oregano. Plan is to let them grow in these for a while, then transplant to SIP-converted clay pots. I had rosemary and thyme indoors this winter in clay pots (drench & drain, both from last summer)...but mistakenly put them out on the balcony and forgot the whole hardening process, and they haven't quite recovered from the shock of fresh air.

Unthrifty Nerd

Thanks to Deborah for that title. I set up two of the EarthBox SIPs this morning and planted lacinato kale and rainbow chard in one, and one row of black valentine beans in the other (all from HVSL). Setup was mostly a non-event, though there was a bump in the sowing road when a strong breeze tried to sow the roof with kale seeds (why couldn't it have been the bigger chard seeds?). Thankfully it only took ten minutes to recover the seed, one by one. Yes, I am that crazy. I also had mockingbirds, grackles, mourning doves and parrots either eyeing me with curiosity, or sizing up the new food opportunities. [sigh]

Must...resist...temptation...to succumb...to this. Must...wait out...AeroGarden seedlings...

This SIP setup brought to you by Sleater-Kinney, Edith Piaf and Ornette Coleman.

I'm going to scavenge the neighborhood for some 2l bottles for some herbs I picked up yesterday at the USQ market. Hoping to also get to sowing some more lettuce in the salad boxes. Also in the mental pipeline is a setup like this one and some bucket SIPs for a row of lavender (to prove to myself I am not always an unthrifty nerd).

Soda Bottle Bush Basil

Bush basil from Oak Grove. NY Paydirt from LES Ecology Center. SIP guidance from Inside Urban Green. Soda bottles scavenged.

"Turn-key" SIPs arriving tomorrow!

Boxes

  Herb box - chives, parsley (waking up!), cilantro

Lettuce box - Simpson, Prizehead and Ultimate Salad Bowl. You can see the seed distribution technique tightened up right to left - either that, or USB is a great seed for beginners!

I have a third box which I may sow with Deer Tongue lettuce seed this weekend.

If I manage to keep up the posting, I promise to learn more about formatting...

Blueberry Blossoms

Yeah, drench & drain. I know better now.

Seeds - Update

In the AeroGarden pic you're looking at basil in the left row, lacinato kale in the middle background, cukes in the right background. I don't know what the general consensus is on using an AeroGarden starter tray, but I had it, so figured why not try it? I'll probably transplant these into CowPots or pop bottle planters when they're bigger, then into EarthBoxes.

Rain might be clearing out tomorrow AM, so I'll take a pic of the salad boxes. The lettuce that was sown April 26th is doing well (HVSL Ultimate Salad Bowl, Prizehead and Black-Seeded Simpson), and the chives and cilantro are also coming up now. No parsley activity.

Seeds

This past Sunday I pulled up the herbs in the AeroGarden and started some seed from the Hudson Valley Seed Library. Happy to report that most have germinated, but there is a worrisome little fuzz forming on the Bridge to Paris pepper seeds. It's probably late to be starting peppers from seed, but I might try again in the name of experimentation and education in the hope of a well-planned start to the 2010 season. It is my first year attempt at gardening.

Malus

It has been pretty wet here for the past couple of days but I felt like snapping some pictures of our "kids." First up is our crabapple - it is by far the tallest of our additions this year and it's really exciting to think that it is taking well to its home.

Much of the inspiration for our garden came from the book The City Gardener's Handbook, and our selections came primarily from the list of wind-tolerant trees and shrubs. I was warned that crabapples might not take kindly to hot roots, so it remains to be seen how it will react once the warm sun starts baking our roof in the mornings; our roof is shady in the afternoons, so hopefully things will remain cool enough.

You will see that most of our plantings were done before attending the Brooklyn Food Conference, where some repurposed soda bottle planters caught my eye and led me to jot down Inside Urban Green in my notebook. After poring over the wealth of information about sub-irrigation, I am re-thinking my plantings going forward.

It Begins

Well, "it" actually began about two months ago. I hope to document the successes and failures of turning my unused roof space into a green space. Initially the plan for this year was to focus on the livable space aspect by putting in deck tiles and some trees/shrubs, but it's since expanded into a first-year experiment with food production. I was just going to start with some herbs and lettuce this year, but my enthusiasm got the better of me and I have some other things in the works now. You'll see.