Today's harvest

[blissful]

This is a big garlic garden from 2012.

 

[larry_stewart]

That was one heck of a garlic garden Bliss!!

 

[pepperhead212]

Back to picking! The last two days I didn't pick anything (except okra, which I always do early), so I got a bunch more of several types. That Oaxacan Jewel still had 12 more on it with blushes, and countless small green ones.
All Oaxacan Jewels, from the same plant again. 7-30 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Several Amish Gold Slicers, a few others, plus some larger cherry tomatoes. 7-30 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

7 eggplants, plus the smaller cherry and grape tomatoes. 7-30 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And more of the cukes, beans, and bitter melons. A few peppers from the uncovered jalapeños and Hanoi Market, though the HM was just knocked off - none ripe yet. This is average, starting a week or two into August.
An Armenian Cucumber, several other cukes, the last few bitter melons, some beans, and long Valor beans. 7-30 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

I picked some ripe Thai and Superchili peppers, plus some more Jalapeño M peppers. Still no ripe Violet Kantharis, but they are loaded! And I tasted one - had a good flavor, with no bitterness, like some small unripe peppers are like, and it was maybe 30-40k heat units.

Thai peppers starting to ripen, 8-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ripe peppers from 2 Superchili plants, 8-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

More Jalapeno m peppers, 8-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

More Amish Gold Slicers and Oaxacan Jewels, plus a few cherry tomatoes today. I got 2 more trays of tomatoes in the dehydrator today, plus a tray of eggplant cubes, plus some blanched bitter melon slices - something new for me, but I found some references translated from some Indian language. No peppers dried yet, but there soon will be a lot of them.
Amish Gold Slicers, 8-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

All of these ripe Superchilis are from one plant! The ones from a couple of days ago were both from two plants.
All the ripened chles from just one Superchili plant. 8-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Two plants worth of Aruna peppers starting to ripen, with many more to come.
Ripening Aruna peppers, 8-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[bethzaring]

Calabacitas, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, bell peppers, strawberries.

 

[pepperhead212]

Nice harvest, bethzaring!

I have 9 butternut squash out there now, with another bunch of flowers starting up, which is normal for this variety - Polaris. It gets a second crop, for the fall; the smaller variety - Honeybush - had early, smaller fruits, too, but the plants just died off last year. These others have a larger, late crop.

Also, they last a long time! Today I cut up my last 4 butternuts from last year! One little spot starting to go bad on one of them, so I cut all of them up, getting 75.5 oz of cubes, I'm putting in the dehydrator, and over a cup of seeds.
One of 4 butternuts from last season! 8-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

75.5 oz of trimmed butternuts, ready for dehydration. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About a cup of seeds, plus all the trimmings from the butternuts. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

4 trays of peppers in the dehydrator, joined by 3 trays of butternuts. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[taxlady]

Do you eat the Dave? If so, do you have an easy way to get the seeds out of their skins/shells/coatings?

 

[pepperhead212]

TL, I eat all those smaller peppers - even when fresh, it's too much trouble to remove the seeds and veins. If I need milder peppers, I use larger ones, but even then I usually leave the seeds in!

Many of those dried peppers are left whole, depending on the dish, and don't add a lot of heat, unless actually eaten. And those Superchilis aren't as hot as the Thai and Indian peppers, but have much of the same flavor.


I had skipped yesterday, in the tomatoes, and today I picked over 4 quarts of just cherry tomatoes, at least half of those the Bumblebee Sunrise. Even with this intense heat, those weren't bothered, and the Green Grapes and Sunsugars weren't too bothered either. The Oaxacan Jewels kept blooming, too, and the Amish Gold Slicers were only slightly slowed down. Tropical Sunset was definitely affected by the heat, as well as the Brandyboy F2, though that one came back quickly, with a number of blooms, before we had our latest heatwave, and there are new, green tomatoes on it now. Here are those cherries I harvested today:
About 4 quarts of cherry tomatoes, mostly Sunrise, 8-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

There were large tomatoes ready for picking, which I might do after dinner.

 

[taxlady]

Dave, I meant the butternut squash seeds. Do you eat those?

 

[larry_stewart]

Came home for a few days before heading out again. Kinda over picked my tomatoes so the birds wouldn't get them, but came home to a bunch of fully off the vine ripened tomatoes ( I actually set up a ring cam so I could monitor their ripening, but what I witnessed was my cat jumping up trying to catch a fly on the window. Luckily he didnt squash my tomatoes ). Thats a 9 quart pot

My Shiitake log also decided to fruit hail I was gone. Got an unexpected quart of fresh shiitakes. I was a surprised cause they usually produce in cold, damp, after rainy days. These are 2 years old logs, so I wasnt expecting much, especially during aa heat wave where it hasn't rained in 2 weeks.

Cukes also. The cukes are my version of people with zucchinis. I cant use them up fast enough, Ive already given dozens and dozens away, pickled significantly more pickles that I can use in a year...

 

[pepperhead212]

Dave, I meant the butternut squash seeds. Do you eat those?

I thought you meant the peppers! LOL
I missed some of the seeds, and they sort of stick to the veins, while the ones in that bowl sort of drop off easily, and what I do with those is spread them out on a sheet, to dry, then rub them between my hands, and most of what's left flakes off. I use them by toasting, in a skillet, and when they start popping, cool on a plate, and use them in a dish that uses pumpkin seeds, and grind them up very fine. No reason to worry about the shells then.

 

[pepperhead212]

Here was what I got later - some tomatoes, Behold eggplants, the first Thai red long beans (bunch more started) and some blauhilde, and some sambar cucumbers. I didn't stay out there long!
Cukes, eggplant, tomatoes, and a few beans. 8-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

Those Arunas and Santakas are ripening big time now! Both of those are determinate types, which ripen a large number pretty much all the same, and ripen pretty much the same time, and, with most I have had like that, once I pick a generous amount of the ripe ones, it triggers them to another flowering, for a later crop. Still more than half the arunas left, but this should do it. I'll pick many of those Santakas later this week, early in the day, when the shade is there.
Aruna peppers ripening, 8-9. Should flower quickly, after all these are picked. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Santaka Thai peppers, ripening quickly, 8-9 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here's the start of this year's dried peppers. Those green ones are last year's frozen ones I still had in there, since I don't need them anymore! Also had about a dozen red Thai peppers - I estimated pretty well how many to freeze.
Dried ones from a couple days ago, and a few jalapenos. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[bethzaring]

First picking of green beans. Worked up to a gallon of snapped beans. Really wanted to can them but decided to eat fresh beans for a week!

 

[pepperhead212]

A few more tomatoes today, slowing down some, due to that heat, but I see a lot of new green growth on many of the plants. And I'm sure the blossoms will start up, on those that were slowed by the heat.
Misc. tomatoes, 8-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

More of the Amish Gold Slicers, 8-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also picked what maybe the last Armenian cucumber on the plant - only 6 all season. And only 2 of the 3 Asian Pickling Melons - don't know if it will grow or flower anymore.
Probably the last Armenian Cucumber, and the only 2 Asian Pickling Melon, so far. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I have been getting a lot of Mexican Sunflowers on the two plants out front, by my okra. The monarch butterflies like that, but I never see them on all those Zinnias. The ones on the right seem less prone to whatever causes the browning on the leaves, so I'm saving seeds from those, which should be easy.
One of the monarchs that like those Mexican Sunflowers out there. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The only peppers I picked today were a few more Arunas - 12 more yesterday and today ripening, but still no new blossoms. The Kanthari, both greens and violet, are starting to ripen. And those Superchilis, that I picked all those ripe peppers from about a week ago already have full sized green peppers, grown from little buds that were waiting for those peppers to be picked!
Green Kanthari, ripening on 8-12. Was supposed to be White, but went from green to red. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

One of the Violet Kanthari, turning ripe on 8-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
One of those Superchili plants, that I harvested all those ripe fruits from, that the new peppers are full sized on already! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

And guess what - here's more peppers! These are the ones that I use the most - dried in a lot of cuisines, and fresh, both red and green, in some cuisines. The Thai santaka grow in clusters, so are more decorative, but the Vesuvius are easier to pick, and they come right off - the santaka I have to cut off, or parts of the stems can come off. Both produce a lot, as there are still a lot of greens left, and I see a lot of buds, waiting for this picking to start flowering again.
Thai peppers, ready to harvest, 8-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Close to 2 qts of Thai peppers, harvested on 8-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

Not exactly sure what this is.

What is this that I grew/ harvested ?

This year I cleared out some land on the side of my house to make room for free growing plants (Squash). My raised beds dont really allow for things that kinda take over, so I needed an alternative.

I carefully plotted out what I was growing where. Kept track on paper. But do to the size and spread of these vines, things soon got out of hand. the things I planted in this area were:


1) Small pumpkins
2) Loofah
3) Turbin Squash
4)Delicata Squash
5) Butternut Squash
6) Spaghetti Squash

Most seeds were hand collected and saved by myself after buying, growing aand or eating one.

The only seeds that were store bought were the Delicata aand loofah, and they were bought through reputable companies.

At first I thought it was a spaghetti squash as it was similar in shape, but then it developed a pattern on its surface , and it has aa more long/ narrow shape than a spaghetti squash.

It definiely isn't a pumpkin, butternut , turbin or loofah.

Delicata's are smaller, and have like a ridged/ scalloped outer surface.

The vine died , so I couldn't really trace it back to its recorded spot.

It did have a little brother which was a smaller version of itself, but didnt develope.

Im sure I used some home made compost when planting, but I have never bought/ ate anything like that to have wound up in the compost ?

Do you think its just a genetically modified squash plant due to mixed pollination?
Do you think a seed got mixed up when they were put in the seed packets I purchased ?

Its about 1 foot long by about 5-6 inch diameter
Started off green, then developed darker green streaks/ pattern, smooth surface, and seems to be ripening to yellow.

Just curious if you guys came across a squash like this .

***I also tried to grow watermelon and cantaloup in the same area, but those vines never made it, so Im ruling them out (as they dont look like either one anyway)..

***Apple to give size reference ***

 

[blissful]

What is this that I grew/ harvested ?

This year I cleared out some land on the side of my house to make room for free growing plants (Squash). My raised beds dont really allow for things that kinda take over, so I needed an alternative.

I carefully plotted out what I was growing where. Kept track on paper. But do to the size and spread of these vines, things soon got out of hand. the things I planted in this area were:


1) Small pumpkins
2) Loofah
3) Turbin Squash
4)Delicata Squash
5) Butternut Squash
6) Spaghetti Squash

Most seeds were hand collected and saved by myself after buying, growing aand or eating one.

The only seeds that were store bought were the Delicata aand loofah, and they were bought through reputable companies.

At first I thought it was a spaghetti squash as it was similar in shape, but then it developed a pattern on its surface , and it has aa more long/ narrow shape than a spaghetti squash.

It definiely isn't a pumpkin, butternut , turbin or loofah.

Delicata's are smaller, and have like a ridged/ scalloped outer surface.

The vine died , so I couldn't really trace it back to its recorded spot.

It did have a little brother which was a smaller version of itself, but didnt develope.

Im sure I used some home made compost when planting, but I have never bought/ ate anything like that to have wound up in the compost ?

Do you think its just a genetically modified squash plant due to mixed pollination?
Do you think a seed got mixed up when they were put in the seed packets I purchased ?

Its about 1 foot long by about 5-6 inch diameter
Started off green, then developed darker green streaks/ pattern, smooth surface, and seems to be ripening to yellow.

Just curious if you guys came across a squash like this .

***I also tried to grow watermelon and cantaloup in the same area, but those vines never made it, so Im ruling them out (as they dont look like either one anyway)..

***Apple to give size reference ***

To me that looks like the shape of a spaghetti squash but you won't know until you cut it and steam it. I WANT to know! lol I'm guessing spaghetti squash.



If they cross pollinated, it happened before the seeds you planted were formed, so not this year, it happened last year.
It could be mislabeled seed packets too.


Mr bliss says it's probably spaghetti.

 

[pepperhead212]

More often than not, those squash we get in stores are grown from hybrid seeds, so you never know what you will get, saving seeds. Sometimes they will be ok, but sometimes they won't even produce! Happens even more often with tomato F2 plants. A friend of mine once had a "volunteer" tomato plant that grew huge, by his front porch (where he didn't even grow them!), and it got countless blossoms, but not a single tomato!