Radish, growing faster than a speeding bullet

sparkler radish picked May 6, 2012

Remember my blog about radish as space savers or garden art?  Well, here they are.  The radish are plumping up nicely.  They will be great in salads or as a crunchy side dish. I have include a visual account of how fast these little orbs of goodness mature.

radish sprouts May 6, 2012

radish May 12, 2012

radish May 26, 2012

radish picked May 27, 2012

more radish May 30, 2012

2012 Coccinellidaes vs Aphidoideas Round 1

Those pesky Aphidoidea space invaders have returned.  Last season, they wreaked havoc in the corn fields.  These vicious intruders invaded the victory garden two weeks ago.  The first wave came from the northeast and hit the chives in Herb Row.  The second wave came directly from the north and attack the beans.  The chives were hit by a third wave which left our north eastern perimeter open.

Chives raided by Aphidoidea invaders

The Coccinellidae warriors arrived to rescue and maintain order in the victory garden.  However, the chives did not make it. They were so badly infested that the Coccinellidae did not have a fighting change.  The Aphidoideas raided and pillaged until every single chive shoot was overrun with their goo.

REST IN COMPOST: We will miss you, dear chives.  You have been a faithful member of the victory garden for over four years.  You will live on by giving nutrients to the next generation of crops.

Chives devastated by the attack

With death comes life.  The Coccinellidae protectors have decided to stay on and protect the garden from future invaders.  They took up residence in the bean plants.

Love is in the air!

After a few days, I swear I could hear the crickets singing Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On. As I walked through the victory garden I found myself surrounded by Coccinellidae jouissance.  Such climatic and feverish encounters with  Coccinellidae flesh can only lead to one thing.  Offspring. Within a week of their arrival, I saw baby Coccocinellidae crawling around the beans.  Arn't they cute!

Colorful flowers turn into baby beans

I might not be Cole Sear, from the film Sixth Sense, because I cannot say "I see dead people." But I know what I can see... I SEE BABY BEANS!

scarlet emperor baby beans

I was pleasantly surprised to see beans pushing out on the Burgundy, Blue Lake, and Scarlet Emperor plants. The spring weather has been cold, which has slowed down the growth of the eggplants and peppers.  But I am hoping the summer heat will help the victory garden produce a wealth of veggies.  So far the beans seem to like the cool wind and warm sun.

blue lake baby beans

burgundy baby beans

The sugar snaps are thriving and producing sweet crunchy pods.  Mmmm... I cannot help popping one into my mouth while picking them. They are so good.

sugar snaps picked May 25, 2012

I have planted more sugar snaps, blue lake and burgundy beans.  I like to stagger my planting of beans to help maintain a steady harvest all season. Nom nom!

Where there is growth, there are flowers

2011 Season - Burpee French Filet Stringless bean plant flowers

The victory garden has seen much growth.  With growth comes flowers and were there are flowers there will soon be yummy veggies!

Our zucchini plants have many starfish shaped flowers opening up each morning.

The sugar snaps are blooming!

The Scarlet Emperor plants have opened their red/orange petals, while still maintaining their vertical climb.

Lastly, and I am really excited about this one, last season's eggplant has produced a flower.  I cannot believe my little eggplant is one year old and just pushed out her first flower.  WOW! I hear a Strictly Jug Nuts' song seeping into my brain... OH NO!  I hope there are no killer eggplants in the victory garden.

Radish, space saver or garden art

The radish are here!  These fast growing Sparkler radish are the first vegetable to be harvest from the garden beds.  The are big, round, and red! The leaves are tender and can be used in soup too.

Sparkler radish

I like to plant radish seeds in between larger plants.  This is very helpful when your transplants are small.  I have recently transplanted tomatoes, eggplant, and bell peppers into the victory garden.  I give the transplants a few days to settle into the garden beds. I plant radish seeds in between the rows of plants.  This not only saves space but also give the garden beds a bit of visual aesthetics. You can call it garden art or space saving.  Either way, it works for me.

beet seedlings

You may use beets, carrots, lettuce, and pak choi, among others types of quick or slow growing veggies to decorate your garden and feed your tummy.  I personally love the rich bloody color of beets.  Even the stems and leafs are unique in color and texture.

volunteer beet from 2011 season

Beets are not a favorite in my house so I have turned to radish as my paint brush for the victory garden.  I chose to plant more varieties of radish this season because my family eats, pickles, and cans radish.

2011 season Minowase radish

Plus, I am the type of farmer who loves to find, pick and plant crops.  Most items in the garden take a few months to grow.  But radish have a fast life cycle.  You can grow a radish from seed in a month.  I decided to buy a variety of radish seeds to help plant color into the victory garden.  To make things interesting, I placed all of the seeds into a bowl and mixed them up.  When planting rows of radish, I just pull from the bowl of mixed seeds.  This will give me a variety of radishes while allowing for a mix of color to shine when the radish tops peak out of the soil.


Radish mix: Cherry belle, Sparkler, and Champion
Radish planted for pickling: Icicle (short top) and Minowase