2016 Garden Shots

Here are a few shots of the 2016 Garden.  The Chiles are starting to show some accelerated growth.  It usually takes them a while to grow vigorously.  There are even a few small Chiles.  I went to get Tomatoes last weekend, and they didn't have any.  I guess I waited too long this year, so I had to make another choice, Watermelon.  These are the Sugar Baby variety.

There are a couple very small, grape sized, Watermelons already.  I planted four of the Sugar Babies.  A lot of the things I planted from seeds are starting to take up space in the garden now.  These are the Romanesco Broccoli.  I haven't started to see the flower yet, so I think they got a good start, and didn't bolt like the Bok Choy, and the Cilantro.

I will be neat to watch that one grow with its Fractal Flower.  Another one I am excited about are the Daikon Radishes.  These will get very large if you let them.  I've seen some pictures of Daikon that are 18 inches long, and weigh several pounds.  The ones in the store are more than a pound each.

The Kaleidoscope Carrots are growing well also.  These are neat at harvest time.  They produce Yellow, Purple, Green, and Orange Carrots.  Rabbit fencing at work here.  No Bunnies...

Red Globe Radishes are an easy to grow staple that I try stagger plant.  Every couple weeks re-seed the area to stagger harvesting the Radishes.  This way there are always some ready to eat.

You can see the Onion Flower on the right.  I pulled the Onions, and one Garlic, and am in the process of dehydrating them to store for next fall.  Here is what I pulled.  Some of these Onions are three years old, the big ones, and others are getting started, small.  Some of these onions have divided multiple times.  I pull them apart, and then replant them in the Fall.

There is also a Evergreen Herb patch I am cleaning out.  This is Sage, but I also have Rosemary, Oregano, and Tarragon.  I'll be working on those parts of the garden next.  The Rosemary is wildly overgrown, and needs to be shaped.  Then I want to augment those beds with Composted Cowq Manure, and the re-mulch them well.  At the moment there is Wild Strawberry covering most of the area around the Evergreen Herbs.

Bok Choy Beans

I seeded the Bok Choy around the start of February, a little late for Bok Choy.  So the plants never really had a chance for vegetative growth, and went to flower, then seed early.  The Brassicaceae family generate small yellow flowers, and then produce a bean pod with seeds.  This is why I am calling them Bok Choy Beans.  I have pulled the whole plants out of the ground, then bound the root ends together so they can hang upside down.

Then they will slowly dehydrate hanging on the fence.  This is a good way to dry spices also.  I have also pulled all the Cilantro plants, and tied them in the same way.  When the plants are dehydrated I can then liberate the seeds easily.

Potato, and Egg Breakfast Tacos

Quite possibly my favorite Breakfast Taco is the Potato, and Egg Breakfast Taco.  Krispy fried Hash Browns make this ultra nomlishous.  My wife hears me say "These are the best Tacos evar" all the time.  The best Tacos you have evar had are the ones you are eating right now...  With Habanero Sauce...

2016 Garden

I've changed some of my methodologies concerning the garden this year.  Distributed compost in one.  Rather than making one big heap of compost I have been distributing the compost around the garden using it for mulch, and pathways.  Let the stuff breakdown where you need it.  Also I used composed cow manure, and humus for fertilizer.  Its probably been four years since I used it in the garden.  I have been trying to use only compost for fertilizer, but I found out that I need something with a little more punch.

So everywhere I planted plants, or spread seed I added both the old mulch, and the composted cow manure with humus, then tilled them into the soil.  I'm still finding some hard clay spots, but overall the soil is very much improved.I still have some of last year's plants growing like these Onions.

They may even be Shallots.  Once they get dried out, as the heat goes up, I'll pull them, and let them rest in a cool spot until Fall.  Then I'll divide the bunch, and plant them again.  I have another one I divided last Fall, and its pieces have divided again.

Here you can see a variety of sprouts.  There are Cucumbers, and Sugar Snap Peas along the fence.  Then some Habanero Chile just inside the fence.  You can see Bok Choy to the left, Romanesco Broccoli in the middle, and Daikon Radish to the right.  And lots of weeds, did I mention the weeds?  Last weekend I planted some Red Globe Radishes, and Turnips.  Also I have spread a lot of Onion seeds, and Mustard seeds in their areas.  Sprouts everywherz...