Ladies and Gents, We Have a Melon!

After many weeks of blossom profusion, one tiny melon has finally decided to take shape. It's about the size of a small plum as of this afternoon. This variety is a petite muskmelon, so I'm thinking it won't exceed grapefruit dimensions, and it should have a "netted" exterior just like a cantelope. One can only hope!

The Philadelphia Fish peppers are also taking off. I might try my hand at pickling with these guys. 

I did some major chopping in the garden earlier this week. People don't realize how ruthless gardening can be sometimes. At a certain point, plants that aren't performing well, have already put on their big show, are crowding out new things, or are just overstaying their welcome must be pulled out. Bye bye sunflowers, long beans, and massively bushy marigolds. It's time to let the eggplant, hot peppers, and fall lettuce have a turn!

Last week I pulled in a huge long bean harvest and I think we've all grown a little tired of them. It seemed like the plants were producing tougher pods so the decision wasn't a hard one. The kale however is still leafing out like crazy with tender, flavorful foliage. How about those carrots? I'm not impressed with the flavor of the Amarillos despite their reliability. They are nowhere as sweet as the orange type. And the volunteer bottleneck tomatoes are as sweet as can be. I'm definitely letting a few fall into the bed for next year. 

This week I got two snow white, tender and delicious eggplant off a plant that's been overcrowded since June. I did most of my hacking in hopes that the plant will put on a couple more performances before it gets too cold. Speaking of cold, it's been getting pretty chilly at night here and I'm wondering if we're going to have an early fall. That won't be so great for the eggplant and peppers but the leafy stuff might love it. 

Growing Chinese Red Noodle Beans

The beans are here!  It's been about 70 days since sowing the seeds back in May and I had my first official harvest yesterday. I pulled the three fattest beans, measuring in at 16" long. They were surprisingly bendable - just like a noodle. For dinner they went raw into a chopped salad. The flavor was similar to any string bean but slightly more nutty. In the future I might pick them when they're smaller and slightly more tender. 

This is just the beginning of the harvest. I had an amazingly successful germination rate (about 100%) and all of the plants reached maturity (even those planted in the shade of some massive sunflowers).  

The bean begins with a flower, pale lavender to white, almost shaped like a clamshell. After pollination, a threadlike bean begins to form. 

It doesn't take long for the beans to stretch out and adopt that signature red color. 

After about a week the Chinese Red Noodle Bean is nearing 18" and ready to pick. They can be eaten raw, steamed, or sautéed just like a regular bush bean. One to two beans per person is plenty.  The plants are quite heavy producers so I'm trading my beans with other gardeners for what they've got too much of. 

The plants are also fast growers and I've supported mine with an unfortunately unattractive combination of tomato cages, bamboo canes, and willow branches. Some of the vines are trained up a few tall sunflowers in my plot too. If I had a proper trellis they'd probably be at least six feet tall. Right now they've begun growing back down on themselves so harvesting will be at a slightly more manageable height. 

The verdict? They're easy to grow, they make lots of beans, and they're fun to look at. I recommend!

Summer Color in the Community Garden

After a little lull in blooms at the end of June, the garden is back to floral vibrancy. The sunflowers are the stars right now and my red mix from last year has definitely shown up in the variety of volunteer plants surrounding my plot. 

Rusty yellows, oranges, and deep brown hues are all represented. 

Even brilliant red sunflowers have bloomed. The bees seem particularly drawn to these striking colors. 

The rich warm tones look wonderful with the 6' tall shaggy daisies and orange day lilies nearby. 

This year the day lilies are putting on a fantastic show. Although the blooms only last a day, they just keep coming. 

How My Garden Grew in June

Last week in the plot, getting bushy. 

At the beginning of June, the sunflowers were only hinting at the obstacles they would soon become. At this point I moved a few to the common beds and left the rest, hoping a few would be the offspring of the unusual red/brown variety I planted last year. 

A week later almost everything in the plot doubled in size. I dug up 16 marigold plants to transplant at my parents' home and could have taken out 2 dozen more. I have no recollection of spreading the seeds. I think they just fell from the plants at the end of last season. Marigolds thrive in my plot. 

The Ramapo tomato really became a monster by mid-June. The plant was covered with flowers and itty bitty tomatoes by this point. The miniature musk melon plants in the lower left of the plot also began to grow at this time.  Everything is green and happy so it's difficult to distinguish one thing from the next in the photo. 

This was the situation last week in the garden. I added some stakes in the rear of the plot for the Chinese yard long beans to climb and trained the rest to the sunflowers. I moved lettuce seedlings out from under the sunflower canopy. I trimmed sunflower leaves and staked the plants to open up some space around my cute little white eggplant seedling. And I moved several more marigolds to the common beds. 

And the garden cat just sat there. In case you didn't know, being really cute can be exhausting. 

Corn Serves as Praying Mantis Habitat

I may not get any ears from my Indian Corn crop, but at least I know it's going to good use.  The past few times I've visited the Brunswick Street Community Garden, I've spotted this tan fellow on my cornstalks. Why did I plant corn in such a tiny garden?  Last fall I bought a decorative trio of small Indian Corn ears at a farm stand in Lancaster, PA and saved them until this spring.  Each ear was a different mix of reds, yellows, browns, and oranges and I was curious to see what I would get from their offspring.  So I planted and they came up, survived the rainy-hot-rainy-hot cycle of summer weather, grew tassels, some toppled over, and most are developing very tiny ears.  I don't know if any of the ears have kernels on them; it looks like only one is plumping up.  My plan is to harvest them when the stalks begin to dry out.  Until then, the praying mantis gets to enjoy his own little vertical cathedral of maize.

A few more deep brown Earthwalker sunflowers are blooming on the single stalk that grew large enough to flower.  Both the bees and I love them.

Who's got eggplants?  I do!  One of my plants is nurturing at least a half dozen purple fruits.  They're a small variety, so we won't be overwhelmed by the harvest.  As you can see, the plant foliage is under siege by flea beetles, who are making Alpine Lace out of the leaves.  I diligently squish any that I see when I water but it seems to be a relentless assault.  Regardless, the plant is doing a fine job of flowering and holding on to the fruit.

Eating local, real local.

I had a big harvest yesterday after not visiting the garden for a week.  Everything looked fine.  The Beefmaster plant is huge and still producing tomatoes.  It would probably do well with an 8' stake at this point but it's going to have to be content with draping all over the corn.  The beans continue to flower and my succession planting seems to be a success.  The younger plants should begin flowering in the next week.  To make room I thinned out some of the older plants that looked a little dry.  We ate the beets, beans, and carrots last night along with our first installment from our fish CSA (silver hake).  It was a very local dinner!

I'm growing a dramatic sunflower called Earth Walker.  I would like a whole bouquet of these but since I've only got one, I guess it'll stay in the garden.

Anybody want a kitten?  This little ruffian is running around the garden and sitting on my plants.  I love crazy face markings on cats though, and this guy/gal has one killer nose!

These trees are in bloom in Jersey City right now.  The big billowy flowers look great but turn into a disgusting sidewalk pulp once they come down.

Munching Monarchs

Monarch butterfly caterpillars have been on my carrot tops all summer. Yesterday two fat ones were munching away. In the past I've moved them to the designated Butterfly Garden but this time I just let them be. I don't know if they winter over. They were really enjoying the carrot greens so I was happy to share!

The rest of the garden is winding down. I pulled all but one sunflower and the last cherry tomato. I'm hoping the broccoli will produce florets in the spring.

Cactus Fruit Agave Ale and Mixed Veggies

We're bottling our very experimental brew this evening.  The stuff floating on top is the cubed cactus fruit.  It was bright pinkish red when it first went in, then the beer turned red, then it turned black, and now it's a medium brown.  I've read mixed reviews of prickly pear beers so it will be a surprise tonight when we sneak a taste.  It will carbonate in the bottles and be ready for drinking in a couple weeks.

I removed one of the kale plants this morning to free up some space in the plot.  I also pulled and thinned the carrots and moved a hot pepper into a sunnier spot.  Between the fig tree behind my plot and the massive sunflowers in my plot, I'm battling shade and trying to maximize my season.  Two of the three cherry tomato plants are next on the list to go.  They haven't been super productive and I'm trying to make room for late season crops.  The broccoli plants are finally bulking up and turning purple (they are Purple Sprouting Broccoli, after all) so they could use more room.  I might have to say goodbye to one of the sunflower trees. 

This morning I sowed beet, lettuce, and bean seeds to see if I can get some in before winter.  Last year we had an extended mild fall.  If we get the same thing this year, I should be able to get a few salads out of the planting.

Slow Harvest

Onions, kale, tomatoes, beans, cherry bomb, and a carrot. I pulled out the beets today and composted them. I also moved several huge marigolds to a public bed to free up some room. If the sunflowers weren't in their glory right now they'd be removed too but the bees seem to love them. And they add color and a little verticality to the plot. I'm slowly taming the jungle.

Vacation Days

I'm watering two additional plots this week as many gardeners are on vacation.  One has allowed me to enjoy some of her ripe tomatoes while she is away.  What a treat!  Nothing is more delicious than that first homegrown tomato of the season, dressed with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  The two in the back were "payment" for my services.  I'm harvesting a pint or two of cherry tomatoes a week from my own plot.  And of course the broccoli leaves continue for Mao Mao and I.  I've added the chopped leaves to pasta, pizza, rice, eggs, and even pierogies.

The sunflowers have topped out at about 9' this year.  The tallest is supporting a very vigorous cucumber vine that has its sights set on the fig tree.  So far the flowers have all been a classic yellow with large brown center.  The mixed red variety I planted has had trouble catching up under the shaded canopy of jumbo leaves.  I might clear out the largest in August to see what happens.

The plot is just packed with foliage and flowers.  Everything is big and bushy and green and competing for space and sun.  As usual, I misjudged the capacity for some things to branch out when given the chance.  One misplaced tomato plant is stunting the growth of another.  Two misplaced pepper plants are wondering why it's been such a dark summer.  You never know what will thrive.  Every season is different and full of surprises and disappointments.  This year the broccoli has been a steady producer, loving its shaded corner of the plot.  Next year the hot peppers are getting a front row seat to the sun. 

The vegetable garden is never perfect, no matter how many times I read the seed catalog descriptions, draw planting diagrams, and consult the plant succession tables.  There are so many variables to consider.  Fun, fun, fun!

Beautiful Jungle

BIG cucumber, little pepper

Bee Hangout

My Beautiful Jungle

Summertime in the Garden

Big and Green.  The garden is enjoying the heat but could use a bit more rain.  I try to get there every other day but when the temps are in the 90's, the plants get thirsty.  The big leafy things are my volunteer sunflowers.  They'll be yellow with red and rust colors mixed in.  One in the center extends way beyond the top of the photo and trellis.  I think it's close to 8' tall.  There isn't a whole lot going on right now in the plot in terms of harvesting or flowers.  Everything is in production but not quite there yet.

The first Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes are coming in.  I've got three plants and they should all be big producers.  Depending on what i harvest, I might try making some sauce with them.

These red onions can be used as scallions or small onions.  I've picked some early and chopped them into salads and stirfry dishes.  If they last through fall, they might have more of a bulb on the end.  This is my first year growing onions and I'd probably get sets or plants in future seasons if I want actual onions in the summer.  I grew these from seed but they've taken longer than I thought to get this far.

I've got several 7" long cucumbers that are just starting to fill out, from the bottom up.  I won't be making pickles, but we will have our fair share of cucumber based salads.  Maybe I'll be able to contribute a little more homegrown bounty to this year's batch of Asian Gazpacho!

Post Irene Gardening

The tomato plants fell over and there were a few decomposing figs in the plot, but otherwise everything made it through the storm. I was expecting all my unripe cherry tomatoes to be on the ground, the plot to be flooded with a foot of water, and the gardening season to be over. We were spared!


My Mystery Melon that popped up in the corner of my plot continues to grow. Can anyone identify this guy?

The bell pepper plant has decided to start producing, just in time for fall weather.

I've been dead-heading the sunflowers and getting great successive blooms.

Tomatoes, basil, and a fat carrot for salads were gathered Sunday after the storm blew through.

Beets, beet greens, a funny looking carrot that didn't taste so great, and some figs were harvested yesterday.