Planting warm weather veggies and fruit in !#%&*! crazy weather - welcome to northern Nevada

Time 5:48am
Temperature - Sparks 54.1, CC&R Farm 51.6
Soil temp 60

Most of these were started from seed in April, potted-up in May.  Only a few were ever-so-slightly root bound so I'd call all of these successful.

Here's what we planted:
2 purple tomatillo
6 Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry
13 bush beans that already have teeny beans
6 Crystal Apple cucumber for eating fresh
4 Double yield cucumber for pickles
1 Delice de Table melon
3 Noir de Carmes melon
3 Golden Midget watermelon
2 Charentais melons
1 Valenciano pumpkin (white)
2 Sugar Pumpkins
1 Delicata winter squash
2 Butternut winter squash
2 Marina di Chioggia winter squash
2 Red Turi winter squash
2 Trombetta di Albenga summer squash (an heirloom Italian climbing squash)
1 Benning Green Tint summer squash - I put a couple more seeds in with the plant because it was scrawny -- I don't have much hope for its survival.
2 Ronde de Nice zucchini
2 Cocozelle Bush zucchini

We'll wait a week or 10 days then cull each variety down to one plant, two if we planned an extra one to produce enough to donate. 

It took two years to get my hands on the Trombetta de Albenga squash seeds so I'm really excited to see what happens.  I first discovered these at the farmers market a few years ago.  They were grown by a Nevada farmer who no longer grows vegetables on her farm due to a family dispute that effectively drove them out of farming on their property.  They wanted to farm but the sibling wanted to make big bucks...totally sucks!

It's northern Nevada, not to mention my day off, so the weather was crazy yesterday. The cloudy weather was perfect for planting but the alternating lashing wind and fairly intense heat when the sun broke the clouds was everything tender transplants hate.  To protect them we covered the entire planting space with agricultural fabric.  We'll leave it on for a while to protect everything and hopefully deny the squash bugs a place to lay their eggs. 

Just the other day I purchase one of the best gardening gizmos ever -- Tufbell Clips.  They hold agricultural fabric in place and are a great alternative to the concrete stepping stones we've been using for years. I am so happy!

Pepper and eggplant -- unseasonal clouds be damned, in they go!

Temperature: Sparks 61, CC&R Farm 59,
Soil temp 62

Yesterday I put the peppers and eggplants into the raised beds. This crop was seeded into paper pots on April 14th, and potted-up (transferred to 4" pots) on May 5th.  Every year spring fever gets me and it's a struggle to refrain from starting too early but this year it's looking good; the plants are just about perfect. I'll start about one week later next year. 

Pepper varieties - 3 Early Jalapeno, 6 Sunshine (sweet), 6 Szegedi (sweet), 3 Nu Mexico Joe E. Parker (anaheim-like)

Eggplant varieties - 3 Asian Baby, 3 Rossa Bianca

This might seem like a lot for 2 people but we're hoping to grow enough to donate this year.

The plants were placed closer together than the seed packet instructions say because space is limited and my experience has been that planting closer works under our conditions.

The raised beds are also hoop houses and are covered with both bird netting and plastic sheeting that is removed or adjusted depending on need.  We'll keep the netting on until the plants are established and big enough to withstand the finches and quail, and then it will be removed so that pollinators can reach the blossoms.  The sheeting is positioned to cover the western side only and will protect the plants from wind. 

First I positioned each pot in the bed to get a feel for space and aesthetics. Each planting hole received a 1/2 trowel full of worm castings from our very own worm farm.  All year we've been supplying our little worm-herd with kitchen scraps and shredded paper, and now we have a nice bit of nutrition for the root systems. I'll say it again...now all we need is sunshine.                     

Florence Fennel

Temperature: Sparks 62, CC&R Farm 59,
Soil temp 59

Florence Fennel started from seed indoors on April 21st, transplanted May 30th.

Snow-capped Peavine will not keep me out of the garden this weekend

Temperature: Reno 57, Sparks 53, CC&R Farm 51
Soil temp: 57

Northern Nevada lore says to plant warm weather crops when the snow is off Peavine or after June 10th, so we started hardening off our starts a couple of days ago. We'll be hoping for optimal conditions but will likely plant everything under less than ideal conditions.  The weather this year is completely whacked!

Seeds went into paper pots between April 12th-14th. Next year I might start a week or two later because the plants are really big.  Some sources say squash, melons, and cucumbers prefer to start from seed sown directly into the soil but the Northern Nevada growing season is short already, 90-days, and my yard is a week to 10 days shorter on each end.  Transplants are the only way to get around this so I take my chances. 

Peppers - soil temps at least 65 degrees; this year we're planting them in the raised beds with a wind break on the west side to protect them from inevitable evening gusts.

Eggplant - soil temps at least 60 degrees; protect from everything (wind, temperature extremes, pests) because anything throws them into shock.

Melon - soil temps at least 60.  We prepared a melon bed in November -- hope it's ready because the melons are going in it no matter what. 

Squash (summer and winter) - soil temps at least 60 degrees; first round of planting will be starts, but we'll plant seeds at the same time just in case the pests get these.  Last year we had squash bugs by July 23rd so this year we'll cover them with agricultural fabric (Agribon from Peaceful Valley) at planting.

Tomatillo and Ground Cherry - my two favorite sources don't have any advice for these but I know that last year they turned into slimy black masses at the first sign of frost, so I'll treat them like peppers.

Bush bean - started in pots but don't try this with pole beans;  ours have pale purple flowers already.  They're got sunburned the other day so I hope they'll survive.  We'll plant seeds along with the starts to prolong the harvest.

Now all we need is sunshine!

Melon experiment update

Last year I tried to grow melons for the first time.  Some came to fruition, some didn't, some I didn't like.  Here's an update.

Red-Seeded Citron seemed to come to fruition but I couldn't tell because it isn't an eating melon. It has to be cooked before it is edible.  Won't try this again.

Unsuccessful - Moon and Stars, Queen Anne's Pocket Melon, Golden Midget, Charentais, Delice de Table.

Successful - Prescott Fond Blanc, Minnesota Midget.

This year the melon wish-list includes Charentais, Prescott Fond Blanc, Golden Midget, Noir Des Carmes.  I followed some of the advice offered by successful melon growers, but the cloudy cool weather we've been experiencing is everything melons don't like, so success is not a given.

From sapling to firewood in 10-12 years

Last week we had to remove two trees from our property.  One came down for natural reasons -- the maple in the backyard was infected with Verticillium wilt.  Rather than watch it die a slow death and spread the infection to the rest of the yard, we had it taken down.  As it turns out, the subdevelopement master plan called for planting a tree along the pathway behind our house so the landscapers positioned it about 8 feet from our maple.  These two trees would have been trying to occupy the same space long before they reached maturity anyway.

The other tree, a Purple Robe Locust, died for reasons that could have been avoided.  We picked this tree off a list of 5-6 at the same time we picked the bathroom tile.  10 years later we learned the hard way that this tree shouldn't have even been on a list in a high-desert neighborhood that requires lawns.  Purple Robe Locust is  drought tolerant. Plant it in a Kentucky Bluegrass lawn (also came with the house), a cool weather grass that requires a lot of water to stay green in 90-110 degree temperatures, and it's a recipe for tree-death.  The tree grew too quickly, lost three major branches in our frequent high-winds, and this year gave up the ghost.  Down it came.  We're looking around for a different tree, but the HOA will have to approve our choice.  More later!

Seedling protection

Use this...............................................to protect this.................................from this.




Nursery pony-pack tray, wire cutters, 1/4 inch hardware fabric, twisty tie wire.

Yard - June

Fun May/June bird activity

Quail nest and eggs by the strawberry bed



New in 2009 - started seeing Black Chinned Hummingbirds in late May

Growing melons

Perfect melon growing latitude is 30N to 35TD; Spanish Springs is 39 to 38' 57" N

January - try to buy 75 day varieties

Melons like it hot and bright: sunny days in the eighties, nights in the sixties. Melons Mature 80-120 days after seeding: some watermelons need about a month longer (up to 150) says. None of the melons take kindly to frost, but if you don’t have a decent interval between spring and fall freezes, there are ways to stretch the season.

Soil light, deep and well drained: sandy loam is best. Amend soil in the fall with leaf mold and compost, green manure or cover crop.

September – set up next year’s melon bed. South sloping to promote warmth, small enough to work in without stepping on growing area; protected from N and/or W wind.

Rotate your melons to a new area every year, especially if the soil is infected with nematodes or Fusarium.

Watermelon does well in acidic (ph 5-7); melon prefers basic or alkaline (ph 7-8).

Root systems are large but relatively shallow.

Melons hate soil compaction and water logging. Protect from wind, especially N and/or W, but don’t block out the sun.

Plant after threat of frost has passed and soil temps are at least 60. Four inch transplants should work just fine and produce fruit.

April - Nick and soak watermelon seeds; start 4 inch pots with 4-5 seeds each, 2-4 weeks before Memorial Day (find out when air temps stay above 60 at night -- can I plant three weeks prior to that if transplants covered with Agrobon); keep in a dark moist place until seedlings emerge in about a week at 75-85 degrees. Watermelon can take longer because seeds are tough, scarify and soak first. Once seedlings emerge provide 16 hours under grow lights, keeping them 2-3 inches from the light. Thin to three plants per pot; feed with diluted fish emulsion once or twice a week until they’re ready for the garden.

Six millimeter black polyethylene is helpful.

At planting, mix a shovel full of well-rotted manure into the soil and plant melons in “hills” a grouping of three or four. Sprinkle soil with diatomaceous earth for slugs; use Bt for caterpillars. Cover with Agrobon for 3 weeks until plants are established

Remove any leaves that show signs of disease, cull (prune out) defective fruits to 2-3 per vine; wrap fruits in Agrobon bags to deter cucumber beetle.

Codling Moth control

How to use a Codling Moth trap

List of biorational controls

Read more about organic controls

How to calculate degree days

Degree day calculator

Weather/Temperature info

NOAA for weather and temperature

Codling Moth control model

"From what I have read there are four organic sprays: spinosad, summer oil, Kaolin clay and Bt (least effective).


"Spinosad in Reno at Moana Nursery under the product name Captain Jack’s Deadbug" - we'll try this one in 2009

Apple tree/Codling Moth biofix and control

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7412.html

If you'd like to calculate degree days, scroll down to Chemical Control and click the degree day chart. You can use the 30 day temp on weather.com or noaa.gov for past temps.

Melon experiments

Red Seeded Citron - must cook it to eat it. (Watermelon) - 90-100 days

Queen Anne's Pocket Melon - only smells good. (Dudaim)

Prescott Fond Blanc (Cantalupensis) - 85-95 days

Van Doren Moon and Stars - probably won't work, needs 100-120 days (Watermelon)

Minnesota Midget (Reticulatus) - 60-75 days

Golden Midget (Watermelon) - 70 days

Charentais (Cantalupensis) - 90 days

Delice de Table (Cantalupensis) - 85-90 days

Yacon or Bolivian Sunroot

Mother Earth News yacon article

Will we see Yellow Lilac flowers this year?

Lots of blossoms! But plant is five years old and has yet to display flowers...the frost always get them.