Early Summer in My Vegetable Garden
My large half-acre vegetable garden is so much fun to visit right now because of all the growing produce - there’s something new popping up every day.
This garden, which is now in its second growing season, is filled with so many wonderful crops - tomatoes, spinach, brassicas, beets, Swiss chard, sweet and hot peppers, onions, leeks, shallots, potatoes, artichokes, asparagus, all sorts of herbs, and more. I've already picked several vegetables, and every one has been delicious. Check out my Instagram page @marthastewart48. And, I always plant in succession, meaning I seed crops at intervals of seven to 21 days in order to maintain a consistent supply of harvestable produce throughout the summer.
Enjoy these photos.
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- This garden is looking so beautiful. And I planned this new garden close to my Winter House, so I can get to it quickly, see what is growing, and pick what is ready.
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- At the edge of all the beds, I planted herbs. Thyme is on the left. Thyme is an herb whose small leaves grow on clusters of thin stems. It is a Mediterranean herb with dietary, medicinal, and ornamental uses. It is delicious with fish or poultry and imparts a lemony flavor. On the right, tomatillos, also known as the Mexican husk tomato.
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- It’s easy to spot where the tomatoes are growing by all the bamboo supports. If you’ve ever grown a vining plant, you know how important it is to provide strong structures to which the vines can cling and climb. Bamboo is strong and easy to find at garden supply stores.
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- All 120 plants are divided among our four long tomato beds. I always grow an abundance of tomatoes to share and to make all the delicious tomato sauce I enjoy through the year. It’s a good idea to grow a range of varieties, including at least one or two disease-resistant types.
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- Many of this year’s tomatoes were grown from seed right in my greenhouse. I also have tomato plants that were gifted to me by a friend, and a large variety also came from Bonnie Plants, one of my favorite growers.
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- These are the large leaves of rhubarb. The leaves are toxic because they contain high levels of oxalic acid, but the fleshy stalks of rhubarb can be cooked and used to make a variety of delicious pies, tarts, cakes, cobblers, crisps, and pavlovas.
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- I planted onions, shallots, and leeks a few weeks ago and they are all developing nicely. Onions, shallots and leeks are harvested later in the summer when the underground bulbs are mature and flavorful. I always look forward to this harvest!
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- In this long bed, I have summer squash and zucchini.
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- Looking closely, one can see the squash growing.
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- The kale continues to be a big shower – look how beautiful this crop is. Kale or leaf cabbage is a group of vegetable cultivars within the plant species Brassica oleracea. They have purple or green leaves, in which the central leaves do not form a head. One cup of chopped kale has 134-percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin-C – that’s more than a medium orange, which only has 113-percent of the daily C requirement.
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- And maybe you saw the Chinese cabbage on my Instagram page @marthastewart48. Also called Napa cabbage, these heads are oblong with green, crinkly leaves on the outside and creamy yellow in the center. I picked one not long ago and it weighed 15 pounds!
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- Broccoli is a hardy vegetable of the cabbage family that is high in vitamins A and D. And, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA, the average American eats more than four-pounds of broccoli a year. I have so much broccoli ready to enjoy.
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- Here are the leaves of our cauliflower – so much growth in every bed. We attribute the growth to the excellent soil I have here at the farm. I use Scotts Miracle-Gro Organic Raised Bed & Garden Soil in all the beds.
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- My cabbages are also growing nicely. To get the best health benefits from cabbage, it’s good to include all three varieties into the diet – Savoy, red, and green. I am so pleased with all these vegetables.
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- Red, or purple, cabbage is often used raw for salads and coleslaw. It contains 10-times more vitamin-A and twice as much iron as green cabbage.
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- And here is one of my green cabbages – so perfect.
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- Savoy cabbage has crinkled, emerald green leaves, and a mildly nutty and sweet flavor.
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- Nearby is my bed of basil – both green and purple. Basil, also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae. Basil is native to tropical regions from central Africa to Southeast Asia. It is a tender plant, and is used in many cuisines. Since basil grows in tropical climates, it grows well in hot weather. We’ve had a week of temperatures in the 90s Fahrenheit and my basil is thriving.
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- This bed was recently planted with beans. My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, always keeps track of when to plant our crops and we always plant in succession, meaning we plant seeds every few weeks, so there is always something ready to harvest.
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- My green peppers are growing too. They are still quite small now, but it won’t be long before I’ll have a bounty of green, red, and yellow peppers.
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- And there is always spinach in my gardens. The leaves are so beautiful and so very tender and tasty. I grow spinach all year long for my morning green juice.
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- These are the leaves of my artichokes. Globe artichokes, Cynara scolymus, are popular in both Europe and the United States. Artichokes are actually the flower buds, which will emerge from the center of the plants.
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- Everyone always asks what I do with all the vegetables I grow. I share them with my family, but I also love sharing the bounties with friends, colleagues, and my hardworking crew here at the farm. I also provide fruits, vegetables, and eggs for photography and video shoots. And, of course, all my birds get vegetables too. I hope your gardens are doing well this season.
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