Thursday, July 9, 2009

Garden tour

So, as promised in my last post, here is a look at what else is growing in our veggie garden this year...


Carrots




Peppers of various varieties






Several types of tomatoes


Green beans





The previously mentioned "space saving" zucchini, with all its mass, it's prickly leaf stalks and very large leaves (several feet across, easily)


Sweet corn


DID YOU KNOW... Corn is a member of the grass family? (So are other cereal grains, like wheat, barley, oats, rye, and rice.) The next time you're driving down the highway or along a country road, take note of the grasses growing alongside. If the mowing crews haven't been through yet and the grass is tall enough, you might be able to see the resemblance between some roadside grasses and corn stalks. (Keep your eye on the road, though, too - I don't want to be held responsible for any driving accidents!)


Basil (mmm... pesto!)


Rhubarb (this was donated by one of our neighbors, and has managed to survive several thorough munchings by the deer)


Purslane

We didn't choose the purslane, it chose us. Considered a weed by many (including me for several years), it quickly forms a dense mat of vegetation if left unchecked. It seems to be much more appreciated in other countries for its use as a fresh vegetable/herb (like Turkey, Greece and Mexico), but I have seen it for sale at our local farmer's market. But we don't need to buy it, because it grows very readily in our garden.

I'll tell you more about it tomorrow.

8 comments:

Creative Cards said...

Lovely garden Heather....Ahhh to have that kind of space to grow such a variety. I can taste your havest now...steamed with butter...Ohhhhh Ya I think I need to pay you a vist and have a slumber party..LOL :)

Ginnymo said...

You sure have a beautiful garden Heather! There's nothing like having your own home grown vegetables and herbs.

Kelly said...

...Purslane grows really well in my garden also! I can't wait to find out its benefits. Who knew!

NW Nature Nut said...

It SO cracks me up to come to your blog and see we are blogging about the same things! I love it though. I just wrote a post that will post tomorrow about my veggie garden. Great minds think alike. Your peppers are way ahead of mine though! In fact, mine are so boring that I completely forgot about mentioning them! Was your corn "knee high by 4th of July?" That was my dad's big thing when I was growing up..must have corn knee high by 4th of July :) Enjoy your pesto!

Heather said...

Crista - Yes, I'm looking forward to all the tomatoes and peppers and corn coming in. It will be good stuff!

Ginny - Thank you. Dave has done a great deal of the work on this year's garden, so I have him to thank for all this yummy goodness.

Kelly - Ah, so you know the purslane, too. Have you ever tasted it before?

Michele - Our peppers are ahead of yours, eh? The few pepper pictures I posted are anomalies, I think, because NONE of our other pepper plants seem to be doing anything except putting out leaves! Our corn was WAIST high by the 4th of July - I forgot to mention that in the post! There's one field that we pass on the way to work, though, that planted really late, and their corn was about TOE high on the 4th of July. Don't know how they'll get a crop out of that one.

Vickie said...

Love your garden ! and makes me miss getting my hands in the dirt. Always thought purslane was a weed, too!

Mandie said...

Jeepers!! I just pulled a ton of this out of our garden. If I had only known... Your garden looks great!

RuthieJ said...

Wow Heather, your garden looks so nice! Good job!