Harvest on a hot summer night

Last night, a run to the garden to drop off compost and check the moisture level and see what is growing was in order.

Compost, check.

Moisture, uh moisture? Seems the landowner opened the valve for the rain barrels and drained all 175 gallons! I was pretty unhappy about it! We ended up watering from the well, but that rather defeats the purpose of the barrels!

A few cool beverages assuaged my anger.

We picked green beans, checked on some onions, and pulled/ thinned a few carrots to see how they were doing, and harvested a nice eggplant!

Here is the harvest.

Quite the haul! I'll be looking into some spicy greenbean pickles!


Keep  digging!

My garden blog  http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
My cooking blog  http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
www.twitter.com/DavidPOffutt

Vine borer destruction aka The Zucchini Killer

Over at the vegetable garden the zucchini was going very nicely and first one then the other wilted.

With no obvious wound I was dumbfounded and looked around and asked.

What was suggested is the vine borer.

SQUASH VINE BORER  From: http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef314.asp

"The squash vine borer is a key pest of winter squash, gourds and pumpkins in Kentucky. Unfortunately, it is usually noticed only after it has done its damage. Symptoms appear in mid summer when a long runner or an entire plant wilts suddenly. Infested vines usually die beyond the point of attack."

Sounds like it exactly.

Upon investigation, the stem of my plant looked like this.

Split like a fish!

I hope to get to to get another few plants in the ground as the reproductive cycle is past the point of plant damage. What is your experience?

Keep digging!


My garden blog  http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/ 
My cooking blog   http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/

Bed rebuild and a trip to the veggie plot

A portion of one of the full sun beds has gotten a wee bit out of control. Ok, completely out of control! There are some iris  and sedum that have intergrown and when the iris are blooming it is is easy to overlook but now it is unsightly. The plan is to dig it all out and rebuild this portion of the bed.

I also took a few pictures of the purple coneflower, and the headed over to the veggie plot to drop off material for the compost heap and see what is happening. It has been a week since I've been there. All in all a dirty, sweaty, and very satisying afternoon.

This is what I'm starting with.

It's a jungle!

I tore it all out. Then added two bags - 80 lbs - of composted manure.

Raked it smooth.

Trimmed the iris, and  put some of them back, and replanted the sedum. It looks a tad barren but will be good next year I am sure.

While I was out, a moth was eating from the purple coneflower.

They sure are pretty!

Finished at the house I drove over to the veggie patch. Mixed news - the greenbeans and tomatos seem really great, the cucumbers are starting to fruit, the beets may see some fruition yet, but the chickens have gotten into the the butternut squash. Pecking enough to ruin the fruit and decide they don't like them. And, oddly the zuchinni that looked so vigorous just a short time ago have faded with no discernable reason why - anyone have any ideas?

We will have an abundance of tomatos!

Beets are looking good. I think.

Anyone have any ideas what might be happening here?

Damn chickens sampling the butternut squash. Grrrr

Eggs? I'm thinking SOUP! @#$% Chickens!

 

Cucumbers beginning to bear fruit.

This tomato is taller than I am!

We will have a good harvest!

 A few sweet jewels.

Beets might yet be harvestable.

Nice eggplant.

Back at the house with todays' harvest. I'll be prepping and freezing them tomorrow! Stay tuned.

Keep digging!

My garden blog  http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
My cooking blog  http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/

Green Beans from the Garden, Vegetable Curry

We had some green beans from the garden, I did not get over there but the wife did. More than enough for dinner.

Here are some strange radish pods or moolachya shenga.

A little chopped garlic and grated ginger.

The prepped vegetables.

Start with oil or ghee and mustard seeds.

When they pop, add the garlic and ginger. Lower heat and cook. When soft, add the rest of the vegetables.

We're testing Baji's Curry Simmer Sauce. It's from Aldi's. You add it to the vegetables plus 8oz of water and simmer. You can use meat, but tonight is vegetarian.

We had some spinach we needed to eat, so in it goes.

It sure cooks down quickly!

Dinner is served!

 All in all the Sauce is pretty good, but rather middle of the road. It does nothing to offend, but not much to excite. Not a bad way to make a quick weekday dinner. I'd buy it again.

Eat well!

A double post as the green beans were from the garden.

My garden blog   http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
My cooking blog  http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/

Of salads and compost.

After all the meat of the past couple weeks, tonight I'm craving a big salad.


Aside from making cake mixes, salad making is where I started, with a small knife, standing on a stool helping my mother by chopping vegetables. She had enough to do trying to feed 12 people, so truthfully, by the time I was helping, a couple of the older siblings had likely moved away. But a big tossed/chopped was a mainstay of our dinner table.

Salad making is a lot like making soup. You root around in the fridge and pantry to see what can go into the bowl or pot. Tonights' offering is romaine, carrot ribbons, mushrooms, onion, yellow bell pepper, chick peas, celery, tomato and avocado. I'll add the tomatoes and avocado later so as not to make the salad too soggy now.

When making a salad there are always scraps. Some are OK for eating, others I do not want to.

I keep a "soup bucket" which is just a quart container from yogurt or cottage cheese in the freezer, so usable vegetable trimmings, left over rice or pasta for example, may be saved to make a soup in the future. When the bucket is full, I make soup. I don't like to throw food away so this works for me.

The material that is unsuitable goes into another bucket that ends up in the compost heap.

As I said the other day, we pay to have our trash hauled away. It doesn't make any sense to me to have it in a landfill when I, with a little patience, can improve the soil I am growing yet more vegetables in.

It keeps the circle intact, I don't have to pay to have it hauled away, and in the end it improves the soil. Conservation at every level!

Now about the dressing.....

Keep Digging!

As this post is pertinent to both blogs I am double posting.

My garden blog  http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
My cooking blog  http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/

A week in the sun

Finally, we've had a week with out rain. Not that I'm complaining about the rain but rather about the lack of sun.

I've not been over to the veggie garden in a few days, and I do have kitchen scraps to add to the compost pile.  Whatever scraps we can't use in the freezer soup bucket, goes into the compost bucket. As we pay for our trash removal, it makes more sense to improve our soil, than pay to have it go in a landfill.

Let's see what's happening.

Ther green beans are just starting to mature

The cherry peppers are going, but not sure we'll have enough to pickle. Time will tell.

 

Perhaps the vigorous thinning will result in a few beets.

 

The pumpkin/squash look good too , hopefully get some fruit off these blossoms.

 

Oh, and the real reason for going, the compost heap. Fortunately, the homeowner has six chickens and the coop straw, full of poop, and feathers get added weekly. Should be really nice by next year.

 

So there we are for today. Weather report is for hot humid and rain for the next week.

Until next time, keep digging!

 




My garden blog  http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
My cooking blog  http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/

Gone Fishing...

I'll be back to posting in a few days!

Keep Digging!