Plot 5 - After the Freeze - December 19

Well, here is a pic of what remains today in Plot 5 after our recent cold spell .........

and a close-up of the chard - melted down with the cold, but new growth is evident

Dinosaur kale, purple cabbage and purple sprouting broccoli still looking good

but the arugula and radicchio are done

time to harvest another purple cabbage

Container Salads - December 19

Sowed lettuce/mesclun mix some time in late September/early October - next year I'll seed as soon as the tomatoes come out - no harvest from this planning yet - but some did make it through our recent deep freeze ........... expecting snow this evening ............. should offer some protection to the hardier greens

Plot 5 - Early December

No pictures here ............. but we had very cold weather (for Vancouver) in early December

Stay tuned for post-freeze pics - what survived????

Plot 5 - November 5

Chard has filled the garden since spring .......... I couldn't use all that the planting provided - too bad I didn't discover this yummy recipe sooner ...... a must try especially with a chard/kale mix - just make sure to strip leaves from stalks - I prefer the lemon juice option

and here is my cauliflower - I find these a challenge to grow and should have picked it when I took the picture - the rains came and destroyed the beautiful head - next time I will cover the head with its leaves ....

I did manage to harvest my purple cabbage and radicchio in time and they provided a wonderful raw addition to green salads ....

Plot 5 - October 8

A few spare moments during this holiday season, so here goes - updates to year end 2013 ...........

first, we go back to early October - Plot 5 at the community garden -

an overview from the north east corner

and my dinosaur kale - have wanted to grow this for ages, the transplants are doing well

late seeded deer tongue lettuce looking good with alyssum and blueberry

can't forget my Wyn's Sensation dahlia - highly recommended

another pic of the firey foliage of Patriot blueberry along with the purple cabbage

and two rows of lettuce/mesclun mix along with cilantro and purple sprouting broccoli and radicchio transplants

September 15 - Last Days of Summer

The Amish Deer Tongue Lettuce has sprouted and the violas get ready to greet the new season .....

cauliflower and radicchio transplants are loving the cooler weather

and the red cabbage transplants (in front the of the purple pole beans) thrive, while the beans are thinking of calling it a day

September 8 - More Seeding

almost forgot - didn't take any picutres ...........

but did direct seed:  Wine Country Mesclun, West Coast Market Blend Mesclun, Ching Chiang Paci Choi, Samish Spinach and Cilantro

September 10 - Plot 5 Update

Lots of pictures in this post ......

but first wanted to share the progress of "Medusa" tomato (Persimmon x unknown heart) -  most picked green due to collapse of plant and my need to make room for fall transplants.  While these were not the greatest tasting fresh, they ripened to a lovely orange and made for both a very yummy pasta sauce and 12 small jars of tomato jam and marmalade

And an updated view of Plot 5 in early September - the chard is taking over - now to find some good recipes to use the bounty

my peppers - Mucho Nacho and Cherry Bell .......... don't know what causes the striations on the fruit

and can't forget the flowers, Wyn's Sensation has truly been a sensation - broomstick thick stocks and many wonderful flowers

bees continue to enjoy September's sunny days

September 7 - Toms and Fall Fair

The summer tomato bounty at its peak

Also had to brag about my ribbons from the South Burnaby Garden Club Fall Fair - one would think it an easy matter to find six similar beans - not!  From my Plot 5 plants.

August 26 - Transplants

Been away from the blog for a bit, but now going through all my photos and hope to get this up to date shortly.

So, back to Augusut 26th - bought some lovely transplants, and they are looking good - cauliflower, radicchio and kale

Also found room to seed more lettuce (Amish Deer Tongue) my favourite and some of Renee's scallion duo

August 26 All About Tomatoes

at home container tomatoes continue to provide

meanwhile back at Plot 5 I am being overwhelmed by tomatoes - as Medusa had collapsed and I was unable to restake due to weight of plant, I decided to harvest all her tomatoes - and to be honest these had very little flavour fresh off the vine - one plant provided 30 lbs of tomatoes - unheard of in any of the previous efforts!!

Roger's Sweet Light Yellow was also a disappointment flavour wise - but what a cropper and a nice looking tomato too!!

Well, not quite all about tomatoes - here is my first dahlia of the season just beginning to open - Wyn's Sensation

August 20 Plot 5 Update

huge yield of Yukon Gold potatoes (check out key ring for size comparison) from last potato plant - 7+ lbs.

also purchased kale and cauliflower starts for fall/winter garden

Have a look at these beauties - my potato onions

 also purchased red cabbage starts for fall/winter garden

And here's Dwarf Jade Beauty - a true beauty of a tomato - one of the new Dwarf releases - and a green when ripe - very yummy

flowers are blooming, kale is in - late summer at its finest

August 19 Container Tomatoes

Finally had time to clean up my at home tomatoes - they were extremely dry and hungry on my return from vacation .......... but still provided a nice harvest

The Sunsugar F1 and Durmitor cherries are great for snacking or tossing in salads ....... others shown are Sleeping Lady and Persimmon x unknown heart F2

August 16 Up and Down

A bit of a catch up ........ a month since my last post ........ so I'll just date each post as it happened

and here's the first - back from vacation and my plot 5 has a few surprises -the purple beans are reaching for the sky, but "Medusa" Persimmon x unknown heart tomato has collapsed due to weight of tomatoes - I had no ideas this plant would be so prolific!!

and the tomatoes are starting to provide, due to the amazing July weather we had this year

a nice slection, including Roger's Sweet Light Yellow - production was amazing, but unfortunately the flavour was just not there - perhaps over watered; Sunsugar F1 - a lovely cherry with a sweet burst of flavour and no splitting compared to Sungold; Durmitor - a larger red cherry with flavour; Sleeping Lady - a new Dwarf introduction - prolific, but again the flavour didn't call my name; various Cheerful F2 growouts - some with amazing flavour and some blah; and a few Persimmon x unknown heart F2 ........... more on those later