Garden Update

It has been ages (or years) since I’ve done a garden update here at EE.

Eliot enjoying the garden.

It may be due to the fact that our vegetable garden has sucked the past couple of years, primarily because of lack of attention. (In fact, if you look back to our other Garden Updates from years past, you can see we are still slacking a bit.)

It’s a bit more productive this year so I wanted to share some photos of it along with our patio garden and herb garden.

I am the world’s worst at labeling plants.  But, since we grew all our tomatoes from seeds (thanks to my mom who gave us some seeds she saved from her own garden last year), I was a bit more proactive on labeling the baby plants and having labels actually make it to the garden.  This Oxheart tomato plant (left) is over five feet high and has some jumbo green tomatoes on it.  (I’ve harvested two so far.)

The Amish Paste plant on the right is one that I’m most excited about.  It is loaded.  (That may be due to the fact it is planted adjacent to our compost pile.)

I cannot wait to roast and freeze some tomato sauce.  We have ten other tomato plants in the garden, but these were the most photogenic.  🙂

I only planted four peppers this year, a NM green chili, a couple of jalapenos, and a padron pepper.   We are picking about a handful a day.

NM Green Chili

We are the most proud of our patio containers especially our citrus.

Calamondin oranges (a tiny, thin-skinned variety)

This little tree is loaded with oranges.  They are quite sour and some think bitter.  I usually prepare them by pureeing them (skins and all) in a food processor and making a delicious margarita.

Limes

I’m not sure exactly what our variety of lime tree is (hence the labeling problem again) but it is also loaded this year.  I am optimistic.  In the past, we haven’t harvested a lot of fruit off of this little tree.

Meyer Lemon

It may be a while until we harvest these.  I cannot wait to pick and make some marmalade, pound cake, and assorted other recipes.

I can’t help but think that our garden’s success this year is due to our three boxes of bees.

We’re attracting a TON of other pollinators as well with our many plantings around the yard of African Blue Basil.  This basil plant is a hybrid and is considered a perennial (depending where you live of course).  I have kept one pot alive in the green house for two years.   It is a sterile hybrid so the only way to propagate is through cuttings which is super easy to achieve.  Just pop a cutting in water and in a few days you will see roots appear.  It can be used for culinary purposes, but I think it’s a bit too medicinal tasting.

The bees love it though.

St. Faicre surveying the herb garden.  (He’s perpetually leaning….hope he doesn’t take a header.)

These’s some tarragon, thyme, oregano, and marjoram, but the majority of this bed has been relegated to basil.

 

As you can see by all the pollinators scurrying around, this is a favorite and prolific plant in our landscape.  If you listen closely, you can almost hear them buzzing over the locust hums.

But, I am most proud that I finally got my plumeria stick to bloom!

After a beautiful below-average-temperature day that allowed me to work in the garden, we were blessed with this…

How does your garden grow?

18 comments to Garden Update

  • Deb, your garden is amazing, those citrus plants are fantastic. Meow Eliot :-))

  • Great looking garden! We keep putting more and more of our garden into flowers. The critters keep getting our tomatoes etc etc. 🙁

    • Thanks, John. We got no peaches (squirrels) and no grapes (because we didn’t spray them) but at least we’re getting a few tomatoes. In fact, I have got to eat one sliced with salt and pepper tonight!

  • Wow Deb!!! You have an amazing garden and I LOVE those bee houses!!! Kudos to you!!! Every year I wish I would have planted at least one veggie plant. Thank goodness we got some “surprise” tomatoes this year. How lucky to have blooming and fruitful citrus plants. Enjoy Deb and thanks oodles for sharing…

  • It’s all so pretty! Vegas really wants to get some bees. I’m just excited our new place had an avocado tree!

    • I have been trying for months and months to get an avocado seed to sprout. I think they must be irradiated or something…..Envious of your tree. Have fun at the new place.

  • mae

    Your plants seem so exotic! We must be in a really different zone from you.

    best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

  • Your garden looks amazing. I love all those unusual heirlooms. I get so excited when Scott brings in a basket of goodies from the garden 🙂

    • It’s fun and relaxing to wander to the garden after work to see what’s ripe. (It’s relaxing, that is, after everything is planted and mulched!)

  • Liz

    Oh, my gosh, I am so impressed! Your limes and bees have my mouth agape. I’m lucky that my mint is alive, LOL. What a fabulous garden this year!!

  • I’m impressed! You have a nice garden and I guess I didn’t know you had bees. That’s a great little video you included. Mmmm…a lime tree…we call it a mojito tree. And Eliot is adorable, cats always have that screw-you look about the, but they are sweet pets.

  • I’m impressed! Love your garden and the way you keep the bees in the area. We have problems with just that so Bobby is going to build a couple bee houses this fall as well as plant some wildflowers and hopefully attract some bees in the spring. Have never heard of Amish Paste tomatoes. Do you like them? They look pretty prolific. I’ll have to learn more about them.

    • Good luck with the bees. We had a hive trap up in one of our old pine trees, hoping to attract a swarm. No luck this year. We know of some beekeepers that only get their bees from swarms. Much, much cheaper!

      Amish Paste is a type of Roma. Getting ready to roast some now.