The Lents Farmer

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Veggie Garden Update

We are now well into July.

It seemed like in one week all the veggies doubled in size, especially the zucchini, cucumbers and pumpkin. The sorghum is going nuts too.

This week the weather has turned to HOT. I'm watering every other day, trying to keep up with the heat.

Some of the Haitian veggies are off to a slow start, while others are settling in nicely. The okra seems especially slow, but even these small plants are starting to flower. Each plant has several buds about to pop. They have grown for sure, just not as much as I thought they would.

Okra 'Jing Orange' (Left and Center) and 'Cow Horn' (Right)

Okra 'Jing Orange'

Okra 'Cow Horn'

The Roselle seems quite happy and has grown taller. The deep red calyx are already apparent and very pretty. I'm looking forward to making "agua de Flor de Jamaica" and perhaps preserving some of the flowers in syrup for champagne cocktails.

Roselle #1

A closer look at the flower buds.

Roselle #2

The squash/zucchini/pumpkins are all taking off. I have already harvested many Hungarian zucchini and yellow squash.

The collard greens are taking off too. If anybody has a good recipe for collards - please share it with me. I have no idea how to cook collards!

Collard greens in the front left and squash/zucchini/cucumbers in the back middle.

Pumpkin Jamaican in the back with Calabash, Romanesco broccoli on the left.

The sorghum is growing like gangbusters!

Sorghum 'Rox Orange'

I thought it would do better closer to the fence because of the warmth, but the inner row seems to be outpacing the row near the fence. It is about hip-high at the moment. Perhaps the inner row is blocking the sprinkler from the second row?

It might be hard to see, but the other weeds are Horseradish starts from the clump I dug out 3 years ago. They are still popping up from roots that didn't get removed! There is even one coming out from under the garden shed.

It's pretty - I like it!

The tomatoes are finally kicking in too. Surprisingly, the largest green tomatoes are on one of the Haitian varieties. All of the other heirlooms are getting to the second rung of their cages. There are lots of flowers on the plants.

There were no red fruit though by July 4th, so looks like they will be a few weeks behind this year.

The closest two are Olirose de St. Domanique and Plate de Haiti.

Olirose de St. Domanique has nice small fruits forming.

Plate de Haiti

The Scotch bonnets are doing well, although the one on the left is twice as big as the other two.

Scotch bonnets surrounding cilantro.

The Pigeon Pea is settled into it's pot, but has not taken off yet. It does seem to be happy though with it's Gazania neighbors. I hope to see it put on some growth over the next few weeks. It still amazes me that the cultivation of the pigeon pea goes back 3,500 years!

Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan)

Happy veggie gardening!

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Water Lily Project

My mother visited from Florida last week.

She is always my partner in crime when she visits, because we have to hit every nursery and fish store in town.

Which means that we both end up with new fish and plants. But mom has to take her fish and plants back to Florida, so she can't be too crazy. This doesn't stop her however from stealing loads of baby Chicks and Hens from my yard. She also made off with five Tillandsias, a Plumeria I bought in Hawaii and a handful of water lettuce.

We just happened to be passing by Hughes Water Gardens and had to stop in for just a look. With my birthday around the corner, my mom is always looking to get me something while she visits.

This trip I was the proud birthday daddy of two new water lilies ('Escarboucle' & 'Nigel'). 'Escarboucle' is a red. 'Nigel' is a pretty pink. Not a very manly color for Nigel however.

'Escarboucle'

"Nigel'

With two new water lilies in hand, I now had to return home and figure out what to do. Nothing like shooting yourself in the foot buying plants you don't have room for.

The existing horse troughs were pretty stuffed with lilies and the smaller barrel liners are only suitable for one small-sized lily. These two new lilies were not going to be sneaked in...

So off to buy new water dishes I went. I ended up getting three new dishes, even though I only had two new lilies. I figured one of the other lilies ('Mayla') needed a new home as she gets way too big to share a home.

This also meant buying more rabbit wire to keep the raccoons out and some new fish to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Looking pretty stuffed!

My friend James, suggested digging out a new area for the water dishes next to the driveway and in a moment of extreme weakness, actually suggested that he would help me dig the grass out.

I immediately grabbed the shovel and got us to work! I wasn't going to let free help go to waste!

A new bed near the driveway made the most sense as I was recently gifted an outdoor glass table and six chairs that have become the new sitting area.

The before pic.

And so the digging begins.

Luckily, near the driveway there was a lot of fill gravel in the soil, so the grass came up very quickly. It also helped that I had watered the night before.

Sweaty work! My help in the back is regretting saying he'd help!

Three new dishes in place.

This time I was conscious of the new water. We waited 24-hours before moving anything (plant or fish) so that the new water could come to temperature and could dechlorinate naturally.

The dreaded sod pile - to get rid of or compost?!?

I eventually moved one of the existing matching dishes to the space on the right and one of the smaller barrel liners to that little hole on the left.

The potted plants and the table and chairs got rearranged in the expanded sitting area and all was well with the world. Time for a well deserved gin & tonic!