For the first time this year the confetti of fallen leaves crackled underfoot as I walked down the path to the garden, their excited crunch announcing the arrival of fall.

The breast high weeds that had encroached into the pathway have begun to retreat. Spring brought their colors and smiles, summer brought their thorns and turned them shades of brown and tan and now they wilt and blacken as they patiently wait for the rains and microbes to dissolve them back into the soil.

The black fingertips of the giant fig tree’s under branches reach down to scratch my head as I pass beneath, demanding that I take notice and acknowledge.

Morning is my favorite time to visit the garden and the pathway is welcoming. The dampness from the dew soaks the tips of my boots as I walk and the stillness allows the vegetation to waken slowly.

A glimpse of a quick blackbird shooting between cover briefly draws my attention.

The path that leads to my garden is nearly 300 meters long and begins with a section that winds downhill, along an ancient cobblestone road which is now mostly covered by forest duff. The cobblestones have loosened over time and the material between them has been washed and blown and swept away by the seasons. Their looseness makes each step a challenge and full attention must be given to every stride.

At the bottom of the hill the path flattens and turns a sharp left to a section where a mélange of very tall trees provide cover from above and an open view to the trunks and lower understory.  The forest floor is completed covered with low, ivy like vegetation and the upper canopy filters out direct sunlight. The low light limits the growth of shrubs and other brambles but is perfect for the ivy. As I pass I wonder at the history beneath.  What stories what secrets what treasures the ivy guards?

Continuing, the pathway exits the umbrella of trees and the right edge is marked by sporadic remnants of a low stonewall, only partially visible.

After twenty or so paces the path makes a gradual left turn where tall dark sentries form a gauntlet. Ferocious no more the sentries look withered and tired.

As I continue along this section a neighbor’s garden opens up to the right. The soil was turned last spring but nothing was planted. The native weeds were laying in wait and did their best to reclaim the land.

From here the path runs straight, except for a few wiggles, all the way to my plot.

A vegetative tunnel has been formed over time and with each pass I pinch the end of a few escaping stems to keep it at bay.

A very large Oak looms ahead. Through World War I, World War II, the Crusades, the Revolution and Napoleon she has watched and listened.

Her fallen spawn crunch under my feet as I stroll beneath.

The wild black berries were a delicious treat in the spring and summer but the rest of the year the aggressively growing branches with their vampire like thorns reach out and grab at anyone who passes. The pain of a few jabs and scratches is a small price to pay for these delicious gifts.

To my left, I pass a cemetery of ramshackle headstones marking the resting places of spent tomato plants of several seasons past.

As I near the end of the pathway, towering grass plants mark the entrance to my garden and they wave like banners tickled by the wakening breeze.

My garden is at the very end of the path and when I finally reach my destination I feel at home and ready to play. The plants seem to be happy to see me again too.

Compost pile to turn with it’s delicious scent to release, small weeds to fight back in a forever war, a thick blanket of mulch to spread to keep my babies warm.

Rees

So why do my tomato leaves turn yellow and why are my tomatoes rotting before they are ripe?

Vegetable season is in high gear and fruit is beginning to ripen. This is the time when I start to get all the questions.  Why do my zucchini drop off? Why won’t my melon set fruit?  What are those worms on my peppers? I had been working on a post to address one of the most common ones on tomatoes, Tomato End Rot when I got the following question from a reader who purchased one of my Growing Juicy Delicious Tomatoes eBook from Rainforth Home and Garden.  First I’ll address his question and then finish up with my thoughts on the issue of rotting tomatoes.

Here is the question from Mr. B. Crowder

What causes the base of the leaves on my tomatoes to turn yellow? How can I save the plants?

Here are my thoughts on that Mr. Crowder. In most cases yellow leaves, which begin turning yellow at the base of the plant first are due to one of two causes. Not just with tomatoes but any plant. Usually, when the older/lower leaves turn yellow it is the result of too much water in the root zone. This could be from watering too frequently but most likely it is caused by a poorly draining soil. I won’t get into the details of the plant physiology but plants don’t like wet feet.  Monitor the soil moisture closer and things should improve. Tomatoes like about 1” (3cm for my UK readers) of water per week. I try to water mine once a week. Another possible cause is that as the plants get large the upper foliage begins to shade the lower leaves. This causes the lower leaves to turn yellow and drop off.  This is natural and not a problem. It might help to cultivate the soil near the plants to allow better air penetration into the root zone and your plants should recover. It’s a little tough to diagnose with a short description so I hope this helps Mr. Crowder.

Of course there are several other potential reasons for yellowing leaves, (fusaruim wilt, tobacco mosaic virus, alternaria leaf spot). If Mr. Crowder wants to send a more detailed description or even a photo I’d be happy to post my thoughts.

Now for a more common problem, TOMATO END ROT

Tomato End Rot

Yes, this even has happened to me.



Tomato end rot starts as a small brown spot on the bottom of the fruit and enlarges to cover the entire end of the tomato. Eventually the tomato just falls off. The root cause (pun intended) of brown rot on the end of tomatoes is low calcium levels in the plant.  The most common cause of irregular calcium uptake is an uneven watering schedule. If you are watering like I advise, consistently and evenly, 1”(3cm) per week you should be okay.  A good mulch layer will help even out the soil moisture levels; if you’re already using mulch, you may need a deeper layer but 4” deep maximum.

Take heart in the fact that tomato end rot will not spread from plant to plant and this problem is usually more prevalent on the first few tomatoes. As subsequent tomatoes grow they are less likely to have end rot.

Don’t think you can just spray a chemical and the problem will go away. Since low calcium is the culprit, the use of fungicides or insecticides won’t help.

You could apply a fertilizer that is high in phosphate and low in nitrogen. (3-12-3) That will help the calcium in the soil release better for uptake into the plant but chances are the plant will outgrow the problem. Next season add some well composted organic matter and some of the high phosphate fertilizer and you should be fine.

I hope this helps.

Here are a couple of other posts on tomato problems that you may find helpful too.

SPLITTING AND CRACKING TOMATOES?

BROWN SPOTS ON TOMATOES?

FYI these are all covered in my eBook Growing Juicy Delicious Tomatoes.

Rees

I’ve been preparing to plant my spring garden and am planning to include some garlic again this year.  It seems like we use garlic in just about every meal so why not grow it? I must confess my last attempt didn’t go so well. I think I was sold some of very old bulbs for my starts because  the percentage of successful sprouts was pretty low. I’ll make sure I get good bulbs this year. Make sure they feel solid and full and are not missing any cloves.

There are over 600 types of garlic, also know as Allium sativum. Garlic is related to onions, chives and the leek family. There are a bunch of different varieties but they can all be lumped into one of two groups, Hardneck garlic and Softneck garlic. The Softnecks are what I will be planting this spring and a couple of good varieties are Early Italian, Artichoke, Silverskin, and Purple Garlic. The Hardneck can only be planted on the fall and a couple of good varieties are  Porcelain,  German Red (huge) , Purple Stripe, and Asian.

Homegrown garlic is potent stuff and tastes way better than the garlic you get at the supermarket, so be prepared for a treat.

Garlic is pretty easy to grow and does well as long as you have a well draining soil. It also prefers it on the hot side but will do well in almost any climate except maybe the humid states like Florida.

To plant garlic you gently break apart the cloves and tuck them into your prepared soil, roots down. They just need a little bit of cover so keep them shallow, an inch of cover is perfect. I like to space them out so the bulbs can really get big. Space them 4-6 inches apart if you have the room.  You should start to see green shoots in about three weeks. Keep them watered and plan on harvesting in about four months. You can leave them in longer if the weather is still warm and they are still growing.  You will see the leaves start to turn brown and that’s a sign it will soon be time to harvest. I like to tie my drying leaves in a knot and let the garlic stay in the ground as long as I can so they will get nice and big.

Once you have gently removed them from the ground, just brush them off and let dry in a cool dry location (not in direct sunlight) Garlic will store for quite a while if you keep it dry and cool.

I’ve never tried garlic in a pot or tub but I don’t see why you couldn’t grow it that way.

Happy planting and keep the breath mints handy,

Rees

Juicy and ready to pick

I had a chance to return to The Castelas Olive Growing Estate in southern France today to watch the annual olive oil pressing; and what an event it turned out to be. It had rained the night before, so I half expected to see the harvest halted temporarily; but when I arrived in the unforgettable valley of Les Baux-de-Provence, I was very happy to see things were in full production. Jean-Benoit Hugues and his wife Catherine, the owners of Castelas, started the estate a few years ago to build on their family heritage. The last time I visited it was the off-season, and my wife and I had a nice tour of the quiet estate and bought a couple of containers of their finest olive oil. This time when I arrived, however, the entire gift shop parking area was full –not with cars, but with 500L olive oil containers.

Pressed oil waiting to be bottled

Forklifts were darting here and there with giant boxes of harvested olives on board, making their way from trucks to holding area to press. Many more trucks were waiting in line to unload.

It's best to process your oives within six hours of harvest

Jean-Benoit has worked with engineers from several manufacturers to develop the most modern pressing facility in the region, and boy was it humming today. He definitely has put his engineering background to good use. Jean-Benoit has several hundred hectares of his own olive trees, but for his processor to work at its optimum capacity, he presses olives for other growers in the area too.

ready and waiting

400kg/crate yields about 3 liters oil

A warm bath after separating the leaves out

The good stuff!!!

The olive harvest is rather short, and in this area of southern France it begins in mid-October and is wrapped up by December. Where I live, 60 miles to the west, the harvest is a bit later. This is because the varieties that grow well in the cooler climates where I live tend to ripen a month or so later. The harvest there starts in November and ends in January. I’ll be pressing mine in about three weeks.

Anyway, my thanks go out to Jean-Benoit and his wife for being such gracious hosts, and if you ever have the need for a good quality olive oil, check out the offerings of Castelas. You can buy them online here http://www.castelas.com/en/ or you can find them in many fine food outlets in the United States, like Williams-Sonoma and Whole Foods for example.

P.S. If you ever have a chance to visit Les Baux-de-Provence in southern France, I promise that you will be amazed. Whatever the season, the scenery is unforgettable. Castelas sits in a small valley surrounded by rugged mountains on three sides. Vineyards and olives make up the valley floor, and a sea of wild flowers carpet everything. I can’t resist snapping some photos every time I go.

Here are some samples. CLICK ON THE PHOTOS to see the full glory of Baux-de-Provence

Valley Floor

Actual colors!!

Surrounded by beautiful mountians

I took about thirty more photos of the processing and the breathtaking beauty so drop me a note if you want to see more.

Happy Gardening,

Rees

Hear’s to one GIANT pumpkin!!!

Congratulations to Ron Root, winner of the 2010 Half Moon Bay pumpkin growing competition with a 1,535 lb monster. Way to go Ron.

If you are ever in the California central coast town of Half Moon Bay in October you will see this sleepy beach town transformed into Punkinville USA and home to a national competition for GIANT pumpkins. Pumpkins pumpkins everywhere. Pumpkin towers, pumpkin mazes, pumpkin launchers pumpkin field after pumpkin field. It is really lots of fun for kids and adults (Try the pumpkin margaritas   or the burgers at 3-Zero Cafe….awesome )

If you want to TRY YOUR HAND at growing your own giant pumpkin you can get some help from a previous post on the subject here.

Here is a link to the article on the 2010 Half Moon Bay Pumpkin festival winner

UPDATE!!!!! NEW WORLD RECORD PUMPKIN SET   hear about it here!!

Happy Gardening,

Rees

It’s vegetable planting season so watch for these upcoming articles

Planting Your Spring Vegetables

This one will discuss the pros and cons of beginning with seeds verses buying starts at the local garden center.

The Basics of Growing Heirloom Tomatoes

I’m seeing them everywhere now, from the farmers market to the supersized grocery store (yes I mean Walmart).  If you want to try your hand at growing heirlooms, watch for my premier on planting and growing heirlooms. I’ll tell you some tricks and some things to avoid too.

Biodynamic / French Intensive Gardening

If you haven’t heard of this before you will be soon. With the bad economy, many people have learned to rely on growing their own veggies and greens at home. By utilizing this method you can actually grow enough to earn money. One guy claims he made $10,000 in a small back yard. I’m actually a big proponent of the method and will explain why.

These are just a few articles to watch for. If you have questions or would like feedback on any other subject send me a note or post a question in the new forum.

Thanks,

Rees

Living in Florida it’s difficult to tell the seasons apart but certain holidays have a way of reminding me that things are about to change in most other areas of the country. Halloween is one of those occasions. My kids start weeks ahead discussing their costumes and getting excited about which friends with and where to trick-or-treat but it’s the sign of pumpkins showing up in the grocery store that really drives it home for me. The glossy orange orbs piled high at the entrance to the stores and scattered around the lawns for the local church fundraiser mean that fall is here.

According to the History Channel, the use of pumpkins as Jack-o-Lanterns originated in Ireland where a guy named Stingy Jack tricked the Devil. The Devil got back at him by turning Jacks sole into a burning clump of coal and carried his glowing sole around the countryside in a bucket.

These days it’s not only the standard pumpkins you see on display but also a wide range of sizes and shapes from the cute little miniatures to Giants exceeding 1,000 lbs.  It’s these gargantuan monsters that intrigue me the most.

2008 was the first year in may that a new world record was not set. The current world record for the biggest pumpkin stands at a whopping 1689 lbs. raised by Joe Jutras, of Scituate Massachusetts…hello, that’s more than a Volkswagen Beetle or better yet 1,500 plus pumpkin pies.

I’d love the try my hand at growing one of these oddities but I’m afraid the Florida climate just wouldn’t cooperate but if you live in the to the north I’d suggest giving it a try. There are a few suggested steps that make horticultural good sense to me.

1)   Start with good seed. A giant pumpkin can produce 500-800 viable seeds each.

2)   Prepare the soil well. To have the best luck you will need to plant several plants and each plant can cover 100 sq feet. I suggest at least a twenty by twenty plot. Start your soil preparation in the fall by clearing the spot and covering with a 6-10′ layer of thoroughly composted material. Once the possibility of frost is passed in the Spring use a roto-tiller to incorporate the compost into the native soil as deep as possible.

3)   Start your seeds- Approximately 4 weeks before the last frost you should germinate your plants indoors in 4″ peat pots. Simply place then in a warm location and keep moist. Plant only one seed per pot, pointed end up.

4)   Allow the plants to grow indoors for about three weeks or until they have their first true set of leaves open and the roots have started poking out of the bottom of the pot.

5)   Transplant outside. I suggest moving them outside in the small pots for a few days to help acclimate them before planting in the soil.  Place them evenly around the plot spaced at least four feet apart.  Be gentile because too much root damage will set you back.

6)   Fertilizer is the key element to growing the giants. Of course water, sunshine, good genetics are also important but fertilizer is the steroid that builds these mammoths. Here is your fertilizer strategy.

a.     Grow lots of big healthy roots first. For the first month after planting use a fertilizer that is high in phosphorus like a 15-30-15. I suggest a water-soluble fertilizer and apply per manufacturers recommendation at week 1,2 and week 3. This is a specialty fertilizer so don’t wait until the last minute to locate a supply. It may need to be ordered. A good hydroponic store may be place to start.

b.     Next we focus on big healthy leaves and stems. That means high Nitrogen. Starting in week 4, 5 and 6 shift to a water-soluble high nitrogen fertilizer weekly, 24-6-8 or something along those lines.

c.      By week 8 you should start to see flowers develop and the first few fruit set. Now our strategy changes to focus on growing giant pumpkins so we shift our fertilizer to provide more Potassium. Again in a water-soluble form we apply 15-11-29 weekly as directed by manufacturer.

**A note of caution with fertilizer. Your inclination will be to over fertilize and this can cause the pumpkin to grow so fast that it will burst. My suggestion is to follow the manufacturers directions and to start your plants as early as possible for the longest possible growing time. Be like the turtle, slow and steady.

7)   Pollination. In most instances I would suggest that you simply allow mother nature handle the pollination of your pumpkin flowers but since we are growing superstar athletes here the longer they are allowed to grow the bigger they will get so by hand pollinating we can give them a head start. It is an easy process really and all you need is a small painters brush. The female flowers are easy to distinguish from the males because they have a small-enlarged area at the base, the pre-pumpkin. Take your paintbrush and swab the pollen from a nearby male and then very gently brush the pollen onto the exposed female stigma. I suggest repeating this from various males to various females so that you are sure to a viable match. I suggest a goal of having your first flowers pollinated and beginning to swell by mid July if possible.

8)   Positioning your future giants. It is suggested that you turn the young pumpkins so that the attaching stem is perpendicular to the vine. In this position the pumpkin will proceed to grow without crushing the vine.

9)   Pick your winner. As several pumpkins begin to grow on each vine it is necessary to remove all but the most vigorous one.  Pick the largest two on each plant and monitor their growth for a week, measuring daily. The one that seems to be growing faster is the one to keep. Remember one pumpkin per plant. You will be tempted to leave a couple but the energy will be divided and neither will be huge.

10)  Pruning your plants. As your giant is maturing it is important to force all the plants energy into growing the pumpkin. About the first of September I suggest tipping all the lateral growing vines. That means cutting off the soft tips of each branch. It takes a lot of energy to develop new leaves at a time when we want to force all energy into the pumpkin so removing these buds will shut down the new foliage growth.

One last thought. Plan ahead for moving your mammoth. If you are lucky and all the stars align properly your hard work may result in an award winner. Transporting these trophy winners is where all your effort can be lost. Broken pumpkins are not allowed into competition. You may need a tractor of forklift to pick it up and move it to a trailer for transport. My point it to plant your pumpkins in a spot where it can be accessed by equipment or you may be the only one to enjoy your Giant pumpkins.

One more last thought. Buy your seeds early. The offspring of the biggest will probably be gone by March 1^st.

Have fun trying your hand and send me some photos to post!

Rees

How to keep your tomatoes from cracking and splitting

Excerpt from my eBook GROWING JUICY DELICIOUS TOMATOES available at Rainforth Home and Garden.

IF YOU HAVE LARGE ROTTEN SPOTS ON YOUR TOMATOES SEE THIS POST HERE

Welcome! Thanks for stopping my little website.  Hopefully you’ll find some useful advice here. Hopefully greensideupblog.com will be your number one go-to for all your gardening questions! Here is an example of the solutions you can find. Have fun and thanks for your visit.

Here is an excerpt from my new book How to Grow Juicy Delicious Tomatoes that will help you with your tomato problems.

If you have little black spots on your tomatoes here is a post on that problem HERE

Salmonella contamination of tomatoes has been in the news a lot lately, but that’s an unusual problem we rarely see, and probably not one you need to worry about in your own home garden.  There are more common problems the home gardener will face with tomatoes. It’s that time of year when people’s homegrown tomatoes are ripening and invariably I get the question, “Why are my tomatoes cracking?” or, “Why are my tomatoes splitting?”

I’ve heard all sorts of reasons offered, but the problem is pretty easy to explain.

The simple truth is that on the inside of the tomato, the fruit grows faster than the skin can develop and stretch to contain that fruit. Think “stretch marks”. Okay, so that’s the issue, but what can you do to prevent these so called “stretch marks”?

The trick is to regulate the growth of the fruit as much as possible.

Fluctuations in the temperature, fertilizer levels, or amount of water can cause the tomatoes to grow in spurts rather than at a gradual pace. A plant goes through a “hardening off” period after it has a spurt of growth, which would not occur if all of the growing elements (fertilizer, water, heat, etc.) remained somewhat constant. This “hardening off” happens to the fruit and the skin.  Once the skin has hardened off, if the fruit has another growth spurt, the skin will not be able to stretch to contain the fruit inside it, hence the cracking or splitting.  Your goal should be to keep your tomatoes growing at a steady, consistent pace, avoiding the hardening off period until they are ready to pick.

Here are some tips to help regulate the fruit development and avoid the cracking:

Water regularly and deeply. If you get a period of heavy rain, then you should reduce supplemental water. If you go on vacation, don’t soak them before you leave and let them go dry until you return, and soak them again. Use a sprinkler (drip preferably) on a timer, or hire the neighbor kid and give him a five minute training course on how to water consistently.

Be careful with the fertilizer. Buy a good vegetable fertilizer and follow the instructions, or better yet, use composted humus from your compost bin on a regular basis and avoid commercial fertilizers. Compost will both regulate the soil moisture and provide a steady level of nutrients. In either case, don’t load up with fertilizer in the beginning of their growth and then fertilize them again as the fruit sets. Use lighter doses on a more frequent schedule and never more than the manufacture says to use.

Watch the sun exposure. Like I said earlier, fluctuations in temperature are harmful. Mother Nature has control of the macro climate, but you can control to some degree the micro climate temperature. As some tomatoes mature, they tend to drop some of their leaves, and in some cases, it is even beneficial to remove some leaves. If lost leaves is the case with your vegetable garden, just make sure that fruit that was previously shaded is not exposed to direct sunlight when the temperature heats up. A simple shade structure should suffice.

Commercial growers take other steps like fertilizer adjustments based on rain water, but for the home gardener the above suggestions should suffice.
To reiterate, the enemy to growing nice, beautiful tomatoes is uneven growth rates.

Remember: your tomato plants need regular, even watering, compost or evenly spaced fertilizer applications, and limited direct sun exposure. Following these three suggestions should solve the splitting tomato problem. Oh, and one last comment, the split tomatoes may not look as pretty, but they taste just fine. Cut ‘em up and drop ‘em in a salad, or use ‘em for sauces!

If you want to learn more about growing great tomatoes here is a link to a book I just finished writing on this very subject. Most tomato books I have researched teach you how to grow big plants. Mine teaches you how to grow big fat juicy flavorful TOMATOES!!!

Remember if you have large rotten spots on your tomatoes see this post HERE

I had so many people reading this post and sending me questions about their tomatoes that I decided to put together a book on how to grow great tomatoes. If you want know more of my secrets …..

CLICK HERE TO CHECKOUT MY NEW BOOK GROWING JUICY DELICIOUS TOMATOES for Rainforth Home and Garden
Rees Cowden

Here is a progress report on our Mr. Potato project:

Back in March, Gracie’s grandmother assembled the parts for a fun project to do with kids I wanted to share with everyone. I called it Mr. Potatohead. I can remember from my own childhood doing the same project, and I thought Gracie would have fun watching her potato grow too.

We followed the instructions and half submerged the potato in a bowl of water. See earlier post  http://www.greensideupblog.com/?p=67#more-67 . Well, as it turns out, the project was a complete flop…… Even though we regularly changed the water, the potato only put out one scrawny root and then eventually rotted. And now from this experience, I can tell you that a rotting potato is deceptive. From the outside all looks well, like it is a normal happy potato, but the inside has secretly been turning to mush. Word of warning….never pick up a rotten potato with your bare hands! I’ll spare you the photos.  Suffice to say it is messy, stinky, and a pain to clean off your hardwood floors.

And now for the good news: Undeterred, we decided to make a second go of it. Grandma Maggie bought another potato, but this time I decided to let it develop some shoots first. I left the potato in a dry dark cabinet for about one month, and as you can see, the buds developed as expected. Now Gracie is going to give it another shot to see if we can make this one grow like I remember as a kid. Thanks Grandma Maggie. Keep you fingers crossed.

Rees

I’m not usually one to fall for gimmicks or the newest and greatest thing so I’m not sure how to react to square watermelons. I think they are kinda cool and could be a fun thing to do, especially if you are looking for a way to get kids interested in gardening but part of me thinks they are just a bit weird. Maybe something that is as perfect as a ripe watermelon shouldn’t be messed with. Let me know what you think.

Is Mother Nature best left to her own plans in this case? If the response is more positive than negative I’ll provide details on how to grow one yourself.

Rees Cowden