Vegetable Gardening

[tulip]

39 Hollyhocks for my perennial gardens in the front, side, and back.

Lots of leeks for the winter potager.

[badger]

I'm so jealous of all your gardens!! I can't wait to have a proper vegetable garden, but for now I have to make do with pots on my patio.

"garden"

my haul today:


Question I have, which may very well have been asked/answered earlier but I can't go through 27 pages: how do you keep some veg/herbs from "bolting"? I was trying to keep the cilantro and swiss chard from bolting, but no go. It was a futile endeavor so I just let them go.

And incidentally, does anyone know what this tree is? I'm thinking it's part of a hazel family, but I've yet to see it anywhere for me to actually identify it. It flowers bell-shaped purple flowers and bear seeded pods:


sorry for the bright background:

[tulip]

What a beautiful garden, Badger! Cilantro bolts when it gets the least bit hot, but the seeds are Coriander and you can collect them and use them in cooking. Or you can use them to replant cilantro for the cooler months. Plant them now.

I've never had Swiss chard bot. It seems to last all winter and summer here.

[jobob]

Wow, great stuff, everyone!

Lee planted a couple of large pots, one with heirloom tomatoes and the other with grape tomatoes. They did great, and we've been enjoying the harvest over the last couple of weeks.

More ambitious plans are now in the offing.

PS - how's Skylark doing, GLC?

[GLC1968]

You guys...our garden is a disaster! Things are so over-grown that it's scary! We've been good about watering this summer (we now have a good drip system installed) but we've been terrible about maintenance or harvesting and it shows! I'm almost afraid to close my eyes at night for fear that it takes over while we are sleeping!!

I did manage to harvest a bunch of tomatoes and beans and summer squash last night. And I beat back the strawberries which are desparately attempting to take over other boxes! The winter squash is doing unbelieveably well (it's climbing up the corn, now!). One corn variety is GORGEOUS and I cannot wait to harvest some (it went in late this year). The potatoes are doing well, the garlic was fan-freaking-tastic (I'll have to post pictures of our haul!) and we are now picking plums, apples, tomatoes and blackberries daily. We will have a bumper crop of carrots too. Oh...but no zucchini! I have no idea why...but the same variety that innundated us last year is producing very, very little this year. Odd.

Jo - Skylark is good. She's 'due' in a week, and her udder is already filling out, so it won't be long now. We have plans to install the baby monitor in the goat shed either tonight or tomorrow (a powerful wireless one) so that we can keep tabs on her at night. As much as we aren't ready to have to milk twice daily, I am looking forward to having goat babies AND fresh raw milk again.

[tulip]

Badger, that looks like a Royal Paulownia tree to me (Paulownia tomentosa), also known as an Empress Tree. It originated in China. It grows fast and has pretty flowers. It's considered invasive because those seed pods drop seeds that sprout prolifically. The tree also sprouts right back when cut down. Down here, in the SE US, it's considered a weed tree. But up north, it doesn't grow so fast. It will provide shade, so that might affect your garden plans.

[badger]

Badger, that looks like a Royal Paulownia tree to me (Paulownia tomentosa), also known as an Empress Tree. It originated in China. It grows fast and has pretty flowers. It's considered invasive because those seed pods drop seeds that sprout prolifically. The tree also sprouts right back when cut down. Down here, in the SE US, it's considered a weed tree. But up north, it doesn't grow so fast. It will provide shade, so that might affect your garden plans.

thanks Tulip! I believe you found its name!! who knew it was a weed tree - one seed did drop into a nearby pot 3 years ago and now I have a smaller one in the corner of the garden. I transferred it into the raised bed last fall and it quickly withered up and dropped its leaves - I thought I killed it. But it came back this year and grew about a foot!

I'm not concerned about the tree getting too big as it's got the "bonsai effect" going on, it hasn't grown any bigger since I moved in 10 years ago. Now, as for the smaller one in the corner, THAT might get big as it's got a whole lot more room for its roots to grow. I wonder if I should dig it up now before it gets too big?