One Pound of Green Beans!

Today I picked 1 pound of green beans from my 5 plants and they are still flowering. My cucumbers are not producing anymore female flowers, and are starting to look wilty. I think they have given up on life.

We may actually get some tomatoes this year, there are 2 almost ripe Celebrities and some more Roma's that I am hoping to pick tomorrow. The Soldacki's are producing tomatoes, but nothing much happening with them.

I managed to pick another yellow squash and my Eight Ball zucchini has 2 zucchini's growing on it, however, the plant looks awful. Last week, I pulled half of it out and threw it in the garbage.

I have failed my cherry peppers, all of the plants look dead and the fruit that they do set, turns a molty brown. I managed to save some seeds from Carmody Farms red cherry peppers, so hopefully I will have better luck with those.

The Ghostbuster eggplants are producing, but the fruit turns a stripey brown. Right now, we have 5 growing on 2 plants.

Finally, the white zucchini is still growing, even after all of its misfortunes. It is producing all male flowers at this point, but I am hoping in a couple of weeks we might get some females out there.

Square Foot Garden Test

I plan on doing square foot gardening next year. Jason nicely built a test garden for me using some spare wood we found in the garage. I decided to use it to plant my fall garden, just to see how it worked. I planted beets, loose leaf lettuce, swiss chard and carrots.

So far so good. The seedlings all came up nicely, so I put some vermiculite on order with a local nursery. For more information, please see: http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

8/18/08 Harvest

We cam back from visiting my parents in Northern Maine to find all of this ready in the garden:

Lots of stuff for salads this week!

We had allot of spotty mildew and other fun fungus in the garden too, so half of my Eight Ball Zucchini plant got tossed out, and I cut many of the cucumber leaves off all 6 plants. I guess I will see next week if my efforts paid off.

Ghostbuster Eggplant

I decided to pick the Eggplant tonight, it was about an inch shy of the 7" it is supposed to be. I have a recipe for Eggplant and Squash Rataotouille. If it turns out edible, I will post the recipe. We also picked a few tomatoes, we also have a few green ones. It looks like a branch on one of the Cherry Tomato plants snapped in half, I left it - hoping that the tomatoes on that will be able to at least start to turn red. ALWAYS SOMETHING.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these on 8/10/08, the recipe is from AnimalVegetableMiracle.com

ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
(Makes about two dozen)

1 egg, beaten
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
Combine in large bowl.

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
Combine in a separate, small bowl and blend into liquid mixture.

1 cup finely shredded zucchini
12 oz chocolate chips
Stir these into other ingredients, mix well. Drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350°, 10 to 15 minutes.

I froze some to take to Maine with us.

August 10th

I had a very productive day today. I was able to pick a few cucumbers, a squash and a handful of tomatoes as well as a beet complete with beet greens! I quickly sautéed the beet and greens in butter, garlic, salt and pepper and had that as a snack. YUM!

Landscaping

I thought I would share my landscaping victory here. Last month, Larry and I tore out his weed bed, laid down some landscaping cloth and planted some shrubs, topped off with mulch, You can see a before and after above. The left side is his neighbors side of the duplex, and the right side belongs to Larry.

Here is a detail of the shrubs we put in.

And here is out project for later this month.

More seeds

By the looks of my seed collection, we are going to have a pretty good sized garden next year. We picked up some dill seeds, our goal for next year is to make Dilly Beans. Seeds here in New England are either on sale or in this case, buy 1 get 1, so we got more lettuce seeds. It is a mixed variety, so I don't feel too bad about getting it. Now, if I could only figure out how to grow lettuce!

I even managed to pick 2 cucumbers and a handful of green beans. We have several more cucumbers growing and all of the green beans have flowers on them.

Fall Garden

Today I was able to plant my fall garden! Jason built a 2 square foot garden last weekend which gave me 4 squares to work with. In square 1 I planted 4 head of Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce (transplants), in square 2 I planted 9 Detroit Dark Red Beets, in square 3 I planted 4 Bright Lights Swiss Chard and in square 4 I planted 16 Scarlet Nantes Carrots. The carrots are for Larry, so hopefully they grow!

I was able to pick 1 stunted cucumber, a few Cherry Tomatoes, and 1 yellow squash this morning. I think we should have 3 to 4 more cucumbers to pick for tomorrow and POSSIBLY a Roma Tomato.

We also had a series of unfortunate events in the garden today. I went outside late in the afternoon to let the girls out and found that my Brandywine Tomato fell over and attacked one of my yellow squash. After fixing that up, I decided to transplant the White Zucchini that I have had on life support for quite sometime. When I lifted it out of its pot, the roots completely came apart... OMG. So, I straighted and repacked the yellow squash as well as the zucchini, and am hoping for the best!

More cucumbers

Last night I was able to pick 2 yellow squash and all of this (pictured above), this morning. The yellow squash went to our neighbor, I think I will have 2 more ready for the weekend. The tomatoes went into this mornings salads and the green beans went into lunch for a snack. It looks like I will have at least 3 more cucumbers to pick for Sunday.

Celebrity News

Luckily, this tomato ripened when it did - as we needed it for our salads! This is a tomato from our Celebrity tomato, it was small but tasty! I don't see any other tomatoes turning red yet, so maybe by the middle of the month.

August 4th, 2008

I picked another zucchini today, there is 1 more growing on the plant. I think I am lucky that it is only growing 1 at a time. I am planning on making cookies this weekend with this zucchini, if they come out edible, I will post the recipe!

Garden Update

I was able to pick a few veggies today. More cucumbers, I think this will make 7 of them in my fridge for this week. More green beans, I am assuming that these won't last long. And then I went ahead and picked 3 of our Cherry Hot Peppers, we'll see how they taste.

I was able to water/fertilize/pollinate and mulch this morning. I had allot of help today with the pollination, I think we have about 6 bees. Only 1 on the deck, he seems to have claimed the eggplant as his own and will occasionally get into the tomatoes. The rest of them crawl into the squash blossoms and stay there.

We have 4 Ghostbuster Eggplants growing, the Soldacki Tomatoes FINALLY stopped dropping blossoms and started growing tomatoes, and 2 of our tomatoes are "blushing". As of right now, we are just waiting for the Brandywine Tomato to start doing something, but she had a real late start.

I also managed to plant some of my Lupin Seedlings near the fence. It will be interesting to see of they make it through the winter. If not, I will plant again in the Spring.

Here are some photos from this morning. (Please click on photos for larger views.) ENJOY!

Kelso checking out the new beans and peas.
She is almost able to hide behind the squash which is amazing as she stands 20" at the shoulder.

Beans and Peas with their very own chicken wire fence to climb on.

Blushing Roma Tomato

Bee buzzing around a Ghostbuster Eggplant blossom.

Soldacki Tomatoes - FINALLY!
Soldacki's are a heirloom variety from Krakow, Poland

More work for tomorrow!

Zucchini Bread

I was able to accomplish a few things in the garden today. I was able to pollinate 1 squash blossom and several cucumbers. We do have quite a few bees in the squash flowers, so I could probably get away with not doing those, but I don't want to take any chances... lol. Like I need anymore squash right now!

I also managed to move my peas and French Horticulture Beans into 1 gallon pots today and they are all sharing a chicken wire fence to climb on. I will post photos tomorrow of them. I was able to pick another zucchini and ANOTHER yellow squash and also found 3 cherry tomatoes. For those of you that do container gardening, all four of my yellow squash plants are in 3 gallon containers and are doing just fine!

Anyway, I had been waiting for the zucchini to get big enough to pick so that I could make this:

(recipe from allrecipes.com)
Zucchini Bread IV
Submitted by: Kristen

INGREDIENTS:
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I used pumpkin pie spice)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F ( 165 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and nuts; stir into the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until done.

Bees!

This morning while I was gardening, I kept hearing: snap snap snap. I looked over and Kelso was trying to catch the bees. OMG, these dogs drive me nuts sometimes! So, I finally have a few bees, mostly in the squash, I have seen some in the cucumbers, and this guy was buzzing in and around the Soldacki tomatoes. FINALLY!

Also, just had to show off a Marigold that I planted from seed:

I have some seeds for Cottage Roses that I plan to plant in the Spring. In the meantime, I thought that I would practice on Marigolds.

Roasted Vegetables with Balsamic Vinegar

This is almost as good as the Grilled Vegetables with Balsamic Vinegar that our friend Megan makes. Surprisingly, it is also good the next day reheated in the microwave. This recipe is also from recipezaar.com (Barb Gertz)

Ingredients

* 8 ounces fresh green beans, ends trimmed
* 1 small onion, cut into thin wedges
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 dash salt
* 1 dash pepper
* 2 medium summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
* 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. In a shallow roasting pan combine beans, onion, and garlic.
2. Drizzle with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Toss mixture until beans are evenly coated.
4. Spread in a single layer.
5. Roast in a 450° oven for 8 minutes.
6. Stir in squash and roast 6 to 8 minutes more or until vegetables are tender and slightly browned.
7. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring the balsamic vinegar to boiling over medium-high heat; reduce heat.
8. Boil gently about 5 minutes or until vinegar is reduced reduced by half (vinegar will thicken slightly).
9. Drizzle the vinegar over roasted vegetables; toss until veggies are evenly coated.

Harvest

After checking on everyone this morning, I discovered that I had picking to do.... again!

I have another zucchini almost ready, so this weekends project is ZUCCHINI BREAD! Yum!!

Garden Update

Celebrity Tomatoes
I am hoping that I won't lose these to blight and/or blossom end rot.

Market More Cucumber
(Heirloom)
These have been really good producers and I like the taste for salads.

Eight Ball Zucchini
I plan on picking this soon (4" in diameter). There are 2 more growing, my goal is to make some zucchini bread.

Our "bald" cherry tomato plant.

Ghostbuster Eggplant
This will be picked when it reaches 7" in length.

Stuffed Eight Ball Zucchini

I picked up this plant while my parents were down here last month. It is an Eight Ball Zucchini (1999 AAS Winner), which from what I understand is perfect for stuffing. I stuffed this one with rice and mozzarella. After this photo was taken, I covered it with some hot spaghetti sauce. Yummmmm!!!

The only problem with this zucchini, is I waited too long to pick it. It should be picked when it is 2-3" in diameter. This one was twice that size. Oops!

Stuffed Yellow Squash

I found something to do with my yellow squash. You can also substitute zucchini or eggplant.
From recipezaar.com (2Bleu)

Filling:

4 ounces cream cheese; softened
1/4 cup milk
4 ounces Italian sausage, cooked, drained and crumbled
2 tablespoons onions, chopped fine
2 tablespoons bell peppers, chopped fine
2 tablespoons carrots, chopped fine
2 mushrooms, chopped (optional)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons soft bread cubes (or crumbs)

Other Ingredients Needed

2 yellow squash
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cream cheese and milk in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high 1 minute or until cream cheese is melted and mixture is blended.

2. Add remaining filling ingredients. Toss to coat and set aside. Take some aluminum foil, and crimple to make a log about 1" high. Use this to support the 'neck' of the yellow squash so they will lay in a horizontal position in your baking dish. Set aside.

3. Cut Squash (or zucchinin) in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop out seeds to create a boat. Divide filling equally amongst the boats.

4. Place boats in a shallow baking dish. Spread 2 Tbsp spaghetti sauce over each boat. Top with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

Blight

Apparently, the garden gods do not think that dealing with slugs is enough for the first time gardener. Now I have blight to deal with. After work, I drove down to Agway to pick up some Copper based fungicide. I cut off all of the affected leaves, which left Jason's cherry tomatoes bald, and sprayed away. I am planning on reapplying this weekend sometime.

In the meantime, I plan on not watering with the hose and I am going to add some baking soda to my water.

What's next, locusts?

Yellow Squash

Today I picked 3 more yellow squash. I am not sure what variety these are. I picked up these plants as a souvenir from my trip to Bar Harbor. I think that I am supposed to pick them when they are smaller, like 4-5" in length. I did grill one, and it sure was tasty!

Harvest

After picking about a dozen slugs this morning and pollinating the cucumbers and 1 more squash - I was able to harvest some veggies!

We got 1 eight ball zucchini, 2 yellow squash,4 cucmbers, 2 cherry tomatoes and 1 roma and a small handful of green beans!

I hate slugs!!!

I was innocently picking green beans this morning when I found this horrible looking creature:

As it turned out, he was picking green beans too. Bastard. As I was going through the other plants, I found out he had friends... and they found out, I had salt. The war is on.

After my anxiety attack over Slug Wars 2008, I discovered that I am growning 7 very nice looking yellow squash (souvenirs from Bar Harbor). Yeah for me!

Uh-oh. Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays. ...

Monday was a depressing day in the garden. My tomatoes and peppers have blossom end rot and my white zucchini had this on 3 of its leaves (which I picked and discarded after this photo):

Harvest

Today, after mulching, feeding and watering... we managed to get a small harvest! These are the first cucumbers and Roma tomatoes. Jay also had a few more cherry tomatoes.

I packed away my first set of Carmody cherry tomatoe seeds today and have more seeds fermenting. It will be interesting to see if I can get them to grow in the Spring. I also managed to pollinate 2 more squash and saved 1 male flower for tomorrow. Tonight, I am hoping to spray for bugs and then call it a day!

Week of July 18th

This week I sowed some Oregon Sugar Pod II Peas and French Horticulture Beans outside in peat pots. I sowed some Black Seeded Simpson in a Jiffy Pellet Greenhouse & that is in the garage, and have Romaine Lettuce seedlings outside still in their peat pellets.

We are planning a mini harvest tomorrow of one cucumber, one Roma tomato and a few Cherry tomatoes. After we are done picking, I have to pollinate, mulch, feed and water. Then I have to go to work! Oh joy!

Here are some photos from around the garden (Photos are on photobucket.com, so please allow time for them to load!):

Eight Ball Zucchini Squash


Ghostbuster Eggplant


Cherry Tomatoes


Kelso in the Cucumbers


Tomatoes taking over the deck!


Roma Tomato


Yellow Squash from Bar Harbor, Maine.
Pollinating is not going so great with these, so I am not sure if I am going to get any squash from these plants or not.


Marketmore Cucumber


I have been seeing allot of interesting bugs in the yard since the vegetables have moved in.