Saturday harvest

The wife and a girlfriend were getting their hair done, so  I popped over to the veggie plot. The tomatoes are doing well, the cherry peppers.. oh heck  a  picture is worth a thousand words.

Clock wise from top, Okra (from the homeowner), Butternut Squash, farm fresh eggs (also from the homeowner), tomatoes  gold romas, cherry peppers and romas. Total tomato weight 12 lbs 5 oz.  More salsa and maybe some sauce.

Keep digging and eat well!

The Gastronomic Gardener
My garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
My cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - www.twitter.com/DavidPOffutt
http://www.facebook.com/TheGastronomicGardener

Friday the 13th! Golden plums, clematis, and hops - Oh My!

After a long day in the office (contract reviews and negotiations are draining) I came home, made a beverage and took a quick walk around.

Golden romas hiding among the fading foliage. No blossom end rot here!

A few of the 4th of July - they are not 4" nor 4oz as advertised, but they are sweet and delicious. The large amount of rain caused some to split.

A stroll to the back garden reveals a late blooming clematis. What a treat! Some insect damage but not bad.

The hops on the pergola. Besides beer anyone have any cooking ideas? They smell delicious.

So there we have it, the tomatoes will be plucked in the morning.

The Gastronomic Gardener is off to the Carniceria to see if he can pick up some backfat for bratwurst. The butcher shoppe failed me.

Keep digging and eat well!


My garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
My cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheGastronomicGardener

Saturday harvest and replant

It has been about a week since my wife and I made it over to the vegetable plot. Since the last time we have had a few heavy rains and I wasn't sure what to expect. 

Aside from the clouds of mosquitos we found the growth remained impressive, the tomatoes are sprawled across the walkways, a great mix of beefsteak, plum and cherry.

The plan was to harvest what we could and plant some more late harvest crops, beets, radish and  bush beans.

The bush beans are blooming again so we'll let them be and see what happens.

We harvested the remaining beets and carrots. I know some people let the carrots stay in the ground into winter but I think it gets too cold here, besides I needed the row space, so we pulled them. Throw in some  cherry peppers, jalapenos, some weak onions and a whole bunch of tomatoes and we have quite the  haul.

After harvesting the organic jewelry, we put in some more beets, and french breakfast radishes as planned.

After providing some produce to the land owner this is what we brought home.

Stay tuned while we put some of these up. I'm planning to blanch and freeze the carrots, pickle the beets, and  can up some salsa.

Keep digging & eat well!


David P. Offutt
The Gastronomic Gardener
My garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
My cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - www.twitter.com/DavidPOffutt

Saturday morning after a rain

It's Saturday morning, at the end of July; a time when many gardens seem to start to get out of hand. The thrill of May and June has past and many of the early performers are past their prime. It can be tough to work in the garden in the hottest part of the summer. I have the same issue many years. In fact right now, some of the beds are a bit out of control though I hope to change that in the next two days.

These were the thoughts going through my mind as I stepped out to see what images I might be able to capture. I was pleasantly surprised!

A nice little clutch of tomatoes in the kitchen garden.

The Russian Sage, Rudbeckia, and Hops battle it out.

A cluster of Echinacea. I'm glad one survived as the concrete guys who did the driveway did their best to stomp the other. I was not happy.

A few pictures of the phlox, one of the blooms thriving right now. These are " Little Princess". Years ago I planted two for my two little girls. There is also "David" out there but it was knocked down in the rain, the blossoms heavy with water. It is white. Little Princesses and David - get it?

The Lungwort, normally happiest in the spring , is thriving in the shade. I love the leaves.

Speaking of interesting leaves, the Caladium in containers out front are doing well in the shade of the magnolia.

Dispite obvious issues in focusing, this is the first Rudbeckia of the year! Hooray! They will go till frost.

Finally some pictures of moisture on the Lupine leaves. I like the lushness of the images.

Look at the droplets clinging to the very edges of the leaves. Like jewels!

It was a more productive morning than I thought it would be! A nice surprise.

Until next time, Keep digging!



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

A Wednesday night harvest

I cut the lawn tonight after a several week hiatus. I'm sure the neighbors were happy. Having a lawn sack of cut grass required a trip to the garden and the compost heap.

The compost pile grows higher, we may have to extend its footprint. Peeked at the garden.

I think we will remove the bush beans and try for another crop - we'll see.  Beets and carrots will be harvested and replanted. The tomatos are just staring to come in.

Did I mention the mosquitos were ferocious? They were chowing down as fast as I could swat at them.

After going over the harvest with the landowner, this is our share.

Clockwise we have : Beets - (I'll be making a beet ginger relish), carrots, tomatos, cherry peppers, japanese eggplant, cucumber - these are delicious white!

This should make for good eating for a few days!

Eat Well!

David P.Offutt

The Gastronomic Gardener

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

Small measure of satisfaction

Saturday night's harvest becomes Monday's vegetable sauté.

There is something basically good about eating what you grew from seed, a connection to the earth, to self reliance. What is a novel today for a middle class white guy was a necessity not so long ago. How is it that we've become so disconnected?

Let's reconnect with what we've misplaced.

Keep digging.


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

Bind weed - scourge of the garden

Convolvulus or Bindweed - the bane of my perennial garden. It wasn't here when I started and I'm not sure where it came from but it is here, and today I'm doing battle with it once again.

In looking on the internet for methods of eradication I sstubled upon this thread:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rmgard/msg0510060716313.html

Note that this thread spans 10 years! Clearly an ongoing problem. What I get from it is DON'T till as you'll be turning up old dormant seed; pull as much as you can, and never let it go to seed!

This stuff is so nasty I don't even put it in the compost.

Keep Digging!

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