edible landscapes

Festina beans with a blooming vitex in front, garlic behind them, that last shot is in the very back, a russelia (red blooms) on the right side, and hot choclate rudbeckias in front of the beans. Diva cukes starting up black trellis.
Debbie

Maybe this one a bit better...hard to tell from "thumbnails" LOL

And the tomato "room". It's clear to me tomatoes grow pretty good in the dirt! LOL

Also one of the biggest gardening mistakes I ever made is visible from this shot. A piece of "supposedly dwarf pampas grass" given to me by a friend. I've finally KILLED the evil thing and am thinking seriously about going the "straw-bale" route with it and grow some melons in the top of it.

Have rattlesnake beans and Diva cucumbers to the left, just planted last weekend. Those are not pots, just the tops of old pots with the bottoms cut out, and sunk into the very deep mulch. I find in that one particular area..this method works best for nut grass control.

Last pic a little closer shot of the "tomato" room.
Debbie

OMG what a squash!!!!!!!!!!!

Debbie, I love it! It all looks so gorgeous, and you have such a wide variety of things. Everything just looks so perfect.

I'm amazed at what all you have in a small space. Looks great!

Thanks all! Happy Monday!

ain't life grand?

What all do you use for mulch....here is hot, dry, windy most of the time. We have no grass so had DH buy me a bale of straw. I put it around my tomatoes and herbs and peppers. When it settles some, I will add some more. Is this the right thing to do, I suspect my weather is similar to yours. Sure enjoyed your pics.

Hay is good--certified weed free hay is even better. Hardwood mulch in the bag is also very good. I use combinations of grass clippings, leaves, pine straw, and bags of hardwood in my area. The hardwood goes a long way if you just use it on top to keep the wind from blowing everything else away. I also use some plants (such as spent sweet pea vines the other day) chopped up. Anything (almost) organic I can find.
Deb

Azoychka tomato ripening...got ripe tomatoes now! Everything in its own time.

This message was edited May 5, 2006 5:31 AM

Good fruit set on the hard rock tomatoes...

Herbs by late afternoon...

Festina beans...doing great in the heat.

This message was edited May 5, 2006 6:18 AM

Tecoma Stans or yellow bells, esperanza (yellow plant) in front looking thru the middle garden gate.....
A native Texas star of the garden.

This message was edited May 5, 2006 8:44 PM

forgot the pic?!?

whats a festina bean.
kinda like what?
Looks so lovely debbie.
STill wish i lived closer to you. I could get lost in your miniture jungle.

have you ever seen the movie "Secret Garden"?
I want a Secret Garden, so to speak.
Just haven't decided how I will do it.

keep the pictures coming.You are a real inspiration.

Cicket--yes, the newer version is a really 'spiritual' movie (in my opinion).

Downscale--Thanks!

Bought a bunch more plants, like I really needed more, last night. I already have a mountain spinich. perilla magilla, three onion varieties, 4 mints, and a variegated sage from the TX RU last weekend that still have not been planted. Now I have another mint, another sage, and 3 bee balms (monarda) to add to the unplanted herb collection. Repeat after me Debbie....I will not buy/obtain any more plants until I deal with the ones I already have....I will not buy/obtain any more plants until I deal with the ones I already have....famous last words of a die hard gardener, huh?

Ya'll feel free to jump in here with some pics--Cricket, I know has some great mixed garden ideas and pictures!

Debbie
Solar set tomato here.....

Its a shame I wont have ripe maters til at least 1st of June. UG.

My edibles are mostly on my deck in containers. The ground is solid Clay around my home. I had to cheat and use 1/2 barrel planters.
I will be putting some down on the ground around one end of the Deck.
The rest of the ground around Deck has some bamboo hedges, water-fountain Birthbath, verigated Cane, and a small Gold fish pond. Goin for the Oriental look. Far from being finished with that.
Orients do alot of grow box gardening on their decks but I did not have the ceder to do that. Expensive too.
So guess you could call this the Redneck version.

here is the grape orchard. with grandpas truck hiding most of it.

and in front of the grape orchard is young fruit trees---be a few years before they produce. But behind them is 6 blueberries over 6 ft tall and loaded with blueberries, and some fig trees.
You can see I am putting cannas down the drive way. I have some large pots of cannas there too that I have to transplant to the ground.

But Cricket--you will have lots of fresh tomatoes in July, Aug, and Sept. when its too hot to set fruit here.....our fall tomatoes don't come in until October (if it cools down enough in Sept at night to set fruit--a big IF!). Red dirt clay--must be nice. You have a really nice place there Cricket!

Only kinda grapes that grow here are muscadines at the beach--only fit for wine--and not very good wine at that! Blueberries grow in extremme eastern Texas well, they have acidic soil from the "Piney Woods"...I'm out on the "Little House on the Katy Prairie".
Debbie

thats what my grapes are. Muskedines and Scupedines. I just put some real grapes in another area way from the muskies cause my grapes are seedless. you have to plant seed grapes and seedless grapes 100 apart from each other.

Went out and took a picture of the blueberries.
this is one BUSh

close up----and Loaded

Oh yummy Cricket--I can smell the blueberry muffins baking at your house as I type! Need company to help consume those? Got a great recipe for them!
Debbie

Peach. hmm maybe not be able to see the peaches. Camoflauged

Yes I need a Recipe for home made fresh blueberry muffins.


this is the strawberry flower bed.
Strawberries on the outside edge.

My work station.
Has a Strawberry Grow Bed.
Potted tomato plants. The seedless grapes are on the fence line at each post---young ones. Small vines.
Work shop and Seed house greenhouse that is actually 12x40ft

Out back on the 10 acres is 2-- 20x400 blackberry patches.

I need some cows. Talk about edible landscapes!!! Call it the Walking Out Back STeak House.

oops wrong picture up there.

hard to tell whats what.
the blackberries begin in the back of this picture--where you see all the brush.

Big beef tomatoes on the fence line


This message was edited May 7, 2006 9:55 AM

Just throwing in a view of the entire bare front yard.
I was 20 feet from the property line when i took the picture. And the front yard ends 20 feet on the other side of those greenhouses.
I do not know what i will do with this front yard.
It is very wet during rain season.
Hard to put edibles here.
Any Ideas???????
Picture taken early spring.

Strawberries and blueberries; now that's my idea of an edible landscape! Got some fresh festina bush beans for dinner tonight...

Some Dive cukes and a particularly nice looking Vitex.

I hear daylilly blooms are edible but I'd much rather look at 'em!

ARe your cukes cuked yet?
I like Diva. Very attractive cucumber plant. Large leaves.
long cukes. And Burpless.

Mine are in containers. Just tied them up today. Kinda messy right now.

I am thinking about planting some Rattle snake beans in 5 gallon pots and putting them on my Deck.
I think I need to extend my Deck. hehehehehe
Or build one on back.

Not yet--not great conditions for them early this year. But cucumbers are much more suited to heat when other stuff gives out later! Nice looking cukes--are those 1 gallon pots? I'm getting fascinated by yours and Kanita's ability to grow things in ordinary pots (which we all have zillions of ) as opposed to EB's. I know you must have to feed heavily in pots--organically?
Debbie

Thanks Debbie-

I don't know about Cricket, but I know that I have to feed really often, more like on a monthly basis. Here is a pic of my sugar crunch cucumbers in a pot. They are doing really well. I think I will be planting many of my cucumbers in pots this year as they do so well in them.

kanita