Gardening: (2016– )

[Shelby]

I've long said I was going to grind up some of the wheat but I've never gotten around to it.  

[HungryChris]

I find the early morning hours to be the best for simple cultivation with the garden hoe and this morning was no exception. Using the row of soon to be picking lettuce as a reference, in front of that is a row of bush beans just emerging and up against the fence in the foreground are sugar snaps just starting to climb the fence. Just beyond the lettuce is zucchini. Just past that you can make out the next crop of lettuce (red leaf) just forming a row.

 

Up against the fence to the left, are my shishito peppers (still quite small) and to the right are an assortment of red bell, jalapeno and habaneros and yes, green bell haters,  there are some green bells as well (we both like stuffed peppers on occasion.

 

Assorted tomatoes, I put in a few extra for fried green tomatoes, a taste we both acquired in NOLA.

Here is a row of pickling cukes.

Here is what I call the auxiliary cucumber patch up against the house. Lifting that big rock to the bottom

left is what caused me to need dethatched retina eye surgery.

 The garden fence is something that I put up each season, because it is not unusual for deer to wander through the yard. Here is my little orchard. One morning I looked out the window to see three deer, two of which had both their front feet up in the pear tree in the foreground.

 

Edited June 4, 2017 by HungryChris (log)

[kayb]

I must get out today and take some pictures in my garden. I have a horde of green tomatoes, and many squash blooms. Need to take up all the lettuce, dig all the carrots and radishes, and plant the pole beans and okra behind them. Also need to replant the melons, which the caterpillars ate.

[Jacksoup]

A row of squash, zucchini, yellow crookneck and butternut.    Then more basil.  Various tomatos, mostly Roma and beefsteak.  The yellow cherry tomatos have had a lot of growth.  It's finally getting warm here.

[Shelby]

My first ever beets   And some squash.  Would have had a zucchini but Chum ate it --and ripped two plants up while she was at it.  Sigh.  

 

[rotuts]

@Shelby 

 

those beets look good !

 

seem large for the date

 

are you using 8 x on you jogs?

 

very nice in the iPot , P.Steam  and cut into 1/4's or so

 

but very nice in the CSB   

 

Id peel first for the CSB

[Shelby]

3 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@Shelby 

 

those beets look good !

 

seem large for the date

 

are you using 8 x on you jogs?

 

very nice in the iPot , P.Steam  and cut into 1/4's or so

 

but very nice in the CSB   

 

Id peel first for the CSB

I'm so excited to eat them!  I'll probably do them in the IP .....  

 

They are probably bigger because Ronnie started the plants in the greenhouse a couple months ago and then we transplanted them.  

[rotuts]

if you get any more

 

consider the CSB as a comparison.

[Shelby]

Just now, rotuts said:

if you get any more

 

consider the CSB as a comparison.

Ok will do.  I have a lot more that I planted directly by seed that should be ready in a month or so.  I think I'm going to try to can some in my pressure canner.

[blue_dolphin]

Those beet and beet greens look beautiful, @Shelby! 

 

35 minutes ago, Shelby said:

 I have a lot more that I planted directly by seed that should be ready in a month or so.

My very favorite thing is the little beet plants that get pulled up to thin the rows with little grape-sized (or smaller) beets.  You can sauté the greens in butter with the little beets attached and they are so good!

Edited June 7, 2017 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Not sure if it belongs here - but enjoying an hour or two outside before I have to head off to work.

 

 

Iris are doing well this time of year

[Thanks for the Crepes]

6 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Not sure if it belongs here - but enjoying an hour or two outside before I have to head off to work.

 

Hostas are edible for humans, so of course it belongs. 

[chromedome]

Son of a gun. I never knew that...looking forward to next spring, now. Plenty of hostas around the house, I could certainly sacrifice a few nice young shoots without making a dent in them. 

[TicTac]

Great looking gardens all.

 

One person mentioned morning times and cultivation - one thing I learned fairly recently is that mornings are the best time to harvest as well - especially things like lettuces and tomatoes, they are at their crispest/juiciest then.

 

So far, our little humble front yard garden has (and will only have this year, due to space limitations - though this front yard bed is a bit of a test....):

 

9 Tomatoes (variety of heirlooms)

2 Jalapeno

2 Poblano

2 Serrano

2 types of Cukes

2 types of beans

Random leeks thrown in to use up space

 

We also have lettuces and arugula (and herbs) in pots. 

 

Nothing like fresh picked lettuce and spring garlic dressing.

Edited June 8, 2017 by TicTac (log)

[dcarch]

42 minutes ago, TicTac said:

one thing I learned fairly recently is that mornings are the best time to harvest

 

Mosquitoes are less active in the morning.

 

dcarch 

[dcarch]

44 minutes ago, TicTac said:

So far, our little humble front yard garden has (and will only have this year, due to space limitations - though this front yard bed is a bit of a test....):

 

Many cities have local ordinances, codes against front yard "farming".

 

dcarch

[TicTac]

1 hour ago, dcarch said:

 

Many cities have local ordinances, codes against front yard "farming".

 

dcarch

I hadn't bothered to check to be honest.  They better not mess with my green zebras!!

 

 

[KennethT]

Mornings are also best for harvest as the produce has the highest water content, before the heat and sun pull moisture out.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

The light was pretty just after sunset so I went out on my balcony to take some pictures:

 

 

Eggplant flowers, rosemary and mint.

 

 

 

 

Grape arbor.  The sun had set down here where I am, but it was still shining on the mountain.  Three hundred and some foot elevation difference -- which in New Jersey we call a mountain.  Actually the mountain is a quite dramatic lava intrusion largely obscured in summer by the foreground maples.  One reason I love to live here.

 

But no grapes.

 

[Shelby]

Ya'll.  I am beside myself with excitement.  My first ever green beans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[kayb]

The garden is progressing apace, as is the grass within it (the straw didn't work as well as I'd hoped to keep grass down), due to the amount of rain we've had. Despite the face it needs a good hoeing, the veggies appear to be coming along nicely.

 

Squash blossoms:

 

Peas, which need to be picked today but will likely wait until tomorrow:

 

 

Tomatoes appear to be starting out what may be a bumper crop. I probably have two dozen green ones of varying varieties, along with lots and lots of cherry tomatoes.

 

 

Should have ripe ones by  next weekend, I'd think.

 

I decided against using the landscape fabric to keep weeds and grass down. I will definitely use it next year. The straw, which I thought would work wonderfully, isn't; it's hard to walk on, and it doesn't really keep the weeds down, either. 

 

Didn't take pics of the front herb bed, but they're growing luxuriantly directly in the soil. Will probably make pesto next week, and may make some mint chutney, as the mint is going bonkers, as mint has a tendency to do. Everything else is thriving as well.

 

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, kayb said:

The garden is progressing apace, as is the grass within it (the straw didn't work as well as I'd hoped to keep grass down), due to the amount of rain we've had. Despite the face it needs a good hoeing, the veggies appear to be coming along nicely.

 

Squash blossoms:

 

Peas, which need to be picked today but will likely wait until tomorrow:

 

 

Tomatoes appear to be starting out what may be a bumper crop. I probably have two dozen green ones of varying varieties, along with lots and lots of cherry tomatoes.

 

 

Should have ripe ones by  next weekend, I'd think.

 

I decided against using the landscape fabric to keep weeds and grass down. I will definitely use it next year. The straw, which I thought would work wonderfully, isn't; it's hard to walk on, and it doesn't really keep the weeds down, either. 

 

Didn't take pics of the front herb bed, but they're growing luxuriantly directly in the soil. Will probably make pesto next week, and may make some mint chutney, as the mint is going bonkers, as mint has a tendency to do. Everything else is thriving as well.

 

Looking good!

 

In years past we used to lay down newspaper under the straw and that worked pretty well.

[Toliver]

3 hours ago, kayb said:

Didn't take pics of the front herb bed, but they're growing luxuriantly directly in the soil. Will probably make pesto next week, and may make some mint chutney, as the mint is going bonkers, as mint has a tendency to do. Everything else is thriving as well.

Mint...planted in the ground? 

You're not worried it will take over your garden?

[kayb]

2 hours ago, Toliver said:

Mint...planted in the ground? 

You're not worried it will take over your garden?

It may well. I thought I'd give it a whirl. Can always dig it up this fall and move it to a pot.

 

 

[chromedome]

14 hours ago, kayb said:

It may well. I thought I'd give it a whirl. Can always dig it up this fall and move it to a pot.

 

 

Hmm. I did that when I bought my house in the 90s. By the end of the second summer it had extended to the neighbour's yard, and had colonized most of the lower part of mine. Admittedly, I'd been incautious enough to plant it in a place where the soil stayed damp because of the hillside's natural drainage. If you're in a dry climate (I don't remember your location) you might get away with it.