What did I plant? We had some left over seeds from last year that we are trying again — Turkish orange eggplant and an orange bell pepper. New seeds, an early jalapeno, Matts wild Cherry (I have no idea who Matt is but that’s what they are called!), Heinz Classic Processor tomato (yup, as in ketchup! It’s an heirloom variety and good for ketchup and sauces) and a tomato called Sub Arctic Plenty (a cool summer short season variety). When you order seeds from companies they also send you a free packet of some random thing and this year from Baker Creek they sent a tomato — Black Vernissage. The packet says it is a medium-sized tomato loaded with flavor, which means absolutely nothing.
We’ve not tried any of these tomato varieties before but we have not been having good tomato luck these last few years with the standard sorts of heirloom tomatoes like Brandywine and Cherokee so it was time to try something new. Last summer it was hot early but then unusually cool in July and August. So, I chose for uncertainty. The cherry is an early season variety that should start producing fruit in less than 2 months after it goes outside, sometime in the middle to end of July. And it is indeterminate so the plant will keep growing and producing until frost. The Heinz is a longer season variety and likes it hot. It will take close to three months before it begins producing which puts it sometime mid to late-August. And the Arctic variety, it’s a small slicing variety that should begin producing early to mid-July. I have no idea what to expect from the free variety, my guess is early to mid-August judging by the fruit size.
Peppers and eggplant need long, hot days. The jalapeno should begin producing at the end of July. The bell pepper and eggplant won’t fruit until early to mid August. I have yet to have much success with peppers except for Hungarian wax peppers. They are spicy and I tried to convince Bookman we should go with those but he badly wants jalapeno. Fingers crossed this short season heirloom variety will work. And eggplant, the one year I actually managed a decent one I got a single fruit and a squirrel stole it! I am thinking that if the peppers and eggplants don’t do well again this year, I might try growing them in pots on the deck where it gets a lot hotter than the rest of the garden. But that’s a bridge to consider crossing for 2019.
We have some sort of critter who has made a nest in or next to the compost bin in the chicken garden. It has dug itself a snow tunnel and is using the composting dirty pine shreds from the chicken coop for its own burrow. The tunnel is much too large for mice so I am thinking it might be a rabbit. I shone a flashlight into the tunnel but couldn’t see anything. It’s a risky affair shining a light and putting one’s face up next to an animal tunnel, so I kept well back. The tunnel angles through the snow all the way down to the bottom of the bin. That’s all I could figure out.
Curiously, there are no prints of any sort around the hole or anywhere in the chicken garden. But we’ve been having a small thaw the last couple of days and prints are not going to stick around in melty snow unless they are deep and heavy. The thaw ends tonight and we are expecting several inches of fresh snow Monday into Tuesday. Perhaps after that we will see some tracks and our critter will be identified.
We aren’t worried that it is an animal that will hurt the Dashwoods. There is no evidence of it attempting to break into the run, no other holes about, nothing knocking over the sealed metal bin we keep the chicken feed in. I am hoping it is mice rather than a rabbit. Chickens will eat mice and the mice are only interested in the spilled grain from the chickens. Rabbits on the other hand, will eat my garden and they are a bit large for the Dashwoods to eat. They also could attract larger predators like hawks. While Marianne stood up to a young hawk that flew into the garden last summer, we got lucky. An adult hawk would know only too well what to do with both a rabbit and a chicken. I will be sure to let you know if we figure out what our mystery critter is!
Ooh! I wonder who the new neighbor is. I hope it’s friendly.
LikeLike
Dorothea, I suspect whoever the new neighbor is that it is at least an indifferent creature and that is fine by me!
LikeLiked by 1 person
ha ha. Absolutely!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It sounds like you’re going to have a colorful vegetable garden! Your mysterious visitor must be a smart one. A burrow in or near the compost pile surely would be warm as the compost generates heat.
LikeLike
Joan, well we shall see! There are so many ifs between now and summer that you just never know what will happen! And yes indeed, I gave kudos to the critter for choosing a most excellent spot to burrow. I suspect it is warm and comfortable in its little den!
LikeLike
How hopeful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re ahead of me on the seed-starting! I wonder if your compost resident could be a chipmunk? The few that show up in my yard make tunnels to live in- under the edge of my garden plot. (My compost pile inhabitants are five-lined skinks, I always find a few that have been enjoying the warmth under there, when I turn the pile in spring.
LikeLike
Jeane, I have never seen any chipmunks around. I’ve seen ground squirrels in the woods a few blocks away but never in my garden. Of course there is a first time for everything! We had a hive of ground nesting bees in the compost a few years ago. That made composting a challenge that year! We built a second bin so we wouldn’t wreck their nest. I’d love it if some reptiles took up residence!
LikeLike
Maybe you have a garden elf! 😉 You need one of those cameras to catch it in the act–or maybe it is hibernating, which seems a really good idea to me, personally! I am SO ready for nicer weather. It is icy and cold and grey and it is really wearing on me. Yay for all your new seeds and I can’t wait until you share photos of all the new sprouts!
LikeLike
Now that is a really mystery what kind of critter is in that hole. Hope you find out and hopefully no harm to the Dashwoods of course!
LikeLike
I am still conditioning my mind to the seed’s names – Matt??!!! Heinz Classic Processor Tomato?? Too funny! I hope the Dashwoods do not fall into the purview of any adult hawks, despite Marianne’s bravado!
LikeLike
Oh, if only I could send Bookman some jalapenos! Every year we’ve had them we have more than we can use. One benefit if the TN climate, I guess. We haven’t tried tomatoes in a few years but I’m gonna give some cherry tomatoes a try this year. My son wants to try corn, so I guess we’ll try corn! 🙂 I like just putting some things in the ground and seeing what happens.I’m really looking forward to gardening. It’s gotten warm at the moment down here and it really makes me want to get out there!
LikeLike