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.

Zucchini Pickles. 7.16.2021

 These are from Costata Romanesco zucchini, an old Italian heirloom variety.  They are bearing like crazy.  I have to check every morning so I catch them at a relatively small (9") size.  

First, I tried a cold pack method, using a packaged Bread and Butter pickle brine and spice product.  I had to calculate lower sizes, but I think I got it right.  Unfortunately, during the canning process, the slices shrunk and floated, so the bottom half of the jars is just pickle juice, mainly vinegar.  Since these are vinegar and brine, I think they will keep, but they are not how I wanted them.

So I decided to use a hot pack method, which pre-cooks the pickles so they do all their shrinking and lose their air before packing.  I followed the USDA canning method as exactly as I could.  I did have to make a half recipe due to my canner size.  I also added very thin slices of my fresh harvested Music garlic, sliced on mandolin. 

These are presoaked in brine before cooking them, then heated to a boil in vinegar/sugar/spices which are mustard seeds, celery seed, and tumeric.  The yellow slices are from one yellow zucchini that I harvested yesterday.

Then they are portioned into jars and carefully canned per the USDA instructions.

These portioned out almost exactly. I did have to boil 1/4 cup of vinegar to top off the last jar, which I will use up first. I tasted two pickle slices before canning. They had excellent flavor and texture. I imagine they will be softer after canning, which I will find out when I open the first jar.

Methley Plum Harvest and Jam. 7.16.2021

Methley plums are completely ripe. Those are the purple ones. The yellow ones are Shiro, almost ripe.

I picked two giant size bowls of plums. One bowl should be about one batch of jam.

To make a jam, I skinned them. The skin is loose, like a slipskin grape, very easy. The stones are clingstone, which is a lot more work to get off. I sliced the flesh off the stones, into a large measuring cup, until I had seven cups. Then I followed the directions on low sugar pectin to make jam. It should have been 8 half pints, but I over compensated for boiling loss and it was 9 pints. Still, it gelled and the flavor is incredible, like some kind of tropical candy. These will help me through the winter. It helps make growing fruit more worthwhile. These plums can't be bought in any store, and processing them in a factory doesnt seem like an easy thing. So home made is the only option.  This is one of my all time favorite jams.

Sweetcorn is Showing Silks and Tassels. 7.13.2021

This is the SE+ variety "Trinity". It is a bit shorter than main crop varieties, and the ears are a bit smaller, but it tolerates cool springs and produces an early crop. It's a delicious home grown sweet corn variety, somIm looking forward to a cropmin a few weeks.

Given the dry hot weather, I'm watering about every other day. The corn plants are big enough to shade the soil, so that helps.

Volunteer Flowers Blooming. 7.11.2021

I didn't plant any new flower seeds this year. However, if something came up, I let them grow in place. Now there are cosmos and nasturtiums blooming.

Another Dahlia Blooming. 7.11.2021

Each new dahlia is my favorite. They are loving this weather. What is a vegetable garden without a row of dahlias?

Squash Blossom Soup. 7.11.2021

Even though honeybees have been all over the squash blossoms, I wanted to try something different. This recipe is inspired by one in "The Classic Zucchini Cookbook" by Ralston , Jordan, and Chesman (2002). I liked that it uses a surprise vegetable (squash blossoms) as well as garlic and onion that I grew, and the garnish is finely chopped Garlic Chive that I grew from seeds this year. This is about 35 squash blossoms, a big garlic clove, a small onion.

I saute the onion and garlic in 3 tbsp olive oil for 5 min, add the chopped squash blossoms, saute 2 min. Then add 3 cup of water, 1 1/2 cubes veg boullion, bring to boil and simmer 10 min. Take off heat, blend by portions in food processor, return to sauce pan and heat, add about 1/2 cup coconut milk. Sprinkle with pepper and chinese chive garnish.

The zucchini "Costata Romanesca" has the largest blossoms but I also used blossoms from other varieties of squash. This was tasty. I used the coconut milk because yesterday I made a squash pie and substituted coconut milk for evap milk, and had this much left over. That turned out very good.

Planting a Late Crop of Bush Beans. 7.8.2021

With the garlic harvested, a raised bed is open for planting a kitchen garden crop. According to the seed sources, these should be ready in about 55 days. Of course, that will depend on weather and other factors. I planted three open pollinated varieties.

Marigolds from Saved Seeds. 7.8.2021

Last fall I saved seeds from a volunteer marigold. It was very compact with brick red-ish flowers. I planted the seeds this spring, and here they are. I didn't grow as many flowers as I wanted this year, so I appreciate these. Since it was a volunteer plant, these are at least third generation in my garden.

Seeds are becoming more expensive now. By saving seeds, the cost is completely free and they are known varieties that I already know will thrive in my own soil, climate, and garden.

Garlic Harvest. 7.8.2021

I harvested all of the garlic in their designated raised bed. There are still a few rows in other spots. Now they need to dry and have the tops trimmed. I'm drying them in garage, away from hot sun and morning dew. I think this is the best garlic crop I have ever grown. Key is using the raised bed, lots of coffee grounds (nitrogen, potassium), egg shells (calcium, nitrogen), planting in fall, and keeping them well weeded. The variety is "Music". I had saved about 8 of the largest bulbs to plant last fall. So those were "free", whereas garlic starts from stores or seed catalogs are quite expensive.

This photo shows the importance for early removal of scapes. I'm surprised it made such a big difference.

I also had two rows of garlic bulbils. I grew those as a way to potentially have more rows of garlic without having to set aside as many bulbs. They did OK. Some might make big bulbs next year, but many were still quite small and may need two years.

Forsythia Cutting Update. 7.8.2021

Now all of the forsythia cuttings are in full sun in my kitchen garden. Except one, still growing small roots in jar of water. I gave them some 1/4 strength miracle gro as a boost. Some are making vigorous new shoots. I'll plant them in their final row this fall. Even though they will need two more growing seasons for a good privacy impact, forsythia grows vigorously and thick, is low maintenance, has a beautiful blooming season, and these were free. There was a little nibbling of new growth by satanic deer, but I think they wont bother mature plants too much because because I have other forsythia bushes in deer susceptible areas and they don't browse those at all. The cuttings that I started in water were definitely much less trouble, more reliable, and much more vigorous, compared to the ones I started in plant starting medium.

Early Buds for Main Crop Figs. 7.6.2021

They say it takes about 100 days from bud to ripe fig. That depends on variety, weather, and other conditions. For the most part, it's just wait and see now. This is "Smith" fig.

Volunteer Yellow Cherry Tomato 3rd Generation. 7.6.2021

These are from seeds that I saved from a volunteer that grew last year. It is at least F3 generation from the original hybrid, which I suspect is Sungold but could be something else, like Supersweet 1000 or a bee hybrid of the two. These are the second plant to ripen, after Sugar Rush. I expect them to be less sweet than Sungold, but still a palatible early cherry tomato. Fully ripen in a few days.

Isolating Squash Blossoms. 7.6.2021

Several of the winter squashes are blooming, mostly male flowers. I want to collect seeds and have them true to type, so I isolated the first female Pink Banana Squash blossom to avoid bee pollination with other cultivars. I didn't isolate any males yet, but should tonight. Before

After

Some people tape them shut. That might be better. I have been manually pollinating the zucchinis, which are pretty widely separated so should be true to type. Tomorrow am, I'll manually pollinate this one too.

Knee High by the 4th of July. Sweetcorn. 7.5.2021

My dad used to say the sweetcorn should be knee high by the 4th of July. That was easier back in corn growing country, in Illinois. Here in the Maritime Pacific NW it's more of a surprise. This yearm Spring was early and warm, and we had that hot spell. This variety is "Trinity", an SE+ typecthat stays sweeter, is earlier, and the seeds are a bit more tolerant of cooler soils. It is also less tall, and the ears are a bit smaller that later varieties. I planted earlier in May than In most years, because it was so warm.