December 11, 2016 - end of autumn

After a significant amount of rain over October and into the first couple of weeks of November, it dried out a bit until this past week. Rain so far looks pretty good, much better than we've seen over the past few years. We had some cold weather just prior to the last rains, probably the coldest in a few years and we're likely to see more next week. Although I'm not a huge fan of cold, I much prefer having a normal winter unlike 2014-15 which was just fucking weird in the dryness and warmth all winter long. Things have slowed down of course but the onions are growing, the greens still producing, and the broccoli has yield 2-3 meals so far.


Box 1
I seeded a full set of rows with greens - lettuce, salad, kale, chard, and beets - a couple of weeks ago and they're on their way. Hopefully this will give us food into the Spring.

Box 2
The onions and garlic are doing their thing.

Box 3
The broccoli which I started from seed are doing ok. I think they're a bit cramped as I have 3 plants per row in 3 rows and the yield is not nearly what I had from the broccolini the past couple of years. The taste is very good though I'll probably stick with broccolini from here on, in fact I just planted a few in Box 4 today. The Russian kale has done very well and has been a great source for both side dishes and salads. The chard has done ok and the beets are still growing. I'm going to convert this box to herbs some time in January-February for the next year.

Box 4
I seeded just over half the box with fava beans a few weeks ago and filled the remainder with chives, chervil, and a couple of rows of broccolini.

Box 5
Most of the herbs are still hanging in there. The sage has been productive, as have the oreganos and thymes. The marjoram has died back considerably but there is still just enough to use when I need it. I cut back the rest today to see if it can restore itself but I only need these herbs for another 6-8 weeks so not a big deal. The thyme and the parsley have been the stars this year as that is what I've made the most use of. I had quite a bit of basil here too from plants but the cold last week finally finished them off.

Containers
Almost all of the bay leaves had really gotten some scale or rust so I did a healthy pruning of the tree today to see how it handles it. There are a few healthy looking leaves that remain. I'm still trying to determine how feasible keeping this in container will be in terms of providing fresh leaves for cooking.

The cilantro and dill are long gone, they really need to be babied but do ok when handled well. The tarragon has died back for the winter, the mints and epazoté have survived well with continued pruning.

Citrus
The lemons are more or less between growths but still enough remain for use in the kitchen. There are plenty of blooms and green fruit to indicate a good rebound soon.

The mandarins are ripening much later this year than last year when they came out early, from October to December. I think this was due to the warm September and October we had in 2015 as opposed to the normal temperatures this year. We've only picked a few so far as they are still ripening. The ones we've taken have not been quite as sweet as last year and seem to have a thicker skin and pith as well.

October 28, 2016 - Mid-autumn

We're well into autumn now and even getting regular rain coming in. I finally planted the onions and garlic once I removed the tomatoes. Next up will be more greens and beets in Box 1 then when the peppers and basil have passed, fava beans and spring peas in Box 4. Although we've received a few weather systems coming through, they have been warm rains. It looks like we'll be getting something from the north later this weekend and one more after that but looks dry for a while afterwards. WeatherWest is warning of another RRR winter which may mean that the drought extends into yet another year but we'll see. There's really no way of knowing what's going to happen.

Box 2

Onions on the right, the garlic on the left popped up very quickly.

Box 3

The broccoli is growing well after the rains.

 Box 4

The peppers are turning red and ready to go. The basil is hanging in until cooler weather.

Box 5

The herbs are hanging in there, hopefully until at least February. 

September 22, 2016 - the autumnal equinox

First day of autumn and the plants are showing it to indeed be the end of summer. The beans have stopped producing flowers and the harvest is getting to be too fibrous to eat. The tomatoes are starting to ferment and we're getting some pests on the herbs.
We've started pulling the ripe tomatoes from the bushes in order to peel and freeze for later. I've been organized enough this year to freeze the varieties separately so we know what we're using when we pull them out of the freezer later on.
The chives that thrived so well all year was suddenly infested with aphids. Next year it might be best to keep it pruned a bit so that I can keep an eye on it.

Carmelo 

Costoluto Genovese

I had to pull the chives as they suddenly succumbed to a severe attack of aphids

This padrón pepper plant seems to be stressing for some reason although still producing heavily.

This padrón is doing fine.

This calabrian has been flowering but no fruit yet.

The tomatoes are still hanging on but time to pull the fruit.

September 11, 2016 - end of summer

Lots of photos today since we're fast approaching the turn to autumn. I wanted a pretty good documentation on how things have fared this summer.


Box 1
The beans have done spectacularly well. Unfortunately I over-planted in reaction to last year's poor yield, mainly due to my unfamiliarity of working with the new beds and the drip irrigation system. Most of the beans I've been harvesting are the Italian Romanos since they're so easy to pick out and have tasted so good. Next year it would be best to establish a separate zone for the thin beans and the broad beans on opposite sides of the bed so that they won't be quite as intermingled. I also think it would be better to plant 4 beans per batch then 8.

Box 2

The tomatoes have also done very well. The schedule of hand watering and drip that I used this year seemed to be a good approach, pulling back gradually on the hand watering as the summer progresses. I now know that the greenery dies back due to the plants moving to fruit production and maturation, not due to neglect. Fruit drops before maturation were not uncommon but probably due to both the heavy yield as well as the prevalence of cool temperatures this year.

Box 3
I finally planted the broccoli seedlings on Friday, Sept 9 - DeCiccio and Calabrese. They germinated only a couple of days after planting this time, not quite sure why so quickly but glad they did. I've also seeded greens, radishes, kale, chard, and beets here.

Box 4
Despite the cool daytime temperatures the evening temps have remained high enough to allow the peppers to fruit. The padróns have really kicked in now as well as the other plants. Some are just now starting to redden. The basil in the back row has been insane, hopefully I can cut back next year on them to have more room to grow other plants.

Box 5
The herbs have remained very healthy this year. The parsley is as large and healthy as any I've ever grown, the sage, summer savory, chives, and thymes have also thrived. The oreganos have done well proving that cutback is key to keeping them growing.

August 25, 2016 - Rounding the corner on summer

In mid-late summer now and the tomatoes are just now ready for picking. The weather has remained surprisingly consistent with the cool days below 70°F and the nights just below 60°F with lots of overcast well into each afternoon. Cooler than average days all around the bay and just a tad warmer than average at night. No heat waves and none on the horizon at all, in fact mostly the opposite.
The beans are still going full blast as are the peppers and the herbs. The broccoli seeds have progressed, I'll probably try putting some out next weekend, Labor Day, adding rows of kale, chard, and greens.
I'm thinking about not planting either garlic or onions over the winter as I've been less than thrilled with the results this time. The garlic harvests well but they don't seem to keep more than a few months. The taste of them isn't any more than I get at the markets either, unlike tomatoes, beans, herbs, or greens that are so much better from the garden. This would also leave me an extra box to experiment with over the winter and spring. The onions are also indistinguishable from what I can buy in the store. I keep hoping to use the spring garlic or onions but never seem to get around to doing so all that much.

The tomato plants are dying back and the fruit is starting to come now.

The peppers are doing well. I'm looking forward to stretching them out to get some good red ones for frying and pickling.

The herbs are filling the box. The diligent pruning I've been doing on the oreganos and thymes have really improved the results. I'm so hesitant to discard the flowers and tops but there's nothing to do with so much and the plant will really halt production if I don't keep at it.

Definitely planted too many beans but I'd rather have too many than not enough.

Just started some beet seeds in Box 4 where the lettuce was. Also seeded some methi in its own pot to see if we like using the greens.