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

Remove the carcasses! Prepare the soil!

MVG full of veggie carcasses

I spent some time preparing the main garden for this season's crops. There was lots to do and I had little time to spare. I was able to get the entire main garden ready in five hours with the help of my dad, the lawn mower, and our trusty rototiller.

 Phase I: Clearing and Trimming

First, clean out the garden beds. I pulled up all of last season's veggie skeletons and placed them in the grass.

Second, I forked the soil in the garden beds. This allows me to see and pull up any roots I may have missed while giving the soil a quick aeration.

Third: I pruned back all of our herbs. The herb garden grew out of control this winter. The rosemary, oregano, and sage plants were huge. I want fresh tender shoots this season so I trimmed down the herbs to the base. The plants look dead but they will grown back. I try to prune down herbs at the beginning of the spring and fall seasons. All trimmings were placed on the grass.

Phase II: Compost

 

TO THE COMPOST BINS! My dad does a wonderful job making homemade compost from their kitchen scraps and yard clippings. This makes my job very easy. I just fill up the wheel barrow with compost and shovel it into the garden beds. I used two full compost bins worth of compost in the garden beds.

Weeks before starting the MVG preparations, my dad placed piles of leaves on the dirt where we plant our corn field. The leaves break down quickly and help keep weeds at bay during the winter months. Plus, the extra nutrients from the leaves will help prepare the soil for the planting of seeds and plants.

Phase III: Mixing, mixing, rototillin'

First, I mixed up each garden bed. I want to make sure the compost was fully integrated into last season's soil.

Second, I added additional garden soil on top of the freshly mixed soil and hosed everything down. The MVG falls prey to many intruders (bean robbers, renegade squirrels, and alien invasions). The layer of top soil protects the rich mixture below in the event an intruder decides to dig or nest in the freshly made garden beds.

Third, my dad brought out of storage our small yet powerful rototiller. We mixed up the leaves and soil in the corn field. The leaves kept the ground soft and moist (not wet) which made the tilling process quick and easy.

MVG before preparations

MVG after preparations

Phase IV: Clean up!

Cleaning off the dirt from the rototiller blades and the garden tools is important but I had a huge pile of plant carcasses on the grass. With my dad's trusty lawn mower and some gardening sheers, we chopped and mowed down the dried plants and fresh herb clippings in 20 minutes. All of the waste was then dumped into the empty compost bins.

The main garden is ready for plants and seeds. We just received our shipment of plants and seeds from Burpee and are mapping out where to plant each item. Now for the fun part... planting, watering, pickings, and EATING!

MVG open for business!

2014 Gardening Season Begins!

Let the shoveling and seeding begin! The 2014 spring season is here and it is time to start preparing the soil for the seeds and plants.

first kumquat of the spring season

I ended last season on very high note. I moved and thought a small pot garden on the patio would be fruitful during the fall 2013 season. Unfortunately we had a very warm winter. The days were cloudy and warm while the temperature dropped at night. This unusual weather pattern wreaked havoc on my seedlings and none of them survived.

October 2013 patio garden

My herb garden is growing strong and survived the dry California winter. I trimmed back most of the oregano and basil to give the fresh tender shoots the ability to grow out by the beginning of summer. I currently have oregano, basil, rosemary, and catnip in my patio garden and I would like to add another herb plant. However, I am not sure which kind of herb plant to add. Please leave me a comment below this post if you have suggestions on herbs and how I am may use the herb in the kitchen.

oregano, rosemary, sage

 A new addition to the patio garden is a small yet study Kumquat tree. My father bought the tree from Costco for $19.00. It was a great price. The tree was loaded with  yummy orange kumquats. All of the fruit was eaten within a few weeks. I harvested over three baskets full of kumquats from this little tree. I cannot wait for this year's harvest.

In preparation for the summer MVG patio garden, I transplanted the Kumquat tree and will be filling up the additional pots with soil and organic fertilizer. I cannot stop imagining cucumbers, beans, corn, and bell peppers growing in these pots. I am going to have fun this summer!

new pot means more room to grow

kumquat is pushing out new shoots

Later this week, I will return to the main MVG garden to prepare the soil, mix in the compost, and begin the seeding process. YUP! You read that last statement correctly. I will return to where this garden madness all started and plant a new season of MVG veggies and fruits. My parents will help with the watering and harvesting but I have to get things started. I see lots of sweat, shovels, soil, and two stinky compost covered dogs in my future.

Stay tuned for the list of items planted on the patio and in the main garden... until then happy gardening!

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.

Purple, white, black, green, and red...the eggplants and peppers have arrived!

MVG August 7, 2013

The summer is cooling down and the corn stalks are drying out. The green beans and squash plants have been uprooted and tossed into the compost. BUT... the eggplants and peppers have arrived.

eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, and one tomato

The eggplants are in full bloom and producing lots of black, purple, and white oblong shaped fruit. There are still lots of flowers on the plants too. Hopefully these flowers will push out a few more eggplants before the summer season ends.

Yatsuifusa peppers

The hot and sweet pepper plants are also showcasing green and red fruit. The Yatsuifusa and Thai Chili peppers are producing handfuls of red peppers each day. There will be lots of spicy dishes in our near future. Any hot peppers that are not used immediately will be frozen in Ziploc freezer bags for later use.

jalapeno peppers

The only hot pepper plant that is still maturing is the habanero plant. The habanero peppers are still green and will need a little more time to mature into a golden orange hue. However, the jalapeno peppers are doing great. The plant produced over a dozen jalapeno peppers so far and still has lots of smaller orbs maturing for future harvests. These green peppers will be excellent in salsa and soups.

chicken soup with MVG veggies

Speaking of soups, my family is putting the MVG veggies to good use when making chicken soup. The most recent batch of chicken soup features summer squash, green bell peppers, zucchini, green beans, and okra. With the exception of the chicken, chicken broth, noodles, and long green onions, my family tosses in any and all types of the veggies grown in the MVG. This means that every pot of chicken soup is different which can cause more stimulation on the taste buds. I personally do not eat the chicken soup but my family sure does love it.

zucchini and summer squash bread

I have been making a variety of zucchini and summer squash bread. I used the standard zucchini bread recipe I found in my Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook 15th edition but only use half the amount of sugar. This helps tone down the sweetness. I made a total of three dozen muffins, 6 large loafs, and 8 small loafs of bread. I froze most of the bread to ensure they would last the winter.

zucchini and summer squash

RIC - The Tabasco and Chile D'Arbol hot pepper plants have joined the compost pile. Both plants did not produce a single flower this season. Sometimes a plant just can't make it regardless of how much water, fertilizer, and care you give it. Rest in compost hot pepper plants.

bouquet of oregano and sage