2010 sweet potatoes & winter squash harvest

The temps are supposed to be in the mid 30s this week end so its time to get the SP and SQ into the storage bins.

The squash are Burpee’s  hybrid Butter Bush. They have nearly if not the same flavor and texture as the Butternut squash. We prefer the Butter bush for its smaller size and it has been a constant producer. This years harvest is about 55 lbs.

 

The sweet potatoes are Vardaman and did well for the slips that survived. I bought a pack of 25 slips for about $13 and planted the best 20 slips. Of the 20 slips planted only 12 survived. This problem will be solved by next planting season. I have planted two small potatoes in pots and will take vine terminal cuttings this winter and determine which rooting techniques work best for me.

This the largest sweet potato harvested at 2#.

These came from one plant at 3.5#.

 

And this is the total harvest from 12 plants At app. 22#. I will let them cure here before  putting them in the bin.

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First day of fall coming soon

http://www.jbest123.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Nat-King-Cole-Autumm-Leaves-broadcast-recording.mp3

September 22nd and it will be Fall. I want to get my garlic in before that and soon after clean all the warm weather crops off the garden. I won’t dig sweet potatoes or gather winter squash until first frost warning. The Yukon gold and Kennebec potatoes will be dug as needed until the soil begins to freeze deeply.

This was the fourth year in a row for a poor garden. The last three years we had spring weather all summer and last year I was able to grow lettuce all summer and the warm weather crops did poorly. This year it got too hot too fast and the cool weather crops did poorly. We usually have 2-3 days in the 90s and this year we had about 14 days in the 90s and many in the high 80s. Crops like peppers, eggplant, sweet potatoes and winter squash did well. The regular potatoes from what I have seen so far will be nothing to brag about.

The sweet potatoes look like they will produce well. These we will have for dinner tonight.

The winter squash did very well And I may have to shoot one of my wife’s pet deer to get us through winter.

The asparagus looks like it did fantastic for the first year’s growth for planted 2yr crowns.

This is how many asparagus sprouts I got from one crown. Can’t wait for next spring.

I think this qualifies for intensive gardening.

On the far left are 24 Jersey Giant asparagus plants, left of center are 26 Yukon Gold potatoes, right of center are 26 Kennebec potatoes and far right are 12 Butter Bush winter squash.

 

These are 20 Nemagold Sweet potatoes.

 

Here are 12 Endive, 6 per row. Lettuce has been harvested from front and back.

 

Between the SPs and Endive and on the fence is a Gardeners Delight cherry tomato.

 

To the left of the Endive and against the fence is a Fourth of July tomato.

 

These are my peppers, in front are two rows of three Big Dippers, in the back row there is one Sweet Banana, one Picante and one Red Bell.

 

Here are 6 Black Beauty eggplants.

 

In the foreground are 5 Little Cloud cauliflowers. Lost one to a wind storm. In the background are 5 Green Goliath broccolis. Lost one of these in the same storm.

 

Garlic, onions, spinach and lettuce were harvested form the bed in the foreground and is now ready for fall planting. The bed in the background has one Zucchini plant on the right and two Brandy Boy tomatoes on the left. The two tomato plants are over four ft tall and only have 4-6 tomatoes on each. That rate had better pickup or this year will be the last for Brandy Boys.

 

One comparison between RB/SFG and conventional gardening

Last years squash bed was planted in hills. When looking down from above, it would look like double fives on a pair of dice. After the plants emerged the bed was heavily mulched with leaf mold and compost. The harvest was typical of my squash beds at 39-41 squash (depending how many times I count them).

This is the same area converted to raised beds filled with 100% compost. This is the first year for the raised beds in this area. Last years squash bed was 90” wide and this years RB for squash is 40” wide, less that 45% of last years bed. The number of squash in the RB 29 a substantial increase per sq/ft production. As usual all comments are welcome. John

 

My follies with trellising squash

I have been planting Burpee’s hybrid zucchini and butterbush squash for years. This year I decided to trellis the squash to conserve space. The zucchini was easy to tie up to the trellis when the vine was small but as the vine grew wider and stiffer it became more difficult. We had a relatively mild summer storm and this photo is of the top of one vine that had broken off of one of the plants. What broke off was about 1 ½” of the tip of the vine with about 2-3 small leaves and blossoms. I had hoped the plant would start a new branch but it eventually died.

Both zucchini plants had a problem with the leaves in back buckling and falling forward over the tip of the vine and damaging the new blossoms. I had to be vigilant at removing them from that area.

The clincher is, the plants were growing approximately the same place as last years non trellised squash. Last year the squash grew across the pathway and up against the next bed. This year the trellised squash leaves grew with in 3-4” of the adjoining bed, so I only saved 3-4” of space.

The Butterbush squash were planted about 10” in front of the trellis and a dowel rod placed from the plant base to the trellis. It was easy to tie the vines to the dowels.

It became obvious that the vines did not want to grow north although there was plenty of sun. In this photo you can see about four times the growth toward the south as there is to the north. I decided to let them go where they wanted and sacrificed the onions planted to the south of them.

The vines are dieing back and the squash are ripening. There will be about 25 squash, enough for my wife and me but not very many to give away. This is the same area that the squash grew in last year in a conventional hill planting and I will be doing a comparison post about last years yield to this years SFG style of gardening. As usual, all comments are welcome. John

Storage for potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, winter squash and such.

I have been increasingly dissatisfied with the storage of root crops in the fruit cellar. It is just a little to dry and warm for storage.  I end up storing stuff under the benches that I no longer use. Well I pitched it all and built a 22” X 22” X 8’ storage bin for roots and tubers in the GH. The side facing the camera is insulated with 1 ½’ of polystyrene and the two ends and backside are outside walls. The backside and right end are under ground.

 Here you can see the insulated front side and a wooden slat floor for air circulation. The lids are hinged at the back and the middle so they fold under the shelves of the GH.

I do grow veggies other than potatoes

I have been posting about potatoes so often I thought I should show you my other veggies. This is my asparagus bed. I planted two-year-old crowns and supposedly, I can make limited cuttings next spring. They look so spindly I sort of dough it.

The bell peppers are Big Dippers and are loaded with blossoms.

The Bibb lettuce is fantastic and will be my annual lettuce. It also did very well in the GH last winter.

The broccoli looks good and is about to develop heads. The three plants in front are purple cabbage.

I have not grown Brussels sprouts for a while and will not be able to predict outcome until late summer. And another three purple cabbage in front.

The Butterbush winter squash have sprouted and have to grow about 10” North to reach the trellis. I will tie them to the sticks to get them off the soil as soon as possible to help me combat the squash bugs.

Cauliflower is not showing any sign of heads yet but it usually takes longer than the broccoli.

The eggplant is chucking full of blossoms and looking great.

I free sowed the endive and thin it as we eat. As soon as I thin it, it fills back in.

Onion plants are just taking root and hard to see. I also planted 12 Alisa Craig onions that can get up to five pounds each.

Cannot say much about the tomatoes except they are on there way to higher places.

The Zucchini are on there way to the first rung of the ladder. I will see how this goes.

The sweet potatoes are growing slowly, the weather has been very cool but I hope the roots are developing well.

Ok, I have to say something about the potatoes. The ones in the foreground are the Kennebec and the ones in the background are the Yukon Gold. The fence to the right is four ft tall. As usual, all comments are welcome.

One thing leads to another

2009-05-17

 

The trellis in yesterday’s post is 15’ long and I used 16’ hog panels which gave me two12” pieces of scrap panel. I wanted to try growing summer squash vertically and needed to come up with a trellis to grow two summer squash plants on. I had some old fence posts on hand and some outdoor electrical cable ties and the two scrap panels was all I needed. Now if I can encourage the Zucchini to grow up the trellis, I will be in Hog Heaven.

 

Tonight will be the second night in a row with freezing or below freezing temperatures. I gathered up enough containers to cover the veggie plants but the apples are in jeopardy. All I can do now is to hope for the best. As usual, all comments are welcome.   John