My Garden...Do you have one? (Pics included)

[Moesha]

I have 4 tomato plants in pots. I went home today and looked at them. I've been house sitting for a week and a half. They have gotten so much bigger and have lots of little babies on them.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

Wow, your garden looks great! We planted a vegetable garden for the first time this year. We don't have any veggies ready to harvest yet (got a bit of a late start because we had to build a raised bed) but there are babies on the plants.

We planted cucumbers, squash, broccoli, green beans, peppers, eggplants, leeks, celery, tomatoes, watermelon and honeydew melon. I'd never done a vegetable garden before so I planted the rows a little too close together and the plants are a tad cramped, but healthy!

[caseysmom]

Really? It is like a weed here. On one of the walking trails it grows wild. I have to cut it back about once a month.

Sun and not too much water. It is a Mediterranean plant and should be treated that way.

Thats what I thougt too, I think I over watered it.

[Randi]

Looks fantastic! Bet it all tastes SO much better than what you buy.

Ditto! But the soil looks so dry - how do you do it! You must water a lot.

I don't have a garden, but we do grow various herbs in the yard - for everyone.

I've twice planted Lavender on John's grave, but it died. Now, there's a little Willow tree.

[anna_66]

Fried green tomatoes?? I will be down, oh, how about tonight.

I just picked some...come on down!

Er . . . how the heck to you keep your garden so weed free? Mine doesn't look nearly as "neat" as yours does. GOOD WORK!

Hubby does it I fix the veggies, he keeps the garden weed free!

Bruce would tell me "I'm going to go shopping" while he walked into the backyard. LOL

I know, I love that feeling. I just went "shopping" tonight!

I don't want to embarrass myself so I won't post photos....I have peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and green onion, basil and radishes.
Do you have suggestions/recipes for pickling tomatoes?

Oh come on, it can't be that bad. And no sorry, no suggestions on tomatoes. I canned tons of them quite a few years back and can't remember how I did it. Guess I'm gonna have to search the net for some recipes myself!

Don't listen to Richard his garden is pretty awesome also.

I just knew it!


Pembroke_Corgi if you ever get any pictures I'd love to see it.
You have quite a few things I've never thought of planting!


ES your herb garden looks wonderful and great pictures!
I've never thought of planting herbs before. Maybe I'll give it a try next year.

I picked a few new things in the garden this evening so I hope you don't mind me sharing again.
Sweet Banana Peppers

Sugar Snap Peas-these are just sooooo yummy!

Jalapenos

And a few things I already had (just new pictures)
Salad mix

Funny looking siamese cucumbers

Green Tomatoes

Zucchini


That's it for now folks! Stop by any time to go "shopping" in my garden

[RICHARD]

I picked another zucchini today.

I didn't know that there were any under the leaves, the huge one I stumbled upon!

I also have basil, catnip, another tomato tree and an avocado I started from a seed!

I have a some peppers that are taking forever to grow and my other tomato/chile bucket!


No mater pics, I tend to eat them as soon as the come into the house.

I did make salsa with some tomatoes.

It rocked!

I'll take pics of my other pepper and zucchini plants tomorrow?


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If you are planting seeds, read the package carefully and try to figure out when they will germinate, you can time it so that everything matures at once, or you can stagger the timing so you have time to tend to each plant as you like.

Small containers, like cottage cheese or yougurt cups are great 'starter' pots, fill them with potting soil, plant your seeds and wait!

If you are planting to the ground? Prep the soil with compost or go to a home improvement center and look for additives.

My soil is hard and clay like, I broke it up with a hoe, sifted the dirt with a screen and added soil amender. Tough work, but well worth the satisfaction.

I water in the morning and early evening, lightly. When the plants sprouted, I bought plant food and everyone gets fed once a week!

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The hanging planter is my fave!

I came across some plastic water jugs, took a Dremel tool and cut the tops off them.

I used the bottom as a pot to put the plants that I got from the nursery into, I then took the tops and with the same machine cut holes into them, strung rope thru and have a neat little hanging planter to start my plants.

I placed some plant "fabric" into the bottom of the tops so the soil would not fall out and tossed some small plants into them to get them started.

[trayi52]

Anna, you have a beautiful garden! We have a garden too. Our corn has done lousy, because we got too much rain! The rest of the garden has done great. I have canned 40 quarts of green beans, so far I have eight quarts of tomato juice.

I love to can vegetables!

Willie

[Sonia59]

We have tomatoes and herbs (rosmary, thyme, basil, sage, lavender).

[anna_66]

Nice pictures Richard!
Question...I see that you have chillies, what do you do with them? I actually just bought one at the grocery yesterday and am not sure what to do with it
I'm thinking of trying to have salad and a few peppers in a planter for this winter...think it will work?

Willie, our corn never did good. Always seemed to blow down when we'd get storms.
You must have planted earlier than us because we haven't gotten a bean or a red tomato yet!

Sonia59 what do you use all your herbs for. I've never used them much.

[RICHARD]

Nice pictures Richard!
Question...I see that you have chillies, what do you do with them? I actually just bought one at the grocery yesterday and am not sure what to do with it
I'm thinking of trying to have salad and a few peppers in a planter for this winter...think it will work?

Willie, our corn never did good. Always seemed to blow down when we'd get storms.
You must have planted earlier than us because we haven't gotten a bean or a red tomato yet!

Sonia59 what do you use all your herbs for. I've never used them much.

I am going to buy a camper and going to visit everyone with canned veggies!

Anna,

It depends on what you want to eat!

The chillies I pick I put into a dish, let them dry, put them into a coffee grinder. I recycle an old spice container -the kind with the lid that lets you sprinkle the contents in it- and keep it on the table.


I use them on pizza, I like a spicy ramen soup, a few shakes in the broth is good!

Your jalapenos are BEAUTIFUL, Have you seen the recipes for stuffed jalapenos?

You slit the pepper and clean the seeds and ribs out, stuff with cream cheese, then dip into a cornmeal batter and deep fry!

A cold beer and some NASCAR?

I think that if you keep a planter indoors you should be able to keep them thru the winter!

I cannot say for sure, your weather is way different that the So Cal climate.


I have to say that I really found your breaded zucchini pics to be very disturbing.

I could not make a dish look that good in a million years!

[lizbud]

This thread is making me very hungry. Everything looks so yummy.
I've never had a garden. No green thumb here. I did plant some new flowers
this summer & they are still living.

Richard, the stuffed jalapenos sound great. Yum.

[Rachel]

WOW! I'm impressed. That is an amazing garden and what beautiful bounty you have produced.

[ramanth]

That's a great garden Anna! I haven't had fried green tomatoes in years. Yum!!

[Cinder & Smoke]

I finally got a couple RED ones hangin on the 'Mater Tree down on the Pharm ...

Looked out the winder and whadda I see???

That darn lil Grey MUTT standin beside the sekurity fence --- **GULPIN** down
a facefull of semi-ripe 'Maters.

SMOKEMUTT - Get OUTTA the 'Mater Pharm!!!!

He was on the porch in an instant - frantically trying to clean his teeth of 'Mater seeds.

Then I spot the Other One --- across the driveway **chewin** as fast as she can.

I need to pick up a scatter-gun and some rock-salt loads.

[RICHARD]

I need to pick up a scatter-gun and some rock-salt loads.

Didn't we laugh about the "seed sowing capabilities" of both those guys?

It really could be worse, they could go next door and sully your good name by raiding the neighbor's garden?