Thursday, September 2, 2010

Garden Love Update

Last week I took some photos of my garden in town.  It has been a bit since I've taken any photos and it is amazing to see how much it has grown - actually it is shocking how much it has grown now that I look at the pictures from just over a month ago, I could still see my pathways then.
The beans that were just started to climb the poles last month are a wall of beans - enough to supply several friends and I.
The cherry tomatoes are acting as though they are all in competition to see which plant can produce the most bucketfuls of sweet tomatoes.
Some of E's watermelons are just about ready. 
And the cucumbers...yikes!  Usually I am happy to get a couple cukes off of each plant but this year, in this soil, I am getting at least a box full from each plant.  We only planted one lemon cucumber plant and we've had so many lemon cukes off it that it just seems crazy.  I have an even bigger respect for dirt now (and I already loved dirt) because I can really see how this soil makes it so very easy to grow vast amounts of food.  It's amazing really.
You can't really tell how big this tomatillo is in the photo but it is one plant and it has spread to be taller than I am (and I'm pretty tall) and about 8-10 feet wide at least.  The bees love it.
My pepper plants are falling over because they've got so many peppers on each plant that they can no longer stand up even with their bamboo stakes.  I've started making salsa so they are getting put to good use now.
And each time we go to the garden we come home with at least this amount of food.  Gardening in this soil has made us really want to make sure we have good soil to start with on the property that we end up buying.  It just makes growing so, so easy to begin with and then we can still work on building even better soil as we go.
Such a treat to be able to be eating what you've grown only minutes after it has been picked. 

11 comments:

The Apple Pie Gal said...

Oh that looks so awesome! And I bet it keeps you super duper busy! So much to do, so little time!

Lovely!!

Amy Dingmann said...

Holy moly, there! The garden looks AMAZING! I'm hungry just looking at it...and a bit jealous too! Fantabulous!!

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

Everything looks so good. I love those carrots.

Erin said...

Must get out in my garden with my camera!! Our tomatoes are lagging, the season seems to have been book-ended with some unusual chilly periods, that is contributing to the reluctance to ripen I suspect.

We are eating: carrots, beets, greens (beet, mescluns, kales, chards, rapini), onions, shallots, garlic, tomatoes, beans, and fingerling potatoes. The abundance is enormously gratifying, and like you I see the results when I pay attention to the soil.

Which with my limited composting finesse-ability is a (fun) WIP!!! :-)

Erin said...

Oh, your tomatillo plant is HUGE! I just enlarged it via clicking on it and then zoomed in! Fun plant! One could build a fort in there if one didn't want to be found!!

I just confirmed yesterday at our F'Market that the boys DON'T LIKE tomatillos!?!? Sigh. But they LOVED the cape gooseberries at $6.00/lb! They taste like a cross between melon and apple and mango. Dropped atop a salad they are scrumptious! They are in the same family and share that papery outer husk.

Note to self: in future do not let bag of said gooseberries land in a backseat with hungry kids on the drive home from the Farmers Market if one would actually like to eat some on their salad! ;-)

That was my mistake the first time we tried them!!

6512 and growing said...

Gorgeous! What a productive nook of land you've got!

farzana said...

Hi it's me again from South Africa.
I cannot believe that bounty from your Garden.
You truly Inspire me to live the way you do.
My new Mantra is "I dig Good Food"

I am sending you a Personal Invite to come and Spend the Summer with us.
I have the Soil; I will just need you Expertise and Dedication to churn out that Magnificent Healthy Treats.

The Season is just starting and we are looking forward to it with great Anticipation.

Wendy said...

gorgeous carrots!

I grew tomatillo for a couple of years and they're great big ugly monsters! I love my salsa verde though.

Connie said...

What a beautiful garden!! I love picture of the carrots. I've not seen so many varieties! I love your blog... very inspiring!

Jess said...

Wow look at your bountiful and beautiful garden!!! Good work!

Unknown said...

so much bounty! inspiring.