Saturday, July 18, 2009

Garden

As promised, here are more recent photos of my garden. As you can see, it exploded with all the rain we had. Nothing is ripe yet, although I've been using the basil and parsley in cooking. Unfortunately the cilantro started out thriving but it was growing so fast that it started flowering and now I think it's dead. Here's the whole gang (minus the lemon tree and strawberry plant):


The cherry pepper plant, with a few peppers starting to grow:


The parsley has really flourished:


Here's a line-up of cherry tomatoes:


... the luscious basil:


My biggest tomato, although still far from ripe:


The strawberry plant (still no strawberries and everyone tells me they're out of season, but I'm holding out hope regardless):


And the lemon tree, starting to flower:


I'm really hopeful that we'll get a lemon before the weather turns.
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5 comments:

  1. Your garden looks wonderful. Don't you love going out and picking herbs to cook with?

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  2. Good job! I love the feeling of using your own vegetables and herbs in your cooking. It is also a great buzz seeing tomatoes redden as well :D

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  3. I can't get cilantro to grow either. It shoots straight up, flowers, seeds and that's it. I never get enough leaves for a harvest. C'est la vie. You might get a few small strawberries this fall but you'll probably have to wait until next year and the following years for much in terms of real berries. I have had strawberries in the garden for three or four years and they are just this year really taking off -- shoots going everywhere.

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  4. Your garden looks great! Cilantro has been my frustration for years. I love it, and tried many times to grow it from nursery plants, but I experienced the same thing as you with it flowering and dying too quickly. I finally learned a few things: A. Cilantro has a long taproot and does not transplant very well. It's better to start from seed. And B. it has a very short lifespan, so it's a good idea to plant it in "shifts"... plant seeds in a few different pots, with a couple of weeks between them. That way you have a continuous supply.

    Starting from seed has made a HUGE difference for me. The plants seem so much healthier and last longer.

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  5. Judy - It's one of my favorite things about summer. Fresher anc cheaper - can't beat that!

    Lorraine - I love seeing red, ripe tomatoes.

    scmom - Thanks for commisterating about the cilantro. I don't know what I'll do about the strawberries then. Since I live in the NE I can't leave them out during the winter (or can I?) and my husband wouldn't be OK with me keeping the plant indoors. Oh well.

    Kristi - Thanks for the tips! Maybe next year I'll try planting from seeds. I'm kicking myself for not harvesting the leaves while it was thriving...I just assumed it would be like the parsley and basil.

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