Harvest Monday

It feels like the past month or so, I've only been posting about my harvests and CSA shares... Things are growing along out back, not a lot of changes, but I realized a few weeks ago that I'd been spending way too much time on my computer. Most of my free time was being spent in front of this screen, reading about things that interest me like cooking and baking, canning, self-sufficiency, and best of all, all of your blogs! I've decided to cut back on the screen time to get through a few books I've purchased (about said interests), and also getting back into crocheting the blankets I'm making for the boys. Once Boy Wonder goes back to school in three weeks (Do I squeal with excitement, or faint from the realization of having an 8.5 year old going into third grade?), I'll have more free time (ie brain power) to think of creative things to talk about and write about.

In the mean time, here's what I brought indoors this past week...
Wednesday... I still have one plant producing a few nasturtiums. The others have all died from the heat.
Did you know you can pickle nasturtium seeds? Me neither! I had a lot that I saved for next season, and stopped gathering them up. Here's another way to pickle them from Old Fashioned Living, with other nasturtium recipes.

I couldn't remember if I'd purchased red or yellow Tumbling Toms, and now I know! The yellow tomatoes are the first Tom's of the season. They were sorta bitter. Par for the variety's coarse? We shall see...

There wasn't time on Wednesday to weigh the harvest, so I ended up combining that day's harvest with yesterday's harvest, shown below.

The beans are separated into two piles to show the difference between production based on where they're growing. The purple and few green beans are from 12 plants (south facing, sunny most of the day) growing in front of my melons, and the spindly pile is from 50ish plants (west facing, 6-8hrs of afternoon sun) in their own bed. Crazy, huh?

Oh, and those red specs next to the tiny orange sweet pepper? They're my first Thai Hot chili's. They were fruits that were on the pods when I brought the plant home. I popped one of those lil guys in my mouth, and they pack quite a punch for being so small! I can't wait to have more! I see a Spicy Thai Shrimp dish in my future...

I decided to remove them so the plant would produce more.

Below are my first cut flowers. Zinnias and "10 week stock" (I think). I thought I'd bring some indoors before they bit the dust. Like the vase? It's a cleaned up tequila bottle, lol.

This week's harvest total...

Bush Beans:  4.8 oz

Basil: ~1 oz

Baby Belle Peppers: . too small to weigh, doh!

Viva Italia tomatoes: 9.3 oz

Tumbling Tom cherry tomatoes: 1.7 oz

I didn't bother weighing the nasturtiums or Thai Hot's.

I used the basil to make this Basil Vinaigrette (I halved the recipe, used white balsamic, and only 1/2 cup oil). It's a very nice dressing that is low in actual vinegar flavor, so both boys are enjoying it too. Today the purple basil had "stained" some of the roasted garlic pink, so it looks a little better than this picture.

Remember that melon plant I'd successfully saved? Yea, well, I ripped it out yesterday in an attempt to allow more sun to reach the Thai pepper plant. Priorities, ya' know?

Last Monday I mentioned a new addition to the melon family--the melon in the upper left of the below photo, and when I was peaking at my plants from the dining room window (the only way I can see their backsides w/o climbing back there), I noticed a second newcomer hiding behind leaves! Now the total is 6 pantyhose-slung melons growing on 4 plants.

I'm feeling the urge to do another video update... The next set will be more detailed, and I'll try to go slower, I promise. It's a lot quicker and easier for me to do right now than take pictures and write about them, so stay tuned!

Please stop by the wonderful blog of our Harvest Monday hostess, Daphne, to see what she and other gardeners are growing and harvesting this season.

Harest Monday

This week was a fun harvest for me because I was able to get a few small harvests over a couple of days. Having such a small garden means my harvests are going to look mostly the same for the rest of the season, just more of everything as the peak draws nearer...

Here is what I picked on Tuesday...

Then again on Friday...

This was the first of the Siam Queen Thai Basil...

All of the purple beans were from the set that's growing in front of the melons. These plants are huge! I swear there is some symbiotic relationship going on between the melons and beans, because the beans growing in their own bed are half this size, and scraggly. Maybe it's that they're soaked in the sun all day vs the other bed of beans only gets afternoon sun. Who knows...

These were picked this morning...
See the new tomatoes in the middle? Those are my first Pearson tomatoes, with the red coming in at half a pound! The red one was way in the middle and barely visible, and I accidentally pulled the green one off with it.

Does anyone know why the top of the tomato has cracked around the stem? Is it still good to use?

Some of the basil and a couple tomatoes have been used on personal pizzas, and the rest are in the freezer. I have a quart sized ziploc almost bursting with basil leaves now.

I try to make my own breads and pizza crusts as often as possible, but seeing "5 minutes," had me suckered into trying these crusts. They're pretty good for ready-made crusts...

This week's harvest total...

Bush Slicer Cucumber:  4 lb, 5oz

Bush Beans:  3oz

Basil: 1.8oz

Baby Belle Peppers: .5oz

Viva Italia tomatoes: 2 lb

Pearson tomatoes: 10oz

There are three more cucumbers growing, but where I was complaining of only female flowers showing up before, now I only have male flowers. Doh! Next year I think I'll start the plants 2-3 weeks apart to help with this.

I don't know how long it'll take for the Charentais melons to ripen, but they're starting to look really yummy!

There is also a new one, so it will be nice having a staggered harvest.

I didn't think this would ever happen... My White Habanero's are finally starting to fruit!

Each week Daphne over at Daphne's Dandelions hosts Harvest Monday. Check out her page to see what other's have been munchin' and crunchin' on this week.

Harvest Monday

Today's Harvest Monday has me feeling like my hard work is finally beginning to pay off. It's the largest harvest I've had at one time--probably in the two seasons I've been attempting this gardening thing. I mean, look at what I harvested around this time last year! I have to laugh at that post. I really had no idea what I was doing--not that I claim knowledge now either LOL...

Just say, "Heck yeah" to variety! Two new firsts for the season are the Bush Slicer cucumber, and Baby Belle peppers.

Although I'm not a big fan of green peppers (I really like 'em red), I decided to remove a few of them to encourage the plant to continue flowering. The day after I harvested the green peppers, I removed these orange peppers...

Beautiful and tasty Viva's!

There are a few more that could come off the vine, but since my goal is to do some canning, I'm going to try leaving them on as long as I can--otherwise I'll end up eating them, lol.

What did the Momma Viva Italia tomato say to all the baby Pearson tomatoes when they were lagging behind? Catch up! Har. Har.

Bush beans are nice because of the small plants, but I haven't been able to harvest enough to serve at once to the family yet. I may be switching to vine/runner beans next season. I've read Scarlet Runner beans like a little cooler weather, so I may even try a few of them at the end of the season...

I laid out all the basil leaves and froze for later use (1 of 2 batches)...

I didn't take a picture of it because it wasn't very pretty, but I sautéed the beans and tomatoes with garlic, and served over whole-wheat spaghetti for DH and I. I've been slicing the cucumbers as sides for lunches, and the peppers will go into salads tomorrow night.

This week's harvest total...
Bush Slicer Cucumber: 11 oz
Bush Beans: 3.8 oz
Basil: 2 oz
Baby Belle Peppers: 2 oz
Viva Italia tomatoes: 6.2 oz

Each week Daphne over at Daphne's Dandelions hosts Harvest Monday. Check out her page to see what other's have been munchin' and crunchin' on this week.

It's Finally Happened

Yes, folks, it has finally happened... For anyone who personally knows me, the following statement may cause them to fall out of their chair or accidentally drop a dish...

I am a tomato liker.

There, I've admitted it. I tasted a straight up piece of tomato, and I liked it! I have officially entered the realm of Tomato Eaters.

I was wondering what to do with my first tomato, a Viva Italia, that was all alone. So, last night I decided to make a little snack using the rosemary focaccia bread from our CSA share, and the last smidgen of arugula...

Nom!

May the tomato eating adventures begin!

I like tomatoes...

July Garden Tour by Way of Videos

I've been wanting to give y'all a video tour for a few months now, but wanted to wait until all the plants were up and growing...

These were the first takes, so I have to apologize in advance for them being so shaky and for the blurry "close-ups." Let me know if you have trouble viewing them or with this post loading. I didn't realize the video file size would be so large.

Video 1 is of the containers...

Video 2 is of the "square foot garden" raised beds and salad table...

Video 3 is of the raised beds along the deck and the rest of the yard...

Hope you enjoyed! On Friday I'll share a few picture updates with you as well.

Here She Is...

Ms. Tomatoca...

Taadaaa!

And the crowd goes wild!

Peek-A-Boo (CSA Wednesday coming tomorrow)

Hey there, fellow bloggers. We had a wonderful visit from my mom-in-law, who left last night. I know today is my "CSA Wednesday" posting day, but I think I'm going to need to put it off until tomorrow. The LO has a head cold, and I think I may be getting it. Add in the normal "post visitor blahs," and I'm feeling crummy today.

Here's one thing that did perk me up during today's garden walk... Someone's being shy about turning colors!

I'm going to take a little nap while the LO sleeps, and Boy Wonder plays video games.

PS Here's a good one of me & my men...

Come on Already!

I'm starting to see red about not seeing red...

I wonder how many more tomatoes my Viva Italia can squeeze out without having any of them turn red. Is this because it's a determinate tomato?

The second largest tomato is 2.5 inches long. I couldn't get into the middle of the plant to measure the larger (and first) tomato.

It's an absolute jungle in there, and all three tomato plants are fighting for space. The Viva, which is in the middle front, has managed to sprawl out and is climbing up against the window behind it. Perhaps I should've done more pruning of suckers?

The plants are about four feet tall...

The two Pearson's that were planted to the left and right behind the Viva Italia are finally starting to push out their fruits.

Finally, all three Tumbling Tom's have pea to cherry sized fruits on them. The plants themselves are looking pretty scraggly, but I'm sure it won't take long for them to fill in...

Not Really a Harvest Monday

Maybe next week there will be something, but this week I only harvested 1 cup's worth of Purple and Italian basil which I made into a pesto. I didn't take a picture of it because it's been a pretty busy weekend, and I didn't get around to charging my camera battery. I used most of the pesto on focaccia, asiago, pesto and grilled chicken sandwiches last night for dinner. This has to be my new favorite sandwich...

I did, however, take a picture of my first batch of cherries I made from last week's harvest! I made Martha Stewart's Cherry Slab Pie.

This pie will have you feeling absolutely giddy...

BTW, if you don't have a cherry pitter, needle-nosed pliers work splendidly.

I pitted and froze the rest of the unused cherries to use when my mom-in-law visits next month since they're her favorite. I have a feeling I'll be making another slab pie for the 4th of July...

Since I don't have any harvesting going on, here are a few updates.
I killed my potato plants after digging the potatoes out. They're the two in the green pots, and the two in front. I was either too rough, or maybe it's from the 90 degree heat we're having (it's about time it warmed up).

Most of my lettuces bolted. Even though they were shaded, and my thermometer read a high of 80 degrees. I guess when the package says it can handle 80 degrees, it meant ever once in a while. At least it won't be long before I can start this mix over again, and then I'll have a nice head start on my fall lettuces.

We had more high winds at the end of last week. Time to get Boy Wonder out there to pick up the fruit before the ants and mice move in. click for carnage

On to the happy plants! Both sets of melons are flowering, although all male flowers at the point.

Even the almost-dead melon plant is making a come back.

I've been mistakenly calling these tomatoes "Pearson," but they're Viva Italia.

This is the Pearson tomato, and my first and only so far. It's a heavy lil guy too!

I haven't really talked about the few succulent plants from last year's acquisition that survived an outbreak of scale, were moved outside after the outbreak without hardening off, and endured a few nights of freezing temps, but here are two that are now blooming. A Hen & Chicks, and one I don't know about...

Summer vacation officially started today, so I'm off to hang out with the 8yo before the 2yo wakes up from his nap...