Picking vegetables, pulling out plants, putting in new seeds for fall harvests ... plenty going on this week in the garden. I have finally successfully grown a cabbage (seen in the basket above). It's a Tiara cabbage from William Dam seeds. And I have several more that are almost ready. Maybe I could have left it a bit longer, but I don't think they get much bigger from the photos I've seen.
Also new this week are the two acorn squash in the basket. Otherwise, it's filled with more of the same ... ancho peppers, jalapenos, Hungarian Hot Wax and a smattering of tomatoes. Oh, and I think that's another spaghetti squash in there.
On the subject of winter squash, I cleaned out most of the three sisters patch. There has been a lot of rain lately and the borlotti beans were flopped over and lying on the ground. In my attempt to pull all of the beans, I ended up pulling all of the squash as well as I noted many of the vines were dying off or just rotting. So unfortunate that my single butternut squash is a bit immature, but I think the Marina di Chioggia squash (the second of only two I managed to grow) and the Sweet Dumplings were about as mature as they were going to get considering the state of their plants.
I could use some advice on how to properly store winter squash. The immature butternut won't last long, but I want to make sure my two Marina di Chioggia keep until I'm ready to use them. I'll do some checking on other bloggers sites, but if you have a good method for storing squash, I'd like to hear about it.
And then I have lots more of the same ...
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| Various toms, my last cuke and a crookneck squash |
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| So many peppers (jalapeno and HHW) |
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| Mostly sweet pickle peppers and more mouse melon |
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| Mostly ancho peppers and some King of the North |
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| Oops I let a couple of zukes get away on me |
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| Mostly Jimmy Nardello peppers |
I've been cooking a lot this past weekend. I made oven-dried tomatoes with all of the chocolate cherry tomatoes I've been picking.
And I picked up a bushel (about 50 lbs) from a local market for $25 and spent the weekend making Red Wine and Herb tomato sauce (7 litres), my homemade salsa (3 litres) and passata (4 litres). Whew!
Please stop by Daphne's Dandelions to see what other gardeners are harvesting, cooking or storing this week.
Good job on the cabbage. That looks like a good size to harvest, don't want it to split on you. Wow, and lots of peppers.
ReplyDeleteHmm, never grown them so didn't know they split. I think I'll take a good look tomorrow and probably pick a few more.
DeleteOnce squash are cured (in a warm spot for a couple of weeks), I just put mine on my basement stairs. I walk them up as it gets colder and colder down there. Though I always keep something under them as they sometimes rot out on me. Not often, but sometimes. I always use the ones with any sign of damage first. I know a lot of people use a chlorine was on them before drying and storing, but I've never done that.
ReplyDeleteI have a cold room so I usually just cure them and put them in the basement. Without any special solution. But last year I still had a few into Feb/March and they definitely started to get blemish so was just thinking I should try something. But you have LOTS of squash, so if that's all you do, it's good enough for me!
DeleteThat's a lot of cooking! I'm trying to keep on top of things this year, unlike last year where I felt like I was in a constant state of catch up to preserve what I had harvested. And congrats on that cabbage! I've always thought of them as one of the more difficult veg to grow, so haven't tried them yet. Still having too many issues with the apparently easy ones!
ReplyDeleteAugust tends to be overwhelming every year, it's just when everything starts coming in so fast! It seems crazy at the time, but looking back it's still always fun. Yeah, I'm pretty thrilled about the cabbage, I picked an early type so I think that was a good choice.
DeleteOoh yummy, I love cabbage and that looks like a good one, well done. When I've grown them I find that little slugs and snails get in between the leaves but yours look good.
ReplyDeleteAll those peppers are amazing too.