Mountain Garden, Beginning of July.

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disco

Epic Pitmaster
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Oct 31, 2012
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Canadian Rockies
A little over a month ago, I posted the start of my vegetable garden here in the Canadian Rockies. If you are interested, here is the link: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/142237/mountain-vegetable-garden-salute-to-kathrynn

I thought I would post what it looks like now in the early days of July. I am mostly posting so that those of you in warmer climes can have a laugh at how far behind we are here in the mountains.

Here is an overview of the vegetable garden.


On the left are my Haskap Plants. They are covered with mesh because the berries are ripe and the birds love them.



To the right is a row of Ultra Girl and a row of Manitoba tomatoes. They are two early varieties. It is a short season here. They are flowering well though which means I should get a crop.



In my first square bed, I have several varieties of lettuce, spinach and some green onions. We have been having green salads for a month but the spinach is just about done. I am on my third planting of green onions.


The second square bed has carrots and snow peas. The carrots are coming along fine but it will be 3 weeks or so before they are sized up. The snow peas are blooming which means we will be harvesting in a few days.



The third square bed has peppers and cucumbers. The peppers were coming fine and I had some small ones forming. Sadly, the chipmunks ate every flower and the couple of forming peppers a week ago. More flowers are coming and I will staunchly defend them from the chipmunk hordes.


The first terraced bed is my strawberry patch in bondage. I have to cage it to get any fruit or the critters would eat it all. We have just started harvesting strawberries. One of my favourite signs of summer is eating strawberries. I have made strawberry jam but I used berries from a local market.



The pole beans are in the next terraced bed and are only about 10 inches tall. However, the garlic scapes are curling and the tips of the leaves are browning so it won't be long before I harvest garlic.



The next bed is Norland Potatoes. They are growing like crazy and are just starting to show blooms. Harvesting should be a couple of weeks away.


The next bed is a mixture of green, yellow and purple bush beans. They are just starting to size up. I have seen pictures from SMF members who have harvested beans. Be kind. Don't laugh too hard.


The next row on the terraced level is another row of potatoes, 4 Stupice tomatoes and a Sweet Gold Cherry tomato. The Stupice are a heritage tomato from the Czech Republic that is very early and we always plant one cherry tomato so we can snack while we're working in the garden. We actually have tomatoes formed on the Cherry tomato and forming on the Stupice. Again, don't mock me too much. Tomatoes forming before the end of June are a big deal around here.




The last of the terraced beds is the one bed I put in annual flowers each year and a walking onion at the end of it. As you can see, the walking onions will be ready for harvest very soon.




My last vegetable plantings are two zucchini and two patty pan squash in old tires. The zucchini is blooming and tiny patty pans are forming. They are so good barbecued I can hardly wait.



I love vegetable gardening. I think it goes with my love of eating.

Disco
 
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Nice work there Disco....that's a labor of love for a short season. With the heat wave we have had here in Oregon I'm hoping for a bumper crop of hard to grow HOT peppers....Willie
 
Nice work there Disco....that's a labor of love for a short season. With the heat wave we have had here in Oregon I'm hoping for a bumper crop of hard to grow HOT peppers....Willie
Thanks, Willie. You are very lucky. My wife won't let me grow hot peppers. She complains how I react to them. However, they get snuck in the grocery basket sometimes.

Disco
 
Disco, evening..... Your garden is AWESOME by any stretch of the imagination....   My garlic is a little ahead of yours....  The scapes started to straighten out last week.....  I trimmed them at the top leaves......    As the leaves brown, from the ground up, wait until you have 3-4 green leaves on the top end, and then dig them..... It's OK if some of the top leaves have yellowed....   should be about a week or two, give or take, from when you trim the scapes and stems.....  When you trim and harvest as I have noted above, the bulbs will be 1/4-1/2" larger than other methods....   When the scapes start to straighten, the plant is hardening off to produce seed.... clipping the stem and scape, tricks the plant into thinking it was attacked, and put all it's food into the bulb to grow for the next spring.....   That also sets the plant up for better storage during the winter, if they last that long....  

Dave
 
Disco,

I see what looks like black line in all your hot boxes and around the plants, are those water drips?

Man I love the idea of a terraced garden, no back busters! I am sure there must be though, what are the drawbacks? I live at ground level, and its level.

Do the tires around the squash, draw greater heat from the sunlight, so that the plant starts in it grow cycle sooner?

I thought I saw some pots in your boxes at ground level, do you hot house 'em first then grow in the pots?

Some of those high sided boxes could easily have had plastic or glass over them, do you use them as a green house effect?

Sorry I am so inquisitive but the only cold weather garden I have ever seen was that guy on PBS. Its sort of amazing what you do in such short time.

I love your garden, The colors are pretty, the plants look healthy, heck those onions I can see dancing with joy. Really looks nice. I can see you have spent alot of time. really nice man.
 
Disco, evening..... Your garden is AWESOME by any stretch of the imagination....   My garlic is a little ahead of yours....  The scapes started to straighten out last week.....  I trimmed them at the top leaves......    As the leaves brown, from the ground up, wait until you have 3-4 green leaves on the top end, and then dig them..... It's OK if some of the top leaves have yellowed....   should be about a week or two, give or take, from when you trim the scapes and stems.....  When you trim and harvest as I have noted above, the bulbs will be 1/4-1/2" larger than other methods....   When the scapes start to straighten, the plant is hardening off to produce seed.... clipping the stem and scape, tricks the plant into thinking it was attacked, and put all it's food into the bulb to grow for the next spring.....   That also sets the plant up for better storage during the winter, if they last that long....  

Dave
Thanks Dave. I wait for a full two loops and then cut the scapes. I really enjoy my garlic. I have tried all the major varieties except purple stripe. I am going to the Hills Garlic Festival in New Denver this fall and I intend to pick up a couple of purple stripe varieties. Have you tried purple stripe? Has it produced well for you?
That garden is just incredible. Good on ya man.

This 4th of July, take time to remember how and why we celebrate. It's not just a day to party.
Thanks SmokinUT. I am in Canada and we celebrated July 1, Canada day. I also always take some time to be grateful for my home. 

I hope your July 4 is fun, meaningful and with those you love. Happy Birthday, USA
Disco,

I see what looks like black line in all your hot boxes and around the plants, are those water drips? Yes, they are drip irrigation lines. I use well water and need to conserve.

Man I love the idea of a terraced garden, no back busters! I am sure there must be though, what are the drawbacks? I live at ground level, and its level. We have to terrace our beds here. The problem with living in the mountains. They are nice to work at the raised end but the side up hill is ground level and you get all the bending.

Do the tires around the squash, draw greater heat from the sunlight, so that the plant starts in it grow cycle sooner? That's the theory. We have a short cool garden season and squash like the heat.

I thought I saw some pots in your boxes at ground level, do you hot house 'em first then grow in the pots? The pots are plants my wife has split from the flower garden for a garden club plant sale. We do start our peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes in the green house and then put them in the ground with exception of a patio tomato (Tumbler) we keep on the deck for snacks. The full size tomatoes and peppers just don't do as well in pots.

Some of those high sided boxes could easily have had plastic or glass over them, do you use them as a green house effect? I use the high sided boxes for two reasons. One, over the peppers and cucumbers in early spring with remay cloth so that they stay warmer overnight. Two, when the sun gets hot, I put shade cloth over the lettuce and spinach. It extends the period before they bolt. Also, I covered the tomatoes in the large bed with remay cloth in the spring and use a lot of cozy coats (see my first post linked at the beginning).

Sorry I am so inquisitive but the only cold weather garden I have ever seen was that guy on PBS. Its sort of amazing what you do in such short time. Well, there is some stuff that grows better here than when I lived at the coast. Lettuce, spinach, onions, garlic and potatoes all do great here. The rest does require a lot of effort. 

I love your garden, The colors are pretty, the plants look healthy, heck those onions I can see dancing with joy. Really looks nice. I can see you have spent alot of time. really nice man.
Thanks for the kind words, Foamheart. I did my best to answer your questions above. I have to admit to being jealous of people who have a longer growing season. However, I go out my back door to miles of mountain trails or sit on my deck and listen to the birds and I wouldn't live anywhere else.

Disco
 
Disco,  your garden is huge in comparison to my miniscule one.  Looks great, and what a wonderful variety!  I wish I had the room to do a big garden, but the cards aren't in my favor.

Congrats! 
 
Disco,  your garden is huge in comparison to my miniscule one.  Looks great, and what a wonderful variety!  I wish I had the room to do a big garden, but the cards aren't in my favor.

Congrats! 
Thanks, Frosty

When I lived on the coast twenty odd years ago, we had a townhouse with 3 four by four raised beds. We used to get a lot of fresh food out of them. Vegetable gardens aren't about how big they are, they are about great food. Keep on growing good food!
 
Disco!  Your garden is absolutely gorgeous!  I am impressed at the no weeds too!  It's pouring here today and there is no way to get out into mine.  It's a bit over grown at the moment....and rain/monsoons expected all the rest of the weekend.

Cant wait to see what you get picked soon.

Kat
 
Disco, morning...   Yes, I have 2 varieties of purple stripe........     When your garlic gets to 2 full loops, wait for it to straighten out, then cut at the leaf.....  Your garlic will get even bigger and store longer.....     My buddy that wrote the book, and his farm was about 3 miles from my, knows a lot about garlic.....     Growing Great Garlic by Ron Engeland....   I see him about once a month....   Dave
 
Disco!  Your garden is absolutely gorgeous!  I am impressed at the no weeds too!  It's pouring here today and there is no way to get out into mine.  It's a bit over grown at the moment....and rain/monsoons expected all the rest of the weekend.

Cant wait to see what you get picked soon.

Kat
Thanks, Kat. I try to spend an hour every morning it isn't raining in the garden (sort of therapy). The reason there aren't many weeds is that there has been a hot snap with no rain for the last week. A few days of rain and they come up. I mulch most of my beds though and that does help a bit. 

As for seeing what I harvest, it should just be days for patty pan squash and I will do a post with Qview. I love grilling them, they cook up so well.

As for your monsoons, they may help the weeds but they will help the plants more!

Happy July 4 to you and happy birthday USA from a fat old Canadian,

Disco
 
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