23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

I've grown both those varieties here in western OR and they should get full sized and be similar to what you find in the store. Tracydr is right about the blanched stalks (which is easy to do) making them lighter colored and more tender, but your plants should be getting much bigger than you describe. So my thoughts are that you're not giving the plants what they need, (which as tracydr also said) is lots of fertility and very regular watering.
Celery is possibly the hardest veg for me to grow and i've given up growing enough for the farmers market I sell at. Instead i'm opting for more celeriac, which seems less picky.
I suggest you keep building your soil and do some extra research on growing celery and it's special requirements, and you'll get it right. Good luck.
-Mark

In our part of the country, celery is almost exclusively grown in muck soil. I'm not really sure how you would simulate muck - it's sandy, organically rich (black), and floats on an endless supply of water. The link is a very short read, but interesting nonetheless.

Here is a link that might be useful: Celeryville

Thanks for the helpful comments. I am taking them to heart. The okra seedlings are doing well inside. Soon they can go outside.

Being a new transplant in PNW, I am also trying to germinate and eventually grow some okra. But I am not holding my breath. I used to grow them back in Atl. GA area for years, with no problem. Okra is basically a Southern plant with Hot and LONG growing season. Unless they is a one bred for cooler climates that I don't know of. Everywhere I go, all I can find is CLEMSON SPINELESS. Not a good one : It gets woody before you can say AAH.

If the climate is like Cuenca's, you should be able to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini fairly easily, especially if you use black plastic mulch.

Plus all the veggies that have been suggested by others. And don't forget beets, carrots and chard.

The only crops you may not be able to grow are the heat-lovers, including peppers, eggplants and (water)melons.

This post was edited by Slimy_Okra on Sun, May 4, 14 at 14:46

pnbrown,

You make good points but the picture is far bigger than that.

The very fact that OP is able to say "OK, let's move to Ecuador and have a garden!" is proof of the divide between the developed and developing world. For most Ecuadorians, it's a wild fantasy to be able to move to the US at all, much less move to the US and have a house and garden. No offense to OP intended.

So in the grand scheme of things, the ability to hire cheap labor is merely the tip of the iceberg.

Substitute US with Canada, Australia or any other new world developed nation, and substitute Ecuador with any other developing country. Same story.

This post was edited by Slimy_Okra on Sun, May 4, 14 at 14:53

I use half inch conduit for trellis frames. I got a roll of heavy wire at Lowes that I use to anchor the vertical conduit to hold up in high winds. I use it for tomatoes by running lines down from the top and weaving from side to side. Works great, and breaks down easily. I use PVC elbows to connect the vertical and horizontal bars.

Grandad, your growing season is so different than ours here in Massachusetts, obviously. I see how the plastic can keep the plants from rooting the runners if you are going to pull them out after a main harvest.

We have less sun than we started out with now that the neighboring trees have matured. Not much we can do about that. I used to be able to grow full size tomatoes but now I stick to the cherries.

Jonfrum, anchoring is another way to go too. ItâÂÂs so interesting how people find their own adaptation to different ideas. Thanks.

I think you can plant and grow successfully JUST ABOUT ANYTHING you want in that space, with 6 hours of sun, down in Memphis, TN. I am gardening in a situation that I get hardly 5 hours of direct sun and I grow tomatoes, potatoes, pepper, cucumbers, squash, garden bean, chard, ... all kinds of herbs.

Here are some plants that wont mind even less direct sun:

---- chards, parsley, sage, rosemary, lemon balm, any member of onion family (chives, onions, leeks, shallot,) any member of cabbage family,

But it might be a bit too late for some of them to start from seeds but you can always buy plants and plant them.

Thank you both for your responses, I appreciate it-great suggestions. Seysonn, we actually just planted a whole 8x4 bed with seeds of Swiss Chard and Kale. I know Kale especially is supposed to be a cool season plant, but we use Kale in smoothies and would be covering up up bitter tastes anyway. When you say it may be too late are you referring to the bitterness as the weather gets hot-or an issue with germination and growth? Thanks!

Basil is a heavy feeder and also prefers bright sun and heat. I mean, it's one of the few garden plants that I can count on through the summer in the extreme, Phoenix summer heat.

To make matters worse the conditions which slow the basil growth also favor many basil diseases. That is my main reason for only early starting disease resistant varieties like Nufar, Emily or Genoveser. Also use a potting mix with biofungicide if possible as added insurance and then you still need to keep young seedlings warmer than most other crops. Temps dipping into the mid 40s often leeds to "Tanning" of the leaves; low of

boil baking potatoes and an onion in good stock. Add spices and salt to taste (I like a little chili and salt). When cooked, blend the soup with one or two handfuls of sorrel leaves, stems removed. serve immediately. the secret is to blend instantly when leaves and soup are in the blender. then the soup will stay a bright green. if you wait, it will turn grey. Baking potatoes are much easier on your blender than waxy. Sorrel soup with waxy destroyed our previous blender.

I also add tallow or olive oil to the soup when serving. This is served in April and for Thanksgiving here.

Sorrel leaves effectively 'melt' when heated so you can make a quick sauce for grilled or fried fish by just cooking some gently in a little butter. It has the acidity you need and fulfils the same function as a slice of lemon.

Or you can make it slightly fancier by adding the fish juices and some crème fraiche.

Typical emergence in zone 2B is mid to late May, about the same time as the average last frost date, which is 5 to 6 weeks after snow cover disappears. That's in a typical year though. We still have snowbanks lying around!

We don't mulch in Zone 3 - maybe we should but the asparagus seems to emerge when it is ready - We would actually rather it come up a little later as others commented - the early warm break in the weather kicks everything in gear and then Mother Nature reminds us that winter is not over yet - the Asparagus has to shiver in it's boots for a day or two.

gallinis, thanks for the tip. Every year I wonder if it's ok to use the new leaves that grow late in the season.

"Same thing with kale and chard. Once bolted, they're done. "

Not so, for sure, IME. I have had chard plants go 3-4 years in well-protected locations. Kale plants are well known to produce for longer than that in greenhouses or very mild climates, though I have not had one go for more than about 3 years.

Jean,
The green house is about 75 of cloudy days and 80-85 with sun (then I open the vents). At night it gets to about 55-60.

What kind of potting mix are you using? Are you fertilizing them? Are you over or under-watering? A picture would be helpful.

Thanks terry_neoh for all those possible problems, it's really good to know all these. I will definitely look them up for more info and see if I can dig around to see what's down there.

And, the pollination, yes, I've been going out each morning with a tiny paintbrush to pollinate if I have to. It's kind of fun! I've also tried to plant more flowers around to attract the bees.

Thanks art_1! I had high hopes for Mel's Mix, but it was disappointing. The mix was just too light and needed more "substance" as my neighbor told me.

Looks like you may not have selected a suitable compost element for your Mel's mix. I've been using homemade compost in Mel's mix for years and it works well, as advertised and expected. Also, the bed doesn't look raised to me. The idea is to use Mel's mix on top of the native soil, not incorporated into it.

As was said, leafminers. Do as the other poster suggested.

BTW, did you know that the red russian kale is a superb self-sower? Let them go to seed and you won't have to buy seed again, most likely.