Mesclun

I just love being able to reach into the window box directly outside the back door and get some fresh salad greens and herbs. The mesclun pictured growing in the window box is Burpee's Fordhook Collection. It is a cutting mix of 'Red Salad Bowl', 'Black Seeded Simpson' and 'Lollo Rossa' lettuces, 'Early Treviso' radicchio, endive, arugula and mizuna, an Asian mustard. This cutting mix was planted in June and I've been harvesting, (cutting) small amounts for garnishes and fruit salad additions. I keep sowing the seeds throughout the season to have a continual harvest. There are some marigolds growing in there too. I directly sow those seeds, no need to cover with soil. They germinate in light. The petals are edible and the orange hue adds a great contrasting color to the leafy salad. The marigolds will be blooming soon. I'll follow-up with a picture.

Blossom End Rot

Remember when we had all that rain 2-3 weeks ago? Well the heirloom paste tomatoes, 'Sausage' received a case of blossom end rot. This is caused when there isn't enough calcium being taken up followed by irregular watering. The containers I have the tomatoes in are self-watering so there is water available when the plants need it. The monsoon we had is what created the irregular water pattern. This seems to affect the plum tomatoes and heirlooms more than the others. Mulching and kelp sprays can help to prevent this disorder.

Radishes

These are the final harvest of the late spring radishes. 'English Breakfast' is long with white bottoms and 'Sparkler' is the red, round one with white tips. Both mature in 25 days and are slightly "hot" in taste and very crunchy in texture. I love them at breakfast together with feta cheese and parsley next to scrambled eggs. Yum. Since my gardening space is limited to containers on the rooftop, I grew the radishes in the same container along with two tomato plants. There was enough room to sow the radish seeds between the tomatoes, (at opposite ends of the long container) and have a harvestable crop before the tomato plants grew too big. I don't grow rads in the summer, they like cool weather. I'll grow them again in late August in the same container. All I'll have to do is remove some bottom branches off the tomato plants, (they won't need them then anyway) and sow the radish seeds. That's interplanting at its finest.

"Sequoia" Bush Romano Beans

Well here we have it! The first flower to bloom on the bush beans. We've had so many dark and wet days these babies should have bloomed several days ago. "Sequoia" is a purple, stringless Romano-type, (Italian flat bean) that is to be eaten whole - like a string bean. The purple color will stay if they are eaten raw. Cooking will turn 'em green. What fun is that? I enjoy colorful food. Add raw "Sequoia" beans to salads, eat them with dips or chop them up in a tuna salad served in a red tomato! What fabulous colors! Bush beans mature much faster than pole beans, 53 days as opposed to 65-70 days... and most of the beans show up all at once.

Leafhoppers on my beans!

My beans have leafhoppers! Here's the scoop: nymphs and adults suck juices from stems and the underside of leaves leaving a mottled appearance on the topside of leaves. Leafhoppers are either green or brown, some have color bands on their wings. These creatures are small and numerous. They have big, strong hind legs and jump like crazy when disturbed. They excrete honeydew as they are feeding, just like aphids do. Their toxic saliva causes leaves to distort with crinkled, warty or rolled edges. Some leafhoppers can spread viruses from plant to plant. Insecticidal soap will work on nymphs, neem or pyrethrins will control adults. It looks like my bean leaves have nymphs hanging-out underneath. I'm reaching for the insecticidal soap right now!

Farmers Market at Daley Center

At today's market there was plenty of sunshine and lots of plants. Vendors are still selling herbs galore, hanging baskets of petunias and tomato plants. Herbs are ranging in price from $2 to $3 and tomato plants @ $5. Sweet cherries were being boxed up at $4 a pint. It seems early for sweet cherries. I say that every year. But this year it really does seem early. There still is time to buy strawberries, spring onions, rhubarb and asparagus.

Pictured are my bean plants basking in the sun on my roof deck. They are in a large clay pot measuring 21" across and 12" deep. The Sequoia, (purple) bush beans and Bush Blue Lake were direct sown on April 28. Flower buds are present & I am impatiently expecting them to bloom in the next few days if we have sun and warmth. Fresh veggies can't be beat!

What's up with the weather?

We've had enough rain. That's always a good thing. How about some warm, sunny weather?! It was threatening to drop below 50 last night so I brought the basil in. It has been so darn cold that nothing seems to be growing. The bush beans are just hanging out, the tomato plants look blue, the peppers aren't even putting out flowers and the swiss chard hasn't grown in over a week. The roof, (my major growing area) is exposed to plenty of sun...if it would just come out! I'm trying some new planters this year, (Earth Boxes) for my veggies and can't wait to see things take off.