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.

Let the 2013 summer season officially begin!

The seeds have sprouted and flowers are beginning to show themselves to the world. I am very excited for the Morrison Victory Garden's 2013 summer season. We have the following planted and growing in various sections of the MVG.

IN THE FIELD

Illini Xtra Sweet Corn

corn is almost as tall as Solo

IN THE MAIN GARDEN

Supremo Cucumbers

Pic-N-Pic Summer Squash

French Filet Stringless Beans

SuperSauce Tomatoes

Fairytale Eggplant

Purple Rain Eggplant

Crescent Moon Eggplant

Cherry Stuffer Peppers (sweet)

Block Party Peppers (sweet)

Big Daddy Peppers (sweet)
Lady Bell Peppers (sweet)

Cheyenne Peppers (spicy)

Biker Billy Peppers (spicy)

Habanero Peppers (spicy)

Tabasco Peppers (spicy)

Chile D'Arbol Peppers (spicy)

Yatsuifusa Peppers (spicy)

Thai Chili Peppers (spicy)

Okra

Champion Radish

Bitter Melon

Thai Basil

Sequoia Strawberries

English Lavender

Lemon Grass

cherry stuffer pepper plant flower bulbs

IN THE FRONT GARDEN

Super Sugar Snap Peas

Asparagus Beans

Dark Green Zucchini Squash

Space Master Cucumbers

Crimson Sweet Watermelon

Early Yellow Crookneck Squash

French Filet Stringless Beans

lemon grass

IN THE HERB GARDEN

Garden Sage

Oregano

Rosemary

Thyme

 

strawberries are eaten faster than we can pick them

IN THE TREES

Plum

Fuyu Persimmon

lady bugs in the plum tree

All items listed in green were grown from seed. All items listed in orange are perennials.  All other items were bought as plants. I purchased my seeds from Burpee and Lake Valley Seed. I purchased my plants from Burpee and local nurseries.

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

Onions and herbs. A tasty addition to any meal.

We have onions! This is the first time I have planted and harvested onions. They took a really long time to grow but were worth the wait.

skinny (1/8 inch diameter) onions - Sept 2012

March 30 - big plump (2 inch diameter) onions

I harvested over two dozen yellow onions and a dozen red onions. Once cleaned, the onions will be sliced, diced, and cooked to perfection. They will taste good in stirfry, soups, omelets, casseroles, salads, and many other dishes.

Sage is overflowing in the garden bed

The MVG herbs are blooming in the cool sunny spring weather. The smell of sage, rosemary, and oregano has filled the air and will soon season our veggies with yummy goodness.

Oregano

Rosemary

Thyme

Last spring, I added a thyme plant to the herb garden. The little plant survived the cold winter weather and is starting to spread its long slender limbs. I am hoping the plant will be ready to harvest before the end of summer. I cannot wait to make and taste Summer Thyme Bread, Baked Mushrooms with Thyme and White Wine, and Lemon Thyme Cookies. Wish me luck!

Goodbye winter crops. Hello compost.

Morrison Victory Garden - bare and in transition

Today was warm and sunny. I took full advantage of the 70 degree weather and began uprooting the winter crops and covering the garden in compost. Spring is coming soon and the MVG needs to be in prime condition for the plants and seeds.

brussel sprouts are ready for a steam bath

I harvested the last head of cabbage, an extra large cauliflower, a basket full of brussel sprouts, 10 pok choi, a handful of radish, and large pile of mustard greens.

final winter harvest

onions are slow but growing

The only items left in the MVG are onions, kale, and bitter melon vines. The onions will be ready in a few months and the kale is still growing well in both cold and warm weather. I plan to uproot all onions and kale once the summer crops are ready to plant. I am keeping the bitter melon vines up just in case there are any Mantodea egg sacks attached to the vines. I will keep the brown vines up until late April. I hope this gives any nymphs time to hatch, dry out, and feed.

largest cauliflower of the season (9" diameter)

I spread our homemade compost across the entire row crop area. We are expecting showers and rain in the next few weeks. I plan to mix in the compost with the rototiller once the rain has subsided.

adding homemade compost

RIC - I chopped up all uprooted vegetables and have placed them into the compost bins. Until next year winter veggies, you have made the MVG lush with color all winter long.

Rest In Compost winter greens

Winter harvest has begun!

Red acre cabbage says, "Happy New Year!"

Gold mark cabbage head

The holidays have come and gone but the victory garden is still here. December brought lots of cold rain which helped many plants grown to maturity. I harvested all of the red acre and gold mark cabbage except one. My mom cannot wait to stirfry the cabbage and make soup with the large orbs.

Dinosaur kale

Russian kale

The dinosaur and Russian kale are looking good. They will continue to grow as fast as we can cut and eat the long spiky green leaves.

Minowase radish

The mustard greens are loving the cold weather. The leaves are large and vibrant with red and green veins. The minowase radish are growing faster than I expected. Over half of the crop will be picked within the week and used in soups and salads.

Mustard greens

I am really excited to see brussel sprouts growing in the garden this year. The sprouts need more time to grow. I expect they will be ready sometime in late January or early February.

brussel sprouts

Pok choi is looking good!

The broccoli is slowly peaking out from behind the large green leaves. I am not a fan of the broccoli arcadia variety so I decided to try out a new variety. I think the broccoli romanesco variety adds an intriguing visual appeal to the garden and any dish. I just hope the taste is different when compared to broccoli arcadia.

Broccoli romanesco

Rest in compost: We had our first frost on December 21st. The frost killed off the bitter melon, eggplants, and pepper plants. I have pull up the plants and will chop and place them in the compost within the week.