California Gardening: What's up?

[Kouign Aman]

Finally finally put some seeds in the ground last week.

Cantaloupe are sprouting, ditto tomatoes and okra. Beans a bit behind.

Corn is soaking to be planted asap.

Got some volunteer lettuce and a beet too!

The gourds have not sprouted yet.

Need to put in carrots too.

[heidih]

Cucumbers, eggplant and summer squash look good. Tomatoes appear to be flourishing with some green fruit.

[Kouign Aman]

Dog dug up most of the cantalope vines.

First ever lettuce harvest.

The various types:

Edited May 25, 2011 by Kouign Aman (log)

[Kouign Aman]

Thinned the beets once, have to do this again soon. I wonder if we'll get "baby"beets or just skinny red roots at this stage.

One of three lettuces bolted. The others still growing faster than we eat them.

Carrots need to be thinned - we may score some realy baby carrots out of this.

Corn is coming up. The watering system broke - the corn has a struggle.

Okra - did it again. Sprouts gangbusters then withers away.

need to cover the potatoes.

its a garden. life is good.

[Kouign Aman]

Harvested corn - more for the experience. Easier and cheaper at the store, and just as good.

The cherry tomatoes are grand, in 4 colors. Very pretty, very tasty.

Some huge beets. Time to learn how to roast them, no?

Teenytiny carrots - no surprise when they never got thinned! But they are so ... cute.

From my dad's garden = potatoes for the purplest mashed potatoes ever, onions, rhubarb! (pie, at last!).

4 cantaloupe to date (very good and sweet), the eggplants are flowering, the beans are thinking about it, the peppers lost the battle for sun to the tomatoes, but as the tomato plants die off, the peppers are growing. The okra is just praying, for what I do not know. Have tried more sun, less sun, more water, less water. It stays at 4" high and holding.

[Raoul Duke]

Finally the San Marzano type tomato's get good.

[Kouign Aman]

The okra hates me. Its dropped all its leaves with nary a flower.

The japanese eggplant however has been abundant.

Got baby lettuces & radishes coming up now that the cherry tomatoes are done and there's sun to be had on the ground.

Great recipe for a mix of colors of cherry tomatoes - its beautiful.

equal volume cherry tomatoes (halved)

and mozzarella balls

olive oil

lemon juice (2T to 1/4 oil)

fresh basil to taste (quite a lot)

garlic to taste

Puree oil, garlic, basil, lemon juice (bless the stick blender).

Salt to taste, pepper if desired.

Stir in tomato halves and mozzerella.

Good immediately. Better in a couple of hours.

The purple beans were fun. Raw, they are royal purple. Cooked, they are pale green. Tasty too.

I didnt plant green zebra this year, and I miss it. Next year!

[heidih]

Today's high was 94 so I will leave the tomatoes in the hopes they can still ripen on the vine. There is plenty of foliage. The tomato winner was an heirloom called Berkeley Tie Dye. On the eggplant front the Japanese are finishing up and the big globe is struggling to get ripe. The basil, tarragon, thyme, parsley, and mint are all thriving and being enjoyed. Garlic chives have gone to seed - seed collected and ready to plant out over time. Pears and apples are tasty though it is a contest with the squirrels, 'possums and racoons. I started radishes and India mustard. The latter is a lovely sharp salad green when picked young, and a nice cooked green when mature. It also seems to improve the soil. The bonus feature being that the bugs do not care for it.

[Kouign Aman]

Has anyone started this year's garden?

The weirdly warm winter let the 'what the heck' seedling lettuces survive, tho they havent grown a millimeter in the past two months.

[heidih]

I posted about my current growing vegetables in the Gardening 2012 topic here.

[mukki]

Has anyone started this year's garden?

The weirdly warm winter let the 'what the heck' seedling lettuces survive, tho they havent grown a millimeter in the past two months.

No, it's still in the 30s at night up here. Sigh.

[Kouign Aman]

Big Boys and Early Girls are setting fruit!

The rhubarb has sprouted, and the lettuces are adding leaves.

Transplanted the baby loquat tree and it's growing accordingly, while we feast on the neighbor's loquats.

Spring appears to be here.

99Ranch has beautiful mulberries trained to weep over an umbrella shaped trellis. Tempting.

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Edited April 13, 2012 by Kouign Aman (log)

[Raoul Duke]

I'm stoked, pick up tomato, cuke, zucchini & pepper starts at the farmers market tomorrow.

[Kouign Aman]

I succumbed to the pleading of the munchkin and planted two strawberry plants yesterday.

Our neighbor has a year's old strawberry patch, with tiny little wild-like berries. I wonder how she protects it from the gophers and ground squirrels. I had to put ours in a planter.

[Kouign Aman]

There is evidence of tomato pinking!

Also had a couple strawberries come ripe, and inspired our <other> neighbor to plant an entire bed of them much to the munchkin's delight.

Rhubarb is back, and the celery is bolting, which is fascinating to watch (we dont like celery much, so other than a snipping for a taste, its free to go its way).

Its not a great year for our garden - the weather is wonderful, but we didnt get much planted and at this rate we're not likely to.

Edited May 3, 2012 by Kouign Aman (log)

[Kouign Aman]

The strawberries are doing much better than ever I would have guessed - several ready each day.

The volunteer grape tomatoes went mad the past month, and the munchkin is getting her daily dose of eyerolling happiness at their sweetness (this is why I grow food. )

The ornamental hot pepper is covered with bright red, so I'm going to have to think of something to do with them.

[judiu]

The strawberries are doing much better than ever I would have guessed - several ready each day.

The volunteer grape tomatoes went mad the past month, and the munchkin is getting her daily dose of eyerolling happiness at their sweetness (this is why I grow food. )

The ornamental hot pepper is covered with bright red, so I'm going to have to think of something to do with them.

Dig out the plastic gloves and the dehydrater, sweetie! You might want to dry them outside the residence, though ! I don't know how strong the fumes might get!

[Toliver]

The ornamental hot pepper is covered with bright red, so I'm going to have to think of something to do with them.

I agree with judiu.

Are the ornamental peppers edible? If so, are they spicy? My brother grows a variety of chile peppers that he dehydrates, then grinds in a dedicated coffee/spice grinder (grinds them outdoors while wearing eye protectors and a breathing mask). He gives away bottles of the spicy chile flakes as gifts to chileheads for Christmas.

[MRE]

Lots of tomatoes coming in. I tried a new varietal "4th of July" that was true to its name, as I was able to pick the first fruit on the 4th. They're about an inch to inch and a half in diameter, very red, sweet, and flavorful. I like them much better than "Early Girls". Also have some yellow cherry tomatoes coming in great quantities. Everything else (I planted 9 varieties) are just started to show color with only a couple "Better Boys" fully ripened. It's going to be a great August and September. I'm usually able to pick fruit into December.

I planted 3 Japanese varietals of eggplant and all are producing nicely. Both my gold and dark green zuchinnis are abundant, and my English cucumbers are starting come in strong too. All of that, along with the tomatoes screams ratatoullie to me, and that's what we had for dinner the other night.

My Rainbow Chard made it throught the winter, bolted in the spring, so I cut the plants down, but didn't pull them out. They've been producing a lot of nice, tender second growth shoots that are really flavorful. I'll pull the plants in fall and start new ones for next year.

Tried the Japanese green, Mizuna this year, and the plants took off like crazy. I could barely harvest it fast enough. Made a lot of nice slads with it, and my wife who is half Japanese and works for a Japanese company shared the abundance of greens with her delighted coworkers. They benefit a lot from the bounty of our garden every year. We benefit by getting fresh eggs, honey, and fruits from their's.

All of my herbs: rosemary, thyme, tarragon, spearmint, garlic chives, chives, marjoram, and shiso do well. The basil for some reason has flopped. Fortunately a friend had a bumper crop and so I was able to make a large batch of pesto.

Tried some anise seeds this year for the first time. They're growing, but don't really seem to be thriving.

Somewhere amongst the leaves and weeds there are some red onions growing, and also some Yukon Gold potatoes that come back every year since I always miss some when I dig them up.

[Kouign Aman]

Tomatoes still ripening, especially the grape variety.

Got a surprise plant which is working on giving us a sizeable pumpkin, strawberries still setting new fruit.

Hoping I can get a mango tree to start from seed.

[Toliver]

Tomatoes still ripening, especially the grape variety.

Got a surprise plant which is working on giving us a sizeable pumpkin, strawberries still setting new fruit.

Hoping I can get a mango tree to start from seed.

You're so fortunate to still have tomatoes. My mom is in Santee and her four potted tomato plants from this season are nothing but a memory now. I have a brother living in Kearny Mesa that grew the biggest, ugliest heirlooms (all in pots) this season that were the best tomatoes I've ever tasted. Meaty with hardly any goop.

My oldest brother, who lives on Mission Bay, still has some growing. He staggered his plantings this year to make the tomato season last longer.

Enjoy! And your strawberries sound like miracles so far out of season.