Saturday, August 2, 2014

Pictorial Stroll of the Garden


This is the first time in years I've planted sugar snap peas.  I put a 4' high trellis on each end of a raised bed.  I think if the trellises had been 8' high, these peas would have climbed them.  Pods are just now forming.


Don't know why my corn looks as good as it does.  It's not like we've had corn growing weather.  The Painted Mountain corn only grows 4' high which it is now, and it's starting to tassel out.


The onions are doing great.  I have three beds of yellow and one bed of red.


This is a new mustard green for me.  It's called Scarlet Frill.  So far we've only had it raw, and it really packs a punch!.  I'm eager to try it cooked when it sizes up more.  A very pretty addition to a tossed salad.


This is the biggest of the green peppers forming.  But don't get excited.  It's actually only 2" long.


I planted some nasturtiums on either end of a bed with zucchini in the middle.  Guess this proves the soil in the bed is pretty good:  Mostly foliage and few flowers!


Here's looking across a section of the field garden.  Brussels sprouts closest, then bush beans and then shell peas.


Another shot of the two rows of Brussels sprouts.  I'm going to start snapping off the bottom-most leaves today.  (Go, you little Brussels sprouts, go!)


The row of yellow beans is lush and just starting to form beans.  The green beans (to left), for some reason, haven't grown nearly as fast.


I need to put on my harvesting hat and get these beets cooked, sliced, packaged and in the freezer.  Doesn't this one look as if it's trying to walk right out of the garden and into the kitchen?

20 comments:

Tami said...

Looks amazing MP. So jealous. Our garden is in tweener mode right now. Freaken critters ate all my new sprouts! Ugh!

Sue said...

Wow-looks fantastic! Now comes the fun part---the picking and processing. We've had the same cold summer, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why the corn is so happy--????? But I'll take it!! Yee ha--its a great year.

Your Brussels sprouts look so healthy. I've only tried them once---and bombed on them. It's a good thing I don't live close by. You'd be missing a few. Snicker.
Have a great weekend, Mama Pea.

Mama Pea said...

Tami - Arrrgh. Having critters mow down all your hard work just drives me up the wall! At least you can try again for a true fall crop. Hoping that works.

Lisa said...

Your garden is Gorgeous!!!! I'm sitting here drooling over your beautiful photos. Love homegrown roasted beets!

Sparkless said...

I'm always amazed at how weed free your gardens are. Everything looks great.

Mark said...

Looks great! Yours is definitely doing better than mine. I do love to get a look at other folks' gardens and see how they do things. Thanks for giving us a tour!

Mama Pea said...

Sue - YOUR garden is the one that looks fantastic! 'Course, that might have something to do with the fact that I can simply admire it and not have to put all the work you do into it!

Keep your fingers crossed that there would be some Brussels sprouts for you to snitch . . . I found a cabbage I stuck in a bare spot near the Brussels sprouts that looked like it was exhibiting signs of downy mildew! If my Brussels sprouts get the downy mildew, you're gonna hear me crying all the way at your house!

Mama Pea said...

Lisa - You are always too, too complimentary. Thank you so much. We love beets, too. (How often can you put a RED vegetable on your plate??)

Mama Pea said...

Sparkless - No, not totally weed free but I do try to get the buggers while they're still little. You know, stay ahead of 'em. I'm in the process of mulching every bare bit of soil and that really keeps the weeds down, too. Thanks for your kind words.

Mama Pea said...

Mark - Oh, that's just it . . . I LOVE to see how other people do their gardens! There's always so much to learn and new ideas to try.

And you're welcome!

Leigh said...

Your garden is fantastic. I have trouble finding mine for all the weeds. ;)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, beautiful garden! You got such a late start and most of your crops are way ahead of mine here in the desert. We gave up on growing brussel sprouts! The plants would grow and grow but the sprouts would remain at "pimple" stage and never get any larger...and then the aphids would find them. I loved the pic of the walking beet. A friend told us last year that beets sliced pencil thin (raw) are great in salads. We tried it and he was right! A little sweetness, a little crunch. Would never have thought to eat them raw (peel them first of course). So glad your garden is doing well. We are having our worst year ever for tomatoes. Planted over 30 (from seed and mostly heirloom) and they are all blighting out (got 2'x3' in size and then blighted practically overnight (heartbreaking)! Can't imagine a year without tomatoes. Everyone else is reporting the same thing with theirs. Would like to know once and for all...is blight soil born or air born. Even the coop ext. can't give me an answer. Anybody know? P.S. We put a radio in the orchard to keep away the bear and haven't seen evidence of him for almost a week now. Might get some peaches after all. Take care. Misty in Paradox.

Marie said...

beautiful -- thanks for sharing.

Mama Pea said...

Leigh - Don't forget . . . you have much better growing conditions than I do. And that means the WEEDS grow better, too!

Mama Pea said...

Hey, Misty! I'm really surprised at how fast the Brussels sprouts seem to be sizing up this year. Now if the downy mildew just doesn't get them . . .
I shred raw beets in our salads all the time. Besides the nutrition, the color is gorgeous!

So sad about your tomatoes! Arrrgh, all that work and then to end up with nothing. Some blights are soil born and some are air born. So take you pick. Not that anyone wants either!

Your radio must be tuned to a station the bear doesn't like. Hee-hee. Very glad it's doing the trick.

Mama Pea said...

Marie - Thanks, Marie!

Anonymous said...

The only station on AM that comes in loud and clear here at night is Latino. If you don't dance the cha cha (or want to eat peaches to it), you're out of luck. Thank you Jennifer Lopez!

Sandy Livesay said...

Mama Pea,

Just totally beautiful, your garden beds are so full and pretty. No weeds, bugs, or problems............I'm so jealous......lol..... Actually, I'm very happy for you.

Mama Pea said...

Sandy - You're so sweet . . . and silly! I have weeds and bugs and problems. I lost all my broccoli to downy mildew this year and found one cabbage that seemed to succumb to it overnight. I do plant very intensively so that by now the veggies do a good job of keeping down the weeds . . . no room! Also, the mulching I do of most of the garden with grass clippings helps the weed situation a lot, too.

But as usual, thank you for your kind words!

LindaCO said...

Thanks for the tour!