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Garden Pictures!

83K views 416 replies 46 participants last post by  Meadowlark 
#1 ·
It's about that time of year. Maybe a little early, but you can at least throw in a picture of the prep work that you have done to get you garden ready. Those onions, cole and lettuce families, radishes, taters, gotta be showing some green for some of Ya. Potted plants qualify for pictures too! I need to see some GREEN!

I'll be starting my pepper plants indoors from seed next week, and my tomato plants closer to the end of the month. They will go into the garden around Memorial Day if there is a frost free forecast.

Ok..... I'll start off the pictures. these were taken around 2PM today:

1st picture is my veggie garden and the 2nd picture is part of my fruit garden:frown:

I guess that I'm running a little behind you guys.:eek:hwell:
 

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#217 ·
That Minnesota garden looks great! So do the more local ones. Those grapes look amazing, too. I wish I put in some okra, but space is at a premium. Maybe when I expand the garden. Cucumbers are on my wish list, so many great things to grow, so little space.

I guess all gardens no matter where they are face challenges, too little heat or too much. Too little water or too much. Bugs, animals, disease.



This chicken poo fertilizer seems to be good for my vegetables. Things are looking better and I’m getting new fruit set on peppers that I had about given up on. The fertilizer has helped the ones susceptible to early blight do a little better on the new foliage growth. From what I can gather, clay soils can handle more fertilizer than sand. Trying to get it all nailed down.



Thought I had gypsy, but these are cubanelle peppers. Really nice flavor when they get red. Green, not as much.

Finally got a Pepper on my Carmen plant and looks like a couple more little ones are trying.

Corno di toro has one too, and it was all but dead.




Purple hulls growing like crazy. Should be ready mid late September, then I’ll put in some fall vegetables.
 
#219 ·
In my 7/27/19 post (#214) I mentioned that my pumpkins and squash had blossoms but no fruit set yet.. Thought that I wouldn't get anything ripe before the 1st frost. It is amazing what can happen in just a little more than 3 weeks! Some went from a blooms to pumpkins and squash the size of basketballs in 23 days:

Pictures 3 and 4 are both supposed to be Blue Hubbard Squash. Picture 4 is the normal color. I have no clue what is happening with the one in picture 3. What ever it is... it must be happy. It's already larger than a basketball!
 

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#220 ·
Some more picture:

The onion tops are starting to fall over on some so I'm probably about 10 days out for pulling all of the remaining ones to dry them.

The Ahi Dulce pepper plants, and the Ahi Rico are setting lots of peppers, but haven't got any ripe ones yet. The plants are big and very healthy.

The beans have gone crazy. So thick that it's hard to find all of the beans.

Some real nice tomatoes this year. Only takes 1 slice to more that cover a slice of toast in a BLT.
 

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#221 ·
Beautiful produce. What do you do cooking wise with the Blue Hubbard squash?

My mad hatter peppers, your peppers reminded me of your questions about the mad hatter, are pretty good. Still setting fruit. Rangy, moderately productive plant. Stuffed red ripe ones this evening with cream cheese topped with fresh mozzarella and put them on the cooler edge of a medium grill. Very tasty that way. Raw, mad hatter peppers have a citrusy flavor with about zero heat. Might grow a plant or two again based on this year’s results.
 
#222 ·
Karstopo..... I have an old post on this thread about cooking the Blue Hubbard Squash. I'm pretty sure it is Post #154. It has a better flavor and texture than any other winter squash in my opinion. Did I mention that they get BIG!

I didn't think that I would like squash soup but it is really good. What made it a killer good soup was adding some of my homemade Aji Dulce #2 Pepper sauce to the soup. This gave the soup a little "kick" and a very complex, delicious flavor.

The primary ingredients in the Aji Dulce sauce are the ripe, seeded peppers, vinegar, mango and carrot. These all get pureed together. It only takes about a tablespoon of this sauce in a bowl of soup to make it gourmet. This soup freezes really well. Lot of squash soup recipes are available on the internet.

The Aji Dulce #2 Pepper looks and tastes like a Habanero, but it has less heat than a Serrano or even most Jalapenos. Here is a picture of one of my Aji Dulce #2 plants this year. Ripe peppers are still 2 or 3 weeks away, but the plants are loaded with them.
 

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#223 ·
Mid September update

The green beans have been producing heavily but the plants don't look that different so I didn't include a picture this time. All of the potatoes (both red and white) have been dug as well as about 1/2 of the carrots. Parsnip and rutabaga would be pulled until the 1st frost.

All of the onions have been picked as well as the biggest tomatoes. Nothing huge this year. The biggest tomato was 1# 9.4 oz. and is pictured below. Really a nice shape for a big tomato and the flavor on a BLT was excellent. Still pretty meaty for a large matter as well. The variety was "Big Zak". Several came in very close to that size, so it wasn't exceptional at all for that variety. Actually kind of small.

Big onion was 21.4 oz. (1# 5.4 oz) so nothing really big there either. However there were lots in the 1# range which is actually our favorite size to use in the kitchen. Very pleased with this years crop. Still drying them for storage.

The last picture are some peppers that I didn't know that I had grown. It was from a pack of Aji Dulce#! seed and the rest of the plants were correct. These peppers appear to be Aji Dulce #2. Looks like it will be very productive, good flavor with much reduced heat. They are also ripening faster that the #1s that I intended to plant. Will be saving some seeds from this plant for growing next year. They were a pleasant surprise!

Big Blue Hubbard and a mystery squash pictures coming soon. Also pumpkin picture
 

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#227 ·
Matt,,, Do you start the multiplying onions from seed or as a started plant?

Well, we had our 1st frost up here about a week ago so I've been cleaning out the garden.

This post is just about the pumpkins and squash. I had 2 Pumpkin plants and 2 Blue Hubbard squash plants.

One Pumpkin plant was restricted to 2 Pumpkins and it produced a 40# and a 30# Pumpkin for a total of 70#s on that vine. The other vine was unrestricted and had 3 Pumpkins @ 24.5#, 20.5#, and a 16# for a total 61#s on that vine.

The biggest squash was also exactly 40#s. It was the only Blue Hubbard that had almost Pumpkin coloring. The other 6 squash all had the normal blue/gray coloring.

I'm guessing this coloration on the big squash was because of a cross pollination last year between a Pumpkin and a Squash. I saved seed out of the Pumpkins and Squash last year and replanted them this year. Not sure why it was the only one that turn out like this. I'm looking forward to seeing if it has the classic Hubbard flavor, or if there is a hint of Pumpkin flavor in it as well.

Lark.... Remember that I planted some sweet corn later in the season? Both of us thought that frost would get it before it was ready. Thankfully, we had a late 1st frost and the corn made it! The ***** and bears didn't get it and it was fantastic!. I will plant corn again next year. Earlier next time though.:biggrin:
 

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#228 ·
I start the multiplying onions from bulbs. Some I saved from the season before and some I had to buy. Only saved about 100 from the season before. They are already growing big enough to eat. I will pick every other one until I get them thinned out. I eat these with just about everything. Going to pick some turnip greens and mustard greens this weekend. Should have enough for a good meal. It is a little early. Planted broccoli and brussel sprouts from plants.
 
#229 ·
Everything planted for fall/winter garden.Bunching onions,oregonsugar pod2 peas,30green magic broccoli plants and a bunch of Florida broad leaf mustard.Mattsfishin has me thinking about getting a six pack of Brussel sprout plants.Good gardening to all. Plant Land lot Grass Fence Groundcover
Plant Land lot Road surface Asphalt Grass
Plant Grass Groundcover Landscape Fence
Plant Grass Groundcover Shrub Lawn


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#231 ·
Yes Sir they are like a green chive onion.I started from seed several years ago but now save some bulbs and just replant twice a year.They grow and multiply like crazy.Can eat them raw or use them in many cooking applications.I use them in a lot of soups (homemade egg drop soup)during the winter. Also really good in salmon patties.

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#233 ·
Looks good HK. My beds have blocks around them also and I had never thought about planting anything in the holes. Well I have mustard greens growing in some and about 75 Texas Legends onions growing in some. Gonna see how that works. I am ok if the onions don't get real big. I usually pick them before they mature all the way. Planted 105 onions yesterday. I picked a good amount of mustard greens about 2 weeks back and picked turnip greens tuesday. Have a yankee friend that has never ate turnips and or turnip greens so I took her a good amount. Gonna pick me some tomorrow.
 
#234 ·
Hard to beat a bunch of fresh greens and they are really good for you also.My greens are a couple of weeks away from picking ,but looking forward to a big ole pot of hamhock,mustard greens and corn dumplings.Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

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#237 ·
https://www.tastecooking.com/a-man-a-plan-a-lemon-china/

“Long thought to be a simple lemon-orange hybrid, the Meyer lemon is now believed to be a cross between three of the original citrus speciesâ€"citron, mandarin, and pummeloâ€"based on a 2016 genetics study led by French scientist Franck Curk.”

Link has an interesting tale about Frank N. Meyer, the man for which the lemon was named.

My next-door neighbor, my parents, have an improved Meyer lemon. They really are nice, sweeter than a store bought Eureka Lemon. I used one last night to dress some bok choy greens, the bok choy from my garden, to serve along with some satsuma and rosemary marinated pork chops, the satsumas from the orchard and the rosemary home grown.
 
#238 ·


My lemon grass is still going strong. I had to cover it one night with freeze cloth as it got down to about 30-31.



Garden as of December 5th. I’m going to put a raised bed beyond the current garden in the sunny spot area of the photo. Abandoned the in the ground idea when I dug into the area and discover tons of charcoal. Evidently, the previous owner had a burn pile or something there once upon a time.

Still have some few tomatoes I’m nursing along. Not many, but I’m just seeing how viable it is for fall tomatoes. Everything else that’s all really in the greater cabbage sphere are doing alright. I seem to always err on too low on fertility, but I’ll live with that over too much.

The future raised bed, I’m not sure how big I should make it. I got some decorative steel corners so that I can choose the lumber I want. Is there any issue with using the copper treated ground contact rot resistant decking lumber? I’m think a foot of depth is enough. 8’ x 12’ x 1’ of depth equals around 2 cubic yards of material. 1 1/2 yards of good garden soil plus some compost, but I might revise that. Maybe 8’ x 10’
 
#239 ·
I do have some romaine lettuce. Riefels had a 6 pack of romaine that I was able to get 16 plants out of. The six pack was past its prime, but the lettuce seems to have perked up recently.

The raised bed will let me do some crop rotations. I’ll have a whopping 200’-250’ square feet when it’s done, depending on how big I make it.
 
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