We added a layer of hay to our community garden plot this weekend. The owners of the land the garden is on are kind enough to donate hay to the gardeners. Now, I have to be honest here - at first, I had no idea why one would add hay to the garden, I really didn't, we decided to add a layer of hay because - well, all the other garden plots had hay on them and they seemed to be doing a lot better than ours. I'm not afraid to admit that neither Brett or I truly know what we are doing, we are learning as we go. Anyways, after some basic thought about why one would put hay on the garden, it seemed obvious, it keeps weeds down and moisture in, it might do more than that, but this is my theory.
Here is the community garden:
The banana peppers at the community garden plot seem to be doing quite well. The one pictured above is pretty cute, a short stubby little pepper. :-)
Here is the container garden, I apologize that they are all shoved together like this, but this is how they have been weathering the strong winds this week. We lovingly call them the 'huddled masses':
The cayenne pepper has really grown this week. You should see all the little peppers growing on this thing! Last count was 8 peppers!
I love this picture. I hope you can see just how big this Hungarian Wax pepper has gotten in a week, I think it has tripled in size!
Banana pepper going strong.
The CSA and farmer's market are getting better each week. On a sad note, many stands at the market noted on Saturday that they were selling the last asparagus of the season. I love asparagus, and I suppose the short season helps keep it special.
Check out this week's CSA/Farmer's Market load:
We've got: onions, radishes, leaf lettuce, spinach, asparagus (from the farmer's market, not the CSA), collard greens, a large cucumber and two tomatoes (from the farmer's market, not the CSA).
We made bagel sandwiches with this lettuce, cucumber, tomato, with a little veganaise and spicy mustard, paired them with peaches and cherries, and had ourselves a fantastic lunch.
I thought I'd end this post with a picture of a funny looking strawberry Brett came across when slicing up a container full of strawberries.
Cute huh?
'Til next time.
17 comments:
Despite the less-than-ideal weather conditions, your garden looks like it's coming along quite nicely!
Haha, love those "siamese-twin" strawberries - I've found cherries and baby carrots like that as well :0)
Wow Jennifer, your garden is thriving!! Great work.
That strawberry is HILARIOUS!
Your little pepper babies are so cute! And that strawberry is adorable...it's like 4 baby strawberries in one...I'm not sure what's with me today, calling vegetables babies....
Your garden seems to be coming along wonderfully! How exciting!
Your CSA/Farmers Market haul looks delicious! Mmmm...fresh local asparagus. You can't get much better than that!
Courtney
wow you really have quite the garden :) cool enough to produce strawberry shapes! ;)
Your garden is just looking beautiful! At least plants like all that rain you guys keep getting! And love the strawberry! Quadruplets!
I missed commenting on your last post, but I wanted to offer a few (belated) thoughts. It appears that we have experienced similar emotions about the label, "vegan." I started shifting to a plant-based diet almost two years ago and haven't regretted the decision - it's made me healthy, more understanding of alternative lifestyles, and happy. But, maintaining a "pure" vegan image has been incredibly difficult for me (cheese = my Achilles' heel) and since I became a vegetarian for personal health reasons (not political ones), I've started to question why I should force myself to give up something that I genuinely enjoy and crave (eaten in moderation). It's a complicated topic, which your long post reinforces, but I feel that your viewpoint deserves just as much respect and consideration as anybody else's. I just thought you should know that you have my support to eat whatever you decide is best for you. After all, I believe that sharing food with one another should be a joyous community event, not one that makes you feel pressured or frustrated. Ok, I'm off to bed, but the garden looks great, too! Cheers!
P.S. I hope this makes sense in light of my sleep deprivation... (-:
Bagel sandwiches, YAY! Any excuse to ingest massive quantities of veganaisse is alright by me! Great blog, thanks for sharing.
Your garden looks fantastic! Well done.
Your garden looks great, Jennifer. I always forgot to take my camera with me, but when I used to hand out produce at the CSA, I loved coming across the "mutants". Some of the carrots were downright pornographic!
It's always so amazing how much "green thumbers" know about gardening.
I'm so jealous of your peppers sprouting! none of mine have come. :-( The tree is getting taller, but there are no peppers to show for it. I think I'll rotate it a little closer to the sun.
That's a creepy looking strawberry. haha
oh wow! looks like the garden & the containers are doing great, Jennifer! and that strawberry reminds me of those little ghosts from the pac-man game! ahahahaa! i love it!
and your CSA goodies are still make'n me jealousface! :)
Veggie Girl - Thank you, it's nice to see everything starting to bloom!
Fruit and veggies can grow oddly sometimes, can't they?
Romina - Things are really taking off, and we've still only had to water the community garden once, it's been so easy, we spend more time ooohing and ahhing over it than working in it.
:-)
Bianca - The little peppers are pretty cute, I agree.
;-)
Courtney - Yeah, everything is really starting to take off. Now we just need a few days of sun.
I've been very pleased with our CSA so far. And fresh, local asparagus = so good.
Danielle - Oh, those strawberries came from the store! I wish I had grown them, though I may try growing strawberries at some point in the future.
Shellyfish - Thank you - just trying to keep caterpillars and aphids away. Earthworms and such are more than welcome, but the caterpillars eat the
leaves of the pepper plants!
Monika - No worries on being 'late', I'm happy you have thoughts to share.
I couldn't agree more about 'pure' veganism. For one, unless you stop riding in cars, buses, etc., or taking medicine, this isn't really possible, and even still, why go through all this for a label that doesn't truly fit your beliefs? My opinion is (and this is just my humble opinion), if you want to eat cheese every now and again, do it, just be mindful. What does it matter that you couldn't
call yourself a 'vegan', it would be silly to give up something you like, and have no problem with, for a label.
Thank you Monika, I really appreciate your opinion as well and see where you are coming from. And you are so right, sometimes all these restrictions can
keep us from enjoying our food, and who we enjoy it with, I mean, in the end, it's all about what one is comfortable with, their reasons for doing things, and how far they want to take their dietary restrictions.
Thank you so much for your comment, and I would have never known you were sleep deprived. ;-)
Voracious Vegan - I enjoy bagel sandwiches quite a bit. You must really like Veganaise! :-) No problem, I'm glad you enjoy it.
Cookiemouse - Thanks!
Chile - Thank you. Oh man! I bet you saw some really funny looking fruit and veg! Hahahahahahaha! I can only imagine about the carrots! ;-)
Leng - I know, I feel like I will never learn it all!
Aw thats a bummer about your peppers. They like a lot of direct sunlight.
Jessy - Thank you, they really seem to be taking to their homes. THAT IS IT! I knew the strawberry reminded me of something and that is EXACTLY what it was - the ghost things from Pac Man. I told Brett and he agreed.
:-( You'll get a CSA at some point! We've got to hold out hope!
Your garden looks great. Good work!
http://desertcontainergardening.blogspot.com/
I love huge double strawberries. Your garden looks like it's doing well, I bet it's fun to watch it all grow.
John - Thank you, I'm interested in your blog too, gardening in the desert, that has to be a challenge.
Erin - Fruit and veg can come in some funny forms.
It has been a lot of fun. I am especially partial to the community garden as all the plants in it (besides the tomato) we grew from seed!
I love your garden updates, especially because I don't have much of a garden of my own this year. Looks like you're doing a great job despite the icky weather!
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