Straw Bale Garden Update June 8th, 2024

Our garden this year is being grown up the sides of an arch tunnel extending from my back patio out toward the treeline. We have five bales each along the inside of the arch, four on the outer left side, and two on the outer right. There is also a garden container against the house full of wee Little Birdy Yellow Canary tomato plants and some fennel, a hill where Little Pie is growing pumpkins (Jack-O'-Lanters), and  small buckets that are growing Yukon Gold (new) potatoes. I say 'new' because we tend to harvest them little and use them in soups. We have the usual chives and strawberries, as well. 

 

Little Giraffe's Jack O' Lanterns

Hubs went through the garden today with me and we adjusted the names of tomato plants so I can *finally* make my list for the year. We have been updating it all along since it was planted last month. Unfortunately, critters (I believe raccoons that my neighbor is currently FEEDING, of all things) have been decimating plant after plant. We have already replaced something like ten plants and I still have some more naked spots of which I was unaware. :( I should have checked them personally this morning.

So, instead of being the conclusive list for the season, I present to you what we are growing right this minute: 

Outside Left Bales 

1) White Wonder, Jasper, Tatume Squash 

2) Mint Julep, Dr. Carolyn, Weaver's Black Brandywine 

3) Queen of the Night, Pink Brandywine, Sun Gold 

4) Amethyst, Golden Fang, Royal Golden Watermelon, My's Mystery (so named any time we've lost a label or it has faded in the sun) 

Inside Left Bales 

1) Wapsipinicon Peach, Royal Golden Melon, Jasper 

2)Fuzzy Blue Balls, Wild Boar Pork Chop, My's Mystery 

3) Sun Peach, Moonbeam, Chocolate Cherry 

4)Sun Dipper, Pink Girl, White Beauty 

5)My's Mystery, Pink Siberian Tiger, *empty*

Inside Right Bales

1) Lemon Squash, Phil's Two, Yellow Brandywine

2) Goat's Bag, Golden Fang, Banana Leg

3) Beefmaster, Beefsteak *or* Mark Twain (lol), Striped German 

4) Dino Eggs (entire bale)

5) Brandywine Pink, Hillbilly Potato Leaf, Brandywine Cherry

Outside Right Bales

1) Freckled Child, Dino Egg, Watermelon

2) Alice's Dream, Dirty Little Chicken, Chocolate Cherry

If you're counting, that is thirty-six distinct varieties of tomatoes. That is down by fourteen from our record-breaking year of fifty varieties last year, but it *is* past the thirty mark I kept trying to hit since 2017. I had fallen short of that by two or three for several years in a row, so I'm chuffed to have hit thirty for the second time. 

That is if the little rat-coons don't keep decimating my plants one by one...

End of Season Summary =)

Here is the post-season wrap-up of the assorted tomatoes that graced our garden this year. I have separated out the mid-to-large-sized tomatoes from the cherry and pear varieties. We enjoyed twenty-four varieties in total.  

Not quite ripe Pork Chop Tomato

My personal favorites were the Pork Chop tomatoes with their sweet-but-tangy flavor and dazzling yellow-on-yellow striped skin. Those beauties made my heart flip every time I got to inspect them. <3 They are part of the 'wild barred boar' family and are not to be missed!

Over-ripe Pork Chop Tomato

When we stripped out the garden over a two-week period, we brought in a lot of green tomatoes. We've been able to identify and enjoy them as they ripen. Indeed, tearing out the garden was also an education on what was hiding in big clusters of overgrown plants. My own lack of actively tending the garden this year worked against me all summer. In the end, tearing out plants and harvesting what was left was rather like a gardener's Christmas. ;) 

Overall I am pretty pleased with the range of sizes we had. Even so, I am almost desperate for my ground cherries and spoon tomato plants to cooperate with me next year and broaden our experience even further. :)  

Red/orange/yellow slices ready for BLT's

TOMATOES

Kellogg's Breakfast 
Striped German
Pink Brandywine
Yellow Brandywine 
Dr. Wyche's Yellow
Climbing Trip-L Crop
Hillbilly Potato Leaf
Porkchop
Stump of the World
Chef's Choice Pink
Solar Flare
Nebraska Wedding
Golden Fang
Banana Legs
Dino Eggs

Cherry/Pear Varieties
Midnight Snack
Garnet
Gardner's Sweetheart
Flamingo Burst
Sunrise Bumblebee 
Little Birdy Rosey Finch
Little Birdy Yellow Canary
Siam
Indigo Pear

Seven of the nine types of these are pictured on a plate here. I did not have a LB Yellow Canary to show off, nor a Siam at the moment. We managed to save both Little Birdy plants, which are now growing indoors in one-gallon pots.

Straw Bale Garden Produce, August 2021

The wait is over! The garden is starting to ripen. Here are some of the goodies we have taken in. (This post was meant for August but was delayed due to a loss.)

      

    This purple and pink cutie is a Pink Siberian Tiger tomato. I enjoy the flavor but have found the flesh is so quickly soft and temperamental. I also can't seem to stop these guys from splitting around the top. 

     Featured: Indigo Pear tomatoes (top left - small yellow and purple), Chef's Choice Pink tomatoes, Golden Fang tomatoes (oblong yellow), Wapsipinicon Peach tomatoes (fuzzy small yellow), Pink Bumblebee tomatoes (far right, bottom), Pink Princess Cherry tomato (hiding under the Wapsi), a cucumber, Tigger Melons and I believe an under-ripe Nebraska Wedding.

     I was delighted to grow my own yellow potatoes. :) These are fingerlings, which tasted absolutely heavenly in a pot roast soup. <3  

      These lovely tomatoes are my Orange Orangutans. Aren't they positively a feast for the eyes? Yummmmm. You can see the hint of a Kellogg's Breakfast tomato at the uppermost left corner, right beside a Chef's Choice Pink tomato. These were all quite large and made delicious BLT sandwich tomatoes. :)

    These tomatoes came out a bit "smaller", although not small in any real sense. I had a fair amount of Pink Siberian Tiger, Black Beauty, Nebraska Wedding, Orange Orangutan, Hilliblly Potato Leaf, Kellogg's Breakfast, and this large yellow-orange tomato I grew from seeds I took off of a supermarket tomato a couple of years ago.

    This picture is a closer look at what the Wapsipinicon Peach tomatoes look like. If you have a phone, zoom in. Perhaps you can tell that they are fuzzy like a peach, though distinctly a tomato. I don't particularly care for these, myself. They are my teen's favorite, though. Thus, I will always grow them for her. :)

    Here is a picture of Golden Fang tomatoes beside Roma/Rio Grand for comparison. They did very well, I think. You can see the one is still ripening. I like to bring tomatoes in while they are a bit green to keep them out of the hands of eager squirrels. ;)

This seems to be the only (terrible lol) picture I have of green beans. Hm. Sorry about that. lol

    This is what Tigger Melons look like on the inside. They are meant to be larger than this. It took three years of trying to get these to grow. I was so excited to see what happened that I let the vines go wild. I didn't cull a single melon. In no time, we had over forty! Fun fact: squirrels LOVE them! They are a bit like a cross between a cantaloupe and a honeydew. Their flavor is more earthy and less sweet. My friend loves them, so I will probably grow them again next year. :)

    Butternut squash came up. It was the only one that came up and stuck around. We got exactly one zucchini, two Crookneck (both of which died out of nowhere), no Delicata and initially no Spaghetti Squash. The latter vine came up and put out a small Spag before the squash bugs got to it. My pumpkins, cantaloupe, and cucumbers were all taken down by birds and squirrels while they were still seedlings. I ran to Kroger and saved a dying Boston Pickling Cucumber plant that was on its last legs. We've been making Cucumber Bread ever since.

Our beets grew very quickly but stayed quite small. I will have to look into them more next year and see what I can do to help them out. I gave them good soil, light, and nutrition. Even so, it seems that my neighbors and friends have seen their gardens struggle this year, as well. I am grateful for the few we had. :)

The Parsley (two kinds) has done very well. I am disappointed to say that neither it nor the dill has drawn in swallowtail eggs or caterpillars. Boo! The dill never took off, either. It is still the same single sprig it started out as. Darn if that little guy still didn't manage to flower. lol Chives have continued to boom. I do not love how their bulbs look, but the greens are quite tasty. Cabbage did alright. I picked it before it was full-sized since I am the only one who eats it. It was crisp, delicious, and oh-so fresh! :) I will check on the next head any day now. Carrots wilted and died in the hot summer sun. Radishes were tiny or did the same. Peas came up briefly (Alaska and Sugar Snap) but ultimately fell to wildlife. 

    In all, the month of August was very productive. We also turned my little Giraffe's pool (that she couldn't use with an injured ankle) into a temporary goldfish pond. One of our Bettas, Cobalt, also spent a lot of time out there bringing such a lively pop of blue into the yard. Feeding the fish added another component of tranquility to my gokotta ritual. 

    I adore fall and bear the Christmas spirit pretty much year-round but I have found myself dreading and almost even grieving the close of the gardening season this year. It is the one place in the world where I come closest to much-coveted coveted eutierria. *sigh* I digress. The days are short and best spent intentionally. I must enjoy them all while I have them. <3