surprise surprise!

i went out to check the garden before the rain started (we're having a lovely series of storms every day for now...yeah for rain!) and discovered a whole bunch of baby cukes growing...about 5 baby zukes growing...and we harvested 3 sweet pea pods!!! :D

of course i came right in, washed them and the boys and i took turns crunching raw peas. my husband thought we were nuts :lol: but we were SOOO excited! i think the way to get the boys to eat veggies is to GROW them! woohoo! even charlie (my picky guy) was eating them.

i didn't get any of them to eat the pods but i did...yyuuuuummmmy. so sweet and crunchy! i have 4 more that should be ready to cut tomorrow.

no beans yet but lots of flowers so those are next. still waiting on peppers and tomatoes. sigh.

a friend talked with her gardening mom, who said that i don't need to do anything to counteract the nitrogen in the soil for the tomatoes and peppers bc that can cause them to drop bloom, grow too much foilage and not fruit. however...that is directly OPPOSITE of what i was told at the local nursery and what i've read in at least 8 places online. so...i'm confused.

the soil has a lot of nitrogen in it bc it is manure-based. the peppers and tomatoes are growing beside bush beans (which thrive on nitrogen-rich soil) and had a slight yellow-tinge to the leaves until i added epsom salts. within 48 hours they were deep green and much taller (which is what i read would happen if they needed the magnesium and had too much nitrogen)...but they still are foilage-heavy and not fruiting.

i'm stumped.

BUT we had our first harvest! small ;) but yummy!

it never actually rains over here (we get lots of lightening and thunder and then it passes right over) baaah

anyways - yay on the veggies!

our tomatoes are midsize, our green peppers just appeared today, the squash is about midsize, no cucumbers yet - there are flowers though. i love garden veggies!

Growing our own was the way DH learned to love vegies. He hated them before we were married! But my first little garden outside of our little duplex - where we had the SWEETEST soil! - changed him completely. My first harvest was a tomato, which I proudly brought in and cut into chunks and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and basil. I was happily enjoying every single bite - and counting on enjoying every bite - when a fork came from across the table and snatched the last piece!

And he's been a tomato-monster ever since.

There is just something almost spiritual about picking and eating your own straight from the garden!

i need to figure out what to do with all my basil. i want to make a tomato/basil pizza...thin crusted and crispy with yummy fresh mozz and parm. maybe for lunch tomorrow.

i've got no tomatoes growing yet (obviously) but i can use some canned/stewed ones until they are ready. the basil is too yummy to not use...dh is grilling burgers tonight since i'm medicated (which means i'm holding the sofa down...not good for me to grill while ditzy.)



b, i remember your father's garden. all that garlic! it was quite the inspiration. i've wanted a garden for years. i'm enjoying every minute of this one.

and i totally get the spiritual thing. i feel so zen while out there working in it. it calms and centers me when i'm working myself into a tizzy.


i just love all this stuff (my garden, my work, all of it.)

I make pesto with all my basil (I use the Barefoot Contessa's recipe @ FoodNetwork). Stir the pesto into pasta, add some extra pine nuts & extra fresh grated parm cheese and we love it. Even my picky, picky sil ate some a few days ago & loved it.

I also stir the basil into bread or pizza dough.

The other day I experimented & placed basil leaves under the skin of a chicken and baked it @ 400F for about 1 1/2 hours, basting the whole time and it was very good.

Hey Trace did you test your soil? That may tell you a lot. But personally if something works. Use it. You know? A few other things that can turn leaves yellow... Too much water. Soil too shallow, if you have a bottom on your beds this can be an issue. It is also basically too much water, but it means that the plants are sitting in standing water at the bottom of the soil.

Clipping the extra foliage will help with over growth and will help you bare more fruit:
http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/media/g00031_01.jpg

Pruning Tomatoes (http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/pages/g00031.asp)

I miss Kitchen Gardener magazine. They were only around for two years. I want to get all of them, (the box set is $45 and WELL worth it)... but I keep not being able to justify the cash. lol!

Val

i'll look at that link on pruning. i've not pruned any of the tomatoes or peppers. at all.

i've got photos today from the peppers so y'all can see what i'm talking about. the tomatoes have zero blooms...no flowers or blooms at all.

no, i didn't test the bed soil since the rest of the plants are doing so well. and they don't have bottoms...i just used newspaper so there shouldn't be a problem with that.

i'll start a separate post about the peppers with photos.

what? i opened this thread to see pictures of your harvest! :lol:

what? i opened this thread to see pictures of your harvest! :lol:

:lol: we ate them before i could take pix (a handfull of pea pods.)