It's Not Work, It's Gardening!: vegetables

Showing posts with label vegetables. Show all posts

Showing posts with label vegetables. Show all posts

Thinking about veggies

>> Monday, February 22, 2016 – bamboo, overwintering, pond, vegetables

A taste of Spring this weekend had me taking a look at the veggie garden last Thursday, as I thought it would be an ideal time to get some seeds into the ground. Before planting though, it was time to review what was already here.

I think I might need to rename this area -- which I currently call the "veggie garden" -- to "The Shambles". Much more appropriate right now with its falling-down fence and general horrible appearance.

Quick, like a Band-Aid

>> Wednesday, June 18, 2014 – kale, vegetables

I'm talking about my veggie beds, where I always let crops linger too long. I really should remove things as soon as I'm finished harvesting, but I let them stay, hoping for extended production. In this specific case I'm talking about my kale, which I planted last autumn, overwintered, and was rewarded with a springtime bounty.

Kale is fantastic in the spring, and overwintered plants get huge so fast. With no pests around (other than possibly some aphids) you get loads of pristine leaves too! But eventually the time comes when the plants start to fizzle and must be removed.

Veggie garden update

>> Thursday, May 1, 2014 – edibles, vegetables

This is my favorite time of year in the veggie garden! Cool temperatures mixed with warm (or hot) days, plenty of rain (hold the hail please!) and not too many insects yet make the edibles such a pleasure to tend.

My last look at these beds was almost exactly a month ago, when I planted many of the seedlings. What a difference a month makes!

Protecting my winter crops

>> Sunday, November 24, 2013 – kale, overwintering, vegetables

We've had one really cold night in St. Louis so far, when it dipped down to 16ºF (-9ºC) ten days ago. It didn't stay that cold of course, and we even had a record high temperature of 80ºF since that cold night, but cold is coming again.

(I'm struggling on what tense to use here, as the photos were taken yesterday before the cold arrived, but I'm writing it in the morning when it's 13ºF/-10ºC). It was forecast to get down to 10ºF (-12ºC) so I'm not too upset about 13ºF. Back on point: I had to spend some time yesterday getting my cold-loving winter vegetables covered.

Observations of, but not limited to, tomatoes

>> Sunday, October 13, 2013 – caterpillar, vegetables, vines

Just some quick observations made in the garden yesterday, starting with tomatoes.

Overall, I'm quite happy with the tomato harvest this year. We only eat them fresh, as there's never enough to freeze or can. I have to pick early, before critters get their teeth or beaks into the fruit.

Veggie Bed Refresh

>> Friday, October 11, 2013 – cleanup, vegetables

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I posted that I wasn't really feeling the love for the garden, and that I had no real desire to get out there because it was in a bit of a state? Well, it turns out that it only took a couple of little projects to change my attitude, and the first of them was my veggie beds.

They got really overgrown during the time we were on the roadtrip, the two very hot weeks after, and the following two weeks of travel -- so bad in fact that I cringed whenever I caught sight of them. So about 10 days ago I decided enough was enough and I had to do some cleanup.

Lemon Cucumber

>> Monday, August 12, 2013 – vegetables

This heirloom lemon cucumber is such a pretty thing!

Too bad it didn't grow in my garden -- it was given to me by Jack at this month's meet-up at the Schlafly Gardenworks.

Chard, so pretty

>> Sunday, May 19, 2013 – edibles, foliage, vegetables

The Swiss chard in my garden has been a big success this year! Both of my plantings of it overwintered, I've gotten many harvests out of it, and its added such a lush look to the garden.

Most of all though, it's so pretty!

Veggie Bed Update

>> Tuesday, April 30, 2013 – edibles, kale, vegetables

I noticed this past weekend that although there is still a lot of work to do around the garden, and lots of plants are just barely starting to emerge, certain areas are looking quite good. For instance, the veggie garden.

It's not just quite good -- it's amazing, at least by my standards (I've had some trouble growing edibles in the past).

Chard

>> Friday, April 5, 2013 – overwintering, vegetables

Last year was the first I ever grew swiss chard in my garden, and I have to say that it's probably here to stay. Beautiful, nutritious, tolerant of heat -- it just did so well for me.

I can now add "quite tolerant of cold" to its list of attributes, as my chard plants overwintered with just a thin frost blanket covering them all winter. I didn't know how they'd fare this way, but it's time to find out.

Spring greens

>> Monday, February 11, 2013 – kale, overwintering, vegetables

If you ask me what my weakest area in the garden is, where I show the least amount of skill, I'd have to say that's the veggie garden. I'm just not too good with edibles for whatever reason. Perhaps some of it is out of my hands as the trees limit the amount of sunlight in my small veggie patch. A good part of it is down to me though, in the form of soil prep, watering, and general diligence.

I'm also bad at timing. Getting the cold-tolerant (and cold-loving) plants into the garden early enough has always been a problem for me. Not this year though. This year I've got a great head start.

Unexpected

>> Monday, November 19, 2012 – vegetables

I didn't plant squash this year. My small veggie garden just doesn't have the room for it. I did plant butternut squash one year and it essentially covered the entire fenced area of my veggie beds. I got great squash but couldn't grow anything else. So I haven't planted it again since then.

It turns out that I was growing squash this year though. A volunteer butternut squash plant grew outside the fence this year and added a fair amount of beauty to this part of the garden. I let it grow because of this and to test if the deer and other herbivores took advantage of it. They didn't as far as I can tell -- maybe a couple of nibbles but nothing significant.

potato dig

>> Tuesday, October 16, 2012 – pots, potting mix, vegetables

This is the first year I've ever tried growing potatoes. From what I read it's a dead-simple crop to grow, and many people grow them in pots or bags -- perfect for me since I didn't have space in my small veggie beds for them.

They seemed like they were doing quite well this summer, with decent foliage and flowers, but not having any previous experience I didn't know for sure. As most of the foliage had faded by now, it was potato harvest time this weekend. Let's see how it went...

Fall garden envy

>> Sunday, October 7, 2012 – foliage, vegetables

Yesterday was the first Saturday of the month, which means it was time for the informal gathering of gardeners at Schlafly Gardenworks. It's always so inspirational to visit this well-tended urban edibles garden, but I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't have gone. So jealous!

It was bad enough seeing their quite lush summer garden while mine struggled with the heat and not enough water, but at least I could tell myself that they had more time to spend and were able to turn on the sprinklers more often. Now though, what's my excuse?

A little veggie garden love

>> Wednesday, September 26, 2012 – autumn, cleanup, kale, planting, vegetables

I've been planning on working on my fall veggie garden for a few weeks now. I started some plants in trays a month or more ago, and they've been ready to bite into some soil for a while -- my other projects have been getting in the way though.

This past weekend when I bought a load of compost and manure for the new front planting beds, I got enough for the veggie beds too -- no more delays! As is evident in the above photo (and the next few) I've been neglecting this for a while.

two harvests, in a way

>> Saturday, September 8, 2012 – butterfly bush, seeds, vegetables

As summer ends, the time for fall harvests quickly approaches. I wouldn't say that I have "crops" to harvest, as my garden isn't large enough to qualify for that. I do have plants that are producing though, like it or not. I'll take a look at two today -- think of it as fall garden preseason.

The first is a plant that I never want to produce anything but blooms: the Buddleia or "butterfly bushes".

Rat's tail radish

>> Thursday, August 9, 2012 – seeds, vegetables

I love trying new plants each year -- especially in the veggie garden -- and this year one of the new ones is "Rat's Tail" radish. This edible podded radish doesn't produce much of a tuber, but its pods pack the same spicy punch as the traditional rooting radishes.

The main difference: whereas root radishes turn woody and terrible once they flower, this is one radish that you want to bolt and start producing seed pods!

It's orange day

>> Monday, July 23, 2012 – vegetables

I noticed something when looking at the kitchen counter the other day: recent harvests have been quite orange!

This isn't some weird side effect of the heat, it's just the way these varieties grow.

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For instance this heirloom cucumber: Poona Kheera.

It starts out yellow, then ripens to this rich orangey brown color. Looks like something is wrong with it, but it's quite delicious, and not at all bitter even when it ripens to this extent -- I should have picked it earlier, but I didn't know it was out there.

This is the first year I'm growing it, and I think it's a winner.

Next up:

This is a tomato called 'Tangerine'.

I wonder how it got that name (he asks sarcastically)? It certainly is delicious and very orange. It does not taste of tangerines.

And because I felt like I needed a third orange item to satisfy the rules of composition (and fairy tales):

I found a marigold bloom that hasn't yet faded. I thought marigolds were almost bulletproof, but mine have been struggling. Not sure what to do about that.

Now that I think about it I should have grabbed a zucchini or squash bloom instead, as that would have fit the theme better.

But that's my trio of orange. I hope your garden is surprising you this summer!

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beauty, touched with white

>> Monday, July 16, 2012 – fruit, vegetables

Not much to say this morning.

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Eggplant 'Rosa Blanca'

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My trouble with zucchini

>> Tuesday, July 10, 2012 – vegetables

Although I tried growing zucchini in the past, this is only the second year that I've seriously grown it as an experienced gardener. Although I'm not super-crazy about this squash, it's the promise of huge yields that attracts me. I've heard stories of people trying to give away zucchini, leaving bags of the dark green beauties on neighbors' doorsteps.

I don't know if I'll ever be counted among the ranks of those with more zucchini than they know what to do with. In fact, I wasn't even sure that I'd be included in the group of people who have ever grown a single zucchini -- until now.

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Last year I had two zucchini plants, and neither produced any fruits, and both eventually died. The one in the above photo was planted out first this year, and appears to be headed along the same path as last year's plants.

I think that squash vine borers are the problem here, but I can't be sure. The stems split and crack open, but the plant doesn't die.

The plant is producing flowers:

It's just not yielding any squash. It could very well be location, and that it doesn't get enough sun. I'm not sure why the older leaves look so bad -- maybe they didn't get enough water and it's burn?

This other plant seems to be doing much better:

In fact, some of you eagle-eyed readers may have spotted a fruit forming.

I'm joking of course, as this thing can't be missed -- it is HUGE!

It curls strangely at the end:

I don't know if it's finished growing yet, but I decided to harvest it before something bad happens to it.

It's so large -- it that normal for zucchini? Seems to be a lot bigger than any zucchini I've ever eaten before.

Almost 3 pounds (2 lbs 14.5 oz, or 1.32 kg) of squashy goodness. They're not the most nutrient-packed or flavorful veggie out there, but a decent source of vitamin C and a few other vitamins plus Manganese.

Not yet the overwhelming harvest of zucchini I'm still shooting for, but maybe it's coming soon?

My neighbors can only hope.

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