Rufus is Still the Best Dog on the Planet Earth. 7.30.2021

More Alpatieva 905A Tomatoes. 7.30.2021

There are still lots of small to medium size fruits ripening on the Alpatieva 905A dwarf + determinate tomato plants. It's too bad the leaves are becoming yellow / brown and crinkly, which I'm guessing is fusarium wilt. I moved them far away from the other tomato plants to socially distance them from each other.

I don't think I will save seeds from these. However, they are quite early and nice enough. One option would be to rais them with a paper mulch so there is no splashing from the soil. The plants that I have mulched with brown paper, from the beginning, all seem OK so far.

Today's Harvest. 7.30.2021

The tomatoes are Alpateiva 905A, cherry types Sugar Rush and a home saved volunteer yellow cherry, and salad type Unicorn. Thw cukes and zukes are various types.

Canning Sweet Pickle Relish. 7.30.2021

These were cucumbers that I grew this year from seeds I saved last year. Im not sure of the variety - could be Bush Pickle, Patio, or Alibi Hybrid of a hybrid of those. Regardless, they did well and I will save seeds for next year. I grew them to make pickles, and did. Now with some mixed sizes and no need for more pickles, I made some Sweet Pickle Relish, and canned it. The recipe was from Better Homes And Gardens Home Canning Guide. The recipe made about 25% more than it said. Im not sure why.

Dwarf Tomato Alpatieva 905A. 7.26.2021

Well, this one is bad news and good news. The bad news is, the plants are quickly succumbing to the wilt fungi, unlike my other tomatoes currently. A few weeks ago, I gave these a paper mulch, probably too late. The good news is they are the first slicers to bear in my garden this year. I think I'll move the container to a location more distant from the other tomatoes, and see if remaining fruits ripen there. Alpatieva 905A is early, but the extreme fungal susceptibility puts it on my no-grow list for the future. I wont bother to save the seeds.

Alpatieva 905A is listed as ripe in 65 days from planting outside. I started the seeds March 31, planted outside May 1. That's more like about 80 days but it is still my first slicing tomato. Flavor was OK, home grown tomato flavor but not super outstanding.

The Best Dog on the Planet Earth. 7.25.2021

Rufus, hanging out and keeping me company.

Bush Bean, Green Bean Update. 7.25.2021

These are the green beans I planted 7.8.21, so 17 days ago, to fill in the raised bed after harvesting garlic. I gave them coffee grounds and crushed eggshells for fertilizer. Something, possibly slugs, ate the growing points from several plants. I always plant a lot extra in case things go wrong, so I think it will be OK. These are two rows Tenderette, two rows Blue Lake Bush 274, and two rows Roma. They are all historic, nonhybrid varieties so I can save seeds if they grow well. They seem to like the hot weather and irrigation method, and maybe the coffee grounds and eggshells. As for the irrigation, this 1/4 inch soaker hose is worthless. It started to clog up a month after I installed it. To make use of it, I used a safety pin and stuck holes in it every six inches or so. So now it's kind of a misting hose, which does work. I installed a big sediment trap in my water line to reduce future problems. Maybe if the garden line did not bypass the filter, the soaker hose would have been OK.

Harvesting the Rest of the Envoy Potatoes. 7.25.2021

These are the earliest yielding potato. They have great cooking properties, and very tasty. I'm about out of store bought potatoes, so dug up the rest of the row of Envoy. They turned out to ve just as early as potatoes I planted two months earlier, but I think Envoy were smaller size and smaller yield, maybe.

More Onions Harvested. 7.25.2021

These need to sit outside, but not in direct sun, for a few days to dry out for storage. The red skin ones are actually shallots from seeds. There are a few more remaining, mainly Yellow Spanish. These did so well this year. No need to grow hybrids or use onion sets, when these did so well - giant onions!

Pruning Squash Plants. 7.25.2021

 The squash plants have filled a very large area now.  They are making squashes, plenty enough for our use if they all ripen.  During hot days, the leaves tend to wilt, especially the lush leaves on Pink Banana Squash and Galeux d'Eysines.  Illinois squash is spreading as much, but not wilting as much.

So, I've been cutting of the growing tips.  That way those giant solar-collecting leaves will just supply energy for growing squashes and possibly more roots. One of the Pink Banana Squashes. It looks bigger every day.  

One of the Galeux d'Eysines pumpkins. This is about the most delicious pumpkin I've grown. They are a bit behind the Pink Banana Squashes.

Two of the Illinois Squashes. They are moschata squashes, same species as Butternut but last year produced better for me than Butternut usually does. They are growing like gangbusters in this heat.

Example of pruning growing tip. These are growing up the fence. I may need to make hammocks for any squashes that form up there.

Freezing Zucchinis from this Year's Zucchinami. 7.25.2021

The tsunami of zucchinis - "Zucchinami" - is giving lots of produce to play with. I made zucchini pickles, zucchini fritters, lots of air fried zucchini fries, and used zucchini "french fries" as a substitute for green beans in Rufus's dog food recipe. So far I've blanched and frozen 8 pounds of zucchini fries for future use. These are delicious - like green beans but more tender and a bit of umami flavor, giving us umami in our zucchinami. I slice, place in boiling water three minutes, then transfer them to ice water to stop the cooking. For some reason, the ice water chill makes them a more brilliant green. Then transfer to freezer bag and use paper straw to remove air before freezing. Im using the Costata Romano variety. I think they are a bit "meatier" and firmer, compared to more modern types. It looks like they are winding down bearing, so I'm greatful for all of the great produce they made. I'm letting two, on different plants, go all the way to ripening, for saving seeds for next year. For smaller zucchinis, I just slice. The largervones get cut into "fries".  There are also some Fordhook modern zucchinis, which are also quite good.  Maybe I will make some picked zucchini filets for sandwich slices, soon.

Planning to Save Seeds from Cucumbers. 7.25.2021.

I decided to label the cucumbers for saving seeds. I have harvested enough, so it's OK if the plants slow down or stop making cucumbers as a result of me allowing some to ripen. The label says "F2" which is technically not correct. They are second generation in my garden, but are an open pollinated variety. I'm also saving from another unknown variety that is bearing nicely, grown from last year's saved seeds.

These are growing in old 1/2 wine barrels. They have actual garden soil in the planters, mixed with compost. Potting soil would dry out too fast.

Making bread and Butter Pickles. 7.25.2021

The bush pickles are bearing nicely. I try to harvest them at 3 to 5 inches long, store in fridge until there are enough to make pickles. This was the USDA canned Bread and Butter vinegar pickle recipe. I used 1/2 recipe, which is all my kitchen equipment can handle at one time. It came out almost perfectly exact - 4 pints of hot packed pickles. I did not use the largest cucumbers in the photo. These pickles were grown from seeds that I saved from cucumbers I grew last year.

They need to sit 4-6 weeks for the flavors to meld. I ran about 1/2 teaspoon short of mustard seeds, so substituted sane anount of pickling spice, which contains mustard seeds and other spices.

Volunteer Nasturtiums. 7.21.2021

This year I didn't get around to planting nasturtium seeds. It didn't matter. There were lots of volunteer plants, sprouting from seeds that dropped off of last year's flowers. I just let them grow and do their own thing. The leaves also have a great, peppery flavor.

Dahlias In Bloom. 7.21.2021

Dahlias add a lot of joy to a vegetable garden. Most of mine were saved over the winter as dry tubers, in the garage.

Letting a Lettuce Plant Go To Seed. 7.21.2021

 I let this Black Seeded Simpson lettuce plant go to seed.  It will still need a month or so before I harvest the seed head.  This is the second generation in my garden.  More reliable, sustainable, self reliant, and frugal than buying the seeds next year.

German Cucumber Salad. 7.21.2021

 There were leftover cucumbers, onions, and dill do I added salt, pepper, lemon juice, yogurt, tomato, to make a German cucumber salad.  It was very good.

Cucumber Harvest. Making Fermented Pickles. 7.20.2021

 The pickle cucumbers have been producing quite a few cucumbers.  They all add up.  I try to harvest at 3 to 5 inch size, but some are sneaky and grow larger before I see them.  Most of these are from the seeds I saved last summer and planted this spring.  Also, dill, garlic, onion, grape leaf.  Add brine, mustard seeds, celery seeds, turmeric, and I set up two batches of fermented pickles.  I also added some sugar to one, to see if that would speed the fermentation, and added so e uncooked sauerkraut juice to both as a starter.

Beginning to Harvest Onions. 7.16.2021

 Most of the onions are falling over and drying.  A lot are dramatically large.  Raised bed seems to work very well.  The seeds that I started in Jan did the best so far, although the sets did OK.  The  New York Early are huge, the Yellow Spanish are also very big.  Not all, but some of them.  The shallots from seeds also did surprisingly well, huge shallots.