This year has been a busy one, but there is always time to get the veggie garden planted! And some things just plant themselves haha This view of the garden makes me giggle. The large potato plant is in bloom, right in the middle of the onions/carrots. The reason I giggle is because I didn't plant any potatoes this year! Same with the tomatillo in the foreground in the pot - one of several volunteers from last years plants. Free food! The arched trellis has 3 types of cucumbers, and the bed has eggplant and peppers. That spinach in the corner is the same one that I posted about last year, that was planted the fall before. It has gone to seed that I hope to collect. In the two large pots I have kale and green onions. This next photo shows what happens when you sow bush beans that don't grow, and then plant more and then they all grow! I also have pole beans climbing up another arched trellis. These pumpkin vines have grown substantially in the past week, and I give credit to the mushroom compost I top dressed the beds with this spring, as well as the recent rainfall. To give you an idea the size, look for Sargent standing in the background. He is not a small dog! The basil is doing well and it looks like its time to make some pesto! I planted 'Thousand Head Kale' this year, from the Baker Creek catalog. This on one of the smaller leaves. I'm not really sure what to do with it yet. My garden is mostly about the tomatoes. I love nothing more than a garden fresh tomato! I'm growing 23 varieties this year, a mix of paste tomatoes, slicers and cherry tomatoes. This bunch is a new to me slicer variety called 'Thornburns Terracotta' Another one new to me this year is a cherry tomato called 'Black Strawberry'. They are looking cool, and I can't wait to try one! I did have 3 ripe tomatoes yesterday from the 'Sungold' plant, but I gobbled down the first 2 before I could stop myself haha The black currents are just about ready to harvest I've already picked the first zucchini, but there are more to follow soon! Hubby needs some zucchini relish made this year, so I'll be letting a few get large. He loves it on hotdogs Theres your glimpse into Nettys veggie garden, don't mind the weeds
My stars girl, that is a magnificent vegetable garden! Sungold is our favorite cherry tomato and so very prolific. Those are not weeds--that is "green mulch", or so I tell myself. Congratulations on having your garden repaying the effort you have put into it.
Beautiful garden Netty! Don't mind the weeds too much, unless they are interfering with your crops. They are nature's way of messing with your sense of tidiness
Weeds…what weeds!? Boy, oh boy— what a great group of pics. It is interesting and fun to see what you are doing there. You have a great way of talking and explaining what we are seeing. It looks like another successful year for you. You are going to be a busy girl, aren’t you. Well done you.
I loved seeing this post Netty. Thank you so much for sharing your veggie garden. That was really wonderful. It looks fabulous! I'm nesting over a message with questions about tomatillos and ground cherries. I planted a dwarf variety this year after your post a couple of years ago about them, and my goodness!! Prolific! Your tomatillo pot makes me feel better And outdoors makes me feel better - my ground cherries were served an eviction notice from the green house last week. Way too big! Not what I expected for a dwarf. This was a wonderful post and I appreciate the time it took in your busy life to make it. Thanks ( Another smiley but I really am smiling huge. )
Wow! And I was happy with the one kale that came back this year. I didn't have the heart to pull it up last year. It was the only one that didn't bolt in the heat, so I just bent it over and covered it with leaves thinking it would just be part of the mulch. When I took the leaves off the garden, it had already started growing leaves so I let it go to seed so I could collect them. Can you do anything when kale leaves get that big? I tend to pick mine when it's smaller. (Cut and come back) I heard you massage the kale when the leaves get bigger, and I'm just not into giving them the spa treatment. Mine is a different kind of kale, too. So that might make a difference. That's very cool, all the stuff that came back, though.
Lovely garden Netty and it's a surprise when things grow like that. I used to buy Cape gooseberries but some would rot before we could eat them. So i put them in the compost bin, now i got them all over the garden where i put the compost. But they need a long season so they won't survive.
@Willowisp0801 We stew kale with double smoked bacon at Christmas ... kind of a tradition my family started years ago. Other than that, I'm not really sure what to do with it haha I've cooked it to eat with eggs a few times. @Logan For 2 years I tried growing ground cherries from seed without success. Thankfully, a friend grows them and shared a plant with me both years. This year I didn't grow any, and she didn't get any to germinate. When they started popping up all over my garden I was able to return the favor! I've only been able to eat 2 so far this year.
Netty- Do you have to give them the, "spa treatment"? I pick mine when it's small and use it like lettuce or I also freeze it. Logan and Netty (sorry Netty, stupid autocorrect I don't know if you saw your name before I changed it back) I looked up ground cherries. They look like the tomatillos that I grow. So then I had to look that up. And..they are not the same! Tomatillos are larger and the color is different. Ground cherries are sweet. I may have to try to find some next year. Do you need two plants? With tomatillos you need two. Wow! Learn something new every day!
No spa treatment needed for this 1000 head kale so far Willowisp Ground cherries don't need a second plant for fruit. I only had the one plant last year and had tons of fruit!
