Veggie Bed Harvest

The first vegetables of the season were harvested this past weekend.  The lettuces needed to be thinned so these were pulled up roots and all.  The peppers were still on the small side but now that the weather is cooling they should be living up to their name, 'Fat n' Sassy.' 

Growing edibles is a an ever expanding venture at My Garden Path.  Tomatoes have been a mainstay of the garden here but some of the other vegetables are providing new experiences.

'Blue Lake' bush beans are a first time crop in the veggie bed.  This handful was used raw in a tossed salad with the lettuce and some of the bell peppers.  It is becoming obvious that more of these beans should have been planted.  They were small in number but big in tastiness.  Eight bush beans were planted in an Earthbox but only six made it through an onslaught of leaf rollers and cut worms.  The spring veggie bed will definitely have more of these planted in it.  Since the veggie bed is not very large, perhaps the pole bean form would provide a better yield for the space.   

Most of the tomatoes are beginning to flower.  Now that the evening temperature has cooled they should begin to set fruit.  The Cherokee Purples and the Galinas were the first to flower with Beefmaster right behind them.  The Husky Cherry Red and the Publix black cherry noid have yet to flower. 

The basil which was planted as a mulch around the tomatoes is growing well.  I love making pesto and freezing little cubes of it for sauces and spreads. 

A mix of lettuces was planted in the bottom portion of last year's turtle-shaped sandbox.  More seeds were planted just last week and are already sprouting between the older rows. 

The only pest management used in this garden is soapy water, Neem oil if needed and hand picking of obvious pests such as the leaf rollers on the green beans.  Fertilizer used at planting was a combination of bone and blood meal along with composted chicken manure and dolomite lime.   Every other week doses of fish emulsion is watered into each container.  This more organic approach is not only being used in the veggie bed here at The Path but also in the landscape plantings. 

Carrots were seeded in long window-box style planters just this past week-end and they are already beginning to sprout.  Sugar Snap peas will be planted in November to complete this fall's veggie bed. 

There are so many options of vegetables for Florida gardeners to plant in the fall.  With so little sunny space available for the veggie bed in this garden, choices are hard to make.  Hopefully, as experience is gained, the best choices for the best use of the space will become obvious.  Probably the variety within each season will have to be scaled back in favor of higher yields.  Between the two growing seasons available to us here in central Florida, even this small garden should be able to provide a good rotation of crops to keep an ample variety of vegetables on the table.

(You can read about the beginnings of this season's veggie bed here.)

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.