What's growing in your garden?

My latest treasure - a curry leaf plant, recently purchased at Santos Spice in San Leandro. I've never seen them anywhere else. I can usually get leaves in packages from Santos and from the Indian grocers in Berkeley, but having the plant is so handy.
Other than that, I'm just continuing to grow a lot of herbs, which I use by the handful virtually every day.
And my drought-weary blueberry bushes are heavy with berries, after much-needed rain this winter. Well, they're not technically in my garden, as they line my front walkway. I put up 19 pints of berries in 8, 12 and 16 ounce jars last weekend and expect to put up an equal amount of pie filling and more berries in light syrup in the next few weeks. http://food52.com/not-recipes/57424
;o)

Far too big a subject to go into, but I'd like to give a plug to a couple of new varieties. Tomato "New Girl", touted as an upgrade to "Early Girl" has so far been an outstanding performer- it was the first to ripen tomatoes, ahead of Stupice and Early Girl- though the plant is a bit ahead; it's the only one I bought from a nursery. The tomatoes have had very good acid and sugar balance and excellent general flavor. They're a bit thick skinned. The plant is a vigorous grower and very productive. Strawberry "Elan" has been the most consistently sweet of any strawberry I've grown; it may have a bit less bite than some. i only have one plant, but it seems prolific and a good grower. On the ornamental side, the current star is Michauxia Campanuloides, which looks like a sort of bizarre cross between a foxglove and a lily, with a sense of humor. It (and the more common M. Tchehatchefii (sp?)) are native to Turkey, and are tough, heat tolerant plants- not easy to find.

My husband and I are trying our hand at gardening for the first time this year, using a simple raised beds (uncrated) approach. We decided to complement the variety of greens we typically get from our local CSA so no lettuce, kale, chard, etc. for us.

Instead currently we have five kinds of heirloom tomatoes; carrots; Padron peppers; eggplant; spinach; scallions; garlic; leeks; grey zucchini; yellow watermelon; cucumbers; bush beans; potatoes; basil; parsley; savory; dill; thyme; oregano. Most of them seem to be going great! (The eggplants are the only iffy ones but I am willing to give them some more time and see what happens once it gets really warm.) We started seedlings for the majority of those indoors at the very end of March and transplanted things the third week of May. In fact today is gardening day and I am weeding for the first time + applying some more pine needles as mulch. Bountiful harvest to all!

I live in Omaha In a 100 year old craftsman 4 square. We have raised beds. We use square foot gardening, companion planting & succession gardening. We also make our own compost. We are both professionals but it is so manageable & our kids love it. I would rather plant things in to soil & I have the luxury of doing so. You get more growth than in a container & watering is less a problem. I know not everyone has that option. This year we've had lots of rain & all of a sudden it's 96 degrees. We grow lots of things that other people do - a variety of tomatoes (grafted), a variety of peppers, cucumbers, carrots, beets, peas, radishes, fennel, green onions, rainbow Swiss chard, lacinato kale, nasturtiums (for gorgeous salads) & herbs. The wet weather has caused problems with the basil. The heat is making the lettuce bolt. I have loved growing the greens. I'm new to that. You can use twice what most recipes call for & they almost disappear. Great addition to soups. The kale is indestructible in our weather no matter the conditions. I also love all the herbs. I find that because they are right out the kitchen door we use them all the more - as opposed to spending $4 for 2 stems. One of my favorites is lemon thyme. It's so lemony that I can make an herb paste without buying a lemon. And, when frost is eminent we cut branches of thyme, basil, dill, rosemary & parsley and just stick the whole stems in freezer bags and use them all winter. They are a wonderful addition when making chicken stock. Last year we made kale basil pesto & cucumber kimchee. We make & can salsa. In a pinch you can oven roast all the veggies, purée with an immersion blender, season & can. It works the same for tomato sauce. We freeze it thick so it can be sauce or soup. We also roast and freeze red peppers. This year we incorporated our herbs in to a humming bird garden & hung the feeders in the garden which also increases our pollinators. And, Nebraska public television from the university of Nebraska at Lincoln airs the oldest continuously running tv show in the nation - Backyard farmer which we watch every Thursday - see byf.unl.edu. You can watch online & they take questions from all over the country. Total gardening experts. Btw - our kids think we are total dorks (which we are) but they love the food. And, kids are more likely to eat food which they grew and helped cook.

I live in Omaha In a 100 year old craftsman 4 square. We have raised beds. We use square foot gardening, companion planting & succession gardening. We also make our own compost. We are both professionals but it is so manageable & our kids love it. I would rather plant things in to soil & I have the luxury of doing so. You get more growth than in a container & watering is less a problem. I know not everyone has that option. This year we've had lots of rain & all of a sudden it's 96 degrees. We grow lots of things that other people do - a variety of tomatoes (grafted), a variety of peppers, cucumbers, carrots, beets, peas, radishes, fennel, green onions, rainbow Swiss chard, lacinato kale, nasturtiums (for gorgeous salads) & herbs. The wet weather has caused problems with the basil. The heat is making the lettuce bolt. I have loved growing the greens. I'm new to that. You can use twice what most recipes call for & they almost disappear. Great addition to soups. The kale is indestructible in our weather no matter the conditions. I also love all the herbs. I find that because they are right out the kitchen door we use them all the more - as opposed to spending $4 for 2 stems. One of my favorites is lemon thyme. It's so lemony that I can make an herb paste without buying a lemon. And, when frost is eminent we cut branches of thyme, basil, dill, rosemary & parsley and just stick the whole stems in freezer bags and use them all winter. They are a wonderful addition when making chicken stock. Last year we made kale basil pesto & cucumber kimchee. We make & can salsa. In a pinch you can oven roast all the veggies, purée with an immersion blender, season & can. It works the same for tomato sauce. We freeze it thick so it can be sauce or soup. We also roast and freeze red peppers. This year we incorporated our herbs in to a humming bird garden & hung the feeders in the garden which also increases our pollinators. And, Nebraska public television from the university of Nebraska at Lincoln airs the oldest continuously running tv show in the nation - Backyard farmer which we watch every Thursday - see byf.unl.edu. You can watch online & they take questions from all over the country. Total gardening experts. Btw - our kids think we are total dorks (which we are) but they love the food. And, kids are more likely to eat food which they grew and helped cook.

Elephant and curly kale, 3 kinds of lettuce, Swiss chard I find that greens are the best thing I grow. You just can't buy tender baby greens in the market that have been picked within the hour.

we have been under severe drought conditions for several years now. i removed my front lawn and put in drought tolerant plants and mulch. but, new plants require water and between the new plants and my mature trees, there is no water to spare after i water my potted succulents. i once had a lush, flower filled garden with lots of veggies too but my water company will impose fines on my if i exceed my allotment. but, i will enjoy other comments here and dream back to the days i used to have such a wondrous refuge.

How is your basil doing?

I have everything in pots on my deck. Heirloom tomatoes big and small sizes, I like the small ones cause you can pick them almost daily. Lots of herbs , Rosemary, basil, thyme, tarragon, sage, mint, parsley, cilantro, lettuce, rainbow carrots, scallions ( leftover bottoms i just stuck in the ground)

From seed, we are trying beans and mixed greens (which are sprouting fantastically well!) in a potted balcony garden. We bought a few plants as well: jalapenos, tomatoes, basil, and cilantro. Unfortunately, some spring hail did a number on the herbs and tomatoes (though I'm hopeful that the tomato plants will spring back). But the jalapenos are looking good so far.

I agree with you about the tomatoes. I can't get enough and love when my parents end up with what seems like a neverending harvest. Unfortunately, their poorly behaved pups have done some early damage to this year's garden.

Are you replanting your carrots? I didn't realize you could grow them successfully in a pot? How big of a pot would you recommend?