I Think It's Spring!

New blooms are popping in the veggie bed bringing in the pollinators.  Bees are buzzing and the first butterflies of the season have been flitting through the flowers.

Herbs for kitchen use as well as to attract butterflies have been growing from seeds planted during December.   Rue, dill and flat leaf parsley are all yummy food for Black Swallowtail caterpillars. 

Blue basil has been growing and blooming.  Purple flowers and stems make this herb as beautiful as it is flavorful.

More flowers to attract bees have been planted along the perimeter of the veggie bed.

These eggplants are still going from the fall garden.  Wonder how long they will keep growing and producing?  The winter only slowed production a little bit.

Four tomato plants were set into their final containers this past week. 

 They will gradually acclimate to the warm weather and full sun.   

The container veggie bed may not be large enough to sustain all our vegetable needs, but it is a lot of fun to grow and harvest what we can comfortably accommodate. 

The weather is sunny and warm, the flowers, herbs and vegetables are growing and blooming.  I think it's SPRING!

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.

Veggie Beginnings

The fall vegetable garden had its beginnings way back in July when seeds were planted for tomatoes, greenbeans, and eggplant.  Those little seeds germinated and began to grow, sheltered by the screening of the back porch.  Morning sun provided just enough light and warmth.  



Bush 'Blue Lake' Green Beans Setting Flowers


The tender plants were moved to 4" pots and then, on Labor Day, placed into their final 5-7 gallon containers.

'Cherokee Purple' Tomato w/ Sweet Basil Seedlings


Several varieties of tomatoes were planted.  The 'Cherokee Purple' tomatoes are my favorite.  I love their sweet flavor and brick red color on my sandwiches.  Sometimes they are the sandwich filling  all by themselves.  They are open pollinated which means the seeds can be saved for future planting and the plants remain true to the original.  The fruit doesn't keep well so must be eaten quickly after ripening.  No problem here. 


Yellow Cherry Tomato 'Galinas' w/ Sweet Basil Seedlings


Another full-size tomato in the veggie bed is the Beefmaster VFN.  These are hybrid tomatoes and the seed cannot be saved and used next season.  They are very disease resistant and a good slicing tomato.  This has been a good reliable producer  for me in the past. 

Fresh cherry tomatoes are used in many ways in the kitchen here at My Garden Path.  Tossed in salads, tossed with pasta and snacked on straight from the garden are a few of the favorite ways to eat these delicious treats.  'Galinas' yellow cherries are so sweet they often don't make it into the house.  They are an heirloom tomato that seeds are saved from each year.  This year's seedlings seem especially vigorous.  I like all the colors of the cherries and so planted a black cherry heirloom. I saved the seeds from a purchase at the supermarket.  Hopefully, they will not disappoint.  'Husky Cherry Red' is a short patio type plant that has delicious red fruit.  All mixed together the different colors add interest to any dish.
  

Mesclun Salad Mix


Never having grown lettuce before, I am very excited to have the other necessary ingredient for a salad growing in my very own veggie bed.  I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to  growing lettuce.  I will be learning as it grows. 

Carrots were were first attempted last fall and were quite successful in containers.   They will be sown again in October.   Then, in November, sugar snap peas will be planted.  Both the carrots and the peas were amazing in their ability to take this past winter's cold weather and keep producing. 



Garlic Chives

 Herbs are so nice to have in a vegetable garden.  They provide flavorful accompaniment to meals and they are quite the attraction for pollinators if left to bloom.  The scents of rosemary, African Blue basil and chives greets me every morning as I brush past them in performing my watering chores.  The Sweet basil is grown as a mulch around the tomatoes in their containers and then harvested for pesto.  The pesto is frozen in ice-cube trays and then popped into baggies to be used with pasta, fish, chicken, even as a spread for sandwiches. 


African Blue Basil


The little fig tree purchased last September from a big box store is producing quite a few fruits!  I have no idea what kind of fig it is.  The label helpfully called it "edible fig."  In the spring the tree produced one fig which was promptly eaten by a squirrel before it ripened.  This time I have the tree wrapped in bird netting to hopefully preserve my harvest.  I don't know when fig season is, but now seems to be the time for this little tree. 

The bell peppers ,'Fat n' Sassy', were planted from seeds in January and planted into their containers around Valentine's Day.  They have produced lots of peppers only taking a break in the middle of summer.  More peppers are on the way so they are being kept for the fall garden.  A little refreshing of the potting mix and some chicken manure, bone meal, blood meal and dolomite lime added seems to be keeping them happy.

The pepper plants also have some garden pest defenders helping them stay healthy.

This small space garden has a good start on the season.  I'm looking forward to enjoying some fresh food hand picked from my garden.

My Garden Labor

Labor Day at My Garden Path was celebrated by laboring in the garden.  Labor equals fun when in the garden.  The "vegetable bed" was installed with high hopes of a great fall harvest.

There are not many sunny spots suited for growing vegetables in this garden.  It was decided to use this side yard area for the 8 hours of sunshine it receives.  Container gardening was chosen because this area is directly over the septic drain field.  Obviously, an in-ground garden is out of the question. 

Wooden pallets keep everything above the ground and kitty litter pails provide a cheap and easily renewable resource for the containers.  Blue Lake bush beans were planted in the Earth Box and five different varieties of tomatoes were planted into the containers. 

Lettuce is a completely new experience for this gardener.  A lot of thinning will be needed here.  The container used for the lettuce is the bottom half of an old turtle-shaped sandbox.  Very eclectic garden isn't it?

"Fat and Sassy" bell peppers have been producing all summer long and continue to bloom and set fruit.  Three of these plants are also part of the "veggie bed."

Next month carrots will go in and in November sugar snap peas will be planted.  The lettuce will be sown every 3 weeks or so depending on how the initial harvest produces. 

The vegetable area is tucked away around the side of the house not in obvious view.  All those kitty litter pails and wooden pallets were kept neat but they weren't "pretty."  This project was undertaken to help change the look of the area and pretty it up a bit.  Now, when the tomatoes get growing and producing THAT will be pretty. 

Spring Veggie Seeds

New spring seeds arrived just in time for my little helpers to get out in the garden and dig with their NanaK.

According to the Farmer's Almanac this was a good day to plant above ground crops.  Seeds planted were:  Husky Cherry Red tomatoes, Galina's tomatoes, Cherokee Purple tomatoes, Beefmaster VFM tomatoes, Giant Belgium tomatoes, Little Fingers eggplant.

Previously started Fat n' Sassy bell peppers have sprouted and are enjoying our warmer days out on my back porch.

A flock of robins flew by and distracted my little diggers.  It was a hopeful sign of spring don't you think?