SQWIBS Urban Garden Adventure

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Hey I started noticing all my veggies are growing Pontoons !!!

Gary
 
 
Remember me telling you what a tuff plant these seeds came from? Remember the flood I had here and showed the above picture? Well I had just pushed the pot back and wrote off the peppers for this year when my neighbor needed a pot yesterday. Imagine my surprise!


These plants so remind me of the energizer bunny..... or maybe the old Timex commercials. 
Hardy little buggers.
 
Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.   BIL worked for Timex for years

Gary
 
Everything is still in limbo, well that and the fact the dumb @ss dog has been eating all my plants, hopefully with the temps staying over 50° and keeping an eye on the dog, I'll start to see some growth.

Sad news, I may have lost two of my Eggplant Plants

Raised Beds

May 20th, 2016 - I think I may have lost one of my Black Beauty Eggplant Plants.
 







Air Pruning

May 20th, 2016 - I may have lost one of my Meatball Eggplant Plants.

 



 
  • The tomato plants are doing real well.


NFT

May 20th, 2016 -
 





Garden Towers

May 20th, 2016 -





Kratky Lettuce

May 20th, 2016 -
 





Sugar Snap Peas

May 20th, 2016 -
 



Asparagus Bed

May 20th 2016 -
 



Herbs

May 20th, 2016 - Oregano

 
Vacation got in the way, we went to our hunting cabin and was checking out the Fracking devastation, I'll post some pics of that when I upload the photos from my camera, these pics are just phone pics.


Pretty much everything exploded the 4 days I was gone with the exception of my Aquaponic Peppers. I'll try to get some more photos up by the end of the week.

NFT Rails

May 30th, 2016 - The strawberries were decimated every one torn to hell, looks like a blood battle, anyhow I'm, undecided if I want to KILL whatever got into the strawberries or just ditch the NFT setup for next year and plant the strawberries in a vertical tower, I could cover with bird cloth but its too much of a bother. I do have other options for the NFT but to be honest the novelty already wore off and I think I have enough planting area for next season without it.

Sugar Snap Peas

May 30th, 2016 - got some flowers



Kratky Lettuce
 

May 30th, 2016 - Brought the lettuce in due to the heat, lettuce is good, there is no bitter taste and no milky excretions when cut.
 

 



  • It will sit in the Kratky containers until we are finished eating it.



Koi Pond
 

June 1st, 2016 - "Pink water lily" and "Black Gamecock Iris".

I lost my other "goldie", not sure if he was a Heron dinner or not.
 


 



 

And Some BB's on the grill.

May 30th, 2016 -

Baby Backs grilled 2 - 2.5 hours at 300 - 400° indirect heat.

Mopped with soy and Rib Rub, flipped several times, built glaze with "Sweet Baby Rays Original" and my own BBQ sauce, grilled over direct heat 5 minutes meat side down, flipped reglazed and moved to indirect again for 10 more minutes.
 


 
  • These were extremely gooey and messy.
 
I snapped off a few pics with my phone this weekend, I'll post some better pics when m y new Lens comes in... my 17-55mm that I use for most of my photos died.

Vertical Towers

June 4th, 2016 - I decided to ditch the NFT Rails and planted the 24 strawberry plants everywhere I had some space, birds were getting int the berries so I put on some bird netting, I need to find something better because I am afraid the turtles will get stuck in the netting...they see the red strawberries and start climbing to reach them.

Strawberries are favorite food of Box Turtles and I do feed some of the strawberries to the turtles.
 





June 4th, 2016 - This Parris Island Romaine blows my mind, I will be harvesting this week for Roll Ups for lunches.
 


Raised Beds California Wonder

June 4th, 2016 - This guy is almost as big as the plant, I should have snipped off the fruit and flowers early on to have a healthier plant, but I just couldn't bring myself to doing it ...lol.
 



Raised Beds - Brandywine

June 4th, 2016 - Today was pruning and trellising day. since the plants exploded when I was on vacation this needed to be done ASAP, this is always tough for me, especially when there's fruit and loads of flowers on the trimmed pieces. What made it easier to butcher was that these trimmed pieces are clones to give away once they root.
 

 

 


Air Pruning pots Brandywines and Mortgage lifters.

June 4th, 2016 - Trimming and trellising the Air Pruning Brandywines and Mortgage lifters.
 

Sometimes I overthink stuff...I went out and bought 4 elbows for EMT conduit I think they were near $4 bucks each, anyhow after breaking two of the 4 I said screw it and decided to do this instead.
 

 


  • I really like this type of supporting tomatoes, at the end of the season all the pipe and stuff will be tossed behind the 16' Hugelkultur bed for storage.


 

...and its not an eyesore
 



  • Trimmings in the pond waiting for a container.


  • In the shade to avoid shock.
 
Quick update with some crappy Phone pics, just got back from a week at Bar Harbor, still have a lot going on! After I get through this weekend I'll be able to take some decent photos.

June 6th, 2016 - Had this guy on a pizza!



June 26th, 2016 - This Meatball eggplant Fruit will be left on the plant to harvest the seeds. (Prickly little bastards)



June 26th, 2016 - This striped eggplant fruit (From JaxRmrJmr) is on the healthiest plant so I will leave this to harvest the seeds.



Asparagus Bed and some basil (1st year)
 





June 26th, 2016 -
 

 

 
 
Nice looking  Everything, Garden looks great.

We are still getting lots of veggies, garden looks rough Haven't been able to keep it up since my had surgery

Gary
 
 
Nice looking  Everything, Garden looks great.

We are still getting lots of veggies, garden looks rough Haven't been able to keep it up since my had surgery

Gary
Take care of that hand, the garden will take care of itself.

I'm gonna try cover crops next year to try and eliminate weeding.
[h1]Low Growing Perennial Cover Plants for Northeastern US
Achillea tomentosa (Woolly Yarrow). Zones 4-10. Height: 6-12 inches.
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Bearberry). Zones 2-6. Height: 6-12 inches.
Chamaemelum nobile (Roman Chamomile). Zones 4-6.
Hypericum reptans (Creeping St. John's Wort). Zones 5-9. Height 4-12 inches.
Origanum vulgare (Oregano). Zones 4-9. Height: 4-12 inches.
Sedum spurium 'Fulda Glow' (Fulda Glow Stonecrop). Zones 3-9. Height: 4-6 inches
Sedum spirium 'Tricolor' (tricolor Stonecrop). Zones 2-9. Height: 4-6 inches.
Sedum 'Vera Jameson' (Vera Jameson Stonecrop). Zones 3-9. Height: 10-12 inches.
Seudm spurium 'John Creech' (John Creech Stonecrop). Zones 3-8. Height: 1-4 inches.
Sedum sieboldii (Stonecrop or October Daphne). Zones 3-9. Height: 6-12 inches.
Sedum reflexum 'Angelina' (Angelina Stonecrop). Zones 3-9. Height: 3-6 inches.
Sedum 'Bertram Anderson' (Bertram Anderson Stonecrop). Zones 3-9. Height: 6-12 inches.
Teucrium spp. (Germanders) T. Chamaedrys 'Prostratum' (or 'Nanum'). Zones 5-8. Height 6-8 inches.
Teucrium spp. (Germanders) T. Montanum. Zone 7. 
Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus 'Lanuginosus' (Woolly Thyme). Zones 5-9. Height: 1-2 inches.
Thymus praecox subsp. srticus 'Coccineus' (Crimson thyme). Zones 5-8. Height 1-3 inches.
Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus 'Quinquecostatus', 'Albus', Zones up to 4. Height: 4 inches.
Thymus pulegiodes, T. sephllum (Mother-of-Thyme). Zones 4-8. Height: 6 inches.
[/h1]
 
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Anaheim Peppers
July 10th, 2016
  • Anaheim peppers stuffed with Chicken Sausage Topped with Mozzarella, Fresh Basil and Sauce.


July 10th, 2016

I have been patiently waiting for some eggplant from the garden and the time has come.

Sunday morning I asked the my amazing wife if she would whip me up some eggplant dishes, Of course my first request was towards a typical fried eggplant using the Black Beauty. I had her cut out a middle piece to harvest seeds then the rest was fried. My second request was for a "Caponata" but I wanted them served like an appetizer not a sandwich. For this we picked a few striped eggplants.
  • Ingredients from the garden


This is the beautiful dinner I had last night (recipe below)
  • Caponata on fresh baked Ciabatta
  • Fried Eggplant
  • Anaheim Pepper stuffed with Chicken Sausage, Mozzarella, Fresh Basil and Sauce.
  • Salmon


 
[h3]Eggplant Caponata Sandwiches[/h3]
Makes 5 cups of Caponata, enough for about 10 sandwiches
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into small cubes, about 4 cups total
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 4 ounces white mushrooms, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup black olives, pitted and sliced
  • 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Baguette or ciabatta bread, to serve
  • Fresh mozzarella, about 2 thick slices per sandwich, to serve
  • Fresh basil leaves, optional, to serve
Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven or wide, deep sauté pan and add eggplant, bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes, until vegetables are soft.

Add the olives, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, and oregano. Season again with salt and pepper. Lower heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Stir a few times during cooking, and add a tablespoon or two of water (or olive brine) if the mixture is too thick and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Allow Caponata to cool. Spoon on bread, top with mozzarella and basil, and serve. Or, serve warm as a dip.
 
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Wow !!  My kind of meal.  You are getting some really nice veggies

Gary
 
Everything looks great. I went with "Little Finger's" eggplant this year. I've been getting a 4 avg of 5"-6"x1.5" solid eggs every other day. Great for stirfry and panko fried sticks. For me in our area has been on a constant hard grow for the last two weeks. After blossom drop most of june on my hots gotta a good fruit set going into this next heat wave Thu into Fri. Jalapenos
Caribbean Red Habanero Turkish Aci Sirvi Cayenne How's your Hots going? Basil looks healthy. Genovese? Topped mine July 4th weekend for grilled pesto shrimp and pasta. All in containers (1 & 2 gal) spread thru out property. Next time Ifert them all i'll snap a pic. Just put 4 pruned in a 7 gal container after work today. Shade cloth will go on peppers in garden and pots will go back in the shade end of this week. Keep it going looks good. Maybe i'll trade you up for some of those eggplant seeds come fall???
 
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