Harvest Updates, Friday Sept 23rd

I'm sorry I've been absent for a while. It's been a very busy few weeks. I've been taking more trips locally for homeschooling. Field-trips are fun! I'll try to post the garden updates soon.

Feeling tribal!


 

Aim for the apple!

sorry this is a bad pic. It's a box full of New Zealand Spinach.

 

Lots of Dragon Whiskers (Chayote greens), Oranges, apples, figs, baby apples and strawberries

The large shiny things are not eggplant! They're Avocados! Although they are not grown at home, I wanted to include them because I swapped them with a friend for strawberry jam and marmalade.

It's Tiki time!

Harvest Updates, Sept 10

Our first Fuji Apple of the season! It's BIG, very big! It weighed in at 12.5 oz (354 g) It was a bit under-ripe though. Still, it was juicy, even though it was slightly tart it was pleasantly sweet.  Don't worry, we didn't let him eat the whole thing by himself! (although he would have preferred that) He's just pretending to take a bite out of it.


And a Mango!

Here it is ripened, such a pretty red!

There were more produce we picked, I just didn't feel like taking a photo of the ugly carrots, nor the over-excessive New Zealand Spinach.

In the middle you see some brown roots, that's burdock.

Can't wait to make Kinpira Gobo(きんぴらごぼう)!

Oh? hmm... Well, it CAN look like...(starts LOL)

I've seen a persimmon be suggestive, and now this fig.

Is it considered one fig or three?

Perhaps I should have left it covered with a "fig leaf"

Front Yard Grape Trellis

Here's the Trellis! Well, it still needs staining on the top. But it's up!

 Here's the view of it from the other side

Closeup on the detail

The detail is supposed to match our house's old fashioned decor. (Window Trim)

I think it turned out nice!

Exciting Things

Well, I don't have a picture of either, but the first exciting thing is that it rained some last night!  Come Autumn rains! We need you so badly!  It was just a spit in the bucket, but better than nothing.

The second exciting thing is that Tim finally finished the Grape Vine Trellis in the front garden! He finished tonight, and it was a bit too dark for me to take a pic of.  So, first thing tomorrow, I'll snap a shot or two to show it off. :-)

Now, the next step would be to start digging to prep the soil for the Kyohou grape vine.  Also, we'll need to strip the lawn under the trellis and place the cobble stones in! Then, we'll need to re-upholster the yard-sale purchased table set. Oh, I love it when projects start coming together!

These cukes didn't last long. Having a struggle with aphids and mildew. Most of the lower leaves had to be removed because of those issues.

Some Amish Paste Tomatoes, hanging in there after I got rid of the bed next to them that were covered in spider mites. I've been spraying with Neem oil, EACH LEAF at a time! 

This one below, is the Russian Black Plum Paste Tom, which is the one behind the fig tree, has been doing great! Still producing a ton of tomatoes. These seeds are a keeper for sure!

Yay! Bitter melon is actually fruiting in time. We didn't think we'd have enough warmth, but so far next week is supposed to be in the high 90's again. I think we're in for a HOT Indian Summer here.

The eggplants are looking a little tired. The leaves don't seem to grow much even with manure.

The peppers are growing taller for sure...

However, upon closer inspection, you see the disease creeping in. Does anyone know what's wrong with these leaves? Wrinkly and never seems to open up all the way.

Sunchokes are growing up, we'll see if they will produce enough tubers though. We planted them out so late.

Pretty Garlic Chives with Blue Basil accenting them.

Okra is starting to look a bit worn out.

Guess what this is! It looks a little like baby Okra leaves, but it's Cotton! I'm trying to see if we can grow some cotton balls to replace TP, if needed. Cotton balls are always useful no matter what. I like that you can get cotton AND collect more seeds for the future. I wonder if I could make cotton seed oil if I had enough...(just dreaming)

Corn among the Burdock and Garlic Chives

The Edible Canna has really sprung, it's about 6'+ right now.

Time for some new Thyme! I'm trying to root the old branches by burying part of it and holding it down with a rock. The old stock is looking pretty shabby.

Mango, Rhubarb and pelargoniums

Kumamoto Mandarins starting to get fatter

Navel Oranges, so far the navel end is not as bad as last year. We get white mealy bugs in the belly buttons of these oranges and they are edible but, not gift-able.

Here are the garden beds in the back portion. Lemon grass is obscuring the Okra and Sweet Potato bed, but you can see the onion and carrot bed.

The Luffa is growing, but the female blossoms are turning yellow, can you see the little yellow thing in the center of this pic? It's among mums so the leaves don't look like Luffa.

Our White Guava is not a heavy producer this year due to the harsh pruning we gave it last winter. There's enough for the family, but not much to share. Normally, we have Guava coming out of our ears!

Today, I'll be putting in a little more cucumbers as the other cucumbers are already starting to fade due to aphids and mildew. Here are the melons actually,

These are the Japanese cucumbers

These are the "Double Yield" variety

I plan on transplanting them here where the kidney-beans are growing and now starting to fade

Flowers are a respit to the soul. I just wanted to share this cute pelargonium. My mom is a pelargonium clepto. She'll find one that she doesn't have and snags them during her walks around the neighborhood.