Garden Update 2

The ladybugs were a temporary success. For several days they voraciously ate the aphid larvae, but after a week there was only one ladybug left. Either they ate their fill and left, or they all died shortly after release. The aphid population dramatically decreased during this time, however they came back in force. Further research led me to a mix of 1 cup olive oil, 1 and 1/2 cups water and 2 teaspoons dish soap mixed in a spray bottle. I use "environmentally friendly" all-natural dish soap, so I was not hesitant to try this concoction. I mixed the ingredients and sprayed all of my plants with the entire bottle today. About an hour later I hosed the plants off to remove the residual spray and any dead aphids, if there were to be any. Upon inspection of the soil at the base of my tomato plants, I found thousands of little carcasses - what a beautiful sight!

This concoction really works! I was amazed at the convenience and efficacy of the oil/water/soap mix; I highly recommend it to anyone struggling with aphids in an organic gardening scenario. Let's hope I don't have to spray every day...

Our basil plants, which have grown to gargantuan heights, are starting to flower. Looks like the end of the season for them.

All of the pepper plants are showing fruit. The first haul, and I say that with some seriousness, looks to be over 20 bell peppers, 10 jalapenos, 2 Hungarian yellow banana peppers and 5 Anaheim peppers. The mystery hot pepper has started to flower, but we still don't have a clue as to its varietal. Keep your fingers crossed for habanero!

Our other herbs are not doing as well as we had hoped. The parsley is still relatively small, but we have used quite a bit of it. The cilantro is now dead, and we never got a chance to enjoy it. The rosemary plants are not growing out of control as they are known to do, but are still producing enough of the herb to be useful. Oregano and lavender plants are still thriving, and the oregano has been an excellent addition to our weekly meal of angel hair with white clam sauce.

Unfortunately it looks like we lost the yellow squash. This plant never really took off, and I can't tell if it was too much water or too much sun that killed it. Either way, the empty container will be home to some additional flowers this weekend.

I ate one of the tomatoes this morning, and it was absolutely delicious! Several more San Marzanos are starting to turn red, so we're hoping for a small early harvest soon. There is one Cherokee Purple heirloom tomato that has started to ripen, but I fear that the aphids have severely stunted its growth. The tomato is the size of a golf ball - our expectations were for slightly larger fruit.

More to come!

Attack of the Ladybugs!

The other week our garden became infested with aphids - there are so many that at 3 in the afternoon you can see clouds of them in the backyard! Upon inspection of the plants, we noticed the little devils had begun laying eggs all over the tomatoes. Even the peppers were not immune.

We did some research about organic pest control and found that ladybugs were the best natural predator for aphids and other flying insects. So, a week later, I received my shipment of about 1000 beautiful ladybugs. They have just been released in the garden. Let's hope they can control the destructive aphids and restore the San Marzano tomatoes to their former glory! Stay tuned!

Garden Update 1

We've got a few new additions to the Cucina di Campo Chef's Garden. Just planted Jalapeno Peppers and another pepper, either Serano or Habanero. The plant tag said Serano, my intended choice, but upon transplanting to its new container I noticed the container tag said Habanero. We are all hoping for Seranos; many of our summer salsas contain this perfectly hot pepper. Habaneros have an excellent flavor, very fruity, but are almost too hot to use in our salsas.

Also planted Dill, another favorite herb. Excellent for the salmon recipe posted earlier, and should help deter the aphids and other flying insects the Marigolds can't keep up with.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Cucina di Campo has started a Chef's Garden! With hopes of a bountiful harvest, we have begun work on our container garden to grow ingredients for recipes. Here's a list of what we planted:

San Marzano Tomatoes
Cherokee Purple Heirloom Tomatoes
Bell Peppers
Anaheim Chiles
Hungarian Yellow Sweet Banana Peppers
Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
Cilantro
Basil
Oregano
French Lavender (Provence)
Spearmint
Rosemary
Yellow Crook Neck Squash

We are still waiting for the eggplant seedlings to be ready - apparently they do very well in the Arizona heat!

The garden has been active for about 3 weeks now, and the tomatoes are starting to show fruit. We had a cold spell a few weeks ago that caused some blossom end rot on the San Marzanos, but the new fruit looks fine. Looks like we will have a bumper crop of peppers - there are 11 plants!

In an effort to diminish the effect of flying insects, we planted marigolds around the garden. Functional and beautiful!

We'll post garden updates as things grow, so keep coming back.

Ukrainian village. Beauty in a bottle

Happy new year!

Christmas Crab Boil in North Carolina

Mmmmm, Carolina blues! Old Bay and Beer.