Our Garden This Week

Stuff your basil varieties in a basket, mister!

We're still in a drought/heat holding pattern that will likely continue for several weeks. With our late start in the Victory Garden we've never had a fantastic yield, but we've still got tomatoes and Roma II beans ripening in the Texas heat. Plus, there's one zucchini squash and some cukes readying themselves. As mentioned, we've had a bit of trouble with the zucchini this year. And one of the cuke plants has succumbed to the heat and produced bitter veggies. Alas, since three of them are trellised together, we can't yank the bad plant out and have to rely upon taste to test for quality. Luckily, the last two I've sampled in the last week were just dandy.

Within the last two weeks, we've begun planting the fall garden. In keeping with the potager garden style, we're going to resist pulling everything to create a tabula raza and instead put in fall plants gradually. I pulled two of my unproductive 'mater plants (what could have consistently eaten the buds off of my Porters?), cleaned up the bed a bit, and added in a cherry tomato plant. I planted a few more of cherries in pots out front and gave a couple of the remaining plants in the six-pack away. 

Also, having seen so many clever ideas for growing food in hanging baskets, I planted three varieties of basil (Aussie Sweety, Pistou and Purple Leaf). Not only does the basil help detour mosquitos and taste delicious in Mediteranean dishes, the Aussie Sweety has a cinnamon taste, making it a nice addition to my beloved strawberries in balsamic marinade. (Be sure to check back in the next week or so...I've got an upcoming profile with two gardeners and their fantastic West Coast container Victory Garden!)

Moving on...I haven't written much about what we've eaten out of the garden...so for the remainder of this week's update, we'll focus on "veg plot to dining table" experiences. 

Last Saturday evening we were reminded of one of the prime reasons we planted veggies out back: so Tater Tot would know from whence food comes. 

Coming in the back door with a handful of beans, he asked with eyes wide open, "Is that beans from my garden?" He already takes great pride in showing "his garden" to guests. Since he did "help" me snap together the raised bed kit, "supervised" his dad on the addition of the soil, "helped" to plant the seeds and seedlings, and occasionally "assists" with watering efforts...his sense of ownership is merited. A week ago, he plucked a fresh red tomato for his best gal pal and seemed pleased with his tiny harvest. Considering a few weeks ago he was insisting upon picking green 'maters, that's progress!

Back to the food...

For dinner Sunday night, we had chicken kebabs. I mixed up a quick marinade of olive oil, fresh minced garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt and fresh-picked oregano for the air-chilled organic regional poultry, skewered the meat and then broiled it on a bed of locally grown onions, fresh rosemary and chopped baby yellow squash from the VG, and a bit of garlic. With rice, fresh hummus with lots of garlic added and a side of fresh cucumber chilled with olive oil and apple cider vinegar (for me--my fellows aren't cuke fans), it was a delicious supper. Baby yellow squash cook up much nicer than the big ones. 

Having covered the Victory Garden and its yield, here's a bit about the rest of our yard: the meditation garden looks fantastic with the butterfly bush still tempting our hummingbirds; incredibly, our potted snapdragon plants still look good, even if the flower production has slowed--they may make it through to fall!; the ten Knockout roses that my husband planted earlier this year are holding their own around near the Victory Garden; and my newly planted sunflowers have come up from seed. Soon I hope to experiment with the "three sisters" planting technique (if I have time for a fall harvest of corn...need to check) and, hopefully, plant some of the swan neck gourds from seeds collected last year. 

I think that covers everything. 

Now It's Your Turn:

• How is your garden? Anyone else suffering drought and other obstacles?

• Any fall plantings underway?

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