The Franz (Mostly) Edible Garden

Saturday, July 19, 2008

here is the update of the garden...

the sweet 100 tomato bush getting out of control, but I have been getting a good amount of tomatoes from these bushes the past few days.

the thyme plant is blooming, although its quite small...pretty though, huh?

here is the thyme plant from afar (see how small it is), to the left of the grape tomato that i planted from seed (with the huge fruits).

here are the latest seedlings. i have some new soybean plants growing (planted last weekend), plus some new peat pots with seeds of yellow beets, fordhook giant swiss chard, and broccoli.

here is that pepper plant that i planted next to the broccoli plants (which were harvested some time ago). it is actually GREEN with PERKY leaves. i also just fertilized them today to keep them that way.

my basil plant (also perky and green! yay! it was ailing because of too much water) and, again, the grape tomato.

okay, here is an overview of the left garden, starting with the part closest to the house...

here is the overview of the top garden...

here is the sugar baby watermelon plants. they are branching wonderfully!

here is that female flower that i pollinated earlier. in about a month (i hope!) this watermelon will be ready to harvest and enjoyed!

the soybeans are coming in nicely. not sure how long they will take to reach maturity, but i am judging them on the bulgey-ness of the pods.

in this picture, there are 4 cucumbers almost ready to be picked! i counted, overall, about 6 of them which need to be picked soon.

the almond tree...i was at the farmer's market today, and someone was actually selling green almonds (which is what i currently have now on that tree). interesting. and when i stand on the edge of the raised bed, the tallest branch is taller than me!

my bushy jalapeno plant. i think its really pretty...but i could be biased. (since its the ONLY pepper plant that actually has blooming flowers and peppers growing on them!)

after those highlights, here is the complete overview of the top garden...

(see my sugar snap pea plant falling over? - left side of pic)

(japanese cucumber claiming the lawn as its own growing area)

my flower garden...i don't notice any changes to the tangarine tree yet. i should take some up-close ones and compare these with future ones.

the tomatoes (for the most part) are doing okay. no casualties after the amish paste. i took away the cage which surround the amish one and i am thinking about growing either a blue lake bush bean or a soybean plant there (i currently have seedlings of both).

right garden overview

here are the upper two plots i will use for fall veggies. i will start planting seeds for some of them next month. i have already started some seeds for the fall veggies already (swiss chard, broccoli, and beets - since they all can tolerate some heat well). in the plots with no bush bean plant, i will plant the garlics and onions (since these two plants dont do well with beans/peas).

here is the third plot...

and here is the fourth. i had already prepared these plots by digging/tilling to about 6 - 8 inches down, and adding some of the organic soil compost/conditioner and some organic fertilizer. but now, i just added a few inches of the same organic soil directly to the top of the plot and added mulch ontop of that. doing this, im hoping that by watering this plot, the nutrients from the compost and the mulch will drain through the clay soil and help with its tithe before i plant some beets, broccoli and chard in this plot in about 2 - 3 weeks from now.