In a surprise success, and days after I threatened to harvest and replace it with another plant, our baby broccoli has produced those delicious broccolini heads! #farmtotable #raisedbedgardening #texasheat #urbangardening
It only took four months, but we have broccolini!
We eat a lot of black beans. One of our favorite meals involves black beans, hot diced tomatoes, and brown rice. So, when we started growing, black beans were high on the list of priorities.
I’ve never grown beans. Black beans seemed a bit daunting. I researched and found what appears to be the variety which folks here in zone 9 experience the most success.
The black turtle bean.
Today we harvested our first pod (the rest are still drying on the plant). I’m in awe of how this simplest of plants grows! #farmtotable #urbangardening #raisedbeds
Yesterday, BB gave one of our raised beds a cover refresh. Here in the south, we experience rapid elemental changes, but primarily fight the heat to grow successfully. The Blanket Plant Cover (link below) has been an excellent aid in blocking the right amount of sun, while also protecting the plants from too many pests. Most recently, they’re protecting our plants from rapid decreases and increases in temperatures as we have cold evenings and warm days. #urbangarden #raisedbed #texasheat
We harvested our first carrots! They’re little, but beautiful! Hoping to take ideas from this growing season and get a better batch in the spring. Zone 9 growers, any recommendations on varieties that have grown well for you? These are Kaleidoscope and Little Finger. Thrilled to keep harvesting! #farmtotable #raisedbeds #texasgardening
We officially have potatoes growing after our initial planting fail! Raised bed and grow bag methods are both in full force! #growbag #farmtotable #raised beds
Credit to Kevin Espiritu’s Grow Bag Gardening book for the potato grow bag method we have followed specifically this time around. #epicgardening
And then there are the flowers! Okra, cucumbers, peppers, and even the Persian Lime have flowered.
Cucumbers, while flowering, are not producing. Not sure what’s going on, but we’ve tried everything from hand pollinating to feeding, and suspect pest pressure is the culprit. Any Texas urban farmers with experience with this issue please comment! We could use your guidance. #texasgardeners
Black beans, garden (green) beans, and purple hull peas have been transplanted. BB built cages for the grow bags to keep the pests (and the boys) out. We are ready for all the beans and peas!
Bonus pics of the boys enjoying the patio 🐾🐾🐾
Garden updates. Additional harvests of the season…bok choy and lettuce varieties. True backyard “farm to table.” Some growth in the raised beds, and making some changes in the greenhouse to combat the Texas temperatures.
London broil, sautéed bok choy and fresh dill brown rice
And for lunch today, fresh hydroponically grown lettuce from the AeroGarden, and lettuce greens from the raised bed paired with chicken.
Squash and zucchini are growing fast! Looking forward to a harvest of those soon.
In an effort to control heat inside the greenhouse, we sealed off the windows and plan to add insulation to better maintain temperatures. More on that to come. #Texasheat
Growth in the raised beds took it to another level this week. Comparison photo from 1 week ago below. Zucchini and bok choy continue to mature. Broccoli and turnips have decided that the cooler temperatures are inspiring.
We took the opportunity to harvest some dill and green leaf lettuce. Worth every minute!
Today I’m planting some beans and mustard and collard greens. More veggies soon! 🥗🥕🥬
Happy Fall! Our greenhouse and beds suffered through the heat (with some failures), but fall has brought a ton of growth.
The superstar is zucchini…no surprise…which has grown exponentially. Next is the 3-foot cucumber plant. It seems incredibly happy with the trellis system and bed.
In the raised beds, bok choy is the real winner. It has taken to the fall quite well!
BB added a cage for our Persian Lime tree so the boys can’t eat the fertilizer…which is apparently very tasty to dachshunds. 👀
Even the AeroGardens have managed to produce some very nice looking lettuce and tomato plants.
BB keeps telling me I can’t harvest the baby plants. Patience is a virtue. 😇
Lots of growth in the greenhouse. Transplanting has caused some of the veggies to perk up and grow.
The green beans love the new trellis!
We had an extra zucchini that was growing super fast, so we gave it its own outdoor grow bag along with the okra.
BB hung up the strawberry baskets so that any excess water would flow into the second one. They’ll strawberries are loving the baskets and the design. The basil planted atop the second basket seems pretty happy, too. Mint was planted at the top of the first basket. I’ll update when we see some growth.
The greenhouse needed a bit more light, so BB added a Mars Hydro to go with the two Wolf lights we were already using for seedlings.
The AeroGarden has sprouts! We figure that it suffered, like our first batch of seedlings and other things we’ve tried to grow as summer wanes, from the excessive heat. But, we’ve hit a sweet spot (hopefully) and we have growth!
Today we picked up a one year old dwarf Persian lime tree.
We decided it would be interesting to see the variety of items we could grow in bags. After reading Epic Gardening’s Grow Bag Gardening, the lime tree was a unique choice.
Gave the tree some compost and fertilizer, along with some organic garden soil, and now it’s set!
#epicgardening #thearborgate
The Daily Squash 