Garden Happenings

The garden is really starting to produce.

 

We've been getting a lot of cucumbers

which means.....

pickles.....and

 

making "The Italian's" favorite

Sweet Pickle Relish

 

I've harvested a couple small heads of Red Acre Cabbage and....

 

this little tomato...a Dolly Parton!

Isn't it a beauty???

The tomatoes are starting.

I think the big tomato glut is about a week or two away

 

Our favorite slicing tomatoes, Cherokee Purples & Eva's Purple Ball are a regular.

  

I dug one hill of Yukon Gold Potatoes.

I couldn't believe the size of some of them!

 

We've had a half dozen Zucchini, including these two which were almost too big!

 

and the onions!!! Well, that's a post in itself!

 

So, how's your garden producing???

Too Busy to Blog & Garden Update

Yes, everything is A-OK.....I've just been too busy with work, life and the garden to blog!!! "The Italian" and I had a lovely vacation in May. The garden is doing great and work is busy as usual. I really appreciate the inquires.

As you can see the plots are bursting with growth! We had one heat wave already in late May. Other than that the rain has been consistent and the heat wave didn't seem to hurt the spring crops.

Plots from the front

The Eggplant were getting nibbled, but the new growth is good.

It looks like they are going to be OK

 

The Peppers are looking good and so are the potatoes (on the left)

The Broccoli is forming heads!!!



The Asparagus is finished for the year. We harvested about 3.5 lbs this year.

 

The Squash are coming up.....and we have Peas galore!

There are Snow & Snap Peas at the plots and Snap & Shelling Peas growing in the Home Garden. To date we have harvested more than 5 lbs. of Peas.

The Tomatoes are Happy!

 

The Cauliflower has yet to form heads. But, I'm sure they will be forming soon!

The Cabbage is starting to form heads.

 

The Blackberries have lots of blooms....so do the Raspberries!

 

The Strawberry bed has to be kept covered due to the birds.

We've picked more than 17 lbs. of strawberries so far this year!!!

Overall the garden is looking great and we are happy gardeners!

 

How's your garden growing so far this year???



 

Home Garden Update mid-April

Wow, I can't believe it's mid-April already and that I haven't posted in a month! I have been reading a lot of blogs though. It's just been very busy with work, life and the garden.

The cold weather and then the hot dry weather has passed and the weather has turned to normal for this time of the year. So.....I finally managed to get the home garden cleaned up this weekend.

The Right Cold Frame Bed

is planted with onions and carrots under the boards. I use Granny's Seed Mat Method.It works great!

The Left Cold Frame Bed

is planted with Asian Veggies, Kale, Collards and Lettuce

The over-wintered Spinach is really taking off!

I harvest this nice big colander of spinach on Sunday

"The Italian" sautéed it with olive oil and garlic....yum!

 

The Peas finally sprouted after our rain this past week!

They're all popping through the ground!

 

I usually plant my early Tomatoes in this bed.

This year I sowed 2 rows of Little Marvel Peas and 2 rows of Carrots.

Slicing Cucumbers will be sown on the right side in about a month

The Herb Garden has been cleaned out.

It was a mess from that Sandy blowing through here last fall!

The Rosemary made it through the winter for the first time!

Lots of Happy Daffodils in the Herb Garden too!

 

In the basement, there are a few Large Tomatoes......

smaller tomatoes......

and even smaller tomatoes!

They will be a nice size when it's time to plant them out.

There are a lot of peppers growing....medium and small

Way too much Celery!!

Cauliflower, Cabbage & Eggplant

The Broccoli has already be planted at the plots.

I'll post on the plots tomorrow.

 

So, how's your garden coming along???

 

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard..........09/27/2012

The canning has been a lot more fun the past couple of weeks. I canned the balance of the peaches that "The Italian" and I got at the orchard.

They turned out perfect!

I can my peaches in a mixture of juice and light syrup. First I make some juice from the seconds. I just mash them up and strain the mash through a jelly bag. Then I make a very light syrup (recipe from the Ball Blue Book), combine the two and simmer. We really enjoy the peaches canned this way.

My fun jam of the year is this Carrot Cake Jam.

Sophia and I made it on Saturday. You can find the recipe here. I'm not sure if it tastes like carrot cake ....but it sure is tasty! With the combination of spices, we think it tastes like fall.

The small batch of sauerkraut was canned....

and for the first time I canned some Pimento Peppers!

Last year the groundhog ate each and every ripe pepper at the plots. We found how to can them here.

When I was finished canning the peaches, I made peach syrup with the leftover juice and light syrup mixture. I added a little more sugar and let it cook down. Of course "The Italian" had to make a nice drink using the syrup!!

Peach Martini

Peach Martini for two

5 oz. Vodka

4 oz. Peach Syrup

3 tsp. Sugar

Squirt of Lemon Juice

1 oz. Seltzer Float

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a shaker with some crushed ice, shake, pour into martini glasses, add seltzer or club soda, garnish with a slice of peach and enjoy!

What's been going in or out of you Kitchen Cupboard lately???

Harvest Monday................08/20/2012

Since "The Italian" is out of town for a few days, Sophia spent the whole weekend with me. We sure did have a busy weekend!! First, we spent all day Saturday out and about. We shopped, which I really hate. But, it had to be done. I needed some pants for work and of course Sophia needed some things too. Just like any teenager does! We had a great day and then took our neighbor out for dinner. It was the girls night out!

Sunday was a full day of gardening. Before we left for the plots, I checked the two savoy cabbage plants at the home garden I really hadn't looked at them in weeks.

The cabbage on the left is a normal size head of Savoy Cabbage.

The one on the right is the Monster Head....That baby weighed almost 7 lbs!! I really didn't think Savoy cabbage could get that big!

After the great Cabbage Harvest we set off for the plots. That place was like a jungle! Sophia was a big help. She pulled weeds, took a ton of stuff to the compost and of course took a nice nap under the umbrella! When the day was done we had a nice neat garden and a full trunk of produce!

And there was some in the back seat too!

If you ever wondered what 17+ lbs of celery looks like.....

It looks like this!!! Yes, we harvest 17.32 lbs of celery! 

There is no way we need all this celery plus the nearly 4 lbs that was harvest in July. So, Sophia took a couple of bunches and I gave 3 bunches to my mother.There's also some more celery growing in the home garden.

We harvested two nice Sugar Baby Watermelons. 

They weighed in at 15.55 lbs for the two.

We also harvested these two fine beauties.

My first time growing Butternut Squash. These guys weighed in at a little over 10 lbs.

The remaining cabbage at the plots was harvested.

One Savoy, Two each of Tet Noire and Red Acre.

These guys were on the small side.....but, I think we are good in the cabbage department for the year!

The Chinese Red Noodle Beans are really doing well!!

I harvested 4.675 lbs. of them this week alone!

There were also Eggplants, Tomatoes and Peppers harvested this week.

Not pictured are the potatoes I dug last week and didn't get around to weighing until Saturday. 

All in all it we had a great week of harvests!!

Total weighed harvests: 135.34 lbs!!

Beans:

     Dean's Purple Pole Snap - 7.85 oz.

     Chinese Red Noodle - 74.8 oz. 

     Asparagus Red Seed - 8.1 oz

Cabbage:

     Chiefton Savoy - 170.9 oz.

     Red Acre - 61.35 oz.

     Tet Noire - 64,5 oz.

Celery - 277.15 oz.

Eggplant - 42.75 oz.

Peppers:

     Hot & Spice - 15.3 oz

     Sweet - 24.7 oz

Potatoes:

     Yukon Gold - 61 oz

     Purple Viking - 92.3 oz.

     Kennebec - 18.55 oz.

     Red Pontiac - 193.25 oz.

Squash, Butternut - 162 oz.

Tomatoes - 599.75 oz

Watermelon Sugar Baby- 248.85 oz.

Zucchini - 17.6 oz.

Hop on over to Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday and see what's going on in gardens around the globe!!