Huge garden spammy.

[misora]

Wheeee pics!!

This is our garden at our new house that we've lived in since April. We first planted around April 23 - April 30, and have been weeding/fertilizing/watering since then.

And here are the results!




This is the space (for the most part, there's a little more than that) that we have to work with. From left to right (can't see the far left, I'm afraid) we have canteloupe, peppers (green & red bell, long green peppers), eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, and then tomatoes (6 different kinds). There's an artichoke in the back, but it only produced two mature artichokes before it died rather suddenly. :(

Speaking of the artichoke plant, after we left the last one on the stalk, it sprouted this really pretty purple flower. So vivid!

Apparently this really huge yellowjacket thought so, too. This was on zoom because I'm actually kind of afraid of bees, despite not being allergic.

Two of the tomato plants. This is about two months after planting; they're much bigger now.


The first of our cherokee purple tomatos. Oh god, these are really gorgeous. And huge.

A ripe one, just a couple of weeks ago. We picked one similar to its coloring and ate it, and the taste was delightful; firm, sweet and peppery flavor. Perfect for eating by itself, with just a little salt.

The cherokee purple plant, busting out fruits like no tomorrow. Quite productive.

Next up we have Aunt Ruby's German Green tomato. This is one of the first mature ones.

They end up being pretty huge too, actually.

The final color is greenish-yellow, still with its dark green shoulders. The little one next to it is a tiny mutant cherokee.

Of course, no garden is complete without cherry tomatoes to nibble on.

They made a beautiful salad ensemble.

Something I neglected to mention about this summer's activities, was that I spent an absurd amount of time collecting, pitting, and prepping apricots.

We had an enormous tree that produced a metric truckload of fruit.

Typical picking day for me. We also share a blackberry bush with our neighbors over the fence.

The coloring of these was just perfect. I brought many to work, because we couldn't eat/jam/dehydrate/freeze them all, and my coworkers raved about the taste. There's something to be said for homegrown organic vs. store-bought.

Blackberries blackening. They're quite tart until they're fully ripe. I froze most of them for easy smoothie making.

Also many of them fell victim to being decoration for banana pancakes. :p

In addition to our apricot tree, we had two trees that produced these at-first very strange little fruits. Turned out they were super-sweet plums. I'm not sure which kind, though. Any thoughts?

Canteloupe! :)

Watermelon! ^^

Honeydew! Initially he started out small, but look at him now -

He's now huge and the size of a large grapefruit.

Our little ichiban eggplant. The picture doesn't do this little plant justice; it really is one of the prettier plants I've ever seen. The leaves are soft and velvety, and a gorgeous greenish-gray color with dark purple veins, and the flowers are vibrant violet.

The eggplants themselves took very little time to mature once they started growing. I collected these guys tonight to stir-fry with pork. :)

Our first bell pepper.

I wish he was a little higher off the ground, but this guy is pretty solid and sturdy.

Back to the tomatoes. This is the First Light tomato, which took forever and a day to fruit; and the fruit doesn't grow quickly. These two have looked like this for the last two weeks.

Pink Brandywine. This poor little plant suffered for a while, but she's finally fruiting.

Roma. I was disappointed with how small these fruits seemed to be; I was hoping for the really huge ones that I could make pico de gallo with.

Kitty (Isabella) on the savannah on one of our hotter days. It hasn't been a really hot summer, though.

We also had tons of flowers. Gerber daisies,

Some gorgeous daffodils,

Roses,

And a sunflower plant. This was after he'd lived with us for two weeks; initially he was a little runt of a plant. We got him for free from the nursery (apparently because he was so pathetic looking).

Then he grew, and grew, and grew.

Eventually his bulb appeared. I think he was about 9 feet tall at this point.

...On the verge.

And then one day - poof! He's here!

Gorgeous flower. I want to make this an icon, but I'm worried I'll get confused with jennibare. ^^



More garden pics as things mature later this fall! ^___^

Comments

[jennibare.livejournal.com]

Yum and a half! These look so good. I'm jealous. Today, we discovered that we had a tomato plant growing in the weirdest spot in the backyard. Robert, my landscaper hubby, didn't realize what it was until after he yanked out the "weed" . We replanted it and watered so... *crosses fingers*. We tried planting peas and zucchini and melons but our 2yo lab decided that they were too tempting and ate the starts. What can I say? My dog likes his veggies.

Artichokes.... *drools* I forget that they flower. Very pretty.

Shall I change my user pic so you can be the sunflower? ^_^ I've been wanting to change to the peony.

[jennibare.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the double post. I'm tired...

[misora.livejournal.com]

No worries, doll! :)

I'm' so sorry about your hubby pulling out the tomato plant, though! D: I hope it survives...chances are that it will. Tomatos are sturdy things.

LOL@ your lab. Eating them before they've even fruited? Doggie needs a salad, I guess! :P

Haha, I'd love to use a sunflower icon! If you don't mind, that is - I won't use it all the time. Only on special occasions! (or gardening posts)

[jennibare.livejournal.com]

I hope it survives too. It was just starting to fruit, so with any luck we replanted it in time.

OMG, both the dogs are veggie addicts. Except raw potato and celery. It's very bizzare.

Sunflower away, my dear.

[infinitygoddess.livejournal.com]

Aww. All that sunflower needed was some love and poof! All big and pretty.

And great garden, btw. I should probably ask my mom how hers is doing...

[misora.livejournal.com]

Do your parents grow vegetables? I'd never thought they were so easy, but with John showing me the gardening tricks of the trade, it takes very little effort for a huge payoff later. :)

And the sunflower is indeed so pretty! We knew he had it in him. He just needed a good home. :D

[misora.livejournal.com]

Ohhh peonies! So pretty! :D

[tiddlywinks103.livejournal.com]

Droools over entire post...

Good Job!!

[intervigilum.livejournal.com]

Sunflowers! The ones here in Kansas get to be, no shit, like twelve feet tall and the flower can be the size of your head. They're pretty remarkable, and they do have whole fields of them--that's why we're the Ignorant Fred Phelps and Abortion Doctor Killer Sunflower State!

Your garden would make Doug weep tears of JOY. His various stuff growing around his house looks like NOTHING compared to this. He's got peppers, strawberries, blackberries, and tomatoes...I think he's making a pass at some frickin' CORN too, which I am like wtf how will you manage this it's growing in your front yard lolololol.

[infinitygoddess.livejournal.com]

Yeah, as a matter of fact. They live in New Jersey's Monmouth County, which has some of the richest soil in the nation and the plants love it.

In fact, sometimes they love it a little too much. My mom gets these whopper zucchinis and cucumbers every year, haha.

[drisela.livejournal.com]

WOW! Beautiful Garden!
You have such a green thumb!
DAMN that salad looked good! I'm salivating! ;P

I didn't even know what some of those things were ... (Is a city girl)

[moko-moko.livejournal.com]

Goddam, that's a gorgeous garden. And tasty to boot! My grandfather looked at these pics and guffawed in his hearty Chinese way and started complimenting how healthy they looked, which is hard for him to do. But he tthen proceeded onto some anecdote about his garden from back in the day. Hah, silly guy.

This apricots look absolutely delicious, nice job both of you :D :D

[platedlizard.livejournal.com]

I'm jealous, our tomatoes are about a month behind thanks to a cool and wet summer. Fresh picked tomatoes taste like summer, exactly.

It's funny to see someone going 'yay blackberries!' They're a major, major weed around here. Totally invasive and they will take over everything if we aren't vigilant. I've seen it swallow houses, parks, yards, and team together with English Ivy to destroy whole forests. Blackberries=nuke it from orbit. I suppose it's different where you are however!

That's a big fat bumblebee, BTW, not a yellowjacket. Yellowjackets are wasps, and are made of pure evil. Bumblebees are native bees :)

Are you going to can or dry the apricots?

[platedlizard.livejournal.com]

Awww, sound's like my grandma's dog. He used to eat all the broccoli she planted, no matter how well the garden was fenced off. That was the only thing that dog got athletic about.

[maggotpunk.livejournal.com]

An apricot tree? I'm so jealous. I would love to have a fruit tree with such abundance growing in my backyard. This damn drought seems to kill just about everything off.

[intervigilum.livejournal.com]

ZOMG Doug, I was telling her you'd probably give your left nut to have a garden bounty such as this. TIS AMAZING. We get our sweet winter squashes in Kansas, but mfing bet you money as soon as Jason and I have a house (or a place to rent) we shall grow all manner of things. I really want to grow potatoes--god only knows we eat enough of them. I really want bell peppers and cucumbers and cilantro and tomatoes and eggplant and A MFING CHERRY TREE. I BELIEVE IT IS POSSIBLE HERE.

ARE YOU A BAD ENOUGH DUDE TO HELP ME GROW A CHERRY TREE

and not chop it down

[maggotpunk.livejournal.com]

I actually have a cherry tree growing quite well. It's on the first step at the front of my house in the little black planter.

I thought about growing potatoes in one of the plastic garbage cans I have in the back. I just need to fill it up with dirt and throw some seeds in. It may just work. Never got around to it though.

[misora.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :D

[misora.livejournal.com]

I know, the midwest seems prime for sunflower growth. My uncle has sunflowers on his farm in IL, and man they are like 10-12 feet high. Mine is a shrimp next to them, I think.

Our yard is so huge that John actually *did* entertain the idea of growing corn! LOLOL...I didn't want to go through with it, but next planting season it might be on the agenda... *snicker*

[misora.livejournal.com]

Thanks! ;) John taught me well - he's an excellent gardener.

[misora.livejournal.com]

John's parents (also Chinese) are super-critical of our garden. "You're not watering enough! Did you see the plants in our backyard? They're greener! We water them more!"

Haha. It's really John's fault that we don't water more - he's stingy with it since we pay for it now. ^^

But thank you!

[misora.livejournal.com]

I can tell from looking at my neighbor's yard from over the fence that it does get quite out of control...it's extremely thorny, too, and spiders like nesting in it. D: So on days when it's particularly webby, I get John to pick the berries. :D

Ah, I mixed up my bees. Whatever this guy was, he was huge, about 10x the size of a honeybee. Anyway we left him alone and he was completely happy. :D

We didn't can any; we dehydrated them with a food dehydrator ($50 at Bed Bath & Beyond), and John was able to make fruit leather with them. Yum! Plus we made a few jars of apricot jam. The rest I froze, after washing and pitting them; I might either save them for smoothies or thaw them out for apricot tartlets or a pie or something later.

[misora.livejournal.com]

We were totally lucky to stumble upon a property that had so many fruit trees. We also have a fig tree, two plum trees, and an orange tree that still had ripe fruit on it when we moved in in April. We had at least two weeks of fresh-squeezed OJ. Pure heaven. :D

The oranges are growing back again, but they probably won't be ready til mid-fall.

So I hear you have a cherry tree, though?

[maggotpunk.livejournal.com]

Yes, I just got it this year and it's growing pretty well. Probably won't be bearing fruit for a few years as it is little more than twig size right now.

[drisela.livejournal.com]

Aw. Now I ship you guys even more! :D

It's such a foreign concept to me.
But maybe in the back of my mind ... it's not something i wouldn't try ... my own garden. (I just live in an apt. with no dirt to call my own. But my mom has a mean green thumb. Maybe it's hereditary? :D )

I have great respect for people who can grow food out of the planet. :)