Straw Bale Garden 2011 didn't turn out as well as it could have, but it still exceeded my expectations by a lot. Without making this post too wordy, here are some shots of the garden as it looked in early July. This was in many ways the peak of the garden. The first planting of spring greens had run its course and had been pulled out after going to seed. Many peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant were almost ready to pick. Wax beans were proliferating and were a centerpiece of 2-3 meals a week. The squash vines were threatening to take over.
After this point the garden started to overgrow in many ways, but at this moment of the summer the garden was truly everything I had hoped it could be.
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| Peppers |
The long green peppers really weren't what was advertised as they were supposed to be long, red Thai chilies. They were still very tasty and beautiful on the plant. The little peppers in the foreground would turn bright red and were wonderfully hot. Just a couple of those would heat up a stir-fry righteously. Peeking in at the back you can make out a wax bean nearing ripeness.
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| Tomatoes |
Before they began to choke each other out, many of the first tomatoes turned out very well. The Black Cherry tomatoes were dominant eventually. Luckily they were delicious.
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| Green Deer Tongue Lettuce |
This lettuce variety was very good at first but became bitter rather quickly. Going forward I am skipping lettuce in favor of other greens like arugula, mustard, and spinach.
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| Kellogg's Breakfast Beefsteak |
This was the tomato that I waited forever to ripen, and then by the time it did the bugs had gotten to it a bit. This variety is an orange heirloom and has nothing to do with the cereal company.
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| View from the property line. Thor the dog looking on. |
To the left you see Musque de Provence pumpkin squash. To the right is Honey Boat squash. The smaller leafed vine in the middle is Mighty Mite cantaloupe melon.
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| Zoe the dog rests in the shade under the tomato jungle |
This shot illustrates how overgrown the tomatoes had already gotten before they were even ripe. Having the dogs inside the fence, plus Stu the cat roaming around, really helped keep the rabbits away.
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| Musque de Provence squash |
We eventually harvested 6 of these, most of them huge (like 2' across). The flesh is wonderful and I still have a freezer full of processed pumpkin in ziplock bags.
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| Honey Boat squash |
These were a real treat, though we only managed to harvest around a half-dozen of them. They had a sweeter flesh than a Butternut or Acorn variety. Many squash either never made it to ripening or went unnoticed and rotten on the vine unfortunately.
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| Japanese Eggplant |
I had a co-worker who took these off my hands after I decided that I just don't like eggplant. At least most didn't go to waste, though some were eaten by some sort of insect.
Hopefully I will be able to make the 2012 edition more efficient after all I learned last year. It would be nice to can some tomatoes at least.
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