Corn and Eggplant

A little bit of corn is now coming in the garden. Corn doesn't do very good in a small garden. I happen to find an old seed packet and decided to put sow them. Corn is an interesting and delicious vegetable for gardeners. Corn is domesticated form of a grass from central America. Corn is now dependent on man since it is no longer able to self seed.  You will never get any volunteer corn in your garden. Originally each kernel of corn was in its own sheath. Now there are 100's of kernels and they are in a thick husk. Each of the kernels are attached to one of the silks and most be pollinated or the kernel will not fill out. Corn also most self pollinate and this is why the small patch often does not make well. In the big field there will be hundreds of corn plants  letting off pollen. The edge of the fields often doesn't  get pollinated but the center of the field. So the small plot has the pollen blown away from the silks. Nonetheless the few ears that we are getting are delicious.

Also eggplant  is coming in. Eggplant is a very warm weather plant. I like to have the small fruited varieties since they are easier to grow and doesn't stay on the plant long enough to let the insects get at.

Lots of produce to report

Tomato               1129
Cherry tomato     1955
Light Zucchini       753
Green Zucchini     224
Yellow Squash     483
Cucumbers         2534
Green Bean          339
Blackberry m        103

Total 7.520 KG     For total of 
89.52 KG or 196.4  lbs

New Beginnings and the attack of the Tomato

The Tomatoes are starting to come in and I hope that if I can keep my plants healthy that I will have fresh tomatoes for the rest of the season. There apparently is a glut of tomatoes for the commercial farmer. So many that some are leaving fruit in the fields. Mine sometimes gets eaten in the garden and almost every time we go out in the garden to work we have someone to walk by and stop to talk and we can give them a fresh cucumber or some other thing right of the bush. Since no pesticides or other chemicals I don't think that you really need to wash.
I have had somethings that have flowered and are past their prime. Those bean plants and some of the squash come out and this weekend we planted more beans and squashes, okra and I have left some room for a few more new potatoes. The Farmer's daughter favors the new potato and the last we put in were followed by a heavy rains and appeared to rot the seed potato in the ground so we will start again.

I have two types of tomatoes as mentioned before one is the massive tray that started this post which is cherry. The other is the much larger and very delicious  type call Moskvich which if you want to see more you can go to Johnny's seed.http://www.johnnyseeds.com/c-415-heirloom.aspx This is a non-determinate which means that it should keep fruiting right along.

I have been cooking today and made up some spaghetti sauce which I cook into the mix chard and different squashes along with the tomatoes for a great dish. 



June 24            1.861KG
June 25            7.61 KG
June 27            1.28 KG for a total of 10.75 KG  this 82.50 KG or 181.4 lbs
I am closing in on new bench markers of 100 KG of food and my next post in my 50th

Gulliver's Travel: The Very LARGE to the VERY SMALL

The harvest has been large and the items that have been harvest span the scale in size. First we have the cucumber on steroids.  This monster which weighs one KG or just over 2 lbs was lost in the wilderness(or rather the cotoneaster hedge. The oldest and smallest garden plot has a hedge that greatly screens it from the road. The vine grew over the top and the monster of its own weight fell through the branches to remain hidden till the new farmer harvested it today. I am not sure I should count in toward my food weight but I will. It is certainly eatable if not palatable and will probably be pretty good with the skin off, seeds out and cooked into a soup.

The other food item of which there are many are the mini-tomato. Now, we have harvested a few of the larger tomato today. I have not had a chance to taste the new heirlooms that have come in because we had squash, beans, cucumbers and beets (all from the garden) for supper tonight so no room on the plate and I have zoomed right past the 5 fruits and veggies a day are advised by those dietitians in the know.




Yesterday I mentioned drying foods like the tomatoes. This lead to looking at a number of DIY videos with remarkably serious and earnest people demonstrating their dehydrators. If you need to be cheered I advise plugging this into Google and up will pop up a number of very droll videos on the how and whys of desiccating just about anything. Nonetheless, the Farmer's Wife and Daughter decided to use the unusually hot weather to dry some tomatoes. They can be quite good and have a very rich and sweet taste with some chewiness that work well in one our favorite pasta dishes at a local restaurant.

For the weigh in.

June 21       4.282 KG  with almost 1000 grams of tomatoes
June 22        1.000 KG of cukecumbers
June23         5.481 KG with another 1000grams of tomatoes and of course the 1 KG cucumber pictured above
All in all this is 9.763 KG + 61.950 is
71.715 KG or157.8 LBS

Eating with the Season

One of things a lot of locavores talk about is eating with the season to reduce your carbon footprint. Locavore is about eating food that is grown and produced near you. The definition of 'near' is part of the argument. You cannot do much more local then your front yard. I thought about the distance when I ate my banana with my breakfast cereal. I guess that it came on a ship form Central America. The banana plantation uses a lot of chemicals and pesticides and then the energy to power the ship. If I was a strict locavore I would never get my banana or olive oil or a lot of foods that we enjoy.
For tonight we are having squash parmigiana with squash from the front yard garden and beans with tomatoes and cucumbers for our dinner. These yellow squash do not have a crook neck; they are straight and easier to cut up and less waste. The squash below is a pale zucchini  and I really don't remember the name of the variety.

I think being a locavore for most of the meal is better than not being a locavore at all.
Today there was a big harvest with a total of 4.5 KG total.

Acorn Squash 1150 grams
Yellow Squash 300 grams
Cucumbers 540 grams
Pale Green Squash 370 grams
Green Beans 400 grams
Beets 800 grams
and Tomatoes 785 grams

61.95 KG total- for those who want pounds that is 136.4lb

The Red and Green Torrent:Tomatoes and Basil

The avalanche of cucumbers continues but the torrent of tomatoes is beginning. It is a small victory to get tomatoes to ripen in June. The weather has helped with the recent heat wave and adequate rain. Now if I were to go outside I would find plenty of perfectly red fruits to pick from.
I have grown these from seeds starting the pots under the grow light in very late winter and this effort has paid off with early fruit. I have planted two types of tomatoes this year. One is the a cherry variety. I like the small tomatoes like this since if you lose one or two you will have a lot more fruits,  they are convenient to share, transport and eat for a snack. I also have a  larger heirloom Italian that I picked for its flavor and its medium to small  size, 6-8 ounces each, and one of these is  starting to ripen as well. A friend that I shared some of my potted seedlings with reported that his are ripening too but that they have not set much new fruit. I noticed that this seemed to be true with mine with lots of fruit on lower branches none on the middle and now flowers on the upper branches like the second flowers are not producing, I have no reason why that would be?

Basil is also coming along. I have planted it in several places in the garden. My efforts to start in pots have not been so successful but the direct sowing of the herb is doing well  the farmer and family will be able to have pesto tonight!
Harvest
Cherry tomato 275 grams
Pole beans 400 grams
Squashes of various types 1000g

Total of theses and other produce as of June 19th 3.43 KG for a total of 57.43 KG

Herbs and Beans with lots of Produce

Herbs are a  cheap, easy to grown and convenient plants to have in the garden. Many of my herb plants are just outside the door; it is easy to pick a few bunches to use fresh in my cooking. However, some herbs are even better dried since it intensifies the flavors. Actually many recipes call for dry oregano and thyme. However, those little bottles are very expensive. Last week I cut some oregano and thyme and and hung them up on the curtain to dry.
I then took the leaves off of the stems and have stored them in air tight containers in our  spice cabinet. Those bottle cost $3-5 a piece when you buy them in the store and you have no idea how fresh they are.  In this picture you also see some of the beet greens that we had for dinner  that night.


We are getting a lot of beans now and I have a few different kinds. Sorrel is an excellent herb that I have just outside that goes well in beans.

Well the new farmer has been able to harvest a lot and colleagues are getting cucumbers, tomatoes and squash since we have a surplus.
June 14  4.48 KG cumbers tomato,  beans and squash
June 15 0.310 KG Swiss Chard
June 16 3.360 KG with our first of the blueberries and black raspberries. ]

Total of 8.15 KG   +45.86KG  = 54KG

One Hundred Pounds

 100 Lbs !!!!!!!!!!

   The "Growing Our Own" farmers have gone over 100 lbs with a cucumber and an acorn squash. We have been picking a variety of produce but there are two new vegetables that have start to produce. One is the cherry tomatoes . Now none of these have little fruits have been able to make into a meal in the house. Most are getting eaten in the yard.. It is likely that over the next week that there will be an avalanche of produce and friends and co-workers are starting to benefit.

The other new fruit is the Eggplant. The variety I am growing is a oriental variety which is a long slender fruit. The very dark purple color means that it is full of those very healthy anti-oxidant. I look forward to eating this today;some acorn squash and of course the cucumbers.

June 10th    1.460G with cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash and Fava beans
June 12th    1.880KG with cucumbers, acorn squash and eggplant.
For a total of 
45.86 KG or a total of 100.9 LBS

I have pulled up the fava beans and tilled that up. The second farmer has planted some more okra and we will plant some more beans and other seeds where the favas were, in the next few days.

The above pictures lets you get a look at the arbor with climbing pole beans and two of my three small garden plots.

Second Fruits , Cornucopia and Out with the Old in with the NEW

Second Fruits

If you have been following the blog along you know that there has already been a very good harvest of Strawberries. The plants though have been looking very healthy and putting out lots of new vegetation. Then all of a sudden there are white flowers and now some fruit. The berries are sometimes a little larger then the early ones and a very sweet flavor.

This is not the only kind of fruit we have coming in. the two blueberry bushes are full and the berries are turning blue and some are ready to pick. Not enough to pick to bring in but to eat right off the bushes. I have put netting over to help keep the birds away from the plants and this has worked pretty well for us in the past.






A few years ago I tried to start some raspberries but they really did not take. We had a bad drought but one of the stalks has come up quite healthy and we have a goodly amount of fruit. Now these are black raspberries and the are ready when they come off in your hand with a gentle pull. I don't think that there is much likelihood of any of these little jewels making it inside because they are a favorite of the Farmer's Daughter and she will make quick work of them.
Cornucopia

Since I last reported there has been a lot of harvest.
June 6,     1.090KG
June 7,     3.507KG
June 8,     0.844 KG
June 9,     0.800KG
Total        5. 2 41KG  +36.400KG = 41.8 KG and now well over 90LBS of produce and it is only the first week of June.

This is made up of beans, beats, cucumbers, squash and 2lbs of new potatoes.
Well with those new potatoes out; I knew they were ready when the tops turned yellow. I have two other sets that are growing and it is early in the season so that it seems like a good idea to just turn around and plant some more. It only took 10 weeks for the ones I harvested to grow.

Tempted by the Dark Side; Flowers Nourish the Spirit

Flowers Nourish the Spirit

Zinnias are the wonderful flower that is starting the post today. Neighbor from up street stopped by in her truck to introduce herself and take a look at the garden. She commented on the benefits of flowers for vegetable gardens; attract bees and other pollinators, sometimes ward off pest insects, edible flowers and  always good for the soul and probably the soil.

Although not in bloom yet the sunflowers are 4 feet tall and should make flower heads soon. Sunflowers are a tasty treat for the farmer and birds and I have read of significant health benefits in addition to the wonderful bloom. Even plants that flower to sets fruit  can be very attractive. Notice this eggplant with its purple flower, very purple fruit, only 4 cm long but growing quickly, and actually the whole plant has a purple hue; the color of antioxidants.

Now to the dark side. The new farmer has been working on her own and had transplanted some pepper plants that looked a pale yellow green and little sickly. She wondered about applying some fertilizers. I had noticed in cleaning out the garden storage an old bag of Miracle Grow and in a moment of weakness said I guess we should use that. The farmer's wife piped up that it would be a shame to not be completely organic anymore and reminded the farmer about the compost.

The New Farmer is planting pole beans were the sugar snaps vines use to be and some more radish where lettuce has just come out. Later we harvested 3.4 KG of produce including over a KG of Roma Green Beans. These beans are large and flat but still tender and delicious; Italians often stew them with basil and tomato.

For now 36.14 KG or 79.5lbs in total weight of produce for the year
Here is compost and the farmer enriched it with blood meal for extra nitrogen and will let you know how those peppers are doing in later post.

Baby Vegatibles; Pickles can Extend the Harvest

Although we are getting a lot of fully grown fruits and vegetables. In fact too many to keep up with.
Tonight we had beets, green beans acorn squash, lettuce and cucumbers with the burgers. However we are getting a lot of cucumbers from the few vines that I have planted. 7-9 cucumbers in a single day. The new farmer has called to get a recipe for pickles that we can try tomorrow. What this reminds us of is that although I may have enough vegetables for more than a year that in less you can store the produce you will not have enough for the winter when the garden does not produces. Pickles is one of the ways you can store many things. We think of cucumbers but many things such as beans, fruits, eggs and even meats could be pickled to keep them for when the fresh foods were in short supply.

In the last two days 2.36 kilograms and over one kilogram of this is cucumbers.
I have some baby pictures to show The future harvest
Small green tomatoes

Baby Eggplant with the plant also purple

French Melon that is done when it is about soft ball size so that it is your personal melon