Lacinato Kale does VERY well here. The remnants stand still 2 feet tall under snow from the original spring planting (April 9th). Just keep pruning the leaves from the bottom up and the plant just keeps developing upward, the leaves do get a bit smaller towards the top, but that makes them the most tender of all. Nutritionally its an excellent addition to your greens side of your diet. Kale does take about twice the time it takes to cook collard greens.

The next is to let pea’s – either snow or snap run with the season – our cold, wet spring lent itself very well to the early peas. Should have fertilized them at the beginning of June (they were already in pick me every day mode) and let them burn out for the last 30 days. They are going to get weird when the heat comes (usually by July 4th). This is key to getting the “three pea crop” here in our little four letter state. Pull the old pea plants out and amend with organic matter and some slow release fertilizer for the third sowing of seeds you’ll put in later, sometime in August. Its amazing how quickly the things you put in for fall germinate compared to spring, but that is all about soil temperature.

Learned that growing potatoes in tires requires really good drainage. Lost my entire crop to improper watering. Oh well, live and learn eh?

Learned something about IPM (integrated pest management) – One was that you can control some pests by identifying their eggs and hand removing them to break the cycle, while spraying the plant to make it less palatable to the adults – this worked on squash bugs for me this year.

Squash bug and egg cluster

Stumped the USU pest clinic with a new type of beetle that they had never seen – its eggs were laid in two neat rows and were bright orange (looked like tiny fish roe) and they were eating the flowers (not the foliage) of native columbines. I topped the blooms they were eating early and did not compost them having no idea of the viability of their eggs.

Still cannot figure out what stunted my red onions – they all grew to about the size of golf balls and quit. Tasted great, very sweet – but golf ball size – how embarrassing! Perhaps they needed a fertilizer, or perhaps my soil needs to be made more onion friendly. Winter is for researching things just like that.

My tomato strategy of buying my starts in March and transplanting into 5 gallon buckets until they can go into ground in “wallo waters” (those green tube water filled insulators) worked quite well. The good news is my plants were very healthy and established when they transplanted into the bed…..The bad news was the cold wet spring… I put them outside (in wallo’s) on April 15th – they kept growing out of the top, but the cold/freeze kept taking the tops. When the wallo’s came off – (latest ever) on June 7th the main stems were already thumb thick. Made for a great tomato year – had our first ripe on July 27th and our last on November 11th. BTW – put up 51 pints of tomatoes in salsa, whole and stewed. Our goal is to see if they will get us through until next crop (probably not, but certainly through winter months).

garlic scapes or curls

Wonderful, right?….. well one would think so, but as it happened we went away for three days (yes just 3 days) and on our return, every single scape that had not curled now had babies!!! Such promiscuous stuff – what a party it must have been! Needless to say, the bulbs were very compact and small….not the stuff of future generations.

Went searching for some garlic stock…and did I learn a thing to two about garlic. Rocambole, Softneck, Stiffneck – what the heck?? Didn’t realize I was so garlic no-how deficient! The first thing learned was basically garlic comes in two major categories – single layer of cloves around the central stalk (rocambole/stiffneck or hardneck are all synonyms) or multi-rows of cloves around the center stalk is a softneck variety. There are numerous varieties within each hard or softneck category.

The second thing learned was that I was WAY too late (Sept), found out that if you want premium, hardneck garlic stock, you had best have your order in by June. Local stocks are usually spoken for before completely harvested of hardneck – good news is we have multiple sources Sandhill farms,Borski’s or Zoe’s Garden. From the internet, I have had organic garlic stock recommended from Peaceful Valley. Plan for next years crop!

Ok, Ok, so what is the big dif??? Here’s the shakedown: Two major differences between the varieties – softneck produce more cloves and store longer than hardneck (which is why most commercial growers prefer it). The second, the difference in taste. Hardneck varieties can be hot, have spice, or even bite – which is why hardneck flavor is generally preferred by cooks. Another bonus of hardneck is that it is touted to contain more beneficial nutritional elements.

In the garden, hardneck varieties are easy to spot – the central stalk (or scape as its caled) produces a “curl” – really it looks like a green UFO pigtail. This is the growers clue to cut off that curl and stop watering the garlic for about two weeks while the visible stalk withers. The curls are edible – try using them chopped in a stir fry for some real zing! Softneck varieties do not “curl” and will simple start to go dry as the signal to allow the hardening process to start. Softneck varieties are the one you see in braids because of the flexibility of their stalk.

So, if you are considering planting garlic – prepare your “bed” this fall – amend deeply with organic material and some nitrogen.
Select a cold weather stock, or local stock. Plant the clove peak up, root down and give it enough room to not be crowded by its neighbors but the time it matures into an adult bulb. Biggest cloves generally result in bigger bulbs. This is also great time to put a cover crop (rye/wintergrass/vetch) and then top with about 4-6” of straw (or your preferred mulch) and walk away until late spring.

As a companion plant -plant garlic (any variety) next to roses or raspberries and see if you don’t have a bumper crop for all. . Garlic is unliked by aphids, ants and rabbits

This year, due to described crop failure – we have some 14 bulbs of hardneck, 24 of california softneck, and 25 of a local softneck stock picked up at the fair. Check back next summer to see what no’s or grows! Have a cozy fall

Marketmores on Trellis

Many varieties of cucumber can be grown on a trellis or frame type structure – you train the tendril vines up the trellis as they grow. The trellis takes less space in the garden and usually distributes the sunlight more evenly. Cucumbers will send out runner vines and do not trail well over weed block fabric (it gets too hot), this is easily remedied – cover the weed block with a layer of grass clippings from the mower. This helps preserve the watering, holds the soil temp more evenly and allows the vines to travel more.
Usually the larger cucumbers grow, the more likely they are to loose their flavor or even become bitter. Pick them young and slender (they will have less developed seeds and be sweeter) and prompt picking ensures more fruit setting. Another hint is when harvesting – cut the vine just above the cucumber itself rather than detaching it at the flower. It will store better this way and helps the plant not lose additional energy.
Some varieties, like Armenian cucumbers are a light green, creased lengthwise (and they can be exceptionally long) and have an edible skin – they are actually an undeveloped melon! The varieties you normally see in the produce section are the dark green “burpless”or “straight eight” – and some stores will carry the “english” or seedless cucumbers. My favorite variety is “marketmore” for the garden – it will trellis, has abundant fruit and produces fruit at days intervals. The “armenian” variety does wonderfully here, but can overwhelm a garden patch if you are limited on space – although it can be grown on a sturdy trellis or fence.

Pillbugs detest hot pepper spray

Two major reasons:
#1 – 80% of munchers do so at night, so the concentration will be strongest just before they expect dinner!
#2 – Spraying at dusk also avoids the problem of sun magnification. When you spray an oil based spray it clings to the leaves with water droplets and can be magnified by the sun causing burn spots that can lead to reduced intake by the leaves. Spaying at dusk allows the spray to distribute and disperse more evenly then during the day.

As common sense would dictate –
Always Label your sprays clearly – a spray of red pepper spray in the face is an unpleasant surprise!
Keep your garden chemicals and sprays out of the reach of children and away from curious pets
Use a piece of cardboard or other “shield” if you have to spray while the wind is blowing – better to wait for evening calm anyway!

Baking soda, cinnamon, baby powder, cayenne pepper and chalk can all used to create a “barrier” that ants will not cross. You can surround an area and create a defensive line around a bed or plant that the ants are creating a problem at. The advantage to chalk is that you can use it on vertical surfaces. None of the substances are poisonous and shouldn’t bother pets. Although be careful to not use cayenne if there are young children around – a fingerful to the mouth can ruin your entire day and theirs!

For sprays, many things are used to remove ants from an area. Ants detest citrus oils, so a spray made with lemon peel/juice or orange rinds will deter them from an area. A vinegar spray is most effective too. Several gardeners recommend putting a tad of honey in your vinegar spray, but I found that a spray of just white vinegar around an a doorway very effective. Another spray that is touted as being very successful is an eucalyptus based. Simply mix 20 drops of eucalyptus essential oil per 2 cups of water to a spray bottle (Always label your bottles clearly) shake well and spray away.

A couple of natural deterrents are cucumber peels (the more bitter the cuke the better!) The chinese bitter cucumber peels work the very best – a line of them will send a pack of ants packing elsewhere. Mint is also a natural deterrent – be careful about planting it as a companion plant as it can become very aggressive and spread easily. Mint tea bags are a great defense and easily removed – ring the subjected plant and ants be gone! Coffee grounds can be used to ring a plant as a deterrent, too.

Now if elimination is key, there are some ways to kill ants…. Cornmeal is the easiest. Ants cannot digest it and they will take it back to the nest and it will continue to do damage there. A killing spray can be achieved by mixing of 1/8 teaspoon of powdered borax and sugar or honey will attract and kill ants. Worker ants take it back to the nest and pass it onto other ants, killing the colony. Caution using borax – it can kill in large doses – label this mix clearly and keep away from children and pets.

In the past I have used a cayenne, garlic oil spray to deter ants – See the previous article on organic pest sprays.