Transitioning through the Season

This spring/summer growing season has been a mixed bag of victories and defeats. On one hand, I was able to successfully set up and grow a potager garden. (Many thanks to Hubby’s help!) This style of bed allowed me to diversify my crop yield. I was able to get a decent yield of long Japanese eggplant, cucumbers, green beans, beets, sunflowers, five different varieties of peppers, and some very prolific San Marzano sauce tomatoes. My basil suffered however, with a strange brown fungus appearing on the underside of the leaves. I believe I accidently bought diseased plants from the nursery and subsequently spread the disease by placing the plants too close together in the garden beds. Once I realized the problem, I completed a mercy killing of the plants and started fresh with a new set of seedlings from a different nursery.

The potager in transition

Spacing was a big issue this season for the tomatoes. Since I planted them closer together this year, they were more susceptible to each other’s ailments. My squashes spread powdery mildew to the closest set of tomatoes and then the wind and close proximity carried it to the rest. I have to seriously rethink my squash placement next year, or simply not plant it any more. I am too close to the coast for the weather to be hot enough to eliminate mildew on squash.  I have also been experiencing diminished soil fertility. While my San Marzanos were prolific in one part of the potager, my other tomatoes failed to thrive. Blossom drop has been a huge problem. Heavy amending of the soil is in order with focus on introducing lots of natural calcium. I may need to let some beds take a break from tomatoes next year in order to build up the soil, planting nutrient rich cover crops instead.

I am transitioning the garden over to cooler weather crops. If my seedlings are any indication, I just might be successful with a fall garden this year. The kale and Swiss chard have already been planted and the broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, cabbage, and collards have been started from seed. So far, so good.

Swiss chard 

Kale seedlings in foreground, mature kale in background

My saving grace for the tomato season has been my unruly wild patch of cherry tomatoes. It spring up every year next to my tangerine tree. We used to have our compost heap here, so the soil is very fertile and all the seeds tossed out with the compost the year before have now blossomed into the hardy cherry tomatoes. They do not have the complexity and deep flavor of my heirlooms, but they are sweet and bright and beloved by my co-workers and their children. (I am not a stranger with candy; I’m a stranger with vegetables!) They make wonderful salsa and are the perfect fruit for my favorite salad, panzanella (recipe forthcoming). I need to stop being such a tomato snob. Sometimes the garden gives you awesome heirlooms, sometimes it gives you sweet cherries. Appreciate the fact you got something worth eating from the fruits of your labors. Even with hard work and diligence, the home gardener can end up with zilch. It makes every bounty, expected or not expected, big or small, a blessing from the earth.

The prolific yet neglected cherry tomato patch

The second string heirlooms have been besieged by gophers and plagued by blossom drop.

Gopher Tales

I planted a late winter/ early spring vegetable garden of Brassica and lettuce leaf vegetables in early February. I was just beginning to reap the rewards, harvesting Swiss chard and kale for my vegetable soups. But then I noticed that the four of each plant began to reduce one by one by one each day. I had four lovely kale plants, and then  . . .

It didn't take that long to figure out that I had a gopher. The Swiss cheese like holes and the magically disappearing veggies confirmed it. I even watched it happen! It was surreal - like a silly cartoon. This can't be happening, I thought, my cabbage just got sucked down a hole! Hubby was ready to declare war on the pesky creature after it started munching on his precious collards. Unfortunately, setting up shop on the roof sniper-style is not acceptable in San Diego. So, we tried and old wives' tale trick: Bounce dryer sheets. Supposedly the little buggers hate the scent. But my plants kept disappearing. So, we tried gopher repellent made mostly from castor oil. We would never introduce actual poison into our garden ecosystem because we do not want predators up the food chain to suffer and / or die. Too many times, rodent predators such as owls, hawks, and neighborhood cats have died terribly due to eating a poisoned gopher or rodent. Please, please resist the urge to got to this extreme. These predatory animals are a gardener's best friend in the war against vermin. Please do not put them at risk!  

Earl on gopher patrol among the cabbages.

Frustrated, I spoke to my neighbor about the vegetable thievery. He recommend that I use his cat, Earl, as pest abatement, citing the fact that he had already killed all the gophers on his family's property, as well as a property belonging to a neighbor. I hired the worthy assassin, promising payment of one handful of kibble now and one later. I don't know if Earl got the gopher or if the repellent did its duty, but the gratuitous vegetable murders have abated in the last couple of weeks. The early spring, cool season vegetables have run their course and have since been removed in favor of the warm weather offerings: tomatoes, peppers, and summer squash. Either the gophers aren't interested in them or they have moved on to other pastures. I have a theory that they don't like plants from the nightshade family, specifically tomatoes, peppers, and basil. There was not a nibble on those plants during the same period of the Brassica assaults. I continue to stay vigilant, looking for tell-tale gopher holes and chewed plant stems and I continue my overtures of friendship to the neighborhood cats.

Pilfered Plumeria!

I sincerely believe that gardeners are generous folk. We love to share big, beefsteak tomatoes with our co-workers, succulent cuttings with our neighbors, and dried herbs with our friends. Need gardening tips or help? Please ask! We’d love to lend a hand or provide you with experienced insight! We have a wealth of intellectual and material resources and our well-being grows every time we share it.

But please, oh please, do not take from our private gardens without permission! Yes, it may seem like there is plenty to go around. But unthinking scavengers may not understand that certain resources may be specifically earmarked for other people or other endeavors. Even worse, ripping, tearing, or pulling on delicate plants can be very harmful or lethal!

Deliberate cuts were made on the right and left side of the plant.

On Thursday morning, I pulled out of my driveway and as I drove past my front yard, I noticed that my plumeria closest to the street was missing two large branches! I pulled over to the side of the road and inspected the damage. This was not a simple break of small fingerling limbs I have experienced in the past. Some ne had very deliberately sawed off two large branches that would have yielded approximately a dozen cuttings!* I was furious, just flat out spitting mad! I glowered in my office with my door shut until mid-morning, hoping that no poor, hapless co-worker had the misfortune to walk through my door.

Someone thoughtlessly broke this branch by hand.

After I got over my anger, I felt hurt. I have been very generous offering cuttings to my neighbors. I handed out cuttings to visitors when I participated in the Clairemont Garden Tour in 2010. When I trim my plumeria, I leave a bucket of cuttings in the driveway for passers-by to take. I love giving thank-you plumeria cuttings to my co-workers in appreciation for all the ways they support me and our company. These thieves took branches I had earmarked as “thank you cuttings.” They stole, not understanding that those cuttings were meant for someone else. Plumeria cuttings are a hot commodity and can earn between five dollars and thirty dollars (and up!) per cutting depending on the kind and quality. If I make a conservative estimate that my twelve cuttings were worth ten dollars apiece, the thieves stole $120.00 worth of product from me. 

More damage to green wood

I sadly feel a whole lot less generous than I did previously about sharing my plumeria cuttings.  I even contemplated installing a vinyl privacy fence. Barriers may deter the thoughtless pilferer, but they will not stop a determined thief. I don’t want to be one of those crotchety neighbors constantly screaming, “Get off my lawn!” But I would like some privacy and respect for my property, especially when I have been so generous in the past. If you would like a cutting or a piece of fruit, please knock on my door and ask. Chances are, I’ll say yes. If I don’t, then you need to respect my answer and understand that I have my reasons for refusing. 

We are very tempting, especially in our gorgeous, late fall bloom, but please leave us alone!

 *Plumeria plants are propagated by removing a small portion of green wood called a cutting. Cuttings can then be planted, and with proper care, will grow into another plumeria plant.