Pictures - Part One

So here are the pictures I promised a couple of weeks ago. I'll try to post more pics as the days roll forward. (These pics are about a week old).



Seedlings...various plants - broccoli, cukes, corn, beans, etc.

my harvest from yesterday...


my newest seeds that have been planted - lettuce, fava beans, red and yellow onions, sugar snap peas, snow peas, chinese cabbages, broccoli...etc...




my california native plants are still alive. i will eventually have to find a spot for them.


one of the locations in the left garden where i have cultivated the soil. i planted a fava bean seed there last weekend. i'll probably give it another week to germinate. i seriously want to remove all the plants in the left garden (except for the european plum tree) and thoroughly cultivate that area, like i did for the right garden. i think because i didn't do this in the first place, the plants in this area are having a harder time to grow. the soil is just too compacted with the clay. i just may do this in the near future...


the plum tomato plant...its scragly but hanging in there, if those small beetles like things dont damage all of my tomatoes.


the chaotic growth of the sweet 100 tomatoes. tomatoes are still being producte but this plant sure has seen better days...anything that i can do to help it?


the new pea and bean bed.


as with the last group of soybean plants, THIS is the only flower-looking thing i have seen so far on these plants. they look like buds, but i never seem them actually open. maybe they are a night-blooming plant?


salad mix. the reason why they are so bunched up like that is that i had them growing in 2" x 2" peat pots and i have planted them all together here, in the pea/bean bed


here is an overview of that pea/bean bed.




cucumber plants - for the most part, they are growing strong with a few cucumbers popping up here and there.


my last hopes in eating some bell peppers from my garden. these two were grown from seed and planted between the two grape plants. they look quite strong *knock on wood* and they are now blooming so here is to hoping! the bell pepper plant that had the peppers growing on it...well, something is happening to it. it has wilted. ive stopped watering it for a week no changes...i started watering it a bit more this week, so far no changes...i have no idea what is wrong with it. so i think i am starting to give up on those plants in the left garden.


our small 2-plant vineyard. no grapes this season, but maybe next.


i think the sweet potato plant is the MOST happiest plant in the ground. very prolific, nice ground cover...im just wondering what is growing below the soil...it has not started to flower yet, which seems to be a sign that potatoes are growing. i think its supposed to start dying back before i try to search for edible roots. i have to do some researching...


more pea and bean plants. i also have a carrot bed between the first two bean plants.


the watermelon plant. it has that small watermelon there, but no changes have occurred to it. i'm leaving that one on until i see the vine, which it grows on, start to die.


the new zinnia plant that i bought last weekend. it should bloom soon.


more pea and bean plants.


the almond tree with more bean plants and some lettuce growing underneath it. i have seen the outer shell on some of the almonds start to open up...its no where completely open, but i see a slight crack...we'll see what happens. (and if the squirrels around here leave my tree alone!)


these are pictures of the very first plot i planted with fall crops...(this is a spinach plant)


michihili and pak choi


broccoli, pak choi and beets


beets and pak choi


broccoli, beets and swiss chard


this is from the 2nd planted plot...swiss chard and beets


broccoli and swiss chard


beets


this is the latest cultivated plot. it is still waiting for the garlic cloves that should be coming in any day now. it still has some time to work in the nutrients from the compost and organic fertilizer i placed on it after cultivation.


the latest planted plot. in this plot there are all the red and yellow onions that sprouted for me, plus a few carrot sprouts.


right plots overview


just a few pictures of flowers from an orange marigold and spanish tarragon growing between one of the right garden plots.




so the tomato plant that i am unsure of what the name is, is starting to grow some really large tomatoes. i was told from the seller of this plant that it could be ernie's round, so i guess i will stick with that name...its just that from what i've read, this heirloom variety is rather rare, which makes me doubt that this is, in fact, an ernie's round species.

wow...its already the first of september! currently, i am harvesting different varieties of tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers. (sorry, no photos of harvests this weekend).
wow, es ist schon den 1. september! jetzt ernte ich verschiedene sorten von tomaten, gruene bohnen und gurken. (verzeihung, keine fotos von der ernte genommen)
i planted most of my sprouting seeds over the weekend. the onions went into the plot that was cultivated and has no bean plant growing from the middle of it. i also had a lot of carrot seedlings, so i planted them in the other half of that plot.
dieses wochenende habe ich fast alle pflaenzlinge im boden gepflanzt. zwiebelpflaenzlinge sind in einem grundstueck (wo es kein gruene bohnenpflanz hat) eingepflanzt. ich hatte auch viele karrotenpflaenzlinge, deshalb pflanzte ich die im zweiten teil des zwiebel-grundstuecks.

i planted the rest of my pea and bean seedlings in the top garden. the salad mix and buttercruch lettuces also went into the ground in various areas.
erbsen- und bohnenpflaenzlinge sind im boden in top-garten gestellt. die salatmischung und buttercrunch-salat sind auch in ein paar orten im garten gepflanzt.

i turned the compost. added to it.
die kompost ist umgedreht. ich habe auch was dazu gemischt.

i bought more compost (mine probably won't be done until next year) and more peat pots for seed starting. i also bought some fava beans - they are known to help condition the soil. today, i bought a dahlia (i am starting to love these flowers!) and a zinnia plant. they should help attract more beneficial bugs into the garden. i planted both of them in different spots in the top garden.
[ich schreibe spaeter fertig]

i started more seeds this weekend too. a bunch of fava beans, sugar snap and snow peas, broccoli, michihili, pac choi, spinach, salad mix, buttercrunch lettuce, and red and yellow onions. now i just have to figure out where to plant these guys once they start sprouting...

my garlic bulbs that i bought online will be coming in 2 weeks. i also have to find a spot for them. they will probably go into the last plot which today i cultivated, covered with a few inches of compost and covered that with a layer of mulch. i am expecting about 10 heads of garlic, and each one consists about 6 - 8 cloves. (if you don't know, each clove can turn into its own head of garlic). i may need more space for that too!

i may probably end of digging up my cucumber plants to use that space. the plants are slowly finishing up their season anyway (i harvested just 5 cucumbers this weekend).

i wonder when the sweet potatoes will be done. that plant is slowly taking over its spot, the grapes area, the watermelon area and the carrots area. its really a great, dense ground cover, but i can't wait to see what the potatoes look like (and if i have any). at least its very happy!

labor day...it was a lot of garden labor, yes, but lots of fun. i didn't get to taking pictures, sorry. i will try to get some on thursday. oh, and did you know? the slow food nation victory garden in front of san francisco's city hall was dug up this weekend. i wasn't about to get crushed by the number of people that they planned would attend. but i hope they had a good harvest. it just didn't seem like much of those vegetable plants were ready for any kind of harvesting...

here are the pictures i have taken over the past week.
hier sind die bilder, die ich unter der woche genommen habe.

harvest on sunday
ernte am sonntag




cherry tomatoes that grew together
cherry tomaten die zusammen gewachsen sind




the last zucchini this year
die letzte zucchini fuer dieses jahr


harvest on monday
ernte am montag






yes, i harvested the largest watermelon this past monday...you'll see what happens next
ja, ich habe doch die groesste wassermelone erntet letzten montag...du wirst sehen, was noch passiert ist




this watermelon weighed in at 4lbs 9.8 ounces (2kg .092g)...
diese wassermelone wiegte 2kg ,092g (4pfund 9,8oz)...




...and it was NOT ripe. ACK! i was just to eager to harvest it. i saw the yellow spot on the bottom, but i didn't heed other signs that would've told me it was not ripe...for example, usually the stem attaching the watermelon to the vine and the closest leaves start to die when the watermelon turns ripe. that was not the case here. the flesh was just starting to turn red. it was not ripe, but quite edible. it was juicy and sweet, but nowhere as sweet as if it was ripe. it had a LOT of seeds.
...und es war gar NICHT reif! ACK! ich war einfach zu begierig um die melone zu ernten. ich habe das gelbe fleck auf der unterseite der melone, aber die andere anzeichen (dass die melone nicht reif war) habe ich nicht beachtet...zum beispiel, normalerweise faengt die sprossachse zur wassermelone und nahgelegte blaetter an zu sterben, wenn die melone reif ist. das hat nicht passiert. die fruecht hat angefangen rot zu werden. es war nicht reif, aber die war essbar. es war ganz saftig und suess, aber nicht so suess wie es sein sollte. es hat GANZ viele kerne.




4 newly cultivated areas in the left garden
4 kultivierte stellen in linkem garten (sonntag)




plum tomatoes getting ripe (plant looks terrible however)
plum tomaten werden reif (tomatenpflanz sieht aber schlect aus)


no more zucchini plants! i am now planting peas, beans and lettuce here.
keine zucchini pflanzen! jetzt wachse ich da erbsen, gruene und sojabohnen und gruene salat.




what is left of the cucumber plants
was noch uebrig bleibt von der gurkepflanzen.




new peas in the ground near the almond tree
neue erbsen, die beim mandelbaum wachsen


newly planted areas around the almond tree
neugepflanzte stellen neben dem mandelbaum




the first planted cool weather vegetables
das erste gepflanzte grundstueck mit kalten-wetter gemuese