Sunday, May 24, 2009

Edibles Update

There were a few moldy forgotten beets with sprouts at the bottom of my fridge produce drawer, so I planted them in March. What do you think I’d find if I pulled up these beets now? This spinach was planted as soon as the snow melted in this container on my deck. I'm afraid it's about to bolt. Of the 4 beds in the backyard, only 3 have been planted.

Bed #1 is ready to be thinned. The Sugar Ann snap peas are flowering,
and the French Breakfast radishes are starting to poke their little red shoulders out. That means they’ll be ready to harvest soon! The daikon radishes will need a couple more weeks.

The carrots are finally getting their feathers.


Here are two kind of red lettuce: Red Rosie and Mascara. Mascara is proving to have a deeper color.



Bed #2: I planted quite a few kinds of tomatoes this year that were new to me: Giant Italian Tree (don’t know WHAT to expect! But my friend Beth is even braver - she's planting these in the upside down topsy turvy planters this year!), Celebrity, Purple Cherokee, Vintage Wine, Husky Red, Ponderosa and Extra Large Cherry. Broccoli lines the side of this bed

and there’s some soybeans squished in the corner here.

Pepper varieties include Lilac (purple), Carmen (red bell) and Diamond Bell (Green). The red and green peppers were started from seed. I bought a Mammoth jalapeno at the nursery today.


In Bed #3:
Two zucchini and about 5 tricolor bush beans are in this bed.
Hillary gave me a few onion sets that she started in peat pellets! I’m excited about that because I’ve never grown onions. Do you think they’re spaced too close together? (Be sure to note the exceptional crop of broadleaf plantain weed in the lawn behind them!)


I put in a few cucumbers this weekend that I started in the greenhouse at school. The wine bottle raised bed is planted with herbs: Purple Opal basil, Italian oregano, Giant Parsley, Purple Sage, Lemon Thyme (my new favorite herb!) Asian Cilantro, Dill and Lavendar.
I put the mint in the middle in a container since it spreads like crazy around here.

Bed # 4 will be done this week. It will. It will. I swear it will.

My biggest disappointment this year is my Concord Grape Vine. It looks like it may have a few leaf buds, but most of the grape vines I see around here are all leafed out by now. Probably a mistake to plant it in a container. I’m on the lookout for a sunny spot in the yard now.

Did I tell you my Mother’s Day gift this year was compost? Sure beats a vacuum cleaner.

10 comments:

Joanne said...

Wow, your gardens look great! You've got a lot going on in those beds, they all look so healthy. We planted our tomatoes (all Jet Stars) this weekend, a little zucchini, peppers and a few lettuce. But nothing from seed, we shop for the seedlings at a local farmer's greenhouse, he grows really great plants. Today we planted our zinnia patch too, outside the kitchen window, so by midsummer we'll see tall happy flowers and yellow finches when we wash the dishes :)

Anonymous said...

Everything looks so wonderful! I love the bottle herb garden! You'll be harvesting bundles in no time.

tut-tut said...

hey, everything looks so healthy. Don't let your weeding demon flag when it's 90 out and it's August and you'd rather . . .

I'll post a pic of my containers and our patch at the old elementary school that's now a community center. We planted kohlrabie, but I think it's too late.

Brigit said...

I love your wine bottle garden border. I work in a beautiful country hotel....lots and lots of bottles. Hmm, the mind boggles.

Pam J. said...

Looks great! I think this may be my favorite time of the gardening year, more so even than when everything is ripe and ready to pick. I love the colors --- bright yellow greens especially --- and the freshness of everything. You should be so proud of what you've done!

k said...

In allll my many years of gardening, (she says with a wise and somber note in her voice) I've found that if you keep the weeds down till the fourth of July, you'll have an easy time the rest of the summer.
So. Now that I've shared my years of gardening know-how, what's the deal with the wine bottle bed? Does it warm up faster, or is it just neat? (Neat is another ancient gardening trick, you know.)

Anonymous said...

re: the onions - we plant ours close, and then thin them out as they grow, eating the green tops or grilling them whole. We can get good-sized onions, but have not had much luck getting them dried out thoroughly enough to store - they usually go moldy. So we just keep picking and eating :)
-- Susan M (wmoms)

Gulf Coast Greenie said...

Your garden looks delicious, and I love the wine-bottle idea.

Thank you for visiting me last Bloom Day.

Best wishes,
Martha

JGH said...

Thanks,Joanne. Sounds like you've got a great start! Enjoy the view.

Izyjo- I hope the bottle beds hold up. So far it's keeping those herbs in check.

Tut- I've never grown kohlrabi - what does it look like in the ground?

Brigit - the bottle bed was hard to dig. I'm not sure I recommend it. We'll see how long it lasts.

Pam, I'm ready to pick. I think I may have a salad soon. Your lettuce is good to go, girl!

K, I think any kind of raised bed will warm up a little faster, right? But it really has no other special function except decoration. Lots of weeds popped up this week- gotta stay on top of 'em!

Thanks for the onion tips, Susan. I think I will try the cut and come again method with the tops.

Martha, thanks for visiting. I'm a gulf coast girl at heart (raised on the west coast of Florida)

Ottawa Gardener said...

Oh I do believe I love the wine bottle garden. Think of the things you could do, the patterns. Swirls of wine bottles. Fun.