Our Urban Food Garden - 2013 | Page 6 | Food Production and Preservation | Forums

Oh darn!

Did you have kiwi, or hardy kiwi?

I should know better, what is going on below the surface is similar to what is going on above. It is a couple feet off the house, so that cold be problematic!

I appreciate the heads up, it is better to know than not.

It has been a while so time for an updated. I've been taking pics over the last couple weeks, just with no time to upload. This post will include pics from the last couple weeks up until tonight.

Just looking back at the difference in the last post to this, almost exactly a month apart, it is crazy to see the growth.

We've had a few good storms which cause some wind damage (mainly to the peas) and a bit of trouble with mildew on the squash, but things are trucking along pretty good and I am a content man.

First and foremost we found a volunteer garlic just inside our retaining wall. I'd been keeping an eye on it but then decided to harvest since the leaves were browning. It is very small, but given that it grew in rock, probably from a squirrel stash I'm pretty impressed.

Here you can just see the haggard looking stem.

And better perspective on what it is growing in. The wood in the top right is the retaining wall.

And the final product!

Our peas looking happy pre-storm.

A harvest from just over a week ago. Spinach (oh so crispy) and a few banana peppers.

About a week ago I dropped in a support system for the vine tomatoes. I am a bit worried about the string rubbing them down, but they seem okay up until now.

One of the zucchini plants has started producing.

And the tomato forest is doing great.

Bush tomatoes have fruit on.

As do the vines.

The worlds tiniest watermelon (future vodkamelon) has made an appearance.

And even one of the two pepper plants, while still small, is determined to go out in a blaze of glory with a pepper and a few flowers on.

The kale/onion/leek bed is filling in.

The other front bed is mostly happy.

But the squash has a lot of mildew so we have been thinning leaves and hoping they will be fine. We lost a lot of blossoms as they were not pollinated so we've been hand pollinating before work in the mornings.

We moved this guy out of the raised bed as things were getting a bit too crammed. After some time showing his displeasure he seems pretty happy now.

The pepper canopy is in full swing.

And I'm hoping this guy is just extra pretty and not sick.

One of our yellow peppers is getting close.

I planted 3 more beans to go up the tree in the front yard. If they look like they are doing damage I will pull them out, but wanted to try and see how it went. Have to use as much vertical space as possible.

Peas after the storm. Blown over and away. Anything that was up above trellis height is now horizontal.

Today we pulled zucchini, peas, and kale.

We've had about a half dozen people on the street come and talk with us about it.

There seems to be all levels of interest. Some just like it, some garden already in their back yard but it is not ideal exposure so I'm trying to talk them into moving out front, some have never gardened before but want to give it a shot, and some used to garden but don't anymore and were curious what we had growing.

We have a kale for chard exchange going with a guy down the street.

My hope is to get the back yard gardening neighbour to move her stuff out front next year, and either the new to gardening guy, or former gardener to get something going next year as well.

If the harvest is bountiful I'm going to spread some of the food around in little samplers to the people that have shown interest in the hopes it might encourage them. The quality speaks for itself relative to the stuff in the stores, so that could be the nudge over the dark side they need.

The more that do it the more it will be acceptable and become more common. Also, the territory will only support so much wildlife, so the more gardens there are the losses will be spread around and each person will feel it less and less.

So we've pretty much been on auto pilot with the garden lately. Other than occasionally watering harvesting has been our main focus.

Peppers are happy.

Some tomatoes are busting the supports, while others are playing nice.

Onions and friends seem happy. We've let the spinach and herbs go to seed.

Beans are bushy and very productive.

The cat tests the defenses to check for weak spots an enterprising groundhog could exploit.

The beans I planted very late under the tree are focusing on producing instead of growing.

The catnip is flowering.

And even one of the two peppers that survived starting from seed is getting in on the act.

And on to the good stuff!

Any guesses on what these are?