It was a pretty good weekend at the farm for harvesting.
We got a lot more jalapeños, four eggplants, okra, and a few more tomatoes (harvested a couple of green ones to try some fried green tomatoes later this week).
More cucumbers of varying sizes (as usual) though the harvest seems to be slowing down. Not sure how long the vines will keep producing but we've been enjoying them so far this season.
Here are zucchini (a few of the ones harvested). One, perhaps two, got VERY large. I showed 2nd Man and he goes "what the heck! Is there a nuclear power plant nearby?", ha!
We have read that large zucchini are still OK to use, in fact they are good for shredding to use in baking. Will have to read up on that before it goes bad.
As for the misses this weekend...Here is one of the garlic plants. They are all about the same size. I would chalk this up to a failure. I'm not sure what the deal was. Maybe not enough water? I did read that you could water them until they sprouted and then not worry about them until Spring. Maybe we just didn't have enough rainy days during the Winter? I don't know but we'll try again this Fall (when you plant them) for next Spring.
And in other hit and miss news, here is the apple tree. BOTH of them look like this. Dead. We had a Golden Dorsett and an Ein Shemer, both varieties best suited for our region. The rest of the fruit trees are doing great. Same soil (all raised beds of course) same watering, same conditions. It's possible these two trees didn't make it from the Winter. When I planted them, I thought they were still dormant just like the other trees but the others all leafed out and these two did not.
We're determined to have some apples, because they DO grow here, so I will remove these soon, change out the soil and try again. Trees are on sale now at most nurseries and I think we will try the Dorsett again but switch to Anna, another variety that is good for our region.
You win some and you lose some but if at first you don't succeed, try, try again, right?
If the apple tree had those dead leaves on it through the winter, then it was dead last year. Those garlic are good for nothing, no eating value? You can chop the stems and saute for garlic flavor. Did you remove the scapes? I hear that if you leave the scapes on, the garlic does not do well. Okay, that is all I know about garlic except I love garlic.
ReplyDeleteI would have sworn there were some green leaves but I can't remember. As for this variety of garlic, I don't think they produce regular scales. I'l have to double-check. I only pulled this one, but we might pull another and see what they taste like cut up.
DeleteWe DO love garlic!!!
If you still have the scapes on the garlic, you can pickle them. Yum! In fact I am actively looking for someone selling them just so I can pickle them.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if our variety has the scapes, I'm going to check that out. Thanks! And that sounds delicious!!
DeleteWith the large zucchini, be Brit. It is a marrow there. Slice it down the middle, remove the insides, stuff it with ground beef, some rice and tomato, and seasonings. Then tie the two halves back together with string and bake the whole in the oven until done. Look on the web for a "stuffed marrow" recipe.
ReplyDeleteDelicious
WOW THAT sounds delicious!!! I will look that up. Thanks much, we love something different like that.
DeleteBig zukes are indeed great for baking. Just peel, shred and freeze. I usually put two cups in each freezer bag since that is what most zucchini bread calls for in a two loaf recipe. Sorry about the apple trees. We always blame the rabbits. Every farm needs a scapegoat, I mean rabbit.
ReplyDeleteGoing to do that this week. Do we drain them? We have a food processor with the shredding attachment. I was just wondering if it would be too moist after thawing? Great idea for the 2 cup increments. Thanks!
DeleteScapebunnies I like that. :-)
What a nice bounty of goodies once again.
ReplyDeleteWhen to harvest garlic: http://www.almanac.com/plant/garlic.
As far as your apple trees go; Do you still have the receipt when you bought them? If so, normally they are guaranteed for a year so take your receipt along with your dead tree and return to where you bought them. If at a local nursery, call and see what their guarantee is for fruit trees. You just might be able to replace your dead ones for new ones or pay very little extra.
Oooh, I forgot about the receipt thing. Yep, they probably would have taken back. Although in retrospect, we got them on a deep clearance "after Summer", they were like 75% off so maybe they wouldn't take those back. But the flip side is we weren't out that much. I will start a file folder though with the receipts. Thanks for the reminder. And thanks for the link. I'm thinking maybe we didn't water enough.
DeleteA veritable smorgasbord. You done good. Try try try again. Thirty years from now you'll still be trying. I hesitate to say this, don't know if I should. Oh God, the fingers are still typing - but, I've never heard of planting fruit trees in raised beds. Just sayin'. Wait till fall to plant them again.
ReplyDeleteHa, no worries. We did plenty of research and in areas with bad soil, raised beds work great. Remember, these don't have bottoms. The ground underneath was tilled and then worked in with bagged garden soil and compost and then filled up. The trees are supposed to eventually have their roots find their way down into the ground. Theoretically, at some future point we can even remove the sides and just let them be mounds in the yard. We'll see. This is all new for us. We could have planted in the ground directly with holes but we tried that a few years ago with some and they sort of just filled up and then stopped growing. And after a few heavy rains, they drowned. So we're trying this. Hey, it's all about learning as we go and we'll see how this works. I do have to say so far so good. The apple trees I think were never really recovered from Wintering. Plus they were kind of scraggly when we bought them.
DeleteCross your fingers for us too, ha!!!
I'm thinking you pulled the garlic too soon. Did they have scapes? Did you trim those off and use them? Your garlic looks more like large scallions.
ReplyDeleteThey do look like scallions. We bought them as garlic, a variety suited for our area. I only pulled a couple, we're going to leave the rest and see what happens. More watering too. We'll see. Learning as we go, ha. Thank you!!!
DeleteEverything looks great, well except the dead apple tree. I know how frustrating that is since I have lost quite a few trees myself.
ReplyDeleteYep, but two out of eight isn't so bad. And like I said I think it was a problem before they ever even went in the raised bed so we'll see. One was replaced this weekend. Fingers and toes crossed!
Deletelook at those zucchini! my plants are only putting out male blossoms so i might not get any this year.
ReplyDeleteI need to read up on that. We didn't get as many as I though we might (I heard stories about so many zucchini you can't give them away, ha). We did get some but not many and the plant appears to be fading. We'll see.
DeleteI think that happens to garlic when it hasnt divided. garlic needs cold to split. my frind puts hers in the fridge to make sure... wonder if this is it?
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks for this. You know, we had a very mild winter. There was a freeze but that was it. Just a few days and the rest of Winter was much warmer than normal. I might need to put them in the fridge next time. Try try again!! Thank you so much for this tip. Will research that.
DeleteGardening is always a work in progress with more to learn. Your lessons have almost all been very positive though.
ReplyDeleteGreat way to think of it. We've had fewer losses and more wins, so that's a positive. Thank you for this reminder!!!
DeleteI also think you pulled your garlic up too soon. I wait till at least 4-6 bottom leaves are completely dead, or depending on the variety, if they are all lying down on the ground. I break the scapes off as soon as I see the heads. These we fry in butter, they are very delicious. This ensures the plant puts all its energy back into producing the bulb rather than a flower head. Garlic is harvested by the signs it gives when it is ready. With luck you have left the others in the ground as they may just continue to grow, hopefully.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this. We did leave all the others in the ground, I only pulled up three or four to see. We don't have anything to lose at this point so we're hoping it will still "do its thing" ha. Thanks!!!!
DeleteNice basket of goodies from the garden! Mmm, fried green tomatoes - thanks for reminding me of something else to do with my tomatoes. What are you going to make with all those jalapenos?
ReplyDeleteSorry about the apple trees. They probably froze on your porch during that bad freeze we got. I lost several trees also and they were even in the ground, not in pots.
When I had a zucchini that hid from me until it got huge, I pickled it with a bread and butter solution.
Do you know we left the green ones in the window ledge and they turned beautifully red. Never got to the fried green ones, ha. We've been chopping them into a dice and freezing, I did make some poppers a week or so ago. We still have the jelly from last year so I'm not sure if I'll make more of that or try something else. These trees are "supposed" to be very hardy but who knows. All the others survived and look great but something happened. It's not the raised beds because the other six trees are growing and getting bigger, a few even budded out (and I pulled the buds).
DeleteBread and butter zucchini sounds wonderful!!!
When I had an abundance of zucchini, I shredded it, then froze it in 2-cup portions (what my zucchini bread recipe called for). Then I found that the frozen stuff works really well in home-made soups! I plunk it in frozen, and it kind of disappears in to the broth.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this. Do you drain it? I've seen both methods. Some found the frozen fresh ones to be mushy in their baked goods. But I don't know. We've never done it before, ha. Thanks for the idea of soups too (and I bet it would be wonderful in a pasta sauce too).
DeleteI stuff my zucchini boats with Italian sausage mixed with some chopped Jalapeno and fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Throw some fresh basil in there. Top with diced tomato and onion. I think you have all the necessary ingredients there for some awesome baked zucchini boats.
ReplyDeleteOH MY! Sounds wonderful!!! You're right, we have the ingredients on hand. Heck, I think we even have some Italian sausage in the freezer. I guess just stuff and bake in the oven? We'll look up some recipes. Thanks!!!
DeleteI shred my giant zucchini and keep them in the freezer. I like to add a cupful to any spaghetti sauce I make, or any soups and stews.
ReplyDeleteHere in NC, our garlic needs to over-winter in order to bulb. I plant the first of November, and am just now harvesting.
We did overwinter, I planted last November but I'm beginning to think maybe we didn't have a cold enough Winter. I'm guessing they are much like any other "bulb" flower, they need some cold to know when to do their thing ha.
DeleteGreat idea about the soup and sauce. That sounds wonderful. Do you drain yours after shredding? Or par cook?