Violet Jasper Tomatoes
My first Violet Jasper tomatoes
Filtering by Category: Vegetable Gardening
Shishito peppers
I'm still harvesting shishitos from plants (Vilardi Gardens) I put into the garden in 2014.
Today's harvest for salsa
Tomatoes, peppers, and I'itoi's onions.
Capers
I have two caper plants (from Vilardi Gardens). One is in a pot and one is in the ground. Today I noticed the first caper buds of the season on my in-ground plant.
November Gardening
My friend Jenelle Bonifield of Food & Lifestyles Photography stopped by for some fresh garden bounty. She took home Meyer lemons, Poblano, New Mexico, Fushimi and shishito peppers, purple holy basil, thyme, and mint.
Fall Vegetable Gardening
Though it's still oppressively hot and the autumn cool-down seems far away, I started prepping my vegetable beds for fall planting. This weekend I weeded, cut back herbs, pulled out plants that didn't survive the summer, and top dressed with BioFlora Dry Crumbles, a favorite organic, granular fertilizer. I'm all set for some Vilardi Gardens plants.
My friend Suzanne, owner of Vilardi Gardens, has a fantastic variety of plants that are available at the local farmers markets - look for them at Roadrunner Farmers Market, DeSoto Central Market and Ahwatukee Farmers Market. After meeting up for lunch recently, I came home with some new additions of sesame (black, tan, and white), tomatoes (Indigo Rose, Cream Sausage, Violet Jasper, Tasmanian Chocolate, Dwarf Beryl Beauty, Punta Banda, and Taxi), Hibiscus sabdariffa, purple and Genovese basil, and Lunga Violetta eggplant. I can't wait to get them planted this week.
I'm especially excited to try growing capers for the first time.
Shishito and Fushimi peppers
Shishito and Fushimi peppers are sweet and mild thin-walled pepper Japanese peppers. The Shishitos are giving me a bumper crop, and I'm harvesting Fushimi peppers from plants I got from Vilardi Gardens in the fall of 2013. Shishitos are believed to have been introduced to Japan by the Portuguese. Fushimi sweet peppers or fushimi-togarashi are considered a traditional kyo-yasai ("Kyoto vegetable") - an heirloom, premium variety from the Kyoto prefecture.
Shisitos and Fushimis in the garden:
Vilardi Gardens - Planting Arizona Summer Vegetables
New additions to my vegetable beds from Vilardi Gardens.
Metki Dark Armenian cucumber, lemon squash, Samui and Tulsi holy basil, Padron, shishito and Marconi red peppers, hibiscus/roselle, tomatillos, Red Burgundy okra, and Charentais melon.
Cheddar cauliflower
Nantes carrots from the garden
Atomic Red Carrots
I've tried sowing carrots in the fall the last few years but didn't have any success. They sprouted, but seemed to stall or become woody. Finally, this year, I had my first batch of fresh, crunchy carrots. I'm not sure if it was the variety (Atomic Red), the watering schedule, or location, but I hope I have the same crop next spring. With carrots as sweet as these, I simply toss with extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkle with garlic-herb salt, and roast for 15-20 minutes at 425 degrees.
Picking salsa ingredients
Stupice and Black Cherry tomatoes with shishito, poblano, jalapeno, and Fushimi peppers.
Sweet Basil
Growing poblano peppers
Today's harvest - Globe artichokes and tomatoes.
Grilling link:
Artichokes
This single Globe artichoke was planted in the fall of 2014. A perennial that produces in the spring, this year my harvest is up to 45.
Stupice tomatoes and Black Simpson Seeded lettuce
BLTs!
Bok choi
Fushimi peppers
I love these Japanese peppers I got as starts locally from my friend, owner of Vilardi Gardens. From the Kitazawa Seed Company description: "This sweet Japanese pepper is thin-walled and glossy bright green. The fruits are slender, tapered and grow to 6" in length. It is very easy to grow, produces good quality and prolific harvests." I serve them simply pan-roasted with a sprinkle of togarashi seasoning.
Vilardi Gardens starts
Pak choi, Wong Bok Napa cabbage, Copenhagen Market cabbage, Bachelor Buttons edible flowers, Montebianco fennel, Russian Red kale, Gigante di Napoli parsley, Snowball cauliflower, San Giuseppe romanesco cauliflower, Quarantina broccoli rabe, Dukat dill, beet greens, chives, and mint.