Sweet Corn, Fruit Harvest, and Prior Okra Experience. 7.27.16

Hollywood and Green Gage Plums, and Figs.  7.27.16

 Mos of todays meals were from the kitchen garden.  Pretty awesome to me.  Lots of fruit.  The first batch of Trinity se+ sweet corn is fully ripe.   Compared to store corn, more tender, sweeter, but smaller ears.  First harvest was almost to the day, the same as last year.  The difference is last year I started in containers, then planted out in the kitchen garden.  This year I seeded directly into the ground.    The seeds were planted about 4.15.16 which gives a bit more than 100 days from seed to harvest.  That compares to 70 days on the seed label, but who's counting?

The difference is that climate here is cooler and nights are cooler, compared to sweet corn country. 

Most of the corn plants have 2 ears this year, which is nice.

Lunch.  Summer Squash for Salad, Sweet Corn, and Lattarula Figs.  7.27.16

 I looked back on growing okra in 2014.  I grew it in containers.  Production was minimal and, looking at the pictures, the plants were rather scrawny.  I don't know how this year will turn out, but I was excited to see the first flower today, on a one-foot-tall okra plant.  Not sure, but I think this Spring was warmer, but this summer is cooler and wetter, compared to 2015.  Starting to make up for it.  Today was 90F on my car thermometer, which is a good okra-growing temperature.

Containerized Okra. 9.20.14. 

Kitchen Garden. Another Way to Eat Zucchini. 7.26.16

Basal in Tree Ring Container.  7.26.16

Okra.  7.27.16

Mid Summer is a nice time in the kitchen garden.  Every day feels like a combination Easter Egg hunt and Christmas. 

Basil in Tree Ring Open Bottom container, ready to pick and make a small batch of pesto. 

I'm very surprised to have actively growing okra.  I had given up.  A true Southern gardener would rightly laugh at these puny okra plants.  The first flower buds are forming, and there are still 2 months of warm weather for potential crop.  I don't know which varieties.  I mixed together several packets and planted all of them.

I used tree branches that I saved to construct fenceposts or other garden infrastructure, along with black plastic trellis with 1-inch openings, to construct a rabbit / deer fence.  One might think okra spines would deter these pests, but they eat blackberry and squash growth tips, despite spines.

We continue to get zucchini, of course, and collard greens.  There are occasional peppers.

Use a mandolin with the thinnest blade, and slice zucchinis into leaf-thin slices.  Add the usual salad fixings and dressing, makes a great salad. 

Today the sweet corn appears ready to harvest.  I'm too tired to prepare it tonight, so leaving in the husks. 

I shifted the largest pumpkin to slide a newspaper under it.  That was to protect it from potential rot underneat, something I read about.  BAD MOVE.  The pumpkin came off the stem.  A ripe one is almost red.  This one is golden yellow.   I will see if I can roast it tomorrow for pumpkin pie fillings and pumpkin puree for pumpkin bread.

This pumpkin was Rouge Vit D'Etamps.  I weighed it - 35 pounds.  What will I do with that much pumpkin?  Annoyed with myself for not letting it ripen on the plant, dammit dammit.  But there are many smaller pumpkins and winter squashes, so there will still be more than we can reasonably use.

Vegetables.  7.27.16

 Some of the radish seeds have germinated at 3 days.   I planted all of the Chinese radish varieties, mentioned earlier.  Meanwhile at one week the first Euro radishes, turnips, kohlrabis, are looking good  one week after sowing seeds.  The carrot seeds have germinated.  I also enclosed this raised bed in netting for deer and rabbits.  I don't know if that will keep out cabbage moths. 

Two days ago, we ate the first Sungold tomato.  Today there were a few more.  I'm impatient for tomato season to start, even though there are so many other things to be happy about.

Okra Cage.  7.26.16

Also noting- We are getting figs every day.  Not enough to overwhelm me, but a really good crop.

Not pictured, I harvested all of the potatoes, other than Burbank Russet, which are almost ready.  Probably 50 pounds total of potatoes.  I harvested about half of the yellow onions.  Maybe 10 pounds.   I pulled out one of the raised bed / cages of favas, and used that bed to plant more Chinese Radishes last weekend.

Sweet Corn.  Trinity is shorter variety.  Bilicious is taller variety.  7.26.16

Trinity Sweet Corn Ready to Harvest.  7.26.16

 Rouge Vif d'Etampes Pumpkin, Harvested Too Early.  7.26.16

Radishes, Turnips, Carrots Seeds Germinating.  7.26.16

The First of the Sungold, by a nose.  7.26.16

Sweet Treat Pluerry, First Fruit. 7.24.16

 This is the one fruit from Sweet Treat Pluerry this year.  It's OK, given this is only the second year of growth. 

I may have harvested a little early.  I did not want birds to steal the only fruit.

The flavor was sweet, with a fruit punch flavor.  Not exactly plum, not exactly cherry.  Nice refreshing flavor.

It's too early to recommend the tree.  The leaves have a leaf-curl-like disease, so it's pretty ugly.  I don't know if that will affect bearing.

Another Zucchini Fritter Recipe. 7.24.16

Zucchini Fritters with Salsa.  7.24.16

Similar to prior recipe but with Mexican feel instead of Italian.

1 1/2 pounds zucchini, shredded.
1/4 onion, chopped.
One egg, stirred.
1/4 cup flour.
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
pepper to taste
salt to drain fluid from zucchini.

I found that hand-shredded zucchini works much better than food processor.  Hand shredding makes thinner shreds, which lose their fluid better.

Shred the zucchini.
Mix in 1 tsp salt.  Let sit 15 to 30 min.  Drain in collander and use spatula to squeeze as dry as reasonably possible.  Mix in the chopped onion.  Mix in the egg, then the cheese, then the flour.
Fry in olive oil.  I dust with black pepper.  Add a spoon of salsa.

The makes a good breakfast.

Kitchen Garden Harvest. 7.21.16

Collard Greens.  7.21.16

Lattarula and Petite negri figs.  7.21.16

Lattarula and Petite negri figs.  7.21.16

From the Kitchen Garden.  7.21.16

Q-1-8 / Salish Peaches.  7.21.16

Illinois Everbearing Mulberries.  7.21.16

Hollywood Plums.  9.21.16