Happy Tomatoes

Things are progressing very well in the greenhouse.

Earlier this week, we replaced the wooden stakes that the tomatoes were supported by with lines strung between eyehooks in the rafters and the raised bed sills. Dave ran across this idea from The Cottage Smallholder last May, and we both thought it would be a good thing to try. Last year, though, with the half wine barrels, it wasn't quite practical. This year, with the raised beds, everything lined up really well for this project. We use the Velcro ties from Lee Valley to support the tomatoes from the lines, and they're fantastic - reusable, super easy to implement, and very soft & delicate against the tomato stalks.

As you can see, everyone is really thriving - here are some images to compare to early May when we'd just transplanted all of these guys:

Plus the middle bed now has plants in it: watermelons and cucumbers, and basil in between.

We have our first tomato flowers, many even on the bigger tomatoes (not just the cherries):

Our eggplants and peppers are doing really well; both varieties of each have really caught up. The initial transplants had the Dusky eggplants and Red Ruffle peppers ahead of the Listada de Gandia eggplants and jalapeño peppers, respectively. Everyone is looking fantastic now, and all our pepper plants are putting on little tiny flowers, which should be ready within the next few weeks for pollinating.

The eggplants all look alike, but the growth pattern of the peppers are interestingly quite different; the Red Ruffle is the one on the left, the jalapeño on the right.

So, fingers crossed that our "bumbling" hand pollinating will work again this year as well as they did last year.

Greenhouse as Nursery

We also get to use the greenhouse as a transition zone for started plants before they go out into the garden. I think we're probably safe from frost now, but just in case (you never know here), we're using our greenhouse for our Cucurbitaceae seedlings. Once again, under-heat and grow lights from our friend Bob made a spectacular result for our germination rate and success. Now we just need to let them grow a little bit more before they're transplanted to their final destinations.

Squash

Last year, we had grown Blue Hubbards and Marina di Chioggia from seed, and "freebie" compost squash which turned out to be Butternuts. The hubbards were somewhat of a disappointment; however, we adore the Chioggia, and the Butternuts were also lovely, so these are what we have started this year. Since we had two C. maxima varieties last year, I had to purchase new Chioggia seed, and as Butternuts are hybrids (although are a different species, C. moschata), I needed new seed this year. We grew squash in old tires filled with horse poop last year. This year, the oak wine half-barrels have been repurposed for our Cucurbitaceae. I'm just waiting for secondary leaves to get well established on the seedlings before I move them out.

Variety	Image	Description
Marina di Chioggia		"Heirloom squash developed in Italy. Large, bumpy, dark green turban shape with sweet, orange, fairly dry flesh. Traditionally grilled at the dockside near Venice. Average 10 lbs." - Two Wings Farms
Early Butternut		"Replaces Zenith. AAS winner. Medium-sized squash are uniform on productive, semi-bush plants. Each has a small seed cavity in dark orange sweet flesh with a tender, thin skin. Matures in 110 days. (hybrid seeds)" - West Coast Seeds
Summer Squash - Gold Rush Zucchini		"This early, bright golden yellow zucchini with stunning dark green stems is produced freely on compact, easy-to-harvest plants. Its clear colour and good eating quality add interest to your summer meals. Matures in 55 days. (hybrid seeds)" - West Coast Seeds

Cucumbers

We grew Cool Breeze last year for pickling and they turned out really well. As they're self fertile without male flowers, the production rate was better than I expected. But I can't save the seeds - they're hybrids. Thought I'd get another variety to try pickling, an open pollinated one, and we'll see how they do. I'll grow the two pickling varieties in the greenhouse (to isolate the one OP variety), but the fresh eating lemon cukes grow really well outside, so that's where they'll go. I might have gone somewhat overboard on the lemon cukes, but Mom & I loved them so much last year, I wanted to make sure we had enough to nibble on all summer long.

Variety	Image	Description
Lemon Cucumber		"This heirloom was first introduced in 1894. Similar in size and appearance to a lemon, with fruits that average 2" by 3". Very easy to digest with a crisp, clear taste and an edible skin. Pick small and use them whole for snacking in the garden or as a table treat. A favourite of our local chefs. " - Full Circle Seeds
Cool Breeze		"So early it caught us by surprise! Small 10-15cm (4-6), uniform, dark green cucumbers appear well before any others because they do not need pollination; and in our wet springs, bees are not out in the rain! There are no male flowers; the plants keep producing all summer on short vines. They have no ridges and and very fine spines that rub off easily. Use for pickles or salads and sandwiches. Tolerant to powdery mildew, scab, and Mosaic virus. Matures in 45 days. (hybrid seeds)" - West Coast Seeds
Suyo Long		"Trellis these very distinctive CERTIFIED ORGANIC Chinese cucumbers for straight, dark green, 30 cm (12") long fruits. The prolific vines produce non-bitter, crisp cukes that are almost seedless and perfect for salads and pickles. The fruit has the traditional ridges with white spines that brush off easily. It can be picked at shorter lengths as well. Matures in 60-70 days. (open pollinated seeds)" - West Coast Seeds

Melon

Last year we grew "Early Dew" honeydew variety; I couldn't find seeds for them this year, and since they're a hybrid, I couldn't save the seeds last year anyway. So this year I figured we could try an open pollinated melon, and we'll see how it goes. That, and Mom's not a huge fan of honeydews anyway, but we all like watermelons. This one, too, will live in the greenhouse this summer.

Variety	Image	Description
Blacktail Mountain Watermelon		"Blacktail Mountain is an extremely early, certified organic watermelon, with flowers appearing weeks before other varieties. This cold-tolerant melon is perfect for the cool springs here on the Coast, although it may perform better under a cloche or in a greenhouse. The vines are compact and bear several 23cm (9"), melons with very dark green skin and scarlet flesh that is sweet, crunchy and full of flavour. Matures in 75 days. (open pollinated seeds)" - Full Circle Seeds

Most of these cucurbits require some help with pollination: we take the male flowers off the vine and squish them into the female flowers. Seems to work, as we had pretty good pollination rate last year. And with a new little addition to the family on the way very soon, having lots of squash for the winter will be a boon, so fingers crossed I started enough plants to meet our needs!

We also started some basil, lupines and hollyhocks, which are sitting happily in our greenhouse nursery:



We have to figure out where the perennial flowers are going to get transplanted, but the basil will get interspersed amongst the greenhouse plants, and make our tomato cucumber salads this summer that much better!

Greenhouse Planted

We started our Solanaceae plants a little later this year (I think around mid-March), hoping to catch just the right size for transplanting into the greenhouse. Seems like it worked really well; the timing, together with under-heat trays and grow lights with timers (thanks to the legacy of our friend Bob), the germination rate and success was magnificent this year, the best we've ever had. The peppers, when transplanted, this year have been the absolute best yet.

Heirloom Tomatoes


We purchased most of the seeds originally from Two Wings Farms in Victoria, I think the Black Cherry plants originally came from Dinter Nursery in Duncan. The text and images regarding these tomatoes are from Two Wings Farms website, except for the Black Cherry, which is from Trade Winds Fruit.

Variety	Image	Description
Canada Long		"I have grown Canada Long for many years, but never listed it until this year. It always produces well and they were so amazing this year I thought why not list them. A 4to5 inch long "pepper" shaped tomato that could be called a paste type, but it tastes wonderful fresh too. As with all elongated varieties, watch out for blossom end rot."
Black from Tula		"Large purple colour, Beautiful globe shape, mid/late season. Delicious, flavour. productive Indeterminate. Rare. Top 10."
Aurega		"A deep apricot orange sweet tomato, with a rosy interior. About 2" in size. Ripens fairly early. Very productive and reliable. Said to originate in Switzerland, I've seen it spelled "Auriga" too. I love this one. Indeterminate, Endangered. Top 10"
Apple of Novi Sad		"Another great Tomato from Serbia. These plants were started late, but still produced a wonderful large crop of beautiful Red Tomatoes. After growing in a different part of the field, they are quite a larger plant than I previously thought! and Once again, a very nice crop in a poor season!"
Green Grape Cherry		"Productive, very sweet, green/yellow cherry. Absolutely delicious, fruity tomato flavour. You'll be a fan after your first bite! Small sprawling plant works well in containers too. Determinate. Heirloom."
Black Cherry		"Round, true cherry tomato, one of the only having black skin. Color is a deep red, with blackish hues. Flavor is sweet, much like other cherry tomatoes, and very full-flavored. This variety is fairly rare."

Eggplants

Last year we tried a cultivar that is suited for our wet coast climate: Dusky. It grew really well in the greenhouse, and we ended up with plenty of lovely 3-5" long eggplants that had a very mild, wonderful flavour. So this year, I thought I'd try them from seed. Another variety that I got "just 'cause" was Listada de Gandia, as they're open pollinated and I could save the seeds for next year (if we like them). I found this variety through the Seeds of Diversity site. Descriptions and images as indicated.

Variety	Image	Description
Dusky		"Big, deep-purple, 20cm (8-9") oval fruits mature early on 60cm (24-30") disease-resistant bushes. Dusky will yield even in a poor summer and heavily in a hot summer." - West Coast Seeds
Listada de Gandia		"An old Italian heirloom that is decorative as well as tasty. The bushy plants produce beautiful 6-8” purple eggplants with many white stripes. Mild white flesh without bitterness. This variety is beautiful on the patio as well as the garden. Start early indoors. (85-90 days maturity)" - Heritage Harvest Seeds

Peppers

Back to Two Wings Farms again for our seeds (and the descriptions & photos). We've enjoyed growing jalapeño peppers, although not hot according to our Mexican friends, certainly hot enough for us. This year we thought we'd try a sweet one, too.

Variety	Image	Description
Jalapeño		"Traditional flavourful hot chiles for fresh use. I still love to add this one to fresh salsa for that great clean crisp spicy flavour. Lots of folks like to pickle these too, or dry and smoke them to make Chipotle a real treat."
Red Ruffle		"Red Ruffle also was a heroic producer out in the field with no protection. We were amazed by how strong and productive it was. Beautiful dark red pleated heirloom. Wonderful, complex, sweet flavour. A sweet paprika type with thick walls. My very favourite pepper. Absolutely delicious!"

Physalis

If you've never had a tomatillo or a ground cherry/cape gooseberry, you're definitely missing out. Tomatillos are spectacular producers in our climate, and do not need to be put under any cover. They are a magnificent staple for salsas (fresh and canned), and I use them in any recipe that calls for green tomatoes (check out some of these recipes for ideas). Tomatillos can be eaten green or fully ripe, and have very different flavours depending on the ripeness. This year, along with our staple greens, we figured we'd try a new purple variety, because it intrigued me.


The ground cherries, while they don't have to go under cover, definitely produce better in the warmer climate of the greenhouse. They're a sweet fruit with a tang, and are beautiful to eat just as is; however, I do know people use them in preserves, or as pie filling. I couldn't hold off eating them long enough to turn them into anything other than fresh-into-the-mouth-poppers! Both of these fruit have a great shelf life, especially if their papery husks are intact and not dirty.

I originally got our cape gooseberry seeds from Stellar Seeds, but have since been saving our own for a few years. I don't remember now where the original green tomatillos came from, but they've been starting themselves in our garden and I've been saving seeds from year to year. Descriptions and images as indicated.

Variety	Image	Description
Toma Verde Tomatillo		"An earlier maturing green tomatillo that is indispensable for Mexican cooking. The large green fruit have good quality flesh and excellent keeping qualities. Highly recommended. Start indoors 4-5 weeks before transplanting out. (65 days from transplant)" - Heritage Harvest Seeds
Purple Tomatillo		"A rare tomatillo that turns purple when ripe. The purple types are sweeter than green tomatillos. The small tomato like fruit are enclosed in a papery husk that is easy to remove prior to cooking. The purple fruit store very well after harvest. Used in traditional Mexican salsas. Delicious. Start indoors 4-5 weeks before transplanting out. (70 days from transplant) EXTREMELY RARE." - Heritage Harvest Seeds
Ground Cherry		"These upright, branching plants grow 80cm tall and 50cm around. Hanging from the branches are small husked fruits with an incredibly sweet yet tangy flavour that is much sought after in food circles. Fruits grow 2-3cm in diameter and are ready when husks have dried down and fruits turn bright orange in colour. (~3000 seeds). Certified Organic." - Stellar Seeds

Now we just have to look after everyone 'til harvest time, and "bumble" the flowers (hand pollinate) so we actually get something!!

Greenhouse Update - Raised Beds

Last year we constructed the greenhouse, then earlier this spring Dave put in some more windows, and then last month, Dave changed the planting arrangements inside by building some wonderful raised beds to replace the half wine-barrels that we used last year:


We bought these nifty metal connectors from Lee Valley for converting concrete paving stones into the sides for raised beds. All that was needed further was to purchase the paving stones and some pressure-treated lumber from the local building supplies store. And some sand. And then lots of labour.

Dave spread some landscape fabric on top of the gravel foundation of our greenhouse, then laid some sand to level the areas where the raised beds were going to be built. On top of this went the footing for the raised beds (which are the connectors attached to the lumber). Then the pavers go upright between the brackets on top of the lumber footings.

Aligning the pavers between brackets

Tightening the brackets

Next wall of pavers

Construction complete

The raised beds are 2' deep, 2' wide, and I can't remember how long altogether, but we'll fit an awful lot of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and ground cherries in there this year!

Greenhouse Modifications

While the greenhouse worked beautifully last summer, and its design was always intended to extend the season on either side of summer (which it did at least this past fall, and we think it will do really well later this spring), the light levels inside were not ideal in the middle of summer. So Dave spent a week or so recently adding some windows, some of which had always been in the plans, but the rest we'd not had the materials for originally.


The door was reclaimed, having been stored in our barn, and the opening windows were reclaimed from a house that we got from a used building supplier. This is the north face, where no light (other than ambient) comes in.

This is the west face, with three windows we'd acquired from our cousins when they replaced their windows this summer, plus a shower door (and another one of the reclaimed windows) newly installed. The apex is now enclosed with plexiglas. This face gets a lot of heat and sun in the afternoon.

This is the east face. Again, another shower door, and another window from our cousin. There is some sun in the morning over the trees and around the hazelnut in the summer, but not enough to warrant putting a lot more windows in this end. The holes at the top will be vents.

Dave also built hinged wooden vents at the base of the south wall (you can just make them out in the lower left-hand corner of the above photo), that we'll have open in the summer to let air & pollinators (hopefully!) in.

Now we're reconsidering our options for the planters inside. As you can see from last year, we used oak half-wine barrels:

They worked very well; however, there is a lot of "wasted" space in there. We might build some raised beds instead. Last year, there just wasn't time, budget, or energy; this year, we'll see!

The Greenhouse Built by Dave

We decided that we didn't want to mess around with little plastic sheds over our tomatoes this year, so we took a plunge into the savings, plus hauled a load of donated materials from Uncle Steve, and built our greenhouse this year. This is no ordinary glass house type greenhouse; we wanted to be able to insulate it at least somewhat during the winter, and we want the structure to be a season extender, more than the "perfect" mid-summer growing unit. So it's positioned a little differently than a summer-only glass house would be, and it's not all window (cheaper that way).

Dave laid out a foundation of gravel, then built a frame for the walls to be attached to, sitting on the gravel.


He built the walls, we helped him hoist them up & held them in place while he secured them.



He built the trusses, we helped him hoist them up & held them in place while he secured them.


He did everything else, just about by himself; we watched while he did the work. Especially the tall stuff on ladders.


(That wire across the front of the greenhouse is deer proofing; the little so-and-sos were reaching into the greenhouse and nibbling my eggplant and tomato leaves. Oh, yeah - Dave, helped by Mom & I, built a ruddy great deer defense around what will be our orchard and field crops, which the greenhouse falls within).

Mom grew & maintained, and "bumbled" flowers on the plants that got stuck into the tubs that he filled with horse manure labouriously hauled from the local riding stable.


Then I preserved the results.


Nice results.

Yay, Dave!! He's our hero. And we shall be toasting his efforts all winter long as we crack open those jars filled with all the lovely goodies from the greenhouse that Dave built.

v. to "bumble" - pretend you're a bumble bee, buzzing sounds included if you're Dave, and gently shake the flowers of Solanaceae plants to improve fertilization and fruit setting.