A Few Pictures of the Garden

The garden is chugging along very nicely. The noodle beans and shishito peppers continue to be the most prolific crops this year. Here are a few pictures I took today of various plants around the garden.

Shishito Peppers. I said they were very prolific but just see for yourself how amazing they really are! I have about 3 of these planted in the ground and I have marigolds and celosias planted in between them. The flowers' grow a little taller then the peppers to shade some sun and branch out right up against the pepper plants to increase humidity. Pepper plants like to be in the sun but too much and the leaves start to shrivel. Pepper plants also love humidity so bunching plants together increases the humidity. There are a few reasons why I chose to plant the flowers between the pepper plants. Marigolds are about the most beneficial companion plant you'll find. Their roots are said to release chemicals that repel nematodes and other garden pests. I planted the celosia because the vibrant colors of the flower stalk attracts tons of bees to pollinate them and nearby flowers. They also look pretty cool!

Black Beauty Eggplants. Back in late June, early July, this plant had completely shriveled up and looked dead. I watched for 2 weeks as the leaves continues to shrivel up and no new leaves seemed to be emerging. I was about to pull the plant from the 5 gallon bucket it was growing in but got lazy and just left it in the corner of the garden for the following weekend. Lo and behold when I came to pull the plant, I found a bunch of buds forming at the top of the plant. Not just new leaf buds, but flower buds as well! Now a month later and look how healthy the plant looks and there's four fruits hanging off the stems.

Chinese Five Color Peppers. These are edible ornamental peppers. Aren't they just awesome looking? I have a ton of them growing in the yard, about 5 in little flower pots and 4 more in the ground. The fruits start out a pale cream color, then change to purple, then yellow, orange, and finally a fiery red. Sometimes if you're lucky you might have fruits of each different color on one plant. Also making cameos in these pictures are my Tiny Tim Cherry Tomatoes and the Cilantro that's growing at the foot of my Thai Bird Chili and Sapporo Pepper plants.