Late August Harvest

I've been really thrilled with how the well the vegetable garden has performed this year.  Better than all previous years and I'm sure it was the hot sunny weather we've had all summer long.  It's been really dry so I've had to hand water almost every day, but this week we are experiencing lots of rain, which has been a refreshing change. 

The tomatoes have been outstanding and I've certainly been in competition with squirrels to harvest them.  I've made some tomato sauce bolongese with them and we've been having tomato salads almost every night.  I've got 8 varieties planted and the one that seems to be sweetest and most tasty is a heirloom called the German Stripe. 

We've had more than enough cukes, squash, and zucchini.  The summer squash is dying off now from powdery mildew and I'm OK with that.... we've had quite enough squash thank you very much!  I'll be pulling up the spent plants sometimes this week.

Eggplant has been abundant as well.  YUMMY!  I adore eggplant parmesan and it freezes well too.  There are also more green beans than we can eat.  I've let a bunch get mature seeds so I can dry them and hopefully plant the seeds next summer.

The perennial garden is really slowing down too.  There is so much that has gotten brown, died back, and gone to seed so much earlier than usual, but I kind of expected that since we had such a warm spring and everything seemed to be about 3 weeks ahead from previous years.  Thank goodness for black-eyed Susans otherwise we wouldn't have much color in the flower bed right now, since I don't put in mums until after Labor Day.

I was delighted by seeing this surprise in the backyard bed.  (Sorry the picture is so bad, but the light was waning.) 

I stuck this amarylis plant in the ground because I couldn't kill it even though it had long since bloomed last January.  To my amazement it bloomed again August.  What a nice surprise!  The garden although frustrating at times always brings me much joy and wonder!

Today's Harvest and Veggie Garden Update

The vegetable garden is continuing to perform well this year.  The collard greens and broccoli finally finished producing last week and bolted so I I've got a few empty spots for some fall planting.  I've been regularly harvesting lots and lots of squash and zucchini.  There may be some vine borers in them at this point, but I'm not going to do anything about it since we've got more than we need.  I've been grating and freezing them for future bread making. 

I've also been grilling the zucchini and yellow squash as well as the broccoli (those are sweet potatoes and zucchini in the pic above - I didn't grow the sweet potatoes, but they were delicious grilled).  I coat the broccoli in olive oil, mix in some chopped garlic and salt/pepper, and let them roast for about 8-10 minutes.  The zucchini and squash I slice in circles and coat in olive oil with a sprinkling of Mrs. Dash seasoning.

Today I finally picked my green beans, cucumbers, beets, and cherry tomatoes.  Only 2 orange cherry tomatoes but with 16 vines of all different varieties of tomatoes there are probably 50+ more starting to ripen  (waiting is such anticipation!). 

The eggplants and sweet peppers are doing well and I've got many in all stages of development.  I think for both of these I'll be harvesting some next week. The swiss chard is still producing but starting to look tired.  I'll probably pull them out and sow some new seeds for a fall harvest. 

 
The purple cabbage is almost ready to be picked as well.  Leaf loopers finally got to them, but I've been hand picking them off with success so I opted not to spray.  The outside leaves don't look pretty but the inner cabbage is fine.  I planted carrots late so they are just tiny seedlings now but doing really well.  I think I'll sow some more for a late fall harvest as well. 

Finally the potatoes are blooming but I never hilled them.  I know I should have but I've been too busy.  I noticed a fingerling potato popping through the dirt so it will be green and probably not edible. I need to get out there to hill the rest before the harvest is a total bust.  Don't we all wish we had more time! 

First Summer Squash Harvest!

We are experiencing an unusual heat wave in New England.  The recorded temperature is at 101 degrees right now (which is 38.33 celsius for my Canadian friends).  While the temps were still in the cool 80s this morning I checked on the veggie garden and did some harvesting.  Today's harvest consisted of my first summer squash of the season (yellow and zucchini).  I also noticed that the collards greens were starting to bolt so I pulled them up and harvested the last of them too.  With the empty space in the bed where the collard greens were I will sow some more seeds - most likely beets and turnips for a fall harvest.

Well excuse me now while I go sip on an ice tea with some fresh mint from the garden and park myself in front of the AC unit.  I need to blanch and freeze the collard greens, but standing next to pot of boiling water for even a few minutes sounds about as much fun as getting some teeth pulled right now.  Stay cool everyone!