The Payoff - Part 2

It was a lousy tomato year for so many, so I feel extra fortunate that we ate as many as we could possibly eat fresh, we gave some away, and I cooked some in soups, sauces and chilis.  We've still got a few ripening on the counter, I had one with my egg-white-and-parsley omelet for breakfast yesterday, and I still ended up with 20 pints of canned tomatoes for the upcoming winter.  Twenty pints of organic canned tomatoes in a year when many lost their entire crops... that's gotta be worth something.  

The one compost bin planting of three little squash plants produced seven full-size winter squash -- five buttercup and two butternut.  I planted the started squash plants directly in the very-full compost bin.  I layered the takings from all the other bins we have, and spring yard cleanup waste, with a little layer of garden soil and composted manure on the top.  The compost beneath it continued to decay over the summer, and the squash plants thrived in the bin -- this is the second year I have done this, and it has been so successful that it will now be a regular feature of the garden.  It is very space-saving, and the warmth and moisture and nutrition of the bin produces superior squash. I believe I could have got more, but I failed to notice that in one stretch of dry weather (Did we have any of those this year?  Apparently we did.), the bin got terribly dried out. We ate one too soon -- it wasn't quite ripe -- and I have these four Buttercup squashes remaining for eating this autumn, and two more Butternut squash remaining to be picked up there in the bin.  

 

The red onions you see there are less than half of my harvest.  There are an even greater number of yellow onions.  That's way more than enough onions to take us through the winter, assuming they keep, and I have no reason to think they won't.  I'm trying to become even more liberal in my onion uses on a daily basis. I feel a wonderful French onion soup coming on, as soon as it turns cooler, and a big pan of caramelized onions, for starters. 

Stay tuned for The Payoff - Part 3, tomorrow. 

Comments

[Manise]

Your pay off is way larger than mine this year. All my onions pretty much rotted due to all of the rain. Perhaps if I had planted them earlier it would have been different. I do have a sweet acorn squash biding it's time on the vine. Hopefully I'll get it harvested before the squirrel or chipmunk decide to take a taste first.

[kmkat]

All I can say is, "Mmmmm!"

[Emma]

I am very impressed and somewhat jealous !

p.s. I don't 'get' the egg white omelet thing ! It's been proven that the cholesterol in egg yokes doesn't raise blood cholesterol, and egg yolks are full of iron and other good stuff.
Not getting at you ! It's just, to me, a strange American foible ! :0)

[sandy]

There is nothing like a fresh grown tomato or three! :) Or, for that matter, a wonderful squash! LX

[AnnaMarie]

We use lots of onions so I didn't plant nearly enough. Also our reds are wayyyyy hot little suckers *g* Next Year I'll plant more keepers (Copra) and definitely more Walla Walla, they dehydrate like a charm.

[gayle]

Mmmmm French Onion soup...
We've got a huge amount of leeks that never fattened up much. I'm dreaming of big pot of leek and potato soup for this weekend.

[Mary Fran]

Lovely - if I can only get two things to grow in my garden next year, it will be tomatoes and basil. Maybe some zucchini... and green beans... oh, I can see this becoming quite the production!

[Kym]

Compost! It's the key to gardening success. I LOVE compost. :-)

[Elizabeth]

It's funny everyone complaining about the rain when we got so little! In fact, I don't think my garden got enough water. My beefsteak tomatoes are only just ripening but the smaller ones we have been eating for a while. I am covering them every night now it gets so cool. And the squash ? One tiny one that's still growing and I'm still hoping it will have time to mature before the first frost. The pumpkins are alright, though. Have yet to peek at the onions.
I can't complain. My neighbours, the organic farmers who rely on their harvest for income, lost all their tomatoes this year to blight and their beans as well. At least they had a good supply of maple syrup this spring.

[Patty]

Love it! Would like to hear your carmelized onion tricks if you have any.

[Renee]

Yum!

[Joannah]

Are you sure you're not gloating? Oh, and I bet carmalized onions would be great with chopped fresh tomatoes. Fortunately, the ingredients can be bought, when they can't be grown :)

[Diane]

Looks like a bountiful haul. Love your photos of all of the produce.
Good thing you got SOME tomatoes!
I've been going to the Carrboro Farmers Market all summer and making and freezing simmered tomato sauce.
Never had the courage to can anything!

[Seanna Lea]

Dang! You got a wonderful looking yield from your garden.

[ringer]

Congrats on a lovely harvest. I didn't do nearly as well, but better than last year, so there is hope.

[Nicole]

Yum! Love the photos... totally gorgeous.

[Jodi]

Color me jealous! We had 2 tomatoes the size of cherry tomatoes(they were supposed to be full size!) this year!

[Geri]

I have such gardening envy!! We commute back and forth between Maine and Ct. all summer and I've yet figured a way to keep my garden going! but there is always next year; that's the beauty of growing things!!

[noonie]

My tomatoes are still ripening on the vine, although blight is finally appearing, will have to burn the afflicted.

How do you store your onions, I have plenty and would like to keep them for a while. We use them often and I never realised how delicious they would be, juicy and scrummy. I guess because they haven't been stuck in boxes and lorries and grocery store shelves.

[Carrie]

French onion soup! I knew I should have gotten that oven-safe soup mug I saw at Target today...

[Cookie]

Yummy!

[Judy]

I love compost too! Saw a bumper sticker once that said "Dirt Whore". I kinda liked it.

[Sarah]

These payoff posts are making me so hungry.

[elizabeth a airhart]

tis grand this fest spread before my eyes

i have been on a 90 day diet i have already lost 45 days
good night gracie

[minnie]

i have to join in the ranks of crappy tomatoes this year. i think we got 8 pints off of 7 plants this year, sigh.

as for the onions, if they start to go bad, chop them, and freeze them. while they are lousy for fresh, frozen onions work well for cooking.