Ponder Summer Harvest

The production of the garden has been excellent. With summer activities, family visiting, birthdays, holidays and just plain enjoying the summer. I’ll try and give a run down of how things went the last six weeks.

The green beans did good until it got hot and then they kind of withered. I learned I can plant them again in our area in July. I planted some on Monday. Not July but I’ll pretend the seeds don’t know.

The broccoli also did good until it was too hot. It was very tasty. I left the ones in front for some green foliage and although they look a little weedy, I liked the yellow flowers. Next year I’m going to try planting it sooner and more of it. It just didn’t seem like when it came on that there was enough.

The potatoes were green and pretty at the beginning of the gardening season. They looked like I knew what I was doing. I didn’t. They started to wilt and I learned that after wilting is when you pick them. I kept watering hoping that whatever was under there kept growing. Well, they didn’t grow much more and I have a few potatoes for each plant. I had planted them in the richest, softest dirt that was soft at least 18 inches and potatoes only grew in the first 5 inches of soil. There were also some small ones, about the size of a small bouncy ball. They are really bitter to eat. The larger ones are fine. I don’t know if it is the variety, how I grew them, watering, or what but they did not meet my expectations. So, next year I’ll try again and hope for a better harvest.

The beets have been a delight. I love the color and flavor. They taste like sugar and the kids like them too. We’ve had them cooked and pickled and more than once I’ve had to stop myself before turning purple from the inside out. I’ve pickled them with vinegar in a pot in the fridge and they taste fine. Just cook the beets, slice them and put them in a pot with ½ vinegar ½ water and sugar to taste. I made them twice the first time I followed a recipe, the second time I didn’t and put in maybe a quarter of the sugar and they are nice and sour. Yum yum, my mouth is watering now thinking of them in the fridge.

The squash went into heavy production and the neighbors and friends benefited. My wife got sick of cooking it. One day I grated and froze 16 freezer bags full. It was a lot of work and now what is left of the squash is starting to wilt on the counter because of no child free, non sleeping time to get it grated and frozen. To keep from feeling that it is an utter waste, I tell myself they’ll do good for the compost.

The squash leaves started with mildew and I pulled the plants attempting to stop the spread. Well, it spread anyway and now there are no more fresh zucchini, squash, pati pan, or eight ball squash to add to the problem pile on the counter. I planted a mound of pati pan on Monday though and we’ll see how they fare in the cooler months. I don’t expect much but thought it would be a good use for the rest of the two year old seeds.

The Romaine lettuce was an absolute hit. It was gone too fast. I’ve learned about successive planting now. I planted some that should be ready in a few weeks and I planted more on Monday. I planted them near the sidewalk and I hope that as we go into the cooler months the heat from the sidewalk will keep them warm and happy.

Tomatoes have been my late-arriving friend. I worried about them when it seemed like every friend, neighbor and my mother in law had a hundred tomatoes on the vine and I had green marbles. I started watering hoping that wasn’t the problem, fertilized and then the leaves curled. Some research tipped me to the thought that maybe they had too much water so I cut back and they sprang back. A few weeks later and we’re in full tomato season and one evening this week my wife and I boiled, pealed seeded and froze six freezer bags full. As my wife squeezed the tomatoes she caught the juice and seeds in a Tupperware jug. V-8 has nothing on my fresh tomato juice and it didn’t last long enough.

Tomato lessons learned: Tomatoes will be planted way earlier next year in front of the brick wall under the front window for warmth and early starting. Additional tomatoes will be planted later when it is naturally warm out in the yard and I’ll watch out for over-watering.

Carrots have been great and the kids love going and a king sized carrot, washing it and eating three bites. The rest gets saved and grated into pasta and today I had the wild idea just now (still thinking of those beets in the fridge) to slice some up and add them to my beet vinegar brine. My mother in law has picked carrots before and so I say, "Me Too, Me Too" and head to the garden with the kids to pick and slice carrots.