Harvest Monday - June 25, 2012

The container plants that I had my boyfriend baby sitting for me survived the move back to charm city balcony garden. I had baby tomatoes that are very leggy since it was growing in a shady balcony for the past 2 weeks. I am a little concerned that it might burn on my balcony that gets full direct sun all day. So far I transplanted one cherokee purple seedling to its final container...I'll see how it goes. The ichiban eggplant, bush early girl and jalapeno peppers are doing really great. I'm trying to figure out what to do with the jalapenos before I harvest any. I will definitely pickle some, and I also want to try making some jalapeno jelly or something spicy-sweet. This was very exciting week for me in terms of harvest...I got my first tomatoes!! So exciting! The flavor was not so great, but I know that the it will improve with time...and they look perfect!

Bush early girl tomatoes

The summer squash is also doing good as well - so far no sign of squash borer invasion. I love these squash, they are so tender and sweet. I prefer to eat them raw so I have been throwing them in salads. I let the ichiban eggplants grow too large - the skin was a little tough but it was still very good. Both the ichiban in the community garden and in the container is doing well.

The first summer squash (community garden) of the season

Ichiban eggplant (container) and summer squash (community garden)

The kale is still going strong - I'm actually having a hard time keeping up with the harvest, my freezer is going to be full of greens (not complaining). I plan to make some kale chips with these.

I linking to Daphne's harvest Monday. I'm very grateful she is providing a place where we can share our harvest with other gardeners!

Spacing and plant health

The kale and beets are growing steadily, but I think I may have overcrowded the container. With the kale, it is clear that the container with fewer plants is doing better. I want to thin out the crowded container, but rather than pulling the plants I plan to transplant them to another container. I am fresh out of containers, so I will either have to go buy more or use smaller containers and plant one per pot. Unlike the kale, the beets in the smaller container (presumably with less root space) is doing better than the larger container. The spacing is about the same and I also used the same soil so I don't know what's going on.

Container on the left is a ~3 gallon container and the right a ~5 gallon container.
The beets were started and transplanted at the same time but the plants are larger in the smaller container.

I also transplanted 2 mild jalapeno starter plants into self-watering containers (3 gallon) I found at Lowes. This is about the same size as the 13" Mainstay self-watering container I buy at Walmart. They are about the same price but I think the Mainstay container is better quality. Anyway, I've started a little experiment with the jalapeno plants. In one container (the middle) I used 100% new potting soil, and in the other I used recycled soil with fertilizer and cow manure.  It'll be interesting to see if there are difference between the two.

The grey containers are the new from Lowes. The white one is the Mainstay container that I have been using.
The middle container I used fresh potting soil. I used recycled soil in the container on the far right.

I have spotted some aphids on the pak choy plant from last season that is beginning to seed. The aphids are attracting ladybugs! 

I also spotted the first set of flowers on the bush early girl plant this weekend. I am a little concerned that it is too early to leave the tomato and jalapeno plants outside, but it has been quite warm so hopefully all the plants will thrive.

Bush Early Girl flowers

First resident of Charm City Balcony Garden 2012

I went to go guy some hardware at home depot and I naturally gravitated towards the garden section. I ended up buying a new container for the front of the house and....a starter plant. I could not help it! I did control myself a little and bought only one - Bush Early Girl. Last year, I had great success with Early Girl 50, so hopefully the Bush variety will also do well.

Bush early girl in 5 gallon home-made SIP