Several notes and photo roundup

Several quick notes and a full photo roundup from this evening, 06/15/2008:

• We added a few new members to the veg/herb garden this weekend: habanero, peppermint, oregano, and more basil. I wanted to get a serrano pepper as well, but couldn’t find one. The lady at the nursery tried to convince me that “hot chili” pepper was basically the same, but I wasn’t sold. I didn’t recognize the variety, but it looked small, red, and hot. Not what I wanted.

• The cilantro I planted in early may has already begun to flower. I haven’t even really had a chance to use it yet. Why the heck does cilantro bolt so quickly? Is there any way to slow it down? I looked around this weekend for more cilantro seedlings, but no one had any. Bad sign. I’m going to go ahead and let it go to (coriander) seed, and then save and dry the seeds for later use.

• We added a bunch of marigolds and nasturtiums to the beds (particularly by the tomatoes) for their companion properties – pest resistance and predatory insect attraction. I used this site as a guide. Apparently, nasturtiums are entirely edible, and their seeds can be pickled and substituted for capers. Someone’s lox-and-cream-cheese bagel will be appreciating that in a month or two, I’m guessing.

• Some of the tomato fruits are coming along nicely, but a few of the plants still have yet to pollinate their blossoms. I’m blaming the wet weather and hope it turns around shortly. It kills me to see all these blossoms dying on the vine.

Planted tomatoes, zucchini, and herbs … built badass trellis

We got the majority of the organic garden transplants yesterday from Bear Creek Farms and got everything planted today.

Container herbs:

• Parsley – Italian flat leaf – 3 seedlings, big pot
• Cilantro – 2 seedlings, big pot
• Basil – Italian – 2 seedlings, medium pot
• Rosemary – 2 seedlings, medium pot
• Thyme – standard – 1 (really large) plant, long rectangular pot

Container plants:

• Pepper – Jalapeno – 4 seedlings, 2 large pots
• Tomato – Black Cherry (heirloom) – really large pot

For a potting mix, we used a blend of Fertilome potting mix and Summer Field Farms “Professional Potting Soil” (mix of pine bark and compost). The Fertilome is pretty light and the SFF mix is somewhat heavy, so we used more of the former than the latter.

Raised bed (east) plants:

• Tomato – Prue (heirloom, paste)
• Tomato – Green Zebra (heirloom, medium size)
• Tomato – German Johnson (heirloom, beefsteak size)
• Zucchini – Spineless Beauty – 4 seedlings

We planted the tomatoes about 24 inches apart from each other, in a square, and the zucchinis about 8 inches from each other, with the intention of keeping the healthiest of the plants and giving away the rest of them.

We watered the plants in (not the herbs) with Nature’s Creation Liquid Plant Food per the instructions and mulched all the plants (not the herbs) with shredded hardwood mulch.

On the hardware front, we installed our cattle panel trellis for the tomatoes – 8 vertical feet of growing room for those babies. We’ll never be able to reach the top but they’ll have a good time growing.

Pictures of the aftermath: