Harvest Monday

The night temperatures have been unusually cool for August, which is not so good for the remaining summer veggie plants. But it's great for the fall veggie seedlings.

The last of the carrots were pulled out and I need to sow some more seeds for the fall/winter crop. I had no idea that the home-grown carrots could taste this good!

I have been harvesting herbs and drying them. They have been good to us all throughout the season.

Earlier in the season, my basil was getting attacked by something. They were so bare at one point that I thought I would just pull them out...

But I'm glad I didn't! They all came back and the more I snip, the more they give.

I used the basil in my first batch of tomato sauce this weekend.

I wish I could say these tomatoes were from my garden, but I've been having trouble with my tomato plants all throughout the season and they didn't produce much. They recovered for a few weeks, but then with all the rain we've been getting lately, they were hit by blight and are quickly dying. The good news is I can buy a box of canning tomatoes for $3 around here. It's ALMOST not worth gardening when they are this cheap!

I canned 15 quarts of sauce from the beginning to the end. 3 quarts did not seal in my pressure canner. I have been having a problem with that lately. I can't figure out why. It does seem to happen more often with the wide-mouth jars though. I give plenty of head space, wipe the rim, etc.... Anyone has suggestions?

The rain has been great for some things in nature - wild mushrooms! My husband and I collect all sorts of wild mushrooms, but we especially look forward to this time of year when our favorite ones come out.

Happy Harvest everyone!

Linking up to the host of Harvest Monday, where people share their wonderful harvests!

Tomatoes

We originally planted about 40 tomato plants - half heirlooms and other half plum types for sauce making. The garden is fresh dug and we did not test the soil (don't know why!) and all we did was add a couple of buckets of manure to the area.

Although this is the real first garden we had, we have been canning our tomato sauces for the last several years, using the "seconds" from our local farms. So this year, we were so excited to be able to can the sauces using our own tomatoes.

Everything was looking great until the heirlooms started wilting. The leaves were still dark green and healthy looking, but they wilted during the day and recovered at night. Around the same time, the eggplants and a few pepper plants started showing the same problem and died quickly. I did some research and was convinced that it was either Fusarium or Verticillium wilt, for which there was apparently nothing you could do to save them. At this point, All of the heirlooms were suffering pretty bad, so I pulled most of them out. The plums that were planted much later in a different bed were doing okay then, but a few weeks later, the same thing started happening. This is what they looked like then.

I know this is our first garden and we can't expect everything according to the plan, but we were really looking forward to the tomatoes. So I desperately did more research and came across this product called "Actinovate." I am opposed to the use of any chemicals, but this product is apparently safe for organic gardening. It is not cheap, and my plants were already well established by then, but this was going to be my last hope before calling it quits.  I also bought some high quality fertilizer along with it.

Now this is how they looked after 1 application of Actinovate and fertilizers.

Some still wilt at the hottest part of the day, but not as bad as they used to. They also started being more productive. Each plant initially had only 3-4 tomatoes before they got sick, but now they are flowering non stop and putting on some fruit.

Since I did both Actinovate and fertilizers at the same time, I can not say which did the trick - maybe it was the combination of both. I wish I knew about this product before I pulled out all those beautiful heirloom plans. But at least, it looks like we'll see some plum tomatoes.

Harvest Monday

Things are coming!

Tomatoes - Despite the wilt problems, our tomato plants keep fighting and trying to produce. Not enough to can, but plenty for daily uses.

Peppers - Both hot and sweet peppers are doing very well! I am waiting for the bells to turn red, but no sign. The Anaheims are our favorite. We roast them over wood fire and make green chile sauce every year. Since they don't ripen at the same time, we roast them, peel them and freeze them until we have enough to make a big batch.

Zucchini - Only one plant - still standing tall and healthy. It is producing one every 3-4 days - perfect amount.

Beans - The Haricot verts have started! They are not as prolific as the yellow waxes, but they are delicious!

 

Cucumbers - We had 10 plants of mix variety, and most of them produced some and quickly wilted. I have 3 plants left - half dead, but still trying to produce a little. But this Japanese cuke might be the last one before I finally pull out the plant. My second seedlings are getting bigger fast, so maybe we'll have another crop of cucumbers before the fall.

Hard beans - I planted pinto, black coco, and canellini beans. They are ripening at different times. And because of so much rain we've been having lately, some beans are sprouting in pods!  So I have been removing semi-dry pods here and there. As soon as I removed those old pods, the near dead plants decided to flower again! We'll see if I get a second crop out these.

Water melon - First time growing melons! I think I waited long enough to pick it... it's "Sangria" and weighed about 6lb. Very exciting, but the taste was just OKAY... I have 2 more, but I think I am going to give them some more time.

I'm linking to the host of "Harvest Monday" where gardeners all over the world share their yummy harvests!

My favorite salad

I absolutely love cobb salad! Especially when some of the ingredients come from my own garden, it makes the salad extra delicious. It's sort of like making soups, in that, you can just throw in anything you have in the fridge/garden. I wish I could say that the lettuce is from my garden, but it has been too hot for them.

For the toppings, we had onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots from the garden, plus bacon, shredded cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and cut up leftover grilled chicken from 2 nights ago. I usually make ranch or blue cheese dressing for this, but I wanted to go a little lighter. So I made a honey mustard dressing. Yummy!

Harvest Monday

This is my first post for Harvest Monday, which is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions at http://daphnesdandelions.blogspot.com/2012/07/harvest-monday-july-30th-2012.html#comment-form

Tomatoes: 2lb 7oz - We planted about 40 tomato plants hoping they will give us some a plenty for eating and canning. But unfortunately, they have been struggling due to what we believe is Fusarium or Verticillium wilt. They are not completely dead, but not performing well either, so I had to put some of them out of misery this weekend. Thus, the green tomatoes that I picked that were left on those poor plants.

Carrots: 1lb - After complaining about them a few days ago, I realize I probably should be happy. Today, I pulled out some nice straight carrots. I probably have about 1-2lb left in the bed, hoping they will grow a little more. I also sowed some seeds for the fall crop.

Yellow wax beans: 4oz - They have been very good to us and providing consistent harvest for several weeks. I think they are just starting to get tired. But my haricot vert plants are now in full bloom. I think we'll start harvesting these by next week.

Zucchini: half rotten one.... We have one zucchini plant, that has been producing just the right amount for 2 of us. This one probably didn't get pollinated properly.

Broccoli side shoots: 2oz - I have 6 broccoli plants that keep on giving. The heads were cut off 2-3 weeks ago.

First entry

Welcome to my blog! I hope to share my gardening and cooking episodes, but mainly to document my successes and failures so I can make improvements in the future.

My love for cooking (and eating) naturally led me to gardening, so I can grow fresh produce right at my door step. Well, it's easier said than done. For the last several years, my husband and I lived in cities and have tried to grow things mainly in pots with the exception of one summer when we were able to rent a community garden plot. And this year, we finally moved to a place where we are allowed to have dig a garden! As much as we are excited to have this big space, it's still not so easy...

I have been learning how to garden by following other people's blogs, researching online, and reading books. Although it's well into the mid summer already, it's about time I start blogging and sharing my experiences.

We moved to this place last December, and we started our adventure by building a hoop house. So there is quite a bit of things to post, but I'll start with the current state of my garden and sometimes go back several weeks or moths as I remember.

Because it's my first entry, I will include a picture of today's harvest:

Soy Beans - 12oz
Yellow string beans - 5oz
Tomatoes - 1lb 3oz
A couple of damaged hot peppers and a cucumber