Hausenfeffer with a side of burgoo.

I harvested my first summer herbs and vegetables this evening. Using a Black Prince heirloom tomato, some freshly picked basil, some fresh mozzarella and some lovely balsamic vinegar, I composed a caprese salad:



I then cooked some way-too-expensive coho salmon and made salmon with cucumber salad and a basil sauce, recipe taken from cookinglight.com



It's definitely satisfying not to have paid $3.00 for a little packet of basil. I sort of half-assed my veggies this year and didn't apply proper fertilizer, but it was still a fresh tomato from the garden. The tomato was on the smallish side, but the flavor wasn't.

David Hammond wrote:Coming home this afternoon, my daughter witnessed two squirrels fussing over this one; she said, when she spotted them, one of them dropped to the fence, flat, as though trying to hide, knowing it was doing something very wrong.

I have found a fix for this situation. Squirrels will grab my tomatoes, no doubt about it, so what I've taken to doing is using tomatoes that have already fallen to the ground as bait: I put the fallen fruit on the fence, and the squirrels eat it there! They've put the food up there themselves (I think they like eating where predators and competitors -- like cats, etc. -- are less likely to go). I am feeding the varmints, and they seem to like it. Their appetites are (somewhat) satisfied, and they are less likely (by my reasoning) to attack fruit on the vine. So far, it seems to be working. I harvest tomatoes off the ground; place on fence; squirrels eat and lay off my garden; we're all happy, and peace reigns in the garden. I'm hoping that a little imagination and "thinking like the enemy" will make further acts of aggression unnecessary. It has been known to happen.

David "Make Dinner, Not War" Hammond

In past years, I've had many similar problems with conspiring squirrel cartels sabotaging my tomato harvest (I think they got especially angry with me when I coated the wild birdseed support with Ben-Gay and then dusted it with cayenne pepper, but that's another story).

I don't know where I read the tip, but this year I planted marigolds all around the tomatoes. No more squirrel attacks (although my next door neighbor has seen unusually frequent attacks this year). But I don't doubt they're secretly plotting an Al-Queda style attack on something else in my back yard soon.

nr706 wrote:I don't know where I read the tip, but this year I planted marigolds all around the tomatoes. No more squirrel attacks (although my next door neighbor has seen unusually frequent attacks this year).

I did plant marigolds, but some died, and even with the relatively large quantity I put in, it is not difficult to find an opening and penetrate the perimeter.

Cayenne in Ben Gay? You are diabolical.

Hammond

Mhays wrote:Hausenfeffer with a side of burgoo.

Tried it, with some disappointing results - needed the bunny from my garden, not the fattened-up condo-living wabbit I got at GrandMart. Not nearly as cathartic as I hoped for...



At any rate, got a call from the park district that it was time to close my plot up, so brought home the last of the harvest: Celery



And a variety of carrots, including one lone Purple Dragon (apparently Herr Bunny has gourmet tastes)

As for the squirrel problem:

I am told that squirrels are highly territorial. So if the resident squirrels are gone it can take a few seasons before some new ones move in.

Buy or borrow a .22 with a scope. Use some relatively low power ammo. Fire up at the squirrels. A .22 bullet falling back to earth at terminal velocity can't hurt humans.

This is obviously illegal, maybe even a felony. However it gets the job done.

AngrySarah wrote:As for the squirrel problem:

I am told that squirrels are highly territorial. So if the resident squirrels are gone it can take a few seasons before some new ones move in.

Buy or borrow a .22 with a scope. Use some relatively low power ammo. Fire up at the squirrels. A .22 bullet falling back to earth at terminal velocity can't hurt humans.

This is obviously illegal, maybe even a felony. However it gets the job done.

AngrySarah, I'm sure you're kidding, so that's the way we're going to interpret this statement. We're all grownups here, so our sense is no one will mistake your facetious intent, as I'm sure no one would like to be hit with a falling bullet, even if discharged from a lil ole 22.

Much to my personal regret, it is illegal to kill squirrels in the city of Chicago. You have to have them trapped and released somewhere else. I think a similar process is at work in much of Illinois governmental hiring.

Or you could slay them with that wit...

Looks like I'll be able to get back in the garden today and clear out some of the weeds and half-grown veg that crept in late fall. I figured I'd wait 'till late March, but why not get a jump on it, with unnatural temps hitting 60 and beyond?

David "Mid winter spring is its own season/Sempeternal, though sodden towards sun down" Hammond

David,

If you soil is very wet, then please steer clear of your garden. You will compact the soil, which affects aeration and a pain to reverse later on.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:David,

If you soil is very wet, then please steer clear of your garden. You will compact the soil, which affects aeration and a pain to reverse later on.

Regards,

I'm going to focus on the square foot guard, which will require no treading upon ground.

I, too, have had garden fever the past week. So much so that I spent 100$ on the Burpee.com website, picking out the tomatoes, green beans, beets, carrots and various other things that I plan to grow this year. For the first time in city living we're able to plant things in the ground (rather than pots).

I'm going to follow "Square Foot Gardening" - anyone else used this method? Basically you grow each crop in a 1x1 foot and replant after each harvest, and then you don't get 100 beets all at once. Larger plants, like tomatoes, get placed along a fence and obviously don't get replanted.

I know we have a long way to go to get through the winter, so for now I am daydreaming a lot!

messycook wrote:I'm going to follow "Square Foot Gardening" - anyone else used this method? Basically you grow each crop in a 1x1 foot and replant after each harvest, and then you don't get 100 beets all at once. Larger plants, like tomatoes, get placed along a fence and obviously don't get replanted.

I had bad luck with beets and carrots in the Square Foot Garden, but excellent lettuce. YMMV, but I believe plants with smaller root systems do better.

Before the weather turned cold again, I managed to harvest some thyme that hadn't frozen and new sorrel leaves brought out by the warm weather and rain. The latter added some zing to my leftover lentil and spinach soup.

I'm daydreaming about My Garden, 2008, and I'm determined this year to use a better grade of tomato cage. Those lightweight aluminum frames are just not strong enough for tomatoes. Last year, cages were completely dominated by the hearty plants: torn up, twisted, knocked over.

For 2008, I'm planning to make my own using galvanized fencing supported by a rebar that's sunk in the ground to support both plant (via twisties) and cage.

David Hammond wrote:I'm daydreaming about My Garden, 2008, and I'm determined this year to use a better grade of tomato cage. Those lightweight aluminum frames are just not strong enough for tomatoes. Last year, cages were completely dominated by the hearty plants: torn up, twisted, knocked over.

Me too -- the big storms of August in particular were devastating.

I'm tempted to shell out for the ones I've seen at Pesche's -- about $8 each, but the rings and rods are at least as thick as a pencil coated with green plastic.

messycook wrote:

I'm going to follow "Square Foot Gardening" - anyone else used this method? Basically you grow each crop in a 1x1 foot and replant after each harvest, and then you don't get 100 beets all at once. Larger plants, like tomatoes, get placed along a fence and obviously don't get replanted.

well, I'm an idiot and forgot about the beginning of this original post and basically asked the question that already was addressed a long time ago. Sorry about that! However, I have started my first two square feet: arugula, bibb lettuce, and mesclun mix....the tiny leaves are starting to poke through! Hopefully I'll have pictures posted in a few weeks, and will put bean seeds in next week.

messycook wrote:

messycook wrote:

I'm going to follow "Square Foot Gardening" - anyone else used this method? Basically you grow each crop in a 1x1 foot and replant after each harvest, and then you don't get 100 beets all at once. Larger plants, like tomatoes, get placed along a fence and obviously don't get replanted.

well, I'm an idiot and forgot about the beginning of this original post and basically asked the question that already was addressed a long time ago. Sorry about that! However, I have started my first two square feet: arugula, bibb lettuce, and mesclun mix....the tiny leaves are starting to poke through! Hopefully I'll have pictures posted in a few weeks, and will put bean seeds in next week.

This is pretty early to plant delicate lettuces. There is still chance of frost until at least May 15th.

Spinach, onion sets and peas are cool weather crops that can be reliably planted now.

Regards,

Lettuce takes cold very well. I normally do the first planting in late March providing the soil is workable, which it certainly wasn't this year. I will do my second planting of somewhat heat tolerant varieties as soon as the soil dries out enough again. I have never had a problem with frost damage in the 30 plus years I have been growing lettuce in Lincoln Square even though there have been plenty of frosts.

The end of April is about as late as possible for good results for onion sets, spinach and peas. Long-day onions from sets start producing bulbs based on changing day length and will not have sufficient root and leaf development for good-sized onions if not planted in March or April. Spinach and peas hate our summer heat. Spinach planted in late April or May tends to bolt very quickly while spinach planted in late March will produce for weeks if you harvest only the larger leaves. Peas usually get fried by our summer heat even if powdery mildew, which loves heat and humidity, does not get them first.

So Dave...where is the garden for 2008?

razbry wrote:So Dave...where is the garden for 2008?

Good question!

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=19047

Will post an update soon; thanks for asking.

Fiddleheads are up early this year.