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

[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

[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.