2nd post of the day....

Today's earlier post on specialty strawberries is below, the day has been all about the garden I guess.

Peppers sown:

(2) Baby Belle (for containers)

(2) Spanish Padron

(2) Corno di Toro

Carmen

(2) Pizza (for containers)

Tam Jalapeño

Tomatoes thinned, potted up into Cow Pots, and given a fish feed:

We have a quite a cold snap coming tomorrow night, at least in relation to the recent day and night temperatures.  I will be plugging in the soil warmer and covering the smaller fruit trees and bushes  and garlic with burlap or row cover.  Lets hope the weather folks are wrong and we stay in the low 30's......the trees could sure use a gentler forecast!

(Edit: I decided to go out and cut some blooms before they are knocked off by the rain and cold.)

Garden Update

The heat and humidity of the past week has kept me out of the garden, so I have a lot of catching up to do out there.  The afternoon will be full bug squishing, weeding, and maybe some potato digging.

This morning I discovered lots of baby peppers, my first ripe tomato and blueberry of the season, and flowers on the sweet potato vines.

I tried gooseberries last night, now I need to find a place for a bush in my crowded yard....that and some red currants to compliment our white.    Lovin' all the berries!  (There is a Wineberry bush sitting in a pot that needs planting too.....I have never had Wineberries, but I heard they were raspberry-ish so I jumped at the opportunity to take a transplant home to my garden).

I am off to enjoy this beautiful temperate Summer weather while it lasts - happy gardening!

Green Garlic

Isn't it funny how things sometimes happen?  I had never really been aware of "green garlic" until I was giving a tour of my garden last week and a friend said 'green garlic' when pointing at my greenery.  I hadn't heard of all it's culinary uses- what a shame!  And now it seems that I have been seeing those words everywhere in my small blogging circle.  Ribbit over at The Corner Yard just did a post on her freshly pulled garlic for her friend needed a clove, megan/mason from On a Little Land mentioned it as a must have for her Top 5 (see previous post).  Many farmers thin the garlic in Spring and sell it at markets or to chefs.   Maybe some of you have even seen it in your CSA box.   I pulled a handful of my smallest stalks in effort to thin as I harvested, and this is what came up:

Interesting how the different varieties are colored, lots of 'reds' in there!  After a little trimming of the roots, and peeling of the outer skin, this is what one is left with for cooking:

Still undecided as to how to use this new garden treat I decided to thinly slice it and go from there.....

After doing some sampling I decided the leafy green tops were my favorite, so I added the remaining trimmings that were set aside into the bowl as well (seen below before being added in).

Searching for recipes turned up the usual suspects: pesto and pasta.  Before picking the stuff I had intended on making a pesto of sorts, but then I read how cooking the green garlic down in butter gave it a leek-like quality.  I was sold, so into the pan it went with a chunk of butter.

The end result:

The flavor did mellow, but I actually prefered it in it's raw state.  I tossed some of this garlic into our pasta for dinner (a Red Pepper- Arugula sauce), and the rest sits in the fridge awaiting it's destiny.  (I am thinking a pizza or a tart.  It is what I always go back to really.)

Red Pepper- Arugula Sauce:

1 block softened cream cheese
1 12 oz jar Roasted Red Peppers- drained, rinsed and seeded (or 4-5 peppers, freshly roasted)
1 clove od garlic, minced (or sub green garlic as I did)
water or milk to thin to taste.

Put all dry ingredients into food processor and mix.  Add liquid to thin to desired consistency.  (This recipe can be doubled for a pound of pasta if you like lots of sauce.  It makes enough to coat a box of Barilla Plus pasta nicely, which is short of a full pound.)

Wilt fresh arugula in a pat of butter or splash of olive oil for a few minutes on stove top, then stir into sauce, keeping in mind the greens shrink down quite a bit- I never seem to pick enough.  Top cooked pasta with grated Parmesan and ground pepper, and serve!

(Here is picture of out leftovers in the fridge, I forgot to take a picture of it last night- oopsy!  And see, I could have used some more arugula in there.)

Don't you just love 'garden fresh'??

Garden Finale

THE GARLIC IS IN!! Eight rows of cloves from three different varieties, phew! We had our water heater go and woke up to a wet basement Saturday morning. This was followed by a new television purchase which required some weekend warrior type work before it could be installed, so the garlic once again went on the back burner. While sowing the cloves I realized they are all soft neck, so no yummy garlic scapes from my garden next summer. (Me pouting.)

The predicted low temperature for this evening is a crisp 32 degrees, so all that was harvestable was harvested. Many fruits were not mature- eggplant, winter squash, and melons. Many of the vines were dying so there was no sense in leaving them. The largest of the muskmelons had begun to rot (top right in the photo) and I could smell it's sweet aroma as I approached the trellis. Too bad we never got to sample any of the many, many melons that eventually began to grow. Rumor has it an immature winter squash can taste better than summer squash so I will put this theory to the test and let you all know what the verdict is. The potato bed was harboring some renegade potatoes, the roots kept putting out tubers with out any foliage. The former tomato bed is littered with tomato seedlings which I find interesting since the seeds I sowed are no where to be found aside from a few fortunate spinach survivors. Go figure.

I decided to pull up my Carmen pepper plants and hang them in the basement. Why you ask? I believe I read one can do this somewhere in an effort to ripen them further. I am hoping so since there are at least a dozen peppers there. Have I completely lost it?!?!

Good Stuff

I guess I will start by sharing a new zucchini recipe I tried this week, it was wonderful and a nice deviation from the normal 'zucchini bread' fare. The recipe is for a savory zucchini-basil muffins, I made mini's and they disappeared very quickly. The recipe can be found here at Synergy Farms, they did a three zucchini bread recipe taste test, and this was the favorite, give it a try!

Next in line, today's CSA share. I am happy with the contents this week, but once again the condition of the produce was not good. Today's 1/2 share included the following:

• 2 pieces summer squash
• 2 cukes
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 apples
• 3 ears corn
• 1 lb. potatoes
• 1/2 lb. onions
• kale

The cold nights and mediocre days are doing a number on the garden.....the vegetables have not increased in size at all this week, and that is a bit worrisome. I have so many peppers and eggplants out on the vine, I would hate to lose them all to cold temps. Luckily a few things are still producing and don't seem to mind the evening's temperatures, here they are pictured below:

Graden Buzz, Today's Harvest

It is hard to believe my gardening season is coming to an end, since the melons and winter squash won't be producing things should start winding down soon . Time to start thinking about where to put the cold frame, and what to plant in it. I am thinking Chard and carrots. Speaking of carrots, check out the photos below:

This is the potato/carrot bed back in late June. Going from left to right we have some herbs and a few measly carrots coming up; potatoes; sweet potatoes and my son's sunflower from school in the corner.

Wow have the carrots grown in! Anyone remember how frustrated I was by carrots earlier in the season? LOL, no more! (These photos were taken from inside the garden unlike the one above.)

And here is the gargantuan sunflower and the sweet potato vines, which are reaching over into the now foliage free potato bed. I still have some potatoes in the ground, maybe just over half have been harvested to date. What a change compared to the first photo huh? I find it funny to see the formerly full section empty, and the other two full of green.

***

The onions are done. Quite a bit smaller than I was expecting, nothing close to those grocery store sweet onions. Better luck next year I hope! (That is if I decide they are worthy of their garden space.)

***

I pulled 4 carrots up- here they are below in order. Finally, a winner!!!

I found a few more lovely carrots in the 'carrot jungle', along with lots of tomatoes, a large zuke, a couple cukes, some chili peppers and another super-tasty Carmen sweet pepper, and a handful of beans the beetles didn't beat me to. Oh, and some basil,.........

....and the first Red Cloud potato harvest!

Very exciting stuff here folks!

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On to the garden buzz:

The Orb spiders have taken over my garden. It is getting tricky to pick around their webs.

I always have the urge to rub their cute, fuzzy, bumble buts, however after doing this once as a kid I now resist said urge.

My little man's sunflower is in full bloom, it's gorgeous!

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Lastly, some pictures of what Late Blight looks like on a tomato plant:

These are two affected leaves from the top.

The tell-tale powdery underside of the water stained looking lesions:

I ultimately decided not to spray for blight since removing affected leaves by hand seems to be keeping it in check. It is of coarse continuing to spread, but at a controllable rate. Eventually this will change and the whole lot will require immediate disposal.

The SVB are slowly destroying my precious squash. The fruit is shriveling and rotting right off the vine. Very sad. I took some pictures but find it too depressing to look at. Also very sad is the fact that my female muskmelon flowers continue to rot instead of forming fruit. The bumble bee pictured above was on a blossom, so lack of pollination shouldn't be the culprit. Maybe there is some disease that causes this that I am unaware of??

I ripped out most of the cucumber plants and bolting lettuce today. The beets I sowed along with the carrots many weeks back have failed to germinate. That or I pulled them thinking they were weeds. Anything is possible. 8) I am very curious to see what comes home with me from the CSA today, last week was pathetic once again. I brought only a plastic grocery bag with me, and it wasn't even full when I left. I will greatly miss the blueberries though, I am figuring last week was their finale.

Edit: The Farmer's Almanac is showing 27 days until Autumn. (Me frowning.) Also,Today in History:
The Nineteenth Amendment was adopted, granting women the right to vote. It was nicknamed the "Anthony" amendment in recognition of the lobbying efforts of suffragette Susan B. Anthony, 1920.

Thanks to Susan B. Anthony and all others in securing me the right to vote!

Todays Harvest, Free Seed Offer

If you could have seen me this afternoon picking away in the garden I would have had a satisfied smile on my face. In my harvest basket today there was my first eggplant (EVER!!), my first red-ripe Carmen pepper, some zucchini, beans, and tomatoes. All these goodies weighed in at 5.6 lbs! I feel the urge to make more oven-dried tomatoes (pictured below), but then that leaves few for fresh eating. What to do?

Johnny's sent out a letter to it's customers, in it are some suggestions for crops to plant now as well as an offer for some free seeds. The offer is in bold print in the close-up picture along with some of their suggestions for sowing now. The letter also mentions the late blight disaster, and how to use row covers as season extenders. I am posting this just for you Thomas (over at A Growing Tradition)!

I have some baby acorn squash growing and the carrots finally seem to be happy to grow in my garden, I will actually need to do some thinning soon. I must go check when sweet potatoes become ready for harvest, I am dying to dig down and see what (if anything) has grown. I know it is way too early, but I can anticipate right?? :)

Garden Update

Here is a recent harvest of lettuce, peas, tomatoes, cukes, and squash. This is starting to be a typical day of picking for me which is very cool.

I am deliberating over whether or not to dig up the rest of my Yukon Gold potatoes yet. This will be my second dry day in a row, a rarity these days. Scattered T-Storms are in the forecast over the next week. If I have late blight and don't know it, leaving them in the ground for another week or two would be beneficial. Will all this wet weather encourage them to rot if I leave them be?

I think some of my peppers are ready for harvest. The Joe NuMex variety is to be picked while small and green I believe.....but I am not even positive that is the variety I am talking about. They have grown quite a bit since I took this picture. Maybe they are the Carmen Sweet Peppers?? Little fingers removed all my markers. Edit: Joe E. Parker is an Anaheim chili.

I have a few baby eggplant growing, very exciting stuff! (I think I now know why it is called an 'egg-plant'!)

The green beans and zucchini are there for picking every now and again. I ripped out most of the beans since they were ridden with blight (pictured below). Most of them were laying on the soil, not climbing the trellis as they should have been.....the heirloom varieties are just not holding up as well for me. The good news is the other bean patch is disease free so far (me knocking on wood).

Here is a close-up of the first dahlia to bloom. I put the tubers in the perimeter of the asparagus bed which seems to working out so far, the asparagus is holding them up!

Other People's Gardens

Another post not about my garden. Hey, what else is there to do when the rain just doesn't stop and you have little to harvest? Make stuff with food from other people's gardens!

(Speaking of other people's food, my1st CSA pick-up was today: 1 head lettuce, 1/4 lb salad greens, sm bunches of kale and swiss chard, 1/2 doz. eggs, 1 kohlrabi, quart of strawberries, and cheese.)

All this dreary weather is making me think of the fall and winter months, which makes me dream of baking pies. Today I made the Blueberry Pie Filling (recipe in previous post). The recipe made 5 pints so I will do another batch soon in order to have batches frozen in 2 pint quantities, enough for 5 pies in all.

My blogger friends Erin over at Garden Now-Think Later! and EG at Engineered Gardener have been busy making blackberry jam and it has been looking yummy! So, I dug out some set aside recipes I have been wanting to try and washed up the Ball jars and got my canning on. These are the recipes I used for Sweet Onion Preserves and Jalapeno Strawberry Jam, thanks for the inspiration!!:

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f94/sweet-onion-preserves-13516.html I substituted a mix of white wine, white balsamic, and red balsamic vinegars in place of the tarragon vinegar, and used rosemary and sage in place of the fresh tarragon.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Jalapeno-Strawberry-Jam/Detail.aspx This is all that was left of one of the jars come evening after making the jam. We all had some poured over cream cheese with crackers, and then my 2 yr old decided she was just going to go for straight for it and began eating spoon fulls right out of the jar. This recipe isn't too spicy, if you are looking for some real heat you need to kick the type of peppers up a notch. Used more hot red cherries than jalapenos but the cherries had less fire than I was expecting. Can anyone give me lessons on the world of hot peppers?

I saw these containers and thought they would be perfect for freezing individual pints of berries in.

Garden Tour

This first picture is of my blustery back yard, now you can fully understand why my garden is in the front yard.

My messy garden needs some clean-up! As you can see I am still in the 'container planting phase' which is ridiculous considering we are almost into July, darn weather, so pardon the bags of soil, peat pots and containers scattered about. I will post some close ups of the planted containers another day. The kitchen garden is made up of six beds; 4 are constructed with 1x8 cedar boards; 2 are deeper with a combination of 1x boards. How deep you ask? I forget. 12 and 18 inches maybe? I am sure my husband didn't forget since he was lucky enough to rip the boards down to size. (thanks honey!)



The first bed is home to my asparagus (and some peas and milkweed for fun). The second has three rows of tomatoes. There are a handful of basil plants through out along with a row of red onions and 2 rows of cut-n-come again lettuce interplanted.







The third and fourth beds are Cucurbits and Roots. The one in the foreground is divided into 3 sections and contains carrots and herbs; potatoes; carrots and sweet potatoes. The vertical bed behind has cukes, winter squash seedlings, marigolds, and sweet alysum. Some of these seedlings are too small to be seen.

In the fourth bed I have legumes, beans, peppers, onions. the peppers were stuck in to separate the legumes and onions since they do not enjoy being neighbors.

The final bed is the one that gives me trouble. A few plantings of spinach, beets, and chard have been ripped out and started over or replaced with something else. Currently it holds a variety of salad greens, 2 rows drying beans(pole), bush beans, another row of pole beans, zinnias,3 peppers, 1 eggplant and some bunching onions. It's picture can be found below in the last post.