Whew....it's been so busy at work, but I still managed to keep the garden maintained - and the harvest has picked up significantly! The last of the corn has been picked, and now it's pretty much tomatoes, squash, okra, and cucumbers that need picking each day. It's scorching hot outside, but that doesn't slow me down one bit. I'm used to it.....Anyway, here's most of the harvest from the last couple of weeks, as a couple of harvests weren't photographed....
Photo below - here's the first of the tomatoes. That's a Neves Azorean Red on the right, and Brandywine on the left. I wasn't impressed one bit with the taste of NAR, and quite frankly - it was a definite letdown. However, the production is good, and they do get pretty big! The brandywine was sliced for topping off burgers cooked on the grill, and it was very good! (but not as good as Cherokee Purple)
If you'd like to share your harvest for the week and also see what everyone else is getting from their garden, just visit Daphne's Blog to participate!
Now, for current news on the garden.......The green beans have finally started to provide a decent harvest, and it sure did take a while this time around! The vines are huge, and provided beans much earlier in last years' garden. Who knows? It may be due to too much fertlizer earlier in the season...
Also, the squirrels are getting every single tomato that develops on the 8 plants by the shed. UGH! I hate to say it, but the shotgun is gonna have to come out for this problem. If any PETA members are reading this - I hate it. I won't even blink an eye while doing it. Ha!
In other news, we have fruitset finally on one of the butternut squash growing in the 4 x 9 box next to the woods. It's developing quite nicely, and there may be one more if it got pollinated sufficiently.
The saved rainwater had almost been depleted from the 220 gallon storage system, because it hasn't rained in at least 2 weeks around here. However, it rained alot on Friday, and I was able to capture another 100 gallons. The scorching heat during the months of July and August really increases the water usage in the swc's, and several of the small ones have to be filled daily. A 2 gallon watering can with shower attachment removed from the end is used to pour the water into the fill pipes, and only requires 3 trips to top everything off. Since i'm no stranger to manual labor outside, it's no big deal at all.
Take care, and happy gardening!
EG
13 comments:
Oh I'm so glad to hear that the BW is not as good as the CP. That's my new favorite and I would be so sad since my BW all died on me earlier.
Those cucumbers just look perfect!
I hope your rain barrels fill again. Mine are pretty good right now but the weather sure sounds dry for the next week or two. Happy harvesting.
That's terrific about your rainwater. And everything looks so good. I concur with you on the tast of the CPs. I don't think there's a tomato out there to match it. The Early Girls are a sweet tomato and not bad, and the Sungolds are terrific. I think I've stopped my trialing of tomato varieties. I'll wait for you to investigate new tomatoes!
Congrats on your harvest. You and Granny are making me wish I had planted more varieties of tomatoes. Next year Cherokee Purple will be a definite for me.
Are you going to pickle all of those cucumbers? And the other pressing question...are you going to eat the squirrels?? :)
Nice harvest. I wish we could grown corn but with our limited space and the fact lots of critters like corn, we decided after the last failed attempt to forego growing our own and just buy it in bulk at the farmers market for eating and freezing.
Great harvests, Poopy Head! I'll sure be happy when my CPs and Brandywines and Kellogg's Breakfasts start coming in. These little yellow marbles (Minigold) just don't cut it.
Your harvest looks great the okra looks really good.
I don't think my pole beans are going to do anything they are just sitting there. I have already been using squirrels as practice for dove season.
I need to find out were you got your red seal seeds so I can get my husband some...ha ha ha.
ribbit - yeah, they don't even come close to CP....
gardener - it's supposed to rain quite a bit this week, so the barrels should get filled again. Yay!
stefaneener - i'll most likely only grow black tomatoesw next year - about 5 or 6 different varieties. Hehe...
Cheryl - thanks. Granny is doing better than me in the tomato category I think, and I still haven't gotten a Kellogg's Breakfast yet.
foodgardenkitchen - I made pickles last weekend, but i'm not gonna eat the squirrels. They just don't taste good to me...
granny - thanks! I'm beginning to wonder if i'll get any KB at all. Stupid squirrels!
Jeana - pole beans will surprise ya - they'll sit there forever, then start producing like crazy! I wish there was a way to grow my Red Seal...hehe...good one!
Cherokee purple's are my favorite, but I didn't have much luck with them last year, so I went with Better Girls. I just found your blog today, and I'm pretty excited about it. I live in Madison and just have a small kitchen garden, but I love it. For your rain barrels, do you attach them to your drain spouts or do you just have them in random places?
Ashleigh
I love love love okra! Great harvest! Although I wouldn't want to deal with your squirrels, I wont trade you for my tomato hornworms!
EG, your harvest is looking good. I have never eaten the red/purple okra. How does it compare in taste?
Those are some nice harvests, certainly looking like summer! We had way to many squirrels this spring so the neighbor shot them all with a bbgun. Hate squirrels!
Ashleigh - welcome, neighbor! Yeah, I have a small length of gutter that directs rainwater to the barrels - but catch some in 5 gallon buckets too.
Melissa Jo - We like to fry green tomatoes, okra, squash, and bacon together -it's really good!
debbie - thanks. The burgundy okra tastes no different than the usual kind.
Dan - thanks, man. I've been walking the property with loaded shotgun as of late - and i'll definitely get it!
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