First fruits of summer 2012

Summer Garden: day 67


Thanks to the extended cool weather, I have been able to enjoy the garden with little watering and some of its first fruits of the growing season.  So far the cucumbers are winning... with eight fruits already harvested for eating.  The zucchini plants have already produced 2 good sized fruits, both about 11" long. What I have been waiting for are the tomatoes.   There are dozens of really big green ones just waiting to turn red.  I picked 2 medium sized a little early, because a third one had already been attacked by a bug.  Jennie put the two in the window and they continued to turn redder.  This morning, I went out to cut the second zucchini and saw a small cherry tomato ready to be picked.

Produce total as of today:
Cucumber: 8
Tomato:  3
Zucchini:  2



The tomato plants have now become a 5ft high dense jungle that has outgrown my homemade tomato cage/grid.  The good thing though is that all the branches are holding on to each other for support (survived a severe thunderstorm with some pretty strong winds about a month ago), plus the dense foliage is hiding the redness of the ripe tomatoes from the pesky birds in my backyard.  I think the squirrels though are a bit smarter and will eventually find them.

5ft tomato plants

                                                    

Brandywine 

Large Cherry tomatoes

another Brandywine

The pear tree has some small fruits on them, but probably won't make it to a worthy size of being eaten.                   

Being that last year was the season of cilantro  (it was everywhere and wouldn't die), well I think it finally decided to call it quit and is flowering everyday.   This season though I have a new friend that has secretly made its way to my garden beds... basil.  I have found shoots spring up in the potato bed, some around the beans, and some below my kale tree.  Yeah the kale plant is about 5 ft tall with leaves as big as my hand.   Jennie and I are doing our best to manage its growth but there is only so much that one can eat of kale chips.

  

 The Aladdin sweet peppers are starting to grow, along with an unknown melon (most likely a cantaloupe.)



The front herb garden is continuing to do well now that its established, thanks to the two weeks of off and on rain we had a few weeks back.  I make smoothies every morning before work and decided to add some chocolate mint and regular mint to the mix....it definitely gives it that real fresh flavor.

 

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

A little herbs to make life fresher

 So over the Easter holiday weekend, I spent most of my time re landscaping my front yard.  I made some new beds to put in some herbs like oregano, basil, mint, and some chocolate mint.  I also bought some blackberry plants along with some sylvania plants to attract butterflies. 

 

I actually drew out this design first on paper and then worked on it.  My measurements for the pavers were a little off, but I am happy with the end results.  Now I just have to find some 3/4 -1" gravel rock to fill in the spaces around the pavers.

I reused the large river rock from the side of my house to create a river bed look.  I added some purple fountain grass up front and transplanted my box woods in a triangular pattern.  I built a raised bed to put parallel to the sidewalk to help block of the wind from blowing leaves and trash to my front door.  The only problem, I think my rosemary didn't like the transplant, as it continues to look brown and dead.  The thing about rosemary that I researched on is that it can't be overwatered and it doesn't do well with compost.  So I am sort of stuck on what to do next to help revive it. 

I'm not quite done with the front yard as I have a few more ideas that I would like to try.  Just have to wait for the time and the money to be on my side.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Homemade tomato cages

Week 5, Day 28: April 17

So my attempt to crowd in my tomatoes this year like my brother did last year has me wondering.  There were a few of them that were being overshadowed, so I had to transplant them to an open area.  With the remaining ones, I decided to make a grid of sorts to help keep the tomato plants growing upward and not intertwining with each other.  I used some 36" stakes and some jute cord to create a grid pattern.  Hopefully this will work, only time will tell though.  I have used tomato cages in the past, but its been a 50/50 success.  Most of the tomato plants either grow to tall or the branches break off from the cages.

The potatoes continue to grow, so I planted a few more spuds in the front of the bed a few days ago.  You can see a few little shoots.  Funny too, is that I have noticed a few baby shoots of basil pop up in the potato box and with the Lima beans.

 The peppers are getting a little bit more growth to  them along with the onions in the back.  The kale "tree" has been my longest success to date.  That thing just won't give up.   In the lower left side of the box, you can see a few leaves sprouting from the rhubarb that I had planted about 4 weeks ago.  I wanted to experiment more with some perennials so this was my first.  I want to plant some artichokes and asparagus as soon as I find some to buy.

    

The zucchini now has some flowers on them and hopefully they will make their way to the trellis behind them.  I will most likely have to force them since the sun will be out in front of them.

The new 8x8 bed has had the least amount of new growth.  Mainly because everything was planted about two weeks later than the other beds and I hadn't set up a irrigation system for this one until today.  The 4 4x4 beds have two soaker hoses on them so allow for deeper root absorption and less water evaporation.  As you can see in this pic, I had a soaker hose but upon turning it on, found that it had a hole in it and wasn't quite effective.  So for now, I will be using a simple fountain style  sprinkler, early in the mornings.

 

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Off to a good start

Week 4, Day 21: April 9

Finally finished the new 8x8 bed.  Planted some cucumbers, peppers, and a few different beans and peas.  This is my first attempt at the peas and beans.  I have always grown them with my students in school but never once thought to actually grow some in my own garden.

 

The potatoes are beginning to sprout and the tomatoes are gaining some height.  For the zucchini boxes, I had to saw off where the old trellis was and reposition it to the back of the raised bed.  Its a little shorter than last time, but I think it will still work.  

Spring has Sprung

Week 1, Day 1: March 20

After failing at my first attempt of a fall garden this past year, the garden received a much needed vacation.  We did however continue to get plenty of kale, cilantro, and scallions throughout the winter, even with several days below freezing and some mornings of frost.

Spring Break is usually my first opportunity to get things started and this year I have decide to expand my little backyard urban farm.  In addition to my existing 4 four by four raised beds, I have added some 8x8ft tilled ground areas.

 The back bed is ready... tilled soil with compost and to loosen up this central Texas rocky soil.  The front bed still needs to be tackled, but am going to wait until I have an idea of what I want to plant in it.   Another reason I had the urge to expand was that my backyard neighbor also expanded his garden. 

Over the break, I also reconstructed my leaf compost bin with some pallets to make 2 storage areas.  They don't look to shabby either.

So what did I plant this year...
Well I visited several of the local nurseries to see what was out and prices of each.  I ended up purchasing several from pretty much all of the nurseries, mainly to do a comparison between them to see which one will yield the best crops.

Seedlings:
Peppers: 6 Camelot green peppers, 6 Aladdin sweet peppers, 
Tomatoes: 6 Brandywine,  6 Phoenix, 6 Red Cherry Large, 6 Super Fantastic,
Onions: bunch of white and red
Vines: 2 zucchini, 2 cucumbers

Roots:
2 rhubarbs
@10 potatoes

Seeds:
Lettuce: Romaine, Bibb, Black Seeded Simpson
Melon: Honeydew
Pepper: Red Bell
Peas: Sugar, Green, Snap, Green Beans
and an some unknown seed.

This will be my first time to plant peas and beans.  Currently I have some round tomato cages for the vines to grow up on, but will eventually create some tripods with some cane poles.

I have plans to build a folding panel for the cucumbers and zucchini to grow on, lifting them off the ground that I found in Sean Conway's Cultivating Life book.  Not only will this help keep the fruit off the ground, but will also create a somewhat shady area beneath it to grow my lettuces.

As a precaution to Texas impending summer heatwave and drought, I wanted to come up with a better method for watering my garden.  In true luck fashion, as I was walking around my local Home Depot, I spotted several raised bed water irrigation systems on clearance for $14 a piece.  Each system will cover a 4x8 bed, so I picked up 4 of them just in case.  

I still have a little more room to plant some things so I will probably head back out this weekend to pick up a few more seedlings.  If anyone has any good ideas or suggestions, let me know.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!