Monday, August 4, 2008

Random Vegetation

Very strange and random things are growing in my garden. Plants that I had lost hope for are coming back to life and fruiting, and I'm getting all sorts of strange shapes in the garden.

First, let's start with the jalapeno plant. I had bought a six-pack of jalapeno plants, but sadly, I let them sit in their carton for about two weeks unattended because I was too busy with tending to other matters in the garden. Then, after five of the six plants died, I decided to toss the carton. But I saw that there was one plant was still hanging on and it didn't look completely dead. So I planted it in one of the empty squares in the SFG Box # 1. Yesterday, to my surprise, look what I found!

A brand new jalapeno growing!


The plant is still small, and I believe this lone jalapeno has no other brothers and sisters. We had bought the jalapeno in hopes of making salsa. Obviously one jalapeno is not enough, but it is still quite a nice surprise! I wonder if it will grow any larger! Or even change color.

In another SFG box, I found that my pickling cucumber variety has spawn the fattest, strangest looking cucumber I have ever seen!

Below: A picklin' cucumber

It might be fat on the outside, but inside, it tastes just as fresh and cucumbery as the regular variety of cucumber that I've been harvesting from the garden. The picklin' variety isn't growing as quickly as the other kind, but it's still fun to eat. I think next year, I'll give this variety more space to grow and see how it does. I've noticed that my vegetables that have more space to grow tend to do better.

And finally, the last surprise: concord grapes! I had lost hope for the grape vine because it just wasn't producing. In the beginning of the season, there were two bunches of grapes. Then suddenly, one died and only one was left. I lost hope for the surviving bunch, so I stopped looking to see if it actually formed into grapes.

TADA... the surviving bunch of grapes ended up growing and edible. I'll admit, they aren't the most delicious tasting grapes, and they have seeds in them. But they are still cool.

Below: Surviving Grapes

Maybe next year's concord grapes will be better.

10 comments:

Dawn said...

Gosh, I don't have a vegie garden but I noticed this morning, corn! growing under the birdfeeder. Concord grape for jelly, yum, yum!

Cindy said...

Everything looks great. How cool you have grapes.

Skeeter said...

We use to have grapes in backyard of my childhood home. My grandmother would make jelly with them. We kids did not eat them as they were too tart. The bees loved them and we were often stung by them! Ouch!

My cucumbers are growing in strange shapes too. They are happy to be growing in a curve shape, or fat at one end. I noticed some strange cucumber shapes at the market over the weekend also... Mine are Burpless Hybrid. I think that “hybrid” is the problem...

DP Nguyen said...

Dawn- What a wonderful surprise you got! Maybe you'll get fresh corn in your garden before the winter :-) Wouldn't that be great!

Cindy- Thanks! The grapes were the nicest surprise, but they had seeds in them, so they were a little hard to eat. Maybe next year.

Skeeter-These grapes were tart too, but I am hoping that they get better with age. Maybe sweeter too!

I think the weird shape of the cucumbers is maybe the amount of water they get? I think I read that somewhere. Maybe the drought-and new rain- has something to with it. Or the hybrid variety is also a problem. But whatever the reason, they are all delicious! Are you making any pickles yet?

Susie said...

D P-I love little surprises in the garden like that little jalapeno. I grew them this year myself. They don't get a lot larger than the one pictured. I found that if I didn't pick it as soon as I should have it turned red and very hot.

Anonymous said...

Hi dp, I like surprises in the garden also. I have a lot of banana peppers. I also have pimento peppers. The other day I found a pepper that looked like a banana pepper but was dark green like a bell pepper. Will have to taste a very small piece so to find out if it is hot. It really looks like a cross of 2 different kind. Strange things happen in the garden sometimes.

tina said...

Yeh the grapes and pepper! I had given up on eggplant and I now have two! How funny are plants?

Gail said...

I like the fat cucumbers and recently had some called lemon that are heirloom and round! Have you run across them?

DP Nguyen said...

Susie, I thought it was off that the jalapeno was so small. Maybe it will get bigger if I leave it on the vine last night. I have hopes for salsa, like Blogger Carol with all her tomatoes and peppers. We'll see :-) I do like a little kick, so maybe my pepper will be as hot as yours.

Lola, I love banana peppers, and all those other peppers in your garden sound so good. Sometimes, I think plants do cross-pollinate and create new breeds that are a little strange. lol. But let me know how that pepper turns out!

Tina- Wow, congrats on the surprise eggplants. Ours are growing a little slow right now. But plants are funny. They never behave the way you want them to.

Gail- Oh wow, I have never heard of lemon cucumbers. I'll have to try to find seeds and plant them next year. It sounds like a cool looking cuke!

Skeeter said...

Nope, not making pickles. Never tried, we are eating the cukes in salads. Yum they are good. Look strange but taste good...