Grapes, Boysenberries, and Lettuce

Cam and I now have three grape plants. We have two concord grapes and one Thompson seedless. The concords are still flourishing, and the grape bunches continue to get larger each day.

Unfortunately, it seems that we have grape bunches coming from the same concord grape plant. I don't know why the second concord grape isn't producing fruit, but it hasn't yet. Its leaves are green and the foliage looks healthy, but no grape bunches. The strange thing is that the concords are planted right next to each other, so their leaves overlap, and it's hard to tell them apart.

Photo Below: Growing concord grape bunches



We've had the concord grape plants since April. And we had thought that having two grape plants was enough... until we went to the nursery last Sunday and saw the Thompson seedless. It didn't have any grape bunches on it, but its leaves looked healthy, so we wanted to give it a shot.

I love grapes, and I'd love to have a vineyard one day. That would be fun to grow grapes all day. I've never tasted the Thompson variety of grapes, so I'm hoping that this plant actually fruits by the end of the summer. That would be a very nice reward!

Photo Above: The Thompson Seedless grape plant after it was transplanted.

I still have no idea how to prune my boysenberries, but the fruit is starting to ripen and it's all happening pretty fast. It seems that I have a new, ripe boysenberry each day. Sadly, the birds have been eating the best and most delicious berries off the plant, but I've been able to pop a few in my mouth. It's quite a treat!

Photo Below: The boysenberry plant, taken late last week. See how the berries are starting to eat their color?

And with my impatience, I ended up picking a boysenberry that wasn't ripe yet. I just couldn't contain my excitement over the fruit. It was my first ruby red fruit, and so I washed it and ate it... and it was SOUR!

Photo Below: The not-so-ripe boysenberry in the palm of my hand


After I devoured the sour boysenberry above, I decided that it was best to wait and let the fruit ripen more. I read that boysenberries are supposed to get a rich, dark red color before you pick them. And luckily for me, I didn't have to wait too long before some of the other berries started to turn into that deep red color.

Below: Recent photo of the boysenberry bush


I still need to figure out how to take care of the plant, so that it will continue to fruit throughout the season. If anyone knows, I'd love the answer. So far, I haven't done much to the bush. I planted it in the ground near a trellis, and so far it's continued to produce healthy fruit. Maybe I don't need to prune it like I do the tomatoes.


Finally, a word on lettuce. After I harvested the lettuce head last week, I decided to wait to see if any of the other heads actually formed into a head. So far, no such luck. The lettuce continues to look unruly. But they still look healthy. I'm debating whether I should harvest more lettuce heads or wait until they become an actual head.

Below Photo: The growing lettuce in the backyard square foot garden. The lettuce is growing nice and big.

During the first month of our garden, we noticed that the lettuce in the front vegetable bed was doing much better than the lettuce in the back. It took a while for the lettuce in the back to catch up, but it's finally growing very strong and large. I don't know how I'm going to be able to eat all the produce. I guess I'll have to give it some of the lettuce away.

Photo Below: The lettuce in the front vegetable bed.


Photos Below: Close-ups on the lettuce in the back





Does anyone know if lettuce grows back after you harvest it? Do you have to plant new lettuce seedlings (or seeds) each year?

One very nice thing about this lettuce that we're growing: it's SO delicious and jam-packed with flavor. The lettuce that you buy at the grocery store tastes like water compared to what we've grown. I was shocked at the difference in flavor when I first ate it. It's crazy how much better home-grown vegetables are. I guess the grocers just add a lot of preservatives that make their produce taste water-down.

Replaced Cucumbers, Growing Bell Peppers, and Updated SFG Boxes Photos

Thank you to everyone who commented and gave me advice about the cucumber and squash dilemma. Eleutheros mentioned I should wait a week or so to see if the plants continue to grow. I was planning to listen to his advice… until this afternoon.

Cam and I had business lunch near Mt. Juliet, and Cam suggested we visit some of the nurseries afterwards. So we did, and we ended up doing more than just “looking.”

Above photo: We ended up buying way too much, but we couldn't help ourselves! It's so addicting!

We had never been to any of the fabulous nurseries in Mt. Juliet (a suburb of Nashville), and boy was I shocked at the awesome merchandise and healthy plants we found. I’ll go into more detail about all we bought in a post later this week. But for now, I’m going to focus on the cucumbers that we bought.

We found a package of small cucumber plants that were flowering. They looked so much healthier than the cucumbers we had planted, and I highly doubt our old cucumbers would have ever flowered like the new plants.

Below: The new cucumber plants



I am positive that we will have new cucumbers in the coming weeks (or at least healthy plants that don’t look diseased). I followed my father’s advice and planted the roots deeper than I did last time. After watering, the cucumber plants looked perky and happy. Not like last time when they just flopped over… and stayed flopped over until I decided to pull them all out.


Above: A close-up of the new cucumber plants

I'm pleased to announce that the bell peppers in the SFG boxes are still doing well. I was concerned this weekend because it didn't seem like they were perky, but now that the sunshine is back, they look better than ever! I don't think they're a fan of the cloudy and windy weather. They looked just awful yesterday... The flowers were so droopy; the plant looked sad.

But today, the sun was out and the bell peppers were back in the swing of new growth!

Below: the yellow bell pepper is in the beginning stages of fruiting. Look at the teenie baby bell pepper that's forming!


Below: The green and red bell peppers in the back are also in the midst of flowering and giving birth to tiny peppers. It's really pretty to look at the flower blooms.



Over the weekend, I was getting a little concerned about the purple bell pepper. It was starting to change color on me. Notice the dark spots on the green pepper below.


I had never heard of purple bell pepper before, but I know that with the red bell pepper, it becomes a large green bell pepper before it ever ripens and turns red. I was concerned with this purple bell because it's still somewhat small in size. It's not tiny, but not as large as some of the bell peppers you see at the store. But I guess the purple bell grows differently. It still looks healthy, so I'm not going to be too worried yet. I can't wait to see how it looks as it continues to grow in size.


The front bell pepper is still growing strong. I'm disappointed that it's an only child because the plant isn't flowering and has no hope of flowering.

Below: Front bell pepper (variety: red bell)

The pepper is getting so large that it's making the plant tip over, so I straightened it with a little stick. Hopefully that will keep the plant from falling over into the soil. It also makes the plant look more aesthetically pleasing.


On a final note, I thought I'd post individual photos of each square foot garden box in the back. Each box is growing very nicely and filling out. Cam and I are in talks to build 3 more. I know it's getting late in the summer to continue buying and planting new plants, but it's our first time, and we're experimenting!

Funky Business and Mistakes Made

Something strange is happening in my garden. Maybe it's the weather--the fact that there hasn't been much sun recently, only overcast skies and high winds... Or it could be another reason. Maybe it's my fault. I don't know.

It seems that the squash and cucumbers in Box # 3 at Cam's house isn't doing too well. I don't know if you can tell in the photo below (of squash), but the stem of the plant seems to be split in two. It's as if someone has taken a knife and split the stem open.



The same strange occurrence has plagued the cucumber seedlings. Their stem (see below photo) is also split wide open. I think you can see the funky business much better in this photo.

I can't help but wonder-- is it my fault? I must have done something wrong in the transplantation of the cucumbers. I should have buried the stem deeper in the soil, like my father did. Well, lesson learned. I'm guessing that these cucumbers are a lost cause.

Anyone have any ideas how this could have happened to my plants? *sighs* I'd love some closure. I can possibly understand why the cucumbers seem to be dying, but why the squash in Box # 3?

If you saw Friday night's post about squash, you would have seen that the squash in SFG Box # 1 is thriving and growing really nicely. So the squash problem is puzzling me.

Here's an image of the wonderful and healthy squash from Box # 1. I snapped this today.


So remember the mushroom dilemma in the front vegetable bed? It has invaded the back yard square foot garden boxes. But I've figured out why they started appearing. I'm positive they have to do with the onions that I planted. I think that when I bought them from the store, they had mushroom spores on them.

It makes perfect sense because the mushrooms only appeared AFTER I had transplanted the onions to the front vegetable bed. So far, they haven't hurt anything, and the lettuce head that I harvested is delicious.

Now the mushrooms are appearing in my backyard SFG boxes in the areas where I've planted the onions.

Take a look below. If you look carefully, you can see tiny mushrooms starting to form.


Anyway, I am really annoyed. I don't know what to do. I would love a harvest of healthy onions, but I don't want any of these mushrooms spreading across the garden.

Any advice? Should I just pull out the onions and be done with it? Or do you think the damage has already been done.

Adventures in my parent's garden

I visit my parents every weekend, and something very interesting happened today. I happened to be telling them about my vegetable garden at Cam's house, and they suggested that I grow some vegetables in their garden.

Below: My father and me in his garden



Above: My sister and father after hoeing the land. He hates pictures. Look at his funny smirk.

My parents are expert gardeners. When we lived in Vietnam (I was born there), they grew various vegetables, herbs, and fruit to sell at the open-air marketplace. My mom used to sit outside on the street each morning and afternoon trying to sell their harvest. We lived in a small village called Binh Canh, just outside of the city of Nha Trang in South Vietnam. In our village, the women gathered on the streets of the village to sell their product. You could find everything you needed for the day's meals--meat, vegetables, fruits, salt, pepper, other condiments, etc. And because we didn't have refrigeration back then, everything had to be fresh every day.

Anyway, the point is that my parents really know how to grow vegetables. When we moved to the United States, they continued to garden. Although they no longer grow vegetables, they grow Asian mints to sell to the oriental markets. Their mint garden is always successful and very beautiful.



For some reason, they've slowed down their mint production this year. They're still growing tons of mint, but I guess its not a priority anymore. Instead, their garden has blossomed--literally. They've planted rose bushes... or some type of flower. Because I'm not a flower person, I'm not really sure what type of flowers they are. But they are very pretty.

Above: My 21-year-old sister, Bicky, in the garden.

In addition to the mint and very pretty flowers, my parents also have a fruit orchard. That's what I call it anyway. When I was in 8th grade, they planted two apple trees, two pear trees, and one plum tree. Today, the trees are huge and bear fruit every year. This year, they're fruiting like crazy. I don't know what we are going to do with all the fruit. I'll probably make apple and pear pies. And the plums, we'll just eat.

One year, the family did make plum wine, and it was interesting. But we're best at making wine with grapes. When my dad makes red wine, it's so delicious! Mmm!

Below: The apple trees.



Below: A close-up of a growing pear.


Below: The plum tree.

One good thing about the plentiful plums: the birds tend to eat half of our crop right when it turns red... so we don't have all the extra fruit. Extra crop is a problem with the apples and pears. The birds only eat a few, but the rest just sit on the tree until we pick it.


The apply tree below has a very cool history. My parents didn't buy this apple tree. My dad devoured a delicious apple from the supermarket, and he enjoyed it so much that he saved the seeds. Today, the seeds of that delicious apple have grown to become the tree below.


Unfortunately, the apple was probably a hybrid, so the tree is sterile. The fruit on the tree is tiny and will never grow to a full size. We can't enjoy the fruit, but it does provide nice shade.

Below: My parents also grow Asian persimmons (Diospyros kaki) in the yard. They have several persimmon trees, and each tree always bears fruit. Because it's early in the summer, there isn't any fruit yet. These trees are still very pretty to look at.


If you are unfamiliar with persimmons, you should definitely look it up. It's a really cool looking fruit. In my opinion, the Asian persimmon looks like a tomato plant, only it's orange and the skin is very tough and fibrous.

Below: A photograph of the American persimmon plant from Park Seed.
It's similar to the Asian, except the Asian has a more square-like shape. I'll have to snap a photo of my parents' fruit when it comes in, so you can all see.



Now to something really neat. My parents live near the railroads (it's the price to pay to get an extra large lot). And near the railroad track, there's a very tall plant that grows. From far away, all you see are these beautiful purple flowers. On closer inspection, you notice that there are little peas that grow on the plant.

My sister calls it "the wild pea plant," and my dad says "I don't eat anything I didn't plant myself." But it's still really COOL that it grows out there in the wild. And it does look like pea pods. I slit open a pod, and little peas came out. I almost want to eat it, but I'm not in the mood to have my stomach pumped, in case its a poisonous plant.

Photo 1: The purple flowers that give birth to the peas


Photo 2: The actual pea pods. Cool, isn't it?


In my parents' garden, they also have an overgrown asparagus plant. My dad said he planted it, but then never got around to harvesting it. So it's REALLY grown tall, and sadly it's inedible. (After I took the photograph, he did cut it down).

Below: Overgrown asparagus


Now onto the vegetable garden that my sister and I started in my parents' backyard. We went to Home Depot and bought two tomato plants, two eggplants, one cantaloupe plant, one red bell pepper, two watermelon, one package of cucumber seedlings, one cabbage plant, and a bunch of seeds.

My parents have a raised bed that they plant everything in, and it's seemed to work wonderfully for them for many, many years. I let my dad do the teaching because I trust him as the expert. Everything that he plants always thrives. He really has a green thumb. I hope that after this summer, I can consider myself as a baby expert gardener. :-)

Below: Cucumber seedlings near a mint bed. Look at how tiny they are compared to the garden tools!


Below: One cucumber plant after transplantation.

I watched my dad plant the cucumbers in the raised bed. Unlike me, he dug deep and buried much of the stem. He didn't pay attention to the carton instructions, and it definitely seems much healthier than the cucumbers I tried to plant at Cam's house.

Below: Take a look at the SFG cucumbers.

It's been two weeks since I transplanted them, and they won't stand up straight. I think my father's method is best. But I am a first time gardener, and I'm continuing to learn better ways to garden.

Now onto cabbage. I'm not a big cabbage eater, but I saw the plant at Home Depot, and I decided to give it a try. After being transplanted, it looks healthy. The package said it was a 50-lb green cabbage and that it would take 80-some days before it would be ready to harvest. I guess it will only form one cabbage head. I'm excited. One cabbage is enough for me and my family.


Above: The cabbage after it was watered. It's neat how the water drops just roll off the cabbage leaves!

And being the tomato freak that I am, I had to buy two tomato plants for my new garden. This time, I stayed away from the tiny tomatoes. I went for Roma tomatoes and the Bonnie Traditional. I don't have these varieties at Cam's house.

I'm very anxious to see how it will turn out. I bought plants that already had flowers on them. I figured they would fruit quicker.

Above: My Roma tomato plant.

Home Depot also had different varieties of eggplant. We chose two different types: (1) the classical eggplant you see at the grocery (2) a longer, thinner variety. I can't remember the exact names, but once it starts producing fruit, I'll write it down and announce it!

Below: One of the eggplants. Isn't it a beaut?

I applaud my dad for making the plants look so healthy after transplantation. It was really fun to watch him. A real family learning experience. For me, gardening is a hobby. For my dad, it's his life. He used to do garden to support the family, and I guess it'll always be a part of him. For as long as I can remember, he and my mom have always had a garden of some kind.

Below: A watermelon plant.


I hope you enjoyed this tour of my parents' garden. As my veggies grow in both Cam and my parents' garden, I'll document their journey from seedlings to delicious food that I nourish my body with. :-)

Happy June 2008!