More Photos

Photo Update 8/27/09

Some of these photos are a few weeks old. It's been very busy around here!
We lost all of our tomato plants to the blight - same as everyone around our area. Horribly sad too, because we have tons of green tomatoes on the vine, but as they mature, they rot. I'm okay with it only because we have so many other veggies doing great this year! Surprises include potatoes! and Eggplant!

Harvest 08-07-09

Friday's Harvest Below. We also sampled a few pole beans and some cherry tomatoes.

My Mom helped me freeze the generous crop of green & wax beans that I picked on Monday. Kevin picked another few pounds worth yesterday. We'll be filling up the freezer in no time.

I was out of town again this weekend so I did not get to the weeding and planting that I wanted to do. I will have to squeeze it in this week after work as I will not be around this weekend either! Summer has been very busy!

Yesterday, Kevin picked about 8-10 cucumbers (picklers and slicers), another several zucchini and yellow squash, and a few small beet thinnings. His Dad also took some tomatoes and lettuce. (We need all the help we can get using up the lettuce we have. Next year, we will skimp on the lettuce. We cannot keep up.

Bad Blogger - Good Gardener

I do have photos and updates to post, but haven’t found a free minute yet! In a nutshell, I should have ripe tomatoes by this weekend (Cherry and JetStar); I picked about 3 pounds of yellow and green beans this week. We’ve been eating fresh garden salads complete with homegrown greens, carrots, cucumber, and zucchini. Soon to add the tomatoes! Now, if we could only raise the chicken as well!

Zucchini, as usual, as exploding out of nowhere – as in seriously, that was NOT there yesterday!

I’ve actually been running down the garden whenever possible (about 1.25 miles). It feels great, but I lose some ambition to weed after the workout. So weeding is a priority for this weekend.

Also: the peppers are turning colors!! My eyes lit up when I saw a bright flash of orange peeking out from under the pepper leaves! Amazing!

Harvest This Week - Pics to Follow

This is gearing up to be a bountiful Summer in the garden! This week we have massive amounts of yellow wax beans, and a delightful up-and-coming crop of green beans. Pole beans are just starting to blossom.

We ate some of the beans with our last cup of peas with chopped baby carrots - a real life version of the frozen, tasteless "mixed vegetables". The carrots have such intense carrot flavor - sooo delicious. We ate our first zucchini pan fried with parmesean cheese.

We have plenty of green salad to which I have added diced zucchini , store bought tomatoes (boo), grilled chicken and cheese cubes. Light and yummy. Tonight I will also add what little broccoli we have (most of it flowered before it was even worth picking). I might even pick a carrot or two for shredding.

A friend told me that homegrown broccoli grown has little green worms in it and that you need to boil it in salt water before use. The salt water should cause the worms to float to the top. I tried this the other night but found no worms...I hope I didn't eat them!

We also discovered this week that the yellow hot peppers are the perfect kick to add to scrambled eggs. I can't wait for all that is to come!

Harvest

Another harvest with no photograph. What is the matter with me? It was only a bag of Swiss Chard and Lettuce that I brought to my grandmother. It was the first time I have really gotten into the lettuce to notice that there are nice full heads on the buttercrunch and it is all getting so BIG! I am really impressed.

Photo Update - Finally!

Peppers, Lettuce, Potato Patch (not producing anything to speak of)

Tomatoes (unstaked) are falling all over the place but producing well. Beans are going to be plentiful! Notice the giant Marigold "bushes" - we cannot believe how big they are!

The Mesclun and Oregano flowers are so pretty. I almost don't want to pull the Mesclun to replant Fall lettuce!

Harvests

It just occurred to me that I should list our harvests to date. I had hoped to take a photo of each harvest. I will try to do better in terms of photos going forward.

Swiss Chard
Romaine Thinnings
Buttercrunch Thinnings
Peas (Approx 4 cups)
Three Hungarian Wax Peppers
One Jalepeno Pepper
Cilantro
Basil
Broccoli Buttons – Sadly, that is all we got! No head grew big enough to speak of.

Our Garden Rules!

I'd like to brag for a minute and say that our garden is the best around that I have seen! Okay, so I only compared it to the community garden plots, and our friend Frankie's, but still, it is just so glorious! I think the main thing that sets it apart is the structure. Its got dimension, layers, different mediums. The brick walkway, the potato box, the tomato pergola-esque staking technique...it breaks up the monotonous rows. What we need now is a bench to sit an enjoy it.

Garden Beauty - Without Trying!

Yesterday, after returning from a weekend in the Poconos with old friends, Kevin and I took stock of the garden progress. Wow! What a difference a day makes! Or in this case, three days, but still a long time in the July garden world. The plants are finally starting to explode with growth. Our yellow wax beans went from flowering to ready to pick. A sampling was excellent!; the carrots are developing nicely - we thinned the rows and got several baby carrots. A fine change from last year when the rabbits/woodchucks ate them all. We have many, many more peppers - hot varieties and bell. The squash is finally on its way. Lettuce is big and we should have plenty of salad for a while.

Note for next year: Kevin suggested only planting small 2 foot rows of lettuce varieties, with more succession plantings. We just cannot keep up with the huge amounts of greens!

All of the mesclun that I haven't been able to bring myself to pull is HUGE and has pretty white and yellow flowers. I'll bet that Mesclun is not a typical choice for its flowers, but it is so nice to look at I think I might even plant it as a border next year. The contrast with the purple oregano flowers is amazing.

I was skeptical of the Marigolds grown from seed. I didn't even think I liked Marigolds. Turns out, they are a fabulous burst of color and a great addition to the garden. We will certainly do these again next year.

I'll get some photographs up here soon. A garden blog is nothing without pictures!

The Neglectful Gardener - Yep, Me.

I am feeling bad about my lack of gardening this year. For some reason I just cannot get into it - mostly because of the awful "Summer" weather. I was also out of town for a long weekend. Regardless, when I arrived at the garden yesterday after a WEEK of not even setting foot inside the gates...well, lets just say I have my work cut out for me now! And I go out of town again tomorrow! It is nearly impossible to locate the cucumbers under all that grass, the tomatoes still badly need to be staked, the mesclun and broccoli have tons of flowers on them (not really the way these things are supposed to look), and the garden path is overgrown.

On a brighter note, we do have tons of peppers, the lettuce is getting nice and big and the carrots are as well. We have some eggplant flowers, a bounty of tomatoes, many beginner green and yellow beans, and a few baby zucchini and squash.

I need to pull the peas and replant, together with some fall spinach and lettuce, and perhaps more broccoli. Kevin did start the staking process for the tomatoes and I was able to do a bit of weeding.

Weeding and Waiting

I spent an hour at the garden last night trying to tame the out of control weeds and also getting eaten alive by the mosquitos. I wish there was something exciting to report. Things look just about the same as they have for the last two weeks - which is strange considering we are in mid July. We don't even have any flowers yet on the zucchini plants! This constant rain (except for yesterday), cool days and cold nights are just not working for me.

Slowly It Grows

Does anyone else feel like the Summer is missing this year? We have yet to have one day in recent memory that is nice from morning to night. It was 52 degrees this morning! And typically, though it is sunny at 4pm, by 6pm it is cloudy, rainy and cold.
The garden is not appreciative.

Flowering Plants

Eating food from the garden is such a pleasure. It's as if you are tasting the food for the first time. After savoring our first picking of garden peas (in a yummy tuna casserole last night), we are anxious for the next round, whatever it may be. It will be a while before the potatoes, beans, and eggplant are ready, but atleast they have started to flower! That is a good sign!

Garden Work

When I first started to mention to people and we were going to start a vegetable garden, we were met with a lot of skeptics. People would say "Oh really, well, a garden is a laaaat of work," spoken with the titled head and tone like a parent would say to a little kid that wants a puppy. In reality, I don't find the actual gardening part to be a tremendous amount of work. Rather, like most things, you get out what you put in. If your idea of a successful garden is a few squash and tomatos, then so be it - these guys will grow regardless of how much (or how little) you weed and feed them. If you want a bountiful harvest of a variety of veggies, it requires a bit more TLC. I think the part of the garden that requires the most actual work is the harvesting, preparing and eating. But that is the best part as well.

Our first harvest (Aside from lettuce):

PEAS!!!

Looking Back...

One year ago, we were enjoying a sunny day in the garden, which seemed to be a lot further along than this year...

Us v. The Rabbits

Despite our best efforts, the rabbits return! We have a fence buried into the ground but apparently some spots are more buried than others. I swear they must case the entire fence searching for a possible opening. The first time they got inside the fence they could not find a way out. They destroyed the interior perimeter and finally found a small opening to take advantage of. This time, they seemed to have it down to a science - in through a hole in the side, out through a hole conveniently right next to the lettuce. They ate most of the Romaine and some of the carrots. And I really want carrots this year! I think it is time to invest in an electric fence.

It's Been Too Long!

Five days without an update. Really, I haven’t been spending nearly enough time in the garden. The holiday weekend was busy with other things (like Margaritas), and of course, there is the rain factor. Thankfully, I have read that the rain problem is not limited to my little garden, but spread all across the northeast.

Nevertheless the vegetables are growing! We finally hilled the potatoes on Sunday – there were no flowers to be seen yet, so I hope we were not too late. And we began to devise a plan for staking the peppers with bamboo stakes and string, but it didn’t pan out too well. And I did a little weeding…much more needed asap.

In terms of food stuffs, we have been sampling the absolutely amazingly delicious shell peas while we wait for enough to ripen to make a meal out of. Kevin does not like peas so he was skeptical of my desire to grow them, but one taste of these beauties and he is hooked now. He said that they tasted just like what his Uncle used to grow. Such sweet treats. We will definitely be growing these again, perhaps as soon as the Fall.

We also tasted some broccoli buttons (at least I think that is what they are called). The heads of broccoli started to separate from tight clusters, got taller and looked stretched out – also were going to flower. So we ate them before they could do so. What is the deal with that? Are we supposed to cover the heads with the leaves?

Garden Humor

A friend of mine sent me this great garden joke:

An old Italian lived alone in New Jersey . He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

Dear Vincent,

I am feeling pretty sad, because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over.. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days.

Love, Papa

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Pop,

Don't dig up that garden. That's where the bodies are buried.

Love,Vinnie

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Pop,

Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.

Love you,Vinnie

Flowers - Wild & Tame

Our walk to the garden includes some gorgeous wildflowers. I would love to dig some up and plant them on the bank behind our house. Kevin is working on creating a very naturalized landscape in that area with perrenials that require minimal maintenance and look like they belong. Besides the wild daisys that sprung up this year, we also have Lupines. I am leaving that project up to him and I know it will be beautiful.
The flowers in the garden are adding a brilliant splash of color to the green foliage. The marigolds all have multiple blooms of reds, yellows, and oranges. The oregano has a very dainty purple flower (sadly I am letting all the herbs flower before I can harvest them as I said I wouldn't). I am still waiting for the Livingston Daisys and Sunflowers to pop.

Volunteer Tomato

Such a nice surprise. Two little tomato plants have sprouted in the area where the tomatoes were planted last year. Will they be beefsteak or cherry? And will they have a chance to produce any fruit? Time will tell!

A Fabulous Garden Day!

The garden is looking fabulous! Kevin and I spent most of yesterday out in the hot sun working, weeding and admiring. I got a wicked sunburn on my back but it was worth it. Its so hard to get a good tan in the garden.

Everything is growing and showing their true colors - I am loving the contrast of all the greens - the bluish broccoli, the yellowish beans, the red beets & swiss card, the cool green lettuces, the dark green peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, and the color splashes from the marigolds. I could just stare at it for hours!



Finally we are getting to work on hilling the potatoes! Kevin built this potato patch of sorts. The plan is for it to be like a big sandbox - only filled with soil and potatoes. We still want to plant more to replace those that didn't sprout - is it too late for this year?

Onions, Broccoli & Beans

Peas Galore!

The peas are so exciting! They are so prolifiq! Do peas continue to flower all summer long or do they just give the one crop? Either way, I am satisfied. We hope to be eating fresh peas next week!

Tomatoes In Pictures!

Top Photo: Roma
Bottom Photo: Jetstar

First Tomatoes!

An awesome discovery in the garden this week! Tomatoes! I couldn’t believe we would get them so early. The plants don’t seem to be big enough yet. But sure enough we have several on each variety – and the JetStar are pretty big! I checked my photos from last year, and the first tomato was found on July 6th. So we almost two weeks ahead of schedule!

Photo Update

Kevin covered the eggplant and pepper beds with a thick layer of black mulch. We hope that this will help to warm up the soil and retain moisture.



Earlier in the season, Kevin made a really simple trellis for the peas. We had planted them along the fence, but not close enough to use it to climb on. Instead, we laid wooden stakes diagonally from the peas to the fence and tied them on with zip ties. Then we wove string around the stakes to create a simple grid. It has worked perfectly.



This is a shot I want to continue to take in stages. Earlier this month, the same photo looked like empty mounds of dirt. Now, we have onions sprouting in the front, cucumbers, zucchini, and squash in the mounds - all growing true leaves. In fact, the zucchini are quite ready to be thinned.



Just another view of the progress to date!

The Prez Likes Him Some Good Eats

When he is not eating from Michelle's White House kitchen garden, check out
"Where Obama Eats", A photo gallery from Life.Com. He is actually showing his eats in a few of these pictures. I cannot get the captions to appear here, so I suggest checking it out on Life.Com directly!

You can look, but you cannot harvest...yet.

Tiny broccoli forming! One of the vegetables I am most excited about this year!



Another newbie for 2009. Cannot wait to taste these shell peas. I wonder how many meals we will actually get out of the 8' row?



The peppers are finally looking acclimated and healthy. I wonder if we should pick the early peppers so that the plant have more energy to produce more.

Community Gardens

I have been monitoring the community garden plots in the city on my lunch hour from work. I don’t know if it is appropriate to take photos since I don’t actually have a plot there...I probably will risk it one of these days.

It is interesting to see what each person decides to plant and how they go about it. You see some plots with just two or three veggies and some who are making real good use of their 17’ x 10’ plot and fitting in a whole slew of things.

Most people are growing a combination of tomatoes, green beans, onions, and/or peppers. There are a few potatoes, a few squash, one herb garden. There is one person growing almost all broccoli and cabbage. One is doing only the three sisters (corn, beans and squash). Some people are using a raised bed type technique, some using various types of mulch, some using different types of staking techniques for the tomatoes.

I like to compare my growth to theirs. The city tends to get better weather than I do, but I think my garden is growing better for the most part. One thing I notice is that some people have little seedlings of peppers, tomatoes and peas right now – seems they might have started a bit late - and no one is staking their peas either. Other people have big flowering beans and I’m jealous of that. Overall though, I think our garden is way cooler.

I'd Rather Be In the Garden Today

This weekend it rained, scratch that, POURED - all of Saturday and a good portion of Sunday. At least we are saving on having to water everything as Mother Nature is doing that for us. But at the same time, plants do enjoy sun every once in a while!

I did get a chance to swing in quickly to check out the progress yesterday – but I did not get to take any photos or do any weeding. I hope to do so tonight if it is not raining. My sister was visiting from Rhode Island. She was very impressed with the garden set up and even more impressed with the fresh basil we used to make Bruschetta. The spicy bush basil will now be a staple in my garden.

The new planting of beans are emerging. (Fingers crossed about no slugs). The peas are blossoming and look really beautiful. We found our first pea pod! The new planting of beets are coming up. The broccoli has tiny heads forming! Even the seed started broccoli in catching up!

Pepper Leaf Problem

A few of the peppers have developed this purple tint...I read that it might be a deficiency of phosphorous. I am not sure what we should add to the soil to remedy this issue. So far, at least, it doesn't seem to be affecting the plants in any negative way, but I wonder if they will still produce.

I am concerned because we have so many bell peppers - but no blooms yet. Only the hot peppers are producing fruit. Do bell peppers just bloom later? Or are they doomed?

Photo Update From 6-12-09

Now, over a week late, I am finally posting some photos that I took last weekend. I hope today to get more recent photos - a week's growth in June can be significant.

Bean Damage:


Continued Growth: