July 16, 2009

Garden Progress

While friends and family in the South are already enjoying their juicy tomatoes and crunchy cucumbers, we are just getting cranked up here out West. We have harvested a few things already like radishes, green onions and small portions (pitifully small) of lettuce and spinach.

The white onion bulbs are not quite ready to be dug up, but we couldn't resist harvesting a couple that were beckoning to us.

Of my 40+ heirloom seedlings that I set out, I'm now down to about 20. They are really growing and spreading out and producing lots of flowers. I've been fairly diligent about picking the little sucker shoots that sprout between the stems, to encourage more nutrients and energy into the main stalks.

In this box below, we have cucumbers, a melon and several bell pepper plants, mixed in with some flowers and basil. I also have more basil planted in my tomato boxes. You can never have too much basil, can you?

Here we have two eggplants with Neal's long beans in the background. His original long bean seedlings that we started indoors bit the dust after we transplanted them. He planted more seeds directly in the ground, but I'm afraid we're not going to have a long enough growing season for them to produce. One thing we do have a lot of in this bed is weeds. Weeds have been easy to control in my square foot garden boxes, but in this bed they are rampant and we've lost control. Sigh.

Anyone ready for some homemade salsa? My pot of cilantro patiently waits for the tomatoes to grow so that it and our onions can marry into some yummy salsas!

When I lived in Louisiana, in prime gardening territory, I wasn't much interested in being a gardener. Now, here I am in the wild, wild West itching to become self sufficient and grow gobs of food. It's a good thing we're not relying on my gardening efforts for income and total sustenance. We would be awfully broke and starving.

11 comments:

basicliving@backtobasicliving.com said...

I think it's looking great! And I agree - one can NEVER have enough basil. One of my all time favorite dishes is navy bean soup with fresh basil. Makes my mouth water.

Your growing season is incredibly short there - but your garden is doing just beautifully. Can't wait to see those jars of salsa!

Anonymous said...

yay!!! it is looking great, wonderful and green... all very good words, huh?

Lilla said...

Penny and Daune, thanks for the compliments. Things are coming along, but it's so hard to be patient...especially knowing that the two of you have been harvesting stuff for weeks!

basicliving@backtobasicliving.com said...

Well, our spring crops have come and gone, but.... we had a very cool spring and just now harvested our very first summer crops - two cucumbers! The tomatoes are coming along and so are the others, but we are really late this year. You may be eating your summer crops before us!

Duly Inspired said...

It looks beautiful, and it prompted my stomach to growl for the unbeatable flavors of home-grown!

Lilla said...

Thanks, Alison. I bet you could grow a bunch of homegrown stuff in containers on your newly remodeled patio! No doubt things would produce for you much quicker there in Texas than here in Colorado!

frugalmom said...

Everything looks fantastic. Those boxes are such a great idea. Arent they so much easier to weed then gardening directly in the ground?

Of all the onions that I have planted I have about a dozen left out there...I am anxious to harvest them. I cant wait to see your salsa! Not much longer!

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

Your garden is looking great! Mine is in decline now, so when you are harvesting all your goodies, mine will be scarce.

Lilla said...

Penny, if you have harvested two cucumbers, you're way ahead of me! The cucumbers and squash are growing well, but still no flowers, so who knows when they'll produce?

Thanks, frugalmom. And yes, I love my garden boxes! It so easy to walk around them and spot any new weeds that pop up. And things just look so much neater in the boxes. IF I ever get enough tomatoes to ripen for salsa, I'll be sure and post pictures.

SVB, thanks for the compliment. Sounds like you've had a good harvest this year. I'm hoping I can report the same around here very soon! Patience is not one of my virtues.

Suzan said...

Lilla, looks wonderful! Are you moved on to your property yet? We've decided to stay on our place for a while longer yet. I was too depressed about selling out:( Soooo our garden got a late start this year. Hope to get some beans anyway - and sunflowers! What a great summer for the Rockies with all this rain, eh?

Lilla said...

Hey Suzan! Thanks for popping in. I've been keeping up with your blog and was sad to hear you were thinking about moving. Glad you've decided to stay!

No, we have not moved. We are still in the building process. Don't know when we will ever get out there permanently, but as soon as our place is completed, you can bet we'll bet out there a lot more!

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