Fruit and Vegetable Pics

[Sunsaver]

Thought i'd share some pics of my goodies from the garden. I always enjoy seeing other peoples picss, so i hope y'all enjoy mine.

I have about 80 feet of asparagus, and after some recent thunderstorms, i got a summer flush of new spears. The plants are mature, very large (some spears are over an inch in diameter) and heathy enough that i can harvest these summer buds:

Don't ask me how, but this cabbage is still growing in full sun, with a month of triple digit heat, and it has not split or bolted. It's a real mystery to me:

Here is a shot of some of my grapes:

Heres a shot of some of hundred or so Rubus species of berries. These are blackberry bushes:

Heres a shot of some of my broccoli plants. They should survive through the fall and winter, and produce side shoots again next spring:

Heres some jalapeno and ancho peppers that i stuffed with cheese and onions and grilled them last week:

Heres some butternut squash:

I also have swiss chard, turnips, tomatoes, potatoes (dug up already), summer squash, cucumber, green beans, egg plant, sweet potatoes, blueberry bushes, pear trees, plum trees, cherry trees, almond trees, walnut trees, hazelnut bushes, garden huckleberry, wild elderberry, wild fox grapes, wild muscadine grapes, rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, fennel, oragano, garlic, and scallions. I'm probably forgetting a dozen things.

 

[digitS']

I was beginning to imagine that you have a garden like this, Sunsaver.

Well done !

Do your cucumbers hold up thru a long, northern Louisiana growing season? Are those eggplants beyond the broccoli?

Steve

 

[Collector]

sunsaver, great pics and an awesome looking garden! everything looks green and lush.

 

[Sunsaver]

Thanks, Collector! Yes on both counts Steve. Everything is heavily mulched and shaded from late afternoon sun by nearby pine trees on the west side of all the "Garden Rooms. I call it my forest garden. I also keep things watered well during dry spells. I have been pretty successful with everything i've tried, just have to grow it during the proper time of year. I grow lettuce, spinach, cilantro, collards, broccoli, endive, cabbage and other cool crops during our mild winters. When my fruit trees are dormant, i spray them with a mixtureof mild soapy water with olive oil. I try to really soak all the bare branches completely. For the veggies, everything is mixed together along with annual flowers like zinnia and marigolds. There's no real rotation of crops, just a jumble of tightly spaced plants. Except for squash bugs, i never seem to have any major pest problems. This year i planted 70 tomatoes and a marigold beside each one. This is the first year that i have not seen at least one hornworm. I heard that it would work, but didn't believe it until now. 70 tomato plants and not a single hornworm! Go figure!

 

[vfem]

Wow... it all looks amazing, and I'm so shocked about that cabbage too! I have some brussel sprouts still forming in these crazy triple digits temps too... its very ODD?! :/

I'm totally jealous of the butternut squash, I have to start mine within the week. I can't survive without butternut squash in my garden. I love my butternut ravioli in the winter.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Awesome pics, terrific looking garden! So...you have an actual huckleberry in your garden? I didn't imagine it would grow down there...we were just out all day along a local reservoir, playing in the water and picking wild hucks, they're coming on like MAD this year up here! So much rain this spring...

Oh, so here's another huck question...I got some blueberry bushes this spring, and they told me to really acidify the soil, do you worry about the pH where your huck is??

 

[Sunsaver]

Its called "garden" huckleberry. It's not a true huckleberry, but a member of the nightshade family and clost relative of tomatoes. The dark purple berries must be cooked with lemon juice and sugar to get any flavor, but once you do that, they make wonderful pies and jams. I have three blueberry bushes. You should add plenty of peat moss and rock sulpher (soil sulpher, not dusting sulfer) a year before you plant them. If you have already planted or need to do so right away, broadcst 1 cup of aluminum sulphate per plant, unless your soil is already acidic. Too much potash can cause a magnesium deficiency and the tips and margins of the leaves will turn red. Correct this problem with 1/4 cup of epsom salts per plant, broadcast out to the width of the top growth. Blueberries have shallow root systems, so mulch them a good 4 inches deep. Nothing beats fresh blueberries, and they are super food with anti-cancer properties. I hope yours do well.

 

[Sunsaver]

Vfem, how these brassica crops are surviving these temps is beyond me. I had some brussels, but they all burned up died before i got a single little sprout. It's one of the few crops i haven't been able to grow here.

 

[lesa]

Everything looks absolutely wonderful! That cabbage should be on the cover of a magazine! Enjoy your harvest!

 

[Sunsaver]

Thanks, Lesa! I have been eating very well. Cooking is my other hobby!