Thursday, June 24, 2010

A Midsummer's Maui Vegetable Garden Tour

The winter rains have gone making way for long, dry summer days. Come and take a walk with me in the midsummer garden.


Let's start with the seedling babies. The lettuce has all bolted and i am late with my new plantings. Here are a few bok choy plants to the left and some mizuna sprouts on the right. The bok choy is a year 'round staple crop but the mizuna is new to my garden. i've heard it makes a nice warm weather green. i just received some purple mizuna from Johnny's that i'll be planting next along with a few heat tolerant lettuces and baby chard  to create a greens mix that i hope will thrive in the summer weather.

 

The arugula is still looking good. This is Astro, a widely available variety that tolerates the warm weather better than most. Arugula likes to grow in clay so i will be planting a new patch in the garden. These plants are in the raised bed and will probably start to bolt soon.



The Olive Leaf arugula keeps trying to bolt but i pluck the budding stems and toss them in salads. i have seen this plant described as a perennial. Cool! Perennials are always welcome in my garden.


Plaza Latina Giant Green Tomatillo is setting fruit like crazy despite perisistent attention from the flea beetles. Flea beetles are new to my garden this year and i am patiently waiting for a beneficial to come along and exert some control. 


Remember the shallots? They have finally started to bulb up and are sloooowwwwly drying. i'll replant the smaller bulbs from this variety next year. If i am lucky i will end up with an adapted variety in a few seasons.


I begin to see why this Lacinato Kale is sometimes called Black Palm Kale. 


Very excited by this heading broccoli! i planted three varieties earlier this year and this Umpqua is the first one to head. The other two are Arcadia and Fiesta.


The Piracicaba broccoli must be very photogenic because it looks great in this picture but really terrible in the garden. It is a favorite with some sort of chewing worm and the growing points are decidedly chlorotic. i finally purchased some Bt but after 5 or 6 weeks of rainless skies we are now getting just enough to wash the leaves clean every day, grrr.


This is Gardener's Delight cherry tomato. It was direct seeded in January but has just started to really grow and set fruit. A good example, i think, of planting in the wrong season. 


Compare it to this Snow White cherry tomato that was planted three months later and is nearly the same size.  Established plants will fruit in the winter months but i think they need the longer hours of daylight during their formative months.



Yay, carrots! Red Cored Chantenay Carrots almost ready to dig. Now to work on my spacing ; )


Daghestani White carrots look like they will be ready to dig soon as well. Carrot seeds can be hard to germinate during hot, dry weather so i am going to experiment with transplanting the young sprouts.


Masai filet beans. These are nice! They stay small, produce a good number of slender beans and can be picked only once or twice a week.  First crop has already been picked which is why the plants look a little tired. i have just side dressed them with some chicken manure and hope to get one more crop in before some mold/mildew/rust/blight takes them out.



Do you know what these are? Baby mangos! i usually get to gobble down only about a dozen delicious mangos from this dwarf tree each year due to rampant anthracnose disease. This year i tried spraying with Serenade a few times to combat the anthracnose and maybe increase my harvest. i am greedy, a dozen mangos is not enough. Believe me, if you could taste these mangos you would be greedy too.


That's all for now,

A hui hou!

11 comments:

michelle said...

I've never seen baby mangoes before, that's really interesting! It looks like your garden is really thriving. But your poor Piracicaba, it's really tasty I guess. I can't wait to see your purple mizuna, I love the look of purple veggies.

Jane said...

WOW! Your garden looks wonderful! That's amazing your broccoli is still growing and looking so good in June. I didn't know there was a dwarf mango tree - it's just beautiful! Is it small enough to grow in a large container?

Julie said...

Hi Michelle~
Glad you enjoyed the mango shot. They won't be ready until October or later which seems like forever!
It's my first time growing the Piracicaba, didn't expect it to be such a diva. Now i know. i think i saw some tiny buds for the first time today so maybe i will get to try it soon.
We will look forward to seeing the purple mizuna together ; )

Aloha Jane~

i think i was a little late planting the broccoli but i tried to select varieties that do well in the heat so maybe that is helping. That and the nights being so cool still.
My mango tree is only about 8' tall after as many years. Could it be grown in a container? Not sure. Mangoes have pretty substantial root systems. You could try asking the good folks over at Plant It Hawaii on the Big Island. The cultivar is called~wait for it~Julie! You can see why i had to have it ; )

Rowena said...

Everything in your garden looks so good. The remark about the tomatoes cracked me up since for me it is a game of timing - period. If I don't start the seedlings soon enough there won't be any tomatoes. By October the days are too short/temps too cool that any remainders on the vine just won't ripen properly. Planting any time of the year and getting away with it is what I miss about the islands. That cherry tomato is awesome!

Julie said...

Hi Rowena,
Yes, you're right, gardening in most other places requires a little more organization! Glad you enjoyed the tour ; )

Pomaika`i said...

Aloha, Julie!
I just found your blog - I'll be moving to Maui sometime next year, but I have a little house already upcountry, so I'm trying to learn all I can about gardening in Maui. I'm using a Square Foot method with success, even with only 2 or 3 visits there each year. I'll be following your blog a lot!
Ahui hou, and mahalo nui loa for your blog.

Julie said...

Aloha Pomaika'i!
Upcountry is a great place for a veggie garden! What do you have planted? You'll have to start your own blog so we can see pictures ; )
i still have a lot to learn so be sure to check out 'A kitchen garden in Kihei, Maui'. Jane is doing amazing things over there. You can link to her blog from the sidebar if you haven't already.
A hui hou!

Pomaika`i said...

Mahalo, Julie, I'm a complete novice to blogging, but I'll let you know when get it going. I left in April with Brandywine and Better Boy tomatoes, Candy onions, peanuts I got a year ago at Puk Soup (raw, but they sat untouched a year), rosemary, two papayas (Sunrise, I think?),a nice bay laurel, artichokes from seed, Italian and Thai basil, sage (huge bush that I whack back every visit), and there are figs and a couple of mangoes that anchor the soil in back, so we don't fall into the gulch. [sigh] I gotta get back to my future home soon!

Julie said...

Peanuts! Yes, hurry back so you can give me a full report~sounds cool. My artichokes are not responding favorably to benign neglect, sigh. We will see what the spring holds.

Unknown said...

Hi July, I loved your garden .
It's so beautiful , but i like the most is dwarf mango tree.
I've never seen baby mangoes before, that's really interesting!
I'll be visiting your blog more often to see how is your dwarf mango grows .
Thanks to introduce your blog,

Ann Flowers said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.