Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Experiment Weeks 13, 14 and 15.

So I hope someone is actually reading this, besides the asian porn folks. LOL!

Today is harvest day!!!
And I think we've done pretty well considering the blazing heat and lack of rain this year. I have to say, you can water with a hose, sprinkler or sistern bucket all ya like...but apparently nothing beats good ol rain water!
There were a few casualties of course. The licorice bush looks like a tumbleweed and I think the bush basil may have caught fire at some point. (kidding, but still)
But all in all a pretty good first harvest.
PLENTY of tomatoes! From the little vine guys to the bigger patio guys, about 20 so far. The purple heirlooms are a bit slower to grow, but there's a few greenies on there as well. The poblanos, cayanne and Thai hots have gone crazy producing and we even have about half a dozen healthy looking cukes!
I think I figured out the problem with the squash and such from last year as well. Apparently, if a blossom reaches a certain age without being pollinated, it simply drops off.
I thought we had vicious ninja bugs.
The next project for me, while I wait for the next round to ripen, is to sprout some garlic and ginger.
The best time to plant both, from what I've been able to look up, is late summer.
Apparently they winter over really well and THAT'S when you'll get the best growth. Especially from the ginger which is a rhizome. (For this zone anyway.) Then watch the greens throughout the spring and early summer. For the garlic, as soon as the greens go brown, dig 'em up and voila! Garlic!......I hope.
The ginger is about the same, but I want to find out if the greens are edible, like lemon grass. They sure SMELL edible.....

Nothing really new on the local non-food thing. I'm kind of laying low and doing the garden / art / craft thing till it cools off some. I AM working on re painting a couple small cabinets in the steampunk vein. Perhaps to trade when I'm done....hmm....
I'll post some pics when the first one is finished.
My one purchase for me this month was a pack of 'Imp's Ears' from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs. Those folks make the best scents EVER! And now I have a new fave. I've been wearing their Galvanic Goggles for over a year now and I JUST discovered Dee. I'm in love! LOL! A bit of a masculine scent, reminiscent of old leather chairs, dusty tomes and incense. Sharpish. I got a few others, so I'll let you all know as I work through them which ones are supurb. :)

As for the local food front....holy cow! It's been DREADFULLY hot and dry, but the local farms are producing some of the most flavourful fruits and veggies I've ever eaten! Local NJ corn, already famous for being the sweetest in the country, is AMAZING! And I've been getting blackberries as long as my thumb and about an inch and a half around! SUPER sweet too!
I have to say, if you all get the chance, go out and grab up some local produce this summer! You will NOT regret it!
I'll probably come back and post more later this week.
(I'll have to come clean out the porn links anyway! LOL!)

8 comments:

Tuchen said...

You should try BPALs Fenris Wolf and Sacred Whore of Babylon, both very good! Your skin amps up the amber/sandalwood/dragon's blood type scents and both of those work really well.

At least you have tomatoes, ours are still green. I could have sworn the thyme was dead (this is the second plant this year) but it rained the other day and it looks like it never had a problem! I was getting ready to dig the thing up... I hope it's not a zombie plant...

I've looked into the growing the garlic thing, aside from the spring garlic you can get, (milder in flavor than the cloves) they are the easiest things to plant and grow!

I'm sure when I try it this year they will die. Cause I see to only be able to grow basil and tomatoes. Mint doesn't count cause it's really hard to kill.

I never thought to try to grow ginger... hmmm you have me thinking now sis and that could be a very scary thing!

Unknown said...

LOL! I LOVE making you think!!! The result is always awesome! :)
We only have tomatoes because I tried a new timing methhod. It worked out this time, but with the frisky weather it could just as easily have backfired....horribly. As for the ginger...it's a rhizome weed. Should be NO problem. Also hard to kill. LOL!
I've also learned that I can grow basil inside like it's going out of style....but outside not so much.
And as for zombie plants...just promise to share the DNA. That's all I ask.
MUAH!

Unknown said...

I have to get more imps soon....I'll ask for those!

Dria said...

I put garlic and onions in last fall and have harvested both. Onions were great! The Georgia Sweets were the best! But I think we over watered the rest. The garlic is curing now but what I used right away was nice.

Beets, carrots, and radishes have turned out well this time. Tomatoes started this week, YUM!

Ginger would be great. Where did you get the starter roots?

Tuchen: Zombie plants...I'd like that. BTW, my daughters favorite game to have me play for her to watch is Plants vs. Zombies.

Unknown said...

Hey I've played that! Very cute!

Ginger is just like potatoes or garlic. Toss a nice big root into a brown paper bag and wait for it to sprout, cut off each of the little sprouted spots and plant them. Eack little bit will grow a nice big ginger rhizome! If you let one grow for a few seasons it gets HUGE!!!!
I may try beets next year, tho Tim's not a fan. But after all....ALL the tomatoes are for him!

Gypsy Jane said...

Glad things are so productive. Do you have the blog set to moderate comments? in which case they never get to the page.

Gypsy Jane said...

by which I meant the bad comments never hit the page, not all the comments - of course - but it didn't seem to print the way I thought it ;)

Unknown said...

Hmmm, well I had it set to a tighter security before, but then some friends told me they couldn't post, so I just left it open. I may mess about with it later on, but till then I'll just clean house once in a while. LOL!