Pics of Your 2014 Vegetable Garden

[kenny]

I'm enjoying everyone's pics and eating vicariously.
Isn't it cool to grow stuff you eat?

I'm enjoying our Cherry Toms.
They are bursting with sweetness and flavor.
But this variety, Sweet 100, has a sort of thick tough skin.
I don't know if that's a characteristic of the variety or if I'm not giving enough, or too much, water/sun/shade/fertilizer.

Anyone know?

 

[davi_el_mejor]

I'm enjoying everyone's pics and eating vicariously.
Isn't it cool to grow stuff you eat?

I'm enjoying our Cherry Toms.
They are bursting with sweetness and flavor.
But this variety, Sweet 100, has a sort of thick tough skin.
I don't know if that's a characteristic of the variety or if I'm not giving enough, or too much, water/sun/shade/fertilizer.

Anyone know?

It's a characteristic; It gives them a good crunch. It's one of our favorite types. We didn't have any cherry/small tomatoes last year and we definitely missed them. This year we have three varieties - Sweet 100's, Yellow Pear and some other variety that I don't recall.

We don't like soft gushy tomatoes. If you want small and thin skinned, I think grape varieties are your ticket.

ETA: So jelly that you all have producing plants! We have like 6 more weeks before we can even hope to have anything to eat

 

[monarch64]

Kenny, that's what I kind of dislike about cherry tomatoes, those thick skins. Even if you try making sauce or something from them all those skins are in there. You could try boiling them and peeling the skins, I guess. I don't like grape skins either and I freeze them and peel the skins off sometimes. Not sure tomatoes would taste very good that way, though. Did you get rid of your pesky hornworms or whatever they were?

Davi, thanks! We've been passing out peas like nobody's business all week. The neighbor kids are driving me nuts wanting to come pick them and shell and eat them. They won't eat the shells, the little sh*ts. I told my mom today I had plans to roast them with carrots and new potatoes and she got this very sad look on her face. She would rather I just give her all the fresh ones. I said why didn't you grow some this year? And she told me the deer and the resident rabbit have eaten all her plants the past few years. We're visiting them on Father's Day so I will bring her a bunch then. Poor lady.

Here are a few pics of the blackberry canes, nasturtium, and zucchini/cucumbers almost big enough to start climbing their trellis.

 

[monarch64]

Update for July 2...I just finished harvesting my garlic. 8 long months later, I got 19 heads (somehow) from the 17 cloves I planted last November. As a first-time garlic grower, I am now exploring my resources (hard copies and internet) on how to cure most of it to store through the coming months. Plus I need to save one bulb to replant this fall.

Early this morning I weeded a flower bed (I hope I got all the weeds--I planted several different cutting varieties from seed and some species haven't bloomed so maybe there are still weeds in there.) I then cleaned out the bed where the beets and spinach were. 4 hours later I feel like I made *some* progress.

My peas are on the wane and will be the next thing to clean out of the beds. I'm considering planting pole beans in their place, but I need to test the soil and likely amend it first. The zucchinis and cucumbers are doing great, and our blackberries are exploding! I harvested the beets last week and need to share my leftover roasted ones with friends. I guess I'll be bringing everyone's favorite beet salad ( ) to get-togethers this weekend.

How is everyone else's garden growing?

 

[monarch64]

Hope you all don't mind if I post a picture of my best garden helper. She LOVES to water.

 

[Ninna]

What a beautiful helper!
My helper loves to chew on seeds this is what happens when I'm not looking:

 

[Ninna]

Our watermelon is not doing well unfortunately but basil has gone crazy and the rest of the corn is doing fine

 

[monarch64]

Ninna! Who is thieving your seedlings??? Your corn looks great; so does all that basil, wow! Do you make pesto? I don't plant nearly that much but I just use the leaves fresh on Caprese salads and stuff. Yours is a regular basil farm!

 

[Ninna]

Yes, our son is a thief! I do my best to be by his side but he always finds funky places to plant 'seedies' as he says. I only buy 'U'ntreated organic seeds and use my own saved/dried seeds but still, he chews on them like a mad man, cantaloupe are his favorite!

I trade 1 bed of basil for fresh eggs at our local farmers market; we're lucky to have the space but only 4 chickens are permitted in my area. With the second bed we make pesto, compound butter, share with family and make tons of Basil jelly for sale.
I also trade our strawberries for wine and grape leaves; a local winery picks them up throughout the season for a 'special' dessert that they make with Merlot
ETA pic more basil

 

[Calliecake]

Hope you all don't mind if I post a picture of my best garden helper. She LOVES to water.

Monnie, Your daughter is too cute and what a little fashionista!!! She truly is adorable!

 

[monarch64]

[quote="Ninna|1404346032|3705583"]Yes, our son is a thief! I do my best to be by his side but he always finds funky places to plant 'seedies' as he says. I only buy 'U'ntreated organic seeds and use my own saved/dried seeds but still, he chews on them like a mad man, cantaloupe are his favorite!

I trade 1 bed of basil for fresh eggs at our local farmers market; we're lucky to have the space but only 4 chickens are permitted in my area. With the second bed we make pesto, compound butter, share with family and make tons of Basil jelly for sale.
I also trade our strawberries for wine and grape leaves; a local winery picks them up throughout the season for a 'special' dessert that they make with Merlot
ETA pic more basil [/quote]

Ninna, omg how old is he? Now you have me worried! My little girl is only 2 but I didn't realize they turn into seedling thieves!

 

[monarch64]

Hope you all don't mind if I post a picture of my best garden helper. She LOVES to water.

Monnie, Your daughter is too cute and what a little fashionista!!! She truly is adorable!

Thanks, Calliecake! That's not her typical "gardening" attire...she had a visit to grandma and grandpa's that day I took the pics and we were hanging out outside after. She would love nothing more than to be getting yucky next to me no matter what, though. This age is really fun.

Kenny, Momhappy, Madame, Skippy, Davi, TooPatient, everyone else...hope your gardens are well and you are eating the fruits of your labor! Please post pics when you get a chance! This thread is pretty awesome and I look forward to seeing more of everyone's abundance!

 

[Calliecake]

I'm hoping one of you experienced gardeners can answer a question. Can you grow tomato plants in pots? Are they difficult to grow? I love to garden but unfortunately I've only grown flowers. My yard has about 80 rose knockout plants and about 15 potted plants of ivy and geraniums. I know nothing about tomato plants and would like to grow some next year.

Monnie, Can I borrow your experienced landscaper? I really could use the help watering the potted plants

 

[monarch64]

Calliecake, you can definitely grow tomatoes in containers. I think they are one of the easiest vegetables to grow and have had good luck with them in both raised beds and containers. Cherry tomatoes (which Kenny loves--scroll back through this thread and you'll see) are great for containers. If you want to grow a larger, slicing variety, don't be surprised if the fruits aren't as large as you'd expect. Anything I've ever grown in a container has produced plentiful, but smaller fruits.

I try to choose heirloom, non-genetically modified seeds or starts. Brandywine and Cherokee Purple are two of my favorite varieties.

You can borrow my helper for sure! She is easily distracted, though, so you're at risk of things being over-or under-watered! You should post pics of your roses, I don't think anyone would mind even though this is a veggie thread.

 

[Calliecake]

Calliecake, you can definitely grow tomatoes in containers. I think they are one of the easiest vegetables to grow and have had good luck with them in both raised beds and containers. Cherry tomatoes (which Kenny loves--scroll back through this thread and you'll see) are great for containers. If you want to grow a larger, slicing variety, don't be surprised if the fruits aren't as large as you'd expect. Anything I've ever grown in a container has produced plentiful, but smaller fruits.

I try to choose heirloom, non-genetically modified seeds or starts. Brandywine and Cherokee Purple are two of my favorite varieties.

You can borrow my helper for sure! She is easily distracted, though, so you're at risk of things being over-or under-watered! You should post pics of your roses, I don't think anyone would mind even though this is a veggie thread.

Thank you so much Monnie. I will definitely try tomatoes next year. For some reason I thought they were tough to grow.

I live in the Midwest and last winter took a beating on my roses. I'm having landscaping done next week to replace 20 evergreens, 23 boxwoods and 2 trees. Between the hot weather and no rain two summers ago and cold last winter, my yard has really took a beating.
Next year I'll have to replace quite a few roses.

 

[monarch64]

Callie, you're welcome! I am also in the Midwest, zone 6a (barely!) All the evergreens here are heavily damaged. I just heard that this coming winter is supposed to be very cold but DRY. I can handle that. We are not equipped to deal with much snow removal as it is. I don't mind some, but last winter was just relentless. I'm sorry so much of your landscaping has to be replaced!

I've got some gigantic blackberries ripening today. I'm crossing my fingers I'll get enough by next week to make a cobbler. My husband is NUTS about blackberry anything. If I don't have enough for an entire cobbler, I'll just do a couple tarts. Mmmm...

 

[MMtwo]

Savage garden. Yeah, I have had a busy couple of weeks on the go and have not weeded. You are looking at 2 cherry tomatoes, a clump of mint, marigolds, a zucchini and 2 squash plants in a 4 foot area. I tried green beans last year but the deer mowed them down. Yard edge has wild blackberries.

 

[monarch64]

MM, I love your little savage garden! It is growing fiercely! You're brave--I am afraid to plant my mint in the raised beds. You can't kill that stuff if you try. I thought my chocolate mint was done for, but I moved it to a larger container and it resurrected itself. Crazy.

 

[MMtwo]

Thanks Monarche! Heh...I may regret my mint later.

I have a question. I have something growing beside my house that looks like mint (but a bit different than the mint in my garden) and smells like mint.

I am wondering if it IS mint, or I am contemplating a Darwin style move to try it? Is there a look alike anyone knows of?

 

[Calliecake]

Callie, you're welcome! I am also in the Midwest, zone 6a (barely!) All the evergreens here are heavily damaged. I just heard that this coming winter is supposed to be very cold but DRY. I can handle that. We are not equipped to deal with much snow removal as it is. I don't mind some, but last winter was just relentless. I'm sorry so much of your landscaping has to be replaced!

I've got some gigantic blackberries ripening today. I'm crossing my fingers I'll get enough by next week to make a cobbler. My husband is NUTS about blackberry anything. If I don't have enough for an entire cobbler, I'll just do a couple tarts. Mmmm...

Your blackberries are huge! Your husband is going to love them. I sure hope they are correct about it being a dry winter. I don't anyone could take another winter like last year!

 

[monarch64]

If it looks like mint, smells like mint, AND has a square stem, it is mint. I've never heard of any dangerous lookalikes.

 

[Calliecake]

Thanks Monarche! Heh...I may regret my mint later.

I have a question. I have something growing beside my house that looks like mint (but a bit different than the mint in my garden) and smells like mint.

I am wondering if it IS mint, or I am contemplating a Darwin style move to try it? Is there a look alike anyone knows of?

Moneymeister, Could it be catmint? I'm not sure if it smells minty but it sure takes over everything quickly and once planted is very hard to get rid off.

 

[artdecogirl]

Moneymeister, you are brave to plant mint but some are not as aggressive spreaders as others and there are tons of varieties maybe you will get lucky, the thing growing on the side of your house is probably another variety of mint, catmint is a member of the mint family but does not smell like mint at all so probably not that. Calliecake, Pictures please!!!!!! as much as I love these beautiful veggie gardens I wanna see some flowers too!

 

[kenny]

I'm so jealous of everyone's produce.
We only have tomatoes.

 

[monarch64]

I'm so jealous of everyone's produce.
We only have tomatoes.

"only"

Just a few weeks ago you were proud of your plentiful cherry toms! LOL
Next year Kenny, you might consider planting a few other things. What else do you enjoy eating fresh from the garden or farmers market? You're in CA; you guys can grow pretty much anything. I sense a gardener in the making. Kenny: Pianist, Diamonder, Gemstone-r, fora-persuasioner, uncle, spouse, gardener. (Sorry if I left anything out!)

ETA: just realized how much I've posted in this thread! I'll shut up now!

 

[mochiko42]

Lychees!

Not veggies but also in the garden - red whiskered bulbuls!

 

[davi_el_mejor]

I'm loving all these updates!

Monny - So did the garlic didn't change the pea flavor? It's hard to remember what not to plant next to each other.

Mochiko - LYCHEE!!! So lucky. Love them. Did you plant the tree or was it there before?

Ninna - Holy basil Batman! I bet when the wind hits it just right it smells AMAZING.

I'd pop out to the garden for fresh pics but the cameras are packed for our trip this weekend, so you'll have to deal with some that are a week to a few days old. It's amazing what a garden can do in a weeks time. The pole beans have reached the limit of their bamboo and are swirling in the air grasping for something to cling. There are a few jalapenos and banana peppers that are almost ready to harvest. The sweeter ones will take forever

Our compost wasn't exactly ready, so when we incorporated it into the soil there were some seeds leftover. Lucky for us, they were tomatoes and tomatillos. We left 2 tomatillos to grow and a few of the tomatoes sporadically placed in the garden LOL. One of them is actually putting out flowers! We'll see what kind they are

I had my first Japanese Beetle in the garden yesterday. It was eating mint of all things. So we'll have to put out traps. I've been spraying with Bt and Captain Jack's Deadbug Brew (http://www.bonide.com/products/product.php?category_id=252) and have not seen a single cucumber beetle or bad caterpillar in the garden! Fingers crossed, we may actually have zucchini and cucumber this year.

Pictures

Full garden panoramic with "Frankenhouse" in the background



The zucchinis looking healthy!



Sweet 100's, this plant is going to keep us well supplied sorry it's sideways



Cowhorn - This pepper has actually doubled in size since this picture. We've never had them before but they were cut, so we bought it sorry it's sideways

 

[mochiko42]

Hi Davi,

Nice garden!! I would love to have a backyard like that to grow herbs and veggies and fruits. Unfortunately I am living in a high rise apartment at the moment with no garden (very sad for someone who grew up in the country raising chickens and ducks and growing veggies in the back yard). The photos are of my parents' place about 15 minutes away. I grow a lot of plants from seed in my apartment and then transfer to my parents' garden. Today I gave them three avocado seedlings (about 15 inches tall) and a planter pot of a dozen Meyer lemon seedlings.

It's the family home where I grew up so the trees have been around for several decades. Here are some more of the fruit trees we have. Most were already here when my dad bought the place in the late 70s, or he planted them in the 80s. We have lychee, long-an, pomegranate, guava, banana, sweet potato, papaya, camphor tree, mango, lemon, orange, kumquats, plum, Chinese peach, etc. Flowers are mostly orchids which are my mother's area of expertise.

Starfruit/carambola:


Jackfruit


Papaya



A couple of "wildlife" shots:

 

[mochiko42]

I'm loving all these updates!




Sweet 100's, this plant is going to keep us well supplied sorry it's sideways

TOMATOES!!!! ......I am so jealous.

 

[artdecogirl]

Hi Davi,

Nice garden!! I would love to have a backyard like that to grow herbs and veggies and fruits. Unfortunately I am living in a high rise apartment at the moment with no garden (very sad for someone who grew up in the country raising chickens and ducks and growing veggies in the back yard). The photos are of my parents' place about 15 minutes away. I grow a lot of plants from seed in my apartment and then transfer to my parents' garden. Today I gave them three avocado seedlings (about 15 inches tall) and a planter pot of a dozen Meyer lemon seedlings.

It's the family home where I grew up so the trees have been around for several decades. Here are some more of the fruit trees we have. Most were already here when my dad bought the place in the late 70s, or he planted them in the 80s. We have lychee, long-an, pomegranate, guava, banana, sweet potato, papaya, camphor tree, mango, lemon, orange, kumquats, plum, Chinese peach, etc. Flowers are mostly orchids which are my mother's area of expertise.

Starfruit/carambola:


Jackfruit


Papaya



A couple of "wildlife" shots:

Mochiko42, I was so jealous of all the fruit you can grow in your climate and then I saw the last pic!!! omg what is that? tell me please he is a tiny critter like a mouse or something, I think if I saw that in my garden I would just fall over in a faint,yowzers.