Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Late July Garden - An Update

Poblano Peppers
It looks like the season for peppers is in full swing now. The poblanos are sizing up nicely. If anyone has a good recipe for them, please share!

Jalapeno Peppers
The jalapenos are really coming in now, much more than we could possibly consume. And boy, they sure are hot! Much hotter than what you get at the supermarket.

green bell peppers
The green bell peppers are pretty much ready for us to pick. Marc wants to wait until they turn red though. Any ideas how long that will take?

purple tomatilloes
I have two purple tomatillo plants, which is quite enough if you ask me. They are ruiting so abundantly. A few have broken through their husks already but are still green.

imperial artichoke
Yes! I got my first imperial artichoke. It's tiny though. I made the mistake of planting my artichokes in the shadiest part of my garden. They have not worked out for me exactly as planned this year. If I can't overwinter them successfully, I think I'll start over again next spring and plant them in an area with full sun.

Corn stalks
I checked the corn today. I peaked inside one husk and from what I can tell, it pollinated successfully. I think a few of them should be ready by the weekend. I can't wait!

Eggplant
Finally, my Rosa Bianca eggplants are flowering at the moment. Planted in the shadiest part of my garden, they are taking FOREVER. I really need to spend a bit more time on my garden plan next year. Maybe this space would be better suited for summer lettuce.

24 comments:

  1. You are so lucky that your eggplant is flowering. Ours is taking For-e-ver!! I have to post photos of it, because they look sad. They have pretty much stopped growing, but they don't look dead. So not sure what is going on. Your peppers look awesome. Granny could have used some of your hot jalapenos for her pepper jelly she made!

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  2. Love all these very green images. Your poblanos and jalapenos seem ready to pick! As well as your tomatillos. In my garden most purple tomatillos do not turn purple. Only when it is really hot and dry I get a good number of purple ones. Many of them go from green with purple dots or slight purple shading to a pale yellow or straw color, which indicates super, super ripe. They all have those beautiful purple ridges in their husks.

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  3. I am still waiting with baited breath if our green globe artichokes will produce. The nursery folks told me we should get a couple this year out of the 2 plants. Ours are only 1 foot tall though.

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  4. I'm having to make those same decisions with sun. I have a ton of SQfootage that doesn't get as much as I thought it would during the summer months and little to none in the spring and fall. It's also going to be my lettuce bed....dang...that will be a lot of lettuce.

    Your pictures are fantastic. I can't believe everything is so green. That artichoke is going to be fantastic no matter the size.

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  5. I have a ton of hot peppers out in my garden too, but I haven't even picked one of them. I keep waiting for my tomatoes to come in strong then I'll make salsa.

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  6. That little artichoke is such an achievement Thomas- woo-hoo!! And a shady Summer lettuce garden sounds like just the fix. :)

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  7. Everything looks so healthy. Esp. those eggplant. I'm envious. We always have such troubles with them. They get eaten by some sort of flea when they are very young. Hubby picks them off, but they are so tiny.

    Love those artichokes. We lived in Monterey, CA which is a stones throw form the countries top artichoke growers. I sure miss those huge tasty treats. Do you have a variety that will survive the winters here? Would love to know what it is.

    How are the pups doing?

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  8. Thomas, I'd be surprised if you see any eggplants this season (worthy of harvest). We've had one on the plant for a month and half now and it's also in the shadier part of the garden. It's taking an inordinate amount of time to size up. We have one in a pot on our deck that is esentially all sun, and the difference is amazing. They need sun and they need to be started earlier next year I think. Every year, we learn something new.

    Anna in MD

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  9. Hi Lorie, I owe much of my enthusiasm for artichokes to Eliot Coleman. His farm is located in Zone 5 Maine and he grows them as annuals. The trick is to getting them to produce the first year is to fool them into believing that they've experience winter already by starting them extra early indoors and exposing them to six weeks of temperatures in the high 40's outside.

    I believe that some varieties, like my imperial artichokes, are marginally hardy in zone 6. I will prune most of the leaves off this fall, add a layer of mulch and cover them with fabric and plastic covering to up my chances.

    PS - the dogs are doing great. They have invisible fence training today!

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  10. I'm having the same problems with my eggplants- though they are in a very sunny location. They are just sloooooow this year- only now flowering! I wonder if I'll be able to get any fruits off of them?

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  11. You can grow more than just lettuce in shady spots, most greens, like kale or chard, should do OK. But eggplant is particularly needy of sun and warmth. You could try a smaller fruited or short season variety of eggplant, that's what I have to do, Rosa Bianca doesn't like my cool climate even though my garden gets lots of sun.

    I've had the same experience with purple tomatillos as Angela, they don't always turn purple. Tomatillos are usually ready to pick when they split their husks.

    Everything in your garden looks beautiful and green.

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  12. Yes I hate you and your artichoke! Kidding, fantastic looking - at least one of ours worked out (grrrr!) :)

    I find that some varieties of pepper take longer than others to redden, and the ones that are exposed to more sunlight seem to get red faster, but most of mine are crammed together shading each other. I like to take just what I need if still green for salads, dinner,etc and then when you get some that are red, you can freeze strips of the different colors together for great looking stir fry in the winter. I try to wait until they get red since I already have lots of green in my stir fry but sometimes it just takes too darned long! You've got nice looking "ears"! :)

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  13. Gorgeous peppers Thomas and that artichoke is exciting! I am giving some serious thought to growing a few artichokes in large pots next year. I could then move them into the greenhouse during really serious cold spells in the winter - I think I could grow them as a perennial that way. Need to do some research on them as I have never grown them before.

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  14. Garden looks great as always. :)

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  15. Looking good! My eggplant is doing well and flowering, but not setting fruit yet :(

    My hydroponic pepper is gong crazy producing peppers.

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  16. Congrats on your first artichoke!! It took me three years of trying to get my first one this year.

    The Rosa Bianca are such beautiful eggplant. I harvest my first one yesterday.

    Keep up the good work.

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  17. Okay. So what have you done to make EVERYTHING in your garden look so healthy and photogenic!???!!!

    Not a spot in sight on those Tomato plants! No Vine Borers, Cucumber Beetles, or Squash Bugs?

    Is it the black plastic? A certain fertilizer?

    Eagerly awaiting for you to show me the way!

    Sincerely,
    Donna

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  18. I have to just repeat what is already said - everything is so green and extremely healthy! What is your secret?
    My garden has more brown than green now, probably due to all the heat followed by tons of rain.

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  19. Peppers peppers and peppers, love them. I made some Mexican style pickle jalapeno the other day, they were good.
    Eggplants grow well in containers if you don't have an in-ground sunny spot for them.

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  20. Yes, you are right! This is the year of the peppers! I have 3 kinds of peppers in my garden, red hot chili peppers, bell peppers and jalapenos! I love using them for my Mexican hot and spicy recipes and pizzas! They are just delightfully fresh!

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