Lots of flowers and fruits have showered the victory garden with fragrance, life, and growth. Here is an update about the growth and the mouthwatering fruits.
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| lots of green in the victory garden |
Fuyu is new to the victory garden but that does not mean she is not ready to produce. This season we have two persimmons pushing out of Fuyu's newly grown branches.
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| Fuyu is caring for two persimmons! |
The zucchini and the yellow squash are pushing out fruit faster than I can pick them. I will definitely be making lots of pickled and bread & butter veggies this season. Last season, I showed everyone how to
blanch and freeze veggies. But this year I want to consume less energy during the winter months. Freezers and refrigerators take up lots of energy even though they keep our food fresh and cold. Canning fruits and veggies are the best way to reduce the energy you use all year round.
The tomato plants are looking good and have reached three feet in height. I am experimenting with corn as a support structure for the tomatoes even though we have red cages for support. I chose our one and only Big Mama tomato plant and started tying the large tomato stalks to the supporting row of corn. I planted a single row of corn in the garden bed right behind and between the tomato plants. The corn is still close enough to the corn rows to pollinate with the large corn crop and produce ears of corn. As our Big Mama plant grows I will continue to use green gardening tape to tie branches to the corn stalks for support.
Corn is a great support structure for vertical gardening. Corn not only helps reduce costs for buying support structures but also saves you time if you decide to make your own. As you can see below, the tomato plants have doubled in size and are expected to grow more in July and August. Let's hope for a great harvest without the
ATTACK OF THE KILLER JULIET TOMATOES.
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| June 10, 2012 - two Juliet tomato plants |
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| June 10, 2012 - Big Mama is loving the sun |
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| June 10, 2012 - three Early Girl tomato plants |
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| June 26, 2012 - Big Mama (left) and Juliet in cage (right) |
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The eggplants are filling in nicely. The top left plant is the oldest plant from last season. As you can see the plants grown from seed this season are quickly catching up. I hope to see flowers on all of the new eggplants within the next few weeks.
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| eggplants |
The bell pepper plants are smaller than I hoped for but they are doing well. They were unaffected by the
alien invasion a few weeks ago. I am also hoping to see a few bell pepper flowers peak out in the next few weeks. Keep your fingers and roots crossed.
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| bell peppers surrounded by bitter melon (right) and beans (top) |
The
bitter melon plants are loving the weather and the vertical garden. The plants have reached the top of the netting and are filling in nicely. Flowers peaked through the vines and leaves two weeks ago and have now pushed out baby bitter melons. Don't they look cute?
Even our cucumber like the garden beds and have begun the vertical climb up the netting. I have spotted many baby cucumbers and found two that are two inches long. Mmmm, I can already taste those crisp dill pickles. YUM!
The beans are pushing out more and more pods daily. Our youngest crop of burgundy beans is starting to mature and should flower in the next few weeks. The one and only garden bed, shown below, will be dubbed The Bean Box. There are over twenty burgundy bean plants in the garden bed and my family is hoping of a big harvest. Unfortunately, large bean harvests will bring more bean robbers. The VG authorities will be notified of the increase in beans this year and will hopefully put out more patrols. We caught the bean robber last year but I have a feeling that he will be back.
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| June 26, 2012 - Bean box is filling in |
A typical June harvest for the victory garden is comprised of sugar snaps, blue lake beans, burgundy beans, scarlet emperor beans, zucchini and yellow squash. I am currently using Frisbees to hold items I pick in the garden. I also use old pots/containers and strainers too. Remember, I am only using reusable items this season. I know I will be pulling out the large basket soon since the July harvest will be double or triple in size. So far my harvests have grown leaps and bounds. In two weeks, the victory garden has shown me just how fast our harvests will increase in size.
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| harvested on June 13, 2012 |
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| June 27, 2012 harvest |
Just imagine what a July and August harvest will look like. Our June 27th harvest, pictured above, is my largest harvest so far. The harvest includes 5 squash, 3 zucchinni (one medium two small), lots of sugar snaps, and a handful of each kind of bean (burgundy, blue lake and scarlet emperor).
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| Chewy Nhỏ (left) and Solo Nhỏ Xíu (right) |
You might also notice a new face. Meet the newest inhabitant to the victory garden,
Solo Nhỏ Xíu. He is related to the notorious Chewy Nhỏ, bean robber. Chewy was catch and sentenced to 18 minutes in the dog house for his bean theft in 2011. The authorities will keep a close eye on Solo and his convict brother Chewy this season. The authorities have stated, "Chewy Nho is still a danger to the bean community and security will be tripled this season." I hope for Solo's sake that he does not follow in his brother's footsteps and stays out of bean trouble. Here is a brief history of last season's bean theft:
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