Paydirt!!

I harvested my beets today. They were the Chioggia heirloom variety. It was the first time to grow them. I think they grow better in the Fall here because I had a variety of sizes. We ate some roasted beets and beet greens for dinner on the side. I thought they were extremely good. The beet greens tasted a lot like spinach I thought. Sophia and Joseph even liked the roasted beets. I posted the recipe we used on the sidebar. I have another recipe to try next time that has some BACON in it. MMMMM.



The garden is progressing nicely. The Nature's Way Resources soil is paying off. I have loads of tomatoes and large tomato plants. Some of the tomato plants are growing out of their 5 foot tall cages already. I covered my tomato patch with bird netting also to keep out the Mockingbirds. I should have some ripe tomatoes in the next couple of weeks I think. Time to buy a canner also..hopefully I will need it.




The green beans are also growing gangbusters. Some of the plants are probably almost 3 feet tall. The wind has been whipping them around the last few days though and knocked them around. I expect to pick the first bunch of green beans in the next couple of days.




I was worried about pollination earlier because my cucumbers aren't making and my small squash is shriveling up and falling off. The squash is difficult to grow organically in our area due to the squash vine borer. I don't see signs of the borer yet so I think it is a pollination issue or maybe too much water. I am cutting back the water on the squash to see what happens. My worries about pollination were minimized this afternoon. I let my fennel and parsely bolt to flower and seed. Bees love these small little flowers. I noticed a load of pollinators earlier that were attracted by the fennel and parsley flowers. I then noticed loads of bees climing in and out of my cucumber flowers. I think it is just a matter of time now before we get loads of cucumbers. I also added another trellis at an angle on the back side of my cucumbers. This should almost double the yield in this space.





I think my onions are almost ready. I planted 1015 onions and Southern Red. They are looking real good. This is my first time to grow them. I was worried a couple of months ago because I had big plants and no bulbs. I learned that the bulbs will only form when there is a certain number of sunlight per day. As the hours of sunlight increase as we approach summer the bulbs form. This is why it is important to grow southern varieties of onions like the Texas 1015's or Southern Red. Northern varieties will never form bulbs here because there won't be enough hours of sun before it gets too hot. There is also some italian garlic planted there. Can't wait to try that.