Green Beans

According to Sacramentogardening.com, beans can be planted in April, May, July, and August. While it is now a bit late, I decided to make a go at a bean crop. For this entire gardening season, I have had an empty bed. This was partly due to growing garlic last winter. I thought it would be ready to pull in May but I had to wait until mid-June. Also, I can be a bit lazy and I didn’t want to pull the weeds. Well a few days ago, I put my laziness aside and pulled the weeds. I then mixed in some dried leaves and threw down my seeds. I planted pole beans along the sides of the bed and bush beans in the middle. I was surprised with how quickly they sprouted. I may have to thin down the plants as I over-seeded, expecting the birds to eat half.

Eggplants

This is the third year I have attempted to grow eggplants. The first year, I had three plants of the Black Beauty variety. None of the plants got that big and or produced any eggplants. I didn’t give up and last year planted a couple more Black Beauty plants. I had a bit more success and I managed to grow two eggplants. Not bad. This year, I decided to switch varieties. I planted three Rosa Bianca plants. So far, the results have been much better. Two of the three plants have produced, giving me a total of seven eggplants.

Lemon Cucumbers

A few weeks ago I was complaining to a friend about my lemon cucumber plant. The plant was huge and a healthy green but hadn’t produced any cucumbers. Well, I think the plant heard me because a week later a bunch of baby cucumbers showed up. They grow really fast and now I am able to pick one every other day. Yum.

Why I Grow Garlic

Photo: Garlic sensation by Sebastian Mary

China
It wasn’t until the Country of Origin Law went into effect a couple of years ago that I realized how many everyday foods I was purchasing came from China. One package I distinctly remember said “Wild caught Alaskan salmon” on the front and “Product of China” on the back. While it was easy to find an alternative brand of frozen salmon and other items, it was hard to find garlic that didn’t come from China. By growing it myself, I just have to worry about where the seed garlic comes from.

Check out an insider’s view of Chinese grown garlic.

Scape Escape
While waiting for the garlic bulb to form, you can use the green shoots, or scapes in dishes. They add a nice kick when chopped up and added to eggs. I have also made garlic scape pesto. The first time I made the pesto, I used this recipe. I found this pesto too strong and now use equal parts garlic scapes and basil. It comes out just right.

Variety
The only varieties of garlic I have seen in grocery stores are California White and Elephant (which isn’t really garlic). My choices in garlic were limited last year as I waited until he last possible second to order. In fact I only found one place that had one variety left. I was glad that I was able to secure some Chesnok Red. I supplemented it with a couple of bulbs of California White I bought at Whole Foods.