Let there be FRUIT and VEGGIES!

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.

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.

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.

June 10, 2012 - two Juliet tomato plants

June 10, 2012 - Big Mama is loving the sun

June 10, 2012 - three Early Girl tomato plants

June 26, 2012 - Big Mama (left) and Juliet in cage (right)

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.

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.

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.

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.

harvested on June 13, 2012

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).

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:

July 10, 2011 - Bean was found

July 13, 2011 - Call from Squirrel community

July 16, 2011 - CSI analysis

July 29, 2011 - Caught on camera

August 4, 2011 - Bean robber caught

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

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