Zucchinni is in da house!

A Green Tiger zucchini has joined the party. The plant was grown by Sweetwater Nursery from Sabastopol, CA. We have extended the MVG to the front of the house where you can find the zucchini near our cucumber plants.

zucchini - June 10th

Our newest addition has quickly pushed out a few fruit immediately after being planted. We expect great things from this quick producing zucchini plant.

zucchini harvested - June 17th

June 26th

June 26th

The cucumbers are starting to climb up the trellis. Vertical gardening is still a popular technique in the MVG and we hope this technique will prove useful for the Japanese and pickling cucumbers.

cucumbers are climbing

The MVG main garden is loving the warm humid weather!

MVG Main Garden July 14, 2014

The main garden is growing out of control this summer. The warm humid weather and a few applications of Burpee's Sea Magic organic growth activator gave all the plants an extra boost.

July 2nd harvest - bell peppers

July 8th harvest - green beans, cucumber, & sugar snaps

My mom harvests handfuls of beans and sugar snaps and baskets full of cucumbers and green peppers on a weekly basis.

July 11th harvest - cucumbers, bell pepper, and squash

July 11th harvest - sugar snaps

We have begun trimming back the herbs. Hanging them upside down on pant hangers allows the leaves to dry without curling up or folding in half.

July 2nd harvest - sage and oregano

So far my mom has blanched and froze 6 1/2 quart Ziploc bags of green beans and made two jars of Mom's Pickles. She will soon be canning Bread and Butter Pickles in the next few weeks too.

french fillet and blue lake blanched and frozen

Mom's Pickles

I treated our kitties to a few catnip bundles. They love to hug the bundle while rolling around on the ground. The bundles last for weeks too. All you need to do is roll the catnip bundle in your hands to reactive the oils.

catnip bundle

There are many other veggies joining the main garden's weekly harvest. The okra, bitter melon, and squash are sprinkled into the harvest baskets while the melons, pumpkins, tomatoes, and eggplant continue to grow and flower.

bitter melon

melons

tomatoes

okra

summer squash

Fuyu is growing strong. There are lots of new branches, large green leaves, and a few fruit dangling from the tree.

Fuyu has a few persimmons growing too!

It is amazing to see how fast the garden has filled-in over the past few months. Check out our before and after shots below:

July 2nd - pumpkin patch

July 14th - pumpkin patch

Behind the garden beds - (front to back) squash (left), cucumbers (right), and melons.

June 11th  - squash, cucumber, & melons

July 2nd - squash, cucumber, & melons

July 14th - squash, cucumbers, and melons

Second garden bed row: (front to back) thai basil in pot/ sugar snaps and green beans/ okra and tomatoes/ bitter melon.

June 11th - sugar snaps and green beans

July 2nd - sugar snaps and green beans

July 14th - sugar snaps and green beans

Front garden bed row: (front to back) lemon grass and lavender in pots; green beans; bell peppers and eggplant.

July 2nd - green beans and bell peppers

July 14th - green beans and bell peppers

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.

Hot weather brings big veggies!

July 6th - biggest harvest of the season

We had a major heat wave pass through the Morrison Victory Garden. The heat brought lots of growth to the plants and also helped produce extra large veggies.  Additionally, I had to break out my big wicker basket to hold the larger harvests. So far, our largest harvest of the 2013 summer season includes 5 zucchini, over a dozen summer squash, over a dozen cucumbers, 10 okra, and a basket full of green beans.

The cucumbers and the summer squash endured a major growth spurt during the heat wave. I have included a side by side comparison of each vegetable. The smallest veggie is the regular size and can help you estimate the size of the extra large veggies. I don't want you to think I left the veggies on the vine for weeks either. I pick veggies every three to four days. I think the combination of super soaking the veggies a few days ago and our 90 degree temperatures helped increase the size of these two veggies.

The tomatoes are doing very well. All three plants have filled the tomato supports and are holding dozens of green oblong tomatoes.

Crescent Moon eggplant

Purple Rain eggplant

Nadia eggplant

The eggplants and bitter melon are showing of a variety of colors and textures. By August, both plants will be filled with ripe veggies for soups, stirfrys, and BBQs.

Bitter Melon

The ears of corn are plump and are showcasing brown strands of silk. It won't be long now. Depending on the size of the kernels I might start picking corn within the next two weeks.

Even the sweet peppers are enjoying the heat. We are proud of our Big Daddy plant. This is the largest pepper to have dangled off of a branch in the MVG. WOW!

Big Daddy Pepper

Due to our large bi-weekly cucumber harvests, my mom canned dill pickles on 4th of July. Ten quart-size mason jars were sterilized, packed, and filled with yummy dill pickle goodness. I cannot wait to try them out next year. Yum!

canned dill pickles

The hot weather has subsided but we hope the warmth will return soon. We definitely like the increase in the size of the harvests and the size of the veggies.

Herb row (L-R): Sage, Oregano, and Rosemary

We see veggies!

Morrison Victory Garden - May 29th

There has been lots of growth in the MVG over the past few weeks. I have seen many flowers bloom and push out small yummy vegetables.

radish are peaking out

The first plant to push out veggies is our zucchini plant. The first zucchini of the season is currently three inches long and growing rapidly.

zucchini

The summer squash is showing flowers and fruit. The squash is small but you can see the yellow color peaking out from behind the green leaves.

summer squash

The cucumbers are peaking out from behind small yellow blossoms too. I can see over a dozen small cucumbers growing and many more will soon fill the 20 cucumbers plants in the MVG.

cucumbers

All of the sweet pepper plants have flowers and the cherry stuffers have small green orbs dangling from the branches.

cherry stuffer peppers

tomato blossoms

The okra, tomatoes, hot peppers, and eggplants are showcasing a variety of flowers but have not produced fruit yet.

a little lavender for luck

The weather has cooled down and we are hoping for higher temperatures in the upcoming weeks. Hotter weather will bring more flowers and fruit to the MVG so keep your roots crossed. We want a big harvest this year.