Meeting with an Heirloom Star

Last Christmas my wife did something wonderful and enabled me to go to California to visit my family. While I was there I went to Baker Creek’s “seed bank”, an old bank in Petaluma that was converted to a retail storefront for Baker Creek Heirloom seeds. When there I happened to meet and get a picture with Jere Gettle. He is the gentleman who started and owns the expanding business. He seemed to be a pretty nice ordinary guy. I asked him his opinion of several asparagus bean (Chinese Long Bean) varieties. I also asked him about possible shade options for my tomatoes. He was at a loss as to what could grow tall enough. Then I asked him if he knew of anyone who sold Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes) in the area. Another employee, I think Paul, told me of a local farm that carried them. At that, my family and I bought the seeds I selected and we headed off to get some Sunchokes. And that is my claim to fame in the world of Heirlooms.

Me and Jere Gettle at The Petaluma Seed Bank

The Local Climate

Here in Tucson there are two things you can count on: heat in June and cold in January. Water is also a concern here because of the high mineral content of the tap water and rainfall can be unpredictable. A 50% chance of rain in July means that 50% of the city of Tucson will get rained on while a 50% chance of rain in December means that all of Tucson will receive rain 50% of the time. Some believe that we have more than the four seasons than more moderate climates experience. If that is true, then I would have to say that we have 5 seasons that overlap somewhat: hot, cold, wet, dry, and windy. Because we live in a desert we cannot count on having a pleasant fall or spring. Over the course of a few weeks in “the spring” it can go from the 60s and low 70s to the mid 90s while in “the fall” it may go from 90 and 100 to the low 70s in under a fortnight (2 weeks). Though the dramatic swings in temperature do nothing good for the tomato plant the long stretches of cold and hot favor a long growing season for both cold and hot loving plants.

After the unbearably hot dry summer comes the Monsoon weather

During the long winter spinach, lettuce, carrots, peas, garlic and other greens do very well. Broccoli, cabbage and onions also flourish but need to be started early if growing from seed. The long hot summer benefits crops such as okra, eggplant, Chinese Long (or Asparagus) beans, Black-eyed peas, hyacinth beans, Asian and Armenian cucumbers, sunflowers, corn, watermelons, cantaloupe, peppers, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and zucchini. Oh- and tomatoes- if you can figure out how to save them from destruction. Certain limitations guide my selection in summer crops. My family doesn’t care for okra or eggplant, corn needs big blocks to pollinate well, Squash Vine Borers destroy my zucchini, lace bugs are determined to destroy my sunflowers, while cucumber beetles are always more work then the number of cantaloupes I get from my plants. So that leaves me with beans, watermelon, peppers, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, cucumbers, and – if I plan right – tomatoes. As most gardeners, I try not to look at the calendar as much as the soil temperature when determining what and when to plant.



Snow is a not too common - from February 2011




The kids are excited for snow while my garden is excited for water.



Research - An Informative way to select cultivars that will Beet the competition

A Cylindra Beet in my garden

I love beets. Especially butter beets. It took me a while until I found a beet variety that I liked. Most were round and became hard quickly. Being a gardener that does not like to take chances, I prefer to research my vegetable varieties before growing them. Some vegetables, such as finicky tomatoes and cucumbers in the summer must be researched based on an individual’s climate. However, I can use information about other more forgiving crops, such as beets, from researched conducted in another climate. That is why I like the following websites. The first is Cornell’s Vegetable Varieties for gardeners, which gives individual gardener’s advice on specific crops from various regions. The second is Dave’s Garden Plant files, which also gives gardeners the opportunity to rate a crop. And finally, the grand finale is a searchable database of results of test growing of individual vegetable cultivars from The University of Saskatchewan in Canada. In any case, it was from the Saskatchewan searchable database that I learned about the incredible productivity and taste of the Cylindra, Formanova, or butter beet. And I am so glad I did.

To those who ask about gardening in Tucson I say, "It is a science". That is yet another reason for my blog title. Though this is true for growing many things here, growing beets is a cinch. If you give beets enough water when they are starting out you can start them in early September-October when it is 90 degrees outside and they will happily grow until March- April when it is 90 degrees outside again. How I wish my other crops grew as easily as beets! Another plus about beets is that you can eat both the top and the bottom- though we usually give away the tops to another family (whose children appreciate them more) after my family has our first serving of them.

Think tender buttery texture in the form of a beet.

Even this beet possessed a smooth texture.

Direct Seeding versus Transplanting

2009 Tomato Transplants - Notice the Clipboard.

Which is better – direct seeding or transplanting? Direct seeding of course. Some say that direct seeding is the only way to enable a plant to reach its full potential by preserving an undisturbed taproot. Additionally, some farmers assert that direct seeded plants resist frost better and produce an earlier or larger crop than transplants do. My viewpoint is that direct seeding is the preferred method for growing some plants. Direct seeding is the way to go if you are dealing with the curcubit family. Squash, cucumbers, and melons do very well direct seeded and have difficulty with being transplanted after about a week of growth. Often the roots go into shock and take several weeks to recover, if at all. If peat pots are used and the transplant’s roots are handled very gently the plant may recover and grow again. Otherwise it may be more beneficial to use a hot cap to get a head start on cucubit seedlings. Beans, peas, and carrots also do well being direct seeded because of issues involved with their roots.

Another school of thought is that transplanting is beneficial because it allows you to get a head-start on the garden. This is especially true for tomatoes, peppers, onions, and brassicas such as cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. These plants often take a long time to mature and do not go through shock if transplanted correctly. I have been growing tomatoes from seeds for a while because that way I can control what varieties of tomatoes I grow. If pests are a problem direct seeding can help you get plants off to a good start before they would have a chance to munch on your little seedlings. Growing from transplants can reduce the time between crop harvest and a new crop. This can increase overall productivity given the ground is still fertile and disease-free. Both of these problems can be aided by the practice of effective crop rotation. Though transplanting may appeal to gardeners who prefer to have attractive and productive garden beds it can be expensive to always buy starts and can lead to potentially unsustainable gardening practices.

Tomato in 2" soil block with deep dowel hole



Tomatoes – The First Trials

Better Boy - A Hybrid Variety

When first starting with tomatoes I bought starts from a local grocery and hardware store. Early Gird, Better Boy, and First Lady 2 were some of the first hybrid tomato varieties I tried. Each cultivar (specific vegetable variety) did okay but not great. Better Boy seemed to take the heat and be disease resistant. I was able to produce nice looking plants but had some difficulty in producing the anticipated quantity and size of tomatoes. Not many tomato varieties do well here in Tucson. Perhaps it is because we hardly ever see weather between 70 and 90 degrees F. My desire to grow hybrid tomato varieties decreased the more I realized that I could not grow “true” fruit using hybrid tomato seed. After learning this I decided to pursue a more sustainable approach and limit my growing to open-pollinated tomato cultivars. In spring of 2009 I planted Glacier, Cold Set, Fireworks, Zhezha, Super Sioux, Buckbee’s 50 day, and Neptune. Most of the varieties did poorly. Glacier  and Buckbee’s 50 day couldn’t take the heat though Buckbee’s 50 day did better on fruit production and disease resistance, cold set can grow fast but can’t take the cold, when disease approached Fireworks went up in smoke, Zhezha produced 1-2 small fruits, Super Sioux could take the heat but produced little, Neptune could take the heat very well but produced little to average. Zhezha and Neptune were the only 2 determinates I grew. They are both true determinates- dying immediately after producing their 1 crop of fruit. Even if I put a plant on the east side of a structure the unforgiving sun quickly taught me that any plants in exposed pots will have their roots pasteurized by about 2 pm in the afternoon- if not sooner.



Neptune can take the heat!

Buckbee's 50 Day - An all around good variety