Here is the update for today May 13, happy mother’s days for all mothers.
Here we have our first ever Ancho (Poblano) Peppers, I never tasted this king before, they are very good for stews and soup.
Click images
Passion fruit plant is doing very well, especially since I change the plastic pot for a clay pot. Clay is much better do to the fact that they are not solid and do have tiny holes that allow the roots to breath more easy than plastic.
Click image
Here is the biggest of the squash in the rise bed. These puppies grow very fast and balloon to incredible sizes so keep tune for updates.
Click Image
The pumpkin plant outside the garden is falling behind a litter bit but still doing OK. It has flowers already not the many fruits but indeed a lot of flowers.
Click Image
Here is the other pumpkin plant inside the garden and as you can see this one is a bit more robust and more flowery to. This one also has more fruits than the one outside.
Images
Here is the other side of the same plant.
Click Image
Some of the tomatoes are ready to be pick-up. We have already harvested about 4 or 5 tomatoes. This plant below is the Better Bush the heavy foliage of this hybrid helps protect tomatoes from sunburn. They are also resistant to verticillium wilt (V), fusarium wilt (F), and nematodes (N). I try to stay away from hybrid but some time is almost impossible.
Click Image
When gardeners talk about the "first" tomatoes, Early Girl is always there. This may be the most all-round popular hybrid to satisfy that itch for the first fresh tomato of the season. Early Girl bears lots of fruit for early harvest, but because the vines are indeterminate, they continue producing through summer. Resistant to verticillium wilt (V) and fusarium wilt races 1 and 2 (F).
Click Image
These are the two I just picked, Early Girl and Better Bush.
Click Image
Some Jalapeno peppers still need a few more weeks before they are ready but they are looking good so far. This is hot jalapenos and the plant is very healthy and robust, looking forward to taste this peppers.
Click Image
There still a bunch more of those Ancho (Poblano) Peppers still in the plant, I will give them some more time to taste the difference between the early and late harvest.
Click Image
This is how the Squash bed look like today, it is growing very fast specially after last week raining special. We did have a few days of raining; we got maybe a couple of inches of rain not bad.
The strawberries are coming along well they should be ready to be pick-up next month.
Click on Image
My corn is growing so fast that I thought maybe something was wrong but I guess that corns are.
Click Image
The first pumpkin of the season is showing up, they will not be ready until October but that's OK just in time for Halloween.
Click Image
Here are the pinto beans tingle with some cucumbers and the pumpkins they are all fighting for space, lets the ready to rumble!!
Click Image
Some or the onions can be pick-up now but I will wait a bit more to get bigger ones, I hope the extra water do not affect the onions. Onions don't like a lot of water so I am not going to water this one for a while.
Click Image
Pigeon Peas are looking beautiful I am looking forward to eat these peas they are very flavor full and good for rice or stews. Legumes are also good for the soil due to the nitrogen fixation properties of the legume family so next years you will see my tomatoes growing in this bed.
Click Image
I also used a clay pot for the citrus (Lime) they hate wet feet so this seem to make a different so far, let’s see what happen when the heat pick-up.
Click Here
This hot pepper is used to make the famous Tabasco® Sauce. Peppers mature from yellow-green to orange to red and have a unique, smoky flavor that contributes to Tabasco's distinctive taste. While adapted to all areas of the US, plants produce continuously and will therefore produce the most peppers in the South and Southwest, where the growing season is longest. In frost-free areas, plants can live for several years. In the garden, space transplants about 18 inches apart in rows 30 inches apart. Easy to grow, the compact Tabasco is also a good choice for containers.
An heirloom. These large, thick-walled cayenne peppers are named for their shape. The fruit turns bright red when mature and are quite hot. The wrinkled fruit are excellent for sauces and drying. Space transplants 18 inches apart in rows 30 inches apart.
These small peppers are great for making hot pepper vinegar or adding heat to chili sauce. Will bear continuously through the heat of summer. Plants loaded with fruit may need staking. Space transplants about 18 inches apart in rows 30 inches apart.
This pretty pepper is used to flavor pimiento cheese; it is also the one that you find stuffed in the center of green olives. The plants produce heavy yields of green, heart-shaped fruit that mature to bright red. The peppers have very thick flesh and a mild, sweet flavor. Excellent for canning, casseroles, garnishes, and of course, in the classic cheese spread. Plants are small, great for containers. Space about 18 to 24 inches apart in rows about 2 feet apart.
Pimiento, a Spanish word indicating this type of pepper, is also spelled pimento.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A key Connecticut lawmaker says efforts to enact state legislation requiring labeling of genetically modified food died in the face of threatened lawsuits by food producers.
Rep. Richard Roy, the House chairman of the Environment Committee, said Thursday that he unsuccessfully lobbied House Speaker Christopher Donovan and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The legislation got no further than his committee.
The state Department of Agriculture opposed the legislation, saying it would put Connecticut at a competitive disadvantage with other states that do not regulate labeling.
The legislation was backed by organic produce farmers who believed they could benefit from better informed consumers rejecting genetically modified products and choosing organic food instead.
Similar legislation also failed in the Vermont Legislature. Leaders said there wasn't enough time to take it up before adjournment last Saturday.
Combining the two great ideas of buying locally and creating your own garden is the ingenious idea of community gardens. These gardens are turning parking lots and abandoned wasteland in cities into gorgeous and fertile places for the local people to grow and harvest their own food. Some are even donating what they have grown to others. They can range from a small vegetable gardens called "victory gardens" to larger areas to preserve local nature and habitat.
Each grower will be given an individual plot of land (sometimes for free) in which they will do the work alone or with help from other members. You don't have to be a pro gardener. Other members can help you along the way. You can usually grow whatever it is you want. Would you rather grow herbs and not vegetables? You can do that too. You can grow whatever you want for you and/or your family. You'll be helping your family in eating healthier.
Community gardens also brings the community together in a great way and can save the locals money. Instead of buying fruits and vegetables from the supermarket, they are growing their own food. This saves in transportation costs, which of course includes gas. The community gardens can be linked with a farmers' market where all of the food that will not be used by the growers are sold. These markets sell the food that is grown to locals for much cheaper than in any other place.
Transform ugly areas of your neighborhood into areas that everyone can enjoy. Do you like gardening or want to try gardening? Start a community garden where you live. Contact your local city government to see if community gardens are in your area. Also, in the U.S. you can go to 