Tag Archive for: Gourd

A Fabulous Day in the Vegetable Garden

Okay, after many of you read this, you will come to the conclusion that I am a bit strange when it comes to gardening.

A few days ago, I was checking on my vegetable garden.  Specifically, I was checking to see if my corn was ready to harvest.

My corn was ready to harvest

My corn was ready to harvest

The corn silk was brown, so I knew they would be ready soon.  But there was one more test to perform.  I made a slit with a knife through the husk so that I could pierce a corn kernel.  The liquid that comes out should be translucent – not clear or opaque.

Thankfully, some of my corn was ripe and ready to be picked! I did plant three separate crops of corn, about 2 weeks apart so that we will enjoy eating corn for a longer period of time.

Okay, so you may be wondering how I am weird about gardening.  I was looking forward to my corn being ready to harvest, but truth be told, I forgot about my other vegetables.

The reason is, is that I get so into the process of planting and seeing my vegetables grow, that I sometimes lose sight of the fact that I will have fresh vegetables to harvest.

So, I was honestly surprised to discover that I had ripe cucumbers…

ripe cucumbers

I was so excited about my new cucumbers and I realized that I had other vegetables to check up on.

ready to harvest

In addition to the corn and cucumbers, I had quite a few tomatoes from my single cherry tomato plant.  I still call tomatoes vegetables even though they are technically a fruit 😉

I then decided to check up on my San Marzano tomatoes.  To be honest, I was a bit frustrated with them because I had been seeing numerous flowers on them, but no tomatoes.  I had planted them the same time that I had planted my cherry tomato, which had been producing tons of tomatoes for over 2 months.

Well, guess what I saw when I looked closely at my San Marzano’s?

green tomatoes

They are absolutely covered with tons of green tomatoes!  I can’t wait until they ripen.

Why did I choose San Marzano tomatoes?  Well, I love to watch the Food Network and all the chefs swear by them for making Italian sauces.  I’m not Italian, but I absolutely love Italian food.

They should be ready next week for harvesting.  I read up on them and found out that they do take longer to produce than many other tomato varieties, but when they begin, they go crazy.

I did not plant tons of different things in my garden this season.  I decided to concentrate on our favorites – corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, oregano and….

Gourds

Gourds!

This is the only one that I have found so far and it was hard to see behind the large leaves.  I plan on making a bird house out of it later.

So, that is what is going on in my garden this week.  I definitely learned my lesson – I will remember to always look for ripe vegetables 🙂

**********************   I apologize for my lack of posting this past week, but it has been a busy time with….

6th grade graduation

Doctor’s visits

Landscape consults

My son’s birthday party

Getting carpets cleaned and moving furniture

Babysitting my 8 month old twin nephews

I am so ready for summer vacation, how about you?

I am making some strawberry jam tomorrow.  I have been waiting for strawberries to go on sale at our local grocery store and they are only $1.15 a pound.  The kids are going to help me.  I will post more later.

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday weekend and take time to remember those who have fought for our freedom 🙂

Vegetable Harvest With Some Little Helpers….

Vegetable Garden Gone Crazy…

Well, it’s official….my vegetable garden has gone crazy.  When I left for my trip to the Midwest at the end of April, it was nice and somewhat neat.  My winter lettuce, spinach, green onions and garlic were doing well and my newly planted corn, cucumbers, gourds, tomatoes and sunflowers were coming up nicely.

I came home 10 days later to this sight….

My vegetable garden has gone crazy

My vegetable garden has gone crazy

My sunflowers were reaching over 7 feet tall and my corn, to the right, was not far behind.

My vegetable garden has gone crazy

My garlic leaves were starting to droop and fall over, indicating that I can harvest them soon.

My spinach and lettuce both began to ‘bolt’ and start to form flowers, so it was time for them to leave the garden.

My vegetable garden has gone crazy

My gourd has started to escape the garden, which is fine with me because it can’t crowd my other plants.

My vegetable garden has gone crazy

I think gourd plants have interesting flowers, don’t you?  They open at night and moths are frequent pollinators.

I am hoping for some gourds this year that I can turn into bird houses.

rising sun

I just love how sunflowers face the rising sun.

I plan on harvesting a few seed heads for the family and the rest we will feed to the birds.

Alyssum and Oxalis

My Alyssum and Oxalis that I planted as companion plants in my vegetable garden are still blooming.  Soon the Alyssum will dry up with the heat of our desert summer and I will pull it out.

Vegetable Garden Gone Crazy...

My tomatoes are enjoying being planted next to my Bachelor’s Button.  I just love their vibrant blue color.  They are going to seed and I am collecting it so that I can replant them next fall.

Vegetable Garden Gone Crazy...

The first set of corn that I planted have corn cobs growing.  I can almost taste my roasted corn on the cob in a few weeks 🙂

I have to spend some time the next couple of days harvesting my garlic and green onions as well as pulling out my spent spinach and lettuce.

Now, I am off to my local big box store for shade cloth for my tomatoes, which will survive the summer heat if they have some shade.  Temperatures are forecast into the 80’s this week, but it is never to early to get ready for the triple digits.

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I hope you all have a wonderful week!