My large half-acre vegetable garden is so much fun to visit right now because of all the growing produce.
This garden, which is now in its fourth growing season, is planted with many crops - cabbage, cauliflower, kale, artichokes, fava beans, tomatoes, onions, shallots, all sorts of herbs, strawberries, and so much more. 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 season. I'm looking forward to my first big bounty.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I planned this garden close to my Winter House, so I can get to it quickly, see what is growing, and pick what is ready.
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. My broccoli is looking perfect.
The cauliflower is also looking amazing. Here’s a beautiful head of cauliflower. Purple cauliflower gets its color from anthocyanin, a naturally occurring phytochemical that is also found in other red, blue, or purple fruits and vegetables.
This is one of my cabbages. To get the best health benefits from cabbage, it’s good to include all three varieties into the diet – Savoy, red, and green. Savoy cabbage leaves are ruffled and a bit yellowish in color. It has crinkled, emerald green leaves, and a mildly nutty and sweet flavor.
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.
My kale is always a big shower in the garden – 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 one side, I have three long beds of strawberries and I’m seeing more beautiful bright fruits every day. Strawberries are among the easiest berries to grow. They are cold-hardy and adaptable, and can be planted in both garden beds and containers.
I am always growing lettuce. Lettuce, Lactuca sativa, is a cultivated plant of the daisy family, Asteraceae. Lettuce is a fairly hardy, cool-weather vegetable that thrives when the average daily temperature is between 60 and 70-degrees Fahrenheit. I grow several varieties.
This week, I harvested many heads of lettuce and shared them with everyone here at the farm.
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. Artichoke plant leaves are silvery-green in color with long, arching shapes. The plant stems are thick and fleshy.
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. Here’s Cesar securing three tall bamboo stakes above each tomato plant.
The vines will be secured to the bamboo as they grow. My tomatoes are grown from seed in my greenhouse every year.
I planted my onions in late April – look how much these onions have grown. I plant a lot of white, yellow and red onions. Onions are harvested later in the summer when the underground bulbs are mature and flavorful. I always look forward to the onion harvest!
Here are the fava beans. Vicia faba, also known as the broad bean or fava bean is an ancient member of the pea family. Fava beans have a nutty taste and buttery texture.
And here’s my bed of garlic. Determining when garlic is ready to harvest can be tricky. If it’s harvested too soon, the cloves are small and underdeveloped. If harvested too late, the clove heads begin to separate, making them more vulnerable to decay. The real indicator is the plant itself – when the bottom leaves have turned brown, and the top leaves are still green. This garlic will be ready in late July.
Swiss chard is a leafy green vegetable often used in Mediterranean cooking. The leaf stalks are large and vary in color, usually white, yellow, or red. The leaf blade can be green or reddish in color.
There is also a lot of fresh and fragrant cilantro. Often known in the United Kingdom as coriander, cilantro comes from the plant Coriandrum sativum. In the United States, the leaves of the plant are referred to as cilantro and the seeds are called coriander. Cilantro is also commonly known as Chinese parsley. And those who care for it and those who don’t are split – and it’s actually genetic. Some possess a gene that makes them super-sensitive to the aldehyde component found in cilantro. Do you love cilantro, or hate it?
And do you know what’s growing below the feathery, thread‑like, and bright green to bluish‑green foliage?
It’s fennel – the aromatic, rounded white bulb at the base. Fennel has a crisp texture and mild licorice flavor, which becomes sweeter when roasted or sautéed.
My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, just planted more seeds, so we have a consistent supply of harvestable produce throughout the season. Many of my seeds are from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in central Maine – a company I’ve been using for quite some time. Johnny’s Selected Seeds is a privately held, employee-owned organic seed producer that offers hundreds of varieties of organic vegetable, herb, flower, fruit and farm seeds that are known to be strong, dependable growers.
Here Ryan plants the beans. These bean seeds are planted about an inch to an inch-and-a-half deep. Ryan plants the seeds in rows that are about a foot apart. All the beds are raised slightly and all surrounded by wood frames.
Once the seeds are sown, the harvest of fresh beans usually begins in seven to eight weeks and lasts for around three weeks. Both bush and pole bean cultivars are members of the same species, Phaseolus vulgaris, also called “common beans.” Bush beans are one of the easiest vegetables to grow. They grow in small bushes 12 to 24 inches tall and don’t require any trellising.
Once planted, Ryan rakes the bed, covering all the seeds with soil.
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.
The stone ledges outside my Winter House are now filled with beautiful potted plants.
I always display a variety of warm weather specimens around my home during spring and summer - potted flowering herbs, succulents, and even some ground covers that look good planted together in urns. Yesterday, my gardener Matthew Orrego, potted up a collection of faux bois vessels outside my carport. These plants are among the first I see when I walk out of the house and some of the last I see when I return.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Dressing up a stone ledge with lush green plants makes a space more inviting. I love to display a variety of healthy specimens around my home this time of year.
First I select what vessels I will use in a certain location. This year outside my carport, I decided to display a series of faux bois pots – decorative planters that look like real wood using materials like reinforced concrete, plaster, or ceramic. The term comes from the French faux bois, meaning “false wood.” Some are old and some are from my own collection on QVC.
Each pot has drainage holes at the bottom. Matthew covers each hole with a stone to prevent soil from clogging or escaping. Good drainage is very important.
Matthew fills each planter with gardening or landscape fabric. The fabric is made from a solid sheet that allows water to soak through. It is available at any garden shop. He also checks that each plant fits nicely in its designated pot.
Matthew places a layer of fabric in every pot to protect the vessel itself. This will also make it easier to remove the plant next autumn, when it is put back in the greenhouse or planted outdoors.
Then the container is filled two-thirds of the way up with a good quality potting soil. Using a proper soil mix will help to promote faster root growth and give quick anchorage to young roots. I use Miracle-Gro Organic Outdoor Potting Mix.
Here, Matthew removes a flowering rosemary plant from its plastic container.
Remember, whenever transplanting always scarify the root ball, meaning tease or loosen the roots, so they are stimulated. This will help the plant roots grow and form a good foundation in the pot.
Matthew carefully places the plant inside the designated vessel making sure the plant is straight before filling it with more soil.
Matthew fills the pot with soil to just under the urn’s lip.
Rosemary produces needle-like evergreen leaves and small, tubular flowers that grow in clusters along the branches. The flowers are delicate, fragrant blooms ranging in color from pale blue to deep purple, white, or pink.
After each specimen is planted, it is fed with a sprinkling of Osmocote, a slow-release fertilizer that provides essential nutrients to plants over several months.
Matthew also plants succulents. A succulent is a type of plant characterized by its thick, fleshy leaves that store water, allowing it to survive in arid environments.
As each plant is potted, he cuts off the excess fabric. Any that can be seen afterward can be tucked into the soil.
Some of the succulents are underplanted with Lysimachia, a low and fast growing ground cover that will spread and flow nicely over the pot edges.
This agave is underplanted with Dusty Miller, a silvery ornamental plant valued for its drought tolerance, low maintenance, and pretty color contrast. When planting different specimens in one pot, be sure to consider the growth habits of each plant to ensure there’s enough room to last all season.
On this ledge, I also chose Capsicum annuum ‘Purple Flash’ – a herbaceous ornamental pepper with near black foliage accented with flashes of bright purple or white and tiny jet black fruit.
Capsicum annuum ‘Calico’ features variegated leaves with shades of green, cream, and purple.
Cuphea ramosissima ‘Pink Shimmer’ is a compact, heat-tolerant ornamental shrub valued for its petite pink flowers and low maintenance needs.
Using potted plants to decorate the outside of one’s home can totally transform a space and add interest and color. These plants will thrive in this location.
After everything is planted, Matthew gives all the plants a good drink. Don’t forget, if you drank today, so should your plants. I hope this inspires you to take out your potted plants and display them outside your home this season.
For anyone passionate about gardening, it's always so rewarding to plant new specimens and watch them flourish.
Recently, I received a large delivery from the First Editions and Endless Summer Collections by Bailey Nurseries in St. Paul, Minnesota. These plants will be stored in a fenced in area where they can be properly maintained until they are added to existing gardens and borders around my farm. This grouping of plants includes several varieties of hydrangea, cotoneaster, ninebark, birch trees, lilacs, shrub roses, and others.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
It’s always so exciting when a delivery of plants arrives at the farm. As a serious and curious gardener, I am always looking for ways to add more beauty and texture to my garden beds.
Here’s Ryan transporting a selection of Parkland Pillar® Betula platyphylla ‘Jefpark’ – a beautiful birch tree variety with a narrow, upright, dense habit. It features white bark and dense, dark green foliage that turns a beautiful gold in late fall.
Pete and Phurba from my hardworking outdoor grounds crew unload every palette carefully. They learn a lot from all the different plants I add to my gardens.
Right away, the plants are placed in organized rows according to type so they are easy to see, count, water, feed, and access when it is time to plant.
Many in this collection are hydrangeas. Hydrangea, commonly named the hortensia, is a genus of more than 70 species of flowering plants native to Asia and the Americas. Hydrangea flowers bloom from early spring to late autumn. This lush green variety is Endless Summer ‘Twist-n-Shout®.’ It has lacecap flowers that bloom in deep pink or periwinkle blue.
These First Editions Little Hottie® panicle hydrangeas are in such excellent condition. They have white flowers that bloom from late summer to early fall on shrubs that grow three to five feet tall and wide.
Endless Summer® The Original Reblooming Hydrangea is a mophead hydrangea with the classic blue or soft pink flowers, depending on one’s soil pH. The Original Hydrangea was the first to bloom both on the previous year’s branches as well as the new season’s growth.
Ryan brings in another variety. The Endless Summer® Blushing Bride Hydrangea is a bigleaf hydrangea that was introduced in 2006. It features large, mophead flowers that bloom repeatedly from late spring through fall.
DreamCloud® Reblooming Hydrangea has bright white blooms that cover the plant and then age to deep pink in certain climates.
First Editions Eclipse® Hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Bailmacseven,’ is the first true dark-leaf mophead hydrangea. It shows off season-long dark purple leaves that hold their color, even in warm climates. The striking foliage, paired with gorgeous cranberry-colored blooms are striking in any space.
Lotty’s Love® Rose is an ever-blooming rugosa rose that has beetroot purple, semi-double, cup-shaped blooms that have a strong cinnamon fragrance.
The Easy Elegance Champagne Wishes rose, Rosa ‘BAIcham’, has clusters of soft apricot blooms that fade to white and contrast beautifully with dark green foliage.
Many may recognize the foliage of arborvitae. This is Technito arborvitae, Thuja occidentalis ‘BailJohn.’ This plant has attractive dark green color that stays through winter. It grows up to 10 feet tall and five feet wide.
Little Lady™ Lilac blooms in late spring when dark pink buds open to lilac pink fragrant flowers. Its mature size is four to five feet tall and wide.
Pinktini™ Lilac is a cold and drought tolerant shrub perfect for small spaces, reaching just three to four feet tall and three to four feet wide at maturity. Rich pink flowers bloom from late May through early June.
Here’s Jimmy transporting more potted plants into the enclosure. When buying plants in large numbers, be sure to know your garden’s climate zone, soil type, and timeline for planting. It’s also important to plan how many plants are needed for the space. And always shop at reputable nurseries where staff can help answer questions.
Physocarpus, commonly called ninebark, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, native to North America and northeastern Asia. Ninebarks are large shrubs that grow to about 10 feet tall and wide. They get their common name from the bark, which sheds in reddish-brown strips. This one is Spicy Devil Ninebark with a fiery combination of orange and yellow leaves that mature to a vibrant reddish-purple.
In comparison, this is Lucky Devil Ninebark with vibrant, bright yellow leaves that hold their color even in full sun. In the spring, white flowers provide contrast to the leaves, and in the fall, orange leaves stand out.
Autumn Inferno™ Cotoneaster, Cotoneaster ‘Bronfire,’ shows clean foliage all season long. It forms small red berries in fall that stay on the branches until visiting birds enjoy them.
Early in the season, Spring Fling® Forsythia provides an explosion of yellow flowers that covers the plant from top to bottom. Maturing up to six feet tall and wide, Spring Fling® is perfect as a back-of-garden border, hedge, or foundational plant. Growing best in full sun, Spring Fling® is not picky about soil type and can be planted almost anywhere.
Planting season is now in full swing. I hope these plants inspire you to try something new in your garden.
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