What did you do in the garden today?

[Acre4Me]

Oooh, I'd love that recipe if you find it!

Yes, I'll look for it!

 

[WthrLady]

☠





Even worse! I can't say I like Patchouli, but I'm definitely biased after working with a co-worker that LOVED it and seemed to think more was better....luckily, not in my group and only had to be around this person occasionally. Dirty hippie - thanks for the clear visual.





Sounds yummy! Thanks for the recipe. I've always liked puree soups, but love all kinds of soups and stews. The combination of flavors sounds like it will work well! The lemon part reminded me of a recipe I've made years ago, and loved, but haven't made it for a long time. It is Italian style lemon egg soup....need to find the recipe.

It chases away squash beetles! What more do you need to know?

 

[Swiss]

Today, I cleaned up my tomato plants (dead leaves), and decided to try getting more fruits to start ripening at around the same time by pinching off all the suckers. It has been a kind of disappointing harvest of getting a few cherry tomatoes every few days, and one or two Celebration tomatoes a week. There are a couple of Celebration tomatoes that are getting pretty big and are a day or two away from being fully ripe.

I was pretty bummed when I found that the stem, which was holding the huge Pink Brandywine that was still green, bent under the weight. I tied it up straight, hoping to save it, but the other day, the tomato was squishy and wrinkly, I tossed it under the bird feeder. Thankfully, that plant has a few more fruits coming in.

I also broke down and trimmed the giant marigold plants that were hiding the pepper plants. Hopefully, they have time to try to produce some peppers!

My sunflowers are opening! They are so little, and the bees are very excited about them.

There are 5-6 Gaillardia plants, but so far, only one has sent up a stem that is flowering. The rest must not get enough sun from the cherry tomato plants that wouldn't stop growing, and formed a little roof over them. I definitely should have placed almost all the plants differently.

I wanted to plant a fall garden, but I'm not sure I have enough time (first frost is probably going to be in early to mid-October). Maybe there's time enough to get some flowers?

 

[pennyJo1960]

Welcome to the gardeners thread @Swiss

 

[NightingaleJen]

Thanks for the welcome back @NewBoots, @penny1960, @Sueby ! Please forgive me if I missed any of you...At least the chicks kept me very happily occupied in the meantime.

Congrats on the eggs @NewBoots! That must be a thrill indeed! Also, the soup with English muffins sounds great...boy, do I miss English muffins (celiac). Need to find a good recipe for them, because yes: Butter delivery system. BTW: What variety is that white/very pale green squash?

I wonder if it was a rough year for bush beans. Mine haven't produced all that much, either. Snack/small salad level, not the gigantic "must put up and/or freeze now" amounts I'm accustomed to.

I vote chips, @Sueby. They're vegetables. Yes? Thanks for sharing that recipe!

@Lovem all Paul Robeson and Green Zebra are my favourites for eating fresh. For canning, though, it's really tough to beat the classic Roma. They are easy to core/seed and put up, and as @igorsMistress points out, the shape holds up nicely. (That said...SanMarz are on my list for next year, when we should have more room in the new veg garden!) The "Blueberry" cherry tomato is really good, too. Very flavourful for so small a fruit and quite pretty halved and tossed into any kind of dish or as a garnish. Plus they seem to offer up a fine harvest no matter what hits them. One of mine has blight and other than the heat wave we had a bit back, is still producing like crazy.

Cute groundhog story, @Wee Farmer Sarah. There is a pair of groundhogs that skirts my parents' backyard (one of their Goldens killed the beloved neighborhood 'hog the summer before last...at least these two know not to go into the yard now!) and they have named the 'hogs as well.

Fab harvest @karenerwin!

Nearly 200# of tomatoes, @WthrLady! Wow! I'm a bit jealous but mostly thrilled for you! Have you started leaving them on neighbors' porches in the middle of the night yet?

@igorsMistress, are the Armenian cukes as good as everyone says? People seem to go nuts over them!

So sorry about your trees, @littledog. That's a shame, but here's to hoping the city makes good. Thank God the tree missed the people on the trail! Congrats on the pears—we had a dwarf pear at my childhood home, and they were delicious! We'd like to get some hazelnuts going here ourselves.

Well, if you are going to try and get more cukes this year, @Acre4Me, maybe I will too! I'm probably a bit north of you but why not?

Also, is that soup you are talking about something like...stratiacella? (Hi, I can't spell in Italian.)

Beautiful flowers, @Swiss! And yes, if your first frost is in mid-October, you can probably still get some quick crops in, as well as things like greens, beets, radishes, carrots...maybe even rutabaga. A belated welcome to the thread!

Has anyone put up anything neat with green tomatoes—as in meant to be green, like Green Zebra or Grandma's Striped German Green? Obviously I'm a green 'mater fan...for one thing, they're delicious, but also, for some reason they freak my family out, and that amuses me to a rather childish degree.

Not a lot done today—watering, because it's supposed to be stupid hot here all week. Harvested more greens and a few more tomatoes; my kitchen windowsill has a bit of a glut right now. (Gut? Tomato gut?) Found a few more Dragon Tongue beans. They'll be a nice garnish for dinner.

Found this guy on one of the cherry tomatoes this morning...shame it is kind of pretty.

Anyone know what in the world THIS is? More hornworms? Hornworm droppings?

 

[NightingaleJen]

@NewBoots and anyone else, you can also "core and score" your tomatoes before tossing them into the freezer—no blanching necessary. I will rinse them off, core/score (cut a wee 'X' on the bottom of the fruit) and cut out any iffy parts, and toss them into a zip-top bag. The skins come off quite nicely when you pull them out of the freezer for whatever use! Obviously the texture is done, but for sauces—fresh or canned—you should be good.

 

[WthrLady]

Nope. I process every one of them. I process twice a week, once on Friday and once on Mondays.

Yes. Hornworm poops.

 

[NightingaleJen]

Nope. I process every one of them. I process twice a week, once on Friday and once on Mondays.

Yes. Hornworm poops.

Thanks! Little monster.

(ETA the hornworm, not you...)

 

[Sueby]

Hornworm poops remind me of a grenade. But they are kind of cool looking (the hornworms, not the poops).

We had some giant storms come through, got 2 inches of rain! That's so nice because I was going to have to water tomorrow.

Out of the 6 or so cuke seeds I put out last week only one has come up. But the lettuce is coming up. I topped all the tomato plants, they got a little out of hand with the suckers. It's time for them to focus on producing fruit instead of leaves. I need to fertilize this week. Had I know it was gonna rain I would have done it today!

I'm kinda like WthrLady, I gave away only a few squash this year to family. I will process every dang one in some way or another! DH asked if I wanted him to bring some to work & I said no way! Gotta love the internet, you can find a recipe for anything. I did the same thing last year with cukes, I refused to waste them so I found a recipe for cucumber bread. Who knew there was such a thing, lol. (& it was good)

 

[igorsMistress]

@Wee Farmer Sarah I used your recipe for fritters for dinner tonight with zucchini. Pretty tastey. I used avocado oil and added some garlic pwd.