As simple as that

Balance the soil, select a variety suited to your conditions, plant in season. A winter garden on Maui can be as simple as that.

Click if you'd like a closer look!

I offer this beautiful Romanesco as an example. No aphids, no cabbage worms, no spray. It's quite lovely, isn't it?

Fee Fi Fo Fum

Fee

Fi

Fo

Fum

What do you think will grow from 'um?

I know. They're just seeds. But they are big, so wondrously big, that i had to show them to you now. They might not even sprout. They could get eaten by giant slugs. Anthing could happen, if you think about it.  But don't. Really think about it, i mean. No, for now, for just a minute, Imagine instead.

Sword Bean

Good for what ails you.

i like limas

My friend Joy sent me some seeds. Madagascar Beans, she called them.

I planted three seeds along a fence and looked forward to seeing what would grow. i did not double dig, i did not amend, i did not water.

I would have, if they needed me to, but they didn't. Bean number one is growng to the left and right of the wooden post. Bean number two is hunkered down at the bottom of the metal post to the right after running afoul of the lawn mower. It later made a fine recovery. Bean number three is off to the right, past the reach of the camera, looking a lot like bean number one.  

It was four months before there were beans to pick but now they just keep coming, one to three beans to a pod. The grass is brown now but the limas stay green*. Lima beans are perennial in Hawaii, did you know?

 

Take some limas, two handfuls is nice. Swish under cold water and tumble into a bowl. Cover and microwave two or four minutes. Peel the pods from the beans, don't burn your fingers! Squeeze the beans from the skins and swirl in sizzling, curry scented olive oil. Gild with salt. Feel sorry for people who don't grow madagascar beans ; )

*These beans do show a susceptibility to rust. They are blissfully ignored by the Chinese Rose Beetle but favored by some kind of pod borer which makes harvesting dry seed hit or miss.

Mid April in the vegetable garden

Musica Beans are reaching for the sky.

The first flowers have just appeared and are already starting to fade. Beans will not be far behind!

A few runner beans have resprouted at the feet of the Musica beans. Maybe they will find spring weather more to their liking.

i had to battle the wild hens for these but finally i have a good stand of Striped Bunch beans. Look closely to the left to see the first few short tendrils.  Striped Bunch are supposed to be the best for Dilly Beans.

The Portuguese cabbage has been growing merrily in the recent cool and rainy weather. Caterpillers like it too!

Wow, the potatoes are growing fast now.

 

The Opal Creek Golden Snap Peas are about 6 inches tall.

Sugar Magnolia Peas are still just young sprouts. i'm looking forward to trying purple podded peas in a few weeks.

 

Wing  Beans reached the top of their trellis a few weeks ago and are draping back down. Flowers, flowers but no beans yet. A repeat of last year. The Baker's Creek seed was planted to the left. Not very vigorous compared to the seeds from my friend.

Artichokes are still growing sideways. Should start reaching skyward soon. i wonder if i will have to wait until next year for buds?

We received about 6 inches of rain earlier this week. Unseasonably cold, needed the heater for the first time all winter.

...and then you reap.

OK, cheating a little. This picture was actually taken on February 27th.

What's in that basket? Kabocha pumpkin, Cavili zucchini, Hakurei turnip, Bright Lights Swiss chard, Bordeaux spinach, red leaf lettuce, Okinawan spinach, Meyer lemons, basil, cilantro, Jade and Royal Burgundy green beans, Super Sugar Snap peas , Fairy Tale and Ping Tung eggplant, and a few Sweet Pea flowers.

Today marks the first day of spring!

First you sow...

I've been tucking seeds into the wet earth for the past week or two. i'm a notoriously bad record keeper so i have decided to try to record my plantings here.

Two weeks ago
Yukon Gold potatoes
Musica Pole Beans
Argentata Chard
Watermelon Radish
Wing Bean (from Baker's Creek)
Extra Dwarf Bok Choy
Wrinkled Crinkled Cress
Flashy Butter Oak Lettuce
Strawberry Cabbage Lettuce

Two days ago
Striped Bunch Pole Beans
Piracicaba Broccoli

More to come this weekend!

Gandule Beans

Gandule Beans were introduced by Puerto Rican plantation workers who immigrated to the islands in the 1900s. This legume is most commonly known as the Pigeon Pea which is kind of funny since Cajanus cajan is not really a pea at all.
I planted a long line of these about a year ago, hoping to provide some fast growing wind protection for my new vegetable garden. Boy was i surprised when almost all of the pea plants grew to only about two feet tall! Since then I have learned that there are over 600 varieties of Pigeon Peas. I am now picking my third harvest since planting them a year ago and have given them NO CARE, not even water during the dry summer months. The seeds came from ECHO, a wonderful organization based in Florida.
I try to pick them as they are just filling the pod. If I time it just right, the beans are plump, tender and sweet and can be eaten raw or with only brief cooking. They lose their beautiful markings during cooking and don't taste exactly like soybeans but are still good. I steamed them in the pod the other day and we ate them like Edamame, dousing the shelled peas with chile pepper water.

Purple Rain Beans

It's raining again, on and off for most of the day. Between the showers i am able to gather a few handfuls of beans, long beautiful things called Purple Podded Pole Beans. The dark color makes them hard to miss amongst the green, heart-shaped foliage. As they slip into a pan of boiling water purple shifts to green, signaling the right time to plunge them into a bath of cold water. Chilled and bathed in a spicy roasted sesame dressing they are positively addictive. The vines, despite the wind, are just starting to reach for the top of their 6 foot trellis and have not bent to disease or insect pressure. Compared to their bush sized cousins, pole beans produce a smaller yield over a longer period of time making my four foot row just right for my garden.

Purple Podded Pole Beans, such an obvious name for these gorgeous amethyst hued jewels. i think i will call them my Purple Rain beans ; )

Source: Baker's Creek Heirloom Seeds