Where are the scapes?

Quite a few people have been asking when the scapes will come. Last year the garlic was super-early and scapes were already harvested and even some early bulbs were out of the ground.
This year everything appears to be exactly on time, or maybe a bit late. Our scapes will probably appear in a week or so. I'll sell them at market June 15- 29th. (Probably just a few on the 15th) Scapes only appear on hardneck garlic, not softnecks like Inchelium Red. They should be harvested when they make a full loop on top. This will help the bulbs get bigger. Leave a few on for fun, or for longer storing garlic bulbs.

The bulbs aren't developed yet, but will be soon. When half the leaves are brown- it's time to harvest! For us this is usually around July 1st. Earlier for the Tzan and other Turban types.
Look for garlic bulbs at market starting August 3rd.

Peppers! And more peppers!

12 Types of Sweet Peppers • 9 Types of Hot Peppers!
• All but 2 from Organic seeds

It's finally time to plant peppers! I know a lot of you planted them earlier- and you Boulderites have a bit warmer temperatures so they should be fine. We will plant ours early next week. They do NOT like cool ground temperatures and it was 39 degrees here last night. (The peppers are more prone to fungal diseases when they are too cool.) We have gotten a good crop of peppers every year with the late planting strategy. Some will have to be covered when we get the first frost in September or October. Most of the green ones will turn red by September, some in August.

We have 9 kinds of hot peppers and 12 kinds of sweet ones to sell at market tomorrow including our very favorites that grow well at WeeBee Farms.  For hot peppers we'll have Jalapeno, Anaheim, Serrano, Greek pepperoncini, Hungarian hot wax, Bulgarian Carrot chile, Santaka hot Asian, Hot Purira and Cayenne. The Sweet Italians are our favorites and we have Joelene's, Atris, Sullivan's frying, Oranos, Belcanto and Jimmy Nardello. For Bell Peppers we have King Crimson, Early Red Sweet, Jupiter, and Asti red. These are all varieties that we have grown here and have produced well for us.
The only ones we could not find organic seeds for are the Serrano and Bulgarian Carrot Chiles. The rest are grown from Certified Organic seed.

Atris- Our favorite pepper from 2012! In our search for good organic pepper seeds we found this one that turned out to be amazing. These huge red Italian peppers taste SO sweet, and the plants are really productive! We got lots of these last year and used them for stir-frying and eating fresh off the vine. This is a photo we took last season. Look how big they are! Definitely worth growing.

Delicious Licorice Mint - An under-appreciated native herb

Licorice mint is so easy to grow and is so tasty to nibble on. Just plant it outside or in a big pot. Pick off the leaves to nibble or to make tea. It's also a Chinese Medicinal plant with many uses including to treat anxiety and nausea. Put it in full or part sun and give it moderate water. Picking the leaves from the top will help it grow bushier. In summer it will make beautiful purple flowers that bees love!
It grows about 2ft high and is usually perennial, and will drop lots of seeds. Other names for it are Korean Hyssop, Korean mint and Agastache Rugosa. It is not a true mint, so will not aggressively take over the garden.

Come between 8 and 10 on Saturday! Creekfest is this weekend. Look for us near the Market T-shirt stand

Between 8 and 10 is nice, quiet and pleasant. Maybe even up until 11am. After that the rides begin, the music starts and the corn-dog crowd descends on the street!
I will have a huge selection of plants! Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, basil and squash. (maybe a few eggplant) Also the end of the cool weather kale, lettuces, salad bowls. And Alpine strawberries, mint and more.
WeeBee farms will be on the south end of the street, on the East side. Just north of the Farmer's market booth that sells t-shirts and market bucks. In front of the brick museum. I will start closing down my booth between noon and 1pm.

Protect cool weather plants and Salad Bowls during hot weather!

This week is forecasted to be extra hot. The salad bowls, lettuces and mustard greens are wilting in the heat and intense sun. Make sure to water them like crazy, and if possible, give them shade during the hot part of the day!! Freshly planted seedlings are more vulnerable to heat because their root system has not spread out yet. Even more vulnerable are plants in little black pots. Keep these in the shade on hot days, or plant them in the evening and water them deeply.

Tips for growing cold weather greens and Salad Bowls

Our "salad bowl" planters are ready to put on your deck or porch. Here are some quick tips.
Salad bowl greens love cold weather and won't be bothered by frost or snow, but do not do well in heat. Harvest about half of each plant when the plant is around 6" high or so. Lettuce will be fairly long-lasting if you keep using it. Harvest often, by pinching off outer, bigger leaves.
Here are a few veggies that may be in your bowl:

• Mustard (Osaka purple, mizuna or komatsuna, ruby streaks): short-lived, eat leaves while small.
• Kale and chard: eat leaves while small, do not let it get big or it will take over the whole bowl.
• Spinach or Arugula: short-lived, eat small young leaves.
• Chives: a long-lived perennial. Harvest by clipping or pinching. Replant outdoors when bowl is done.
• Garlic Greens (sometimes marked by a stick if they haven't come up yet) Pinch or cut off leaves and use in salads or with rice, eggs, stirfries, soup, etc. Bulbs will be tiny and not fully formed- not worth waiting for.
• Italian Red Bunching Onions - eat green part, or wait and use little bulbs like scallions

Keep the bowl well-watered in a place where it gets at least a half day of sun. It will probably be mostly finished growing by July. Bowls can be re-used for years or returned to us.

Tomatoes from WeeBee Farms - Plant outside in late May- All from Organic seeds

Carmello
              Started from Organic Seeds
      The All time Favorite at WeeBee Farms
EXCELLENT, sweet flavor! Has produced huge amounts every year at WeeBee Farms under all kinds of conditions. Medium to large tomatoes that are fabulous in salads and also our favorite for salsa-making.  An older French market tomato. Disease-resistant, and resistant to blossom-end rot. Open Pollinated Organic Seeds.
75 days,  Indeterminate

 Latah
    Started from Organic Seed
Favorite Early Tomato at WeeBee Farms
Developed at Latah County at the University of Idaho . Very early bright red tomato that average about 2 inches across. The flavor is very good and better than many of the super early varieties, although it doesn't produce heavily. Indeterminate, regular leaf foliage. Light, airy foliage, small plant.
50 Days to maturity. Good for Containers

See all our tomatoes by clicking "Read More" below

Cut worm alert

We have been having a terrible problem with cutworms this year. They come out in the evening and cut down the newly planted seedlings at the base. They have cut all of our onion transplants so far, and unfortunately have done widespread damage in one of our garlic fields. (The first time we've had a pest eating the garlic). The good news is that the miller moths that come from the cut worms are great food for birds. And the cutworms are good food for lots of creatures including skunks and chickens.
To protect your young seedlings, wrap the base with wet newspaper or brown bag strips. The strips should be an inch below and an inch above ground. Our seedlings that have these strips have not been cut. Read more about cutworms at this link:  http://www.bbbseed.com/_blog/The_Dirt/post/Armies_are_on_the_March/

 

Above: The collar on the broccoli planted in April kept it alive, so far
  Notice the collars at the base of the peas?

 

                  The culprit

Our "normal" Spring begins NOW! Right?

Our lettuces and kale gardens have survived 4 blizzards now, and our low temperatures (1 degree in early April, 12 degrees this Wednesday night). And our high of 81 on Sunday. They get a bit flattened, then perk back up. A few broken kale leaves- yummy to nibble. The arugula and mustard were hit the hardest (note to self- not as cold hardy as the lettuce).
Now it's really time to get going on gardening! Right? The forecast for next week calls for a low of 31, and then mostly lows in the 40's. A few possible showers. No Blizzard!
Plant cold weather crops before it's too hot! Wait until late May for tomatoes and basil. June 1st for peppers.

At Market 4/20, but have laryngitis!

I will be there tomorrow, but mostly whispering. I'll give out handouts so I won't have to talk as much. I will have plenty of plants to sell, but some of them are not quite ready for planting because I couldn't keep them outside to harden off with the foot of snow and 6 degree temp we had on Wed.
Come see what we have, and if you buy plants, make sure you are ready to harden them off yourself, since you will probably not plant them til the ground dries out.
Next weeks weather forecast calls for normal Spring weather, snow or rain on Monday, then sunny and warm. It may be dry enough to plant by the end of the week. My best advice is to wait til next week to buy plants. They'll be hardier after I harden them off properly, and your ground won't be as muddy.
See you there!