Vegetable Gardening 

Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest.

It's May 1st... How Is It Going In The Garden? 

What is growing May 1st 2015?

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Harvesting the cauliflower.... It had to be done! Harvesting the cauliflower....
Crenshaw melons take their place

What is growing May 1st 2015?
The leaves go to the composter and in in months
will return to the garden in different form

What is growing May 1st 2015?

What is growing May 1st 2015?
One cauliflower standing...

What is growing May 1st 2015?
We are going to grow the melons vertically

What is growing May 1st 2015?

What is growing May 1st 2015?
They are planted, caged, and mulched. All we need is 60 days!

Did You Know? - Muskmelon (Cucumis melo) is a species of melon that has been developed into many cultivated varieties. These include smooth skinned varieties such as honeydew, crenshaw and casaba, and different netted cultivars (cantaloupe, Persian melon and Santa Claus or Christmas melon). Cantaloupe melons are an excellent source of vitamin A and vitamin C, and a good source of potassium.

What is growing May 1st 2015?
The kale seems to be doing well...
These will be kale chips by the weekend!

What is growing May 1st 2015?
The watermelons are going wild...
We made them vertical to save space and get more sun!

What is growing May 1st 2015?
What are these? Peanuts! In a month or so we will have a bag of peanuts!

What is growing May 1st 2015?

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Our back (East) wall is going like gang busters!

What is growing May 1st 2015?
The green beans are over seven feet tall already!

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Bell peppers anyone?

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Our first large tomatoes are coming indoors this weekend!

What is growing May 1st 2015?
The northern wall is loaded with nine types of tomatoes

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Do not cry yet.... But soon!

Did You Know? - The onion plant has a fan of hollow, bluish-green leaves and the bulb at the base of the plant begins to swell when a certain day-length is reached. In the autumn the foliage dies down and the outer layers of the bulb become dry and brittle. The crop is harvested and dried and the onions are ready for use or storage.

Routine care during the growing season involves keeping the rows free of competing weeds, especially when the plants are young. The plants are shallow-rooted and do not need a great deal of water when established. Bulbing usually takes place after twelve to eighteen weeks. The bulbs can be gathered when needed to eat fresh, but if they will be kept in storage, they should be harvested after the leaves have died back naturally. In dry weather they can be left on the surface of the soil for a few days to dry out properly; then they can be placed in nets, roped into strings or laid in layers in shallow boxes.

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Each of our 32 tomatoes are labeled with white tags

What is growing May 1st 2015?

To The Side Yard (The Southern Wall)

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Getting ready for halloween... Pumpkins are underway

Did You Know? - The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon (πέπων), which is Greek for "large melon", something round and large. The French adapted this word to pompon, which the British changed to pumpion and later American colonists changed that to the word that is used today, "pumpkin".

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Kale and beets living in peace

Did You Know? - Kale or borecole (Brassica oleracea Acephala Group) is a vegetable with green or purple leaves, in which the central leaves do not form a head. The name borecole most likely originates from the Dutch boerenkool (farmer's cabbage), whereas kale bears semblance to the Danish and Swedish kål and to the German Kohl (a general term for various kinds of cabbage) and Scottish Gaelic càl (or kail, as in Kilmany Kail; a rabbit, salt pork and kail broth from Kilmany in Perth, Scotland). Some varieties can reach a height of six or seven feet; others are compact and symmetrical and of good quality for eating.

During World War II, the cultivation of kale in the U.K. was encouraged by the Dig for Victory campaign. The vegetable was easy to grow and provided important nutrients to supplement those missing from a normal diet because of rationing.

What is growing May 1st 2015?   What is growing May 1st 2015?   What is growing May 1st 2015?

What is growing May 1st 2015?
The Anaheim chilies are getting ready to be picked!

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Our new fig trees have about 20+ figs starting to grow on them!

Did You Know? - The edible fig is one of the first plants that was cultivated by humans.

Two crops of figs are potentially produced each year. The first or breba crop develops in the spring on last year's shoot growth. In contrast, the content fig crop develops on the current year's shoot growth and ripens in the late summer or fall. The content crop is generally superior in both quantity and quality to the breba crop.

What is growing May 1st 2015?

What is growing May 1st 2015?
We have space for one more small tree

Front Yard (West Facing)

What is growing May 1st 2015?
The spaghetti squash is going wild!  By the end of the season,
it will be over 25 feet long!

Did You Know? - Spaghetti squash (also called vegetable spaghetti, noodle squash, vegetable marrow, spaghetti marrow, and squaghetti) is a group of cultivars of Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo. The fruit can range either from ivory to yellow or orange in color. The orange varieties have a higher carotene content. Its center contains many large seeds. Its flesh is bright yellow or orange. When raw, the flesh is solid and similar to other raw squash; when cooked, the flesh falls away from the fruit in ribbons or strands like spaghetti.

Spaghetti squash can be baked, boiled, steamed, and/or microwaved. It can be served with or without sauce, as a substitute for pasta. The seeds can be roasted, similar to pumpkin seeds.

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Tomatillos and squash are enjoying the morning sun!

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Yes indeed... We have artichokes, string beans and radishes
Strawberries are down low

What is growing May 1st 2015?
The pomegranate tree is sporting about 10 blooms... It's just a baby!

 June 27th 2015 garden

Did You Know? - The pomegranate is considered to have originated in the region of modern day Iran, and has been cultivated since ancient times throughout the Mediterranean region and northern India. It was introduced into Latin America and California by Spanish settlers in 1769.

What is growing May 1st 2015?

What is growing May 1st 2015?
These little guys are hiding from Vicky!
Vicky is our next door neighbor...

What is growing May 1st 2015?
The Japanese grapes are going well... We are trying herbs
in the front of this bed this year!  It was normally used for tomatoes!

What is growing May 1st 2015?
We have berries that are beginning to form

 June 27th 2015 garden

Did You Know? - In the late 1920s, George M. Darrow of the USDA began tracking down reports of a large, reddish-purple berry that had been grown on Boysen's Northern California farm. Darrow enlisted the help of Walter Knott, a Southern California farmer who was known as a berry expert. Knott had never heard of the new berry, but he agreed to help Darrow in his search.

Darrow and Knott learned that Boysen had abandoned his growing experiments several years earlier and sold his farm. Undaunted by this news, Darrow and Knott headed out to Boysen's old farm, on which they found several frail vines surviving in a field choked with weeds. They transplanted the vines to Knott's farm in Buena Park, California, where he nurtured them back to fruit-bearing health. Walter Knott was the first to commercially cultivate the berry in Southern California. He began selling the berries at his farm stand in 1932 and soon noticed that people kept returning to buy the large, tasty berries. When asked what they were called, Knott said, "Boysenberries," after their originator. His family's small restaurant and pie business eventually grew into Knott's Berry Farm. As the berry's popularity grew, Mrs. Knott began making preserves, which ultimately made Knott's Berry Farm famous.

What is growing May 1st 2015?
The only thing that is not edible in the garden!

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Salad is underway!  These are replants as we devoured the
previous plants already this season... We replaced the bolted plants!.

Did You Know? - Bolting is when agricultural and horticultural crops prematurely produce a flowering stem (or stems) before the crop is harvested, in a natural attempt to produce seeds and hence reproduce. These flowering stems are usually vigorous extensions of existing leaf-bearing stems, and in order to produce them, a plant diverts resources away from producing the edible parts such as leaves or roots, resulting in a poor quality harvest from the grower's point of view. Plants that have produced flowering stems in this way are said to have bolted. Crops inclined to bolt include lettuce, beetroot, brassicas, spinach, celery and onion.
Bolting is induced by plant hormones of the gibberellin family and can occur as a result of several factors, including changes in day length, the prevalence of low temperatures at particular stages in a plant's growth cycle, and the existence of stresses such as insufficient water or minerals.

What is growing May 1st 2015?
These little guys will be a salad tomorrow!

The Front Yard Outside The Wall

What is growing May 1st 2015?
On our parkway the apple tree is enjoying a heavy harvest!

What is growing May 1st 2015?
These will be applesauce in the near future

What is growing May 1st 2015?
There is probably 100 apples on the tree!
There are three difference kinds of apples on this single tree!

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Our new plum tree is also loaded!

 June 27th 2015 garden

What is growing May 1st 2015?
Can you see all the plums?

What is growing May 1st 2015?
From left to right - Lime, plum, and kumquat!

June 27th In The Garden

 June 27th 2015 garden
Great day in the garden

 June 27th 2015 garden
The pumpkins are going wild!

Did You Know? - The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon (πέπων), which is Greek for "large melon", something round and large. The French adapted this word to pompon, which the British changed to pumpion and later American colonists changed that to the word that is used today, "pumpkin".

As one of the most popular crops in the United States, 1.5 billion pounds (680,000,000 kilograms or 680,000 tonnes) of pumpkins are produced each year. The top pumpkin-producing states include Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California.

 June 27th 2015 garden
The corn is taller than the avacado tree!

 June 27th 2015 garden
The fruit is forming quite well

 June 27th 2015 garden
A forest of corn

Did You Know? - Maize (/ˈmeɪz/ MAYZ; Zea mays subsp. mays, from Spanish: maíz after Taíno mahiz), known in some English-speaking countries as corn, is a large grain plant domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times.

The leafy stalk produces ears which contain the grain, which are seeds called kernels. Maize kernels are often used in cooking as a starch. The six major types of maize are dent, flint, pod, popcorn, flour, and sweet.

 June 27th 2015 garden
Another few weeks and it will be time to pick

Did You Know? - Sweet corn (Zea mays convar. saccharata var. rugosa; also called sugar corn and pole corn) is a variety of maize with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally occurring recessive mutation in the genes which control conversion of sugar to starch inside the endosperm of the corn kernel.

Unlike field corn varieties, which are harvested when the kernels are dry and mature (dent stage), sweet corn must be picked when immature (milk stage) and prepared and eaten as a vegetable, rather than a grain.

Since the process of maturation involves converting sugar to starch, sweet corn stores poorly and must be eaten fresh, canned, or frozen, before the kernels become tough and starchy.

 June 27th 2015 garden
We can almost smell the corn now

 June 27th 2015 garden
The tassels are turning

Did You Know? - The ear is covered by tightly wrapped leaves called the husk. Silk is the name for the pistillate flowers, which emerge from the husk. The husk and silk are removed by hand, before boiling but not before roasting, in a process called husking or shucking.

 June 27th 2015 garden
The pumpkin is beginning to form

 June 27th 2015 garden
Another 45 days and it will be 24 inches around and a golden orange

 June 27th 2015 garden
It is shading the bark on the apple treee.... This is good

 June 27th 2015 garden
A female flower is the one that produces the pumpkins

Did You Know?

● In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.

● Colonists sliced off pumpkin tips; removed seeds and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. This was baked in hot ashes and is the origin of pumpkin pie.

● Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.

● The largest "official" pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,340 pounds.

● The largest "unofficial" pumpkin ever grown weighed 1'458 pounds, but was not awarded due to damage.

● The Connecticut field variety is the traditional American pumpkin.

● Pumpkins are 90 percent water.

● Eighty percent of the pumpkins supply in the United States is available in October.

 June 27th 2015 garden
The kale is also doing well

 June 27th 2015 garden
Hot peppers anyone? These are habaneros

 June 27th 2015 garden
More hot peppers

 June 27th 2015 garden
The bell peppers are doing quite well

Did You Know? - Bell peppers are a great source of vitamin C. If you thought citrus fruits packed a powerful punch when it comes to being a good source of vitamin C, peppers have them beat. Green peppers have twice the amount of vitamin C by weight than citrus fruits, and this powerful punch of vitamin C is an antioxidant that may be effective in preventing certain cancers. Red bell peppers have three times as much vitamin C as the green varieties and are a good source of beta carotene.

 June 27th 2015 garden
Turning colors daily

 June 27th 2015 garden
Time to stuff them!

 June 27th 2015 garden
Anaheim chilies will soon be stuffed

 June 27th 2015 garden
Love the colors

 June 27th 2015 garden
A purple bell sticks his little head out

 June 27th 2015 garden
Eggplant and peppers seem to get along well

 June 27th 2015 garden
New onions and beets on their way

What is growing May 1st 2015?