Deck Garden September Wrap-Up

It’s September (Can you believe it?), so it is time for a deck garden wrap-up. It has been a garden friendly summer. For the most part temperatures have been moderate, rain was plentiful early on, and everything grew like mad. You know that your garden has been a success when neighbors become wild-eyed upon seeing you; faint strains of “no more tomatoes” hang in the air, as they turn on their heels and flee. I think half the neighborhood is suffering from acid re-flux as a direct result of consuming too many tomatoes.

I never thought I would say this, but I am sick of tomatoes, tired of cutting up peppers for the freezer much less eating them, most sorrowful at all of the green beans that went bad because one can only consume so many, and wishing I had a lot more flowers. 

The Cathedral Bells climbed everywhere, teasing me all summer, but didn’t bloom until this morning when I was greeted with the most amazing purple flower. Here’s hoping something will become of the small bird sitting out in the plant so that I can reap rewards for all of my hard work and dedication. This variety is Cobea Scandens, and those seeds can be found here.

The herbs did marvelously, and I did well, I think, growing nothing more than mint (in its own pot), and a big pot of basil, chives, and parsley. With few exceptions, I didn’t find I needed much more. Next year I will add lemon balm, because I do like that in a nice cold brew tea. Note made.

I learn things every year when I garden, but I think the most important lesson learned this year was to carefully read seed packets. I was so charmed by the thought of growing gourds, that it never occurred to me to CAREFULLY read the packet. Had I done so, I would have discovered that I’d purchased seeds for miniature gourds only destined to be 2 inches long. They are adorable, but not exactly what I was hoping for.

Speaking of which, once I harvested the gourds and pulled up the vines, the ruffled pink morning glories that I had forgotten I’d planted (in the hopes of them entwining themselves in a beautiful gourd/flower display) began to grow and bloom. I absolutely love this variety, and will definitely grow them next year. Many people have inquired about this variety. These are Split Second Morning Glory, the seeds can be found here.

Another thing that I learned is that no way do I need as many peppers and tomatoes as I grew. The same goes for the cherry tomatoes. Not that I’m complaining, they provided me with a lot of wonderful, crunchy, flavorful little fruit, but enough is enough. My refrigerator is full of bowls of them, and I just can’t take it anymore. The jury is still out on the cucumbers.

I am letting the big boy tomatoes continue — they look quite lush —but long ago pulled down their trellises, so, while they are vining all over the place, they are providing me with wonderful tomatoes, that I am turning into the best ever marinara sauce.

The ginger is still doing well, and will go into October. 

My notes for next year are this; grow fewer vegetables and more flowers. I didn’t need the 50 jalapeños that I harvested in one week. While I love the peppers, one plant will do, if that, and I’m not going to grow jalapeños. They are easy to grow, and quite prolific, but next year that pot is going to hold either flowers or lemon balm. One of my great joys this season has been all of the butterflies and hummingbirds that have visited.

Next year I hope to have more. I don’t mind planting zinnias, solely for the enjoyment of the goldfinches, who holds onto their strong systems, plucking each petal from every flower head, one at a time, in order to get to the fresh seeds. It’s adorable.

What did your garden do? And what will you do differently next year?

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Zippy Cucumber Salad with Red Onion

As you may have noticed from my deck garden update, I have a huge cucumber plant that is providing me with loads of cucumbers. (I noticed one of them making himself quite comfortable in the chair that I used to sit in, but I digress...) Many cucumbers have been distributed around the neighborhood, others are being turned into cold soups, and a variety of pickles and relishes are surely in my future, but today I’m enjoying a salad that must be made ahead (Don’t you love that?), and is very tasty indeed.

Zippy Cucumber Salad with Red Onion

2 large cucumbers, sliced thin (I used a mandolin)
½ red onion, sliced thin (see above)
1 t. kosher salt
½ c. sour cream
2 T. white sugar
2 T. cider vinegar
¼ t. Old Bay seasoning
1 T. fresh, chopped chives
1 T. fresh, minced parsley
¼ t. paprika

Spread cucumbers out onto a paper towel-lined cookie sheet; season with the salt and allow them to rest for 30 minutes. Squeeze excess moisture from cucumbers.

While cucumbers are resting, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together sour cream, sugar, vinegar, Old Bay, chives, parsley, and paprika. Fold drained cucumber and red onion slices into the sour cream mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least eight hours, or overnight. Serve garnished with a few more chopped chives, if desired.

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Deck Garden Update for July

I thought I would give you a July update on the deck garden before I am completely overtaken by the plants. 

Seriously, there are mornings when I wake up and I expect the plants to be tapping on the window. I now have slightly less than one square yard of space in which to navigate among them; this is no exaggeration.

The heat has finally set in, so I am watering much more frequently, but everything is doing amazingly well. I tried a new type of tomato tower this year that is expandable, and I still find that my cherry tomatoes are outgrowing it.

If you’re interested in the expandable trellis, click here. I really like it, and of particular interest are the  clips that accompany this that allow you to clip up branches without damaging them.

I ended up buying 30 extra clips to use on all of my plants. You can see some of them in action on the photo of my green bean plant.

My first harvest was a green pepper, my second jalapeños.

I have lots of them on the plant, so need lots of recipes.

Another great producer are the cucumbers.

Those things are everywhere! As you can see from this picture, this bad boy decided to relax on the chair that I used to sit in when I could find it among the foliage.

I plan to harvest at both full-size and at pickle spear size to make pickles.

The Jasmine has doubled in size since I bought it, and it shooting out branches on all sides. Somehow the thought of de-tangling all of this at year’s end seems daunting. On the plus side, it does scent the garden with the most wonderful fragrance.

The string beans are doing well, and I’m able to harvest about one serving per day.

My large pot of herbs is doing wonderfully, and I find myself using much more of them because if the ready access.

The ginger is hanging in there. 

The X-rated pumpkin is growing well, and looking as though it is planning its escape!

The gourds are growing like mad, spilling over the side of the deck, and starting to threaten the Meyer Lemon tree on the patio below.

The Stella Dora Lily that I ripped up out of my mother’s garden is doing well, despite the fact that it can rarely be seen. I have found a spot in the front yard where I will move it in the fall. Mother’s hostas are similarly thriving, and will soon need transplanting.

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Deck Garden Update for June

It’s hard to believe that the last time I updated you on the deck garden was three weeks ago. Go back to this post and see the huge difference! Things have grown incredibly since I first began. We have been lucky in away because our summer has been rather mild thus far, and the rain, though not helping with the flooding, has certainly helped with the plants. I don’t think I have ever had as lush and healthy a container garden as I have this year.

I am going to give you a number of views of it; this one is from the lanai. If you take a look at this post when the deck was first built, you can see that I have an enclosed area where I spend a good bit of my time, and an open area for gardening. I find such comfort being around my plants, and when they grow like these have I feel like I’m in my own little private world.

I hesitated to grow petunias, because I know they tend to get leggy, but I have been doting on them, being sure to pluck off the spent flowers every day, and, thus far, it’s doing quite well.  I love that pop of bright color.

It always amazes me when I plant a seed is that it actually grows. I planted four Cathedral Bell seeds, and not only are they growing quite well, but beginning to attach themselves to the bottle tree. I cannot wait to see this plant flower.

My seeds for the “For mature audiences only” Elever pumpkins arrived from the Philippines, were planted, and are showing good growth. I cannot wait for this to bear fruit.

 I thought I would have a good time growing gourds this year, and they’re growing quite well. It was only after I planted them that I read the information on the back of the packet only to learn that they are only going to be 2 inches long. Well, they should work well at individual place settings come fall, but I’m sure I’m not sure what other good they’ll be.

The cucumbers are encroaching on my seating area, as are the green beans, undoubtedly they will need to be moved, but where? I am beginning to get the impression that I may have over planted. 

Basil is ready for pesto making, now that I have managed to ward off a rather substantial attack by the dreaded Japanese beetle.

The grill takes up quite a bit of real estate on the deck, and if I had another place to put it that was as convenient as it is now, I probably would. My dear dad gave me this grill and as I write this it’s Father’s Day, and let me tell you this is excruciating for me -- the first one without my dad. I’m laying low today and surrounding myself with my plants. They are comfort.

The Asian lilies that came back last year seem to be dying off, so I may use that pot for some sort of fruit or vegetable.

In the blue planter there is a Stella Dora Lily. I dug it up, As well as a couple of hostas when I put my parents house on the market. I just had to have something from their garden.

That’s the update for June. I’ll be back with another one in July. What successes are you having in your garden this year?

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Green Pepper Fries

Onion rings, step aside; I am about to kick you to the curb. Today, I harvested my first green pepper from my deck garden. It was an exciting moment. I wasn’t sure exactly what to do with it, whether or not I should sink my teeth into the sun-warmed fruit (yes, green pepper is a fruit), make up some pepper steak (a single serving, naturally), or do something completely different. I decided upon the latter. Having recently come across a recipe for oven baked green pepper rings, today seemed like an excellent day to give it a try. 

These are easy to make, and are amazingly good! I credit some of this to my recipe for rémoulade that I will share below, but you can dip them in anything that you like. I think this would make a great snack for the kids this summer, or a nice side for a grilled steak, chop, or piece of chicken. They will surprise and delight you, and they’re guilt-free!

Green Pepper Fries

Adapted from Delish.com

2 bell peppers, sliced into ½” rounds, seeds removed

2 large eggs, beaten with 1 T. water

1 c. flour

1½ c. panko breadcrumbs

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a medium shallow bowl, combine panko with paprika, garlic powder, and salt. Coat pepper rings first in flour, then egg, and then the panko mixture. Place on prepared baking sheet.

  

Bake 10 minutes, carefully turn them over, and bake 10 minutes more, until tender. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.

 .

While peppers are baking, make rémoulade (recipe below).

Serve pepper rings with dipping sauce on the side.

Rémoulade

1/3 c. mayonnaise
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. Creole seasoning
1 tsp. prepared horseradish
½ tsp. dill pickle juice
½ tsp. hot sauce
1 small clove garlic, minced

Whisk above ingredients together in a small bowl. Will keep in the refrigerator 3-5 days.

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Deck Gardening UPDATE

A month and a half ago, I showed you the new beginnings of what I had hoped to be a thriving deck garden, when I planted carrots on Mother’s Day. (You can read that post here.) I thought it was about time that I gave you an update. Naturally, like all gardeners, the hope is that everything planted will grow and thrive like Jack’s beanstalk. That is not often the case.

Carrots

Here, in the Mississippi Valley, we have been weighed down with the most intense heat I can ever remember having this early in the year. We went directly from winter right into the heat of summer. Early May brought us 90° temperatures, and with rare exception, we haven’t left them since. The upcoming week will bring us upper 90s/low 100s.

French Radishes

When you have a deck garden, one of the most important things is keeping your potted plants watered. With this intense heat, that means hand watering nearly two dozen plants (Additional plants are in the covered area, some are on the patio below, and I water those with a sprinkling can from over the side of the deck. I hate to think how that looks to the neighbors, so we won’t even go there), up to three times a day. Essentially, these past six weeks or so, I have made a career out of watering plants.

Zucchini

Thankfully, they are doing quite well. This week, be still my beating heart, I saw the beginnings of a zucchini. Prior to that, every day I would get a male flower (and I know the flowers are edible, but I never got enough at one time to make harvesting them worthwhile), but patience (and fertilizer) paid off, as here you can see a zucchini on the way. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this. I have a recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake that looks amazing, and I think that is one of the first recipes I’m going to try. (Note the tone of optimism in my voice…confident that I am going to get more.)

Cucumber and Black-eyed Susan Vine climb the bottle tree.

One of the most exciting things about my garden this year was the inclusion of a bottle tree. I have always wanted to have one of these, so was thrilled to death to be able to finally make this addition. The wine bottles I have been collecting of the course of two years. As you may have guessed, I’m not a big wine drinker. One bottle, made its way to the tree via a neighborhood party. I still need five more, and I had better get them soon because the black-eyed Susan vine that I am training up the tree is really starting to grow. In addition, at the base of the tree, I have a bush cucumber. Despite the fact that it is a “bush” variety, it, too, will climb, so, in my mind’s eye, I am going to have a beautiful, colorful bottle tree, laden with yellow blossoms and fat cucumbers, all thriving amidst a swirl of butterflies. We’ll see how that works out.

I think the birds spotted my tomatoes before I did. I wondered why they were standing along the railing staring at the tomato plant. I just know they’re waiting to punch holes in a couple of the tomatoes and take their leave. At any rate, a couple of them are on the way.

Similarly, a couple of green peppers are also on the way, and the tomatillo plant (that is shockingly spindly) is showing some blossoms as well.

Red and green peppers both grow in one pot.

This slow starter has nearly 50 blossoms! Salsa verde anyone?

While cleaning out a drawer, I found a package of multi-colored string bean seeds that were stamped “2007.” I know that seeds remain viable for quite a long time so I figured, what the heck? And I planted a couple of them. They grew! I have no idea what color string beans I’m going to end up with, but that’s half the fun.

French radishes border the edge of the pot that contains the string beans. The carrots are doing very well, at least the tops are. I have no idea what’s underneath this delicate green foliage. Truthfully, it doesn’t matter, I love the way these look.

Giant Multicolored Zinnias are doing well.

Zinnias, that attract hummingbirds, goldfinches (who love to hang onto flower stems, and pluck out the petals with their beaks in order to reach fat, fresh seeds — and because they’re so cute I let them), as well as butterflies. I planted these from seed, and I’m happy with their progress.

Lemon Grass

Italian Flat-leaf Parsley

Sage

Thai Basil

In addition to all of this, I also have herbs (not enough), and two citrus trees. Despite being laden with fragrant blossoms, neither one of my trees is showing much. I’m told that’s because they need fertilizer. So, having purchased a special citrus variety of fertilizer, I treated them early this week, we’ll just see what happens.

This is my first time ever growing Cosmos. I am happy with their progress.

This is the end of the update. I will check in next month and keep you abreast of the progress. What have you got growing?

This post is linked to:

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

Over the Moon

Celebrate Your Story

Inspire Me Tuesday

Reader Tip Tuesday

Tuesdays with a Twist

The Scoop

Dream, Create, Inspire

Wonderful Wednesday

Wine’d Down Wednesday

Thursday Favorite Things
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Best of the Weekend
Pink Saturday
Snickerdoodle Create Bake & Create

Grace at Home

Friday at the Fire Station
Create, Bake, Grow and Gather

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