State of the Garden, Surviving the August Heat August 7, 2010

The last week of 100 degree temperatures has stressed some of the garden plants, yet some seem unfazed.  I’m watering pretty much every day, and spritzing the plants in the heat of the afternoon.  The Lemon Cucumbers look horrible, but there are so many flowers on them, they are covered with bees.  Basically, at this point, I’m leaving them in for the bees.  The Purple Hull Peas are gorgeous, and seemingly sprang out of nowhere.  They will be ready to pick when about half of the pod has turned purple, so very soon.

Purple Hull Peas

The one Celebrity plant I left in from Spring, looks like Hell, but true to form, is still setting fruit.

Celebrity Tomato

I also have another watermelon. This one is from a different plant than the last, and is a different variety.  It’s very cute though.

Watermelon

The peppers, of course, are happy as can be and getting hotter by the day.  Heat begets heat, so they are fiery.  I’m going to make homemade Siracha (not spelled right) with the Thai Chiles.

Thai Chiles

The Three Sisters Garden is having mixed results.  The corn looks fantastic, but shows signs of stress at the heat of the day.  The beans and pumpkins are not doing as well, and I can’t predict their outcome.

Three Sisters Garden

The lemons and limes are ready to be picked, I just need to decide what to do with them so none of these precious gems go to waste.

No sign of the potatoes yet, I’m keeping that site slightly damp.  I planted them deep and they are slow, so I’m not looking for signs of life for another couple of weeks.  Hopefully not until it is cooler.

The tomatoes I put out a couple weeks ago are hanging in and a couple have flowered.  I’m pleased with the garden as a whole, but wish this horrible heat would end soon.

Here’s the big garden:

the big garden overall

Lemon Cucumbers for Days August 6, 2010

This heat is hard on the cucumber plants.  I’m struggling to keep them watered enough, and the soil has compacted and isn’t holding water as well as it should.  They are heat stressed and so dramatic about everything, they look like they are dying all the time.   I’ll let them keep producing as long as they do.  They’ve been very productive,  so far:

Picked these lemon cucumbers yesterday

What I’ve noticed about this particular variety of cucumber is that they get wrinkled and soft very soon after picking.  Knowing that I could use them all, I picked them and started processing them immediately.  I made pickles, using a brine of half water, half vinegar, 3 tablespoons kosher salt, pickling spices and Dill from Springfield Farms.  I also put some garlic in the jars for additional flavor.

Lemon Cucumber Pickles

I turned some sideways to show that they are lemon cucumber pickles, not preserved lemons, which they resemble.  I should probably label them, but I probably won’t because I’m bad about such things.

I didn’t have enough for a third jar, so one of them became part of my dinner.  I sliced it, salted it, and ate it with yogurt and dill dip.  My friend Jamie makes the very best yogurt with Way Back When milk.

Cucumber with Yogurt and Dill dip

No Grocery Store, Day 217

This is going to be a boring read.  Breakfast, 1 Bat Creek Farm gala apple.  Lunch, Boggy Creek baby arugula, with preserved lemon and Texas Olive Ranch Olive Oil.  Dinner, 2 Boggy Creek Farm boiled eggs, 1 Boggy Creek pepper, and a garden lemon cucumber, with homemade Way Back When yogurt and Springfield Farm dill.

I have lots of eating to make up for, so I’m going to continue this way for a while.  I must say, that I woke up at 5:00 ready to rock and roll, so its a good thing.

No Grocery Store, Day 210 July 30, 2010

Breakfast, 2 Smith and Smith Farms eggs, boiled.  I’m really trying to be better about eating breakfast.

Lunch, I needed to spend some time with  my Mom and go to Antonelli’s Cheese, so I decided to go to Asti Tratorria, and watch Brad Sorenson cook.  Brad is a finalist in The Next Food Network Star this season and is as cute as can be.  I’m rooting for him to win.  He wasn’t there, but we had a nice lunch anyway, splitting the Chicken Panini and a White Pizza.   Asti does a good job at sourcing much of its menu locally.

If you haven’t made a trip to Hyde Park to visit Antonelli’s Cheese Shop, please do yourself a favor and go.  Just do, and thank me later.  John and Kendall have something really special going there, and their passion for everything in the shop is infectious.  They had ordered some wine for me, my new favorite wine actually – Carina Cellars Clairvoyant.  Its a blend from the Central Coast of California, and it rocks.  I also picked up some Brazos Valley Parmesan Cheese, for making pesto this weekend.  The basil is big and lush and the heat is coming on strong so now is the time to harvest quite a bit of it.  We filled a bag of goodies for my parents, some really great cheeses, the strawberry jam they love, Barrie Cullinan’s amazing Ciabatta, some chocolate, Hope and Glory’s Brown Butter Shortcakes, and called it a successful trip to the cheese shop.

As boring as leftovers are, the Smoked Paprika Roasted Chicken I made was so good, I couldn’t wait to have more of it.  So, dinner, leftover chicken, leftover rice and cucumber salad.  I’m getting quite sick of cucumbers and garden is full of them.

No Grocery Store, Day 207 July 27, 2010

Compared to the extravaganza of eating out last week, this week is comfortingly calm, if not downright boring.  I walked at Town Lake yesterday, leaving not enough time for breakfast, although I was hungry.  Lunch on the go, was a lemon cucumber from the garden, with salt and pepper.  Afternoon snack at a friend’s house, tortilla chips and salsa with a Tecate.  Someone asked me in the last week, “where do you get your chips, like Fritos and Lays?”  Uhmm, I don’t eat those anymore, unless I’m at someone’s house, and even then, I avoid them.  For the most part, with the exception of bread and cheese, everything I eat at home is in the form it grew in.   I guess sausage and bacon and some of Dai Due and Kocurek’s prepared food isn’t, but everything they use to create their sausage and prepared food  is from a local farm.  The point is, I guess, nothing I eat has artificial crap in it to make it shelf stable, because it will never be on a shelf.  No guar gum, no high fructose corn syrup, no partially hydrogenated oils.  And nothing that I eat has elaborate packaging.  If I buy a steak from Richardson’s, there is no sytrofoam tray underneath, it is simply shrink wrapped and handed to me from an ice chest.  Don’t get me wrong, the Tortilla Chips and Salsa were a treat, and I’m reserving the right to head to East Austin to El Milagro and get some of theirs which contain only corn, oil and salt, because they aren’t a grocery store, I just haven’t felt compelled to do so just yet.  I also have not had a Soda, a Diet Soda, or any artificial canned drink in these almost 7 months.  I drink Nile Valley Hibiscus Tea from the Farmer’s Market, water, and if I’m feeling like a treat, I have a Topo Chico which I have leftover from a party.  I got that at Spec’s.  I drink beer and wine as well, just no soda.

I got home late, so dinner was re-heated leftover, bison burger patty, with a garden tomato, and lemon cucumber salad with Wateroak Feta.  I’m getting tired of these cucumbers, have jars picking at a friends house, and more on the ground ready to pick.

State of the Garden – Planning for Fall July 20, 2010

Normally, I’m a sloppy gardener – I don’t plan ahead very well, I just plant whatever strikes my fancy at the time.  I’m horrible at labeling and not much of a rule follower.  In an effort to get a little better about that, and make sure I have available garden space in the upcoming months for the things I really want to be eating, I sketched out the current state of the garden.

july garden

I have not decided whether to plant more tomatoes for Fall, but will leave the Celebrity in as long as it continues to produce tomatoes.  The tomatoes in the 4×8 bed are on their way out, and I’ve left them in because the cucumbers are using them as a trellis.

The Three Sisters Garden should be done by late October, so I’ll reserve that garden space for onions to be planted in December.  That was easy.  The watermelon should be ripe in another 3 weeks or so, by mid-August.  I need to put a Fall Crop of something in that space, that will be ready before onions go in.

Potatoes get planted in August, so I think I’ll reserve the West 4 feet of the big bed for those.  It has been resting for about 3 weeks.  I’ll need some space for lettuce and broccoli which need to be planted in August as well.

So much to think about!

Garden Update, Mid July July 16, 2010

It’s hot, and most of the gardens space is in rest mode.  I’m not going to plant anything else for at least a couple of weeks.  The Three Sisters Garden is doing well, I think.  The corn looks perfect, but the second set of sisters beans, and pumpkins are not quite all up.  Something has sprung up, but I haven’t looked close enough to see if its the pumpkin or beans.

Three Sisters Garden

The purple hull peas in the former landscape Nadina bed are looking gorgeous.

Purple Hull Peas

An unexpected surprise from the Watermelon I planted way too late.

Watermelon!

I’m still picking Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes from one plant, and Lemon Cucumbers are coming on strong.  Peppers are still producing as well.

The Limes are almost ready to be picked and the Meyer Lemon needs some more time.

Limes

Meyer Lemons

And, once again, its time to make pesto.

Basil and Thyme

The lettuce is coming up in pots and needs to be thinned, which I’m horrible at.

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce

I’m on the hunt for seed potatoes to plant the first of August.  If you see any out there, let me know since I can’t go to the grocery store to use those.  I can probably order some online.

Three Sisters Garden, Second Sister July 10, 2010

For once, I’m following directions to a T on the Three Sisters Garden.  My normal gardening style is ignore all the rules, and plant what you want, where you want with little regard for standard practices.  But not on this one.  Legends don’t become legends without some attention to detail.  So, the corn is  approximately 6 inches tall, maybe 8.

Three Sisters Corn

So, following the directions I planted Rattlesnake Beans and Purple Pole Beans in between the corn.

Rattlesnake and Purple Pole Beans

The third sister will be a mix of Butternut Squash and Sugar Pie Pumpkins as soon as the beans come up.  I got a jump on the Butternut Squash in the greenhouse, but true to form, I didn’t mark my seedlings, so I don’t know which are the squash and which are the lemon cucumbers that I don’t want in that garden.

In other parts of the garden, the lemon cucumbers have taken over the tomatoes and started using them as a trellis.  I was going to pull these tomatoes out today, but it will be difficult as the cucumbers have totally claimed them, part of the peppers, and a good portion of the yard.

4x8 bed engulfed with lemon cucumbers

That’s a rogue eggplant sticking up out of the cucumbers trying to escape.  Its like wild kingdom in that bed and I’m not inclined to mess with it today.  The large bed is still resting, and I’ll turn it in the morning.  I haven’t figured out my plan for it yet.  It has some peppers growing and that’s about it.  I need to make some tomato decisions here in the next couple of weeks.  I’m overrun at the moment, but would like to fill my freezer with more fresh tomato sauce and chili for the winter.

Lots of ripe Celebrities this week

Happy Gardening!

Preserving Garden Cucumbers – Pickling July 8, 2010

I was fortunate to have 4 lemon cucumbers ripe at one time, normally it is about 2 at once.  Not having the full range of grocery store spices available to me to use Ruhlman’s pickling recipe, I took them to my friend Christian’s and bartered for half, if he would pickle them.  He had just harvested a couple of very large cucumbers from his garden, and I bought some more at the Triangle Farmer’s Market Wednesday.  Pickling should be done in large batches.

Pickling spice, water, vinegar, salt

First he mixed the pickling spice, vinegar, water and salt.

Fancy mandoline, made slicing a breeze

Packing the jars

The lemon cucumbers might not be the best pickling cucumbers, because they have more seedy pulp area, and are not as firm.  But, we will find out.

Lemon cucumber

Next, we filled the jars with the pickling liquid.  Actually, the “I” in “we” petted the puppy.

Almost pickles

You know how pickles make your mouth water just thinking about them?  That would be me, right about now.  3-4 weeks later, we should have some amazing pickles.

And for the cat lovers:

Cats just seem to love boxes

Garden Overhaul, and Three Sisters Garden July 6, 2010

I spent five hours working in the garden on Sunday morning. It was pleasant before the heat set in and I got lots done.  First, I was greeted, as I have been every day, by something that makes me happy:

My Sunny Friend

There is another one next to it that should be open in the next few days.  I would love to have lots more of these so I’m going to save the seeds.

I planted two packages of zinnias in the neglected front flower bed.  It needs lots more work, as I’ve not weeded at all this year.  I hate weeding.

The corn I planted last week in the 5′x5′ bed dedicated to my Three Sisters Garden experiment is up.

First of the Three Sisters - corn

I pulled up the purple basil that I found bitter and to stiff for pesto, and added 3 wheelbarrow loads of Hill Country Garden soil to the large back bed, worm castings, and some Lady Bug fertilizer.  I still haven’t formulated my plan fully for that bed.

The seeds in the greenhouse are up:

Butternut squash or lemon cucumber seedlings

I planted more butternut squash, lemon cucumber, and tomato seedlings.   I think the lemon cucumbers in the ground will just keep producing all Fall, however, so no need for these others.  I just don’t ever want to be without lemon cucumbers!

I pulled up the last of the spent corn in the Nandina bed, and it is being taken over by the highly productive Celebrity Tomato.

I took tip cuttings from the Celebrity, and two Chocolate Cherry Tomato plants, and they have already died.  That is my second failed attempt at rooting tip cuttings from tomato plants.  I’ve got tomatoes coming out my ears already.

Lastly, I turned my compost which is far from ready at this point.  I’m contemplating covering it with a black tarp to speed things up.