Spring. Break.

2018 is having a slow start to spring. We did not have any major snowstorms (sadly) but it's continuing to be chilly and damp even into late March. I started some seeds in early March, most of which are coming up. I also direct seeded our favorite radishes and some greens and peas, but only the radishes are coming up through the cold soil. Nothing really new this year -- just some old favorites and things that work well. Turns out I sort of have a lot of old seeds to use up...

Tomatoes: Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Matt's red cherry
Peppers: Nardello, Serrano, jalapeno, McMahon's Texas bird, Apple Sweet pimiento (or pimento)
Eggplants: Caper and Listada de Gandia
Cucumber: Japanese climbing. I am attempting to start them indoors this year for an earlier yield.
Onions and leeks: Of the 36 I tried to start, only ONE leek has come up! So disappointing.

I started fewer herbs this year, which I'm starting to regret because only the marjoram and one tiny lovage plant are coming up. No luck with parsley or lemon balm. I will try to direct seed the parsley when it warms up. Most of our potted herbs seem to come back each year.

I did get a new type of carrot: Scarlet Nantes which aren't actually scarlet-colored. Looking forward to planting them perhaps tomorrow!

2017 in a Nutshell

Well, I failed at the garden blog in 2017. We did have a really nice harvest, and I've shared a few pictures below. Some highlights and reminders:

• Potatoes still don't work in the trashcan for me... not going to try that again.
• We dug up the old strawberries and didn't replant yet.
• Surprisingly, tarragon and lemon verbena came back in their pots.
• No squash or melons this year. It helped with eliminating squash bugs, and we were still able to grow some cucumbers.
• Summer savory and spring peas never really did anything this year. Green beans, however, went out of control.
• The Most Beautiful Composter in the World lives up to its name.
• Casper eggplants (white ones) did better than Listada de Gandia (lavender striped).
• The Blue Jade corn was fun! But not completely practical.

Memorial Day weekend 2017: Merveille des Quatre Saison lettuce, some eggplant and tomatoes, dill, blue corn, and lavender in the background.

Same photo from opposite side.

Beautiful wedding lavender going strong!

Tomatoes and peppers on the opposite side of the garden. Beans will line the fence.

July: Blue Jade corn!

 

August: Tomato and rosemary focaccia (yellow tomato is from farmers' market).

August: Typical late-summer harvest

September: Just a few extra Serrano and jalapeño peppers.

Thanks, Climate Change

It has been a mild winter... until now. Last week seemed like early spring weather, and now we have a winter storm warning for this week. In the meantime, I ordered some seeds and started a few plants indoors. Since we've had such a problem with squash bugs, I have to take a few seasons off and hope that the squash bugs will disappear. I've decided to plant a few kinds of eggplant and some sweet corn instead. The sweet corn is called Blue Jade, and it's a smaller kind so we should have enough room for it. The eggplant types are Pingtung Long, which I've planted for several years, and two new ones: Listada de Gandia and Casper. I also bought a type of Japanese climbing cucumber, good for pickling and fresh eating, as well as a bird/butterfly flower mix for the front yard.

Last weekend, I started some herb seeds as well as the eggplant and Cherokee Purple tomatoes. The thyme, basil, and chives have come up already, as well as one Casper and one Listada de Gandia.

Beach Time

Kevin and I are heading to the Outer Banks with my family for a much-needed, relaxing vacation. We cleaned up the garden before we left, and hopefully everything will be alive when we return! The oppressive heat has been tough this summer. The large tomatoes have been taking so much longer than I remember. Perhaps we'll get some ripe ones when we return. In the meantime, we've got a nice handful of cherry tomatoes, our first Nardello peppers, and of course squash and beans.

Stuffed Zucchini and Squash

We've been doing a lot of garden work on weekends in between music camps and gigs. Here's the successful, colorful harvest from yesterday. First successful cucumbers in a while!

Although Kevin does most of our cooking, I especially like to cook when we have fresh produce from our garden. I bought two round squash from the grocery store, then added our homegrown Ronde de Nice (the light green one). I stuffed the squash and baked them in a covered baking dish. Delicious!

Summer Begins

It's officially summertime! Although last week was busy traveling around for Phish tour, I'm very grateful for a few extra days to get some weeding done before the craziness of music camps.

The Cherokee Purple tomatoes are looking gorgeous but still green. I've heard that the intense heat can keep them from ripening, so it may be a while before we see purple/red ones.

Summer savory is doing well -- now to find some good recipes for it! I've heard it's good with beans, and we have a plethora of those so that should be perfect.

 

Eggplant is doing well, but no flowers yet.

Lots of cucumber flowers -- a big improvement from last year. Hopefully we will get some cukes soon!

Red burgundy okra is as big and beautiful as always. We've harvested one or two small okra. More will come later in the month.

The Ronde de Nice zucchini are so cute. Our squash has been struggling with blossom end rot, so I added some more calcium to the soil, but I probably need more. So far this is the only successful zucchini, although we've had more summer squash.

Dragon tongue beans are out in full force.

Countdown to Harvest Time

After some much-needed weeding, the garden is finally back in shape enough to take some photos. Or at least half of it is. I'll weed the other half of the garden next weekend.

First, the potted herbs and plants are doing pretty well. Here's basil and lemon basil:

Beautiful tarragon and behind it some thyme and remaining chives:

And my marjoram actually survived this year! I'm hoping it will make it through the winter like the oregano does.

The squash is starting to take off -- I'm not sure if it's the yellow squash or the Ronde de Nice zucchini, but I guess we'll soon find out.

Here we have three Red Burgundy okra plants, along with some bushy marigolds and some beans in the background.

The Merveille des Quatre Saisons lettuce is still going strong, despite the heat (and the weeds).

Fingerling potatoes experiment is still going. I think the leaves are supposed to die and then we can harvest potatoes!

Here you can see (roughly left to right) Nardello pepper, Dragon carrots, jalapeño pepper, Cherokee purple tomato, cucumber near the fence, and Pingtung Long eggplant.

And from the other side, marigolds, a cherry tomato plant, tiny pepper plant that's not doing much, two edamame plants and a nasturtium, and Cherokee Purple tomato.

Here's a closeup of one of two cucumbers. I'm hoping they survive this year and avoid that rot or disease that killed a lot of squash and all the cucumbers last year.