Spring Harvest 2011

Forth of July Weekend 2011.  Time to harvest the veggies that can't take the heat of July.  The Potato plants dried up around the end of June, and the Onions were starting to fall over and dry up, so I needed to pull all of them.  When it gets really hot outside in the summer the cooler weather plants will go dormant.  To protect them from the heat I'll store them in brown paper bags in the pantry.  Then when fall arrives I'll plant the Potatoes and Onions again, for a second crop this year...

The bed that is left over will get more organic compost, and get tilled thoroughly to prepare for the fall planting,  You can see some Heirloom Tomatoes, and Cayenne chile pots in the background...

Here is a view of the rest of the North Garden.  There are a number of plants that are near harvest.  Some of the Kohlrabi, Beets, Turnips, Carrots, and Chiles are becoming ready to harvest.  I have already tried a few.

This one is Purple Sage.  Tastes the same as regular Sage, but its purple when its young.

One of my personal favorites is Siam Queen Thai Basil.  I use it in Pho and Salads...

The Blossoming Curry Plant is a Southwestern looking plant.

I grow ornamentals also, here is some Dwarf Ruellias which grew out of the sidewalk next to some Quinoa.  I've noticed that some of the Quinoa Plants flowered and produced seed in the spring, and then went dormant.  While others like these didn't flower, produce seeds, or die back when it got hot outside.

The Trumpet Vine is a long term project.  I have had to rebuild the trellis several times because the Trumpet Vine has become very large and heavy.  But, the pay back is a plethora of Orange Trumpets.

Here is the North Garden from the opposite view.

Dusty helps a lot in the garden.  Here she is helping harvest some Turnips.

But I pay the price for the help.  When I am not looking she eats my green Tomatoes.  Its funny how I can have these beautiful Tomato Plants, and there is not one Tomato on them.  Apparently she has a taste for hard green Tomatoes.  For my Fall crop I will be erecting a fence around the Tomatoes...