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garden update-long

Hi folks,

Don't know if y'all remember me, I joined the list early in Spring and then
disappeared from sight. Got busy gardening! Anyhow, I thought I would send a
note on how things were going, ask for some advice, and compare notes with
the rest of you. Just finished bringing in the spring vegetables and
watching the warm weather ones get started.

For background, this is my first ever garden. The soil is screened topsoil
that has turned into the usual Utah clay (Zone 5). This stuff would be right
at home on a potter's wheel. Watered regularly and used emulsified fish
fertilizer twice a week. Also I am using the square foot gardening method as
developed by Mel Bartholemew (sp?). 

I haven't planted much, trying to keep things small and manageable until I
figure out what I'm doing. The broccoli and cauliflower have grown well, but
they both have come up tasting REALLY bitter, with a kind of "soapy" taste
to them. Anybody have suggestions as to why this happens? I was wondering if
it might be the heat. We went from balmy 60 degree days to high 80s-low 90s
in a week. 

The kohlrabi, that which survived the grasshoppers, came out great!  The
Bright Lights Swiss Chard also came out with the soapy flavor and I think is
the favorite of the grasshoppers. It grew really well, but would literally
disappear overnight, with just a few stems left in the morning. Two have
successfully grown to maturity and I cut the leaves off when they're about 6
inches long. Anybody have recommendations for natural controls of grasshoppers?

The anise hyssop and chammomile are doing great. Hardy little guys.

The various lettuce mixtures I tried did outstanding but they are in planter
boxes filled with 50/50 topsoil and steer manure. I'm trying to grow mesclun
mixes with varying degrees of success. BTW, most of the seeds are from
Sheperds which I've been really happy with. Excellent germination rates on
seedlings started indoors.

The onions are doing great so far but still in the ground so I can't vouch
for the flavor. Same thing with the artichokes, which finally are showing
blossoms. I'm going to try and keep them over the winter but I don't expect
success. The heirloom tomotoes went in as seedlings, the following day we
received our one and only hailstorm of the year. No tomatoes this year. The
pepper and bean plants are surviving well, including the heirloom beans from
the 4 Corners region south of here. I'd like to save some of the seeds to
use next year so if anyone can offer advice on saving and storing beans (the
kind used for frijoles) for planting, I'd appreciate it. 

Well, that's pretty much it. A bunch of you gave me help on starting seeds
indoors which was a great help, thanks again. I'm wondering how everybody
else's garden is doing. What's doing really well and what's not doing so
well? Thanks for the bandwidth and the help!

Mike
Zone 5
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