A Visit with Grandma Thelma

Last week I had a chat with my Grandma Thelma about gardening. When I was growing up, both of my grandmas grew large gardens,  raised berries, and had several fruit trees. I used to love helping them in their gardens. Grandma Lydia has passed away and doesn't garden here anymore. And due to a series of debilitating strokes, Grandma Thelma won't be planting anything this year either. She feels really sad about it and so do I.

Each spring Grandma Thelma and I would talk about the things we were going to plant that year. I looked forward to it. Sometimes we would just visit at her house, and sometimes she would call me (always a  treat because she rarely called). Grandma always had plans to start several things inside on her big window sills, and I'd have a list of things I was going to grow in my living room. We'd talk about what we were going to can and which varieties we liked best, if it was the "on" year for the apples, and if the frost was going to take the apricots. But this year, her window sills will be empty. And most likely her garden plot too.

After a bit of a good cry, we talked about what I'm planning to grow. I asked her about her melons (because mine never get ripe and hers do), unsure if she would be able to recall the information she'd gleaned from years and years of gardens past. She remembered. Grandma said she always grew an old heirloom variety called Hales Best, but not Hales Best Jumbo. She didn't start them inside because they don't transplant well, but waited until it is warm enough outside to plant. Sometimes a hot cap helped. Grandma said that the seeds saved well, so you only had to buy them once.

So this year, in honor of my Grandma Thelma, I'm going to grow some Hales Best melons.

2010 Garden Successes and Failures - Part 1

Time for the annual garden review!

Here are my thoughts concerning the seeds/plants that I ordered last year: 

MAJOR BROCCOLI (F1 hybrid 43 days)- I direct seeded it in the garden and that worked fine.This variety turned out o.k. but was not as productive as broccoli I've grown in other years.  I liked growing the mixed variety pack better because they matured at different times throughout the season instead of all at once. 

SAMBUSCUS CANADENSIS or Elderberry- My little plants were both still alive when the snow buried them...Hopefully they will not be eaten by mice during the winter.

AMARILLO CARROT (70 days) - Delicious!

COSMIC PURPLE (65 days) - Tasty as always and very pretty.

ATOMIC RED (76 days) - Beautiful.

RAINBOW CARROT - So good!

The only note to self for carrots: Don't plant them next to the peas...our hungry boys and their hungry friends trampled quite a few while picking themselves peas to eat. The carrots were so small that they probably didn't even notice them.

JERSEY SUPREME ASPARAGUS - Plants did well last year, we will see how many make it through the winter.

GONZALES MINI CABBAGE (F1 hybrid 55 days) -Did fine despite a lot of cabbage worms.  I need to buy some Bt to spray them with this year.

FALSTAFF BRUSSELS SPROUTS (95 days) - Experiment #1.Chalk one up to experience...the plants never got taller than 5 inches and didn't make any sprouts. I think I will not bother repeating that one. I can buy a few to eat once in a while and be perfectly satisfied.

HYBRID RED MARS ONION PLANTS - Gorgeous onions. Our boys also stepped on these on their way to the peas, so they didn't get as large as they would have if their tops hadn't been broken over in June! Good flavor.

HYBRID CANDY PLANTS - Awesome as always. They were huge this year.

IMPERIAL STAR ARTICHOKE (F1 Hybrid) - Experiment #2. Successful. I ate 6-7 artichokes before the cold weather prevented the rest from maturing. They were very good. So I dug up the roots and they are spending the winter in a cellar. I'll replant them this spring and see if they come back. If not, it was fun to grow them, though not really a productive use of space.

LINCOLN PEA (65 days heirloom) - These are the peas that resulted in the trampled onions and carrots. They are really sweet and very tender little peas. I'll plant them along the edges of the garden this spring and allow plenty of space for picking.

EMERITE BEAN (58 days) - Very good. I love these reliable beans!

CREAM OF THE CROP ACORN SQUASH (75 days) - I forgot that I planted a white skinned variety and was sad last fall when none of my squash looked ripe at all. Boo hoo! Then  I looked in my garden journal and saw that they were supposed to be that color. Ha ha. The joke was on me. They tasted good...although I think they needed just a few more days in the garden. I should have covered them and bought them a little more time on the vine. 

SWEETER YET CUKE (F1 hybrid 48 days) - The plants were overgrown by a vigorous tomatillo. I thought they were gone, so stopped looking for cucumbers. When I pulled out the tomatillo, there were several huge cukes tangled up in it. Oops!

Tomatillo - I didn't think it was ever going to set fruit, though it had been blooming since June. In the fall, however, I did find 10-15 fruit that were large enough to use. I think it needed more heat and we didn't get it until late in the season. I might try them again, or not.