Weekly Update: July Week 2

I already mentioned in my previous post that the eggplants have started to ripen like crazy. I started picking them before they get too big so we can spread out the harvest in a consumable fashion and also to keep the plants from being overloaded. They are literally PACKED.

My big discovery this week is that the plants have very SHARP thorns at the top on the stems. When in bloom they look like little brown hairs all over the base of the bud. As the fruit grows though it seems they harden up into little spikes just as sharp and numerous as the thorns on the roses. I know the picture isn't all that clear but if you look closely you can probably make them out. Those sucker HURT!

Speaking of roses... the second round of blooms is going strong on the bush out back. I cut a few bunches for the vase in the kitchen along with some statice also from the garden. They smell so wonderful!

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New This Week: July week 2

This weekend was extremely busy, so just a really quick garden update! The harvest continues to roll in with the first ripe tomatoes, a cucumber, jalapenos, a ton of eggplant, more beans, and soybeans.

The big pile on the right side is soy beans. There's just over a pound of them there. That will be our one and only crop for this year. You harvest the entire plant at one time. They don't keep bearing like the bush beans and peas.

In the center of the picture are the chocolate cherry tomatoes. They're just now ripening. They don't taste any different that regular cherry tomatoes. They just turn chocolate brown when ripe instead of red.

We had two delicious meals made entirely of fresh food from the garden. Sunday night I did a modified ratatouille with some of the okra (not pictured) eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, and beans. Sunday night I made stuffed eggplant with tomatoes and banana peppers in the filling. So good. I accompanied that with a fresh tomato, cucumber, onion salad with a brown sugar and balsamic vinaigrette.

I'm going to have to come up with a whole bunch more eggplant recipes since this is only scratching the surface and we have about a million more eggplants to pick in the next several weeks!

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Weekly Update: July Week 1

The cherry tomatoes are beginning to ripen... and there are other encouraging signs of good things to come! I spent some time trying to reign in both the cherry tomatoes and the cucumbers, both have gone just absolutely CRAZY in their prospective locations.

I seem to have a minor aphid/white fly attach underway on the bush tomatoes, so I spent some time trying to spray them down with some natural deterrent. I'm hoping that takes care of it for the most part. I don't like using any chemicals at all, but at least these are nature-based ones. (I don't like having my tomatoes killed by aphids either!)

Probably the most exciting highlights this week have been with the various eggplants as you can see below. Nothing ready to pick just yet, but it looks like we're well on the way!

LEFT: After a miserable failure last year it looks like I've finally managed to grow some Easter Eggs!!! They're not ripe yet but early signs are looking good! Who knew eggs grew on plants! These two are just about the most perfect shape and size you can imagine. You can also see up in the left corner of the photo that the plant is actually LOADED with blooms still. I can't wait to see this thing loaded down with eggs! Too fun!

Right: Just a couple of the young Black Beauty Egg Plants. I have two plants, and both are loaded with developing fruit and blooms. Looks like we're going to have a pretty decent crop this year. Last year they were all eaten up by black beetles, but I've been pretty consistent with dusting them this year and so far I've managed to keep them pretty safe!

BELOW: Two amazing photos. I've NEVER seen anything like this. The photo on the left shows a cluster of 7!!! baby eggplants. They are so cute. The longest one in the photo is probably only about 2" or so. They look like miniature versions of what the mature fruit will look like. I'm so excited to see what happens. Last year the bugs got the plants before the fruit really had time to ripen and I didn't get any. This year there must be about 50 or so fruits on the two plants. AMAZING!

The picture on the right is of a TWIN EGGPLANT. There are two individual fruits growing from the same stem. I've never seen anything quite like it. I'm not sure exactly what will happen as they get bigger. It seems like they'll be forced to split apart as they get bigger around, but I guess we'll just wait and see!!

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New This Week: July week 1

This week was marked by the BIGGEST harvest yet. So big in fact that I'm just going to post one large photo rather than individual snapshots:

Clockwise from the top left:

• Peas - Some of them got a bit too big... hiding out in behind the eggplants.
• Bell Pepper - First one of the season! A very big and lovely looking pepper
• Tomatoes - First of the season! Two are ripe... the third one isn't (obviously) but I accidentally knocked it off while trying to tame the out of control cucumbers... We'll have to see if it will ripen up in the windowsill
• Bush Beans - Second HUGE batch... I weighed them out... about 2 lbs!
• Okra - First of the season! This is the first year I grew Okra, so I had no idea really how to decide when to pick them. These things grow INCREDIBLY fast. It went from about 2 inches to almost 7" in like two days. FOR THE RECORD: They bloom, and then the pods are supposed to be picked 3 - 4 days later when they're about 3 - 4 inches long. When they get this long they're stringy and tough.... Now you know...
• Banana Peppers - Second big batch. These are all coming off of just two plants and from the looks of things there are MANY more to come! I made a DELICIOUS stuffed banana pepper explosion dish last week. These may be headed into the pickling a
• Purple Beans - Second batch of these... a few more this week. We didn't cook up the ones from last week yet so I'm not sure how they're going to taste... Need to get on that this week!

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Weekly Update: June Week 5

I really enjoyed being able to spend time out in the garden this week since I took the week off for vacation. This is the first year since I bought the house that I haven't had a major remodel project underway the week of the 4th of July, and it was really nice just to be able to relax and enjoy life! That said, I did find time for a small projects.

One of those projects was sanding and repainting of the siding on the front of the house which had been very badly eaten up by the salt spray over the past several winters. I ground everything down and give it a good fresh coat of paint. I also power washed the furniture and picked up a couple of new pots and some flowers to create some visual interest on the porch:

In addition, last Sunday I was surprised by a knock at the door and notified that the borough committee wanted to nominate our house for the 2009 Properties of Merit Awards! Very exciting! Voting isn't until September, they came by yesterday and put up the sign in the yard. The program recognizes the best maintained and cared for properties in the neighborhood in an effort to boost community pride and commitment to keeping the neighborhood looking great. More details later when the actual voting begins, but win or loose, its an honor to be nominated!

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New This Week: June Week 5

Lots happening as we finally got a break in the weather! We didn't end up with any tomatoes ripe in time for the fourth, but we did get another big bunch of green beans and of course a never ending flow of peas. Yum!

New this week, the first harvest of banana peppers, a couple of them are pretty big:

This is the first year I've grown them, so I wasn't exactly sure how to decide when to harvest,

but everything I read said to go ahead and pick them as soon as they turn from green to the pale yellow color which you see here, so here's hoping! Picking the peppers early enough means that the plants will continue to bear more peppers throughout the season.

Also new this week was a first (small) picking of one of the types of bush beans. Just a handful, but they look delicious:

Its a bit difficult to see from the photo, but these beans are actually a very deep purple in color. I've never seen them in stores, but its a variety that has been around for a long time. Since Jason loves both beans and the color purple I thought it would be a great match!

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