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???

They're Starting!!!!

The moment that all of us gardeners wait for has finally arrived.....big tomatoes!!!

The first Cherokee Purple tomato was harvested from the home garden on Monday July 15th!

It weighed in at 7 oz. "The Italian" and I shared this delight and had tomato sandwiches and salad for dinner!

 

Last night I picked the second Cherokee Purple, an Eva's Purple Ball and a few Sungolds! The second CP weighed 9 oz. I guess it will be tomato sandwiches for dinner tonight!

 

What's Going on in the Garden July 14, 2013

The harvests are starting to pick up and so is the preserving! This week I harvested almost 2 lbs. of peppers. They consisted of Hot Hungarian, Hot Banana, Jalapeno & Sweet Hungarian. All of them were promptly pickled and stored in the refrigerator, since we are totally out of pickled peppers from last year.

I pickle my peppers using 4 parts of white vinegar to 1 part of water, boil, cool and then add peppers and store in the refrigerator. I also occasionally add some garlic.

The first Zucchini and Cucumbers of the season.

There will probably be two more zucchinis ready today at the plots.

 

I've been pulling more onions and starting the curing process.

These are some storage onions.....

and these are some more Walla Walla onions

My largest onion has been 11 oz!!!

 

Some of the Walla Walla onions have been chopped and frozen. They do not store very long and chopped sweet onions will sure come in handy over the winter!

 

We also harvested some more Sungold tomatoes and the first of the very few Carrots we will have this year, another head of Cauliflower and the last of the Broccoli sprouts. The Broccoli plants have been pulled and a bunch of Cauliflower plants that did not form heads. Hopefully the fall cauliflower will do better. There's one more head over at the plots that may be ready today or tomorrow.

 

The big news is that there's a Cherokee Purple Tomato out there that is half ripe......maybe Monday or Tuesday it will be ready!!!!!!

 

Tomorrow, Daphne at Daphne's Dandelions, will be hosting Harvest Monday. Hop on over there to see what's happening in gardens around the globe!

   

Too Hot & Humid & Harvests

Geez, we sure are having some hot & humid weather here! Way too humid to go out and work in the garden. Yesterday I went to the plots and harvested the last head of broccoli, the first two heads of cauliflower and a few onions that had flopped over. By 9AM it was too hot and humid for me to work....so, I went home.

"The Italian" and I had grand expectations of going to the plots at 6AM this morning to do some much needed work and pick some raspberries. The plots look like a jungle! Well, that didn't happen. Instead I went to the store and then spent a couple of hours pulling weeds in the perennial beds along the side of the house while they were still in the shade. I have no idea when I will get around to tackling the bed out front! It's totally overgrown and truthfully embarrassing. It will only take about an hour to do. Maybe I'll get to it one night this week after work since we really need to go to the plots tonight.

The last head of the Spring Broccoli & some side shoots

 

Nunzio "The Inspector General" checking out of first two beautiful heads of Cauliflower.These two are "Minuteman". They weighed in at 1 lb. 7 oz. each. I think they are the nicest heads I've ever grown!

 

Speaking of Nunzio.....he sure is getting big!

He had a blast yesterday playing with some toys I hung from the fan!

 

We've been getting some wonderful sweet Sungold tomatoes!

Most of them get eaten before they can be weighed or photographed.

 

The Onions are starting....and it looks like it's going to be a great year!

These are a few of the Walla Walla Onions. My largest so far has been 8.5 oz. I know they aren't as big as Granny has grown......but, they are great for me! I planted three varieties of storage onions; Copra, Candy & Red Wing. A few of the Copra onions have been harvested. Only a few of the onions have been weighed so far. I planted 370 onions total. I guess there won't be a shortage of onions this year!

 

Tomorrow will be Harvest Monday over at Daphne's Dandelions. Hop on over there and see what's happening in gardens around the globe!