Nice harvest Louise!
Here's what I picked yesterday for DD who was going camping this weekend.
Edibles - '08 - Part 3
Celeste - that collage of your harvest and the watermelon look so good!! Yum Yum!!
Wow, Sherrie - that's a lot of tomatoes!!! I planted just enough to eat and share this year....too busy with putting the house back together to do any canning, except for our Concord Grape jelly in October right before we head south.
Laurel - HOW did you find time to put so much stuff up with all you've had going on????!! Amazing....I'm such a wimp! LOL
Awesome, Celeste......I'd like to stop by that tent for supper!!!
Yikes, Sherrie.....sleep tight!!
Have not done anything with my produce lately---Sherri & Pixie & Louise--nice gardens & nice products from all your stuff---here is an heritage tomato , German striped---Have to pick soon.
That looks yummy, Robin. My heirloom Brandywines are still green, but are a nice size. I'm hoping the sunny days will make them start to turn soon. Enjoy!!
Louise
Wow! You are all inspiring. I am taking a needed break in Atlanta to spend time out of the garden and be with friends. The honest truth is that we spent most of the summer away. The neglect to the house and grounds shows. We have been making enormous piles of weeded out trash and hauling it on tarps to our compost spot.
Patti, grill those eggplants and then sink them in olive oil and refrigerator store them. They'll last. The pumpkin soup sounds worth the drive. :) I've made lasagna using handmade pasta (DH made my pasta pin as a gift) and pumpkin or butternuts. Some butter browned nuts (walnuts or toasted pine nuts), lots of fresh grated nutmeg, cream and fresh herbs seal the deal. This can be assembled and frozen too. Really is a great reheat!
Robindog, you are showing some great produce! I've got German Queen and want them in my garden forever. Please let me know your opinion of the German striped. Are you saving any seed?
Laurel
My yellow pumpkin is starting to turn orange!!
I roasted two big roasting pans of eggplants (halved), tomatoes (quartered) garlic (peeled) and rough chopped peeled onions at 400 degrees for an hour and half frequently turning them so they didn't stick. I then peeled the eggplant skins off and as well as the skins off the tomatoes ( they just fall off) and added salt and pepper and some herbs. I then began ladling in some smoked turkey stock that I had made recently and cooking it all down for another hour or so at 300 degrees. I then made a puree out of it and strained it to a clear golden amber broth. I have frozen it for winter soup stock. I used the cup of pulp left over in the strainer on pasta last night. Beyond good. I will roast another batch of tomatoes tomorrow as they are finally turning red fast and furiously. I will red sauce for pasta with them. Love oven roasting, no mess and the caramelizing of veggies them makes them delicious. Wha hoo!
Laurel, I will use the next batch of EP as you suggested. Sounds great. Plus my butternuts are almost ready (have eaten some already) for making into soup stock for the winter. I love fresh grated nutmeg. Patti
I am salivating all over the keyboard, ladies. Wow, those dishes sound great.
I roasted some tomatoes (first time) with garlic the other day and made sauce and it was enough for 2 meals. I froze one in a freezer bag. after only being on DG for a couple of months I am already thinking ahead to next summer's garden which will have more edibles than just tomatoes. I need to plan for some type of irrigation though, cuz if it is anything like this year and last I will be worn out from watering everything. DDIL around the corner would benefit as well. I'll have to enlist the help of DH with the planning. He has already mentioned burying a pipe to put faucets in several places around the yard.
Thanks for everyone's inspiration.
The German striped was yummy--had it in a green bean & onion & tomato salad a few days ago. No, Laurel, I don't save any seed. I live near WFF, & they sell over 100 heirlooms at Tomato Mania every May. It's much easier for me to pop over there & buy a dozen or so. I have no grow lights & the few times I started tomatoes from seed, they weren't great--I have no southern windows, & mice in my cellar who eat everything! The eggplant recipe sounds great---will try it if my eggplants ever mature!
Jan - how do you roast your tomatoes? I've never done that and I'd like to try.
My heirloom Brandywine is finally beginning to turn color. Emily (CapeCodGardener) gave it to me at Kassia's RU, so I'm excited to see how big the tomatoes are. Thanks, Emily!
I've not had much luck with my Brandywine - and that's two years in a row. Last year I got one tomato and this year 2. Granted, I only had one plant. My other tomatoes seem to do ok, so I'm not sure what's up with that. They don't get as much sun as I would like, so I'm sure that is a major factor. I have some other heirloom seed for next year to try. I am also going to space them a bit more next year and see if that helps. This year Lycopersicon lycopersicum Cristal F1 Hybrid, Lycopersicon lycopersicum Harlequin F1 Hybrid and Lycopersicum Super Roma VF did real well. I have to say that the second is my favorite. Unfortunately for me, they are all hybrids...so much for collecting seed!
Two birds with one stone! (GASP! ME, the bird lover!!! said that!!! I swear I didn't mean it that way!!!!!)
This one is edible AND has a flower!!! Woohoo.
(how'd that dandelion get in there!??! Wine, anyone?)
my "yellow" pumpkin getting orange now!! hard to tell - this is a BIG pumpkin should have put my size 12 foot next to it for scale
Speaking of killing birds----my pointer cross had one in her mouth this morn---I threw a cookie at her & she dropped it---too late! Looked like a warbler, from the little I could see! Glad your pumpkin or gourd is turning color, Bill, & the garlic chives are nice this time of year--here is my short row of basil---it's a mix---I plant it to attract bees into the garden.
And here is Rose of Berne tomato--looking a little funky, but they taste yummy!
The last cantaloupe, mid season broccoli, Parks 'Rainbow mix' peppers and Big Boys.
Andy P
The Reliance grapes are ready, too.
Andy P
Louise, you have dmail.
Beautiful maters everyone. Jelly, jam or wine, Andy?
just had my first gazpacho of the year that i made last night - FANTASTIC!!
Jan, those are table grapes. They seldom get that far, though. lol. Extra sweet, seedless.
I pick a bunch every day for snacking. They last for weeks on the vine.
It's been dry for nearly a month, I hope they don't split with tomorrows heavy rain.
Nice harvest Andy!
Great pumpkin Bill, mine are turning orange also.
Looks great, all! Are those grapes very sweet, Andy?
Victor the post just above mine with Saraskeeper says so. LOL
"Extra sweet, seedless"
Oh - duh. Thanks! I was caught up with the photos.
I know, they looked so good!
Victor, my hand is sticky after eating them. That's how sweet.
The cardinals like them, too. I'll have to net the vine, it's only 5 years old with limited fruit.
I took cuttings from last springs pruning. There are 6 young vines in the nursery.
Andy P
Thanks Andy. Do they get full sun? I love grapes and would like to try them.
Full sun, Victor. They are in the hottest part of the yard. I planted this vine as a replacement for a dwarf Cherry that was struggling. It's one plant I actually spent time researching before choosing. There was only room for one and they take years to bare fruit.
My criteria was seedless, sweet, table 'eat fresh', able to grow in bad soil (this used to be a Sand & Gravel pit), not green and hardy in my zone. Reliance was the one with Canadice a close second.
I got dinky little grapes the 3rd year, just enough for a taste. The grapes are small to medium but the flavor is addictive.
Grapes don't need frequent spraying like apples etc. I get grape moth larva in the new growth in May that I hand pick, other than that it's just the birds. Japanese beetles like the leaves but the Milky Spore I put down 15 years ago keeps their numbers down. I'm a big fan of Milky Spore, it really works as long as you don't apply a pesticide afterward.
Thanks for the tips. I may try both milky spore and nematodes. I had way too many JB's this year. How big is the vine now?
Patti - my mouth was watering reading about how you were roasting your veggies.....shouldn't read this thread when I am hungry!
Andy - colorful harvest! Your grapes look wonderful. Our wild Concords are still mostly green, but there are a lot of them this year. It's usually a mad dash to get the jelly made before we head south.
Here is today's harvest.......
Heavens, the vine has totally outgrown the 4 X 6 trellis I set up at planting. From one tip to the other is about 20 feet. Severe pruning is needed in spring after the 3rd year and there after. The vine was about 4 X 3 after the last pruning, the growth is explosive. It's crawling on the lawn but the fruit is within 2 feet of the pruning on the trellis. That's why the grape moth larva must be held in check. They eat the early growth that contains the flowers.
A new trellis is high in the To Do list.
I would love grapes too, but as I've moaned before - I don't have one spot that gets a full day of sun - pout------
Here are a few of my meager crop pickings. I am excited to actually have a Korean Melon! This is the first year that it actually produced a melon!!! Next year, I will try starting it indoors. It's a bit smaller than what I actually see in the stores, but I can't wait to taste it!
Andy - is there any downside to the milky spore? Because of its long-lasting effects I've always been reluctant to use it without talking to someone (like you) who has seen the effects over a lot of years. Like Victor, I am tired of the JBs eating away at so many of my plants. Except for them, I am strictly organic in my veggie garden, but once they take over, I bring out some chemicals, and I hate that because I worry about the bees etc..
Very nice shot, Anita. Looking at yours, I realized I forgot to include my cukes in my "today's harvest" shot. They're already in the fridge. LOL
I need to plant two more plants next year. I didn't have enough to make lots of pickles. I had to buy some too. Unfortunately, I tend to eat and share the pickles quicker than I can grow the cukes! I'm also planning on building a bigger trellis for them.
My cantaloupe with a 12oz. can of Mug Root Beer.
Do you have them together, Celeste?