Harvest Monday; August 10, 2015

Good Harvest Monday to you. Click to go to Daphne's Dandelions to see all Harvest Mondays.
Finally got some work done in the garden, weeding and cleaning up five of the beds readying for fall plantings. I also did the last picking on the green beans and pulled all of them out. They were pretty much done. Also pulled out all of the squash (disappointing year) and zucchini. Squash bugs were starting to get numerous in their egg plantings so I pulled them and put them in a bag to the trash. I don't want to be fighting those things for the rest of the year when we are being bombarded by June bugs. They are everywhere. Doing my best to contain them but only so much you can do. Here's the sheet for the week.

Pretty good week considering everything is slowly wilting away. Man what a summer. 

Before.

After.

Eggs, eggs everywhere!

My pickings from Saturday. And some follow- up more presentable pictures. 

My wife went out Sunday and did a picking on the cherry and grape tomatoes. I hate picking them.

Went out Sunday morning and actually bought squash so I could make some squash relish. We eat it on hotdogs, chicken sandwiches, etc. And the guys my wife works with love it. Going to have to make more. 

Found this big guy hiding.

Finally to end our weekend me, my wife and our boys went to see Garrison Keillor, Prairie Home Companion, America the Beautiful tour show. Big NPR geeks the boys and I are. Great show and supposedly his farewell tour. 

Welp, that's it for me tonight. Got stuff to do. From my family to yours, get your geek on!

Harvest Monday; August 3, 2015

Another late post, I know. My excuse? Woke up in Charleston, SC. Had to go there for work so I drove down Sunday because I had to be on the jobsite at 5:30ish this morning.  Then  I proceeded to leave Charleston, drive 100 miles, get a call from the hotel telling me I left my tablet there. Another 200 miles out of my way. Yipee. But all is good as I made it back home this evening. Charleston is my wife's favorite city, me not so much. Think its hot where I live? 90 degrees by 10:00 this morning. No thank you.

Another decent week in the garden. Eggplants are really coming around so got to find something to do with them. That and tomatoes are still there. Picked a little over 40 lbs. this week and canned all of it. Pizza, Pasta sauces and more salsa.

The rest of the garden is slowly wearing down as we still are getting really hot weather every day. That and the occasional thunderstorm dumping on us. I need to get out there and clean up the beds that have been sitting idle and start fall plantings. A lot of work to do. 

Pickings from Friday afternoon. 

Eggplants looking good.

Lots of blooms on the squash but no real production this year. Been picking off eggs like crazy but those darn bugs are back this year.

Finally got a chance Saturday to hit the links this year in prep for our upcoming trip to the mountains. My boys got me a new driver for Father's Day so I got the chance to try it out. Played better than I thought it would. 

Well that's it for me today. Check out Daphne's Dandelions for all Harvest Mondays. 

Harvest Monday; July 27, 2015

Quick post as I've got canning to do :)
Here's this weeks' spreadsheet.

A little over 57 lbs this week. Yes, tomatoes..... A lot of them. I did get some work done in the garden this week but not nearly as much as I needed to. I stored up all of the onions in the storage building. I fastened some plastic netting to the underside of the trusses and put them up there. Got more than I thought. Still have some white onions in as I didn't start them until a month after the other ones. Also been on a seed- saving binge. Going to have a good collection.

Told you it was going to be short. Visit Daphne's Dandelions to see other "Harvest Mondays."

Garden Tour

Well I took a tour of the garden this afternoon assessing what work I needed to do tomorrow. Seems like a lot of work needs doing :)

Tomatoes definitely need some work.

The heat and storms have really taken a toll on the plants. 

Pickling cucumbers have just about had it.

White onions I got them in the ground later than normal this year. Weeding needs done.

Carrots still growing.

Wife's sunflower in a pot. 

Squash plants. Not many squash yet. 

Zucchini plants have had it. 

Marketmore cucumbers still hanging in there.

Pulled the yellow and red onions out last weekend. Got to get them set out.

Weedy mess.

Wife's row of sunflowers. 

Eggplants doing great this year. 

True black brandywine.

If you're bored you can come help!

Harvest Monday; July 20, 2015

Good late Monday to you. Daphne's Dandelions is the place to be!
Been a good week for produce coming out of the garden. It is still a mess and needs weeded badly but I just don't have the time to do it. Here's a peak at this weeks sheet.

Yes, tomatoes are the stars again. I actually picked 22 lbs of Romas on the 17th. 

So you can imagine (no pun intended) we did a lot of canning this weekend. I took some of last weeks harvest and added in some more that I picked on the 17th and made 29 pints of pizza sauce. Then Amy went out and picked up another 20 lbs so hopefully they will get used tomorrow. 

My pickings from Friday, mostly Rutgers.  

Here's a few glamour shots (it is sad that I do these.)

Solar Flare. I already saved some seeds of these as they are definitely going in the garden next year.

Just a beautiful Rutgers. I use these for my main canning maters. 

This is a Pantano Romanesco. I salted it before I took a bite and it doesn't need salt. Interesting flavor. Amy wasn't impressed but I kind of like it. Saving some seeds anyway.

Cucumbers are still going strong along with the eggplants (surprising as we didn't do too well with them last year), peppers and chili peppers. Even got the garlic sorted out. It's been drying for a while. And the first squash of the year has been picked.

Not sure if we'll get too much more off of the green beans. They seem somewhat played out but it could also be the weather we've been having. Storm every evening then 100 degree days. I am surprised more of the tomatoes aren't split and the cukes are still alive. Still haven't thought about the fall garden but I had better do something soon. 

Hope your Monday was a good one and I'll see you soon.