Waiting

I have a mish mosh of stuff growing in the garden currently. Tomatoes, melons, eggplants, brussel sprouts, beets, scallions, and parsnips. I've torn up three tomato plants that weren't looking like they were going to do anything and that I didn't get much from to begin with. I only got two tomatoes each from the Cherokee Purple and Large Barred Boar plants and none, zero, zilch from the Berkeley Tie Dye. Very disappointing. The sun gold is still going strong and the Juliet is also still producing a little.

Sun golds 

The three newer tomato plants look healthy and the Beefmaster actually has 4 tomatoes growing now that it's cooler.

Beefmasters

Not sure if I'll get anything from the other two since it's so late in the year and is starting to cool. But I'll still give them a little longer to see what happens. There are 3 charentais melons  growing and I hope the cooler weather doesn't kill them.  The honeydew is flowering but no actual melons yet. The eggplant has some flowers but I'm starting to think none will become an actual eggplant. However, the cooler weather is making the brussel sprouts very happy and I've  had really good germination with the beets, scallions, and parsnips so that is all promising.

Lots of brussel sprout plants

The dirt between the beets is still fairly soft as evidenced by my bigfoot style print

Parsnips are looking good

Not sure what I will plant once I have more space, probably another type of beet and some sort of greens, at least. 

The Beet Sprouts Have Sprung

This is a section of the Ruby Queen beets I sowed last Saturday.

Ruby Queen beet sprouts

All four rows are germinating nicely though I will definitely have to thin. I promise myself that I will be better about thinning this fall. I definitely learned my lesson last year. Luckily the sprouts are delicious in salads and will not go to waste.

Eggplant Blossom

The first, and hopefully not last, eggplant flower!

Eggplant flower

I hope it becomes an actual eggplant. May even do a little hand fertilizing when it's bigger to increase the chances. I'm seeing new growth coming in, too, and hope that more flowers are on their way. I'm wondering if it has just been too hot for the plant.

Recent Sowing

This past Saturday, I sowed seeds for beets, parsnips, and scallions in some vacant areas of the garden. I was very surprised, and happy, to see lots of little red beet sprouts sticking up when I did my evening soaking today since it's only been 4 days. The soil and my watering must be perfect for germination right now. I hope the scallion and parsnip seeds are as happy.

I still have tomatoes trying to grow on some the 5 older/bigger plants but they're not doing all that well and one has not given me one damn tomato! (Shakes fist at Berkeley Tie Dye plant.) The three newer tomato plants look healthier and are flowering so I hope they produce. Perhaps the still warm yet not 100 degree weather will agree with them. There are also two kinds of melons that seem to be doing ok. One of them has a promising blossom that I hope becomes a melon as it will be the first out of the plants in front or back. There is also finally a flower on the eggplant which I really hope gets germinated and becomes an actual eggplant. There are quite a few young brussel sprouts plants that got badly attacked by cabbage worms but I think I eradicated them as I haven't seen any more, but will continue to check to make sure.

Large Barred Boar & Cherokee Purple

Well, the other day I harvest two small heirlooms, a Large Barred Boar (that wasn't very large at all) and a Cherokee Purple. I've been watching them and hoping they'd get bigger but they seemed to grow to a small size, pause, and then, finally ripen.

I also harvested the Juliets and one lone Sun Gold that were ready and placed them all together for size comparison of the "big" tomatoes.

4 varieties of tomatoes

Close up of the Large Barred Boar & Cherokee Purple

Tonight I sliced them both so we could try them. The Boar was a little tangy and the Cherokee had a nice deep tomato flavor. I hope the plants produce more; there are no signs of any more growing on either bush. Hopefully we're out of the 100 degree heat and they'll start producing again.

Sliced and ready to eat

Some of What's Growing

Took some pictures of various things growing in the back garden and out in the front yard.

Herbs

Yummy basil

Sage

Tomatoes

Juliet 

Cherokee Purple

Large Barred Boar

Melons

Charentais in the garden

Charentais out front

Galia, seeds from a delicious store bought melon

 Pumpkins

Jack o Lantern

Sugar Pie

 Okra

Red Okra

Juliet Tomatoes

Pulled this handful of Juliet tomatoes today. Accidentally knocked off a green one in the process. Hoping it will ripen on the counter.

Juliet tomatoes

These and the Sun Golds are the only tomatoes I've been able to eat so far. The Sun Golds rarely even make it in the house due to being so damn tasty. 

I think I posted about the Cherokee Purple and Large Barred Boar having fruit that "stalled" during the growing process. Well, they finally started to ripen after I started using MiracleGro, but they still didn't look right so I pulled them so the plant would stop expending energy into them. There are two new Boars and one Cherokee growing so hopefully all will be well with those. Still waiting on the first fruit to form on the Berkeley Tie Dye.

Not much happening

Haven't been posting much since there is not much to report. Mostly waiting on stuff to grow. I picked up 3 more tomato varieties on the 4th and got them in the ground along with a couple of eggplants and a couple habanero plants. I also picked up a basil plant. Third time's the charm, right? I kept this one out of the garden in a pot and it's looking good so far.

I've been able to harvest a few Sun Gold & Juliet tomatoes a couple times but nothing from the bigger varieties. The sun golds are so sweet I wish I had planted two of them. Next year. I picked the ones below this past Sunday.

Sun Gold & Juliet

The other tomato plants that had started growing fruit, the Large Barred Boar and Cherokee Purple, seemed to have stagnated. The 4 fruit just did not get any bigger or ripen. This, and seeing a friend's big bushy plants, made me decide to start using MiracleGro. I have to say, the plants look a bit fuller and there is more fruit coming in so I'm glad I did it. Now, hopefully they will mature and ripen like they are supposed to. Still waiting for the first fruit to appear on the Berkeley Tie Dye but at least it has started flowering so that's promising.

The royal purple bush beans are growing nicely and I had a nice germination rate so I have high hopes for a nice yield.

I have sowed corn twice in two different spots and just did not get good results. I'm probably going to end up turning in both areas as I need them as there just aren't enough plants for the amount of space they're in. I know corn needs other plants to germinate and the area just isn't promising.

I pulled up the last of the small onions and have been using them for various things. I will definitely be better about thinning next time I do onions.

I plan on getting some brussel sprout plants in the ground this month. Yum.

My housemate dug up a big ugly bush in the front yard and has sowed melon, okra, and 2 kinds of pumpkins in a nice space by the driveway. She also added a few basil plants, a couple of tomatoes, and a serano pepper plant. The more food growing, the better!

Non-Green Tomatoes

Some of the smaller tomatoes are starting to ripen. Can't wait to start munching on them.

Juliet cluster

Sun Gold cluster

Pitiful Potato Harvest

I pulled up my red potatoes today. And got a whopping 10 1/8 oz worth of potatoes out of 4 plants.

Red potato harvest

Grr. I had a really small Yukon Gold harvest, too. I'm not sure what the problem was. I don't think the plants were too crowded or close together. I''m wondering if maybe the ground was too hard for them to properly spread roots and grow, but it was soft and freshly tilled when I planted and all the dirt I used for hilling was also soft. During the growing process, only one plant flowered, and only a couple blossoms at that. Something was definitely amiss. Will have to do some research and see what I can change next year for a better yield.

Tomatoes

I'm happy to report that there is fruit on 4 out of 5 of the tomato plants. The Berkeley Tie Dye has still yet to flower. The Cherokee Purple has been dropping blossoms like crazy but I finally saw the first fruit today so I'm hoping to see less blossoms drop. The others are coming along nicely. I've found 3 fruits on the Large Barred Boar and both of the smaller varieties, Juliet & Sun Gold, have multiple clusters going.

First Cherokee Purple fruit

A couple of  of the first Large Barred Boars

One of the Juliet clusters

One of the Sun Gold clusters

May's current crop

Well, there is less variety in the garden than when I posted April's current crop. Especially after today's pulling of the purple bush beans, gold beets, eggplant, mint, and strawberries. I'm most bummed about the eggplant; it never grew at all. The bush beans were coming on strong, but dried up and died. I may try those again in a different spot. The gold beets were also stunted and never really produced. The mint and strawberries I pulled both came from my friend across the country and did not take.

I also harvested all of the small red onions since they were starting to die and stop growing. They're small and will be tasty mixed in to something.

Small red onions

Current breakdown is 7 different vegetables and 5 herbs: pole beans, potatoes (red and Yukon gold), tomatoes (5 varieties, one of which has still yet to flower), onions (white & yellow), corn (2 varieties), chard, lettuce (2 varieties), and the herbs mint, sage, oregano, chives & chamomile.

The Cherokee Purple tomato is growing tons of blossoms but it has also been dropping them instead of them dying off and forming into fruit. I hope that changes.

Cherokee Purple tomato

I intended to sow honeydew melon today but the ground is too hard so I'm giving it a good soak to till up tomorrow. I am also going to extend the corn area as it looks like there will only be 9 plants but I will need to harvest about half of the onions to do so. I should probably go back out and soak that area so I can work it tomorrow too.

Early Sunglow corn 2 weeks after sowing

The Yukon gold plants are dying off and I will probably harvest them one night this week. Can't wait to see the full crop of them, I hope it's decent!

Onions and tomatoes

I harvested this mix of young onions today. I am going to roast them up tomorrow night and will probably add some of the smaller green onions already in the fridge.

Small white and yellow onions

It's been 4 weeks since I put in the tomato plants. The Juliet has lots of flowers and these two fruits are the first of all the tomatoes. 

Juliet tomatoes forming

The state of today's garden

Some of the corn is coming up. Seems to be mostly Early Sunglow. Hopefully the Jubilee just takes a bit longer to germinate. It's only been 6 days so I'm not too worried, yet.

My purple bush bean plants are dying. They came up really well but have totally dried out and are just not looking good. I think I may pull them and resow them somewhere else.

The eggplant starter I planted at the same time as the tomatoes has not grown, at all, so I don't have very high hopes for it.

The red mustard went crazy and tons of flowers shot up. Pulled both plants up and pulled the tender leaves for a salad. The rest will be going to a friend for her bunnies. The lettuces also all got really tall.

I found a bunch of ants on the chard plants but only up top where it's starting to seed. Weird. I think I may cut the chard back in hopes it grows up again.

The Yukon gold plants are starting to die which is a good thing as it means it's almost time to harvest. Red potato plants still look pretty healthy.

The most exciting news: found two small fruits on the Juliet tomato plant. It's got a bunch of nice flower clusters.   The Berkeley Tie Dye is still the only one that hasn't flowered yet, but is growing and looking healthy.

Baby red potatoes!

I have been dying to go digging around for potatoes and my curiosity finally got the better of me today. With a little bit of digging, I found these two little guys. I didn't want to go crazy, so left it at that for now.

First red potatoes

Such a lovely color all cleaned up.  

Pretty red potato skins

 They tasted fabulous. I just dropped them in boiling water for a little while to soften them up and then sprinkled with salt. They were so creamy and flavorful like that. I can't wait for more of them! 

Corn is in the ground

Today I pulled up the row of dying Alaska pea plants to make way for the corn. There was also a row of leeks in the area that I harvested. They're small but I'm sure will be mighty tasty when I use them later this week.

After hand tilling the soil and adding some compost and starter mix, I sowed three rows of corn. I did a mix of Early Sunglow and Golden Jubilee. I did this because there is a few weeks difference in maturity which means more corn over a longer period of time.

Soon to be corn

I envision a block of 9-12 plants here, depending on how they come up and their spacing. I'm hoping to plant some melon at the corners or wherever there is space to be the ground cover. I had thought about doing the "three sisters" method with corn, beans, and squash but I think I will just do corn & melon if it will work out.

Buddy, the garden helper

My garden is fenced in so the dogs do not trample upon or pee on it. However, I allowed my 2 month old foster puppy, Buddy, to keep me company when I got him because I figured his light weight couldn't do much damage. Fast forward 3 months and Buddy, aka Sgt TJ "Woodchuck" Chopper is now 5 months old and weighs a bit more, 35 lbs at last weighing a couple weeks ago. He is quite leggy now, as is my rainbow chard.

Rainbow chard & foster puppy Buddy

He kind of knows the ok places to walk and not, but still has his puppy moments. However, there have been a few recent times I have accepted his help digging when I turn in an area for a new planting or sowing. Maybe I can teach him to sniff out and destroy weeds while he's still here. ;-)

Out with the peas, in with the beans

I will be pulling the Alaska peas this weekend. As you can see, they're about done with a good run. Really loved the peas but next time I will plant at least twice as many so I can really make something of substance  like I was able to with the same amount of snap pea plants.

End of harvest Alaska peas

This is the largest Royal Purple bush bean 77 days after sowing. It's only about a foot tall and I'm not sure if those purple pods are  some beans forming already. The other 8 or so plants are about half the size.

Royal Purple bush bean

Flowering plants

I was happy to see these flowers in the garden when I got home from work today.

This is the Juliet plant. The only other tomato that has blossoms forming so far is the Cherokee Purple, but nothing's opened yet.

Juliet tomato flower

I'm not sure that I have ever seen a red potato flower before. It's very pretty and I can't wait until the plants are covered in them. No sign of blossoms on the Yukon Golds yet.

Red potato flower

Basil Challenged

I seem to be basil challenged. I have tried growing it twice and both times the plants died. Both were starter plants, one the "traditional" kind of basil and this last one I pulled up yesterday was "pesto perfect basil" with a nice lemony scent. I have other herbs in the area I planted them that are thriving. I wonder if my soil is not good for basil or if I've just gotten "bad" plants. Both were from different vendors. I won't give up, though, I really want some fresh basil to go with all the tomatoes I'll have soon! I should talk to the knowledgeable folks at the local nursery and see what they think before/when I buy the next plant. I wouldn't think basil would be difficult, but for me, it is.

Lots of lettuce

My company had a potluck BBQ today. Last night I harvested roughly 2 "heads" of leaf lettuce to contribute for burgers and tacos.

Black Seeded Simpson & Red Sail

Goodbye for now, parsnips

Pulled up, and ate, the last of the parsnips today. I think the red potato plants will be happy; they will get a little more afternoon sun.

Last of the parsnips

I will definitely be growing parsnips again. I found them easy to get a good harvest from. Most of the seeds came up, the roots were sweet and tender. Very happy with them especially considering what bad luck I've had with carrots. Only thing I need to do is do more thinning so the roots are able to get bigger. I had a tendency to overseed then not thin aggressively enough my first go-round.

Potato Progress

It's been about 9 weeks since I planted Yukon Gold and red potato quarters. All 8 of them came up and seem to be doing great. I planted the quarter pieces in little trenches and did my first hilling about a week and a half ago. For some reason I have been looking forward to the hilling process ever since I first read about it in my Vegetable Gardening for Dummies book so I was very excited when the plants were tall enough to do it. I will probably do another hilling in a week or two depending on how quickly they grow.

When I was in the garden last night, I noticed one of the red plants already has some blossoms. Kind of surprised me to see it so soon, but I take it as a good sign!

Red Potato blossoms forming

Final Snap Pea Harvest

The snap pea plants have been yielding nice weekly harvests for about two months now. But I think they've about run their course. Got a nice harvest from them this evening that I think will be the last because the plants are turning yellow and drying up. There will probably be a few small snacking pods when I pull the plants up this weekend. I think the Alaska peas will produce for a few more weeks and then it will probably be time to pull those up too.

Snap peas with some Alaska pods mixed in

Oh, and the little off-color pod towards the upper right of the picture is a dried Alaska pod with 4 nice seeds. Going to hold on to that for future sowing.

April's current Crop

As of today, there are 14 different vegetables, 7 herbs, and strawberries growing in the garden. I was surprised by the tally when I took a count the other day.

Vegetables: beans (pole and bush), potatoes (Yukon gold & red), parsnips, onions (Walla Walla, sweet & red), scallions, leeks, carrots, peas (snap & Alaska), chard, lettuce (red & green leaf), red mustard, tomatoes (3 heirloom varieties and 2 snacking/salad kinds), eggplant, and gold beets. 

Herbs: mint (2 kinds), basil, chamomile, oregano, thyme, sage, and chives. 

Why, hello there, Blogger

I decided to finally start a blog to track my garden progress; successes, failures, what I've learned, how it's going, what I make with the goodies. This way I won't have to bombard people on Facebook with more info than they want to know and those who are interested can come here. Not to say I won't keep posting pictures now and then there either, of course. I will probably go through and post pictures and thoughts from October through the present to keep an accurate timeline of everything.