tempus fugit: garden style

It's amazing to think that over two months have passed since the last post!  I'm afraid the summer just slipped right through my fingers - you'll have that from time to time. 

I am quite pleased with the way the garden turned out.  We harvested literally hundreds of peppers. We picked quite a few, still have several quarts in the cupboard.  There's also several bags of frozen slices in the freezer - and we can't forget the stuffed peppers we've had for dinner and the mounds we've given to friends. Believe it or not, there's more growing out there now! Should be harvesting some this weekend. 

Pepperoncini grow like crazy!

Ahh, if only you could smell these pictures.

Bit of everything in this harvest:
Sweet banana, multi-colored bell, and of course
PEPPERONCINI.

The green/yellow/purple beans did very well, the second crop much better than the first.  Lower yield of beans but beefier.  We had many large radishes, the carrots are still growing, rabbits ate all the cabbage (oh well they have to eat, too) and we ate a fair amount of cucumbers.  The last radish I pulled was the largest - it would have looked at home being used in a baseball game!

Tomatoes were, eh not too impressive.  I'm afraid we screwed them up the way we watered them....  Got weird spots and whatnot.  Also the squirrels carted off a great deal of the salsa tomatoes.  They were kind enough to leave the remnants scattered through the yard.  I did get a large Supersteak Hybrid that I made a tasty BLT out of  - Shawn topped his bacon cheeseburger off with a slice.

Mmm, bacon cheeseburger.

Now that's a tomato!

BLT = Bacon-Licious & Tasty

I do have to blame some of the tomato casualties to hurricane Irene.  It seems a little silly that I live in central PA and blame a hurricane for my gardening woes, but it is what it is.  We had some pretty mean rain & wind thanks to Irene.  My garden troubles are certainly nothing compared to what thousands of others have had to deal with that's for sure.

Tomato cages ripped out of the ground.Thanks, Irene.

Peppers have been growing at an angle ever since Irene.

The flowers sort of fizzled out as they will once it cools off.  The daisies that I grew in the tub earlier this year really flourished.  They're quite large and a few of them did bloom so they should be really fantastic next year. My ornamental grass took off as well - most of it is taller than me - and Shawn got me a nice pot of chrysanthemums to spruce up the yard a bit for the fall.

Update: in 5 photos.

We are literally going to have 100s of peppers.
I counted the largest ones and came up with 80.
That's not including the blooms & mini-peps.

Shawn and I measured the longest vine...  15' long!

One of the many pumpkins on the biiig vine.

I still can't believe I grew these things from a seed.

The last of the lilies to bloom.

Let the harvest begin!

Where to begin?  June came and went, we took a vacation, summer is here, and my crazy lady bathtub veggie growing is starting to pay off.  It was really startling seeing the garden after being away for over a week.  We actually harvested two cucumbers immediately upon our return, and two more the next day.  It's amazing to me that I started everything (with the exception of the two purple cabbages) from a seed - in the bathtub!

Roxxy likes to help weed the garden :-)

Yep, still the same three little plants.
Audrey III is in the middle -  now the smallest plant of the 3.

The pepper field - full of blooms and mini-peps!

Did I mention the tomatoes are nearly as tall as me?

The cucumbers were just the beginning...  Lettuce, radishes, green beans, onions, and peppers have all been harvested and we are ready for more!  It was a bit disappointing to learn that the purple beans turn green when cooked, but they were still delicious.  If the white pepper looks tiny, it is.  I "accidentally" pulled it off the plant while investigating it.  What can I say except it was tasty.  

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Well, in the course of the last week we've seen the rise and fall of Weinergate, Sarah Palin rewrote history, and Lulzsec had fun with numerous sites including good old Sony...  Meanwhile, I'm still trying to grow vegetables.  Not nearly as thrilling as a meat tweet BUT it certainly has its rewards.  When looking back at the last post I am stunned to see how much the garden has grown - see for yourself:

Did I happen to mention that the pumpkins also went nuts?  They have all officially spilled over the edge of the mini patch.  What's interesting to me is the plants on either side of Audrey III are seeds from the same pumpkin but they are growing very differently.  As you can see one is super long but the other one is rather bushy - only time will tell I suppose.

More exciting news: LILIES HAVE BLOOMED!  There's 8 or so currently open and more look ready to burst.  They're mostly a surprise to me since we bought them on the cheap last year ($1.65 each I think) - after they had bloomed.  Wasn't sure what colors I'd be seeing this year, but so far it's mostly white with one yellow.  I won't recognize the yard when we come back from vacation!

Photos Galore

We seem to be out of the mega rain we've had for the last few weeks, ending in a big way with confirmed tornadoes in our area.  The neighbors will be finding a new place to live since a tree fell directly in their living room - thankfully everyone (including the cats & dog) is OK.  We were very fortunate, no damage to any of our stuff.  Shawn had made tomato cages the night before the mega-storm hit on Thursday so we did not have a single veggie casualty.  The plants have really enjoyed all of the rain and have flourished.  It's amazing to me to see how much the garden has grown since my last post - we even have some micro cucumbers out there!

The mini pumpkin patch.  Audrey III is in the center.

The left half of the garden:
Onions, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, and some lettuce.

The right side:
Pepper field (19 plants, 4 varieties), cucumbers, cabbage, and beans.

Cucumber flower

One of many micro cukes

The herbs:
Cilantro, basil, dill, parsley, chives, and catnip.

Look, ma, I'm gardening!

We are no longer dirt farmers!  The patch out back looked more like a garden as soon as Shawn put the fence up.  Saturday I evicted the plants from their cardboard homes and put them in the garden - suddenly the tub-o-plants doesn't seem so crazy!

6/7 cukes are adjusting to life outside.
One is looking EXTREMELY sad (not pictured).

The onions have been outside for several weeks - doing quite well.

Supersteak hybrids & summer salsa - nom nom.

3/4 of the pepper "field"

The Herbs

Outdoor trials

Last week the plants made the transition from bath tub to the great outdoors.  I wanted them to spend a week getting used to the elements before they ended up in the garden.  

Of course I couldn't leave them that exposed so they were temporarily housed in some open boxes for the next week.  Shawn put a net over the top to further protect them from any sticks or other debris that may be floating around.  Everything did quite well - no plant casualties & lots of rain followed by sun.  All in all a great week to start the plants outside.  

Feed me, Seymour!

I really am so glad that spring is here, and the crocuses are equally delighted.  The plants indoors are also doing quite well.  I am attempting to grow our garden from scratch this year, which ought to be interesting.   I started a number of plants in a Burpee kit as well as some in a Jiffy kit.  The Burpee kit is well worth the extra money, I had less than 5 cells out of 72 that did not sprout....  the Jiffy kit only sprouted in 2/3 of the cells.  Even more interesting, after I transplanted everything out of the Burpee kit - 3 more seeds sprouted!  Of course the plants couldn't spend their entire lives on the counter so they got moved...

Directly into the bathtub.  But it is a garden tub so it seems appropriate.  I know, I'm kind of a hillbilly but I tell you what it makes a fine greenhouse, and the styrofoam cups make marvelous planters!  There are currently 16 pepper plants (4 varieties), 6 tomato plants (2 varieties), a LOT of pansies, butterfly weed, daisies, snapdragons and bachelor's buttons, 7 cucumbers, some chives, catnip, basil, dill, cilantro, parsley, 2 pumpkins and two BIG MAX pumpkins.  That would be what the monster plant in the lower right is.  Audrey III, if you will.

Close up of the fangs:

Seriously that thing grows at an alarming rate.  One morning it will be a scene out of Little Shop of Horrors.  I am thrilled to see it grow so much even if it is a little creepy, and I hope that it lives up to the Big Max name.  Seems like Audrey III is on the right path to producing a 100 pound pumpkin!  

The regular pumpkins are trying to catch up:

So are the cucumbers:

Meanwhile, on the other side of the tub, peppers work on their second set of leaves:

While the neighboring tomatoes just go crazy.  

In the background are salsa tomatoes, with the Supersteak Hybrid up front.  

Most fruits off these bad boys weigh in at 2 lbs.  Now that's a tomato!  I've started watering the seedlings via spray bottle on a daily basis.  It's really working out quite well, I think the plants like it better than the occasional blast from a watering can.  Also it makes for some neat water droplet-y pictures.

Hopefully with all of these tomatoes and peppers I'll be able to make some super fresh pico de gallo, especially since I've got some cilantro growing.

Hopefully I will be able to contain everything in the bathroom until it's time to plant stuff outdoors!