Garlic 'n flowers 'n tomatoes 'n other stuff

What has been happening at Wright Gardens this season?  Here are some highlights:

'Cherry Glow' heirloom poppy

Red raspberries
Several pints of jam was made from this year's red raspberry harvest

Black raspberries
Just as the red raspberries, we made several pints of jam with these scrumptious jewels.

Half of our garlic harvest

Appealing curb

Drumhead cabbage

Zapotec Pleated tomatoes

Drumhead cabbage, assorted tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, and a 'Golden Midget' watermelon

Carving pumpkins along with a pie pumpkin awaiting its fate as a pie.

Pie pumpkins
That's a'lotta pie!

A mix of Brockton Horticultural and Good Mother Stallard beans; tomatoes and celery

 I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.  ~George Washington

August

We're finally beginning to harvest vegetables from the garden.  Our seedling's growth was definitely challenged by all the rain and cooler temps earlier this spring.  I was really concerned that many seedlings may not make it.  

The 'Bullnose' bell peppers are growing nicely.  Half a dozen tasty and crisp emerald peppers have been harvested and enjoyed.  Cucumbers are starting to come in daily and as they do they're either eaten or added to an herby brine to become pickles.

Tomatoes are beginning to steadily ripen, but not ready daily just yet.  Soon!  Soon we'll be able to make pico de gallo, salsa, and gravy with our own tomatoes.  Many will be canned, too.  Having home grown tomatoes available to eat during the winter months is a must.

Tomatillos are hanging heavy from the branches, melons and squash on the vines, Georgia Flame, jalapeno, pasilla, and serrano peppers, carrots, beets (golden and red), kale, beans for drying (Brockton Horticultural, Cherokee Trail of Tears, Good Mother Stallard Pole, and Hidatsa Red Indian) and onions.

Garden expansion plans for next year are being made.  More food, less grass!

'Cherry Glow' heirloom poppies that were successfully grown from seed!

Ganzania twins

Wright Gardens looking lush.

Pasilla peppers

'Carl's Glass Gem' corn. 

The silks of 'Carl's Glass Gem'.
A silk for every kernel of corn.

Pollen thighs.

The Brockton Horticulture beans are turning a brilliant pinkish-red color.
The beans within are really plumping up! 

A small butterfly enjoying cosmos nectar.
(Click the photo to enlarge and then zoom in to admire its striped antennae.)

Two beautiful muskmelons.  Hopefully animals don't devour them before they ripen.
A watermelon has already suffered this fate.

No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the Earth, 

and no culture comparable to that of the garden.  

~Thomas Jefferson

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. 

To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.
~Alfred Austin

All gardening is landscape painting.

~William Kent

2013 garden planning officially begins!

It's decided - Brussels sprouts will not be grown in Wright Gardens this year.  As much as I love eating those delectable miniature cabbages, I've just not had luck growing them.

During the past two summers, the sprouts have never formed into compact heads.  I suspect the summer and fall temperatures were not cold enough.  Rather than sacrifice space in the garden this year, not to mention nutrients from the soil, I will leave the growing of Brussels sprouts to others with more acreage and experience with that particular Brassica oleracea.

Okra is tasty in jambalaya and gumbo, and the plant has beautiful flowers, but it will not be grown in the garden this year either.  Beans will be grown instead.  Beans for drying, to be exact!  The beans we've selected are:

Cherokee Trail of Tears

Good Mother Stallard Pole

Hidatsa Red Indian

Brockton Horticultural

To grow these beans I'm going to plant them according to Iroquois 'Three Sisters' method.  The three sisters are corn, beans, and winter squash.  To sum up why these three plants work so well together, the corn stalks act as living supports for the beans; the beans pull nitrogen from the air that benefits all three plants; and as the squash leaves shade the ground surrounding all three plants, they help keep moisture in the soil as well as weeds at bay.

The following web sites expound upon this ancient philosophy-

The Old Farmer's Almanac

LeslieLand.com

National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA):  Download the free .pdf file.
The "Ancient Companions" section begins on page six; however, all of the information included in the document is interesting.  This web site is also mentioned in the Leslie Land article.  (I can't figure out how that acronym works either.)

The corn that will be grown in this trio of plantings is Seneca Red Stalker.  It's very colorful and, if all goes well, we should have plenty to share with family and friends for fall decorations.

Wright Gardens is going to become larger this year and I couldn't be more thrilled!