178. Friday's Blog

It's Friday, and you know what that means, right?  It's garden-along reporting time.  So let's hear it.

Me?  I've got boatloads of pea pods on both rows of peas.  The Amish ones look close to being ready to pick, but I wish they were a bit more green -- I sense a yellowish cast to them, or maybe I'm just imagining it.  They don't seem to be the same shade of green that my nana's peas used to be.  Still, as is true with the spinach this year, I've finally gotten peas to grow after years and years of trying with no success, so it's a big step in the right direction. 

I've harvested two of the eight heads of Romaine lettuce in the large square pot and left the remaining six to get bigger.  I had a most excellent salad with it yesterday.  (with arugula, salmon, and dijon-honey vinaigrette)

The summer salad mix and red Romaine and red ruffly lettuce (I can't remember the actual name of it) are all doing well, as is the stir fry mix.

The asparagus seems to have a new lease on life!  I fed it bone meal and watered it, and then we had a nice cool spell while I was gone, I guess.  It's more productive now than it has been all spring! It sure does love that bone meal, I guess.  It took me 15 years to realize that the gardening book was wrong, all wrong, about "just put the asparagus crowns in the ground and forget about them."  Turns out, asparagus loves to eat just like every other plant on the planet. Why are the "experts" always such idiots, and why do I follow their advice even if my intuition tells me they're wrong?   

The summer squash and zucchini (second sowing after the first one succumbed to the beetles) are up and doing well.  I just couldn't feel right about the white fabric over them, so I took it off.  They don't seem to thrive that way -- they don't get enough light, and they look a bit anemic to me.  I'm too natural a girl for that, I guess.  But then, I've resorted to being quite vigilant with sprays of Pyola.  I don't like to use anything at all, even if it's supposed to be organic, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  The beetles are exhibiting signs of clinical depression now, and are confused.  I find them hanging out on things like the lettuce, which is to say their GPS is seriously malfunctioning.  There aren't very many of them left at the moment, and they don't seem to be eating or mating. Yay. If there's one thing I can't STAND, it's the squash-beetle (and Japanese beetle) orgies. Not on my watch, you bastards. 

Now they're leaving my cucumbers and squash alone, mostly.  At least I'm keeping ahead of them, I think.  I'll have to stop with the spraying once the plants flower, though, because it's also toxic to my beloved bees.   And now it's the uphill battle against the moth that will lay the eggs that will become the squash vine borers.  It's always something, I tell ya.

The pears look like they're doing great, and the black raspberries are in the red stage.  Black and ripe will be next.  I can't wait!

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I've got a Swiss chard recipe for you. 

Swiss Chard With An Italian Flair

1 large bunch Swiss chard, coarsely chopped or shredded

1 or 2 T. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

3 or 4 large fresh basil leaves, chopped

Salt & pepper

Gently heat the olive oil 'til hot but not TOO hot.  Add the garlic and stir 'til it's aromatic and starts to get tender. Careful not to burn it! Then add the basil and gently cook. 

Toss in the Swiss chard and cook 'til just tender.  Add salt & pepper to taste.

I served sliced Vermont hydroponic tomatoes on the side, and they were delicious, but I wondered how much more delicious it would be to have turned them, chopped, into the Swiss chard mixture until the tomatoes were just warm.  The flavors side by side were delicious, and I think together they would have been even more so. 

We had this with local grass-fed beef burgers and fresh local mozzarella with more fresh basil and olive oil.  Really gooooooood. 

Pinch me. Am I awake? It's not even July 4th yet, and I'm eating copious amounts of basil and Swiss chard from my garden. 

Harvest Photo of the Day

Swiss chard, Five-Color Silverbeet

Comments

[Kelli]

What a busy garden you have. I wish you luck with the peas; I am sure they will be lovely. The swiss chard looks yummy! ~ksp

[Sarah]

These recipes and wonderful photos make me so hungry. Good luck in the battle against the critters!

[carrie]

Your chard is lovely! I just got some seeds in a swap (um... vulcan and oriole I think) and am wondering if there is time to plant them this summer? I am in zone 8b after all. (I have no real place to put them however...)

[Paula]

Mmm. That chard is gorgeous.

[Seanna Lea]

Red and ruffly sounds like radicchio. It's a great lettuce green (umm, red), and to me it has a slightly bitter taste which helps meld the rest of the flavors together.

Of course, this is only if I am remembering the correct plant.

I'd love to be getting in on all of the fresh produce. My one last hope was the farmer's market (where I could at least buy locally grown produce), but they decided not to have the one that was close to work! Bummer.

[Carol]

That's mainly how I do my rainbow chard too but I add a splash of balsamic! Found a garter snake in the veg patch yesterday and he's my bug weapon at the moment. My peas are plumping up but not quick enough for me. Summer lettuce is coming up. Tomato plants have fruit. Potatoes have flowered but still have a couple weeks for the earlies.

[Cheryl]

Right, happy to celebrate with your successes. Me? I've found out that I have black rot...ehm, rather my grapes have black rot. Didn't even know there was such a thing, having been a grape vine owner for about two weeks now. Grr....

Kept seeing the term arugula. Had no idea what you were talking about. Little internet search....rocket....that's the name I know it by. Lovely stuff.

Congrats on your continued garden prowess.

[margene]

Just last night I was thinking about the pasta dish I made with kale and feta. It was so good, but I don't eat pasta often and kale is a problem, too. Sigh. Maybe I can make it just once. Your garden is amazing.

[beverly]

My garden report is less robust! There are flowers on the squash and cukes, and baby peppers and tomatoes emerging...and lettuce soon, I hope!!

[Carole]

My few tomato plants continue apace. Can't wait to see what we get from the CSA this week!

[Carole]

My few tomato plants continue apace. Can't wait to see what we get from the CSA this week!

[chris]

That chard is pretty!!

My garden is doing well . . . everything I planted in my experimental lasagna garden is doing great, including some weeds and seeds that were apparently laying dormant in my compost! I have been pulling most of them, but leaving some of them to see if they turn into something interesting/useful (they might be tomato plants, after all!).

The cucumbers and canteloupe have not blossomed yet, but are sending out viney thingies, so maybe soon? Also, I've had flowers on one tomato plant; I hope they will set (I've heard rumblings from other gardeners that it might be too hot for them to set fruit). Lots of pepper flowers; no peppers yet.

Also, I found a lizard hanging out in my pepper plants the other day! I hope he eats lots of bugs and gets really fat and happy. I wonder if maybe he'd eat the ants that seem to be loving the okra leaves.

[Diane T]

I've got one lonely green tomato on my plant, but it looks like there are more on the way. The lettuce is hanging in there despite 90-degree temps we had this week. Herbs are doing well, especially after I whacked back some encroaching flowers that were taking over the oregano and chives. And the farmers' market last week yielded heirloom tomatoes, baby yellow squash, garlic scapes, farm eggs, honey, and more lettuce, all grown/harvested within 25 miles.

[Kristine]

The peppers are astonishing and wonderful every time I see them. One of the flowers I had noted last time I was there has flowered and fallen off (I was concerned, but my mother informs me this is good, please confirm?) and I see several more buds and at least one more flower about to open. The squash looks like it's getting new leaves (that has to be good?) and the cucumber looks like it's starting to care if it lives or dies.

Still have to get the silly plants over to my house for daily adoration...the rain needs to hold off and it needs to be sunny and warm for 24 hours (relatively speaking) so that I can transport the things in my car without destroying my car.

[Elise]

OOOhhh... your chard looks lovely!

Since last week, I think my corn has grown about a foot, the radishes from the first planting are getting nice greens on them, and just barely starting to swell in the root (I pulled one up to check... I'm impatient that way). My bush beans are getting ready to start setting fruit, I think, and the black-eyed peas (a type of cowpea for those of you up north who aren't familiar with the southern favorite) are almost tall enough to start climbing into the arbor. My cucumbers have finally started setting their "feelers" to grab onto whatever's nearby to climb. I transplanted some brussels sprouts plants from a friend, and those are doing well, as are the eggplants (I had my first one off the vine the other day!). As for the peppers and tomatoes, I have a lot of flowers and not a lot of fruit right now, except for the sweet banana pepper... I have LOTS of those. :) I've also harvested and eaten a couple of zucchini so far.

Now to start preparing for the summer plantings for fall cropping!

[Elizabeth]

I planted everything a little late ( due to garden box production worker being too busy with work) but everything is looking great, especially the squash and pumpkins. I found deer tracks in the squash /pumpkin patch but everything is present and accounted for so I guess they were just having a look?
No sign of the wildlife that likes tomato plants lately ( or he/she hasn't found my new spot for them. Hee!) I shoved in a few potatoes in that spot and they have come up too.
I tried the basil in a bed but as usual something is eating it ( it was usually earwigs at the old place so I don't know about here) so it has to be moved to pots on tables.
The strawberries are a mere day or two away.
The corn looks just okay but the farmer next door planted a whole field of corn and his ARE BIGGER. Now my corn has a Napoleon Complex and I'm feeling more than a little competitive.

[Marcia Cooke]

My lettuce is about done (I haven't been happy with the variety of red that I planted this year) but we are now getting pea pods galore. I just steam, chill and pop them on the salad. I'm loving my red tomato towers from "that place" (they do save space!) and all but one tomato plant is thriving. Peppers are starting to take off, too. Cucumber plants look happy, and even my Brussels Sprouts have been growing. Spinach was a total bust. Covered beans are taking off, uncovered have been devoured by slugs. Well, at least now I know WHAT is eating them! The squirrels are rooting around in the onion bed and have dug up half of them in the hunt for misplaced nuts! I've done an herb planter for the deck and a Patio tomato in a pot with some basil and marigolds. Will start replanting as soon as the next heat wave is over. My second compost bin arrived yesterday, so putting it together is today's job, I guess. BTW...that cloth makes a nice shade house over hoops of some kind. I have a very strange looking garden this year, what with all the tents and blankets and cages and red towers!

[Wendy]

The lavender I planted last year is blooming and the brussel sprouts are still growing. I need to put the rose that I was given as a gift in to the ground. I am hoping to get that done on Sunday.

[Cheryl S.]

I've been harvesting lots of peas, and still a few strawberries, but not much else. The spinach is gone. The arugula I planted in the sun is struggling in the heat - I planted it late and by the time it sprouted, we were having 90-degree weather. But the arugula I planted in the shade is coming up and will soon be ready for harvesting. The green beans are loving the heat and shooting up, and the peppers and squash are growing well too. The tomatoes aren't too happy this year - we had such hot weather before they really got a chance for much growth. There are some green tomatoes out there, but the plants are much smaller than I'd expect for this time of year. (Maybe that's a good thing - they usually get really big and out of control.) Hmmmm. I guess I should wander over to the side of the house and take a look at the blackberries.

[Lorette]

Yum! We had chard from the farmers market last night, but I never thought of adding basil to it. Of course, we've yet to get summer here, so my basil is pretty damned puny.

[AmyP]

We had a Monsoon yesterday (complete with power cut) and all the vegetables are drowned! Good news? 1 raspberry is ripening - hurrah!

[Knitnana]

I have just caught up with you from the past week.

Grrl. You ROCK! Amazing you are...I gotta get myself more of that Hope in a Jar, as I loved it!

And I'm going to try to plant spinach, even if it's hot. Your's looks scrumptious...
(If i can find seeds, that is...)

I want to knit another red scarf. Those kids are so impressive.
(((((hugs)))))

[maryse]

thanks for the swiss chard recipe. the local farm stand had some last sunday and i didn't get any because i didn't know what to do with it. it's also quite possible that i have never tasted swiss chard but that's not a big deal for me.

also, i have 4 buds on my tomato plants. they've grown huge. i'll have to find some spikes to tie them to if this continues.

also my lettuce is getting bigger. they're still over crowded but whatever. i'll thin them out when they're a little bigger.

and both my basil and cilantro are coming up. still small but i haven't killed anything yet.

i'm feeling so positive about myself that i may plant some sunflowers. it's not too late is it?

[Imbrium]

My patio tomato plant is officially not dead yet. In fact, it's growing like gangbusters, despite me forgetting to water it one day and coming home to find it all sad and wilted. It even has a few cute little yellow flowers.

There may be hope for me yet.

[Dani in NC]

I can't wait until the cycle comes back around so that I can be eating out of my garden as much as you are. This is my first time, so right now I'm just waiting. I'm getting chives and mint, but that's eating. I'm waiting for the tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, and watermelon to reach maturity. I'm also waiting for 25 Aug, which is supposed to the best time in my area to plant spinach, collard greens, lettuce, and peas. It is just a waiting game around here!

[Elizabeth]

My mint is going to town- I need to make some more mint syrup to put in the freezer. The zucchini seeds have started sprouting, but I'm thinking that having them all sprout in one square and none in the other square isn't going to work well. The tomatoes have taken hold and are happy and the marigolds in the corner squares are starting to put out true leaves.

[Beth in STC]

The lettuce I planted last weekend is sprouting, but the leaves of grape tomato plant I bought at the farmer's market is gradually turning yellow and dying. According to the internet, it could be too much rain or too little nitrogen. We had another thunderstorm tonight, so the best I can do is make some very thick compost "tea" and see if the poor thing rebounds.

The Japanese beetles have decimated all the rose bushes in our community. I ran around with a tin can of soapy water and a plastic fork, hunting down the little devils on my roses and hydrangeas this afternoon. I'd no sooner walked back from putting the can in the garage when I found a whole flock of them on my ornamental bushes as well. While the husband is mowing the grass tomorrow morning, I'm going to get the can and fork again and murder every shiny green/black bastard I can find.

[Beth]

I had to trim my yellow tomato plant because it's taler thanme and I thought it would turn the cage over. Mycukes haveblooms and the beginnings of a few, but my bell pepper plants STINK. All of them. I'm thinking of yanking them out...

[flexibleknits]

WoW! Your chard is beautiful. Thanks for the inspiring pictures.