Simple Green
August 28, 2010 All of our early summer tears and toils in preparing and weeding the garden are finally paying off. After perfect rains -- both in quantity and because were no damaging winds or hail -- and some very hot and muggy weeks (which I didn't so much enjoy, but he garden did), it is flourishing. In fact, some things are already done growing, like the onions, peas, green beans (almost), turnips and beets. I have to get out there and do some harvesting and putting up!
I didn't have time for all that this morning, but I did have a few minutes to take some pictures. I will warn you, they aren't very riveting. Everything is... pretty much... simply... GREEN. You may not even be able to distinguish one plant from another. However, since I bent your ear so much a couple months ago with getting it all started, I just had to share with you the fruits (or vegetables) of our labor!
This is a green bell pepper. You probably knew that, but in case there was any confusion... Just thought I'd be informative. The following pictures, a plethora of green, will be much less obvious to identify...
These are the green beans. They have been sorely neglected the last couple weeks. Tomorrow, my sole mission in life is to pick and freeze some. The fact that they know how to climb up their trellis is amazing to me. (Yes, the trellis is in there... somewhere.)
Here's a bushy patch of carrots. In a normal garden, you might find carrots more in a row, which is how my seedlings started out. But in my garden, where Elsa the mammoth puppy is present and inexplicably has an affinity for lying on the carrot greens, the carrots are now bunched into areas where they have survived Elsa and bare areas where they have not.
Tomato plants. The only thing around here more mammoth than Elsa. (Except for the pumpkins... We'll get to those in a moment.) They're more like bushes. And look! Some color...
Yellow tomatoes! They are sweet and yummy.
Back to green... Sweet potatoes! They might not be much to look at now, but they're probably my biggest source of pride in the garden. I received the slips (small plants that you put in the ground) and ended up putting them in the ground, on a hot and muggy night, with gnats swarming all around me. It was the only time I had to get it done, so I did it in a hurry. The following day, it was crazy windy, and my poor little plants were all tossed about. They became very sad, dry and droopy. I really didn't think they would survive. And since sweet potato plants aren't exactly cheap (compared to a $1 packet of seeds), and neither are the actual sweet potatoes once they are grown, this was my biggest investment in the garden and I really wanted them to make it. I went out there, piled up the dirt a little more firmly around each one (about 24 plants total), and gave them a good drink of water. Then I watered them and weeded them and watered and weeded, much more care than anything else in the garden. They didn't look good for the first month or so, and I wondered what would become of them, but all of the sudden they took hold and started growing like wildfire! They've even survived the pumpkins that are encroaching upon them. I can't wait to go out there and dig a few to see what we have!
Beets! These are the red. We also have a golden beet. We harvested and froze some of a red ones a couple weeks go, and they were yummy.
And what do we have here? A mammoth puppy growing in a mammoth patch of pumpkins and squash. The pumpkins and squash are flourishing so much, they are just a sea of huge green leaves. But if you wade in a little bit and look closely, you'll find this...
Hey there, buddy. How's it goin' down there? You look good. Way to grow! See ya' in a month or so.
And now the secret is out. I talk to my vegetables. Is it wrong to have a conversation with something you will soon devour?
I think I shall leave you with that thought to ponder.
Reader Comments (4)
It all looks so lush and green. Well, except for Elsa. She sure is a cutie though.
Looking fabulous!
Your garden is luscious! AMAZING!!!
The tomato plants just MAY take over the house.........be careful!
Wow - your garden look amazing! I am very impressed :-)