Today's harvest

[larry_stewart]

Keep me posted if it works out. So far, the plant I have look healthy. My Larger cukes seem to be producing well, and after the rain we'll be getting the next few days then the heat , im guessing they'll take off.

 

[GotGarlic]

Are there any squash vine tips that are inedible that you know of ? I remember a few year back being n NYC at a farmers market , and seeing/ purchasing Cucuzza Squash vine tips. That was the first time I'd seen them.

Larry, I have never heard of a poisonous squash vine tip. And those bitter melon tips and tendrils tasted fine, when chopped up and sautéed some, like squash blossoms, and no bitterness at all.

Larry, I've never heard of squash vines being poisonous. Were you maybe associating them with tomato vines? Tomato plants have a lot of solanine, which is toxic to animals, including people (the fruit have some, but much less than other plant parts).

 

[larry_stewart]

Larry, I've never heard of squash vines being poisonous. Were you maybe associating them with tomato vines? Tomato plants have a lot of solanine, which is toxic to animals, including people (the fruit have some, but much less than other plant parts).

I never heard of it either, just that I have a variety of squashes outside, and I dont want to find out the hard way

 

[GotGarlic]

Gotcha! [emoji16]

 

[pepperhead212]

Well, I'm still alive, after eating parts of Lagenaria siceraria, Momordita charantia, and Cucurbita moschata, so those species aren't poisonous!

Today I harvested two of the bottle gourds. I thought the two bitter melons would be ready, but the smaller ones started growing more, and those two look the same! I harvested the first 3 eggplants of the season, the Ichiban (always first, but the seedling was behind the others, since I had to start another batch of seeds) and the F3 Neon. The guy I shared the F2 seeds with last year got almost black fruits, and mine looked like Neons always look - the lavender color. This year, his and mine from those are white, or close to it!
Two Neon F3s, and one Ichiban eggplant, 7-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Bottle gourds - 7-2 - the longer alok, and the shorter Dhol. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here's a scallion I will use in a Szechwan dish tonight. I let these go to seed, and one will give about 3 c of chopped onions. I have to wear my goggles when chopping, as these are intense!
A scallion, that looks like a leek! Will be the equivalent of the 12 that the recipe calls for. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

Although better than the first bed, still disappointing.
its been raining a lot the past few days, so I dug up the rest of the garlic ahead of time so it wouldn't sit in saturated soil.

Just strange how I never had an issue with garlic for almost 20 years, and now the last 2 years have given me problems. I have about 4 months to figure it out before I plant for next year.

 

[pepperhead212]

Three more bottle gourds, and one more WI 58 cuke. I didn't want to dig around any of the plants, since they were all wet, all day, due to frequent downpours - just enough to wet everything down.
3 more bottle gourds. 7-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

I pulled the first bitter gourds/melons today - I assume this is close to their full size, as the first two stopped growing, while the others caught up.
Bitter gourd/melon, largest about 7 inches. 7-4 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

Red Norland potato plants died back earlier than usual ( bout 2 weeks or so earlier).
Decided to pick ,out of the bed to take advantage of fresh potatoes, and more garden space ( since it is still early enough in the season to grow other stuff.

Potatoes harvested and sized .
The larger ones we will make French fries out of ( some for tonights dinner, and the others to parboil and freeze for future meals).
The medium sized ones for borscht.
The smallest for potato salad.

Still got a Yukon Gold bed and Russet bed along with a lot of overflow pots.

Carrots and celery harvested to fry and make a batch of veggie stock/ Broth Powder. Going to put my dehydrator to work.

 

[larry_stewart]

And this is why I dont grow beets!!!
The purple one in the center ( with the foliage attached ) is a left over radish that I grew and picked a few weeks back ( that was sitting in the back of my produce drawer because I hate radishes and didnt miss it).

Granted, the radish is exceptionally large, but the beets ( all the others ) are no bigger than a typical radish. Not to mention, I planted at least 20 + beets,3 different varieties and this is what I got Good thing bought beets from the store to make borscht this week, if I depended on my own, I'd have gone without dinner.

 

[pepperhead212]

The small tomatoes are starting to ripen faster now, at least a couple of the varieties. Some (actually, most), still haven't had one ripe one! However, I see a couple of my larger ones blushing, and this is early! I got over 2 quarts of tomatoes today - a few 42 day and kustengold, but mostly cherry brownies (the larger ones) and sunsugar. Found the first two ripe chocolate cherry ones, too.
The highest output of the tomatoes, so far, mostly cherry brownies and sunsugars, from 2 plants each. 7-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

And so it begins !!
Enough cukes and kirbies to make 2 quarts of cucumber salad and 2 quarts of pickles.

String beans really kicking in now.
The miniature eggplants
A few red onions that I planted close together more for the greens than the bulb. Harvested them today to substitute for shallots.

***Onions in the background ( far right) are not mine. They are store bought***

 

[dragnlaw]

2 quarts of pickles.

A few red onions that I planted close together more for the greens than the bulb. Harvested them today to substitute for shallots.

Larry, do you water bath your dills? I know I've asked this question somewhere else but ....

2nd... what do you do with your onion greens?

 

[taxlady]

Larry, do you water bath your dills? I know I've asked this question somewhere else but ....

2nd... what do you do with your onion greens?

What does water bathing dill mean?

I use onion greens in salads and like scallions. I have read that one can make pesto with them.

 

[pepperhead212]

I picked the end of my garlic today - 51 metechi, which was fairly large, for that variety. There were a few small ones, which I bundled together, as I do with the small ones of other varieties, but I will still save those, as even the small ones store better than others. Only one got damaged, out of the 52 I had left.
Metechi - 50 on 7-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Later I checked all of my tomatoes, as well as other plants on the trellises, to make sure they are attached well, as the end of Elsa is coming up the coast. Probably won't get much here, but I just wanted to be safe, in case the wind picks up.

 

[GotGarlic]

What does water bathing dill mean?

I use onion greens in salads and like scallions. I have read that one can make pesto with them.

She means water-bath canning, to make them shelf-stable.

 

[taxlady]

She means water-bath canning, to make them shelf-stable.

Oh! Thank you.

 

[dragnlaw]

She means water-bath canning, to make them shelf-stable.

yup,

thank you GG

 

[larry_stewart]

I dont water bath. I add garlic, dill, random spices ( mustard seeds, bay leaf, coriander, hot pepper, celery seed, pepper corns...). not necessarily all of them, ill mix and match. Toss the cukes in and then add a salty brine ( I found 2 - 3 Tbs / Quart of water usually works for me. Then just let them sit on the counter from anywhere from 3 - 7 days. I always put a dish or bowl under the jars, as when the ferment, they often bubble over.

The Onion greens ill use as would scallions. When I buy onion sets, I get way more than I have room to plant for onions, so I designate a pot where I plant the left overs an inch a part. The onions dont swell much, but the greens grow healthy . Ill then use those smaller onion bulbs for stews or grilling on a skewer .

Ive tried canning pickles in the past, but the were too salty, vinegary and mushy. Im sure I could mess around until I get it right, but realistically, I eat pickles as quick as I make them, so long term storage doesn't make sense for me.

The cucumber salad is onions, dill, cucumbers, water, vinegar , salt and sugar. Not too sweet, but sweet enough that you know I added aa little sugar. Toss it in the fridge and ready by the next day.

 

[dragnlaw]

OK, thanks Larry - appreciate the info!