Monday, September 7, 2009

Plot update and Monday harvest tally

I'm tired; it's been a busy day and I spent part of it here. Also, rode over to the MSG on my bike to harvest and post flyers for our upcoming potluck barbecue. I have just imported dozens of photos from the past week's events and and will pick out the ones that document the yield of the past week.There is not much new to report. Over at the MSG, gardeners have heeded our call to check in on their plots and weed the adjacent paths, so things look much neater. I had finally amassed enough tomatoes to whip up my first batch of salsa. And the green beans keep coming, and I keep steaming them, oven-roasting them, and donating them to the food pantry. As you can see above, I harvested my first Cosmonaut Volkov tomato last Wednesday and I'm still picking a few Cherokee purples.

On Friday, I took some plot photos, including the one at top featuring mostly perennials, and picked more tomatoes, though with my labeled sticks hard to find, I'm not sure if they are Cosmonaut Volkov or Rose de Berne; though the color is similar I think the former is rounder and plumper. In this photo of the vegetable side, you can see that my fall peas are starting to climb, though today I noticed them already flowering so I'm a little concerned.In another plot across the path, a few bees were keeping busy.I couldn't make it over to the plot Saturday, but harvested a tomato growing in one of the containers at home, and today, I returned to the MSG to find a few broccoli sideshoots in addition to the usual.I have my harvest documented now, but I'm unclear about the cost of the tomatoes, so I'm going to poop out and prepare the estimated value for a future post. But first, something odd (at least to me)--a three-headed daisy.

4 comments:

Daphne Gould said...

That is kind of odd. I got a twin Sungold tomato the other day (and they didn't ripen at the same time), but I've never seen my perennials do that. I envy your broccoli. My spring plants died on me so I didn't get much. Just one little tiny head. My fall broccoli is doing much much better. I can't wait for the first harvest.

Bryan Bunch said...

Great photos. My report is that my tomatoes are all gone, although we had a great harvest, the green beans are still coming at a reasonable rate, the zucchini and yellow squash a bit faster than I can eat them, the chard is in good shape, and I still have potatoes in the ground--lots of them, I think. But I do miss the tomatoes. There are two green ones left on the one vine not destroyed by wilt (or maybe late blight), so I may get those yet, and a few yellow cherry tomatoes continue to appear.

Sally said...

Daphne, I didn't get any broccoli last year until the fall; yours will probably do fine. A twin Sungold must have looked odd, too.

Bryan, I'm glad you got so many tomatoes during this uncertain season. Mine are late bloomers; not enough to make a batch of salsa until last week.

Dan said...

That flower is pretty strange, I have never noticed one like that before. All your harvests look great. Next year I am leaving my spring broccoli in for side shouts. I took mine out and planted a fall crop, they are now producing tiny little heads smaller then side shouts. Live and learn I guess :-)

To answer your question about the stair paint, 3 years is pretty much all you get from a stair/deck finish. Its life can be prolonged by using the best products available though. If you are planning on tackling the job I would use an orbital sander (about $39) and sand as much of the finish off as possible. Then clean with TSP and allow to dry. Once dry prime the whole area with exterior oil based primer. When that dries then apply two coats of a 'Porch & Floor Paint'. This finish should last about 5 years with a touch up here and there.