Monday, January 3, 2011

Winter Veggies

Vegetable gardening is a real challenge.  Honestly, I don't know how farmers are able to stand the stress of it.  Sometimes there is not enough rain, then there is too much.  The temperature is usually perfect until the flowers form, then it gets too hot or too cold.  The weather is one thing, but then there are the garden pests and diseases.  Growing vegetables is not easy.

The fall garden started off with a lot of promise.  The seedlings sprouted just as they should and soon flowers bloomed and then fruit began to set.  I know this is a normal process, but to me it was quite amazing.

The cherry tomatoes were the first to produce giving me a handful of harvest just about every day.  The larger "slicing" tomatoes had just begun to produce a few green tomatoes when the first of the December freezes hit.  Those tomatoes were picked green and ripened on the kitchen window sill.  Now, the tomatoes you see in the above pictures are just about ready.  I sure hope the next cold wave will not hit until they have a chance to vine-ripen.
 

A mix of lettuces were planted  and have been providing the base for most of the salads for our dinners.  I've never grown lettuce before but I plan to have some in all my future fall/winter gardens.  It grows fast, looks pretty and flourishes in the cold.  Oh, and so far, no pests or diseases.

 
Here is an eggplant putting out blooms!  This is one of two eggplants left over from the spring garden.   The "spring garden" was not very successful.  There seem to be more flowers on this eggplant now than the first time around.  This is not a cold weather vegetable so I will be very surprised if I actually get any eggplant to harvest. 
 
I may not be able to feed the family from my farming efforts, but it sure is fun dabbling in vegetable gardening.

6 comments:

  1. There is always more to learn and enjoy in the garden. Your tomatoes are looking great... it's good you could take them into the patio during the cold freezes. I agree lettuce is a must-have for a cool-season vegetable. I think you're winter veggies have done remarkably well!
    Meems

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  2. NanaK, You should sprinkle some spinach seeds in a container as well. Fresh Spinach is great in salads and on sandwiches, it's fairly easy to grow like lettuce. I agree, vegetable gardening is totally different than flower gardening.

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  3. Your winter veggies are looking great, NanaK! It is always amazing to me to watch seeds turn into food as well. I love the whole process. I plant seeds so my kids can experience the wonder, but they lose interest pretty quickly. Me? I'm out there everyday watching the changes!

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  4. There is nothing like the flavor of a home grown tomato,and a home grown salad.If I never grow another veggie,I will always find room for tomatoes and lettuce.

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  5. You're sooooo lucky to have fresh tomatoes. My one bush froze and the other in a pot has itty bitty tomatoes on it right now. I do agree with you about lettuce...it's so easy to grow and surprisingly cold-hardy. If you like spinach, leeks, collards and/or broccoli...they also can take the cold.

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  6. NanaK: For some reason, the link to your new post "what I like in my garden right now" was broken. Everytime it gave me an error saying "the page doesn't exist", and then direct to me this old post again. I am not sure if it is just me.

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Thank you for travelling down My Garden Path with me. I love hearing from you. Please leave a comment and share what is going on in your gardens.

NanaK