Wednesday, November 23, 2011

1st Vegetable of the Season!

I enjoyed some time out in the yard today. I first pruned a bit on all my rose bushes, cutting off all the spent flowers and any dead or out of place stems. I only got poked bad once. :) Those thorns are brutal.

The hibiscus plants are very healthy and flowering quite a bit, especially the red variety.

And in the vegetable garden, I plucked my very first ever ZUCCHINI! Hooray! It is about 8 inches long and looks great. The plan is to fry it up tonight to go with dinner.


I also plucked some nasty slimy mushrooms that have been growing quite happily in the flower area of the garden. These will NOT be included with our dinner. :) My understanding about mushrooms is that they are not harmful to the garden. They are the reproductive organ of the fungus that lives in my soil. That fungus actually helps with the decaying process of organic matter in the soil. Even though I pulled out the mushrooms, the fungus still lives in the soil and will continue producing mushrooms as long as the soil is moist. 


Here is the lettuce growing very nicely:


More lettuce and spinach:


I caged the 4 largest tomato plants today to help them grow upward. I hope they have a growth spurt soon so we get some tomatoes before the cold hits.  
Also, to the right is the wonderful cilantro that we have already enjoyed several times with meals. 
Cilantro is one of my favorite things to grow in the garden. I love having fresh cilantro in my backyard. 


Gardening is good for me. Picking weeds is not good for my 9-month pregnant belly. There is no comfortable way to squat anymore. haha. 

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Growth Since Seed Planting

Sunflowers (planted seeds on October 10th)


Lettuce and Spinach (seeds planted Oct 11th), yellow squash and zucchini (seeds planted Sept 17th):


Cilantro and cherry tomato (seeds planted Sept 22):


Roma tomato and Snap Pea vines (seeds planted Sept 22nd and additional peas on Oct 11th)


The weather has been pretty chilly in the last few days due to a cold front, but hopefully these plants can still keep growing enough to produce before the winter cold comes.