Fresh Carrots

Great success with carrots this year. I planted Chatenay Red Core and Parisienne. My backyard soil is heavy clay, so I mixed compost and cow manure about 8 inches down. The carrots began to sprout within 10 days, but I also noticed that some sprouted much later. Both type seem to grow very slow and I pulled the first few plants when they were very small. Today I pulled about 10 of each variety. The Red Core have reached about 6 inches long while the Parisienne are short and fat. Both are very crisp with a great fresh carrot scent and sweet taste.

De Bourbonne Cucumber

Today I harvested about 5 lbs. of this old French Heirloom pickling cucumber. This variety is new to me this year. Just finished pickling one quart jar that will sit in the refrigerator for 3 weeks before I try them out. I used the Ball Kosher Dill Pickle Mix. It came in a small packet, good for one small batch. Since I am keeping these in the refrigerator for short term storage, no need to boil the jars in a water bath.

I picked various sizes of cucumbers today. The largest were cut into spears, and I kept those under 3 inches long whole. When eaten fresh, this variety is very mild in taste. The dark green, heavily ribbed skin is fairly thick on the larger fruit. The vines are staying very compact and are not taking up much room. Next time I plant this variety I would install a trellis to train them to grow vertically. And if the pickles turn out, I would plant more vines as well.

Update on 1-10-2012

Just opened up the last jar of pickles made from these cucumbers. They have stayed crisp and taste amazing. Will be planting many more of these this summer.

Heirloom Tomato Plants in my 2011 Backyard Garden

This year I decided exclusively plant  Heirloom vegetables in my bakcyard garden.. With so many varieties to choose from, it can be a bit overwhelming. So I decided to oder 9 varieties of Heirloom Tomatoes. I wanted different sizes and colors in my garden. I found Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds to have the best selection online. They put out a beautiful color catalogue and have a very nice website. 

Baker Creek website


The seeds were started indoors on January 31. All types sprouted well and were transplanted into 1 gallon growers pots before going into the garden. The last frost date in my region is February 23. The seedlings were all potted up and kept in a small green house until the end of March. 


I am currently growing the following tomato plants:


Amana Orange
Big Month
Copia
Green Doctors
Hssia His Hung Shih
Isis Candy
Red Fig
San Marzano
Zapotec Pleated