Garden Pictures!

[hk]

Originally Posted by Postman

How do you eat those peas, look good, do you shell them? or are they just to till in and make better soil. Would like to try them next fall.

I usually stir fry them with olive oil ,garlic and a little sesame oil.You can eat them young and flat (no shelling)or let them get bigger where they will make some really sweet peas.Oregon sugarpod2 are the variety that I have had the best luck with.Usually plant in them in september.Really delicious and excellent producer.Good luck.

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[Meadowlark]

The broc production this winter has been terrific keeping us and several families in a constant supply of fresh tasty broc. We like it steamed, in broc soup, broc/rice, and raw fresh out of the garden. Many "foot" heads measuring more than 12 inches across the head.

The cabbage is probably my favorite winter crop and we've had a steady supply of big heads that we steam, stir fry, pan fry, cabbage creole (fantastic), and kraut . I stagger plant starting in Sept. for a continuous supply of fresh heads all winter through spring.

The kale has been prolific this year and we use it in salads, stir fried, and as decorative mats for veggie plates. It will continue producing right up till hot weather in May.

The cauli has been absolutely delicious this winter and we use it in cheesy cauli, raw fresh cut, and in soups. The last of the fall plantings is just now maturing and I'll start another crop soon.

The last few days of DRY weather has given me a chance to start turning under the cover crops and preparing for potato planting which is about one month away. The cover crop this year was the thickest I've ever had and will take several passes to get it assimilated into the soils...but once assimilated look out, it will be a fantastic crop of new potatoes.

Carrots, radishes, and turnips and of course sweet onions are all coming along nicely.

[Postman]

Thanks hk, do you get the seed locally or do you have to order them on line? Gonna try 'em next fall.

[hk]

You will have to order online once and then after several pickings,when you notice bloom decline l let the peas get fully mature ,leave in pod,pick,put in dry open air enviroment and after several weeks when shells are dry remove seeds put in airtight container in refrigerator. I have not had to buy seeds for over 10 years.The only thing that will kill the plants is a hard freeze or to many days of freezing in a row.Usually do not have that problem down here in Pearland.

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[karstopo]

The Russian Red Kale has been my favorite. Makes a good salad green if you massage (don’t laugh, look it up) it to tenderize. Great with sausage and potatoes in a soup, or make it like you would any boiled greens with bacon and onions.
Romaine Lettuce has been great, no E. coli to worry about. Arugula is another great add in to a salad. Have some butter crunch lettuce that’s about ready to pick. Snow peas are growing. I planted the Snowbird variety seed at the beginning of January. It’s a dwarf type. Says it’s 58 days. Hoping for some production before it heats up too much.

My soil, I’m still trying to improve. I put in a compost heap and that should eventually help. I’ve added in a bit of lighter soil. Greens like kale or lettuce work as even if they don’t get as big as they could because of marginal soil or light, they still are productive. My Brussels sprouts are three plus months in and are only nickel sized. I’m giving them a few more days, then going to have them whatever size they be.

Just a little garden like this can really add in some good produce to the dinners we make. I’ve enjoyed having one. If I get this one down, I might expand it some at a later date.

[hk]

Garden off to a decent start so far.Multiplying onions,dill,greenbeans (kentucky pole ,bluelakepole,cherokee wax bean) sweetbasil,early yellow squash,early girl tomatos,market more cucumbers and longhorn okra just coming up.Hope everyone has a great spring/summer garden.

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[karstopo]

For a small, shady garden with heavy soil, it's producing some good quality fresh vegetables. Harvested a few Asian eggplant already and those really are setting a lot of fruit. Been harvesting Fresno, bell, garden salsa, and jalapenos peppers. Jimmy nardellos peppers are doing well, but still green. Have one gypsy pepper and tangerine sweet pepper with fruit. Tomatoes are enough to have all I want and let me give a few away.

Been fighting a few horn worms. Sometimes hard to spot, but those get squished before causing too much damage. Lost a few tomatoes to another worm and one to a squirrel. Zucchini has been disappointing as has the Corno di Toro type peppers.

Having fun anyway and never is it bad getting fresh produce right at home. Compost pile is cooking up a bunch of rich compost in time for the fall garden.

[Mattsfishin]

my zucchini and asian eggplant did not do good. Only a few of each. The big eggplant is loaded. Only planted cherry tomatoes and they are loaded and been eating a lot of them. All my berries are doing really good. Will have grapes soon. Pablano , bell pepper and yellow squash doing really good. Okra is growing and will start to bloom soon. Basil, lemon thyme, lavenders, oregano , rosemary, and spearmint are all doing good. I expanded my little backyard garden some this year.

[karstopo]

Funny how the Zucchini bombed and your yellow squash did well. I removed my last zucchini plant yesterday (started with 5 plants) for poor or non production and dropped in a large gypsy pepper in the spot that I had in a medium pot. I’ve tried to keep a few peppers in pots in the wings just in case the zucchini bombed, which is what happened. Probably should have left the gypsy pepper in the pot at this late stage, but it was getting harder to manage the water needs.

Never think of Texas as Raspberry country, but those look nice. I did herbs in a couple of giant containers. I use a lot of basil and both the sweet and purple basil are going strong. The Thai basil is huge, but I haven’t cooked with it yet. Spearmint is trying to take over one container.

I guess the plan is to see how far into the summer I can take the tomatoes. Still getting some fruit set. Not sure what I’ll drop in once they crater. Last year, the eggplant hung in through the summer pretty well. I may try to keep a lot of the peppers going into the fall for the fall production. A friend of mine said his bell peppers he plants in early spring often rebound in the fall after a summer lull with good fall production. I think I’ll skip okra this summer. I might put in some type of heat loving pea in the tomato spots if the tomatoes give out soon enough.

[karstopo]

Rain thus far since yesterday afternoon. Ground still soaking it up.



Spearmint and purple basil taking over this pot. There’s a little thyme and rosemary hidden in there.



Lemon grass in the center, Thai basil on the right.



My compost bin. Full now, but I bet this rain will speed up the decomposition. Got the bin on Amazon, seems to do a good job with cooking down raked up leaves and waste vegetation and vegetables. It was full before, then almost overnight it shrunk down half way. Digging around in it will produce a few earthworms.