Fast growing seedlings!

The corn is here! The corn is here! It took a little over a week for the corn to push through the soil and peek out its little green leaves. The corn sprouts are very fragile and need lots of water and protection from predators. I have found a few corn sprouts with nibble marks on the top. I have not contacted the MVG authorities about the nibble incidents but I will if it happens again. I just hope the victory garden is free of thieves this year. The bean theft of 2011 took a long time to solve but we caught the bandit.

The sugar snaps are growing and growing and growing. Take a look at how fast these little sprouts are reaching for the sky.

sugar snaps April 11th

sugar snaps April 15th

sugar snaps April 20th

Even the zucchini are growing larger week by week. Most of the zucchini have grown leaves and will soon begin crawling away from the base.

zucchini April 11th

zucchini April 20th

We also have watermelon sprouts. I hope to have more luck this year with my watermelon harvest. I planted the watermelon in a full sun area with no shade. In previous years, the corn and other vertical growing plants shaded the watermelon and stunted the plant's growth. This year, I am hoping for a healthy and hearty watermelon plant. I planted three seeds total. One has sprouted and I am still rooting for the other two...GO WATERMELON GO!

cucumbers (front yard) April 20th

The cucumbers are looking good in the front yard. I have a few new cucumber sprouts in the main garden too. I am looking forward to a large cucumber harvest this year. We only produced a basket full of cucumbers last summer and they were eaten faster than we could grow them. There are two jars of 2010 dill pickles left in the pantry and this year's harvest will help replenish our dill pickle shortage.

A fork, a hoe, and lots of soil!

MVG is ready for the summer season!

The MVG has a new look, wider reach, and is showcasing lots of seedlings. I just used a fork, a hoe, and 5 bags of organic garden soil to make the necessary preparations for the 2013 summer season.

MVG Strawberries

First, I had to prepare the corn field and garden beds for seeds and plants. I started by weeding the entire garden. I like to use a hula hoe when weeding. The hula hoe is quick and very effective. After the weeding, I uprooted last summer's corn roots. I used a spading fork to uproot the corn roots and placed the roots in the compost pile. I covered the entire corn field with fresh homemade compost and used our electric rototill to mix up the dirt. The end result is a field of soft dirt.  I laid the irrigation and sowed the corn seeds. I planted four rows of 36 seeds totaling 144 corn seeds.

I also rototilled a large circle around Fuyu. Last season I planted flowers around Fuyu. This year, I have decided to plant two rings of green beans in place of the flowers. I sowed 10 seeds in the inner ring and 11 in the outer ring totaling 21 green bean seeds.

Second, I turned the soil in the garden beds, added organic fertilizer, and mixed in additional organic garden soil. We have seven garden beds comprised of two rectangle single beds, two square single beds, and three square double beds.  I sowed squash and cucumber seeds in the northeastern double bed.

cucumber seedlings

zucchini seedlings

Third, the MVG has extended its roots to the front yard. Traditionally the MVG has utilized a third of the backyard. However, we had lots of unused seeds from last summer. Instead of throwing the seeds away, I decided to plant the 2012 zucchini, cucumber, squash, and asparagus beans along the southeast side of the front yard. Many of the seeds have begun to sprout and will hopefully produce a secondary harvest for us to eat and share.

squash seedlings

Additionally, I sowed 2013 sugar snap seeds next to the asparagus beans. Both plants are climbers and will have plenty of vertical support with the wooden lattice above the seedlings' cotyledons.

asparagus bean seedlings

sugar snap seedlings

I sowed an additional 10 green bean seeds in a small flower bed underneath our front window. We usually leave the flower bed bare or adorn it with a few flowers during the summer months. I had a few green bean seeds left and thought the area would be a great place to showcase our green beans to the neighborhood.

waiting for the green beans seedlings

I sprinkled a fresh batch of Garden Bark over the entire MVG to give the space a finished look. The ground cover will help reduce the amount of weeds in the garden and keep the herb and front yard sections moist during the hot summer days. I will add ground cover around Fuyu and in the corn field once the corn and green bean seedlings emerge.

Morrison Victory Garden - April 11, 2012

Warming up to fall...

We started off the fall season with a mini heatwave. We saw an entire week of 75+ degree weather. Most of the plants loved the sun.

My family and I pick the eggplants, joi choy, and Russian kale daily. I like to steam the kale and choi too. They are a great combo and are excellent as a hot steamy side dish to any meal.

joi choi (4 bunches)

The warm weather helped one pepper plant push out a handful of large green peppers. These will be great in soups, stir-frys, or roasted on the grill.

bouquet of kale, mustard greens, and swiss chard

Most of the eggplants have been frozen for use during the winter months.  I love eggplant in soups.  It adds a creamy texture to the soup broth.  Yum!

The sugar snaps sprouts are climbing to the sky.  These plants are very easy to grow and grow extremely fast.  Check out the before and after shots below. Sugar Snaps are located in the back against the trellis.  You can also see the quick growth of the six gold mark cabbage and the two red cabbage.

before - September 11, 2012

current - October 11, 2012

RIC - Rest in Compost
A group of renegade squirrels dug up and dispersed the Napa cabbage and spinach seedlings last week.  I tried to salvage as many of the seedlings as possible. However, the seedlings shriveled up and died. The seedlings were then laid to rest in our compost.  I will replant the spinach and will replace the cabbage with radishes, carrots, and beets.

The sugar to my snap! The sugar snap.

Sugar snaps are easy to grow and even easier to eat.  I cannot help it but I eat them while I am picking them.  They are great in salads, soups and stir-fry.  You can plant the seeds in the ground or start them inside in a pot.  Either way, sugar snaps are easy to start, transplant and grow.  The plants like cold weather but do well in heat too.

June 7, 2012 harvest

Sugar snap are great climbers. This is why they are an excellent choice for vertical gardening. Sugar snaps can grow as high as 7 feet.  My stalks are currently at 5 feet and still reaching for the sky.

sugar snaps are now above the netting

Sugar snaps have curly tendrils that hold on to any form of netting. I use a nylon netting to hold up the sugar snap stalks.  The tendrils hold onto the nylon and help keep the stalks from falling over.  Sugar snap tendrils are very strong and skinny.  As you can see in the picture below, one sugar snap was squeezed by a tendril.  The strong gripping tendril left an indentation at the bottom of the pod.

sugar snap and tendrils

I also recommend choosing a netting that has large holes. The netting I am using has four inch holds. This allows me to reach through one side and collect the pods in the middle of the plant.  Lets look at the evolution of the sugar snap this season in the victory garden...

March 16, 2012 - sugar snap sprouts planted indoors

April 12, 2012 - sugar snaps (right bed) transplanted

April 27, 2012 - sugar snaps tendrils are attached and growing

May 12, 2012 - sugar snaps going vertical

May 21, 2012 - sugar snaps are climbing higher

June 10, 2012 - sugar snaps are a foot above the netting

Two weeks ago, I planted two more rows of sugar snaps in the main garden and a few seeds in Herb Row. In the main garden, I plant rows two to three inches away from the current row of plants.  The new sprouts will still climb upward and will now use the first row stalks and the nylon netting as support.

May 21, 2012 - flower (left) and pod pushing out (right)

I am using a triangular prism support for the sugar snaps in Herb Row.  My mother made this support out of bamboo sticks, three metal gardening sticks and metal wire.  She used it for many years to support her bitter melon plants. I continued to use the support primarily for bitter melon.  I have maintained the prism over the years using additional bamboo sticks and green gardening tape.  As you can see below, the bitter melon plants have taken up nicely in the garden bed and no longer need the prism support.

bitter melon have started to climb... go go go go go

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.