Hummingbird Loves Scarlet Pineapple Sage Flowers

 Pineapple Sage Flowers

Harvest Monday - August 29, 2011

Sierra Gold Cantaloupes

I harvested 12 cantaloupes this week, there are few more ripening soon. 

Tomatoes, Eggplants, Peppers, 

Bitter Melons, Water Spinach, Garlic Chive Flowers.

Red Potatoes

I forgot to post this last time.

This big baby looks like a 10 pounder and I have no idea when to harvest, any advice?

Hami Melons

They might be ready for next week's report.

Head over to Daphne's Dandelions host of Harvest Monday to see more harvests by other gardeners.

Hummingbirds - Buzz and Zipp 2011

Right -- Buzz, male, black-chinned bordered by a band of purple iridescence.
Left -- Zipp, female, white breast and throat.

 This is Buzz (male), black-chinned with purple band around his throat.

This is Zipp (female), white throat and white breast.

Buzz (R) and Zipp (L)

Buzz waiting for Zipp (at upper right corner) to join him.

 

Please Help, What Do I Have Here?

These are photos of Armenian cucumber roots, are the white nodules nitrogen-fixing?  I know about nitrogen-fixing in Fabaceae family, are there nitrogen-fixing clade in Cucumis or I'm looking at nematodes?  Thanks for your help.

Harvest Monday - August 22, 2011

Butternut squash, hami melon (seeds from storebought melon), and unripe watermelon,

one of the watermelon vines was severed by careless gardener, this baby is history,

I started with 3 watermelons -- 1 cracked, 1 severed from vine, wonder we get to taste the last one.

Dragon Tongue beans, long beans, peppers, tomatoes, Fairy Tale eggplants, bitter melons.

Herb flowers -- red lemon sage, purple Thai basil, and white sweet basil.

I love the scent of herb flowers in kitchen and dinning room, it is very relaxing to me.

Drop by Daphne's Dandelions host of Harvest Monday

  for more harvests by other gardeners.

Seedlings for Fall Garden 2011

Varieties of cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, beets, and Asian greens.

Purple Burgundy beans germinated in paper pots and transplanted to raised bed.

Interplanting daikon, radish, and yu choy.

Here are some of the seeds I sowed recently, it is so difficult to switch into seed starting mode while summer vegetable production is in high gear, there are harvests and preserving to deal with everyday, the last thing I want to do is to start another round of seeds, but start I must or else risk not having a fall crop.   Have you started planting for fall, what are you growing this coming season?

Harvest Monday - August 15, 2011

I harvested total of five cantaloupes this week,  they range from 3.3 lb to 4.9 lb each.
This is the only picture of the two cantaloupes, the other three were eaten rather quickly.

 

First cantaloupe.

This is all I have to show you this week, sorry I didn't get around to take pictures of the usual harvest today.

Visit Daphne's Dandelions host of Harvest Monday to see more harvest by other gardeners.

First Cantaloupe and Some Fall Seedlings

First Hales Best Cantaloupe weights in at 3.32 lb

A bit overripe, should check on it 2 days earlier.

I use part of the fruit to make kefir smoothie.

I' m following Michelle's method to start beans in paper pots, this method is much simpler and easier to germinate beans than direct sow, no worries about rotten seeds or critters munch on the sprouts.

Thank you Michelle for sharing the idea.

Transplanted Royal Burgundy bush bean seedlings 2 days later.

I lost 2 weeks time due to rotten seeds (or some critters ate them) from direct sow, this is an experiment to see how far I can push the envelope, hopefully I'll get couple meals from the fall crop.   

 

Here I have 3 rows of winter radish (white daikon) and 1 row of choy sum.

Harvest Monday - August 8, 2011

Varieties of sweet peppers and hot chili peppers.

Basil, bitter melons, garlic chive flowers (scapes).

Carrots, Bitter Melons, Summer Squashes.

Tomatoes and Spanish Rojas garlic.

Eggplants - Ichiban, Mazhu, and Little Fingers.

(Are you tired of looking at them?)

I have been collecting garlic chive flowers in the past few days, it taste just like garlic scapes, I'll be making pesto with the harvest, or maybe use some for a stir fry dish.  This particular variety of garlic chive is bred to produce tender edible flower stalk.  I take about 3 cuttings of chive leaves in spring when it is most tender and mild, as summer temperature heats up the chive sends up flower stalk, I pick the chive flowers before they become woody and use it as garlic scapes.

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions host of Harvest Monday to see more garden harvests by other gardeners.

Hummingbird - Zipp 2011

This is Zipp, my hummer girl from last year, she found the feeders I set out for her, yay!

(Please indulge me to fantasize this is the same girl, thank you.)

Sometimes you can see the colorful jewel like coat when sunlight hits at certain angle.

Fruits and Vegetables Growing in Early August

Butternut is the only winter squash I have at this time, unfortunately all my winter melon seedlings die and I didn't have any backup plants.  There is a Thai winter squash Kang Kob pumpkin growing, but the male and female flowers don't seem to open on the same day, I'm not sure I'll get any squash from it.

Ripening Hami Melon, first time in growing this variety, I can't wait to taste it. 

Cluster of 2 Hami melons, there are few more hidden among the foliage.

 There are 7 Sierra Gold cantaloupes in this cluster.

First trial in growing Hales Best cantaloupe, this one should be ripened soon.

First watermelon, I bought the start from a local nursery, don't know the variety.

Two more babies like this, I suppose one plant produces approximately 2-3 fruits.

Sunscald peppers.

Zephyr Squash

White Bitter Melon

Green Bitter Melon

Korean hot pepper Seng Seng

Two years and 3 packet of seeds later, I finally got the last 4 seeds of  Rocoto hot pepper to germinate.

They are growing in containers, 2 plants grow in full sun, and 2 plants grow in afternoon shade, I'm hoping to harvest some ripe red peppers with black seeds this year.   

Recently I sowed a 4x4 bed with romano bush beans, only 1 seed germinated, I dug around and found no traces of other beans, maybe the critters got to them, maybe they rotted.  This is the second time that happened, enough is enough. I decided to sow another tray of beans in paper pots following Michelle's method, hopefully I can transplant the seedlings without much trouble and the critters leave them alone.   

This is pretty much of  what's growing in my garden now,  I'll spare you from the eggplants, tomatoes, beans, and more squash photos. Yes, yes, and yes, I have eggplants, and squashes coming out of my ears, I don't mind the beans and tomatoes though.  What's growing in your garden now?