Whew ... it's hot and sticky here. And more of it to come according to the forecast (30+ Celsius for the next few days). Here's what I've been picking out of the garden when I manage to get myself outside in this heat - check out Daphne's Dandelions to see what other gardeners have going on at this time.
The Hungarian Hot Wax and Jalapeno peppers in the photo above were pickled. It was too hot to go through the full canning process so I just pickled them and left them in the fridge. On the left side of the picture are pimiento peppers (Stokes seeds). I probably picked them a bit early but they are an odd shape and I'm not really sure I like them - they taste fine, but a low flesh to seed/core ratio. Probably useful for a stuffed pepper dish.
My rhubarb is slow to grow for some reason - I've heard that you shouldn't harvest rhubarb after June but don't remember why; so I'm still picking some here and there.
The Neem oil treatments have really helped with the cucumber beetles and I am finally seeing some squash production. I spent a few days picking the adult beetles off the plants (using Daphne's advice, I had a bowl of soapy water to drop them into so they couldn't get away), then sprayed on some Neem oil once a week for the past three weeks. Unfortunately, I was a bit late in doing this and have lost almost all of my pumpkin plants to the beetle damage, but at least I have some summer squash! I had two separate harvests, shown here with the lot of beans I've been picking:
In total, I've harvested just under 3 pounds of beans this week alone! As for more squash, I've had one yellow crookneck, shown here with some kohlrabi.
I've had a bit more kale, chard and lettuce (but not as much as I'd like!).
This lettuce is growing in a strange way. It's Kindle lettuce and is supposed to be like a butterhead .... but most of it is growing like this. I suppose it's bolting in its own way, not really sure. The leaves are still nice and tender so OK for now, I guess.
And some more potatoes - fingerling and russian blue.
The potatoes were tossed with olive oil, thyme and oregano, and then roasted. I added some of the beans in during the last 15 minutes. Yummy!
You are getting some nice harvests. I'm impressed you have ripe peppers already. And 3 pounds of beans is a goodly amount, good thing they freeze well.
ReplyDeleteSomeone told me just this morning that they freeze beans without blanching them. I might give that a try, it certainly saves a ton of time.
DeleteWhat a wonderful harvest. Never tried red fingerlings but they do look so yummy. Peppers are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'm pretty proud of my pepper harvest too!
DeleteNice looking harvest! The peppers especially look great. I'm not sure what to do with a pimiento, other than pickling them and stuffing them into nice big olives for a martini!
ReplyDeleteWell that sounds like a good idea!
DeleteI love potatoes roasted like that. But I never thought to add some beans with them near the end, and I'll have to try that. I don't can pickled peppers anymore, just do the refrigerator treatment like you did. They seem to keep for a long time that way, and taste a bit more fresh since they aren't processed.
ReplyDeleteI love pickled hot peppers but don't eat a ton of them .... hopefully this batch will last long enough in the fridge.
DeleteStill cold, wet and miserable here. I will persevere! I shall use your blog as inspiration!
ReplyDeleteUgh, sounds like my entire last summer ... hope your days brighten up soon!
DeleteI love the look of the deeply fluted peppers. Too bad they don't have enough substance to them. I pick rhubarb anytime in the summer and sometimes even in fall. I think they tell you that because it gets stringier. Though I could be wrong about that. I've never hated the texture of the older stalks, so I just make sure I don't pick too many later in the season.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on rhubarb ... yes, maybe it gets stringy but if I'm cooking it anyway, maybe not a big deal. I'll keep on picking it.
DeleteWow, you are really pulling in the harvests now! And look at those peppers - I can't believe you already have some that are ripening to red! I'm hoping to pick a few of the Hungarian hot wax soon, they are still a bit greenish, so I'm waiting until they yellow up. And a couple of my potato plant varieties seem to be dying back - I'll be waiting a bit longer, but I really can't wait to see what I dig up!
ReplyDeleteThe red pimientos are from the greenhouse, but I have plenty of orange / red Hungarian hot wax outside in containers - but I did start them from seed quite early indoors so probably a bit ahead of you by a week or two.
Deleteall looks excellent carry on
ReplyDeleteThat is some weird lettuce, it looks like it's bolting, but the top leaves should be small. But hey, if it tastes fine, eat it! I just harvested some weird looking cauliflower that I dubbed funkyflower, it looks weird but tastes fine. It's very correct to eat "ugly" veggies lately, but home gardeners are way ahead of that game, we love all our veggies, lovely or ugly.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think it is bolting in its weird way - the rest of them have started to do the same thing. And it does taste just fine!
DeleteLovely harvest, the peppers are so pretty, I like to ferment my hot peppers and keep them at room temp, they lose the spicy taste if I keep them long enough.
ReplyDeleteColorful pepper harvest. My bolted lettuce was still tender too and more will be bolting due to the heat wave.
ReplyDelete