Garden Update

The north bed. This is the Sunpeach plant.

It's been about a month since I last posted and that's because our tomatoes aren't doing the best. This morning I ripped up the north bed, even though there was new growth and possible tomatoes to come because the blight wasn't too far behind. My logic was why wait for a few small tomatoes to hopefully ripen when I could go ahead and get started on some greens and lettuces for the fall.

Over the past month I've been trying to save these tomato plants but nothing seems to work. It's been a rainy and humid year, so the blight just spreads no matter what. I did slow it down, but then the squirrels arrived. In less than a day all of our green, almost ready to ripen tomatoes were stolen from their vines and eaten by rude, thieves. So now, there are new tomatoes beginning but their branches are full of blight and by the time they ripen they will be half rotten anyway. So I pulled the plants. It was hard to do, but something that needed to be done.

The south bed is doing a little bit better in regards to blight.

Squash bugs!

There are small amounts of it on the bottoms of the plants, but I've given up pulling those leaves. Now I've been using that Fertilome spray, which seems to affect the insects and other wildlife very minimally. I tried spraying it on some squash bugs and they seemed unbothered by it, even a few hours later. So that's a good sign, except those bugs are still there, I guess.

The butternut squash is still growing baby squash and right now we have at least eight fully grown squash we are letting age a bit on the vine so we can store them overwinter. We

South bed. 

have a minor problem with some squash bugs, but now that Ryan knows what they are and what their eggs look like (little black dots on the underside of squash leaves, usually in perfect little rows) we can combat them. But right now, our squash plant is going crazy so a few bugs won't hurt. We just can't let them get out of control.

Good sized muskmelon

I picked our first cantaloupe last week. The excess rain this year helped that one right along. Our muskmelon was sweet, juicy and the texture was just perfect, not like store bought. It was a pretty good size, too. There are three or four more out on the vine, but that last one is gonna be small. That's okay though, I'm still excited for it. Sometimes smaller fruit is better.

Over the past couple weeks Ryan and I have been trying to preserve as much food as we can. My mother's friend Annie has an apple tree that her family can't pick because they have disabilities and can't go climb a ladder and pick the apples, so we do it. This year we got nine crates of apples. I am not sure what kind of apples they are, but I do know they make great apple sauce and apple butter.

I've also taken up pickling. A lady Ryan works with brought a bunch (like a LOT) of cucumbers to
work for whoever so Ryan brought them home and I pickled them. I did whole dill, spears and chips as well as some bread and butter pickles. I added some red pepper and chilis to a few of the jars in hopes those will be spicy. After the brine cooled it smelled spicy, so there is hope.

The dill recipe I found is simple and it's actually made for dilling green tomatoes but I figured it Sean Brock's Heritage, and the recipe is Dilled Green Tomatoes on page 230. If anyone is interested in this recipe, please ask. I'll send it to you.

could work on pickles, too. And it did. I pulled out a jar at a party a couple weeks ago and everyone said they were good on their pulled pork sandwiches. I plan to use them for catering in the upcoming months when we do pulled pork buffets. I think that will be a nice touch to our catering, don't you? Here's the book I got the recipe from:

So, although I've been a canning fool, none of that stuff has actually come from my own garden. Our tomatoes were stolen, the ones that weren't were killed by a nasty fungus and we haven't gotten enough of anything else to can. It's a little depressing but I feel like we will be prepared for next year. At least, as prepared as we can be!

In other news, I was on Facebook last night and saw a friend who posted a picture of a pressure cooker, never used for $50. Originally $100. I jumped on that! Brought it home last night and figured out it can be used as a cooker or a pressure canner! Steal! I can now plan a garden next year and not worry about if I have the equipment to can it all. Now I do! I think Ryan and I are going to mess around with canning beans, soup and other stuff like that. Stay tuned!

Greens, Tomatoes and Herbs

Today, Ryan and I harvested our first collard greens and kale.

We only have one plant of each item, but I feel like we can still get a good amount off each plant. I read where you can harvest the outer leaves and they will grow back three leaves every five days. Ryan was skeptical, but I reminded him of how fresh garden produce is and not to compare to grocery store produce. The stuff in the store is already a few days, if not a few weeks, old by the time

Top layer is kale, bottom layer is collard greens

it makes it to the consumer's kitchen. We can store the greens up until we have enough to make something. It should only take two, maybe three harvests.

The garden is coming along nicely. I am seeing small, green tomatoes on most of the plants. I haven't seen any on the Lemon Boys, but those are a late harvest anyway. I've seen tons of blossoms on the Black From Tula, but haven't seen any tomatoes, yet. The Early Girls are getting bigger and any day now we will have multiple fruits off that plant.

Yesterday, I ate my first tomato sandwich of the season with some Early Girls I'd let ripen by the window. I've been picking the tomatoes when they are a light orangey-red color, then I set them by a sunny window and let them redden up. It frees up the plant to put energy into other fruit this way, plus, I've heard from gardeners that tomatoes don't get anything from the plant after the white to orange stage. Either way, it's worked for me so far. They don't seem to get any bigger so, why not?

I also picked a bunch of basil yesterday, and thyme. It helps the plants to bush out and produce more this blog and enjoyed reading the writer's experiences with failing at basil. I would rather read and learn from someone else's mistakes, so I figured you would, too, since you're reading this blog. In regards to the flowers, I've been picking mine off of my basil plants, so that I can keep harvesting. I didn't realize that's what I was supposed to do, and think maybe that's why it's dying off a bit. I'll try to get rid of all the flowers and see what happens. I need to harvest much more of it so maybe it will bush out.

stems with more herbs if you cut the plants regularly. I cut the basil from the top, down, about 1&1/2 inches.  I found

I noticed that with the pineapple sage it's bushed out a bunch. I did cut a substantial amount from it a few times now, so that proves cutting down herbs encourages growth.

I've only cut some thyme, but it's grown a lot, too. The rosemary is growing tall and has a couple extra branches that weren't there before -- I started with one, single stalk.

The cilantro has begun to produce small, green seeds where the white flowers used to be. Only a few flowers have begun to turn, but I bet the rest are quick behind them. I read where you can harvest them green for one flavor, and dry them out for a completely different flavor. The plan is to try both ways and compare, then let you know the findings.

Farmers Market: Rosemary and Lavender

Today, Ryan and I got up early and headed to the Topeka Farmers Market for breakfast and herbs. I also bought a few flowers for my hanging pots on my front porch. I figured it was better to buy from local farmers than from Wal-Mart. The people I bought my plants from told me they don't use pesticides and they also grow all their own grasses for their chickens and ducks. So, I know I can trust the plants I buy for my organic, pesticide-free garden.

Rosemary

I remember a lady I bought thyme from a couple weeks ago and went to find her because I knew she had more herbs and I remembered they all looked healthy. She had anything you could think of -- sage, rosemary, thyme, basil and much more. I was there for lavender and rosemary, specifically, but I learned much more about her business.

Lavender

The business is David's Herbs, and it's family owned and operated. The woman and her husband and son-in-law run the business, and they all work together out of Perry, Kansas. The guy I was talking to said they are willing to answer questions about growing herbs, and if I had any problem with bugs I could send them photos and they would help me diagnose/fix the problem. That's awesome, especially for people who are new to this like me. The farmers market always has such great resources, and that's why I always return, and I always talk to the people I'm buying plants from. Most of the time, they're willing to help you out. They want their products to grow well for you so you'll come back next year, so usually, they'll answer your questions.

My aunt told me rosemary is great for repelling mosquitoes, so I thought that was a great idea because I have noticed a lot of mosquitoes around the garden. I bought two plants and put them in the far north and far south corners. That soil is well-drained and can be watered less than the other plants in the beds. I've read where rosemary is a great potted plant, and that also makes it easier to move indoors when the temperature gets below freezing.

Pineapple sage

I got lavender because I read the flowers attract honey bees, but also because I enjoy lavender and thought I'd try to grow my own. Plus, there seem to be tons of benefits from the plant and the oil you can get from it. I bought two different kinds, one is a taller variety and the other is more like a bush. I don't know which is which because I got to talking to the guy about duck eggs and other things he has to sell and forgot to make sure which was which. I planted the lavender in the middle of the beds on the far south and the far north sides of my beds. Just like the rosemary, I put them by the outer edge, so the soil is better drained than other other plants. Plus, it's out of the way so it can be watered less.

Basil sprouts

I also planted some pineapple sage, which is some amazing smelling stuff. I can't wait for it to grow and produce so I can use it on some pork or something. If you rub the leaves, it produces such a sweet pineapple smell, I couldn't believe it. I had to get some, so I did, even though it wasn't in the plan. I put it in the bed where I already have basil and thyme growing. It's a big pot and I can always transplant, which I'll probably have to do this fall.

I noticed that I have some basil sprouting, but only the custom version. The Dolce vita blend is not sprouting, yet. I'm thinking that squirrel might have gotten some of the seeds. He didn't get them all, though, for which I'm thankful. I can't wait to see it get bigger, then use it with some fresh tomatoes. I'm pretty excited about the food we are going to be eating this summer thanks to our organic garden. It's exciting watching everything grow, but even more so harvesting and eating everything. I know next year we will be having a bigger garden.