Mid-August Bounty

This post is a bit late, but here is what we harvested in the past week. The tomatoes are finally starting to ripen in large numbers. This year I grew half as many plants as we did last year (forty), which in some ways is good since last summer at this time, it was quite stressful trying to keep up with the tomato harvest. However, this year I'm a bit worried that we may not have grown enough to get us by in sauce and salsa for the next twelve months. I may have to increase the number of plants for next year.


Speaking of tomatoes, my Gold Medal and Brandywine (Sudduth's Strain) vines are producing enormous fruit. It's not uncommon for a tomato plant to produce a couple of whoppers but in this case, most of them are pretty hefty. I'm a sucker for big ugly tomatoes.

As you can see, I have a few green paste tomatoes here as well. They were salvaged when the branch holding the cluster snapped.


I picked all of my Tongue of Fire beans this week. I've never cooked with fresh shell beans before. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!


The last of our sweet corn. :(


Two delicious Athena cantaloupes. (On a side note, I bought two amazing Canary and Piel de Sapo melons from the market the other week. I saved some seeds to hopefully grow them next year.)


I must be growing a different variety of purple tomatilloes this year because these are almost jet black. I'm excited to make a batch of purple tomatillo salsa. The watermelon you see here was picked because a section of the stem attaching it to the vine had died off. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite ripe yet.


The last of the Spring-sown carrots and possibly the last of this year's artichokes. They will surely be missed.


Finally, the last of the spring-sown beets. It will be at least another month before the fall beets are ready to harvest.

A Mid-September Harvest

I was caught off guard by the amount of tomatoes we were able to pick this week. The cherries have become a bit of a nightmare at this point. We've lost quite a bit to splitting simply because I haven't been able to keep up with them. Harvesting the clusters can be rather tedious as the tomato vines are completely overgrown and I have to admit that it's not any activity I particularly enjoy. (Ok, I will stop complaining now.) On the bright side, I remember the last time I purchased a supermarket tomato.


Two more yummy artichokes were picked this week. They are well worth the effort if you ask me.


I also picked a fair amount of purple tomatillos. They make for an awesome roasted salsa verde (or should I say, "salsa morado").


Peppers/chilies are definitely something I need to grow more of next year. I wasn't able to harvest nearly as much as I would have liked to this summer. The Poblanos have been particularly good.


Finally, I harvested the last watermelon in the garden today - a Sugar Baby. Up until this point, I hadn't been able to pick a single ripe one. Luckily this last one pulled through. Leaving it on the vine for a week after the tendril closest to the fruit turned brown, as suggested by several of my blogging buddies, seemed to do trick. (Thanks guys!) It was very sweet, but not nearly as interesting as the Thai watermelon I grew. It don't think I'll grow it again next year.

This week's numbers:

Swiss Chard - 1.11 lb
Tomatoes - 41.13 lb
Tomatillos - 2.98 lb
Peppers - 3.00 lb
Artichokes - 0.53 lb
Watermelon - 5.88 lb
Ground Cherries - 0.27 lb

Total harvest this week - 54.90 lb

End of Summer Harvest - A Return to Blogging

Gees...I don't think I've ever gone a week without posting something. It wasn't really planned. I guess subconsciously, I must have really needed the break. Hopefully you all haven't forgotten about me!

I know that the official end of summer isn't for another three weeks, but from the looks of this harvest, it might as well be now. The tomato glut of summer is officially over. Sure the cherry tomatoes are still producing respectfully, but the slicers on the other hand are taking a hiatus at the moment. I think we'll still get a couple each week, but nothing like we used to.


This may be the last pile of slicing tomatoes for the summer.


I used some of these cherry tomatoes and peppers to makes salsa. The white ones you see are called 'Dr. Carolyn.' I would describe their taste as being very mild and sweet.


Due to heavy rains that came early last week, I lost a lot of my cherry tomatoes to splitting. Still, we ended up with a considerable harvest.


I picked a couple of Rosa Bianca eggplants this week. The honey dew and Charantais melons in this picture are pretty sad. Cucumber beetles have been a real problem for me this year. Left unchecked, they've destroyed my melons and cukes prematurely. Next year will be a different story.


Finally - a sure sign that fall is fast upon us, I picked some lettuce today, which along with some Thai basil ended up in a salad. It's also a sign that the heavier veggies of summer will soon be replaced by the feather-weight greens of fall. I'm close to reaching my goal of producing 500 lbs of food for the year. Hopefully the weekly totals won't drop off too steeply!

This week's numbers:

Cukes (2) - 0.95 lb (The last of the summer.)
Eggplant - 1.50 lb
Melons - 4.06 lb
Tomatoes - 22.68 lb
Peppers - 0.89 lb
Tomatilloes - 2.02 lb
Lettuce - 0.22 lb

Total harvested this week - 32.32 lb

To see what others are harvesting or show off your own, visit Harvest Mondays at Daphne's Dandelions.

Late August Harvest - Tomatoes and Peppers

Finally, we received some much needed rain today. This summer has been so hot and dry that I'm sure our plants appreciated it. I'm noticing that our nighttime temperatures have been to cool down as well. It seems that fall may be approaching faster than we think. For many reasons, I'm rather excited for it. Cooler temperatures mean indoor fires and roasted marshmallows. It also means plenty of baking and hence (my favorite) pies....Yum. Indeed, summer is beginning to wind down and the gardener inside me is looking forward to unwinding a bit.


At this point, the tomato picking is still going strong. Sometimes it takes me an hour or more to harvest them all. Picking 8 pounds of cherry tomatoes takes a lot longer than one might think, especially when the vines are overgrown and tangled all together like they are presently. Up until now, I've been giving most of them away but think I'll start to dehydrate much of the excess going forward. Their flavor and sweetness becomes more intense in the dried state. (My friend Tom seems to think they taste "like candy".)


While we're on the subject of cherry tomatoes, I should point out our favorites this year. I have to say that Sungold is a very good hybrid tomato even though it have a tendency to burst when picked ultra ripe. Black Cherry is richly flavored with a complexity you don't ordinarily find in a cherry tomato. Finally, I was surprised by how much I like the Isis Candy variety. Its sweetness rivals (and in some cases surpasses) that of Sungold without any tartness whatsoever.

While the cherry tomatoes are producing stronger than ever, the slicers are beginning to wind down. The plants are forming a good number of green fruit but who knows whether they'll ripen before the first frost.


I also picked a good amount of peppers this week. Most of the Poblanos ended up in a Roasted Corn and Poblano Soup that I made. (Delicious!) I also made and canned a good amount of Annie's salsa.


I love the look of these purple tomatilloes. I'm waiting for more of them to come in before I make a big batch of salsa verde.


The smell of these Charantais melons is filling up the kitchen at the moment. I can't wait to cut into them.


I also picked my second artichoke and gave away some Rhubarb Chard to my sister-in-law.


Finally, I picked my remaining two Thai watermelons this week. They are oblong and each measure about 8 inches long. I didn't have much hope for the one on the right because it felt soft to the touch. Sure enough, it was WAY overripe, so much so that the inside had started to ferment. I can't believe that I had let it go unpicked for so long. So into the compost pile it went (and off of my harvest total). What a disappointment.


To end this post on a happy note, the the last one I cut into was perfectly ripe. In fact, if I had waited another day or too, it would have been over-ripe. It was intensely sweet and absolutely delicious! The flesh was a nice salmon color and, unlike the Sugar Baby, had a sweetness like honey. I will definitely be growing this variety again! Hopefully this time next year, I won't be batting 1 for 3.

This week's numbers:

Tomatilloes - 1.7 lb
Peppers - 2.87 lb
Tomatoes - 61.05 lb
Cucumbers (10) - 4.32 lb
Watermelon - 8.26 lb
Charantais melon - 5.20 lb
Swiss chard - 0.88 lb
Artichoke - 0.32 lb
Beans - 0.31 lb

Total harvest this week - 84.91 lb

The Late July Garden - An Update

It looks like the season for peppers is in full swing now. The poblanos are sizing up nicely. If anyone has a good recipe for them, please share!


The jalapenos are really coming in now, much more than we could possibly consume. And boy, they sure are hot! Much hotter than what you get at the supermarket.


The green bell peppers are pretty much ready for us to pick. Marc wants to wait until they turn red though. Any ideas how long that will take?


I have two purple tomatillo plants, which is quite enough if you ask me. They are ruiting so abundantly. A few have broken through their husks already but are still green.


Yes! I got my first imperial artichoke. It's tiny though. I made the mistake of planting my artichokes in the shadiest part of my garden. They have not worked out for me exactly as planned this year. If I can't overwinter them successfully, I think I'll start over again next spring and plant them in an area with full sun.


I checked the corn today. I peaked inside one husk and from what I can tell, it pollinated successfully. I think a few of them should be ready by the weekend. I can't wait!

Finally, my Rosa Bianca eggplants are flowering at the moment. Planted in the shadiest part of my garden, they are taking FOREVER. I really need to spend a bit more time on my garden plan next year. Maybe this space would be better suited for summer lettuce.

Garden Snapshots - Part II

Volunteer grain: I like the look and utility of straw mulch. The down side is that you do end up with some stray seeds that germinate before the birds get to them. Unlike some weeds, they are very easy to pull but then you do miss a few.


My miniature Top Hat blueberry bush is setting fruit despite the fact that I don't have a second plant for it to cross-pollinate with. Hopefully the birds don't get to it before I get around to purchasing some netting.


After weeks of doing nothing, the Thai basil is finally starting to grow a bit.


The rabbits are starting to take notice of my corn. How can something so cute be so annoying?!


The Spacemaster cukes are starting to flower. I have mighty expectations for this variety. Hopefully it won't disappoint.


The purple tomatilloes are starting to flower as well. I only have 2 plants this year but have heard that they can be prolific producers.


Oregano - I don't think I'll have shortage of herbs this summer.


Marvel of the Seasons lettuce - I had a terrible time trying to start lettuce from seeds this year. This is one out of a lucky handful that didn't damp off.


Imperial Artichoke - All five of my plants are doing well but growing very slowly. I should have moved them to a sunnier spot in the garden. Too late now!


Ground Cherries - Finally, after weeks of doing nothing, my ground cherries are starting to grow again. Some are even beginning to set fruit. Hopefully they will produce well into the fall this year.