Mid February 2014

MoH, one of my favorite blogistas, recently wrote about 'condiment gardening'. A little basil to sprinkle on your pasta, a green salad for dinner, a tomato slice on your sandwich. All very, very nice but not a significant contribution to your daily calorie needs. 

Almost ready!

Upon reading her post, i first thought i might be a 'condiment gardener with aspirations'. But now i have a new idea.

Stem borer on Lacinato Kale. Every once in a while i see this kind of damage. The caterpillar burrows down from the growing tip and into the stem of the plant, opening it up to rot. Seems to affect mostly brassicas and large stemmed radishes.  Not such a big problem that i have bothered to research it.

I think i am a 'supermarket' gardener.

Ethiopian Kale. Growing nicely, not much else to say right now.

In Hawaii the growing season can be year round. There is no reason to plant large quantities of storage crops to tide us through the winter.

Wild Red Kale from Wild Garden Seed catalog.  I especially like this frilly leaved, pink stemmed one.  It's Girlie Kale ; )

So 'supermarket gardening' works for us.  A few plants of this, a few plants of that to provide small harvests of a variety of food plants.

Fennel has been on my mind this spring. I somehow ordered fennel from three different vendors (blush).

It's how i shop and how we eat.  But it's better than shopping because some food stores best in the garden.  And if it won't store on the vine, it will last longer in the crisper when it's picked fresh.

Kale, beets, hot pepper, broccoli. A little kapakai to confuse the bugs.

Kale keeps much longer in the garden than in the vegetable bin. And fresh from the garden lettuce lasts longer in the crisper than store bought.

Broccoli side shoots. I planted a mix of early, mid and late season broccoli from Rene's this year for an extended harvest from one planting. Unfortunately not all of the varieties seem to want to make side shoots.  Disappointing! We enjoy the side shoots more than the initial head and the side shoots often make up the bulk of the harvest. 

No way my tomatoes last as long as the ones you can buy at Costco but i'm not sure i want that. What do they do to those tomatoes to get them to last for weeks stored on a countertop anyway??

Indigo Rose tomato on the left, Blush on the right. 

So that is all i have to say today. Please enjoy the rest of the garden tour.

Weed? No.  Rhubarb! Experimenting with growing it as an annual this year. It will not perennialize in Hawaii at my elevation because we do not get enough chill hours.

Alpine strawberry 'Pineapple' is a pale yellow when ripe. I hope the unusual color will fool the other critters long enough for me to taste a few.

I hoped the fruit fly population might be low enough to grow cucumbers without cover. No problems with fruit fly so far but surprise! the pickle worm is out in full force.   This 'Green Fingers' variety is prolific enough that i am able to get a small harvest anyway. It is also self pollinating so i may try covering it later.  Flanked with 'Wasabi' arugula, Pumba onion in the foreground, waiting to be transplanted.

More confusion planting. Nasturtium, asparagus, broccoli, kale, carrot, pepper, mustard.

Baby 'Golden Sweet ' snow pea. It takes me a few days to get the photos uploaded and posted which means that the pea in this picture was picked and eaten today!

Zucchini pulled out due to intense Pickle Worm pressure. I'll order some self pollinating Cavili and replant under a tunnel later this year.

This bed was in full sun when it was installed a few years ago. It's pretty shady these days. The 'Gator' chard has been growing beautifully here but the other greens are a little slow because of the reduced sunlight. 

A hui hou!