Harvest!!

This is a combination of Wednesday's harvest and an update for Friday (AKA today). I forgot to mention in the previous post that Ms. Moreno had graciously sacrificed her time to supervise the garden on Monday and Wednesday. She even brought the harvest to the food pantry on Wednesday! We deeply appreciate her dedication and would like to thank Ms. Moreno for her efforts.

.

I know what you're thinking, why did Annie post two identical pictures from different angles and lighting? Well, the first picture is from Wednesday after harvesting and the second picture is from Friday. Four peppers were lucky enough to be harvested and the rest we're going to observe to see if there are any color changes. When you harvest peppers, make sure you cut it off. DO NOT pull the pepper off. If you do so, it is likely the whole branch or plant will come with it since they are kind of skinny. Note: I did not pull out a plant, I just read it and agreed with the website's logic about harvesting peppers.

These are the other pepper plants that reside nearby the watermelon. They haven't grown flowers yet, but there is still time!

Using logic, we figured that with all the heat, the pea plants aren't going to be producing much more peas. Thus, we plucked all the rest of the pods and shelled them.

The lettuce leaves have been almost entirely harvested and the plants are left looking somewhat bare. It's important to remember when harvesting lettuce to cut off the leaves and not just pluck them off. Since some of the plants have already bolted, they'll need to be removed.

There's a variety of plants growing in this structure. Most notable are the lone carrot and tomato plants which both reside on the top level. The carrots may be ready to harvest soon since their tops are peeking out (right picture). Most of the advice given on the time frame of carrot growth essentially amount to check the seed packet and track time. Hopefully these carrots are longer than an inch!

Despite being overshadowed by their large leafy neighbors, the banana squash, the cantaloupe have been thriving. Tiny yellow flowers have been sprouting all over and if each one turns into a melon, its going to look similar to a ball pit.

The watermelon look somewhat dismal and lacking in number, yet what plants that exist, are growing strong. The plant at the bottom left corner is the longest but there are still three other plants all steadily developing.

Well this format is disconcerting. To the left, are the zealous zucchini plants in pursuit of growth. To the right is the product of this zeal, a zucchini.

Several tomatoes were red by Wednesday and were picked. By Friday, the other tomatoes still remained orange or green. However...

in the other variety of tomatoes, a shocking event occurred! There are tomatoes now!!! though they are admittedly still green, but ToMatO!

Other happy news includes the pink jumbo banana squash are progressively fattening around the middle! There is also just not one visible squash but multiple. Not to mention...

Look at the adorable bees!!! Bees are important since they are vital pollinators, you can even see the pollen on the bee in the left picture.

In the picture of okra, all seems fine. The plants get (hopefully) enough water and sun. Yet something is off. Recall how we frequently call the okra strange? As it turns out, if you look closely at the large plant that does not resemble the shorter plants, it is in fact a tomato plant. Thats right, the tomato have invaded the okra. To be honest, I hadn't noticed the difference until I saw tomato flowers. That is when it hit me that there was a tomato plant hidden in the midst of the okra.

Ms. Paulson asked about thoughts on the tower garden thingy so... I watched the videos and a couple additional ones. It doesn't seem like it would hurt to try one especially since there really isn't much negative about it. Nicole's opinion is "sure" which speaks for itself. If you haven't watched the videos its essentially this thingy that is a hollow pole with holes on a base. You put plants in rock wool which allows it oxygen and eliminates the use of soil. Rock wool is basically the container. You don't put it in the tower as seeds, you have to wait for it to be a seedling. When you put it in the tower, the roots go in the hollow part. Next comes the interesting part, the base is the storage place where you put water and the nutrient solution thing. There is a pump that brings it to the top of the pole and then it falls out and basically "waters" all the roots from the inside. Apparently it eliminates the need for soil,weeds, pesticides as well as helps the plants grow faster. It seems interesting, and it is capable of growing a variety of plants including squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries etc. My concern is whether the rock wool is reusable or if new rock wool needs to be brought each year since that would be an additional cost along with the nutrient solution thing. Also, given its price, I do not believe it would be achievable this year but is definitely something to strive for in the coming years.

Next meeting is Monday at 12, see you there!