Relay Cropping for Small Gardens

A fancy term for a simple concept, relay cropping involves growing a fast and quick-maturing crop alongside one that takes longer to mature. To maximize space, tomatoes and tomatillos -- tall plants that take a long time to mature -- are grown among salad greens that grow and mature quickly. The lettuce growing around the tomato plants keeps the weeds down and moisture in. With a week or two, the tomatoes begin to tower over the lettuce, allowing room for both. When the weather begins to warm up causing the tomatoes to take off, it's time to harvest the last remaining lettuce before it bolts and turns bitter. Picture: Sungold tomato growing among red sails lettuce.

Lettuce, Day 15 (GDD 70)

Mesclun mix, red sails and buttercrunch, enclosed by loving chicken wire.

Lettuce Planted (GDD 29)

Around these parts warm weather means shotgunning Miller High Life, moving my weight bench to the front yard, and planting frost-hardy leafy vegetables. Buttercrunch, mesclun, and red sails, one of last year's better performers were planted today.

Weekly Update: Water, Weed, Pick, Eat, Repeat (GDD 1298)

It's been seasonably warm, but not too hot. Rudbeckia, echinacea, and astilbe are nearly in full bloom. The beans and peas keep producing while the squash plant continues growing by leaps and bounds.

Like it Is . . . The Week that Was
7/16 - Pholx buds appear
7/19 - Rudbeckia blooms, pepper blooms in 52 days
7/20 - All spring-planted beets harvested. If the beets themselves were small, the leaves were quite tasty. More lettuce planted by seed.
7/21 - Sungold tomatoes begin to turn a shade of yellow 54 days after being transplanted.

Weekly Update; Sun Shines, Plants Grow, First Green Bean Harvested (GDD 1155)

Mild temperatures have given the garden a real boost this week. Remarkably, the peas keep on producing. Last week's mini-heatwave really prevented them from setting flowers and fruit. However, with the onset of relatively mild temperatures this week, the pea plant is once again flowering and setting peas, although it is starting to look a little worse for wear.

A few feet to stage right, the bean plant has reached the top of the trellis and provided the first green bean of the season. Tasted like . . . victory.

Like It Is... This Week in the Garden
7/10 - Beets sprout
7/11 - Lettuce sprouts, merit applied to lawn
7/13 - Savlia "Victoria Blue" planted
7/14 - Cleome planted, astilbe blooms
7/15 - First green bean harvested

Weekly Update; Busy Week (GDD 992)

Somewhat surprisingly, it was a busy week. The peas keep producing, the tomatoes keep growing, and my fascination with Man vs. Wild deepens. Did he really eat a sheep's eyeball?

July 2 - Front hosta in full bloom; green beans begin bloom
July 3 - Echinacea begins bloom; Garden lightly fertilized with Colorburst 15-30-15
July 4 - Alpine strawberry; oregano, sedum, and mint planted.
July 6 - First green bean emerges; oxalis blooms; first beet harvested (big letdown); more beets planted
July 7 - Romaine lettuce Paris Island Cos and Grand Rapids leaf lettuce planted
July 8 - Spirea blooms begin to fade; daylilies planted, hydrangea macrophyla endless summer planted; hosta moved

Weekly Update: Heat Arrives (GDD 866)

The peas are plentiful while the last of the lettuce was harvested.

June 26

• Rudbeckia treated with fungicide for septoria leaf spot.
• Daylillies bloom.
• First tomato appears on the Better boy.
• First sugar snap pea harvested

June 27

• All tomatoes set fruit.
• Cilantro planted.
• High temperature of 96.1

June 28

• Remaining Red Sails lettuce harvested

July 1

• Last heads of bibb lettuce harvested.
  

Boston Bibb Lettuce, Day 57

Bibb Lettuce, originally uploaded by tpl108.

Weekly Update: Dills and Pruning (GDD 705)

June 19

• Colorburst, a slow-release fertilizer, applied to perennials.

June 23

• Rhody and Forsythia radically pruned. One-third of branches cut back to ground. You could imagine how flipping sweet they look now.
  
• Last of romaine lettuce harvested and removed.

June 24

• Dill planted where the last of the romaine roamed.
  

Need Pruning Advice? With the price of pruning going through the roof, who doesn't? Here are a few links that should put you on the right track.
Virginia Tech's Guide to Sucessful Pruning
University of Tennessee's "Pruning Landscape Trees, Shrubs, and Ground Covers"

Tale of the Tape (last week's measurement)

• Rudbeckia - 12" (11-12")
  
• Phlox -16.5" (16")
• Echinacea - 19-30.5" (18-25")

• Pepper 9" (8")
• Brandywine 16.5" (13")
  
• Yellow Pear 17" (13")
• Sungold 17.5" (13")
• Better Boy 23" (23")
  

Weekly Update; Heat Builds, Lettuce Out, Squash, Basil, Marigolds In (GDD 593)

A relatively slow week on the grange. Spring flowers are giving way to the heat of the summer. Perennials are starting to set flower buds while the lawn's growth begins to flag.

6/15

• Peony and Mountain Laurel blooms all but faded.
  

6/16

• Septoria leaf spot battle wears on. Infected foliage removed and a broad spectrum fungicide containing chlorothanil applied.

6/17

• 3 heads of red sails and romaine lettuce removed after one final harvest, leaving 5 heads of Boston bibb and 2 heads each of red sails and romaine.
  
• Squash plant added to the garden where the red sails and romaine once treaded.
• Marigolds interspersed throughout the raised bed.
• Two types of basil planted in containers.
  

Tale of the Tape

• Rudbeckia - 11-12"
• Phlox - 16"
• Echinacea - 18-25"
• Sedum - 24"

• Pepper - 8"
• Sungold - 13"
• Yellow Pear - 13"
• Brandywine - 13"
• Better Boy - 23"
• Peas - 46"
  

Lettuce Harvest, Day 50

As the weather warms up, lettuce tends to become bitter. So far, only the romaine lettuce has been affected, and only just slightly.

This picture was taken before a large harvest. We've been regular ever since.

Compare what it looked like 50 days ago.

Red Sails & Romaine Lettuce, Day 39

Both types of lettuce are growing quite well and practically trouble free, enough so to allow us the first harvest of the red sails. Kind of tasted like chicken.

(l to r: harvest, romaine, red sails lettuce)

View from the Garden Bed

Weekly Update: Critters Attack Garden (71 GDD)

4/22 - Critters began digging up seeds, eating lettuce and chard.
4/28 - First tulip blooms; bibb lettuce transplanted; solitary spinach test-seedling planted; soil temp = 52
4/29 - First pea and beet sprouts emerge.

With Much Fanfare, the Vegetable Garden is Started

After weeks of abnormal cold weather, abundant sunshine and summer-like heat warmed the vegetable bed considerably in just a few days, raising the temperature t0 57 degrees at a depth of six inches. With temperatures rising, it was time to get some cooler crop vegetables in the ground.

Sown: 4' of peas, 4' of pole beans, and beets
Transplanted: romaine, red sails lettuce, "Bright Lights" swiss chard. (the UBC Botanical Garden has an amazing photo of Bright Lights.)