The gardens are lush and vibrant.

Recently I showed you some scenes from our village of flowers and such, but this week, I want to switch your attention to our vegetable gardens.  Jeanne has worked extremely hard on them. She is one of the core now of the gardening enthusiasts.  One of about a dozen ( or maybe more) people who work the gardens daily.  

There are two main vegetable gardens here. The one I'll show you today, that Jeanne spends all of her time in, and the one behind the Vines, where other dedicated gardeners have done wonders.  

I'm writing this on January 27th and I took the pictures just a couple of days ago. I've got lots of pictures, so let's get started. 

This is a vertical succulent mini-garden that hangs  next to the path to the gardens along the Opanuku Stream.

On the right is the new 3,000 liter water tank that is used to collect rainfall used for watering.  Farther along the path are apple trees.  

This is Jeanne's personal garden.  Right now, it's pouring out green and yellow beans. We still have several tomatoes that she harvested last week.  

The erb garden. It curves up and around to the right. If I spell it with an -h-, people here pronounce it, Herb, like the man's name, so I spell it phonetically.  

 

This is Jeanne's pride and joy. Her large asparagus patch. It is in its second year now and harvests will start next year. The plants are doing very well and will be much appreciated when little bundles of spears begin appearing in the Atrium veggie carts.  

An interplanting of kumara (similar to sweet potatoes) and cabbages. 

The butternut squash patch. They are beginning to ripen.  The leaves are starting to wilt and that makes it hard to see the squash, but Jeanne estimates there to be around 40 of them. There is another lower level behind the fence on the right, and there are a bunch of fruits hanging down there as well. 

Also notice, the little orange tree in the left foreground.  Oranges next to squash who'd have thought.  

Another shot of them.  Jeanne and Margaret got boards from Dave and placed each squash  on one so they didn't rot from long contact with wet soil.

Our hydroponics operation is in transition. Dave, who has been taking care of it for years, has to give it up due to health concerns. He is looking for a replacement.  

Peppers

I love that we have bananas in our garden.

The larger of two glasshouses in the garden. For starting plants out the right way. 

A fierce, metal protector watches over the grapes.   

I can't show you any fruit on these choko vines because they haven't appeared yet, but this leafy wall will produce many, many dozens of them later this year. They are the size and shape of a large pear, and are an edible gourd. Very mild tasting. A very nice vegetable. 

Finally, here we are in front of an orange tree.  All told, they produced a couple of hundred pounds of oranges last year, a real treat for all of us here.      

I hope that you enjoyed the tour of this garden.  More to come...         -djf