Onion – Never Enough Dirt

January 2015 garden tour

By BrianT
on Feb 14, 2015
in Allium, Artichoke, Bean / Pea, Berry, Bulb, Carrot / Beet / Radish, Celery / Fennel, Dill, Elephant garlic, Flowers, Freesia, Fruit, Garlic, Garlic chive, Leaf green, Navel orange, Ranunculus, Shallot

Bok choy and gai lan harvest. Incidentally, too much bok choy is potentially harmful.

Robertson navel orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck ) blossom.

Peas have really pretty flowers. Heirloom snow pea (Pisum sativum) called, "Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea" — Peas have really pretty flowers.
Heirloom snow pea (Pisum sativum) called, “Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea”

'Sharp blue' blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum sp) blossom. A young plant I didnt expect to start setting fruit. — ‘Sharp blue’ blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum sp) blossom. A young plant I didnt expect to start setting fruit.

Heirloom snow pea (Pisum sativum) called, "Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea" — Heirloom snow pea (Pisum sativum) called, “Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea”

Bok choy (Brassica rapa Chinensis group) Ready for harvesting and thinning out. — Bok choy (Brassica rapa Chinensis group)
Ready for harvesting and thinning out.

Water droplets from the evening's dew on the gai lan (Brassica oleracea). — Water droplets from the evening’s dew on the
gai lan (Brassica oleracea).

Fragrant hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis). The first of the spring flower bulbs to bloom.

Oriental poppy (Papaver orientale). I've been trying since 2010 to get a flower. The tiny seeds have high germination rates but once sprouted, they are super delicate. They are easily damage and uprooted by the terminal velocity of a droplet of water. Last year, I was able to nurse them to a good size-- about an inch tall. Then one day to my horror, I found all ten or so of them chomped down to soil level by a single catepillar. Furious and devasted, I swiftly dealt with the problem and held out little hope that the plant would grow back. Grow back it did. I have two plants that have leaves about 6 inches long. Now that we're in the clear, it is a waiting game. — Oriental poppy (Papaver orientale). I’ve been trying since 2010 to get a flower. The tiny seeds have high germination rates but once sprouted, they are super delicate. They are easily damage and uprooted by the terminal velocity of a droplet of water.
Last year, I was able to nurse them to a good size– about an inch tall. Then one day to my horror, I found all ten or so of them chomped down to soil level by a single catepillar.
Furious and devasted, I swiftly dealt with the problem and held out little hope that the plant would grow back. Grow back it did.
I have two plants that have leaves about 6 inches long. Now that we’re in the clear, it is a waiting game.

Some softneck garlic variety that was available at the supermarket. The fine green strands are garlic chive spouts. I had a gazllion seeds to scatter with haste after the rain got to the container holding them.

Shallots. These were first grown in the garden last year from shallots that sprouted before they could be cooked.

This goji berry has been overwhelmed by the fugi that was triggered by the rain. The course now: strip the leaves.

My first time growing celery. I use it in gumbo and chicken noodle soup; and that's pretty much it. — My first time growing celery. I use it in gumbo and chicken noodle soup; and that’s pretty much it.

Bok choy grows quickly and will be my staple vegetable crop.

Recieved fresh garlic in a Community Support Agriculture (CSA) box last year and decided to dry it out and grow it. I dont know what variety it is other than that it is a softneck. — Recieved fresh garlic in a Community Support Agriculture (CSA) box last year and decided to dry it out and grow it.
I dont know what variety it is other than that it is a softneck.

The kaffir lime air layered last year by John. http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkind/landscape/air-layering/ This year, I hope to see more leaves on it. With the leaves, I use it for green curry. — The kaffir lime air layered last year by John.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkind/landscape/air-layering/
This year, I hope to see more leaves on it. With the leaves, I use it for green curry.

'Green Globe Improved' artichoke — ‘Green Globe Improved’ artichoke

Elephant garlic with 'Chesnok' garlice (foreground) — Elephant garlic with ‘Chesnok’ garlice (foreground)

'Turkish Giant' garlic. Appears to be slow growing. — ‘Turkish Giant’ garlic. Appears to be slow growing.

'Turkish Giant' garlic — ‘Turkish Giant’ garlic

Blueberry blossom. Blooming early this year. 'Sunshine' blueberry — Blueberry blossom. Blooming early this year.
‘Sunshine’ blueberry

Blueberry fruiting early this year. 'Sunshine' blueberry — Blueberry fruiting early this year.
‘Sunshine’ blueberry

Blueberry (Vaccinium x 'Sunshine Blue') The leaves have green from a rust color. — Blueberry (Vaccinium x ‘Sunshine Blue’)
The leaves have green from a rust color.

Mystery plant. Very likely planted by a bird. I like the purple fringe. I am going to see if it'll flower. A flower will certainly yield another clue. — Mystery plant. Very likely planted by a bird. I like the purple fringe. I am going to see if it’ll flower. A flower will certainly yield another clue.

Roquette Arugula (Eruca sativa) Ready for making a Bollini’s Pizzeria Napolitana, Monterey Park arugula salad: roasted chicken, bacon, goat cheese, corn, & arugula. — Roquette Arugula (Eruca sativa)
Ready for making a Bollini’s Pizzeria Napolitana, Monterey Park arugula salad: roasted chicken, bacon, goat cheese, corn, & arugula.

Tea (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis) seeds from Shenzhen, China. There is nothing particular about Shenzhen other than that this ebay seller had the lowest price. If I can get any of these tea seeds to germinate, I will have to wait three years before I can start making my own tea. — Tea (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis) seeds from Shenzhen, China. There is nothing particular about Shenzhen other than that this ebay seller had the lowest price.
If I can get any of these tea seeds to germinate, I will have to wait three years before I can start making my own tea.

Upon closer inspection they were indeed leaf buds (and not bugs). The is the Goji berry that had its leaves striped off because they were infested with fungi.

Walking by this pot I spot what appears to be leaf buds.

Ranunculus tuber — Best I can do is to hope that these will still grow.

I might be a bit late on getting these Ranunculus tubers back into the ground. There's mold caused by the winter rain. — I might be a bit late on getting these Ranunculus tubers back into the ground. There’s mold caused by the winter rain.

There are a bunch of seeds attached to this Ranunculus floret. When loose, they resemble crushed red peppers. The germination rate is said to be very low. I have thousands. Surely one will grow.

February: vegetables & herbs in the garden

By BrianT
on Feb 13, 2015
in Allium, Artichoke, Bean / Pea, Garlic, Herbs, Leaf green, Mint, Onion, Parsley, Pepper, Shallot, Vegetable

‘Green Globe Improved’ artichoke grown from seed last year

Biggest bok choy grown thus far. It is in the spot with the most amount of sun.

The spot in the garden with the most sun.

Spinach. Update: I planted these two into the ground and they were immediately gobbled up by the pill bugs.

The garden’s second generation shallots. These were grown from the seeds of supermarket shallots.

I started some paprika peppers last fall and never got around to transplanting them.

‘Anahiem’ peppers set and grew through winter.

‘Fajita’ bell pepper growing despite it being winter.

Elephant garlic grown from the bulbils. Here the elephant garlic lifted its hard bulbil shell into the air. It is going to take at least a couple of years before they get softball sized.

First time growing ‘Chesnok’ garlic. Thus far the quickest garlic (aside from Elephant garlic) in the garden.

First time growing Daikon. It is a fast growing plant.

Broccoli. It produced only a bunch of tiny florets. Which made for a quick snack when I am outside checking on the plants.

IMG_6738_1 — ‘Mammoth Melting Sugar Pea’ heirloom snow pea

The bok choy grew faster than I can figure out what to do with them. I have to remember to thin them out more aggressively in the future. Otherwise, the slugs end up enjoying them.

How shallot start my garden?

By BrianT
on Feb 05, 2015
in Allium, Featured Post, Onion, Shallot, Vegetable

With shallots of course! Shallots (allium cepa var. aggregatum) are in the allium family along with onions, leeks, garlic, chives, garlic chives, and ornamental allium. Allium are characterized by a bulb, green leaf stocks, and a flowering floret. (Garlic chives are the exception. They have a rhizome instead of a bulb.) Shallots reproduce in one of two ways: from seed and from producing new bulbs. The general rule about bulbs is that larger bulbs produce many smaller bulbs while small bulbs produce fewer but larger bulbs.

For the beginner gardener, shallots are great plants to start with. They can be planted just about anywhere here in Zone 10. Full sun or partial shade, clay or soil. They find a way to thrive. Often times, you do not have to go out of your way to get started. They’ll invite themselves in. My shallot crop was started from shallots that I had in the kitchen. More often than not a bag of shallots from the market will begin to sprout before you can use them all. When they start to sprout you can either rush to get them in a dish or you can find it some dirt.

In the dirt, (which I plant about a quarter-inch under the soil), the shallot will continue to grow long green leaves. When the leaves are at least six inches in length, they can be harvested as scallions. This makes shallots and onions great plants to have in the garden. Whenever scallions are called for, it’s a short trip from the kitchen to harvest some. As long as the bulb is in the ground, a new set of leaves will grow back ready for harvest.

When the leaves are left on the bulb it will eventually send out a scape. The scape is a firmer stem that shoots from the middle. It is like a firework. The scape will slowly ascend as it matures. When it reaches its full height, it opens and forms a floret. The floret is like a firework suspended in time. After some time, the tiny flowers that make up the floret turn into seed. From there, even more shallots can be grown. Growing shallots from seeds is fairly easy. It is also surprising how quickly they mature from seedlings.

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January 2015 garden tour

February: vegetables & herbs in the garden

How shallot start my garden?

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