Favorite Plants of 2007

The garden produce everybody enjoyed the most:

• Tomatoes, of course.

• Kale. Plant LOTS more kale next year.

• Nasturtiums. Plant LOTS more nasturtiums next year. Wes alone could eat the production of three nasturtium vines. But either make two salads (one with and one without) or put flowers in a bowl on the side for those who aren't freaked by eating them.

• Borage. No worries about getting more - I had volunteers coming up all year!

• All the flowers. Pedestrians like the spot of brightness among the gray city streets, but residents like cut flowers indoors too. Plant more, so there's enough for garden display and indoor display AND eating.

• I planted a variety of cucumbers this year. The most productive were the Asian types (the long, thin ones), and the Su Long was the healthiest. Nobody was put off by the shape, they were all cut up in salads anyway. So next year I'll just plant the Su Long, and maybe lemon cucumbers just because I like the cute little things.

Top 6 Things I Did Right in 2007

1. Compost tea really does seem to increase yield (at least in tomatoes) and cut down on disease. I did have black spot on the green peppers, some damp rot in a couple of lettuces and a pansy (planted too close together) and the downy mildew that swept through the vines (planted too close together). This seems light compared to the myriad of awful things the gardening books warned me could happen.
   


2. I vibrated the tomato blossoms with a battery-powered electric toothbrush, and a huge number of tomatoes set.
   


3. Radishes work well as a "trap" crop. I found this out by accident. The first crop of radishes got pretty heavily chomped - but almost nothing else did.
   


4. Marigolds and borage brighten up the day for everyone; are great in salads; and do seem to be good companions for other plants. They certainly didn't seem to hurt anything.
   


5. Cucumbers and squash love bone meal and kelp. Sea Magic and compost tea make a great foliar feed.
   


6. A layer of worm castings really speeds up seed germination! (I learned this by accident.) Worm castings also make a very effective treatment for black spot. (I learned this in desperation.)