Organic Gardening Update - July 15, 2010

It has been a very difficult gardening and farming year for Iowa. We have seen over 15″ of rain in the metro alone during the month of June. 5″ is the norm. Gardens are just not thriving as that much rain depletes nitrogen levels. It’s been a season of amending, battling prolific slugs and mosquitos and waiting it out. My heart goes out to our local family farmers that have lost fields of crops. It’s been evident seeing empty tables at the farmers market. Prayerfully, our weather will turn for the best and enable them to produce abundant warm weather crops.

At my plots it’s been no different. Some of my crops are weeks behind and my fingers are crossed that they will have time to grow and produce something. If not, there’s always next year 🙂

Mami and Papi plots

My plots at my parent’s home are doing well. I am so glad that they are raised or the wet weather would have stopped production. I have come to the realization that this area does need more sunlight. My father and I have plans to expand this area next year as we open it up, add another bed and landscape the area. We plan to add mulch pathways and a cute fence. However, I’m hoping we can find someone to help us trim his backyard tree or our efforts may not be worth it. These pictures were taken last week when I harvested the last of our lettuce. I’ll be seeding some more in this area in another week or so for a fall harvest.

Harvested Beets! I’m going to give Beet Kvass another try ;D

I pulled out all of my lettuce as the warmer weather will cause it to go bitter and bolt.

Slugs! I’m sick of seeing them! I have been using Diatamacious Earth on my cabbage but the excessive rain only wipes it away. A few of my cabbages are doing great, however, after speaking to a gardening friend, next year I’ll be taking full advantage of cloth row covers for my cabbage. That should take care of the problem 🙂

Carrots! I have harvested a few 😀

Last of my lettuce until this fall.

Tomatoes. They have indeed been suffering. They are growing, but they just need warmer weather and less rain! All of this rain also causes fungus including blight! Yes, I have been seeing some of my leaves with the dreaded yellow spots. I’ve been spraying milk, however, the rain also keeps wiping away all of my efforts. DREADED RAIN!
I have a post coming up soon on battling fungus including blight.

My favorite flower. The yellow blossoms on tomato plants 🙂

Fruits of my labor. I can’t wait for the first taste 🙂

Heirlooms.

My potatoes in a sack! They’re still growing 🙂

Scraps for the chickens! They were very pleased 🙂

Community Gardening Plots

My community gardening plots are in full sun. My hubby raised me 3 beds in one of my plots this year in order to prevent flooding that has been a regular occurrence over the past few years. Unfortunately one of the beds that is home to my peppers this year is still to low and with all of this rain we’ve had it’s been taking in way too much water. It’s draining better than it ever has, but it hasn’t allowed my peppers to grow. I have added worm castings which has helped my crops green up and I’ve begun to see some growth! I’m just praying now that there is enough season left to see some produce. I had my heart set on all sorts of peppers this year. Sadly, it’s been a couple years since I’ve had a good pepper harvest. I took the photos below a week ago and since then the crops have grown.

My peppers are bigger now, (not much) but the problem is that I am dealing with blight. Since they are so small, I’m hoping they can grow quicker so I can efficiently deal with the problem. I’ve been spraying them with milk but again, with all the rain it’s made it difficult to keep reapplying!
Rain… please stop… k.. thanks!

Tomatillos are doing great!

My eggplants are growing as well.

My zuchinni’s are way bigger now! Yeah 😀

My house plots and Grow Boxes.

My crops at home are doing fabulous! They are in full sun with perfect drainage. Next year, I will replace my corn with peppers. I’m determined to have some good peppers again! Check out my corn on my front lawn. I think it looks super cute! I’ve been pretty happy as I’ve actually been receiving compliments, ha!

I LOVE my GROW BOXES!!! So easy to use. My cucumbers are taking off and yes, I should have staked them but I can honestly say, I’ve been to lazy. I’ll get to it, lol!

Beautiful cucumber blooms 😀

My raspberry bushes are also getting ginormous. I’m going to have to read up on tending.

I’m so excited. I thought my plants were done fruiting for the season. I guess not!

My tomato plants are thriving here. Check out how large my tomatillo is getting 😀

Beautiful Italian Heirloom leaves.

Tomatillo

Tomatillo blossoms.

Well… there’s my gardening update from this city urban homesteader 😀 I am already thinking about planting my fall veggies and looking into winter gardening. I’m starting brussel sprouts indoors this week to hopefully harvest by December and it’s looking like I’m going to be using my Grow Boxes for winter Spinach, Chard, and Carrots. So how are your gardens doing? Make sure to share on the Simple Thursday Blog Hop!

This post is linked to the first edition of the Simple Lives Thursday Blog Hop.

Comments

Winnie says
July 15, 2010 at 9:30 am
I am sorry you are having a tough gardening year. We had a terrible rainy summer last year, and my plants did suffer, but this year it's super hot and all my plants are really thriving…sometimes too much so, though- a lot of my lettuces and broccoli bolted before I had a chance to enjoy them 🙁
Anyway, I hope things improve there and that you get to enjoy your produce, but as you say, there is always next year.
Laurie says
July 15, 2010 at 10:52 am
We just got smacked upside the head with another rain storm and strong winds last night. Much of the garden is rather flatter than it should be, but I think it'll be okay. I'm considering trying to plant some fall peas, as my spring peas didn't germinate so well and I know we won't have enough to last the winter right now.
I'm glad the worm castings have helped. I really like their nitrogen boost without introducing more weeds like manure.
Belinda @zomppa says
July 15, 2010 at 11:46 am
Wow. I'm so impressed. When we only shop in grocery stores, we forget how dependent we really are on nature. Can't reason with her!
Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal says
July 15, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Wow, you got a gorgeous garden and what a great collection of the veggies. Simply beautiful. I am also trying this year, but made few mistakes. Will try fresh again.
Teresa B. says
July 15, 2010 at 9:14 pm
I've had terrible luck with peppers this year, too. My hubby thinks it's because we planted them in a low spot and they've been sitting in water most of the spring and summer. I planted one pepper plant and one tomato plant in containers this year, and they are doing beautiful. So nice to see something grow well. Oh, and I love your corn in the front yard. It's so Iowa!
Diana Bauman says
July 16, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Thanks everyone for the comments. What can you do, lol! I'm already planning on changes for next year 😀 I would love to see everyone else's gardens. If you have a blog, feel free to link them up on the new Simple Lives Thursday Blog Hop. It's a great way to share what we're doing 😉
Sustainable Eats says
July 22, 2010 at 2:00 am
Diana I feel your pain – it's like you are living in Seattle LOL. For most of the spring and early summer I was outside at night with a headlamp on. I would squish easily 200 baby or big slugs per day. I also have gravel around my raised beds and use row cover but sometimes they dig under it. It does make a huge difference though. I started 4 rounds of cucumbers and 5 rounds of dill. The dill never made it, the cukes I have left are on 3" tall plants now. I lost whole packets of beans too. Don't lose heart – this was a tough, tough year.