HELP! My Garden is Overgrowing Me!

Hello folks!

Last week I harvested the largest of my Yardlong Beans and had enough for a couple of meals. They were delicious cooked with onions and crumbled bacon. I decided to let them fill out a little more and pick some this weekend. I'm here to tell you.....this may have been a mistake! I've never seen anything grow so fast!

 This morning I harvested 10 pounds of beans! A lot have grown to the point that they will have to be shelled. I'm going to spend the afternoon freezing most of these, then I'll cook the rest for supper and fry some of the Hill Country Red Okra. I fried some of the Okra last week and it was sweet and tender. Even the large pods were tender! I think I over planted the beans this year. Maybe I shouldn't have planted the whole 20 foot long trellis with beans!   Live and learn!

Here is some more of my harvest from this morning.

The Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes are growing so wildly that the branches from separate plants are reaching out and sort of weaving together, helping to support each other.

This is a cluster of the Riesentrube Cherry Tomatoes.They are highly productive and have a delicious, sweet flavor. I will be growing both of these again next year.

This is a Tropic Tomato. They are really sweet and meaty with small seed pockets. Wonderful!

 I will grow these again, also.

 You can see the damage done by caterpillars. They are even getting into some of the tomatoes and ruining them.

 But, I have purchased some B.t. (Bacillus thuringiesis).

I learned about B.t. back in the '80s from Mother Earth News. It is derived from milk and is OMRI listed. It targets caterpillars only and is not harmful to birds, earthworms or beneficial insects. Totally organic! As I sprayed it on the plants, lots of the caterpillars just dropped off the plants. They don't like it!

 BWAHAHAHA! (That was my evil laugh).

The Black Beauty Eggplants are starting to produce fruit. 

I can't wait for some eggplant casserole!

The Nardello's Sweet Italian Peppers are producing well,also.

Here are some pollinators hard at work in the garden.

There are lots of wasp in the garden, too. I don't try to get close enough for a photo because I'm allergic.

So, this year I have probably planted too much of somethings and not enough of others, but as I stated earlier....Live and Learn!

Next year I will be wiser.

Anyone want to come and pick some beans!

So....Until next time....HAPPY GARDENING! 

Winter Garden Update

What a difference a month makes!
 This is how my winter garden looked just 1 month ago.

 

 

 

Now it looks like this.

 

 

 

In the lower right part of this bed I had originally seeded some Spinach. It came up well, but after getting 1 1/2" tall it started disappearing. Probably taken out by Cut Worms. So I planted a few Collard seedlings to fill in that space. The rest of the plants are doing great. I'm not sure why they are doing so well. Maybe it is because of the double dug bed....maybe it is because of the large amount of compost that I dug in. Whatever the reason I'm very happy with the results. I'll be eating fresh Collards for Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

The Turnips are growing well too!

 

 

 

This is Okinawa Spinach that I started from a cutting. I was surprised at how good it taste the first time I tried it. It is tender and mild with an almost sweet flavor. A very good addition to a salad! If you can get some cuttings give it try.

 

 

 

 I'm not sure what this flower is. It came out of a mix of seeds from a friend. It was suppose to be a mix of Fennel and Cilantro, which were in the mix. Anyway, it adds some color to the bed.

Can anyone identify it?

 

UPDATE: David the Good from www.floridasurvivalgardening.com has identified this flower for me. It is a purple Cosmo...it will self seed and come back every year. WOOHOO!

Thanks David! 

 

 

 

This bed has convinced me that double digging makes a difference and it isn't that much more work once the soil from the first trench is removed. I think it has also shown me that raised beds don't dry out to fast, at least during the cooler months. I'm going to try this method when I dig my new beds for spring!

 

 

 

Soooo...... Until next time...... HAPPY GARDENING!