Today's harvest

[dragnlaw]

I have several 'go-to' eggjplant recipes, stuffed (everything from mushroom to shrimp to minced something). Just centres scooped out and filled with salsa and cheese, halved and hatched with oil/soya/garlic/garlic and a little bit of garlic. About the only way I've ever preserved them is with a small batch recipe I have for caponata.

and of course breaded or parmesaned.

yum yum

 

[larry_stewart]

How thick do you slice the eggplants prior to drying ?

 

[pepperhead212]

I cut the chunks of EP a little larger than normal - about 1 1/4", instead of an inch, as they seem to "shrink" a little. Obviously, they shrink a lot, but rather, what I mean is that they don't expand to their original size, when soaked.

Sometimes I start on the skinny end and just slice through, leaving circular slices, and when it starts getting too large, I cut lengthwise, sometimes once, or I quarter the larger ones, then slice those. I just play it by ear, cutting them longer, if the pieces aren't that big in diameter.

 

[larry_stewart]

Once dried how/ where do you store them ?
Sorry for all the questions, should have thought them all up at once to ask

 

[pepperhead212]

I store them in large jars, with some rubber seals on the lids, and I toss a couple of O2 adsorbant in the jars (only do this because I know that it will be there a long time!). I keep them on the shelves in the basement. I have a half gallon mason jar I keep on the shelves upstairs, which I refill, as needed, from the gallon jars downstairs.

 

[bbqcoder]

I never peel them, except for the parts of the peel that have turned brown -

For a lot of my vegetables/fruit, I leave the skin on. I figure it's less work, healthier. This is true for carrots, cukes, sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc.

 

[pepperhead212]

Tomatoes are ripening big time! However, there is still going to be a lull, because I see few blossoms on the larger ones, due to the heatwave, and another heatwave coming! Still, there are so many ripening at once that I called my cousin up and asked her what she was doing tomorrow. When she asked why, I simply replied "tomatoes", and she busted out laughing! And she said she'd be down (not real close, but worth it for this!).

This is what I picked from two Sunsugars today, after picking EVERY tomato with a hint of ripening two days ago! The rest I left for my cousin to help pick. lol
Sunsugars, from 2 plants 7-13, a little over 2 1/2 qts. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Got my first bitter melon today - picked it at about 8". I also noticed a bunch of new bottle gourds, but, unfortunately, no male blossoms. Maybe next time I'll save some in the fridge, for the next flush! Seems the females always come first, unlike winter squash, which always have a lot of males, way before the females, at least on mine.
First bitter melon 7-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Still only picked green chiles, except for those superchilis, which are always earliest.

 

[bbqcoder]

Looks great! How do you prepare your bitter melons?

 

[Souschef]

This year we are getting a good crop of tomatoes. I dug down about a foot and a half, then put in garden soil mixed with a little manure. It really did the job.
I had to wrap the plants in hardware cloth to keep the birds from pecking the ripe tomatoes.

Not bad for living in a mobile home park with very little grounds.

 

[bbqcoder]

This year we are getting a good crop of tomatoes. I dug down about a foot and a half, then put in garden soil mixed with a little manure. It really did the job.
I had to wrap the plants in hardware cloth to keep the birds from pecking the ripe tomatoes.

Not bad for living in a mobile home park with very little grounds.

That's great! If you want more space, perhaps there is a community garden area in your town where you can get your own plot?

 

[pepperhead212]

This year we are getting a good crop of tomatoes. I dug down about a foot and a half, then put in garden soil mixed with a little manure. It really did the job.
I had to wrap the plants in hardware cloth to keep the birds from pecking the ripe tomatoes.

Not bad for living in a mobile home park with very little grounds.

That's great! Glad to hear you are getting so much! There used to be a WWII Vet in a mobile home park I delivered to in the 80s, with a prosthetic leg, and he had a garden that made me jealous - never a weed in that thing anywhere! He was always out there. I used to give him extras I had of the seedlings I started, of anything he liked.

Looks great! How do you prepare your bitter melons?

I have tried them a number of ways, but most of what I cook them in are combination dishes. In the ones where they are basically by themselves, or just a small amount of seasonings, you have to really like the vegetable! I usually put them in some curries or sambars, with some other veggies, often some of those eggplants, or some okra. And something they are really good in is Thai curries. If you've ever had pea eggplants in Thai curries, you know what I mean, as the pea eggplants are also known as bitter eggplants, and they add yet another flavor component to the flavors in the Thai curry. The bitter melon also does this - only one smallish one, diced up does the trick. In fact, that one that I have gave me the idea to make a fresh batch of green Thai curry paste today, and tomorrow, I'll add the bitter melon, along with some with some okra and eggplant from the garden, and maybe some green tomatoes I knocked off by accident today (something that goes well in a Thai curry, in small amounts). I'll post the recipe and photos on another thread.

My cousin came over for some tomatoes, and could not believe how many were ripening out there. I also gave her a bunch of basil, and you wouldn't think that I had touched the basil, yet it had to have been about 6 qts of basil in a bag! I also gave her the cuttings that I had in my cloner - something I thought pf just before she left, as I remembered that she said that she couldn't get any good basil up there this year. I knew that I put those cuttings in there for a reason! Besides just hating to toss them, when I was breaking the hydroponics down a while ago, for the summer.

Still no red Thais, but huge numbers of greens out there! These are the full sized Thai Vesuvius, that I picked for the green curry paste:
Thai Vesuvius, picked for Thai green curry paste. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here are the eggplants I picked today (cousin's hubby doesn't like them...more for me!):
Neon and Ichiban, 7-14. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The okra is getting productive now, with the Emerald also starting up. I got 8 today, the most so far; still one of each variety that hasn't started up yet, sort of shaded by all the others!
Okra, 7-14. Starting to produce faster now! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

I picked a bunch more today, including a Beefy Boy that was 18.30 oz, and several of others that were just under 15 oz! I also picked about 90% of those Sprite grapes, as it seemed like they all were ripening at once! I hoped that this might trigger blossoms, as there were no open ones visible. [br][br]We are planning on a tomato taste test tonight. Not all have totally ripe ones, but most of them do. I'll post the results.

I have the last 4 eggplants I harvested in the dehydrator, but I am going to be overloaded soon, as those Indian eggplants are becoming loaded with fruits - 11, that I counted, on the two plants, and those are not a small variety, I found out! I really wish that I knew what the actual variety is, instead of just "Indian". Maybe I'll save some seeds, and take a chance...

 

[GreenEnvy22]

We're getting cucumber and zucchini reliably now. Have picked a few cherry tomatoes. More tomato varieties are starting to get some colour so should be ready soon.

I have lots of jalapeno and thai peppers on plant, as well as shepard. nothing ripe yet.
The super hots have lots of flowers but no visible fruit yet.

I'm envious of the eggplant, mine don't even have fruit at all yet and you're harvesting.

Tomatillo plants getting quite large, many dozens of flowers on them.

Second round of lettuce, radish (watermellon radish), and beets are sprouting.

Hops plants are about 4 feet tall now.

My grapes are heavily loaded too.

I do have some mildew on my zucchini and cucumbers, will be trying to combat that this week.

 

[pepperhead212]

For those of you that grow greens, of which most are long gone by now, with this heat, here are a couple you may be interested in: Senposai, a Komatsuna x cabbage hybrid, and a variety of Komatsuna - Summer Fest. I have 4 of each of these, and not one of them has a sign of bolting yet! And I have had a LOT of 90+ days. And only recently did these senposai start getting some holes in them, and whatever it is doing that has hardly touched the komatsuna! These are cut-and-come-again greens, and I have gotten a lot from them, before I started getting other veggies, and sort of neglected them.
Senposai 7-17. None bolting yet, after incredible heat! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Summer Fest Komatsuna 7-17. None bolting yet, after incredible heat! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

More tomatoes today and those grapes from yesterday.
Another quart of Sunsugar 7-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Sprite grape tomatoes, all from one plant, 7-16 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

7-17 harvest, mostly Black Vernisage. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And those bottle gourds hit a lul, but started producing a bunch of female flowers, but no males! Finally, I found one late today, and opened it, and hand pollinated a bunch of females. I'll see if it works.

The Neon Eggplant is flowering through the intense heat, but the Ichiban stopped, which is normal. But the new Indian variety is still going strong, with a couple almost ready to cut.

The okras are producing regularly now, and neither variety is one that has to be harvested twice a day - only once suffices. Even a couple that looked overgrown some, weren't fibrous.

And here's that first ripe pepper I picked (except the superchilis, which are always the first), a Longhorn, about 8 1/2" long. And no pepper maggot fly eggs - I only planted one uncovered, since this type (looks like a cayenne variety) usually is prone to them here.
First ripe pepper (besides Superchili - always first) - Longhorn 7-16 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Except for this heat, I love the summer, due to all these veggies!

 

[larry_stewart]

My refrigerator during cucumber season
( Some pickled beets and sauerkraut in there too)

 

[bbqcoder]

Looks good!

I don't have any pictures to show. It's a bit of a hassle since I use the .heic setting instead of .jpg on the iPhone. So I have to wait for pictures to get uploaded to OneDrive, then download it, convert to jpg and post. I wish more sites support .heic image format.

I did harvest a *lot* of Kale. Also two small red hot peppers.

 

[pepperhead212]

My refrigerator during cucumber season
( Some pickled beets and sauerkraut in there too)

I assume that you have a fridge dedicated to pickles? I can't imagine having that many in my fridge!

I just put two more shelves in my dehydrator today (when I also took out the last two of EP, totally dried up). This time it was those sunsugars that I had a huge number of, that I had to do something with quickly! So I halved most of them, and packed two shelves.
Sunsugars, before drying. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

These things come out almost like raisins, they have so much sugar in them! Delicious snacks!

 

[larry_stewart]

I assume that you have a fridge dedicated to pickles? I can't imagine having that many in my fridge!

Nah, I just get yelled at, by my wife, that there is no room in the fridge for a few months,

(That didn't include the gallon jar that is pickling on the counter)

 

[pepperhead212]

I really shouldn't have been out in that heat today (106º heat index), but it's getting even hotter tomorrow, so I wanted to harvest anything that had to get picked, as tomorrow, I'll be spraying with Serenade (the wetness has been terrible this season). I also trimmed all of the bad growth off of the tomatoes (filled a trash can full!), to prepare for this. Despite this, the harvest has been incredible! These are off of just 1 1/2 plants (I call it that because one was a seed added after one plant was ripped out by some varmint, and it really isn't that large), of one of my unknown plants - supposed to be a green tiger, but it's obviously not!
Supposed to be green tigers, but I got the wrong seeds. 7-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

These are the larger ones, including an 18.30 oz and 17.15 oz Big Beef.
One Amish Gold Slicer on left, 9 Big Beefs, and some Goliath and Beefy Boys 7-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The eggplants are still doing well, though the Ichiban stopped blooming, which it (and most varieties I have grown) always does in the heat. The "Indian", whatever that really is, is still blooming, and there are at least 6 small EPs forming on those 2 plants - about the same as Neon.
1 Ichiban, 2 Neon, and 3 Indian, 7-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I saw some peppers turning red under the covers, but it was too hot to fool with those! Soon, that's what I will be inundated with.

 

[larry_stewart]

I think one of my ' early girl's ' is finally just about ready to be harvest. Looking at the plants, they dont seem as loaded as past years. Not sure if its the heat or something else. I guess Ill see in time