Today I found myself in and out of the garden all day. There is so much to be picked and enjoyed this time of year. I thought I’d share some of the gifts of the day.
This morning, after making coffee, I went down to the blueberry bushes and picked a bowl full for us (we ate them too fast to even think about a photo). On the way back, I stopped at the hoop house and picked a little pile of tomatoes. It’s been really nice to have a few varieties this year.
Then I headed back up to sit and finish my coffee. I was a little grumpy this morning. Picking tomatoes helped some.
After I drank my coffee, I snipped some green and purple basil, oregano and thyme.
Later in the afternoon I did some planting, and transplanted some of the things we started a while back in the hoop house. I feel more organized than ever with the fall garden this year. Fingers crossed it comes together well.
Does that big orange winter squash make you think of autumn? It does me. This is the first of the golden delicious and it’s a big one! They are usually kind of petite.
The lettuce is starting to bolt, one by one, so I pulled a few full heads today to start making way for new lettuce plantings. We have been eating big salads daily. Need to eat bigger ones!
While cleaning up the lettuce bed, I was shocked to discover how big the turnips are getting. I had no expectations for these, and planted them as an afterthought, so it feels like a little gold mine in there.
This crazy beast of a tomato is one I picked last week. Today it reached prime ripeness (and tonight we ate most of it!). Here’s a photo taken when it was picked, which gives some reference of size.
All that picking got me thinking about what to make for dinner. A summer veggie torte seemed like the natural choice (what would have been your natural choice?).
I layered sliced potatoes, turnips, turnip greens, summer squash, mushrooms, fresh herbs, red onion, cheese and tomato. All but the onion and mushrooms were grown here at home, which felt super satisfying.
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[footnote] So it would seem as though this blog is turning into a gardening blog… Don’t worry, I’ll be around with other things to share about soon enough. For the moment, the garden feels so central to the season, I just want to soak it up.I’d love to hear what’s happening in your garden, or what you’re cooking with the fresh foods of the season. And if you haven’t tried a torte yet, I recommend it! So easy and versatile, and crazy delicious.
Denise
Your produce is amazing – it would not be right if you didn’t blog about it. Enjoy!!
marri
YUM! Our lettuces bolted too – the romaine heads kind of transformed into crazy trees while we continued to harvest leaves from the outside. I pulled them up last weekend and replanted. And now it’s ridiculously hot and I fear my new greens are going to wilt before they have a chance!
How do you manage blossom-end rot on your beautiful tomatoes? My brandywines have had a tough summer, and I fear I may not have anything edible by the end of the growing season here. I keep having to buy ’em from the farmers’ market. At least the bloody butchers are blushing and delicious!
It’s crazy to be thinking about my winter garden in this heat, but right now in my limited space I’m considering sugar snap peas, kale, lettuce, and possibly some winter-hearty tomato varieties since we so rarely get frost out here in socal. But I think I’m going to have to wait until October…
abby
Exciting Marri! Sounds like you’ll have a great winter garden. You are growing a lot of food for such a small space. Fortunately, we haven’t had trouble with blossom end rot, but I have looked into it. The usual cause is thought to be calcium deficiency, which can be caused by lack of water, too much water, the wrong ph, or simply low calcium levels in the soil. I have read in some places that the calcium is usually present in the soil, but if there isn’t enough moisture, or if there is too much water, the roots won’t be able to take the calcium up. Have you tested your soil’s ph? Tomatoes like a ph of about 6 – 6.8. Here is some info I found this morning – http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/tomato/2000082444023571.html
marri
Thanks for the research, Abby! I’m going to test the pH levels and try adding more lime to the soil if I need to. I’m using EarthBoxes, so the plants should be getting exactly the amount of water they need, but perhaps they’re taking up too much water from the reservoir.
I love reading your garden posts – wish I had that much space!
Liesl
That torte sounds delicious! And my “craft” blog had definitely become overrun with gardening and veggies. It’s hard to sew right now. Fabric can wait but those tomatoes and beans need to be picked and weeds need pulling!
abby
Well you are sure crafty in the kitchen too – cooking up amazing things with all your garden fresh food.
jodi
Hi Abby : ) Lovely to see the bounty coming out of your garden. I am a bit envious of those gorgeous tomatoes, though! We recently got back from spending most of July in the mountains of Mexico, and it was amazing to return to so much food (and weeds) waiting for us in our garden… I swear we could eat broccoli for breakfast, lunch and dinner and there would still be more! It’s always fun to be eating a meal and realize it’s mostly made up of homegrown veggies. We often put on a pot of rice, fire up the grill and just enjoy simple grilled vegetables & tofu with some kimchi alongside. It’s surprising what things taste good grilled… beets, radishes, garlic scapes. Yum!
abby
If you lived closer we could trade broccoli for tomatoes! I haven’t done so well with broccoli. Trying again for fall. I love grilled veggies… just need to get a grill. Thank you for the reminder. Such a fresh and simple way to prepare food, and it’s true – things taste so great grilled.
Lucy
I live in the south-east of the United Kingdom and am just starting my first ever autumn-winter plantings – I’ve never grown anything through the winter before. We put in a few different types of kale (small plants), and several types of oriental leaves. We’ll put in rainbow chard soon. All of these are in our raised bed outside on the lawn. Slugs and snails are a MASSIVE problem, especially this summer, which has been very wet in the UK and has led to apocalyptic levels of molluscs. I’m hoping against hope these babies will survive – tall collars made of plastic bottles will hopefully protect them while they’re young. And I’m having to resort to the dreaded slug pellets…
Lucy
PS I am green with envy at all your sumptuous produce!
Taryn Kae Wilson
Abby,
I LOVE seeing your garden photos and harvest. Your pictures are always incredible.
Love, Taryn
Kristin
Wow, truly mouthwatering!!! It seems like a heartbeat ago you were prepping the beds!