Kurt R.A. Giambastiani

Damage report:

It was hot and windy over the weekend, and one of the zucchini plants–the one with leaves the size of spinnakers–was partially uprooted.

This is a danger of container gardening: the low square footage of growing space. The zucchini (Black Beauty) is not a vining type, so it doesn’t spread so much; instead, it creates a massive dome of leaves and all the fruits come out of the base. Planting it to the leeward side, however, was a mistake, in that half of it was completely unsupported. The plant still seems fine (I estimate only 20-25% of the roots were disturbed/damaged), but note to self:

Situate large plants on the windward side of the box.

Progress report:

When it comes to vegetable gardening, I am a neophyte. There are many things some of you more seasoned vets know without thinking that I have no inkling of. And, to prove to you how much of a n00b I am, here’s what I learned this weekend.

I’ve been going out to the boxes every day (sometimes more than once) to check on the progress of my experiment. Are they blossoming? Are the blossoms setting to fruit? Are those big enough yet?

Then, to answer my neighbor’s question about what kind of cucumber I’d planted, I pulled the tag to get the name. In so doing, I happened to turn the tag over and look at the reverse.

Holy cow. It had maturity dates, fruit size, etc. all printed right there on the back! Fer cry-eye.

So, realizing that I could compile this data into a schedule, I learned that we will have:

• July 21, zucchini, 6-8″ long (and in plenty of time for the festival–assuming no lasting damage from the wind’s uprooting)
• July 31, cucumbers, 6″
• Aug 1-15, jalapeños and strawberries
• Aug 15-31, “yellow pear” cherry tomatoes and golden cayenne chilies
• Aug 20-Sep 15, “pink Brandywine” heirloom tomatoes and cantaloupe

Thus armed, I can relax and go about my daily life.

One obsession down, five to go.

k