Tomatoes
Posted: July 13, 2012 Filed under: garden | Tags: garden, tomatoes 3 Comments »The garden is shifting. The lettuce and mustard greens are totally gone and the zucchini is taking over the garden. The kale has been attacked by aphids 
and my okra is growing at a snails pace.
At least the tomatoes are kicking it into high gear.
Giant Brandywine.
I was able to get a few dozen sun golds, a couple Black from Tulas and some Brandywines yesterday. I also cut the final mustard greens and a giant zucchini.
My cucumbers are slowly winding there way up with lots of flowers but still no fruit to be seen. I need some new things to fill in the holes in my garden. I would like more green beans but I cannot find any plants. It seems like planting season is over or something. Also, if I want to grown winter squash, when do I start that and how much room do they need? I am not talking pumpkins but maybe some acorns?
Any help is appreciated!
Finally, a Gator shot. It is a good thing he is so stinkin’ cute because he is such a little monster!
Garden Update
Posted: July 3, 2012 Filed under: garden | Tags: garden, tomatoes Leave a comment »I know I said I would post a garden update up a few days ago but then the DC metro area got hit by killer storms, and we lost our internet for awhile. Thankfully we never lost power. There are people in our area that still are without electricity and major roads still do not have working traffic lights.
So…back to the garden
We are getting close to peak growth season – lots of green peppers and tomatoes.
I am starting to collect sun gold tomatoes and I have had one Brandywine ripen but then rot.
I just ended up cutting the bad portion out of it and eating the remainder for lunch. It was delicious!
It is interesting to compare my heirloom organic tomato plants vs. my neighbors conventional plants.
Mine on the left about 4ft tall, theirs on the right at about 6ft. I guess those modified genes are helping them grow.
It has been super hot out so I am trying to keep myself and the plants hydrated. I am usually dripping in sweat at 9am after working for an hour in the garden.
It is hard work being a gardener! Stay hydrated!
The Tomatoes are Coming!
Posted: June 28, 2012 Filed under: garden | Tags: garden, sun gold, tomatoes Leave a comment »First tomatoes of the season!
Delicious sun gold cherry tomatoes picked right off the warm vine and promptly eaten after photo. I hope to get a full garden report up tomorrow! Until then, get out and enjoy some local produce!
We are enjoying some local Gator around here 
Summer Squash
Posted: June 20, 2012 Filed under: garden | Tags: garden, squash, zucchini 2 Comments »
We have summer squash growing to the size of wine bottles around here!
I am not exactly sure what kind of squash it is because it was leftover from last year’s gardener and sprouted during tilling in April.
It is amazing that that giant squash came from these little plants in only 2 months.
What do you make with giant squash? I made baked zucchini fries, but I really want to grill it! Does anyone know what kind this is?
p.s. Hi Jaci 
Got Kale?
Posted: June 7, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: garden, kale, kale chips 2 Comments »Kale is the new acai berry. Well they may not taste the same, but it surely is becoming the health food spokes vegetable.
This week it was time to harvest some leaves and plants new things! I harvested kale and pulled the leggy spinach. We have had a lot of rain lately and I think it is hurting my plants because our soil is high is clay content.
Back to the kale, we have a lot around these parts.
Yummy! That is about $8 worth of kale from $2 worth of plants and it is still coming.
My favorite way to eat kale is via Kale Chips!
- Pre-heat oven to 350
- Wash and tare kale into chip like pieces – make sure leaves are dry
- Coat leaves in olive oil, salt, pepper and any other seasoning of choice
- Lay flat on a baking sheet in one layer
- Bake in over for 10min
- Check oven often – you don’t want them to burn!
- Serve with ketchup and hot sauce combo or nothing at all
Even Sissy likes kale!
Try some today!
While the Gardener is Away, the Veggies Will Play
Posted: May 30, 2012 Filed under: garden | Tags: garden, gardening, vegetables 3 Comments »My garden on 5/12/12
My garden 5/29/12
Holy cow. We had 3 days of rain and then I went away for the holiday weekend. The garden (and all of the plots around me) went a little bonkers.
After an hour of cleaning up…
I chopped down the mustard greens and my spinach. My spinach had actually bolted 
but I pulled off the leaves and got a huge bag of greens. Guess what I am having for lunch! I also put the mustard flowers into a ball jar on the dining room table as a lovely centerpiece.
The haul for the day…
Tons of mustard, spinach, Romaine, and a few green beans.
Growing shot!
This is the plant that was already growing in our plot when I started…I thought it was a cucumber but now it looks a lot like a zucchini, especially those flowers. Now we are down to one cucumber plant, which is not doing so hot. I might need to get another plant and maybe more beans…I just cannot stop!
Speaking of beans…
We had the few beans I harvested on top of our greens last night, and Nick commented that no grocery bean can ever taste as good as fresh from the garden. He couldn’t put a finger on the flavor, but I love seeing people get excited about vegetables. Green beans are his favorite in general hence another reason why I think we need more!
Other highlights/lowlights…
- my snap peas are not happy and may need to come out
- I am thinking about putting in some eggplant when the lettuce goes
- my tomatoes are getting flowers!
- more bean plants are needed
- maybe another cucumber
- it is almost time to harvest a lot of kale! (Nick will juice a lot of it)
Lesson Learned:
Check on your garden every day if possible!
Questions:
What should I do when my lettuce, spinach and kale are done? Will kale continue to produce after it gets to full size? I am trying to learn more about how to handle things that don’t continue to produce once they reach maturity.
How are your gardens doing?
One Day In Maine
Posted: May 29, 2012 Filed under: Maine | Tags: Back Bay Grill, garden, L.L. Bean, maine 2 Comments »This past weekend was not only Memorial Day, but it was also my grandfather’s birthday. I have gone to Maine every year for the past 28 years so I wasn’t about to miss this year even if I could only stay for one day.
We did a little gardening…
Visited the beach (it was packed!)
Ate some delicious food…
Celebrated a birthday!
…and visited the Bean Boot
“100 years of roughing it in comfort”
Maine – the way life should be.
Everything is In!
Posted: May 17, 2012 Filed under: garden | Tags: garden, gardening, lettuce 3 Comments »It is a beautiful day here in Maryland! The garden is growing, and I finally got everything planted (minus a few replacement heads of lettuce after harvest).
Everything seems to be doing well except my snap peas and a couple of tomato plants that were sampled by a chipmunk or some other type of rodent ( we are pretending it could never be a rat…). They seem to be the only trouble we have had with nibbling, which is good because I am trying to keep the garden as organic as possible. I am actually more worried that my nibbler problems will be of the two legged variety come July. As of today no one seems to want to steal kale and lettuce but tomatoes and peppers are a little bit more appealing.
The latest garden additions are pepper plants, some herbs and marigolds.
I love sweet red peppers!
Basil and parsley looking a little sad after watering.
Cheery marigold! They are supposed to keep pests away and my mom will be proud of me for getting a plant that is not food.
Along with planting, I also harvested two Romaine heads and some more spicy salad greens.
Yay lettuce!
Both are hanging out in my crisper waiting to be eaten tonight for dinner! My tomatoes are still very small but growing. It is almost time to harvest some spinach too! Green Monster smoothies and salads for all!
Tomatoes Abound!
Posted: May 7, 2012 Filed under: garden | Tags: garden, lettuce, mixed greens, tomatoes Leave a comment »
I was back in the garden yesterday, and Nick planted his first plant ever! I wish I had gotten a picture of it! Check out how much the greens have grown! You can see how small they were in this post.
I was even able to harvest some spicy greens for a salad!
Check out my first peas!
As for today we planted okra, cucumber, and 12 tomatoes. We could be swimming in tomatoes by the end of the summer, but I love them and I am sure my co-workers would enjoy them.
They are super itty-bitty now but soon we will have lovely Brandywine, Black from Tula, and Sun Gold tomatoes a plenty.
We really only have room for some peppers now, and I am going to plant some parsley, basil, and cilantro once we harvest the Romaine. Once the kale comes up I will probably plant some more lettuce. We shall see how it goes. We have had some bolting in the spinach and mixed greens but I cut them out yesterday. We still need some tomato cages, clippers, and Nick needs gloves. The gardening list never ends, but it is so much fun to watch everything grow!
Get growing tomatoes!!!
Garden Update!
Posted: April 20, 2012 Filed under: garden | Tags: beans, compost, garden, gardening, lettuce, peas 2 Comments »Yesterday I got to work in the garden! It is warm enough to start greens and peas so I went ahead and started planting!
I started by fencing off my little plot and found out it is about 15ft x 4ft. Super long! I tried to get out all of the rocks and pieces of glass while also checking out what was leftover from last year.
Bucket of rocks and lots of little baby garlics. 
Lots of little squash of some sort. I pulled a bunch of these out so they weren’t over crowded. We shall see what they turn out to be! Tilling was seriously hard work.
Next I dumped out a giant bag or organic compost and some organic plant food. The odd shape is because I am trying to give everyone an equal amount of light and my plot is east, west lengthwise. Till, till, till.
Planted! 4 mixed greens, 6 spinach, 6 heads of romaine, 6 heads of kale, 4 sweet peas, and 2 green beans. Next up, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, and herbs!
I need more compost!
