Checking on My Bedford Garden
I’m just finishing up a wonderful stay at Skylands, my home in Maine, and will be at QVC this afternoon, sharing more products from my collections. Be sure to tune in throughout the day starting at 3pm ET when I show items from my apparel line. And remember to check my Twitter page @MarthaStewart for all the latest information.
Meanwhile, back at my Bedford, New York farm, everyone is working hard in the gardens, especially in the vegetable beds. We’ve had a great year for eggplants, beans and peppers - both hot and sweet. And, we’ve also started to harvest many, many tomatoes - large, medium and small - all so tender and juicy.
Enjoy these photos.
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- I’ve enjoyed so many of the vegetables with my family and friends this summer. Here is the entrance of my vegetable garden with my handy and durable Multi-Purpose Garden Tote from QVC. We use these all the time for gathering weeds and cuttings.
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- Inside the vegetable garden, Sanu picks some of the many beans. We’ve had such a bounty of beans this year. Beans grow best in full sun and moist soil. Here in the Northeast, we’ve had both.
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- These beans are absolutely gorgeous. Violet-purple outside and bright green inside with great flavor. The six-inch long pods turn green after cooking, providing a built-in blanching indicator.
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- These yellow beans are also pretty. Bush beans grow on shrubby plants and are very prolific producers. They can continually produce throughout the season with the proper care. In general, bush beans should be ready in 50 to 55 days.
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- And of course, we harvested lots of young, sweet green beans.
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- Our hot peppers have also been very prolific. The ideal temperature for hot peppers is a daytime reading around 75-degrees Fahrenheit and a nighttime temperature around 62-degrees Fahrenheit.
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- The jalapeño is a medium-sized chili pepper of the species Capsicum annuum. It is mild to medium in pungency depending on the cultivar.
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- Here is a trug bucket filled with sweet peppers. Sweet peppers are often harvested when the fruit is still green, but full sized. Allowing the bell pepper to remain on the plant and continue to ripen, changing colors from yellow, orange to red before picking pepper fruit, will result in sweeter peppers.
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- As you may recall, we staked our peppers and eggplants differently this year to keep them all off the ground better. This method was very successful.
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- Purple peppers are always a favorite. Not only are they colorful, but they have a crisp texture and a mild sweet flavor that’s quite popular.
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- Here’s a trug bucket of eggplants. I like to pick them when they’re smaller, when they are young and tender.
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- I also grow an entire bed of Asian bok choy. These are ready to pick.
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- Underneath all the sprawling vines, there are lots of beautiful varieties of squash.
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- Once the plants start producing, it’s important to check them every day for new produce – squash grows very quickly, and the best time to harvest is when they are still small and tender.
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- We’ve already planted more lettuce in this bed. Most lettuce varieties mature in 45 to 55 days, which means we can easily plant two or even three crops during the season. Looseleaf and butterhead leaves can be harvested at just about any time in their development, but heading varieties take a bit longer to mature. Romaine takes 75 to 85 days.
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- Here is Chhiring doing a bit of tomato plant maintenance – trimming any brown leaves from the bottoms of the plants. Our tomatoes are thriving. We’ve just started to harvest juicy tomatoes, have you?
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- Here in the Northeast, recent weather has been very, very warm – uncomfortable for many of us, but good for the tomato crops. All the tomato plants are well-supported under bamboo teepee-like structures and laden with fruits.
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- There are several types of tomatoes available, including globe tomatoes used in processing, and for fresh eating. Beefsteak are large, often used for sandwiches. Oxheart tomatoes vary in size and are shaped like large strawberries. Plum tomatoes are usually oblong, and used in tomato sauces. Cherry tomatoes are small round, often sweet and eaten whole.
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- This year, we planted more than 130-tomato plants, with many different varieties. Most tomatoes are red, but other colors are possible, including green, yellow, orange, pink, black, brown, white and purple.
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- It’s a good idea to grow a range of varieties, including at least one or two disease-resistant types, since, of all veggies, tomatoes tend to be the most susceptible to disease. And be sure to grow the right types for your area.
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- I use a lot of different seeds every year. I purchase many from seed companies such as Johnny’s Selected Seeds, but I also collect rare and interesting seeds during my travels, and from other gardeners and friends.
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- Most tomato plants need between 50 and 90 days to mature. Planting can also be staggered to produce early, mid and late season tomato harvests. Tomatoes should be planted in an area with full sun and well-drained soil. The best time to plant tomatoes is when night time temperatures are consistently above 50-degrees Fahrenheit and when the soil is at least 60-degrees Fahrenheit.
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- The onions look wonderful and big – we planted a lot of white, yellow and red onions.
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- Any vegetables that are picked are brought to my Flower Room where they can be washed and stored. Many of these were sent up to Maine.
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- Look at this beautiful Chinese cabbage on the left. It is called ‘Red Dragon’ – with a full-sized 10-inch head and bright red to purple leaves, inside and out. Compared to green Napa types, its flavor is slightly stronger, but great for salads, stir-fries, and kimchee.
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- And here’s our bok choy after it’s all washed and ready to dry. Chinensis varieties don’t form heads – instead, they have smooth, dark green leaf blades that form clusters.
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- Here are some of the tomatoes just picked – fresh off the vine, and onto large trays on my kitchen counter.
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- I always have trays of tomatoes in the kitchen during this time of year. I love to cook with them and eat them fresh. I hope your tomato plants have started to provide lots of juicy, mouth watering fruits this season.
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