Summer in the Garden - Part IV

Our weather has been unseasonably cool this year. Most mornings are grey and overcast for several hours before the sun finally breaks through. And, the highs in our area have only been in the low to mid 80s. Normally, it would be in the high 80s or 90s. I guess this is part of climate change. We have a mild summer while the East Coast has one heat wave after another. 

Regardless, of the the lack of heat, our tomatoes are ripening up. These are Yellow Grapes. I am hoping to harvest these in the next day or two. We already have a bunch of the Isis Candy and a few Sungolds that have been picked. They have been really sweet and delicious. The verdict is still out on our Romas though. A couple of the plants have a few fruits  on them but then the other plants have flowers and no fruit. Yet, they have been getting taller. Not sure if we'll be getting much from those. And, here I was hoping for enough Romas to can a batch of tomatoes. Something tells me that I may have to buy them at the farmer's market if I want to do that.

This is just one of several Japanese eggplants that have emerged in the last week or so. There is even one that is almost large enough to harvest. May be by next weekend, there will be a few to grill.

Our first Jalapeno pepper has finally emerged. Might be able to harvest it this week if the weather gets warmer and this little guy has a growth spurt. We have one very small Red Bell pepper that is to pick. And, there are more on that plant that are starting to ripen and the plant is getting top-heavy so I need stake it.

The Sante Fe lettuce is finally getting big enough to almost eat. We have a couple of heads that might make for nice little salad later this week. Though I am a bit disappointed that so few of the seeds that I planted germinated. I usually have better luck with lettuce but not this time. Time to plant some more seeds and see what happens.

Spring in the Garden - Part II

All of the lovely spring rains are making the garden flourish. And, in case you were not aware, not all of our garden is edibles, we have a lot of plants that are not. Over the last couple of years, we have been planting more and more California natives. Above is an image of a flower stock from one of our Coral Bells. We have a shaded area behind our garage/carriage house thing and it desperately needed some sprucing up with some vegetation. The only thing back there is a 70 foot Ash tree but the ground around it was barren. So, last year we started planting some natives. Some took and a few died but the Coral Bells have been doing great. Though this is the first flower stock that we have seen off of any of them.

More natives, this is an Indian Mallow (Abutilon Palmeri). This is located in our front yard. It took about a year for it to really come into its own but it's doing great now and can really handle the hot afternoon sun in the summer. It's drought tolerant and it loved by native hummingbirds and butterflies. It should continue to bloom all spring.

Back to the edibles, these are part of our new arugula crop.  We have two 4' long rows of these. Hoping that we will finally be able to harvest some by mid-May.

Well, our bush beans have really taken off. We have four containers of them. Our friend Beth named our first little sprout Timmy. Well, as you can see Timmy has a lot of friends. Sadly, we cannot remember which one is actually Timmy or may be...they can all be Timmy.

This is what happens when you think that your lettuce is really pretty and you cannot bear to harvest it. Instead, it bolts, starts to go to seed and looks like a tree. When gardening books say that bolted lettuce tastes bitter, they are not joking. It was nasty. So, lesson learned...harvest edibles when they ready. Or, like us, you will end up with lettuce for our compost instead of your dinner. 

Spring in the Garden - Part I

Spring has finally arrived and there are plenty of chores to do in the garden. One of the first things is harvesting some of our lettuce (Little Gem and Oak Leaf above). Then, we need to find a place to relocate the lettuce so that we can use that raised bed for tomatoes once the seedlings are ready to be transplanted. We're thinking of a railing box outside the back door. Might be our best option since it gets morning sun and will be protected from the afternoon heat.

I have been trying to keep up with succession planting of the veggies that we want to keep growing. These are some of the little sprouts for our next batch of arugula. We are also keeping the radishes, carrots (damn these take forever to grow), beets and chard.

Sure, they look like empty planters but looks can be deceiving. Hiding under all that nice soil and compost are seeds for some bush beans (Blue Lake and Roc d'Or). They should be germinating any day now. I have fantasies about growing enough of these beans so that I can pickle them. Learning to can is our next homesteading activity.

These are some of our soon to be seedlings for our tomatoes (9 varieties) and peppers (4 varieties). These should germinate within the next week or so. I am hoping to start transplanting them at the end of April so that we can have our first tomatoes in June.

Next up, finding a place to grow our squashes (summer and winter). We are thinking of tearing out the roses in the front yard and using that bed. Our only concern is the neighbors. We're hoping that they won't start helping themselves to veggies.