What's in Season - End of Spring Harvest

It still amazes my that these small rather plain looking flowers become...


...THIS!  I really look forward to picking (and eating) fava beans each year.  They are probably up there with tomatoes on my list of most desired homegrown veggies.  My favas germinated incredibly well this year and have produced a good amount of beans. 


This past weekend, I walked by my shell peas noticed they needed to be picked as well.


My shell peas on the other hand did not germinate well for me.  But what did make it went on to produce a respectable number of pods.


I might be in the minority here but I like to pick my peas when they look like they are on the verge of bursting from their pods.  At this stage, they are starchier but I like them this way because they remind of the peas from my childhood...only they don't taste like a tin can.


The pickling cucumbers are rolling in as well.  I have a large bag of them in the fridge, which I need to turn asap into fresh dill pickles.


Ahhh, and yes, the first zucchini of the summer reared it head a few days ago.  I've cut down to two plants this year...more than enough for a family of three in my opinion.


Finally, a while back I did end up picking some sour cherries.  They were quite good on their own but some did make it onto an apple tart I made.

Early September Harvest

Can you believe we're approaching the middle of September already? I consider September to be a fleeting month in the gardening calendar but this is ridiculous. The garden is transitioning quickly right before our eyes (too quickly if you ask me) and before before you know it, most of our summer crops will be reduced to dust. The daily highs are expected to reach only into the 60's later on this week. Something tells me that our first fall frost will arrive earlier than usual this year.

This weekend, I picked all of my Sweet Banana peppers and pulled the plants to make room for some fall sowings of radishes, claytonia and mache. I'm a bit late with these this year but that's what happens when your garden is overtaken by mosquitoes.


The tomato vines are looking horrible now. Our paste tomatoes are still producing but the rest have succumb to disease.




The fall berries are coming in consistently, but a little at a time. I might try to root some raspberry canes next year to expand our current patch.


Finally, I ripped out our zucchini vines last week and discovered these two monsters. They are hard and heavy at this point. I wonder if they are even edible at this stage. At the very least, we can use them as fall decorations.

Summer's Bounty - Picks of the Week

We hand another bountiful harvest this week. The Hungarian Wax peppers are producing abundantly at the moment. I'll have to set aside a night this week to pickle and can them.


Tomato season has officially begun. (Hurray!) The near triple digit temperatures of the past few days have really helped to produce our first vine-ripened beauties. Not surprisingly, our first ripe slicing tomatoes of the year were Cherokee Purple and Amish Paste.


Our cucumber harvest was a bit out of control this week. The Tasty Jades are producing like mad. We picked at least two dozen - much more than we can consume as a family. What we didn't give away, I'll have to pickle this week.


We also picked about a dozen zucchinis this week as well.


I love Napoli carrots. They are the perfect size for kids to munch on and are reliably sweet.


The first wild blackberries were very sweet this year. I picked a small bowl-full today and Jonathan gobbled them all up before they made it into the house.


It's nice being able to pick more than one or two artichokes at a time. Our plants are producing well this year.


The chipmunks left me these two tiny ripe Seascape strawberries to pick. It's my own fault really. I still haven't covered the bed with bird netting yet.


The string beans are beginning to roll in as well. I can't wait to cook these up.


A bouquet of cilantro, (pathetic) red onions and beets. I think it would be fun to open a store that sold organic vegetable bouquets and arrangements instead of flowers. I'm surprised no one has done it yet.

Picks of the Week

The garden is producing well these days. I don't remember the last time I've had to buy the bulk of our veggies aside from the random onion or packet of cherry tomatoes. We should enjoy it while it lasts I guess as November (the customary end to our growing season here in New England) has a tendency to approach faster than we would like. Here are pics of some of the things we harvested this week.


Fennel is something that is definitely growing on me, which is why I only grew two bulbs this year. I like it sliced thin in a salad. Last year, they bolted before I got around to harvesting them. This year, I caught them just in time.


In an ideal world, I would always be diligent enough to pick my zucchini when they are this size. Unfortunately we had a couple of whoppers this week. There's nothing worse than a tough stringy ginormous zucchini. At the moment, we are averaging about five or six of these beauties a week - certainly within our capacity for consumption.


I picked the last of our shell and snow peas this week and pulled up the plants. It's always sad to see them go but at least now we'll have more room for our fall veggies in the coming weeks. I also picked the last spring cauliflower.


I transplanted these Asian greens in early June. I was really surprised by how well the tatsoi held up under the heat as opposed to the Shanghai bok choy.


Our beets are ready as well. Transplanted beets like these are not as perfectly round as direct seeded ones but they are just as tasty.


Our fava beans continue to roll in. It will be at least another week before our crimson flowered ones are ready. The harvest so far this year has been fair and much better than the lone handfuls we got last year but I haven't been able to grow that bumper crop I've been aiming for. Maybe next year.


Finally, our cucumber plants are recovering from the groundhogs attacks and beginning to produce again. I harvest the first two Tasty Jade cukes of the summer this week. They have a nice snap to them and are mild tasting, which is what we like. I am really happy with the varieties I chose this year and will most likely grow them again.

Picks of the Week - Favas, Shell Peas, Peppers and Zucchini

This week was all about the Fava beans and shell peas. We also picked the first Hungarian Wax peppers and the last broccoli of the season.


I was finally able to grow a decent amount of shell peas this year. Boy it takes a lot of pods to fill a bowl of shelled peas. As you can see, I like to harvest my peas on the mature side - when they are plump and crammed inside the pod. They remind me of the peas of my childhood at this stage, before sweet baby peas became the popular choice.


We also picked the first three zucchini of the summer. Already, I'm letting them get too big.


I also harvested a nice-sized Red Detroit beet and more pickling cucumbers.


These pickling cukes are VERY crunchy and mild tasting. I think I'll make a batch of refrigerator dill pickles and peppers with this week's pickings.

Random Scenes from the End of June Garden - Part I

The beds are getting lush with green.


The side garden at a different angle.


The shell peas are plumping up.


The first fava (broad) beans are ready to be picked.


The crimson flower broad beans are still producing lots of blooms.


The Florence fennel is almost ready.


Another crop of soybeans has emerged.


The first zucchini of the year.


My zucchini plants appear much healthier this year than they did last year.


The savoy cabbage is taking its sweet time.

Zucchini Flowers and Decapitated Lettuce

My three zucchini plants seem to have doubled in size during the past week. At the moment, they are beginning to produce flowers. The first blooms of the season tend to be all male. Interestingly, the first flowers on all three of my plants this year are female. Shame they won't get pollinated. The first male bloom should open tomorrow morning but by then it will be too late. Oh well. I'm sure a few weeks from now we'll be so sick of zucchini that we'll end up giving most of them away.


This morning, I woke up to find an adolescent groundhog circling my garden trying to find a way through the fence. A couple months ago, I noticed the lone groundhog living under our shed chasing after another around the yard. I guess it found itself a mate. The adults are brazen enough to pull at the fence with all their might. This little one only tried push its way through. I'm surprised none of them have tried digging a tunnel underneath the fence yet. Anyone have any ideas on how to evict a family of groundhogs?

Anyway, I took a closer look at the garden this morning and noticed that something had eaten most of my summer lettuces. (F$@$#! So frustrating!!!!!) I don't think it was the groundhogs as half of the garden would have been eaten by now. Nor do I think it's the bunnies. I walked around the parameter of the fence and could not see any holes or weakness. I have a feeling that the field mice are becoming more active. I placed a few mouse traps out this evening. We'll see if they catch anything.

Weekly Harvest - The Start of Tomato Season

I feel like it's been forever since my last post. Marc and I have had a lot on our plates lately. Over the weekend, we introduced 2 new members to our growing family (I'll get into that in another post). Needless to say, we're feeling somewhat stressed.

My New Year's resolution this year was to live more in the present and relax a bit. I was hoping to avoid any major changes (for once) but it seems that sentiment has gone out the window. Hopefully my sanity doesn't follow suit.


It's officially tomato season. We've only harvested cherry tomatoes up until this point so it's nice to be able to cut into a beefsteak variety. It's also officially the start of mice season. I've already lost about a dozen tomatoes (mostly Siberian and Clear Pink Earlies) to the little monsters. At first, I thought the damage was being caused by rabbits or squirrels but all of signs now point to mice. In span of 48 hours, I've already caught (and killed) 6.

Mostly, they are attacking the tomatoes closest to the ground. As a deterrent, I've wrapped the ripening clusters with fiberglass screening. I hope that helps. I also picked about a half dozen low-lying tomatoes that were not quite ripe (including the Purple Cherokee and Black Krim pictured above). Better that they ripen on my kitchen counter than in my compost pile.


This past weekend, I also harvested loads of Pepperoncini peppers - the first of the summer. I'm so excited to pickle them. They will make for a delicious addition to our sandwiches.


Finally, a sizable wild strawberry harvest. The yellow variety is my favorite.


I also harvested a couple of Asian cucumbers. This long variety is mild tasty and incredibly crispy. I LOVE it - a 9 out of 10 in my book. They have that perfect snap. I'm sure they will make excellent refrigerator pickles.


Finally, the Dragon's Tongue beans are starting to come in. Aren't they gorgeous? We'll see if they taste as good as they look.

This week, we harvested:

White onions - 0.36 lb
Zucchini (12) - 6.61 lb
Cucumbers (13) - 9.18 lb
Tomatoes - 3.84 lb
Coriander - 0.10 lb
Beans - 1.01 lb
Wild strawberries - 0.18 lb
Carrots - 0.45 lb
Pepperoncini peppers - 0.69 lb

Total this week - 22.42 lb