fall fava beans

I'm trying again with fava beans. Early this spring I planted a crop that was overcome by black aphids. Since I had some seeds left over, I thought I'd try again this fall. I planted the last of my seeds September 19, a month ago. I now have 20 small plants from about 30 seeds. And the best thing - NO APHIDS!

I'm curious to see if I'll get any beans from these late plants. Time to harvest for favas is about 85 days. That would be December 13. Favas are pretty cold tolerant (down to 0F), but I'm wondering if they grow and produce beans at cold temperatures. I figure gardening by the trial-and-error-method is a good way to learn what works in my garden.

Last year, my garden's first hard frost was November 21 (a low of 31F). The plants I covered survived this one and grew until early January when temperatures plummeted. It seems every year, our fall is a little warmer.

Vicia faba
harvests from my vegetable gardens

fall tomatoes

I'm picking my tomatoes when they show a little red and letting them ripen inside. This seems to work better in the fall than vine ripening. The squirrels occasionally try a few bites and the slugs sometimes find them. I'd rather grab them ASAP and keep them in a big bowl inside to ripen.

Its already late October! The tomato leaves are starting to yellow and some are drying up and turning brown. Our temperatures have cooled off here in the Boston area (zone 6b), but my guess is maybe a month yet until we frost. Just a guess ...

Solanum lycopersicum

blog action day: no garden pesticides

Blog Action Day October 15, 2007 is a network of posts relating to the environment.
My topic: What worked for me this year to avoid the use of pesticides in my kitchen garden



1. Row covers. My newly found triumph. They were easier than I thought and very effective in keeping the cabbage worms away (photos here).

2. Admit defeat. Black aphids ate my fava beans this year and I admitted failure and pulled them up (pictures of the favas and aphids are here). Soon after, the lady bugs arrived in force and I haven't seen another aphid all year (my lady bug photos are here).

3. Plant many varieties: My fava bean failure was a big disappointment, but since I had many other crops, it didn't matter so much that I lost one. I also had a problem with my green beans this year - probably a bean mosaic virus (pictures here). It affected my heirloom varieties that were not virus resistant. Since I had planted at least 6 or 8 different varieties of beans, including both heirloom and new varieties, I just pulled the affected plants and enjoyed the resistant ones.

4. Encourage birds. I don't know how much the birds really help by eating bugs, but I see them out in the garden every day - rain or shine - eating this and that. I mostly get house sparrows in the bird houses I've put up around the garden. Also robins, chickadees, cardinals, blue jays and house wrens. But I think they are a part of natural pest control.

5. Wrap squash stems with cheese cloth. I didn't have many stem borers in my squashes this year, which may in part be due to wrapping about half of my squash stems with cheese cloth. It looked ugly, but I have to admit that it seemed to work. In previous years, many of my squash and cucumber plants were killed mid year by borers. The plants suddenly wilt and die. Pesticides effective against borers are toxic to bees.

6. Rotate crops. A garden plan helps with this. Mid-winter is a good time to figure out where to move your crops to next year.

7. Get a soil test: A soil test will tell you if what applications of nitrogen and other nutrients are necessary to avoid problems that can occur as a result of stressed plants. I tested my soil late last fall and the results detailed a fertilization regime, organic matter additions and pH adjustments.

8. Irrigation: I highly recommend a built in easy and effective irrigation system for use during dry periods. I have a network of small PVC pipes that I lift to work the soil every spring and then bury prior to planting. (Here are pictures.) It works great. I have a computer controlled system that I use to irrigate early in the day. This promotes the drying of leaves and decreases pests that thrive in moist conditions. (Next year, my hope is to attach a rain barrel my irrigation system. What fun!)

community garden tour

Skippy and I walked though the Rock Meadow Victory Garden yesterday. I just get overwhelmed with how beautiful vegetable gardens are! And to see so many together almost puts me over the edge.

The fall is a great time for gardens. Rich colors and the evidence of a full season of producing fruits. Birds and bees are in abundance - singing, buzzing, gathering.

This collection of 120 garden plots is very nicely maintained. A beautiful range of gardens: from all flowers to all vegetables - even some fruit trees and lots of berry bushes.

I was so enamored that I am looking into getting my own plot. I am realizing that the trees in my yard are not getting any smaller. The shade continues to advance. Some crops do very well there. Some just don't even compare with the plants in the Victory Garden plots, which receive full bright unfiltered sunlight.

So, I'm imagining what would go well at my plot next year. A topic that can keep me laying awake much too long at night. Potatoes, squashes, lettuce, fava beans .... We'll see.

In the meantime, you can see a slide show of more of my Victory Garden photos here on Flickr.

communitygardening
Belmont Victory Garden

rain drops on kale

We've been lucky to have a good soaking rain for the past couple days. And our weather has cooled off and become more like fall.
Kale (Brassica oleracea, Acephala Group)

teeny pumpkin

Here's my tiny little pumpkin. Its even smaller than it looks. I'm leaving it on the vine to make sure its fully ripe. The stem is starting to turn brown, but there's still some green on the fruit. No frost in the forecast, so I think its fine to leave it to ripen longer.

Pumpkin -- Cucurbitaceae spp.

prolific green beans

I have two varieties of green beans that have done great this year. Haricots Verts "Maxibel" and Provider, both of which I planted in the middle of May and never replanted. They keep on producing more. Once a week or so I pick all the beans and they always have another crop when I look again. They are saving me many trips to the supermarket.

Fabaceae

zinnias and snapdragons

These flowers are growing along side my vegetable garden.

fall peas

My fall crop of peas is a couple feet tall now. I planted them on August 11. The variety is Alderan (Tall Telephone).

Here's the description form Sandhill Preservation Center, where I got these heirloom seeds: "Alderman (Tall Telephone): 75 days. I remember how much I enjoyed growing this variety in the cooler Springs in the Northwest. There it would reach 6 feet tall and be loaded with pods. Our rapidly changing climate here makes them shorter."

Pisum sativum

window view

I transplanted lots of little lettuce seedlings to the space at the front far left of this view. No rows, just a big patch of mixed fall greens. A wet week is predicted, but for now I have the sprinkler watering them.

aerial views of my home vegetable garden

black eyes

Skippy's eyes are so black they are hard to see sometimes.

"tongue of fire" beans

These beans are called Tongue Of Fire (Phaseolus vulgaris). I planted a package of seeds in late July. Here are descriptions from some seed catalogs:

Johnny's:
The best flavored horticultural bean. The fresh, shelled beans are large, round and have superior flavor and texture, whether fresh, frozen, or canned. 6-7", stringless, red-streaked pods can be eaten and marketed young as snap beans. Original stock seeds collected in Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America. Avg. 875 seeds/lb. Packet: 95 seeds. Days to Maturity or Bloom: 70 Cold Tolerant Variety does well at lower temperatures and may even be frost hardy.

Victory Seed Company:
Italian heirloom (Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco). A cranberry-type horticultural bean variety originally collected from Tierra del Fuego on the tip of South America. The pods are ivory tan with red streaks and spots as they mature. The seeds are large and roundish. They have an excellent flavor and texture and are good fresh, canned, frozen or dried. About 55 seeds per ounce.

I hoping to try Leslie's recipe for Kale and Cranberry Bean Soup.

Fabaceae

overgrown garden

Arrrggghh!

I went over to the other side of the fence and looked at my garden today. This is how it looks to my neighbor. I have to admit I have seriously neglected my garden in the past month. My professional work has gotten the better of me.

Oh well.

I am afraid to stand under my tomato tepees too long as I know they are about to fall over. The vines are out of control this year. The tepees are leaning under the weight and I can't get them stabilized.

The squashes are all done for the year and need to be pulled. The mildew won. (I do have one tiny, but cute, little pumpkin thats almost ripe.) Many chiles need to be picked and roasted and stored. I've missed picking many beans and lettuce heads, so I'm going to see if I can use these for seed.

Tomorrow is the start of a long (Columbus Day) weekend. Maybe it'll be a good weekend for recovering the garden. Or at least hanging out and enjoying it.

This fall is very warm, yet again (a trend maybe?). It seems more like August than October. Yesterday Boston set a record for warmth. And our overnight lows have been unusually high most of the past month. My garden runs even warmer than our zone in the fall, and cooler in the spring. Something to do with its location, which is shaded and sheltered between tall houses in the suburbs. In any case, it does seem like a good weekend for overdue gardening.

beets

I have a few good sized beets now from a spring planting. Still a lot of small ones. The seeds were called Rainbow Beet Mix from The Cook's Garden. Its described as a mix of all of their beet varieties that will mature at different times over a long season.

An added comment on the weather: I thought this was fall. Its as hot as mid-summer today! Good thing I planted a lot of fall crops. If this keeps up, my garden will grow until Christmas! And my nice fall sweaters will stay in my closet.

beets (Beta vulgaris)

garden wildlife

Here's who's in my garden these days. Lots of birds - mostly sparrows, cardinals, chickadees and titmice. I was surprised to spot a downy woodpecker on my big old pumpkin vine. These guys are great helpers with the insect control.

The problem critter is that cute squirrel. He's increased his digging now that its fall. He rearranges my lettuce seedlings and digs up the larger seeds and bulbs. Sometimes I cover newly planted areas (especially crocus bulbs) with chicken wire to keep him away.

gardenbirds