Gooseberries

No kidding it's a real berry!  A gooseberry is also a term referring to a "fool."  Put them together and you have an English dessert call Gooseberry Fool which is stewed gooseberries folded into a cream.    It may be fool hardy to not try this backyard small fruit in your garden.  It is a slightly tart grape size berry used to make desserts like pies, tarts,  jellies, and jams.  This small bush is more common in European gardens than in American gardens, but is gaining in popularity.

"In Europe in the 1800s, as many as 722 gooseberry varieties were in existence, and "gooseberry clubs" were established by enthusiasts. Most of the European varieties were large fruited and sweet as a result of centuries of selection and breeding, while American types had less desirable flavor and more disease resistance." (Penn State)

The gooseberries available to the home gardener today are usually a hybrid of both the European and American varieties.
It is in the ribes family along with currants. Unlike the currant, gooseberries have thorns which means careful picking but also means you can use these woody shrubs in the landscape because the deer will steer clear.

This 3 to 5 foot bush with arching branches produces slightly tart green fruits the size of a marble.  Some cultivars ripen to a pink or burgundy.  The skins are translucent and the fruit has a tail. They ripen in throughout July and hold on the bush nicely.

Planting and Care

Gooseberries are an easy to grow shrub.  Purchase 1-2 year old plants in early spring.  Plant bushes 3-4 feet apart.  You can propagate from your existing plants using stem cuttings and the arching branches will layer if left on the ground.  In the planting hole I add a handful of a dry organic fertilizer mixed with some compost.

Once established, I fertilize with an organic dry fertilizer in early spring.  During the growing season I also fertilize with fish emulsion and sea kelp.

  

Pruning

Fruit is produced on  small spurs of 2 and 3 year old wood.  Older wood will become less productive so the these are the pruning goals:  

1. Remove branches lying low to the ground 
2. Remove older wood leaving new shoots to replace the old
3.  Remove crowed branches and open up the center.  You want to be able to pick without too much danger of the thorns.  Overcrowded branches means more "ouches" when picking

Harvesting

Gooseberries ripen late June and through July.  Underripe berries can be used in jellies and jams.  The underripe berries are high in pectin and can be mixed with ripe berries in recipes that do not need pectin.  Ripe and overripe berries are perfect for pie fillings, tarts, and stewed gooseberries to use in Gooseberry Fool.  These can also be canned or frozen for use later. One of my favorite desserts is this Gooseberry Coconut Cake.  So delicious!

Gooseberry Coconut Cake

Potatoes: Tasty Tubers

Potatoes are one of the most rewarding crops to grow. While the tops grow, flower, and then die back tasty tubers are forming underground.  Digging in the cool rich soil pulling out tasty potatoes grown organically is a thrill!  With skin colors from purple, blue,  red, and brown potatoes are anything but boring!  Some of the harvest will store well into the winter with very little preparation.  And some will be enjoyed on the day of harvest because nothing beats a fresh baked potato. 

Potatoes  are a family favorite with endless cooking options:  baked, boiled, roasted, shredded, steamed or fried.  They can serve as a taste side dish, in a salad, or even as the main event at a meal.

They are a great storage crop and can be processed in a pressure canner or dehydrated.  With so many options why not give the spectacular spud a try?

Purple Viking Potatoes

Are Potatoes Healthy?

Potatoes are actually nutritional gold mines.  They contain  vitamin C, potassium, iron and are a good source of fiber. They also contain B vitamins, vitamin A, minerals like zinc, iron, calcium and magnesium, and antioxidants. In fact, one medium potato with its skin can provide half of the recommended daily dose of vitamin C. In a survival situation, this would definitely be an important crop because it is calorie and nutrient dense characteristics.

Kennebec

Why Brother Growing Potatoes?

Why not just purchase potatoes from the store?  After all they are inexpensive, so why go to the effort to grow them?  There is a difference between fresh potatoes and store potatoes.  Texture and taste are so much better. Also there are so many varieties and colors and shapes of potatoes each suited to  a particular use and cooking method. Flavor ranges from nutty to sweet and from mild to intense.  Each variety has its own texture.  The texture determines what dishes each variety is best suited for.  Once you start growing your own spuds you will always find a space for them in the garden.

Besides the endless options of varieties,growing your own potatoes means you are getting an organic pesticide free potato.  Commercial potatoes are heavily sprayed with chemical fungicides and pesticides.

Purple Viking

Picking a Potato

Potatoes are planted from whole or partial seed tubers.  Use only certified seed quality tubers not grocery store potatoes.  This prevents the risk of certain diseases.

Potatoes can be characterized by maturity date, any where from 65-180 days, and skin type.  There are early, mid season, and late varieties.  I like to plant at least one variety of the early, mid, and late season potatoes. This extends the potato season allowing us to enjoy these yummy spuds from late summer through fall.  Skin types include russets, smooth, and colored.  Some varieties exhibit some resistance to potato disease so that is another factor to look at.  Each variety allows a different yield from light to heavy yields. Storage length is also another consideration with the late season varieties being the best for storing.

Weeding and prepping the field

 Planting Potatoes

Start with egg sized potatoes.  Larger potatoes can be cut and left out overnight to cure at room temperature.  Potatoes can be planted 4-6 weeks before the last frost date as long as the soil can be worked.  They like a sandy soil with lots of organic matter. 

 I start with a trench 1-1 1/2  feet deep. Leave the removed soil on the side of the trench. Before planting, I add dry organic fertilizer.  I  plant the seed potatoes 8 inches apart.  Cover the potatoes with only 2 inches of dirt.  

When the potatoes emerge and have about 6 inches of top growth cover them with another 2-4 inches of soil.  Continue to do this until the plants are level with the surrounding ground.  Then mound up one more time around the potatoes so they are actually  growing on a hill.  This is important because potatoes form between the seed potato and the ground level.  Mounding ensures an abundant crop.

Care of Potatoes

Other than the dry organic fertilizer you put in the trench potatoes do not need any other fertilizer.  You can cover emerging potatoes with compost once while mounding them and again when you hill them. Straw can also be used to mulch potatoes just be sure it is seed free. 

Even moisture is important to prevent mishapen potatoes.

Pests

There are a few pest to watch for in your potato crop.  As with all your crops, a stroll through the potato plot looking for signs of insect damage will result in early detection and possibly save your crop.  

          
 Colorado Potato Beetle

This beetle reside in most states despite the name Colorado potato beetle.  Check the underside of leaves, looking for masses of orange eggs.  Destroy them!  The adult beetle is yellow with black stripes.  The larvae is dark red or orange with black spots.  Both adults and larvae feed on the potato foliage.  Pick them off or spray with Neem and Spinosad.

 
Flea Beetle

Flea beetles are small pesky black beetles.  They chew small holes in plant leaves damaging young plants.  Rotating your crops and maintaining high organic matter in the soil will help.

Diseases

Problems with disease vary from year to year.  The determining factor will be the weather. Moisture and temperature and the right host make disease pathogens active.  

There are some preventative measures you can take.  First of all it is very important to rotate where you plant potatoes.  Potatoes and tomatoes are in the same family so keep that in mind when planning your crop rotation. Second always use certified disease free potato seed.  And finally use a regular organic spray routine throughout the season.

I have found the following spray routine effective for both pests and disease:

• Neem Oil
• Spinosad
• Kaolin Clay

I put all three sprays in the same sprayer and apply every two weeks.  I also add kelp and fish emulsion.

 Scab

The fungus that cause common scab lives in the soil for many years.  It is inactive if the pH of the soil is below 5.4.  You can take a soil test to determine pH.  Look for scab resistant varieties.

Late Blight

Late blight was responsible for the Irish potato famine.  It is caused by the fungs Phytophthora infestans.  This disease loves cool, wet weather and spreads as the weather warms up.  Look for water soaked areas that turn brown and black as the leaf dies.  Both potatoes and leaves can be affected.  Be sure to plant certified seed and follow a regular spray routine.  If weather conditions are right add Serenade to the spry routine.

  Mosaic Virus

  MosaicVirus is spread by aphids.  It causes leaves to curl and they look two toned.  This virus occurs throughout the United States.  Kennebec and Katahdin, two of my favorite storage varieties, have some resistance to this virus.

Let everyone help look for potatoes!

Holding the lids open

Harvesting Potatoes

You can harvest new potatoes before the main harvest.  This robbing can be done 50-60 days after planting.  A good time to rob for new potatoes is right before flowering.  Just gently reach into the hill and remove the new potatoes. Be very gentle.

Potatoes for storage are dug after the plant flowers and the vines begin to die.  They must be dug before the ground freezes.  

To check for maturity dig up a plant and rub the skin.  The skins should not rub off. If they do and weather permits leave them in the ground a couple more weeks. Harvest in the morning on a dry day.  Dig your potato fork to the side of the plants and gently lift out the spuds.  Digging around will result in finding more potatoes.  It's like a treasure hunt.

Brush off the dirt but do not wash until you are ready to use them.  I cure them in a cool garage on a rack which allows circulation and continues to cure the skins. Curing allows skins to harden and cuts and bruises to heal.

Used to store potatoes in the house.

Storage rack to cure potatoes in my garage.

Storing Potatoes

Potatoes are stored best in cool, dark, and humid conditions.  The ideal temperature is 40 degrees with 80-90% humidity.  Lower humidity causes potatoes to shrivel and light causes them to sprout.  In the west it is difficult to maintain high humidity, but do the best you can to maintain good storage conditions.  Not all varieties store well so use them up first and save those varieties intended for long term storage for later.

Varieties I like:.

Early Season 

Purple Viking: early, purple skin, white flesh my favorite.  My all time favorite

Red Norland:  Red skin, white flesh resistant to scab
Moutain Rose:  Red skin and flesh

Mid Season: 

Katahdin:  Reliable, white flesh, good storage, a must in my garden
Kennebec:  Large, reliable, large yields, long storage, excellent

La Soda Red:  Dark red, white flesh, disease resistant, high yields


Late Season:

Carola:  yellow flesh, excellent quality, drought, scab, and blight resistant, high yields
All Blue:  Large blue skin and flesh, high yields

Be sure to place online potato orders early or you will not have very many choices available.  The sell fast.  

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Favorite Annuals You Can Plant For Seed

 Summer annuals are an easy way to add pops of color to your beds and to attract pollinators into your garden. You can devote an entire bed to flowers or interplant them among veggies and herbs.  They are easy to grow from seed or easily found as transplants.  May is the month to plant both seeds and transplants after risk or frost is over.  Here are some of my favorites:

Zinnias

These are absolutely one of my favorite annuals!  Zinnias come in a wide range of colors and sizes.  I love the giant zinnias.  They make beautiful cut flowers and will give you blooms summer thru fall if you  headeadhead them.

Cosmos

Cosmos is a delicate feathery multi stemmed beauty.  Easy to grow from seed.  Cosmos makes a nice backdrop in a flower bed. These wispy beauties come in a range of colors and petal

Calendula

Calendula is also known as Pot Marigold.  It is grown as a medicinal herb, companion planting or for its pop of bright orange, gold, and yellow blooms. There are varieties that are shades of pinks. You can save seeds and replant the following year. 

Bachelor Button

Bachelor Buttons come in gorgeous blues and purples.  They are gorgeous interplanted with cosmos and poppies.  Bachelor Button can tolerate afternoon shade.  After the first bloom cut back to just above next set of leaves.  After second bloom remove and replace with another flower. You can leave a few plants to save seeds.

Sunflower

There are endless options with sunflowers. They make a huge impact in a garden coming in many sizes.  Consider an entire bed of different varieties.  There are multi stemmed varieties and those that produce a single flower bred to be used as cut flowers.  Kids love growing Giant Sunflowers and saving seeds.  You can leave the seedbeds in the garden and enjoy the birds that visit to collect the seeds.  They will reseed if left in a bed.

Nasturtiums

These little gems have a trailing habit and are beautiful interplanted among cucumbers or summer squash.  All part of nasturtiums are edible.  Flowers are frequently added to salads or frozen in ice cubes to add to summer drinks.  

Morning Glory

Morning Glories are a flowering vine.  They have brilliant almost florescent colors that open in the morning and close up in the evening. These are aggressive climbers and can become invasive.  Their blooms are exquisite.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Gardening naturally leads to cooking and preserving. I love finding delicious ways to prepare my produce. This one of my favorite salads with spinach, green onions and strawberries from my garden.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Dressing:

1/2 cup of a healthy oil like olive, grapeseed, or avocado

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp cider or red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp ground mustard

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp poppy seeds

6-8 cups torn spinach leaves you can remove the stems
3 green onions sliced
2 pints fresh strawberries
Silvered almonds or chopped pecans you can candy them if desired.
Raw sunflower seeds

I mix the dressing in a small slicer or you can shake it up in a canning jar. Pour the dressing over when you are ready to eat. Enjoy!!

Mix dressing this way or shake in a canning jar.

Even better with fresh strawberries from your garden.  Real strawberries are red all the way through.

Growing Spinach

Spinach has specific growing requirements and if you procrastinate you will miss out on this delicious  and nutritious green.

Spinach needs a good 6 weeks of cool weather.  It can be planted when soil temperatures are 55-65 degrees or as soon as your ground can be worked  It will not germinate well in soils that are above 70 degrees.  It is not a summer crops  It can be sown again in fall and protected under row covers for late fall harvests.

The spinach plant is daylength sensitive.  This means it waits until there are a certain number of daylight hours and that is the signal to bolt or set seed. When daylight hours reach 12-15, your spinach knows it's time to produce seeds. It is at this point that you can determine the sex of you plants if that is important to you.  If you save seed that will be a factor. You need both male and female plants.

 Keep in mind that spinach is wind pollinated and the pollen is very fine and travels far.  You can only save seed from one variety and must have both male and female plants.  

Types of Spinach

There are two types of spinach leaves:  smooth and savoyed or wrinkled.  Some people prefer the smooth, but I like both and plant some of both.  The seed  type can be used to determine the leaf type.  The smooth seed produces wrinkled leaves while the prickly seed produces smooth leaves.  

Planting Guides

Spinach should be seeded directly in the garden it does not like to be transplanted. It can usually be seeded 3-4 weeks before the last frost date which for me is May 14th.  If I count back 4 weeks, that means around mid April 1st can begin planting.  If weather permits and the soil has warmed up, I plant even early and use a low tunnel or floating row covers.

 Give the plants ample space.  No more than 4 per square foot.  It is a good idea to successive plant every couple weeks in early spring but stop planting if you do not have 6 weeks of cool weather remaining.  It does not like temperature above 75 nor does spinach do well in fluctuating temperatures.

Plant in a soil with plenty of organic matter worked in and a dry organic fertilizer.  I use a mixture of bone meal and blood meal.  Fertilizing is not usually necessary after that as long as you prepared your soil.  Mulch around the seedlings and water regularly.  Spinach is very cold hardy and can survive in temperature as low as 15-20 degrees. 

Harvesting

I usually harvest the outer leaves so I can have a continuous harvest but the entire plant can be harvested.  The younger the leaves, the more tender and better flavored they are. Harvest in the morning.  Slightly rinse the leaves and store in a plastic container or plastic bag.  Do not clean thoroughly until you are ready to use the spinach.  

Spinach is store with lettuce and sorrel  in a large plastic air tight container.

I enjoy spinach raw in spinach salads or mixed with other greens. It's also very good in place of lettuce on sandwiches.  It is very nutritious with vitamins A, B6, C, folate, calcium, and iron. 

Spinach Strawberry Salad

Pests and Disease of Spinach

Spinach can get leaf miners and Mosaic virus which is called spinach blight.

Leaf Miners

Brown  and tan blotches on the leaves are a sign of leaf miners.  The adult is a fly that pupates in the soil and lays white eggs on the under side of the leaf.  The larvae called maggots (yuck) enter the leaf and create leaf mines.  They are hard to kill with pesticides because they are inside the leaf.  I pull off infected leaves so that the larvae don't mature and feed to livestock or chickens.  To help control leaf miners, cultivate or turn over the soil where you plant spinach, chard, and beets to kill the pupae.  Row covers can also keep the adult from laying eggs on the leaves.

Spinach Blight

Plants infected with spinach blight just need to be pulled up.  There is no cure for viruses and they can be spread by insects feeding on various plants. 

Varieties of Spinach

Seasisde (H): My favorite variety!  Smooth, spade shaped leaves perfect for baby spinach.  Resistant to heat, early bolting and downy mildew.

Bloomsdale Longstanding (OP):  This is the standard for spinach.  It's my favorite.  It has deeply savoyed (wrinkled leaves) and is deep green and wonderfully flavored for salads.  The leaves are upright off the ground.  

America (OP)  A savoyed type that is supposed to be slow to bolt. A Bloomsdale longstanding type.  A new variety I am trying this year.

Space (F1):  A smooth leafed spinach with spoon shaped leaves. 

Tyee (F1):  This is slightly savoyed leaf.

Giant Noble (H):  Heirloom of 1926.  Very large leafed, tender

Melody (F1):  Also very large leaves with upright growth

Butterflay:  Another good variety but low to the ground and more susceptible to problems because of that.



There are lots of other varieties to try but my garden will always have Seaside and Bloomsdale Long Standing.

Summer Spinach

After all the talk about cool weather, both New Zealand Spinach and Malabar Spinach that can be grown in the summer.  The reason is that neither are a true spinach.

Malabar Spinach is a perennial vine in warm climates.  It prefers hot humid weather.  The leaves are used like spinach in salads.

New Zealand spinach needs warm soil to germinate and does not tolerate frost .  The leaves can be substituted in cooked dishes for spinach.  It is very high in oxalic acid which causes a flavor many people do not like.