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.

Fragrance in the Garden

As I take my morning walk through the back garden to check on the ripening of the grape tomatoes, fragrance is in the air. 

Japanese Honeysuckle, lonicera japonica,  gives off the sweetest perfume which is why I bought this plant on purpose without knowing its invasiveness.   I haven't had a problem with it being overly agressive yet as I just bought it in April.  I understand from reading, after the purchase, that it is spread by the berries it produces.  So, it probably will be pulled and replaced.  Probably.  Oh, I hate this.  Maybe I will just quit reading up on plants, or maybe I will only buy plants I have read about and know what to expect.

Jasminum nitidum, Angelwing jasmine, grows as a shrub at My Garden Path.  These flowers are lightly scented, not as strong as some other jasmines.  It usually makes it through our winters but this year it is starting fresh from the roots.  This is the cover for one of the rain barrels so I hope it grows fast!

Of course, my lovely roses are full of sweet, fragrant blooms that flavor my morning walk-through with delight.

The African Blue Basil is just starting to bloom.  I keep this in a pot so I can protect it in winter.  It is perennial but not at all cold tolerant.  Does it ever smell wonderful even with just a few beginning blooms! The leaves have a fragrance just as other basils do but it's the flowers that really put out the fragrance. 

Lovely Mirabilis jalapa, known as four o'clocks because of the timing of the opening of their blooms, greet me along My Garden Path at 9 o'clock AM.  My plants are as mixed up as their caretaker can be, I guess. 

There are several fragrantly blooming shrubs in my garden.  These have all been added just this spring.

Osmanthus fragrans, Tea Olive has flushed with blooms for a second time since being planted.

The Sweet Almond bush, Aloysia virgata, is blooming in dappled shade even though it is supposed to like full sun.  I'm hoping it will be happy here as I really don't have a large area for it anywhere else.  I really want to put a bench or chair here so I can enjoy the vanilla almond scent while watching the grands at play. 

These buds haven't opened and released their fragrance yet, but I  wanted to include this lovely native shrub in this post.  Simpson's Stopper, Myrcianthes fragrans, is growing in semi-shade in my boggy area.  So far, it seems like a happy shrub.  This shrub is actually very pretty and is a great wildlife attractor.  Plans are for more of this shrub to be planted along the fenceline in this area. 

Oh!  I almost forgot the grape tomatoes!  There are just enough ripe ones to use for a salad tonight.  These are the first ones ready.  I'm hoping they will stand up to the heat that's already here and keep producing.  It seems that this might be a short tomato season for me.

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?