2025 Compendium

Martha Washington | Jersey Giant

• Moved them from the rose bed to bed 1 in 2025. I have 4 Martha Washington and 1 Jersey Giant.

• I could have harvested from 1 plant, but I decided to hold off 1 more year (again) due to the move.

• By the beginning of July, I had new stems coming up on all the transplanted asparagus. I think we will have a harvest next year!

• Began throwing out fresh shoots in September. It is exciting to think that we will finally have asparagus next year!

• NOTE: I am going to try and get about 3-4 more crowns going next year and have half of bed 1 a dedicated strawberry and asparagus bed, maybe with perennial herbs as well. Remember to get hay to top the plants next year.

VARIETY (perennial)

• Slow to start, but these should be perennials, so I am focused on root growth and development this year.

• In early August, 1 of the 3 I planted started to show signs of blooming. The other 2 are getting large but no flowers yet.

• Finally had some small blooms at the end of September. I have them marked and hope to have them come back next year, as they are perennials.

VARIETY

• All self seeded. I moved some to Bed 1 to be near the borage for the bees. 

• By beginning of July, I started to see the first flower buds.

• In mid July I noticed they had also self seeded in bed 6. The bees are not overly interested in them.

• By late July, the flowers in bed 1 were completely overtaken by the borage. Be more mindful of height and placement next year. 

• One plant will get about 2 ft tall with a radius of about 6 inches.

Large Italian Leaf

• Planted outside and in the greenhouse with the tomatoes and cucumbers. Also planted in bed 1 to see how it did outside.

• Greenhouse grown is doing very well. Outside is struggling (something ate some of them)

• By early July they are starting to grow well in the greenhouse. The plants outside are still struggling.

• By beginning of August, the basil in the greenhouse is doing very well. This is the way to go in the future.

• Finally pulled them all at the very end of September.

• NOTE: I didn't use a lot of the basil for food, but it was nice to have it available if I needed it. What was really great was how the tomatoes and cucumbers seemed to grow better with a basil planted with them. Also, they did attract bugs to them and away from my other plants. I will use this more in the future. 

Blue (and 1 random White)

• In early June they began putting on large leafs, and by late June they all had lots of buds emerging. 

• First buds began to open in the final days of June. The colors are a mix of rich cobalt blue and violet.

• By August the plants are huge! 5 plants have taken over half the bed. They are getting weighed down as well. The honey and bumble bees love them!

• Next year grow fewer plants spaced out and in the back of the bed, with shorter plants in the front. Also, cage them! They are about 3 ft tall and about 12 inches wide each.

• By the start of  September, the plants are huge but the flowers are basically done. I have begun to pull them out now.

• I took the last of the borage down on September 21st. They were basically spent and huge. I will grow these again, but move them to the front yard where they can get big and beautiful.

Napa | Giant OS

• Worst Cabbage year EVER!

• All the cabbages I started had their roots (and roots only) eaten by, what I believe, is cabbage root maggots. 

• I purchased more Napa style cabbage from Home Depot (only outside plant I purchased this year and did not grow myself)

• One June 30th, I lost another cabbage to the root eaters. I am going to treat with Neem Oil and see if it helps. 

• Note For Next Year: Get diatomaceous earth and sprinkle it in the soil and hole the cabbage go into. That will keep cabbage maggots away, but also prevent too many issues with potentially harming worms and bees.

Bolero

• Grew one line under the greenhouse topper, one outside the greenhouse topper.

• No surprise, the ones in the greenhouse sprouted faster.

• By July 1, both lines of carrots were coming along nicely with lots of young leaves. No signs of shouldering or carrots yet.

• As of the start of August it feels like the carrots may be ready to harvest. I will pull some up to check on them.

• I began harvesting some of the carrots that were shouldering as needed. They were about 6-8 inches long and delicious. Plan to leave them in as long as possible before I harvest them all.

• I harvested the remaining carrots on Septmeber 7th. They ended us being super great this year. I will fereeze the majority of them, as that is my favorite way to use them in my cooking. I may try to see how long I can store some in the fridge for fresh eating.

• NOTE: I could have left them in the ground until the last minute. They would have held and just grown larger. Overall, a really great harvest of carrots!

Utah

• Transplanted in the eary spring before the final freeze, and is still doing well.

• By late June, they were tall with plenty of stalks coming out.

• Began harvesting and freezing in early August. I could have been harvesting them all along with cut and come again, however we haven't needed any. Plant less next year, we don't eat a lot of celery.

• When I harvested one in early August, I found that I had let them go too long. To be honest, this was all on me. We do not eat a lot of celery, and because of that I ignored them a lot. I think I need only 1 of these plants next year.

• I pulled the last of the celery on September 21. They did very well, but we did not eat a lot. Next year, I only need (maybe) one plant and I need to be better about harvesting it. It is a great plant to grow for selling as a seedling, though.

White Cupcake

• Planted only in pots.

• First flower opened on June 16.

• By late June, one flower had about 6 blooms, and the other plants were all about to open.

• As of August they are all in bloom and getting big. They grow best when being deadheaded. The bees like them.

• As of late September, we were getting flowers but they were much smaller. I really liked these, but I would like more colors next year. 

• NOTE: The cosmos did well in large pots. 

Sashimi | Socrates

• Both grown in greenhouse. Tried to grow outside and they died from the cold. 

• Socrates put on its first fruit around June 10th. I harvested that fruit on June 30.

• Socrates has slowed down and only put on one more fruit by the end of June. However, the Sashimi has outgrown the Socrates and has 4 fruits as of the end of June.

• By early August I have harvest about 2-3 cucumbers from each plant. They have done very well, and I plan on growing them again next year. They do very well in the greenhouse.

• By early September, the growing had slowed. I harvested a few more (maybe 4) but they were small. I pulled the plants the last week of September even though there was still fruit on the plants, mainly because they were no longer getting larger.

• NOTE: These varieties did great in the greenhouse, and I will grow them again. Very happy with finding these!

Chinese variety that my Dad got in Taiwan.

• They were doing great, but then bolted after about 5 days of sun and warm weather.

• I let them go to flower and gave up for the season. The bees seemed to enjoy them.

Music

• Started coming up around the end of May. Around a 70% germination rate.

• Scapes came on in mid June, and I harvested them in the first week of July.

• Harvested on July 31. They were all pretty nice. I am happy with the harvest.

Buttercruch | Salad Bowl

• Went into the gorund in mid May and took a few light frosts fine.

• Grew quickly in May.

• For the first time ever, the Salad Bowl variety began to bolt in mid June. I ended up staring another round of lettuce in Late June. Still a good flavor, even though it was starting to bolt.

• I planted out the new starts into the beds on August 1, after pulling all the old plants except one Buttercrunch that is holding on. I am excited to see if I can get a full second succession before winter comes.

• The first round of plantings were all spent by mid August. The bees did not love their flowers, so I would say to pull them once done next year.

• We didn't harvest much from the second succession. By the time they came in, the rain and slugs had cme and started to feast on them. But, we can do multiple successions, and I would play into that next year. Maybe only plant 2 starts and then start the next round 2 weeks later, and so on and so forth.

Sugar & Spice

• I think these got stunted in the late spring weather. By Late June, they have no flowers and are only a few inches tall.

• As of August I am getting my first flowers. I need to start these earlier and not move them out into the beds until the temps are in the 50s at night, so maybe early to mid June?

• They took a while, but they were still flowering when I pulled them on September 28th. We had a first frost and that finally did them in. I really loved this color. Probably oe of the best marigolds I have ever grown, just need to start them earlier next year.

Alaska Red | Pink

• Planted in mid may, were slow to start due to the cold spring.

• By late June they are getting bushy and starting to put on signs of their first flowers, but nothing blooming yet.

• First blooms on both varieties began to open around July 10th.

• By late July they were in full production mode. They are lovely colors and look great. 

• The bumble bees like them, but not the honey bees.

• They had all died back by the end of August. I let them go to seed, then collected the seeds for next year.

Patterson | Sterling

• Ordered from Dixondale Farms.

• Received on April 29th. Planted them the first week of May, and they took the frost well.

• Took a little time to put on new growth, but by late May they were growing.

• By the end of June we were starting to get nices bulbs. The Patterson are bulbing up faster and larger than the Sterling.

• The Patterson began to flop over on July 30th. I am harvesting as they are falling over. The Sterling seem to still be growing, but they are getting close to harvest.

• I harvested and began to cure all the Patterson by the first weekend in August. The Sterling are still holding on and only a few have begun to flop.

• On September 7th, I braided my Sterling onions, and the Patterson were stored. They were too dry to braid. This has been the best onion year I have ever had.

• NOTE: Careful with the braids. I found an onion on Sept 28th that had not cured all the way and as getting a little gross. I put it off so it would not harm the other onions.

Magic Myrna | Yukon Gold | German Butterball

• Magic Myrna were purchased at the last farmers market of the season and overwintered in my mini fridge. By the time they went into the ground they had eyes and sprouts about 3 inches long. They were the first to come up.

• Planted all potatoes in mid May. They began to come up and show leaves in early June.

• By early July all the plants were over a foot tall and starting to show signs of flowering. I had to lightly trellis them to keep them from falling onto the cabbage.

• By July 15 the potatoes have begun to flower and are about 2.5 feet tall. Coming in nicely with no signs of disease. I think it will be a very good potato year!

• After the rains at the end of July, many of the greens started to flop over. I will most likely harvest them in a late August as the greenery begins to die back. 

• I harvested 4 yukon golds at the start of September as we needed potatoes. I covered the rest with plastic so they would start to die back. The rain has come and I want them to be ready to harvest in a few weeks.

• On 21st I harvested the potatoes. They probably sould have gone one more week, but oh well. The Yukon Gold did the best, followed by the germal butterballs. The magic myrna that were saved did not have a great yeild.

• NOTE: Next year, stick to the Yukon Gold and the Russets. They are the varietes we like the most, and that grow the best.

Aurora Heirloom | Cosmonaut | Celebration | Polar Baby | Polar Beauty | Sub-Arctic

• Except for the celebration (greenhouse only), I have one of each tomato in the beds and in the greenhouse. 

• Polar Beauty bloomed first (outside and in the greenhouse) It had 2 fruits going as of June 15th. All others had flower by then.

• It seems the plants in the beds are about 2 weeks behind the plants in the greenhouse.

• In early July I noticed 2 greenhouse tomatoes (Aurora Heirloom and Cosmonaut) had some tomatoes with blossom end rot. I think it is from irregular watering. I am going to mulch them and try to keep them moist by watering more frequently.

• I harvested my first tomatoes from the greenhouse in the final week of July. By August 1, I had tomatoes from the Polar Beauty, Polar Baby, Aurora Heirloom and one from the CosmoNaut. They are yummy! Lots of your tomatoes all about to come in.

• By the second week of August, the tomatoes in the greenhouse are all begin harvested from. Lots of green tomatoes still, but we do not need to go buy tomatoes. The Polar Beauty in the beds have put off 3 tomatoes already, including my largest tomato of the season so far. 

• Still harvesting tomatoes from both the greenhouse and the outside garden as of the start of September. This has been the best tomato year ever!

• I pulled the outdoor tomatos that were still green around September 25th, as our first front loomed. I pulled the final greenhouse tomatoes on September 28th. 

• Final Note: Now that I have a more "professional" greenhouse, I plan on moving all my tomatoes into it. While they do well in the beds, they do best in the greenhouse. I do need to try and find a way to circulate the air without electricity. Maybe a few small solar powered fans?

Sugar Daddy

• Very slow to start with poor germination. Planted around theJ sunflowers in bed 6 and in their own container against the shed. The ones near the sunflowers only had 2 germinate, but the others germinated more. 

• By mid June we saw growth, and by late June they were about 6 inches tall.

• I had a small harvest on August 1. 

• Trickling in throughout the start of August. 

• Not gonna lie, this was a bit of a blip plant this year. I kept forgetting about them and didn't do much for them. I will try again next year and put them in a place they are easier to get to. However, I now know I can grow them in a large IKEA bag!

King Size Orange | Copper Red

• Planted into the ground in mid May. Slow to start, like everything.

• By late June they all had reached about 18 inches tall and many had started to show signs of their first blooms being put on.

• With the arrival of July, there were a ton of strawflowers. The bees really love them. I picked lots of straw flowers in July to promote more to come in August.

• In August and September I stopped pickig th strawflowers for myself and left them for the bees to harvest.

• In the final days of september I finally cut down the last of the strawflowers. I harvested any that were still able to be dried, and compost the rest. It was one of the greatest years ever.

• NOTE: Strawflowers do well in both pots and in the beds. Just make sure they are in deep wide pots.

Chocolate Cherry | Mongolian Giant | Taiyo | Chinese Variety | Volunteers

• Planted into the ground in mid May. Slow to start, like everything.

• By late June they all had reached about 18 inches tall and many had started to show signs of their first blooms being put on.

• By the end of July, all but the Taiyo and Mongolian Giants had begun to bloom. They look amazing! It has been a great year for Sunflowers.

• I had 4 sunflowers that were volunteers. 2 of them, as of the second week in August, are the tallest sunflowers I have. Maybe 12 ft tall and multi headed. I believe they are a mix of the giants and lemon queens from last year, as their blooms are very pale yellow, brown center and the leaves are a little more pointy.

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White of Palermo | Gray | Costata Romanesca

• Planted into the ground in mid May. Slow to start, like everything.

• By late June we had male flowers on all of them, but the cold start had stopped them from developing too much. We had females opening by the last days of June on the Gray and the Costata. The Gray seem to be putting on and developing the fastest.

• I harvested my first fruit off all three types of zucchini on 7/15. The Costata had a weird looking end (maybe wasn't fully pollinated), but besides that was good.

• All plants had stopped producing around the first week of september. There were maybe 2 straglers, but they were small zucchini. Overall, it was a great year for the zucchini.

IDEA- Next year grow the Costata in a big bucket by itself to see if it will grow better. May be a bit crowded?

NOTE - Hill the zucchini up with a tranch around the roots. The zucchini I did this to this year did better than the ones that did not get hilled up.