Garden Update I

See Garden Update II  here...

This year we have planted a garden. This is my first garden. My DH always helped his Grandpa with his gardening, so he is the one with the experience.

My DH built us three boxes of 8' x 4'. We are growing green beans, zucchini, crooked neck squashes, cucumbers, kale, mustard greens, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, okra, green onions, jalapeno peppers and green peppers.

You can see the beginning HERE.

Besides the raised beds, I have a few pots with crooked neck squashes, my strawberry pot, and three tomato plants in pots. I also planted herbs in pots. We have basil, cilantro, parsley and romaine lettuce in pots. Mint is also recommended to plant in pots since it is a weed and it will take over your garden.

I have another raised bed that already existed that we planted collard greens and our sunflowers. I  have transplanted a couple of zucchini plants to it too.

Behind the house we got a luffa squash, zucchinis and cantaloupes planted.

To the left some of our harvest: cucumbers, green beans, zucchinis and crooked neck squashes.

These squashes are so tender and sweet that I just slice them like you would cucumber and make a raw salad out of them. So good. Add a little balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and chopped cilantro and you got yourself a refreshing Summer salad.

Our first Sunflower!!

We planted 8 but 2 died. We got six left that are growing every minute. These are mammoth ones!!!

Isn't it gorgeous??

For my breakfast of champions, I am alternating kale and collard greens. Next to the kale, we have mustard greens. These are wonderful sauteed with a bit of garlic and olive oil. I don't cook it to death like most Southerners, just enough to have it wilt and turn a dark green. Then I turn the heat off and serve it with brown rice and beans. Any kind of beans will do.

They are wonderful too the next day inside of quesadillas or grilled sandwiches.

These are my first eggplants. I shared on my Learning Log of May how we learned how to hand pollinate. My eggplants were producing purple flowers but they were wilting and falling off and no eggplant would develop.

So I went on line and found out that without pollination no eggplant would grow. We discovered the uniqueness of the eggplant flower and how to hand pollinate in order to get the fruit. You can find out more on hand pollination HERE.

Tonight I will be roasting these!!

Cherry Tomato in a pot, my herbs in the back and another crooked neck squash in a pot.

My sunflowers and collard greens. I have harvested the collard greens 4 times already and they just keep producing. They are due for another harvest.

As a first time gardener, I thought it would require so much work. Not so!! I like to check on it every day. It's calming and relaxing routine. I usually check on it at the end of the day.

I water every 2 or 3 days as it needs. I pray for rain (now I understand the fascination with the weather channel!!) and I check for pests. It's amazing how much you can get just for a couple of handfuls of seeds. it's been truly a wonderful learning season for all of us.

The children are enjoying planting, harvesting, cooking and eating the vegetables. We are spending less money at the grocery store for sure.

Oh, no ripe tomatoes yet!! We got big green ones so I think we should be seeing red one soon!! I will keep you updated!!

do you have a garden?? What is your favorite thing to grow? Have a question for me? Ask away.

Blessings,
Tereza

Garden Update II Here...