Harvest Monday - August 22nd

Well, you win some, you loose some.  This past week was an interesting one.  On Tuesday I spent the day fighting off the Army Worms.  I thought at first they were tomato fruit worms and a neighbor called them cutworms.  Apparently they are all related. But I sent an email to the USU extension services with my bowl full of those nasty things (see below) and Taun said that they came from the alfalfa field and I was lucky that the ground was not moving.  Uhm, seriously?  If I had that many I don't think I'd ever garden again. I have faith things will be better - see, I'm starting more lettuce.

 I did have a crazy run in with the tomato hornworm.  I found a one inch tiny one first - not bad.  Then as I was shaking the only roma tomato in a cage this big fat hornworm flopped on the ground. It was at least 3/4 inch wide and 5 inches long.  Gag!  I screamed and then jumped back a few feet.  I lost half my roma tomatoes which is sad because I really wanted to try making my own tomato sauce because I purchased one of these this year.  I don't know if the plants will recover enough to give me some more.  I ripped off all the larger roma tomatoes - green or otherwise and checked for holes and if they were good, they got washed in soapy water and placed in the window as you can see here.  I have 8 roma plants and I don't think I'm going to get much after all.  

See - as my friend Keiko said, "I think I just threw up in my mouth." No, I did not touch the hornworm - I scooped it into the bowl with the lid.  Yes, I did pick off all those army worms by hand.  Thank you Atlas garden gloves. And having said that, I will never buy leather gardening gloves again.  The nitrile touch garden gloves have spoiled me.  They wash well and wick the moisture away.  I LOVE them.  They fit well.  And I don't get dirt down into the tips of the glove fingers like I did with the leather gloves. I blame the seams for that.  Atlas nitrile touch garden gloves rock!

I did have some luck on Thursday and harvested this nice bunch of tomatoes, 1 more squash, and 4 lemon cucumbers. Loving the lemon cucs.  

And go check out Daphne's Dandelions to see fun a beautiful harvests from all over the world. It's also interesting to see how far behind I am living here in the tops of the mountains.  And I have to share this photo again.  Can you blame me?

Garden critters

Click on this first one to see the first garden critter.  She's a good one.  Lady bugs are wonderful! I saw plenty of them this week.  This photo looks like I used flash but I didn't.  The clouds were moving so fast that my aperture priority had a hard time figuring things out.

And I've also seen plenty of these.  What are they? And why are they eating EVERYTHING? Seriously.  I found them munching on my jalapeno plants and I rarely see anything on those.  They are everywhere I look and that means the road, the house, at the neighbors.They love onions too.  Tomatoes, yep. Pumpkins, yes sir. Cabbage - for sure. Green beans - it's eating a stem that ended up on the back porch.  Can I repel them somehow? 

Cold weather veggies - not really

I think the cold weather veggies are my favorite to photograph. And even though it's now quite hot, they are just starting to catch up.  It's just been a weird year.  Love the purple kohlrabi.  So far I've harvested 1 columbia cabbage and two kohlrabi.  I put them in the Moo Goo Gai Pan.  Yum! They are so refreshing. 

I love having the photos to compare them to other years.  It's been super handy it figuring this whole garden thing out.

Green Beans

I love green beans but this year they are off to a slow start.  I thought I'd take a few photos however because they are pretty. I have 5 rows of Jade bush beans. This year I actually had my health in June so I thinned them to the 3 inches apart.  Much better.  The stems are so much stronger.  They are super tender and meaty.  I don't like the beans that end up being almost hallow.  You have to get to the bulk seed shop early to get these because they go fast. 

I also found out when planting these that you have to be careful when putting the soil on top of the seeds.  Make sure the soil isn't wet and clumpy.  Freshly tilled soil works best.  Just toss it on top of the seeds and make sure they are covered an inch to inch and a half.  Don't step on the soil or even press down on it.  The lighter it is the better.  Successful sprouting will happen if you leave the soil loose and friable. 

You can see they are all kinds of tall and short.  I had to replant the far left row.  Oh and I don't know if you can see the drip line on the far right.  I ripped out the spinach and planted two more rows of beans there.  They are already up since taking the photo and blogging about it. You can click on the photo to see it larger.

Usually I pick them small and freeze them - then saute with minced garlic.  My daughter does not like them that way at all. And they don't always turn out great.  So we tried canning them last year.  Ahhh, much better.  We ALL liked them better that way. I'm really hoping for more than 6 quarts this year.

Daisies and Pin cushions

Shasta Daisy - these are looking quite nice.  I'm sure next week I will need to take the scissors to them. Want to take better flower photos then make sure you take photos from many angles.  Of course it helps to have an f-stop of 4 or less.

Pin cushion flower just getting ready to open.

And this one is open.  I love how they look like little straight pins in the center.  And the wild flower look is really fitting around our home.

Echinacea

The echinacea is starting to bloom.  I have to beat the grasshoppers to it.  Thankfully I got a few photos of it this year.  I have 3 purple cone flowers, one maui sunrise, and one hot lava.  I'll photograph the others when they are ready.

My Garden

I decided that over the years there has been something missing from my garden photos.  

The gardener...

I'm always the person taking the photos.  So I talked my husband into taking a couple of photos for me.  I can't wait to scrapbook them with photos of my plants and harvest.  I love this wire basket.  I bought it a few years ago and had it above my kitchen cabinets for decor.  But it's the best garden basket ever! And you can see why I love being in my garden.  It has the best view on our entire lot. At least until someone builds on the lot next door.  

Friday night I harvested over a pound of Oregon Sugar Peas (if you have crappy soil like me, they'll grow like crazy so go for it).  And three heads of romaine lettuce.  I harvest part of it and leave the lower part behind and it grows more lettuce.  You can see it by my left hand in the photo.  Click on it to enlarge it to see it better.  I also harvested a handful of green onions and the last of the strawberries.

And I love my mini rototiller.  Thank you Honda - my garden looks amazing this year with very little effort!

Soil

I love soil, I hate soil.  But I think I finally found out what I need to do to get it right.  I have a Row type garden and a square foot type garden.  I love them both.  Improving the soil is a pain.  I found out that Millers products have high salt content because a lot of their stuff comes from an area left behind from Lake Bonneville. The plants don't like all that salt. OOPS.

 The garden center owner I visited with has a son who is a soil scientist. If you'd like to know which garden center, email me.  He said THIS FALL to add all the grass clippings and leaves I can find (3 to 4 inches) and then cow poop - lots of it. Then add the recommended amount of nitrate and he said my garden will almost grow out of control with no need for fertilizer next year.   Good thing there is a guy nearby trying to get rid of some of that.  He'll drop it off in my garden when he drops it off at the neighbor's garden.  I can just hear the gears in your head spinning.  Quit it.  I know the jokes.  Ok whatever.  Go ahead and laugh.  My other neighbor is.  His garden looks amazing compared to mine.  He talked to that garden center about 10 years ago.  I've lived and learned.

Garden photo update

My garden is feeling a little behind.  Last year my peas were twice as tall.  I can tell because of the trellis.  

My peas are just starting to blossom.  I've got oregon sugar pods this year and I can hardly wait to eat them.

The panels are 4 feet tall and 16 feet long. I love cutting these panels into just the size I need for say, trellising cucumbers.  This way I can put them closer together and keep them from taking over each other and the rest of the garden.  I especially love the lemon cucumbers.  They are not bitter and add a little Marukan rice vinegar (gluten free!) and I'm in heaven.

Cattle Panels or wire panels are made from galvanized steel and don't rust.  A friend at church cuts them and makes them into really great tomato cages.

Spring or Cold Weather Vegetables

This is a fun photo of one of my Romaine Lettuce heads growing in my garden.  Can you see how catching the sunlight through the leaf adds so much texture and interest to the photo? Sorry it's not perfectly aligned.  I put the camera near the ground and clicked the shutter a few times.

A little camera tilt.  It can work to your good or bad so be careful.  Too much tilt is never a good thing. These are my peas a week ago.  They are looking good! I can hardly wait to eat me some Oregon Sugar Peas. If you are just starting to follow my blog, the trellis is cattle panel.

Photographing in the Garden - Horizontal and Vertical

I planted this peach tree last spring and pruned it up just like they told me in Andersons in the garden center.  Now I am going to have to find an expert to tell me what to do now.  I haven't a clue.  I solve this problem by asking questions. Here is one of the last blossoms.  The kids are so excited to grow their own peach I might just let it grow at least one or two this year.  

Nikon D7000, 50mm 1.8,  f1.8, 1/1250, ISO 200 and 6:57 p.m.

I was fighting with the sun on this one so it's not in a third but that's okay.  I like it. That's what matters. The leading lines help to compensate for that.  The branches lead you right to the blossom.

So here is another angle on photographing this blossom.  I love how the depth of field blurs the leaves closest to and furthest from the camera.  To me, depth of field used properly is a sign of a photographer who knows what they are doing or at least has an artistic eye. Depth of field helps you focus on the subject too.   

Nikon D7000, 50mm 1.8,  f1.8, 1/1000, ISO 200 and 6:57 p.m.

And here is the Dragon's Tongue Sedum.  I have two types.  One has red succulent leaves with red blossoms and this one is bright green with bright pink blossoms that remind me of The Dragon Who Liked to Spit Fire. It's extremely drought tolerant and transplants like you'd not believe.  I pulled a few pieces, stick them between some rocks in the backyard, watered them once and forgot about them.  Those 3 pieces are now 50 or more and snuggled right in between the rocks.

Nikon D7000, 50mm 1.8,  f2.8, 1/1250, ISO 200 and 6:54 p.m.

While the straight on shot is great its also nice to photograph from the side and also turn the camera orientation to horizontal. Click on this one to see it in more detail.

The ultimate greenhouse...

Now if I could just talk this couple into building something like this for me... he he he.

Check out The Meadow Brook Blog for more details or some of these photos below.  She has an amazing eye for photography and light.  So refreshing. I saw a link to this today and just had to share. I looked at every single post.  I can't believe what they've done to the Junk House too.  It's simply too sensational to describe.  What are you waiting for? Go check out her blog. 

I think my heart is about to leap out of my chest. Want to see another blog that I love with similar ideas? Go check out Sherelle's Blog too.  

Norway Maple - photograph

This is a Crimson King Norway Maple I purchased at Anderson Seed and Garden.  It has dark purple leaves all summer.  I love it and need to buy 3 more for the front yard.  It's doing much better than my fruit trees and doesn't drop all those blossoms and pollen like other maples around here do.  

 Have you ever photographed through leaves? You could probably do this any time of day as long as there is sun.  This was taken at 6:59 p.m. the same evening as the photos I've shown you the past few days. I love how seeing the veins adds interest and texture to the photo. And notice the composition.  The 'focal' leaf in this second photo is in the left third, not the center of the photo.

Gotta get a little lens flair.  I remember when this was taboo. Now it's trendy.  7:00 p.m. photo.  You can see how close the sun is to disappearing in the background.

And here it is at 7:15.  I love silhouettes. But as you can see the brilliant color is gone and that color is why I love this maple.  This time the leaves are in the upper third and the mountains in the lower third.

Every photo is straight out of the camera.  No photoshopping done at all. If I did anything at all I would have changed the intensity of the blue in the sky but that's about all. What is your favorite tree and have you taken any photos of it lately? 

Tulips - yep, more tulips

But aren't these gorgeous?  I love the variety of colors.  That's what you get when you buy the bulk bag of red tulips from Lowes. There are even yellow tulips in the bunch.  And very few red actually.  But I love how it turned out.  And I love this photo.  The color and the texture of the flower.  Click on them to see them larger. 

Oh and remember yesterday's post? Those tulips looked better in the brighter side light.  These look better in the sweet light or the light left over after the sun went behind the mountain. These were taken at 7:12 p.m.  f2.8, 1/160, ISO 200 with my Nikon D7000- oh and I used aperture priority. Can I tell you how much I love this camera? It's seriously my favorite so far and I've owned $5,000 cameras. 

Photographing Tulips - Light Matters

Light matters when photographing tulips.  These are my tulips.  And I always get asked what they are because they have several layers.  They are a type of parrot tulip.  I wish I could remember exactly but that'll give you a head start when you hit the garden center this fall. I started with 6.  Most other tulips get smaller with age but not these. Oh and Tulips need a lot of water in the fall or you'll get smaller blooms or just leaves.

My camera is a D7000 and I used my 50mm f1.8 lens.  My settings remained the same except that a few times I tried 1.8 but went back to 2.8.  These first few were taken at f 2.8, 1/200 second, ISO 200 in Fine Jpeg mode. In the photo above I darkened the blue saturation using the jpeg raw slider and that's it.  The rest I did nothing to.  Straight out of the camera.

These first few photos were taken at 6:55 p.m.  so the direction of light was from the side.  The mountains blocked the sun soon after this.  I thought I'd let you compare the photos. 

You can click on the photos to see them larger, just remember to come back and finish reading this quick lesson. As you can see the light shining through the petals and leaves is gorgeous. 

Now this photo was take at 7:11pm.  Can you see the difference? The sun just barely went behind the mountain. Still some direction of light.  Not the same contrast.  It's still pretty but it's lacking something.  Never assume that the sweet light that is great for some portraits is great for all types of photography.  Enjoy experimenting with light.  You'll be surprised what you find.