This ain't no Garden of Eden

[EddieWalker]

Jim,

Great pics. I'm jealous of your rocks. I don't have any on my land and when I see pics of how you are using them in your landscaping, wish I had a free source of them here. There's just nothing else that compares.

Our little garden is coming along nicely. Peyton is excited about it and loves inspecting every plant to see what's changed on a daily basis. There is nothing like a kids enthusiasm for something new!!!!!

All your hard work is really coming together, and it's an inspiration to all of us.

Eddie

 

[jinman]

Our little garden is coming along nicely. Peyton is excited about it and loves inspecting every plant to see what's changed on a daily basis. There is nothing like a kids enthusiasm for something new!!!!!

Eddie, I saw your pictures of Peyton's garden. Tell him I said I'm jealous. His tomatoes are bigger than mine.

I want to continue my rock landscaping across the driveway in my yard. That part of my yard across the driveway always erodes away. I think I'll build a rock retainer with rock stacked on a slope and then fill in behind to level my yard. It should make that part of yard look a lot better. However, first I have to get the garden, retainer wall, and greenhouse finished. Rome wasn't built in a day. . . .

 

[jinman]

Well, in the last two weeks, my garden has had an explosion of growth. Last week I picked 8 squash and zucks, enough for salads and some stir-fry. Yum! Right now I have another 8 squash on the plants ready to pick. I counted 12small squash on one plant yesterday morning.

My tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupes, peppers, and okra are also going great. I had to mulch my tomatoes and put cages around them. Suddenly, my wife got really motivated and planted some seeds in pots to have a mid-summer/late summer crop. They are already sprouting and soon we will have more plants to set out.

I also bought my treated lumber to complete my retainer wall. I hope to get it finished next week. Then I can finish hauling fill dirt and complete that part of the project. I'll probably not put in my electric and water until this fall. As soon as possible, I need to switch over and concentrate on getting my container barn finished and my old barn torn down. I've noticed there's no time to get bored with retirement.

Here are a few pictures of my garden from this week. The link is from two weeks ago for comparison.

2 weeks ago

 

[Bird]

That garden's looking good, Jim. When I was a kid, we had the yellow squash and a white "turban" squash, but I don't recall anyone growing zucchini. However, when I had my own garden, I also planted zucchini. I've always liked the yellow summer squash both fried and steamed or stewed, but I found that I like the yellow squash and zucchini combined even better than either one alone.

 

[MarkV]

Jim you sure do have a green thumb! Every year I look at your garden and get depressed when I look at mine.

MarkV

 

[jinman]

Bird, I love squash about anyway you can fix it: fried, boiled, baked, and raw in salads. My daughter slices zucchini thin and puts it on a veggie tray with dip. That's good too. To eat raw, young plants before the seeds get big and tough are the best choice. It's funny that you posted this when you did because for lunch yesterday, I stir-fried a pan of squash in olive oil with browned onions. It was terrific and the only thing I ate for lunch. When my banana peppers start making, I'll include them in my stir-fry.

BTW: I don't remember zucchini growing up either. We only grew yellow and the white scalloped patty-pan squash. I think those are the ones you are calling "turban" squash. They are not my favorite. Maybe next year we'll grow some spaghetti squash. I like them and use their meat as pasta. There are just a lot more varieties of squash available today than in the 50s.

Mark, I don't feel like we have a very big garden, but what I have is really going well for now. Next year it should be about 3 times this big. Of course, I'm retired, so I can look after the garden on a daily basis. I'm sure you also noticed I don't have a fence around the garden. I don't know how long I'm going to be able to garden without a fence. The deer have not bothered the garden and I have not seen their tracks in the area. I hope it stays that way. As long as I don't grow corn, they may stay away. My deer feeder is over 400' away on the other side of my house. I hope that keeps the deer movements on a path away from the garden. We will also have to be careful how we handle scraps. We don't want to cultivate a taste for foods that include our garden items. Raccoons really love melons of all kinds. I don't want them to decide to try other tasty treats.

 

[jimmyj]

Man am I envious. We are just planting still here and you are harvesting!! Awesome looking job.

Apparently some people love deep fried zuchini blossoms. They bread them and fry them.

 

[jinman]

Apparently some people love deep fried zuchini blossoms. They bread them and fry them.

Jim, I thought I was getting a late start, but these squash have come on like gangbusters. The rest of my garden is behind most other folks' gardens in this area. Most people try to get their plants in and established well before the dryer and hotter part of the summer.

Deep fried zuck blossoms. . . that's a new one. I'm curious at what blossom stage they would pick them. Is it when the blossoms first form before pollenation or later after pollenation and the fruit sets? The blooms don't last long after pollenation, so my guess is just as the bloom forms with the tiny zucchini behind it. I'm also guessing that they pick female blooms only. the male blooms are not very substantial by comparison.

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Jim,

Is there a proper time to pick zucchini? Or maybe I should ask at what size do they have the best flavor? Peyton has a small garden going and his zucchini have taken off in size. I looked at them one day and they were just a little bigger then my finger, and I think it was the very next day, they were four times bigger!!!!!! Now they are almost a foot long and very thick. Kind of like a big cucumber. Peyton has been away this week at his Grammy's house, so I can't pick them or do anything. It's his garden, he planted it, he's been working it and watering it right after school, so I'm just watching these thing grow. He'll be home today, so they will get harvested then, but I'm worried they will taste terrible.

Any suggestions on what to do with them? We usually cut them into lengths, season and grill them. That's the plan for Sunday nights dinner, but we're also afraid that he wont like them and he'll be disappointed.

Another question? What do pumpkin plants look like? Do they look allot like zucchini plants? Maybe a bit lighter shade of green, but very similar leaf and flower? Like I said, Peyton planted them, and I told him that it was his garden, so he made all the calls on what goes where. He also has a sack full of seeds that only he knows what they are. He said he put pumpkins at the outside edge, but none of us know what a pumpkin plant looks like. It is spreading out with a runner, while the zucchini is more of a bush type plant.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[jimmyj]

Jinman, They pick then right when the flowers are fresh and really big.

Eddie, pumpkins won't have the same aggressive serrations on the leaves and the leaves will be bigger too. Pumpkins will grow vines and Zukes stay in a bush format. Pick em when they are less than a foot long for best tast. BUT, if they get too big they still make awesome Zucchini bread and muffins. (No idea how somebody some day decided to make bread products from vegetables but somebody got a gold star that day!)