Perhaps not "knee high" but close to it.

In Illinois there is a saying, "Knee high by the Fourth of July." This of course is referring to the progress of the corn stalks. The corn in the Warehouse Gardens are not going to be knee high this Fourth of July but certainly mid to upper-shin high. I'd say that's pretty good for only planting a few weeks ago.

Today I noticed that I can see the beautiful bright red of the radish coming up through the earth. They aren't ready to be eaten quite yet, but soon. Very soon. I also noticed two zucchini fruit the size of my thumb starting to grow. ...and the magnitude of the pumpkin plants continues to overwhelm and amaze me.

I pruned the tomato plants today and did some weeding as well.

For the first time living at Snow Meadow Farm, I saw a deer through my bedroom window. If only it were November and not June. I quickly rounded Oslo out to chase the deer back into the woods. Success. Little did I know, a tag-team effort can be confirmed. In the dense fog, this night, Oslo and I chased another deer (a partner in crime) across the drive through the field and it too entered the woods and out of sight.

I hadn't seen the deer or sign of deer in days. Wishful thinking. I am meeting Matt in Vancouver for four days this Friday. I am nervous to leave the gardens unattended for so long without my flat-coated warrior to protect our land. A perfect time to test the validity of coyote urine.

Finally, tonight was evening four of fresh greens from the garden for dinner. This time served with Arctic Char. Crispy, flavorful and delicious.

Happy growing, eating and abating,
--Annie

More fence, more weeds, more slugs & snails

I raised the fence on the two smaller beds today. Not sure what I am attempting to do here, but, for my own peace of mind I will have done everything I could to keep the gardens safe.

I also weeded the smaller beds. It had been a while. It actually wasn't too bad. My rototiller guy isn't just good-looking, he's also good at what he does apparently.

My first failure in the garden is in the form of red onions. I started out with several plants (on a second attempt) and now am down to about five. The yellow onions, on the other hand are looks quite strong. I am not sure what happened. The snails might have mowed them down, who knows? Perhaps the cut worms? Not sure why whatever it was is completely opposed to yellow onions (fingers crossed!).

Both the red and gold potatoes needed to be hilled and so I did that as well. The instructions from Johnny's Select said that I will probably need to hill them 2-3 times to prevent the potatoes from "greening". If the potato is green, it is rendered inedible. I do NOT want that because I LOVE potatoes.

The pumpkins are still on a tear. It will be interesting to see where I manage to put the arms of these plants. They are pretty incredible. I also love the spirals that come off of them. So unique and beautiful.

Aside from the demise of the red onions (eh, they make me burby anyways), everything else is looking healthy and strong. I am debating what to plant where the red onions were. Suggestions?

A humbling day,
--Annie

The First Harvest

Last night I had Social Club over to the farm for dinner. I was able to provide a salad of greens from the garden. I harvested arugula, red leaf and green leaf lettuces for the salad, which I tossed with a homemade shallot-Parmesan vinaigrette. Delicious.

Happy growing and now for certain, happy eating,
--Annie

Raspberries are ripe and the pears are just begining to grow.

¿Qué te pasa, calabaza?

Translated: What's up, Pumpkin?

We are having some ridiculous weather. It's sunny and hot for about 2 hours and then pours rain for 20 minutes, then back to sun. Could it get more amazing for the garden? The pumpkins don't think so. I just checked on the patch and it really looks like a patch now! One of the arms of the pumpkin plant is nearly FOUR FEET LONG!

Happy growing and eating! I am going to harvest lettuce tomorrow.

--Annie

Game On!

As I was weeding the garden this morning, I was amazed at how well I had conquered my fear (unknowingly) of weeding and not accidentally pulling up plants because I couldn't tell the difference. Then it got me thinking, how well can my blog readers identify these young plants? It's one thing to know an array of veg/fruit in the grocery store, but can you identify the plant it comes from especially in its infancy? The following are pictures from the garden. The answers are at the end. Good luck!









































































































From Left to Right (starting at the top)
Fennel; Celery; Pumpkin; Bell Pepper; Asparagus; Red Potato; Carrot; Onion; Cucumber; Watermelon; Corn; Zucchini; Tomato; Acorn Squash; Snap Bean; Butternut Squash; Radish

How did you do?

Peonies

One of the most extravagant flowers in bloom, the peony. They belong in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel in NYC. But they can also be just as grand and "classy" at Snow Meadow Farm too. Half of the peonies went into the compost, but the other half found their way to a few vases.

Perennial flowers offer the most abundant and beautiful flowers, but aren't around long enough. I have a love-hate relationship with them for that reason.




I did some extensive weeding in the gardens today. I tried to get most of it before the mercury hits 90, as it is expected to do here in Maine. The two crops I'd like to report on today are the Red Norland Potatoes. The green plants are starting to poke through the earth. Johnny's instructions are to let the green grow 6-8" and then begin the dirt piling process.

The other crop I'd like to mention are the pumpkins. They are HUGE! I weeded around them and killed a whole bunch'a snails. I am very encouraged.

Happy Father's Day from the Warehouse Gardens to all the awesome dad's out there!
--Annie

Herb Gardens and "The Deer"

The following is a picture of my herb garden. (many thanks to the Norwegians for much of the herbal-ness).

I have finally put the screened-in-porch together. It was home to the seedlings only a few short weeks ago. The floor was covered in potting soil and the plants not more than a wee bit tall. Two weekends ago Matt put the screens up for me and prest-o, change-o, we have a very relaxing screened in porch, which faces southwest (not the airlines). The rocker looks directly to the west for some of the most fantastic sunsets. It's the kind of porch I'd like to sit with Oslo at my feet and next to Matt, watch the sunset and watch the years roll over. Corny? Yes. True? Definitely.

Operation "Deer-Be-Gone" is NOT going swimmingly. Though, I have to admit, I am enjoying the evening hunt. To catch you up to speed, we jumped the deer four times from the woods next to the drive. Then on Saturday Matt saw the deer two fields down. First he saw the deer on his bike ride out and the second time coming in from his ride. Last night, Oslo and I jumped the deer behind the house inadvertently as we were killing garden snails in one of the smaller gardens.

Tonight, well, tonight my loyal blog readers (whoever you are), Oslo sniffed the deer out. We were (as the crow flies) 200 meters from the rocking chair towards the sunset (if there was a sun to set tonight. Overcast with sprinkles). We were walking down Fred's drive and I said to Oslo, "Stay out of the tall grass, buddy." He half obeyed when Mr. or Mrs. Deer (jury is still out on that one) jumped up from its nesting position. Oslo's testosterone went from 0-60 in .5 seconds. He chased the deer to the opening of Mike's field. He watched it run into the back woods. By the time I caught up to Oslo, I just saw the deer's behind slip into the woods.

Dios mio, that thing is persistent.

I went through the gardens today and did some much needed clipping of dead leaves, flowers, etc. I must report on the fennel. It is rocking the garden party. I have three large stocks (from seedling) and I have two stocks from seed. It is strong and healthy, as is the celery, which I was initially really skeptical about and quite sad to imagine it not working out.

Dear Deer, if you are reading this blog please understand how exciting watching these plants grow is for me. Admire it from the outside and find someone else's garden to destroy come late July. Please. If not, I promise I will get the last laugh in November. One way or another, deer, I will get my veggies. Is that a threat? Let me think... YES!

Remember to manicure your plant leaves and cut off any dead flowers.
Happy growing and deer abating,
--Annie

June: A photo Journal

Perennials burst into bloom around the farm:



A baby bat has been an inhabitant of our barn since Saturday.

We did some Barn work. After (though still needs paint):

Before:






The "big" garden at Warehouse Gardens:

Oh, Deer.

Two nights ago Oslo and I walked down our dirt drive (a little less than a quarter of a mile long) and we met our neighbors on the street who were riding their bikes. They asked if we had just seen the deer jump from our property across the road and into the across-the-street neighbor's field. We hadn't.

You can probably sense where this one is going, right?

So, last night Oslo and I are making the same walk down the drive and about halfway to the street we heard rustling in the stand of pines next to the right of the drive. The sound was clearly made by an animal larger than the normal chipmunk or possum. My first thought, though it wasn't dark yet, please DEAR God do NOT be a skunk. Then all of a sudden a deer sprang up from the brush, which blankets the ground near the pines. The doe ran down the stand for about 30 feet, then cut in front of the drive and in front of us. She leaped through our field at top speed. At this point, Oslo and I had fallen out of shock. Oslo chased the deer through the field.

Then I panicked because I saw a three-way chase in my future. First the deer, then Oslo, then me. Fortunately, Oslo stopped at the field's edge and the deer ran into the woods behind our house.

I was really proud of my watch dog; A ferocious beast that he is. Had this episode occurred four months ago, I would have been delighted to watch the lovely white tail bound through the field. But now that I have a garden and a family to feed, the deer, much like the slugs, are my new sworn enemies.

The stand of pines that the deer had made a comfortable bed in abuts the large garden, which of course makes me nervous. When Oslo returned to my side after his chase, I patted him over and gave him kisses for a job well done.

Later, when I told Matt of our brush with nature, he was proud of Oslo for chasing the deer off our land for the garden's sake but warned that dogs should not "run" deer. I know that Oslo wouldn't do that, he is merely protecting our harvest. I felt good about that.

Today as we walked down the drive, I looked at the brush where the deer had been bedding yesterday as one can see it from the drive. There was no sign of the Big Bambi. "Way to go, Oslo," I thought to myself. But my celebratory thoughts were premature. Soon after I noticed tire tracks on the dirt that looked relatively fresh. I looked for another set of tracks to compare these to wondering if these tracks where the most recent to go up the drive or not. There was one other set but looked much older than the one's in question.

The reason these tracks were most important to me is because I had just driven home 20-30 minutes before and there was what looked like a fresh deer print over the newest tire tracks. The track was from a deer that had come from the field and had gone in the direction of the pines.

"That little (expletive) is back!" I said to myself. I watched Oslo as he walked towards the street watching to see if he was going to pick up a sent or not. Instead my astute guard dog was preoccupied with chasing and trying to eat a moth in flight.

We collected the mail and turned back towards the house. Just for kicks I said to Oslo, let's take the path through the pines that connects our driveway with the next one over. The deer track I'd seen was more or less near that path. We got halfway between our drive and the neighbor's when up popped the doe.

It didn't put Oslo nor I in a state of shock this time. Oslo was about 15 feet on the deer's tail. He chased it to the field and then watched her as she ran back towards the woods again. Proud of himself he came back to find me and I gave him another good pat down.

Now I am wondering just how courageous this deer is. Will she be back tomorrow?

I told Matt of this adventure and he told me that my deer scouting skills were good today and that I am ready for a rifle. Though I have my hunting license (a gift to Matt), I have always said that I wasn't sure whether or not I would be able to pull the trigger on an animal. Not to mention, sitting for hours sounds really boring. BUT if that damn thing eats out of my garden, trust me, I'll be ready for blood come November.

Annie get your gun! ...or at least we'll start off with some coyote urine to sprinkle around the garden.

Thanks for indulging in the deer tale today (does everyone get my play on words, or are they totally wasted??)
--Annie

The Learning Curve (Reflection)

My vegetable gardening learning curve is currently operating on a diagonal. It's only the beginning of June and I've already learned so much, at this point, most of my new knowledge is about seedling growing, the planting process and garden set-up. The learning curve will probably go down (but certainly not hit the horizontal) and then spike again come harvest.

There is so much to reflect on at this point, but I'd like to take this post to reflect on starting vegetables from seed.

This is the first time I've started seedlings. Living in a Zone 5/6 climate, the growing season is very short. I picked a great year to pretend to be an experienced gardener because Maine had a terrific Spring. The snow (or what little we had) melted early, never came back and the sun was out a lot. The last frost date (May 15) was accurate for our area too.

Last Spring we had so much rain it rotted anything that was planted in the ground. Now, granted, there is still an opportunity for that to occur, but as of now, we've had ridiculous gardening weather.

So, the seedlings:
Peppers: I wouldn't change a thing. I planted two seeds per round (2" diameter).
Celery: Fewer seeds per round and I might use slightly larger than 2" diameter trays.
Leeks: Fewer seeds (or thin!), 2" diameter trays were good. Start earlier
Onion: More seeds, start earlier, in 6x6" square trays (this is what the commercial greenhouses do).
Fennel: larger containers, start earlier
Pumpkins: one seed/per container
watermelon: one seed per container
zucchini and squashes: start later (no more than four weeks before planting
cucumbers: different tray from squash as the squash grows fast and shades the cuces.
Oregano/thyme: start MUCH sooner. Begin growing in early april
Basil: fewer seeds per tray
Chives: start sooner (mid-april)
Parsley/cilantro: fewer seeds, larger containers, start sooner (end of april)

I want to thank everyone reading for reading this silly little journal of mine.

Happy growing and eating,
--Annie

Nurture vs. Nature

It's the age old question whether one's personality is a result of one's environment and family nurture or is a result of our chemical DNA. I believe it is a combination of the two and I don't think the growth and success of the Warehouse Gardens will be much different.

Aside from some mid-season fertilizing, I can't really do much about the environment. Mother Nature is not a team player and no one can convince her otherwise. Nor can I control the chemical make-up of the Earth at this point. The Androscoggin River left what minerals it wanted hundreds of years ago. I can only add manure and other fertilizers, but what's done is done. I can't alter the seeds and seedlings. I left that in the hands of Johnny's Select Seeds months ago.

So, that leaves nurture. Now that everything, except for the sweet corn, is planted, the nurturing must begin and get kicked into high gear. This is the only bit of control I have left.

Here are some approximate totals for what are in the gardens:
7 fennel
7 pumpkins
8 feet of arugula
8 feet of butterhead lettuce
6 greenleaf heads
160 (approx) yellow onions
80 (approx) red onions
3 watermelon
9 asparagus plants
16 leeks
9 celery
10 green-to-red bell pepper
8 tomato (different varieties)
11 cucumber
7 gold potato
24 red potato
6 zucchini
30 feet of carrots
15 feet of parsnips
6 feet of beans (to start)
6 feet of radish (to start)
12 butternut squash
16 acorn squash
6 feet of basil
Ultimately 45 feet of sweet corn

In containers (and many thanks to Elizabeth, Lisa, Chris & Mark)
Basil, Mint, Sage, Tarragon, Margarim, Parsley, Chives, Thyme, Oregano, Lavender, Rosemary.

Coming soon: jalapeño and cayenne.

Here goes nothin',
--Annie

Feeling sluggish?

We've had two days of steady rain, heavy at times. Rain was much needed, but now it can stop. I have found that with the rain, comes the slugs and the snails. After soliciting some internet advice on whether or not these creatures are okay or not in the garden, the slug and snail became my enemy.

Slugs, it's war.

Before you call PETA on me, ...it's..a..slug. AND for the record I destroyed the ones I saw (probably around 40 total in all three gardens) per the most humane route: cutting the slug in half with scissors. They ooze black goo from their insides. Are you licking your lips yet? And the plump juicy ones are especially growdy.

To further slug-proof the garden, I also cut any low lying stems from the plants that slugs might reach and finally I set out a bowl of my homemade kombucha. They go to the bowl because they are attracted to the yeast and then drown in the liquid.


One site also recommended a ring of salt around the base of each plant. I didn't do that but I will if the slugs continue to press on with such force and strength in number.

Tomorrow's agenda includes but is certainly not limited to mulching and weeding.

Down with slugs,
--Annie

All EYES on potatoes

I need some potato planting advice. My potato eyes have sprouted, big time, and some are quite long (4-5").

I plan to plant potatoes this weekend using the traditional trench method. What I need to know is whether or not I plant these potatoes. Do I plant them like I would the other potatoes with the eyes up even though they are extra long already?

Thanks, Potato Lovers!
--Annie

A Gentlewoman Farmer

I felt like a "real" farmer today as I prepared the big garden for the crops in the mist and sprinkling rain. Then it began to downpour and I called it quits for the day.

I got a lot done in an hour and half. When one has a real "big girl" job, it's difficult to get a lot done on the garden at the end of the day, but I did as much as I could. I don't want to post any pictures yet because it is not finished and I'd like to do the big reveal at one time.

Today's task was to finish the fencing, if anything to keep Oslo out of the garden (read: manure). The system I have rigged up in the fencing-department is going to work, or at least I am cautiously optimistic, but wouldn't you know that tricky little flat-coated retriever found the spot where I am missing about 5 feet of fencing (I ran out with about five feet to go, ARGH!) I was trying to corral/chase him out of the garden. He became very excited and thought it was a chance to play; play in the garden. We looked like we were about to mud wrestle one another. That's when I took a deep breath and ran out of the garden and sure enough, he followed me.

I started making rows but then the serious rain happened and I cleaned up shop. I am hoping to finish the rows and mulch between the rows tomorrow. Weather permitting, I will try to plant the seedlings tomorrow as well and plant the seeds on Saturday morning. Evidently, most seeds are to be soaked overnight to expedite seed germination. Worse case scenario, I will plant the seeds and seedling on Saturday morning.

Thanks for the rain dance, everyone. Now bring back the sunshine and we'll have the absolute perfect conditions for strong, healthy and verdant gardens.

Happy growing and eating!
--Annie

Cut Worms and more Asparagus

We have now six asparagus that have sprouted.

Oslo just gave me a chicken manure lick! ICK! I sent him off to daycare this morning smelling like manure. I felt like I was dropping off my son named Pigpen; Mother of Pigpen. Terribly embarrassing.

For those of you non-container gardeners, I got a good tip from a family friend who is also an experienced goddess of the garden. She talked of "cut worms". Evidently they mow entire crops down. She suggested putting toothpicks on either side of veggie stems to prevent this from happening. I did this tonight.

Thanks Kathy B. for your tip. She claims to not be a blog reader... Though I will post all her verbal tips because we greenhorn garden gods and goddesses could use her expert advice.

We received a sprinkle today, which was much needed. We could use a bit more. Hopefully the rain helped a wee bit in Quebec, where they are experiencing forest fires. The forest fires and the wind have created the perfect storm, in which, we have had a hazy smoke and burning smell all weekend in the Pine Tree State.

It's time to tend to dead leaves and wilted flowers, greenhorns.

Happy growing and eating,
--Annie