by Farmerto

Wild weather – from super hot and humid and back again

Everything is growing gang busters, just hoping things ripen before the squirrels find out. Tomatoes are gorgeous and the hazelnuts have never been fuller.

Peas and beans are just starting to blossom and cucumbers are now about two feet tall. Nipped the first blossoms off one of the cukes cause they were to close to the soil.

The Brussel sprouts and broccoli look pretty good for being so tightly planted. Started taking the heads off the outer plants I could easily access to see what happens.

Picked six green peppers over two days! Not a lot of recipes seem to feature green peppers.

Almost as big as baseball
by Farmerto

Ready when you are: jack frost

The Last frost should be any day (night) now and I can’t wait. Literally had to cut the top six inches off the tomatoes I started. Yes, I did start them to soon.

Loblaws garden centre was open today and they had artichokes, so I grabbed three for $10. I let them go to blossom and they look like giant thistles. Simply gorg.

Richter’s mail order has arrived. Plant plugs are so small, but once potted on, they’ll be solid plants by mid summer. The Mayapples didn’t survived being in the mail, but the bay laurel and sweet grass did.

Even the peppers are ready to bloom – to soon!
by Farmerto

Passed the soil test

SGS soil test report

Thanks to the great team at SGS and Jack Legg for a quick and thorough soil report for my “orchard.” A term I use somewhat ironically for my six columnar apple trees.

Overall, if I got it right. Ph is good and typical of Toronto soil. Phosphorus is a bit high. That is consistent with a previous soil test, cause unknown.

Potassium is a bit low at 89 and would be better near 100. So I’ve been looking for 0-0-22 soil amendment aka Langbeinite. It’s whats left from whatever lived in a 250 million-year-old inland sea in what is called New Mexico and in available in convenient 5lbs bags at Green Gardeners Supplies. Apples apparently like potassium with some magnesium and a touch of sulphur.

Organic material was very good as were all the micronutrients. Of course Jack left me know that apples really don’t take much nutrients out of the soil, they’re mostly water.