Saving Seeds and Waitin' for Tomatoes

written by Yvonne

All of these photos are several weeks old now but I thought I'd post them anyway. We've been harvesting cow and crowder peas like crazy.  We haven't actually eaten any of them yet, we're just shelling them and letting them dry.

FINALLY the basil came up! Not really enough to do anything with yet but at least there is one plant.  Maybe there will be enough for one margherita pizza and one batch of pesto. Please, please let there be enough for one batch of pesto!

This is either cilantro or flat-leaf parsley. Come on little plant; grow! I'm tired of buying you at the store.

A TY Veggie Patch summer staple - squash.

And again - FINALLY tomatoes have appeared. They are all green still but they're finally here.

Everything you see here is tomatoes. These big plants better be puttin' out big quantities of tomatoes.

If memory serves, last year I was disappointed with the size and quantity of pepper plants that, but by the end of summer we had more peppers than we knew what to do with. I'm in that same place again. Only two very small plants have come up. Hopefully they'll produce a lot.

This is what, the fourth or fifth time we've attempted to plant something in this spot?  This is REALLY the last time we're attempting this. If the squash and hibiscus plants Tom planted here don't 'take', that's it for this area. Although we did just buy clover seeds to use as ground cover for the bees so maybe Tom can spread some here and see how it goes.

We're comfortable enough now with our garden knowledge and skills to start saving seeds from the produce we grow. One of the advantages of growing heirloom varieties is that you can replant the seeds year after year. We've done that with a few items but this year Tom has really committed to saving seeds from everything possible so we don't have to buy more seeds. So far this year he's saved seeds from crowder and cow peas, pole and bush beans, and cucumbers. Next will be tomatoes and peppers (assuming we get any peppers).

Unfortunately we weren't as inundated with cucumbers this year as in the past two years, but we certainly got a good amount. At the point we were picking one or two cucs every day, I remember making refrigerator pickles last year so I pulled out the recipe and made a couple of quarts. I know I said this last year but they taste JUST like Claussen's. YUM!

Getting Into The Hot Days of July

written by Yvonne


Although the cabbage is coming in, it's getting eat by bugs so we may have to abandon these if we can't get the bug problem under control.

Thanks to Tom covering the blueberries with netting, we got blueberries this year!  I took them and some fresh cherries (store bought) and made a crisp.

(The color on these next two photos are off - the plants are not really this gray looking.) WE HAVE BROCCOLI!  Sure wish we knew what we did to FINALLY get them to produce the edible part.

And eat we did!  I made a mushroom broccoli stir fry and it was delicious.

In answer to your question Rebecca: Don't get me wrong - I love the broccoli and we will continue growing as much as we can. However, I'm not as knocked out by the flavor in the same way I am with our home grown carrots, tomatoes and berries. To me it didn't taste much more broccoli-y than good store bought.

Our beans ran over. The vine laying across the two beds is actually on a stake but it fell over from the weight of the vine.

These crowder peas are coming in like gangbusters.

The kale has been a great addition to our smoothies in the mornings. But now the bugs have gotten to them too much and they need to be pulled up. I know from this photo it looks like they are healthy and edible, but when you turn the leaves over, there are lots of worms and eggs (ICK) on the backs that are just too much work to clean off.

The Swiss chard on the other hand is growing, it keeps growing, and it has no bugs. I made a big mess o' chard last night for dinner.

Cucumbers are coming in at the rate of two or three per day.  Per Tom's suggestion I took two of the large baseball-bat sized cucumbers and harvested the seeds from them.  He brought up a great point which is that we are buying heirloom seeds which means the seeds can be harvest and planted over and over again - we should start doing that with as many plants as possible, instead of buying new seeds every year.

Tomatoes are just starting to flower.

Before we lose too many more plants to bugs, Tom got out his Dustructor (a piece of equipment that is supposed to be used in beekeeping, but didn't quite work for him) and showered the garden (and himself) with BT.  I think he learned his lesson and will stand up-wind next time.

Summer Time Good Eats

written by Yvonne

They're finally here and they are delicious!  We've been eating raspberries several mornings for breakfast with a some yogurt and topped with chopped pecans. Yum!

This weekend I harvested one big batch and made a raspberry buckle (kinda like coffee cake). Looks like there may be just enough left on the bushes for one or two more good breakfasts.

The chard seemed to take a long time to come up but now that it has, we can barely keep up with eating it.

I harvest about 1 bunch of the largest leaves for dinner one night (shown here).  In about two days time the plants grew back so large that it looked like the I hadn't harvest any leaves at all.

This is... geez, I'm not sure what this is. Whatever it was, it ain't no more. We must have taken this picture a week or two ago because now there is no part of any bed that has this much empty space.

The crowder peas are... well... they're really crowded.  :)  As of this photo, they had just barely started to flower.

Just like last year, once the Spring snow and snap peas were done, the Summer cow peas started filling in.

The cabbage is forming heads which is great, but the bugs are certainly getting to them. Looks like we need to sprinkle some BT this weekend.

This, again, was taken two weeks ago because these tomatoes are now three times this size.

If you look just left of center you can see the long green beans. They can be hard to see at first, but as you move the leaves out of the way, there are tons of them. I made a big batch of beans and potatoes which was enough for dinner and lunch the next day. This past weekend I made green beans and shitake mushrooms which was enough for two dinner side dishes and one left over lunch.

Tom is in NYC on a photo shoot right now and he always gets to eat fantastic food. He ate the left over green beans and mushrooms for lunch before his flight and sent me the following text: "WOW, our fresh green beans and your amazing dish are WONDERFUL! I'll be hard pressed to eat something as wonderful in New York."

And there were STILL enough beans to blanch and freeze. I'll harvest more today and freeze them as well.

Let's talk cucumbers. We all know they're one of my favorites even though they're not super versatile. Similar to the Swiss chard they certainly do keep producing. After pulling the first cucumber of the season, two ready to pick the next day. After picking those two, there were four ready the next day... you get the picture.

Even after splurging by making cucumber water several days in a row, and coming up with a new cucumber 'appetizer' to enjoy before dinner each night, I've STILL given away a few bags worth of cucs to friends. Cucs aren't Tom's favorite so I tried to think of a way to have them that might spark his interest.  I sliced one up, sprinkled it with lemon pepper, and topped with just a few pieces of crumbled blue cheese. We both LOVE it. So from now until the cucs are done, this will be our before dinner appetizer.

Is this what I think it is? No. No way. This can't be broccoli! I mean we planted broccoli sure, and the plants came up and all. But as you well know, we are always able to get broccoli plants, they just never produce the part you eat. I mean this is what, our fourth attempt at broccoli?  OH MY GOSH, IT IS BROCCOLI!!!!!!!!!!

(Sorry about the color on this.) This is a BIG harvest of oregano that has been drying for a few weeks. I think it's safe to say we'll have plenty of dried oregano through the winter.

It's OK if you're envious of how we're eating right now...

A proud vegetable grower cooking and puttin' up lots of good food.

Everything is Green

written by Yvonne

Due to vacations and traveling, the garden has exploded with green-ness. Granted some of that green is weeds but much of it is not.

This is a mass of pole and bush beans that are just starting to flower.

The broccoli and cabbage started from seed has really taken root. Keep your fingers crossed that THIS will be the year we get broccoli to sprout.

Lots of snow and snap peas coming in. SO good in salads.

Now THIS is a lettuce bed!

The Russian kale is doing well, we just have to eat it up before it gets too hot and bolts. After having made an awesome kale salad, I decided I don't like the Russian kale as well as standard curly kale. I've noted that for future seed purchases.

The chard that Tom painstakingly uncovered is just about ready for a first harvest.

The cucumber plants are still small but as I looked under the leaves I say blossoms which means cucs aren't too far away!

Tom pulled out the Mantis Tiller to weed two small areas in beds 3 and 4. It made quick work of the job.

Once the weeds were out, he planted all of the tomato and peppers seedlings which means our summer garden is official planted!

THE RASPBERRIES ARE HERE! THE RASPBERRIES ARE HERE!

I started a lot of herbs in pots but only the dill and thyme sprouted. So I planted those two (too small to see in this picture) along with basil, cilantro, chive, and parsley seeds.  Basil has done well in the past started in pots, but it just didn't sprout this year.  Although I like getting a jump on the season, it may be best to stick to planting herbs direct. They don't want to come up until it's super hot outside anyway so it may be just as effective to wait. The large plant you see here is the oregano that came back on its own.

And of course the standard dogs-enjoying-the-shade photo.