Urban Acres

Mesclun

2009-07-22T11:58:00.003-05:00

I just love being able to reach into the window box directly outside the back door and get some fresh salad greens and herbs. The mesclun pictured growing in the window box is Burpee's Fordhook Collection. It is a cutting mix of 'Red Salad Bowl', 'Black Seeded Simpson' and 'Lollo Rossa' lettuces, 'Early Treviso' radicchio, endive, arugula and mizuna, an Asian mustard. This cutting mix was planted in June and I've been harvesting, (cutting) small amounts for garnishes and fruit salad additions. I keep sowing the seeds throughout the season to have a continual harvest. There are some marigolds growing in there too. I directly sow those seeds, no need to cover with soil. They germinate in light. The petals are edible and the orange hue adds a great contrasting color to the leafy salad. The marigolds will be blooming soon. I'll follow-up with a picture.

Blossom End Rot

2009-07-08T19:04:00.004-05:00

Remember when we had all that rain 2-3 weeks ago? Well the heirloom paste tomatoes, 'Sausage' received a case of blossom end rot. This is caused when there isn't enough calcium being taken up followed by irregular watering. The containers I have the tomatoes in are self-watering so there is water available when the plants need it. The monsoon we had is what created the irregular water pattern. This seems to affect the plum tomatoes and heirlooms more than the others. Mulching and kelp sprays can help to prevent this disorder.

Radishes

2009-07-08T15:16:00.006-05:00

These are the final harvest of the late spring radishes. 'English Breakfast' is long with white bottoms and 'Sparkler' is the red, round one with white tips. Both mature in 25 days and are slightly "hot" in taste and very crunchy in texture. I love them at breakfast together with feta cheese and parsley next to scrambled eggs. Yum. Since my gardening space is limited to containers on the rooftop, I grew the radishes in the same container along with two tomato plants. There was enough room to sow the radish seeds between the tomatoes, (at opposite ends of the long container) and have a harvestable crop before the tomato plants grew too big. I don't grow rads in the summer, they like cool weather. I'll grow them again in late August in the same container. All I'll have to do is remove some bottom branches off the tomato plants, (they won't need them then anyway) and sow the radish seeds. That's interplanting at its finest.

"Sequoia" Bush Romano Beans

2009-06-16T15:12:00.004-05:00

Well here we have it! The first flower to bloom on the bush beans. We've had so many dark and wet days these babies should have bloomed several days ago. "Sequoia" is a purple, stringless Romano-type, (Italian flat bean) that is to be eaten whole - like a string bean. The purple color will stay if they are eaten raw. Cooking will turn 'em green. What fun is that? I enjoy colorful food. Add raw "Sequoia" beans to salads, eat them with dips or chop them up in a tuna salad served in a red tomato! What fabulous colors! Bush beans mature much faster than pole beans, 53 days as opposed to 65-70 days... and most of the beans show up all at once.

Leafhoppers on my beans!

2009-06-09T14:24:00.005-05:00

My beans have leafhoppers! Here's the scoop: nymphs and adults suck juices from stems and the underside of leaves leaving a mottled appearance on the topside of leaves. Leafhoppers are either green or brown, some have color bands on their wings. These creatures are small and numerous. They have big, strong hind legs and jump like crazy when disturbed. They excrete honeydew as they are feeding, just like aphids do. Their toxic saliva causes leaves to distort with crinkled, warty or rolled edges. Some leafhoppers can spread viruses from plant to plant. Insecticidal soap will work on nymphs, neem or pyrethrins will control adults. It looks like my bean leaves have nymphs hanging-out underneath. I'm reaching for the insecticidal soap right now!

Farmers Market at Daley Center

2009-06-04T15:50:00.010-05:00

At today's market there was plenty of sunshine and lots of plants. Vendors are still selling herbs galore, hanging baskets of petunias and tomato plants. Herbs are ranging in price from $2 to $3 and tomato plants @ $5. Sweet cherries were being boxed up at $4 a pint. It seems early for sweet cherries. I say that every year. But this year it really does seem early. There still is time to buy strawberries, spring onions, rhubarb and asparagus.

Pictured are my bean plants basking in the sun on my roof deck. They are in a large clay pot measuring 21" across and 12" deep. The Sequoia, (purple) bush beans and Bush Blue Lake were direct sown on April 28. Flower buds are present & I am impatiently expecting them to bloom in the next few days if we have sun and warmth. Fresh veggies can't be beat!

What's up with the weather?

2009-06-02T19:39:00.002-05:00

We've had enough rain. That's always a good thing. How about some warm, sunny weather?! It was threatening to drop below 50 last night so I brought the basil in. It has been so darn cold that nothing seems to be growing. The bush beans are just hanging out, the tomato plants look blue, the peppers aren't even putting out flowers and the swiss chard hasn't grown in over a week. The roof, (my major growing area) is exposed to plenty of sun...if it would just come out! I'm trying some new planters this year, (Earth Boxes) for my veggies and can't wait to see things take off.

Wild Ginger

2009-05-18T15:57:00.002-05:00

also know as Canadian Snakeroot, Asarum canadense. This herb's culinary use is as a substitute for ginger, Zingiber officinale. The creeping rhizome is the part of the plant that is used. The rhizomes are very delicate and slow growing. They do have a wonderful landscape use in shady areas as a ground cover or in a wildflower garden. Their heart-shaped leaves hug the ground and those tiny, white flowers with magenta hoods are beautiful in mid-spring, see photo at right. Grow them near your vegetable garden because of their edible quality. The Spanish name for this plant is asaro or sometimes serpentaria. Add it to your collection, you'll be glad you did.

Spring has Sprung!

2009-05-12T12:03:00.001-05:00

Well...what was sown in the spring has now sprung. Or should I say is now picked. As of last week the Chicago Farmers Market season is off and running. This past Wednesday, May 6 was the first day for the Lincoln Park Farmers Market, (across from the Farm in the Zoo) and then again on Saturday, May 9. The weather was better on Wednesday than Saturday but who cares about the weather when all that wonderful cooking permeates the air. I wanted one of everything: crepes, pastries and cheese. There were plenty of vegetable and herb plants available for sale, just waiting for you to take home and transplant. I picked-up a Sun Gold and a Green Zebra tomato. The majority of fresh, seasonal produce was asparagus, rhubarb and salad greens. This market is open every Wednesday and Saturday from 7 to 1 p.m. through October.

More seeds have sprouted....

2009-05-05T20:38:00.000-05:00

The portulaca, aka Moss Rose that I started at the end of April was set outside to harden-off this weekend since we began to have nice weather. It's a little too early to keep them out permanently - so I bring the flat in at night. That will go on for a couple of weeks just to make sure these little plants get a strong start for the season. Last Tuesday, April 28 the bush beans were directly sown in a large container in the rooftop garden. The mesclun, spinach, dill, parsley plus onion and garlic chives were also directly sown outdoors into window boxes. They've sprouted already. I'm just waitin' on the beans. 7 to 14 days is about the time it takes for them to sprout. I have a feeling they'll sprout in a couple more days.

Seed Starting Season 2009

2009-04-15T15:32:00.000-05:00

Well here we go again. Another season of seed starting indoors. On March 28 and 29 I started some tomatoes: Lycopersicon "Yellow Pear" and an Italian favorite of mine, "San Marzano". Then a large tray of 2 varieties of chard: Beta vulgaris var. cicla "Bright Lights" that's the one with the different colored stems and red stemed "Rhubarb". I also started a small tray of Portulaca "Magic Carpet". It is not an edible yet it is very colorful and drought tolerent. It will look great on the roof top deck. The picture is of my seedlings on a baker's shelf that has 2 sets of florecent lights to give the seedlings all the "sun" they need.

Asparagus Season Is Over

2008-06-25T19:48:00.000-05:00

Well it has happened again. Asparagus season has come and is (almost) gone. By the end of June, which is Monday, we won't be finding asparagus at the farmers markets nor will we be able to harvest it from our gardens. Now is the time to let it keep growing and nourish itself for next year. If the harvest were to continue, the plant would be so stressed-out there wouldn't be any stems for next year. I love eating asparagus raw - straight from the garden. You've never had anything so fresh. It is actually soft, (al dente) and sweet. The five to six week season isn't long enough for me. I feel like a Cub fan when my favorite fruits and vegetables are no longer producing. You know....things are going along so well and then there is nothing. Wait until next year!

Green Zebra

2008-06-24T13:06:00.001-05:00

The lovely GREEN ZEBRA, Lycopersicon esculentum, is a indeterminate, 75 day bi-colored tomato. The flavor is kind of tangy. It has a REAL tomato flavor. (A Chicago chef liked it so much he named his vegetarian restaurant after it.) With its light and dark zebra stripes it is a real show stopper. I like to slice it and serve it raw with thin slices of red onion and Purple Ruffles basil with a drizzle of olive oil and a dash of salt. You'll be able to tell when Green Zebra is ripe; the shoulders have a yellowish-gold hue to them. When the color is more gold the tomato is over ripe. My husband says this is a "guys tomato" because it has a cool name. The photo is by J-Engine.

Rooftop Tomatoes

2008-06-23T21:07:00.000-05:00

This year I'm growing Green Zebra, Rutgers, Sun Gold, Sweet 100 and Yellow Pear tomatoes. The flavors of these fruits range from a sharp, acidy-green to a familiar soup-tasting,(Cambell's)tomato and just plain sweetness. Green Zebra and Rutgers are salad size tomatoes and the other three are cherry size. The Sweet 100's have just gotten some fruit on them. The first of the season. We had quite a bit of rain about 10 days ago and none of the flowers had gotten pollinated. So far we've had a cold spring, a wet May, cool June with an occasional hot day and a good amount of rain. Where's summer?

Chicago Farmers Markets

2008-05-21T16:25:00.000-05:00

At last, the Farmers Markets in Chicago have opened! When I visited the Lincoln Park market at Armitage and Orchard I was so happy! Asparagus, radishes and greens are about the only vegetables available at this time of year. Rhubarb will be ready to pick next week, (it has been cool and wet this May) the growing season is about 2 weeks behind. There were plenty of plants, fresh herbs and mushrooms to choose from. Just think, it will only get better from here. Soon there will be the bounty of summer available to us. The picture on the left is an apricot tree in bloom during April. Those fruits will be available for harvest during early summer. I can't wait!