Saving Seed

Saving Soybean Seeds

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm awful at saving seed. I think part of it has to do with the fact that I never keep my veggie plants in the garden long enough to set seed. Space is such a hot commodity that I tend to rip things out as soon as they've bolted or finished producing in order to grow something else, like my fall veggies. Maybe one day I'll have a garden large enough where I can start my spring and fall crops in different beds. That way, it wouldn't really be an issue.

One thing I was able to save this year was my 'Envy' soybeans seeds. Hopefully, they will go on to produce healthy plants next year.

Late August Harvest

A few weeks ago I was speculating that we might not have planted enough tomatoes this year. Well, let's just say that I'm not feeling that way now.


I'm happy to say that we've now preserved enough tomato sauce, puree(for soup) and salsa to get us through the next 12 months. Sure we weren't able to give away as many tomatoes as I would have liked but 20 plants seem to be the magic number for us. More than that just creates more unnecessary work and would waste valuable growing space.


Our peppers have done really well this year, particularly the Hungarian Wax. I've been roasting, peeling and freezing all of them. I have a lot of Jalapeno peppers that I think I'll let turn red and then make hot sauce.


Before this weekend's storm arrived, I pulled the rest of my soy beans.


We ended up with a good haul of pods, which has since been frozen. Edamame is a great snack for kids because the steamed beans are so fun to shell and eat.


I also picked two of our Blacktail Mountain watermelons and acorn squash. The squash vine was practically dead from borers and powdering mildew.


The first watermelon I picked was good.

The second one I picked was GREAT!

This Week's Pickings

It's all about tomatoes again this week, not that I'm complaining. Lately I've been canning salsa and making sauce as much as I can to get our reserves back up. While it can be labor intensive at times, preserving your homegrown harvest is always deeply satisfying.

Aside from the tomatoes, I picked the last of this year's savoy cabbage and the first of our soybeans (edamame)and Poblano peppers. Despite the groundhog assault, I was able to get a fairly decent harvest from our early-sown bed of soybeans. I have two more that should be ready in a week or two.

Another sign that the end of summer is fast approaching, I picked the first of our fall raspberries the other day.

My Other Summer Beans

I thought I'd do a quick post on some of the other beans I have growing in the garden at the moment.

The Tongue of Fire shell beans are coming along nicely. While it is considered a bush bean variety, the vines are very aggressive and will climb to three feet tall if allowed to. I might erect a short trellis for them next year as the vines are a tangled mess at the moment.

This is my first time growing shell beans. I wonder how much of a harvest we'll get from this one bed.

I'd almost forgotten about my long beans. They were transplanted out in early May and for the longest time appeared to be doing nothing. It was only a few days ago that I noticed the vines were beginning to climb their trellis and produce flowers. To me, the pods resemble shoe laces as they are produced in pairs. If you've never tried long beans, I would highly recommend them. They have a lot of crunch to them and a wonderful flavor in my opinion.

Finally, my early sown green soybeans (stripped of their leaves at one point by Mr. Groundhog) have rebounded and are setting their pods. My 2nd and 3rd sowings are just starting to flower now. If I can keep the field mice and chipmunks at bay, we might just get a good harvest this year.

Prelude to Beans

Today, I picked the last of the snow and shell peas. The vines look rather ragged these days and will soon be pulled up. The freed up space will eventually be planted with fall veggies in the coming weeks. The end of pea season usually coincides the beginning of the bean season. My early sown crop is flowering now. Pictured above is a Dragon's Tongue bean flower.


The Contender bean flowers are a lighter shade of pink.


My early sown Envy soybeans (edamame) have recovered somewhat from the groundhog attacks and begun to flower as well. It'll be interesting to see what kind of yield we get since the plants have been compromised.


The first pods have already begun to set. I can't wait until these Dragon's Tongue beans mature. They are very tasty in my opinion and their crisp texture holds up well when cooked.

Random Scenes from the End of June Garden - Part I

The beds are getting lush with green.


The side garden at a different angle.


The shell peas are plumping up.


The first fava (broad) beans are ready to be picked.


The crimson flower broad beans are still producing lots of blooms.


The Florence fennel is almost ready.


Another crop of soybeans has emerged.


The first zucchini of the year.


My zucchini plants appear much healthier this year than they did last year.


The savoy cabbage is taking its sweet time.

Early June Garden Update - Part I

I took this picture shortly after 8:00 PM today. A storm front is moving across our area tonight and tornado warnings have popped up in several parts of the state. Though not as dramatic on film, the approaching clouds have cast a strange yellow glow over everything outside. It was quite remarkable actually.

In this picture, you also get a better sense of how our gardens are laid out. The large maple tree on the left casts a huge shadow over much of yard during the morning hours, and as a result, the side garden (bottom right) gets only about 5 hours of full sunlight a day. My leafy vegetables, legumes, root crops and alliums seem to do fine under these conditions but I grow most (if not all) of my tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, corn and melons in the back garden, which gets full sun throughout most of the day. I'm sure all of us would wish for more sunlight in our gardens (at least I do). Thankfully, it seems all is not lost in part-shade.

Anyway, I thought I'd do an update on how things are growing at the moment. Looking at these pictures, the garden looks rather bare compared to this time last year. Hopefully that will change soon. In no particular order:


Yes! We now have mini-crowns of broccoli. This particular variety is called 'Bonanza', which I grew for the first time last fall. I've been pleased with it so far as it's relatively early to mature and produces plenty of side-shoots. We'll see how it performs in the summer heat.


Hopefully this one will be ready to cut in a week or two.


Despite the cooler than average temperatures of May, my green soybeans (edamame, 'Envy') germinated relatively well - at about 75%. The garden pests went crazy for them last year so I may have to cover them with some netting or row cover this time around.


My bush beans ('Contender' and 'Dragon's Tongue') germinated at about 65%. Some of them emerged from the soil rather mangled-looking. As a result, I had to pull those up and re-sow the bare spots. Beans have never performed well for me. Hopefully that will change since I'm growing a lot more this year.


Since taking this picture, the shell and snow peas have begun to flower. Better late than never I guess. On a high note, it looks like the wire trellis I put up is working out well.


My long beans have taken root and are starting to grow again. I was a bit nervous since beans tend not to transplant well. I wonder how long it will take for them to climb atop the hoop house frame.


It seems to be another good year for garlic. The stalks are tall and fat with no signs of rust thus far despite the mild and wet weather we've had. (I've become obsessed with homegrown garlic so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.)


Finally, I first noticed this little guy last summer. He's about 3 times the size now. I'm not quite sure where he came from but glad that he found a nice place to hibernate during this past winter and decided to stick around. Hopefully he'll find mate and eat his weight in slugs every day.