What's going on with your Veggie Garden: Part 3

Let's see if we can enlarge that original pic.

Evidently not...but, you can see all these up close on the Iris Forum thread at the link in the post above this one.

This message was edited May 23, 2012 2:16 PM

Lynea, the bean support is a cattle panel. The cucumbers growing up the net are growing on a soccer backstop. The web is about 3" x 3" maybe. It may not even be that big. We got the backstop at a garage sale.

A soccer backstop! what a great idea, I'll have to keep a lookout.

Todays gardening doings, 6 jars of fresh from the garden jalapeno jelly, 5 pints of salsa and about 3 quarts of brine pickles. Cukes were picked this morning.

Life is good down on the farm. :)

tex, how do you use the jalapeno jelly?

Cocoa & anyone else. This is a biodegradable, compostable jute net with 6" grid. I'm using it in the rice bean bed. Far easier to toss it when done rather than try to remove the dead bean foliage. http://www.gardeners.com/Biodegradable-Netting/38-776,default,pd.html

Still savoring the fresh cucumbers and I'll never have enough to pickle. Can't stop eating them long enough... lol Kristi

Edited as I think the gremlins ate some of my words.

This message was edited May 23, 2012 7:36 PM

You mean you haven't schmeared that Jalapeno jelly on a thick, juicy, piping hot Ribeye steak yet?

Totally sacreligious misuse of a sacred product...LOL!

Look in the tags. There's a microwave Jalapeno jelly recipe...

Please try it on a steak!! And save me a pint!!!

Stephanie, how clever! I never would have guessed it!

Kristi, thank you! I didn't realize a bio-degradable netting was available, some of the reviews say it's difficult to hang between posts. Some reviewers went so far as to throw it away in frustration.lol How do you have your strung?

My MIL puts a jar of pepper jelly over cream cheese and serves with crackers. Sounds strange, but it's very tasty!

Gymgirl, Wish I could afford steak more often. However, living off social security or rather dieing off social security, it's not too often that I have the budget for steak, but I will keep that suggestion in mind.

I grill meats often just not steaks. Next time I'll give the jelly a try on some grilled stuff.

cocoa, pepper jelly, cream cheese and crackers is the way it was served as samples at the open market where I bought several jars of supper hot jelly that turned out not all that hot. I guess some of the heat cooked away in the cooking process.

I have made Jalapeno poppers pretty often stuffed with cream cheese mixed with pork sausage and that is a great treat for me.

Ok, TRex!

Pork chops, burgers, sausages (yum), eggs, fingers!

Gymgirl,

I found that Jalapeno jelly is best on fingers if one does not grill them. I prefer to keep them attached to my hand, and just lick the jelly off....

This is my 1st time making Jalapeno jelly. I followed the directions and removed the core and seeds. The jelly has a great strong Jalapeno flavor which I like, but only a bit of a slow and lasting sting to it. I think the next batch I will leave the seeds to try and get a little more heat. I know this years Jalapenos are smoking hot to the point of bring tears and a runny nose, but the jelly is no where that hot.

I've seen fingers at the HEB but never bought them. If not grilled what other ways are there to prepare them?

OOHHH Man, the Chicken Fingers HEB has are GREAT!!! Bet they would be even better with that Jalapeno jelly on them...

Cocoa ~ I've always leaned toward utilitarian rather than asthetics. Does that give you an idea that it is not orderly and neat? LOL

I put T posts in the ground spanning an 8 ft bed. Then whacked off an 8 ft plus piece, split a few of the grid ends and tied it to the T posts.

It has stayed in position without a problem but I found I needed to stake it to the soil across the bottom as the wind/pets/? will move it otherwise and could rip the beans out of the soil. Next time, I'll raise it off the ground by 6-8 inches instead.

Crude but effective.

BTW although I read the reviews I reserve judgement as I know many folks that were happy with a product, will not take the time to review it but when we are unhappy, we look for any avenue to vent. Kristi

Today I pulled the last half of the onions. These were growing in dirt rows rather than raised bed like the first half. On the whole these were bigger than the first half. The ground was dry and the roots were mostly dry so they had started curing in the ground.

Also had to water the cukes and tomatoes.

Picked a good mess of crowder peas that will need shelling tomorrow.

Finally, late this afternoon I got to put up 4 quarts of pickles, 2 Bread and Butter and 2 Polish Dills. Thank you Mrs. Wages. I just love her website. There is so much stuff to try.

I had to water today also. The first time this season, the wind isn't helping. Still planting a few tomato plants I just can't stop. But I must admit that they are really doing well, they are growing so fast and I have fruit set on almost every plant. The week it rained so much and the temps were 60-70 everything just sat there but not anymore, I got a late start, late even for me. But everything seems to be catching up. I have some Aunt Ruby 's German Green plants that are left over from a Market Order. They are such beautiful plants and the stems are huge, they have bloomed and have set fruit.

I'm still starting just a couple more tomato plants, lol but I'm amazed to watch them grow so fast. They seem to love the temps. Forgot the soaker houses, they were the main reason I went to HEB and they were on my list! Sheesh...but after last summer my old ones are shot. My pepper plants are loving life, it looks like Golden Marconi will be the first ripe one.

TRock...Mrs Wages website?? Do post details!

Cucumbers from this week. Canned 3 quarts whole pickles and 11 pints dill slices. Still have tomatoes to sauce and need to do something with sweet corn.

Lots of cucumbers setting!!

The hubby got the tomato cage up today!

The last of the peas came out today. :(

It all looks good stephanie.

Today I picked my first snap peas - I would have picked earlier, but I was out of town for 5 days, which let them actually get some size before I attacked the vines. Weeded the tomatoes cucumbers melons and onions. Picked green shallots (from seed) and green onion (from seed), and garlic scapes. Tomorrow will be picking romaine lettuce, spinach, and dill, and more peas, and my first heads of cauliflower that has buttoned.

Mostly lettuce, a few onions to munch on, melons only getting started, tomato plant in bloom ,A little anticipation for my first tomatoes from the garden this season. Leeks went to seed real early this season and are still at it. The herbs and Jerusalem artichokes have about taken over.

Picked a few tomatoes the past 2 nights... A nice 12 ounce Big Beef in the front with a Parks Whopper behind it. Momma went to look at it and it dropped off in her hand...

Stephanie thats a great tomato cage. I keep trying to tell myself "no more tomato plants" but that seems to be the only thing Im planting. I need 30 of those cages.

Today's harvest (5/26)

First picture - snap peas (Cascadia and another variety, it didn't impress me so I can't remember its name), the last of the radishes, and assorted greens (leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, swiss chard). And yes, a pepper - from the plant I overwintered from last year. I need to start another one for this winter.
Second picture - dill, a little parsley, and my buttoned head of cauliflower.

Beans are starting to show flower buds, peppers and tomatoes blooming, cucumbers just starting to vine up the supports (had to replant half earlier this year). Onions and shallots are starting to size up to the point I can pick green, garlic is starting to mature. Cabbage and broccoli growing okay, not too fast though.

I returned from a week at the beach this afternoon to find the tomatoes have grown about a foot and set lots of fruit!

Nineteen sweet potato slips hav survived being eaten by voles out of the fifty planted!

Sugar snap peas look a little over-ripe!

Lots of sugar pod peas, which was a huge surprise because I didn't know I had sown any!

English peas not doing well, probably because it's been really hot here. (It was 75f at the beach)

Picked one zucchini, one patty pan and one yellow squash.

Onions are beginning to bulb. Looks like the voles have eaten a few. (grrrr)

Melon vines growing all over the place. I'll have to encourage them to grow up the trellis tomorrow.

Sweet peppers look thirsty.

Guess I'm going to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow ^_^

93f today and, bizarrely, my Favas are thriving and setting so many pods they are falling over.

Some of the garlic is ready, the rest will be ready soon.

I harvested a couple of beets today and there are many more almost ready.

The blueberry bushes are already give us a few to snack on.

The sugar peas are perfect, we picked and shelled a large bowl and devoured them. I was going to steam some to eat with butter...but we ate them raw in our chicken salad supper, then just popped the rest in our mouths.

Peppers are looking a bit dry, they are one of the few vegetables that aren't doing great this year, they are ok, but not great.

The bush beans are a total failure this year. The early planting that did so well with the peas and favas, was not to the liking of the bush beans.

The Jerusalem Artichokes are five feet high and very bushy, not the tall rather spindly plants I am used to seeing.

The first cucumbers will be ready by next weekend.

The weather for the next 10 days looks like 80-90s with a day or two in the seventies. So we'll be doing some watering. It's been a very warm spring, but almost everything is doing well, even the cool weather crops.

Surprisingly the lettuces haven't bolted yet. The beans are happily growing. Starting to set tomatoes and peppers, a few 3/4" jalapenos and maybe marble sized maters! Couple of 3" zuchinni and the cucumbers are setting flowers all over the place. Unfortunately the okra are still being decimated by the deer but at least they aren't getting my string beans.

-Vaughn

Steve, sorry to read that your bush beans have failed. You should have time to sow more. Perhaps your local garden center has seed?

Thanks Honeybee. We're not suffering for want of beans, we plant several varieties. For some odd reason, my Winsor Favas are thriving in the heat. Setting pods in 80-90f weather is not normal Fava behavior, but I'm not complaining. The pole beans and peas are thriving also and we picked our first crop of peas yesterday. They were candy sweet and absolutely delicious.

I do have a few bush bean plants that popped up late, so I'll have seed for next year.

Guess what we're having for dinner tonight??

The heat has arrived and it feels like a furnace when you go outside. That severely limits when I can get outside, early in the morning and then again later in the evening. My husband pulled out all the pea plants and is now shelling the peas. They'll go in the freezer. The cucumbers are really coming on and I have tons of baby cukes that should be ready this week. Tons of cantaloupes still. I think I'm going to plant watermelon seeds today.

Oh yum, all the beans look good. Stir fry anyone?

Added 14 more qts pickles yesterday, 7 spicy bread & butter and 7 Polish dills. It's time to get back on caning tomatoes.

Shelled over a quart of crowder peas two nights ago. It's time to pick again! This should continue most of the summer.

It looks like all the Texas gardens are coming alive.

Good looking vegies Stephanie and Txrockgarden. All I've been harvesting is more potatoes and plenty of cucumbers.

Lots of lemon cucumbers waiting to ripen. Would be lovely to have the first of them ripe by next weekend, but that may be pushing it a bit. This is the largest one I found.

Hubby wants to harvest this Marketmore cucumber, but I'm not too sure it's ready. I'd like to see it a bit plumper and a tad bit longer.

The Hill Country okra plants are loving the hot weather we've been having lately.

Parking the tractor alongside the workshop this morning saw something scamper across the yard and into the garden. All I could tell it was fast, tan, and four-legged.

He actually stayed put long enough for me to go into the house and grab the camera....

Texas Spiny Lizard