Garden Update!

Good morning and happy Friday!

I don’t have a recipe today, but it’s for a good reason. I’m actually in northern Virginia working on a new project that I can’t wait to tell you guys about – I’m so excited! I’ll have more details soon, but I can definitely tell you that you’ll be able to watch me cook (ahh!!!) online.

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In the meantime, I’ve got some pictures of our garden, which is growing like crazy right now.

Our cilantro is coming in (above) and our lettuces started to grow super fast this last week and a half. We had huge salads for dinner the other night, and I’m not sure I can ever go back to bagged salad mix. The leaves were so light and tender.

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More radishes. A lot more.

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I pulled 15 more radishes out the other night. That makes about 30 that we’ve harvested this year, and I’m sure there will be 10-15 more when I get back this weekend.

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Our peas are coming in strong, too. We harvested about 2 cups of peas and ate those last week. We pulled more on Tuesday night, and I think we might get 1-2 more batches of them before they’re gone.

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The fig bushes are covered! We had one that started to turn purple last week but we’re pretty sure it was changing immature because we picked it and it definitely was not ripe yet.

I’m waiting patiently for them to change, checking them every morning of afternoon when we’re outside with Maggie.

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The thing I’m most excited about? Those little baby raspberry bushes we planted this year are growing! They’re still very small, and we won’t get more than a handful of berries this year, but I was so happy to see these little red berries on the plants already.

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The corn is about 3 feet tall now. And, after finally seeing Children of the Corn a few weeks ago, I’m really happy we don’t a huge field in the backyard because that would be a little weird.

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Our green beans are going strong, and the pea plants are doing good.

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This is the first time we’ve ever grown zucchini. The plants are massive! The leaves are the size of my head, no lie. We’ve pulled 3 zucchini off the plants so far and I’m excited for more.

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And the tomatoes.

Or the I-planted-way-too-many-plants-and-we’ll-be-drowning-in-the-red-globes come August.

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And we’ve got baby tomatoes! A few romas, some Early Girls, Rutgers, and a few others. It was definitely a good idea at the time, but I may be regretting it when they’re flooding us in a few weeks.

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Got any gardening tips for me? I have a feeling we’ll be needing it soon Smile

What are you doing this weekend?

26 comments

  1. wow. totally impressed by your garden!

  2. Ok I am TOTALLY jealous of your garden. I kill EVERYTHING I TOUCH!
    I cant wait to hear about your new adventure!

  3. OMG i’m totally coming for a visit when your figs ripen. everything looks so amazing!!! and your new adventure sounds amazing :) can’t wait to hear more!

  4. You are in my neck of the woods! How long are you up here for?

  5. Wow, you two have quite the pair of green thumbs! I am super jealous. I can’t grow anything.

  6. Your garden is gorgeous! No tips, other than don’t be afraid to can what you can’t eat – there is nothing like opening up a jar of chopped tomatoes in December!

    My daughter is still enjoying her vacation in Roanoke, VA – still jealous she’s there and I am at work! :(

    Happy Friday – have a great weekend!

  7. I’m super jealous of all the bloggers and their awesome gardens!! I need a backyaaaaaaard!

  8. We started picking cherry tomatoes this week and I’m so excited! It looks like your garden is doing really well! I’m still jealous of all of your space.

  9. So fun! The berries look awesome! Our cantaloupe and watermelon have officially taken over the garden! I also have more tomatoes than I know what to do with! I’m thinking it sauce making time!!

  10. This is amazing! you grow FIGS?! lovelovelove. I cannot grow plants haha only herbs….I have a massive amount of basil somehow :)

  11. Definitely jealous of your garden! Can’t wait until I can have one some day :) GOOD LUCK on your project :) :) SOOOO excited for you!

  12. I find that figs are really ripe when they start to droop on their stems and get a bit wrinkly. Some varieties also produce a drop of nectar on the bottom. The problem I have is birds! The winged thieves tend to get the figs before they’re really ripe, so I pick the figs when they start to feel a little bit squishy and then put them on my windowsill ’til they’re good and ripe–when they feel more squishy and look more wrinkly. Hope this helps!

    Also, I must tell you that I have serious raspberry envy. Raspberries and mangoes are my two favorite fruits, but the climate here (the greater New Orleans area) is too hot for the former and too cold for the latter, although I am trying my luck with a mango in a (big!) pot that gets wheeled into the garage when it gets too cold.

  13. Love your garden. Impressed with your green thumb!

  14. So so jealous of your garden, I can’t wait until we can have one. I’d can salsa and tomato sauce! YUM!

  15. Yay! I”m so excited to hear all the details!

    And damn that garden is looking GOOD, girl!

  16. So jealous of your tomatoes. We planted a small garden and the soil just isn’t good for gardening here…the plants have grown, but the fruit and veg has not. You could try making fried green tomatoes when they get a little larger. So delish! And make your own marinara sauces then can them. Stewed tomatoes too.

  17. I love the garden!!! My advice, bring some when you come visit :)!!! Can’t wait to hear about your project!!!

  18. Beautifully tended garden. Nice to compare how things are growing out east in northern Virginia compared to here in eastern Washington state since we had such a cold spring. Jealous of your corn crop being so far along as ours is only about knee high. But, the lettuce and radishes are coming in fast and furious right now and very much agree that it is hard to go back to bagged lettuce when freshly grown is so sweet, almost buttery. Good eating!

  19. wow, Brandi, the gardens are beautiful. Wish my Dad could see it all. Also, I’ve got to make those raspberry confetti cupcakes, I LOVE raspberries. Just had some real nice, big ones this week that I bought at Food Lion, believe it or not.

  20. If you want to add fertilizer, you can add used coffee grounds to the soil (make sure that they’re dry first though) and sprinkle some crushed eggshells to the soil as well. The eggshells act as lime for the soil and the coffee grounds are good fertilizer for tomato plants. Oh, and cheap beer but I hear that’s just a myth ;)

  21. Great to see how your garden grows, Brandi. And I’m as excited as you about the project you worked on last week!

  22. your backyard is SO gorgeous! there is nothing like wide open spaces to make a girl happy. oooh yeah, the garden doesn’t look so bad either ;)

  23. My garden also grew like crazy the past week! Because of the sun and heat one half of my peach tree had ripe fruits and on the other half all the fruits are green…love the way you arranged your garden!Raspberries grew also very quickly and a lot this year!

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