May brings plants, sprouts, and fruit to the main garden.

The main garden has seen the largest amount of growth this month. Over the past few weeks, my parents have planted a variety of plants and seeds in the main garden.

May 12, 2014 MVG Main Garden

The melons have taken over the corn field. We had a large corn harvest last year and decided to grow a different variety of fruits and veggies in the corn field. This year we have three types of melons, summer squash, and cucumbers growing in the corn field.

May 19, 2014 melon plants X 3

May 19, 2014 cucumber sprouts

My mother found bitter melon plants at our local nursery. We have used seeds in the past but finding plants will bring forth an earlier harvest (we hope... keep your vines crossed).

May 12, 2014 bitter melon box

bitter melon plant

My family loves to eat certain veggies and our victory garden would not be a garden without tomatoes, beans, peppers, and okra.

May 12, 2014 okra and tomatoes

May 19, 2014 peas and bean sprouts

May 19, 2014 bean box

May 12, 2014 sweet pepper box

The herb garden is growing quickly in the warm summer breeze.  The herbs are about ready to be used in soups, salads, and seasonings.

Fuyu survived the winter and is now pushing out small green orbs. Arn't they cute?! There are two orbs so far. My mother is hoping for many more this season.

persimmon

Here is the official list of veggies and fruit growing in the main garden:

Burpee Plants

Block Party peppers

Cherry Stuffer peppers

Golden Baby Belle peppers
SuperSauce Tomato

Tweety peppers

Plants from our local Nurseries

Bitter Melon

Cantaloupe

Egg plant

Honeydew Melon

Okra

Red Bell Pepper

Summer Squash

Thai Basil

Watermelon

Burpee Seeds

Blue Lake Bush Bean

French Filet Stringless Beans

Salad Bush Cucumber

Super Sugar Snap Peas

Additional Plants

Catnip

Fuyu Persimmon Tree

Lavendar

Lemon Grass

Oregano

Rosemary

Sage

Strawberries

Thyme

May 19, 2014 MVG Main Garden

What is growing on the patio for summer 2014?

basil

The seedlings are growing and the veggie plants have arrived! The patio garden is loving the warm California weather which has contributed to the growth of the seedlings and the plants.

assorted sweet peppers

Here is a list of the veggies on the patio. Most of the plants and seeds were bought from Burpee. My family has bought seeds from this company for years.

Burpee Plants

Tweety peppers

Cherry Stuffer peppers

Block Party peppers

Golden Baby Belle peppers
SuperSauce Tomato

Burpee Seeds

Blue Lake Bush Bean

On Deck Corn

Salad Bush Cucumber

French Filet Stringless Beans

Additional Plants

Kumquat tree

Sweet Basil

Catnip

Oregano

Rosemary

Sage

 
So far the plants and seedlings have settled in nicely and are growing strong. Here are a few photos that show the growth on the patio over the past month.

Kumquat on March 25, 2014

Kumquat on April 24, 2014

Kumquat on May 4, 2014

Cucumber on April 10, 2014

Cucumber on April 24, 2014

Cucumber on May 4, 2014

French Filet Bean on April 10, 2014

French Fillet & Blue Lake beans on April 24, 2014

French Filet & Blue Lake beans on May 4, 2014

Corn on April 10, 2014

Corn on April 24, 2014

Corn on May 4, 2014

Catnip on April 24, 2014

Catnip on May 4, 2014

The habanero brings the heat to the MVG

habanero peppers

Over the past few months the MVG has not slowed down. The warm month of September was a big month and produced an array of vibrant peppers.

habanero plant

The hot pepper plants took the longest to mature but are finally filling out dishes with spicy flavors. The hottest pepper is the habanero. These little spicy bulbs have made their way into stir fry and pasta dishes. The habanero pepper might look small but they really do pack a punch. I had to cook off most of the heat from the pepper to make most of my dishes edible and digestible.

hot pepper box is overflowing

The long slender red fleshed Thai chili peppers are no comparison to the habanero. The chili peppers were bland in comparison and had little to no heat. In the future, I will plant and grow only habanero peppers. These little orange orbs of hotness have proven themselves deliciously spicy to me and my family.

supersauce tomatoes

The first week of October brought a huge wave of large red SuperSauce tomatoes to our kitchen. My mother made a few batches of salsa but froze most of the tomatoes for use during the winter months. I have also used the tomatoes in many of my curry dishes. The sweet flesh adds a nice layer of sweetness to the the savory taste of the curry. However, nothing beats eating the tomatoes raw with salt and pepper or sliced up in a salad... mmmmm!

last harvest of green beans with
a small harvest of Cherry Stuffer peppers

The Sweet Big Daddy pepper is a favorite with many members in my family. The pepper is very sweet and soft yet the skin is crisp and crunchy. The pepper is excellent when eaten raw. My mother slices them up in salads. I like to cut them up in long strips and add the sweet delight into my veggie springs rolls. Anyway you cut it, the Sweet Big Daddy pepper is a fantastic colorful addition to any garden. This is another items that will be planted in the garden next year.

The MVG is beginning to change and prepare for the winter months. The corn stalks have been cut done and tied into bundles.

A family friend picked up the corn bundles and will be using them in his front yard Halloween themed landscape. Last year, I used the corn as a backdrop for my Halloween photo shoot with my dogs.

2012 corn stalks

The biggest change to the MVG does not have to do with the cleaning up but with the location. My boys and I have recently moved to a new smaller location. This means that the MVG will be moving with us. I have already started a small vertical garden on the small patio we now call our garden.

small green kale sprouts, yeah!

We are going to start small this fall season by planting (from seed) blue kale, brussel sprouts, sugar snaps, spinach, and pok choi. I have also purchased a few herb plants too: oregano, sage, and rosemary. I had lots of fun learning about vertical gardening and trying out a variety of vertical gardening techniques in 2012. I hope this fall season will be just as fun.

August Harvest

The sun is out and the temperatures are heating up. The MVG is loving the warmth and producing lots of veggies this month.

We have baskets of tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumber, eggplants, bitter melon and hot peppers. We cannot eat them fast enough so most of the veggies are cleaned, chopped, and frozen in Ziploc bags. 

To date, we have 6 quart bags of frozen sweet peppers and eggplant. We also froze a gallon and a quart of bitter melon too. 

The tomatoes are in full bloom. The meat is super sweet and taste great in salads. We only have three tomato plants this year so we might not have enough to freeze for winter. Right now we are eating them faster than we can save them.

RIC - The Okra's reign in the MVG has come to an end. This was the first time we have grown Okra and we loved watching the flowers bloom and each Okra grow into maturity. I have pulled up all of the Okra plants. The stalks are drying out in preparation for chopping and inclusion in the compost pile. Rest in compost Okra.

Eggplants and tomatoes are finally here!

Variety of eggplant

The eggplant harvest is upon us.  So far I have used the eggplant in breakfast dishes such as scrabbled eggs and omelets. I like to shred the eggplant and sprinkle it on the eggs like shredded cheese.  Most likely, I will use the remaining eggplant when BBQing or making soup and stir-frys.

garlic pepper veggies

Canning is still in full swing.  I have recently canned 10 quarts of garlic pepper veggies. I followed a canning recipe for dill pickles but made the following changes:

• Instead of dill, I use 3-5 cloves of garlic and 5-10 hot peppers.  I prefer to use Thai Dragon Chili Peppers but you can use any amount or type of pepper.  Just make sure you can handle the heat.
• I use a variety of veggies in place of only using cucumbers. This season I used cubed or sliced cucumbers, squash, and zucchini.

Our Juliet turned out to be a grape.

We also have ripe and juicy tomatoes peaking out from behind the long green tomato vines.  We have a variety of Romano, Early Girl, Grape, and Big Mama tomatoes to cook and eat.  I thought I had lost all of my Romano seedlings in the spring but to my surprise one plant survived.  Additionally, what was thought to be Juliet tomato seeds were actually grape tomato seeds.  The big difference between Juliet and Grape tomatoes is the way the fruit hangs from the plant.  Juliet tomatoes grow all over and are picked one at a time.  Grape tomatoes hang in a group, like the purple and green grapes you buy at the store.  I began to notice the clusters of tomatoes after a few harvests. They taste like small tomatoes so we are not bummed that the seeds produced a different type of tomato.  Actually, this is my first time growing yellow tomatoes... YEAH!

I did not expect much from the tomato plants because of the cool temperatures in June and July. We have harvested 20 tomatoes so far and will have at least 60 more to harvest.  But we need more heat and fall is upon us. We still have a few gallons of frozen tomatoes to cook from our 2011 season.  The frozen tomatoes should hold us over for winter but I will definitely be planting more tomatoes next spring.

The victory garden is winding down.  The yellow squash, all of the beans, melons, and zucchini have been pulled.  The vines, roots, and leaves will be chopped up and composted for next season.  The two large melons that were harvested a few weeks ago were sweet, juicy, and filled with flavor.  I will also be planting more melon next spring.

cubed Crenshaw melon

As the seasons change so does the victory garden.  Over the past month, I have begun to uproot the summer crop and prepare the soil for our fall and winter seasons. My family and I have our sights set on cabbage, kale, onions, brussel sprouts and a whole-lotta greens this upcoming season.  Stay tune for this will be the first time the Victory Garden stays open for growth during the fall and winter seasons. Keep your roots crossed!