Carrot Harvest

Since we expanded our tiny vegetable garden this year, I've tried a few things I didn't have room for in the past.  I had no luck with cantaloupe (I got one small melon), but the carrots did alright.  I forgot to do my research before I planted them, so it didn't occur to me that they might not do so well in clay soil.  When I complained that they were on the small side, my mom said, "Carrots grow in sandy soil".  You're never too old to need Mom's advice.  I'm going add sand to the area where the carrots will go next year and see what happens.

I know carrots are cheap to buy, so why grow them?  I'm trying to eat more locally grown, organic produce and you can't get any more local and organic than your own backyard.  They're fresher, they taste fantastic, and the best part is that every time we eat them in salad, coleslaw, soup, or carrot cake I get to say, "I grew these carrots!"  I LOVE saying "I grew these (fill in the blank here)"  It feels really good!

I have a lot of carrot cake recipes, because that's the best way to use carrots, but this is the best carrot soup!  It's quick and easy if you use a food processor or Salad Shooter to slice the carrots.

                                                         Carrot and Coriander Soup

3 T. butter
1 lb. carrots, sliced       
11/2 t. ground coriander1 small onion, chopped

5 C. chicken stock

6 oz. plain yogurt
salt & pepper

Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Add onions and carrots.  Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, until vegetables begin to soften.  Add coriander and cook for one more minute.  Add stock and salt & pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Puree with a stick blender or food processor.  Add yogurt and heat through.

Makes 4 Cups

I always double this recipe and add things like kale or spinach.  If you add things before you puree, no one will know what you've added.  Chef's Surprise!

Prolific little pumpkins

I'm not a big fan of fall.  It's always a little depressing to see it get cool and dark earlier each evening. But there are some things I like about fall, and pumpkins are one of them (and pumpkin pie, pumpkin bars, pumpkin bread, etc.).  The mini pumpkins I talked about yesterday were harvested today - 87 from four plants.  One plant, the white Gooligans, produced 41 pumpkins!  Of course, my favorite variety of the three I planted, the orange and white striped Hooligans, produced only six pumpkins. The other two plants were the orange ones, 20 pumpkins per plant.

I'll be planting these again next year for sure, but NOT in the fenced-in vegetable bed. (See yesterday's warning about sprawling garden bullies.) I have a big, sturdy trellis where a clematis died last winter.  I'll try mini pumpkins on it next year.

If you like decorating with gourds and pumpkins, I highly recommend growing them instead of buying.  They require no care beyond planting a seed and watering daily until it sprouts.  For the price of a pack of seeds, you'll have all the gourds or pumpkins you could possibly use and plenty to share with your neighbors.

One last harvest

There isn't much left to harvest from the vegetable garden.  The tomatoes, peppers, and beans are about done.  Carrots and kohlrabis are still going.  But there is one thing I've been waiting for and I think I'll harvest them this week - mini pumpkins!

These are actually edible pumpkins, not the gourds that look like mini pumpkins.  They're about 3"x 2".  

All three of these varieties came in one package called Harvest Blend.  The varieties are Bumpkin (orange), Gooligan (white), and Hooligan (orange & white mottled).  I just got the seed package out and read the back again.  I hadn't read it carefully when I planted, so I missed the line that says that these can sprawl just as far as larger varieties.  Oops!  That explains why they went over the fence, across the path, and into the lawn.  That will teach me to read seed packages more carefully.  I will definitely plant these again next year, but not in the vegetable garden.  They sprawled over the carrots and basil, blocking out the sun.  They were garden bullies and will not be allowed back into the playground next year. They probably don't need to be in the fenced-in area.  The back of the flower garden is a good spot for them.  They can have all the room they want.  I don't think deer or rabbits would be interested in them.  I saw a front yard garden yesterday that included full-sized pumpkins growing among the flowers.  What a great idea!  It was really eye-catching.  In a cottage-style garden they could wander wherever they want to.  I'll be trying that next year.  

It's raining today, so I'll have to wait to harvest them.  When I do, I'll report back on how many pumpkins I got from my four plants. 

Rain in My Barrel

It rained for a little while yesterday.  Not really enough to give the garden a good soak, but enough to fill my rain barrel.  Going to the rain barrel with my watering can and finding it empty is such a disappointment. There's something about rainwater.  When things are really dry, you can keep them alive by watering with the hose, but one good rain, and everything springs right back.  It's like nature adds a secret ingredient!  That's why I much prefer to water my vegetables, window boxes, and pots from the rain barrel when I can.

I have my rain barrel located just a few feet from the vegetable garden to make it really convenient.  There is a spigot, but I'm too impatient to fill the watering can that way.  I usually just remove the lid and dip the can in the barrel.

It's surprising how little rain it takes to fill the barrel.  I've only used the hose to water a couple of times all summer. I'm thinking of adding a second one on the other side of the house.  Maybe that will eliminate the disappointment of finding an empty rain barrel.

It just started raining as I'm writing this.  My empty barrel will be full again. Yea!

Time to Start Planning!

With the heatwave we've had this week, I've been thinking about the upcoming planting season. I plan on expanding the variety of fruits and vegetables I grow and deleting some that did not work out so well last year. One plant that is definitely on the "must-plant" list is basil. We mostly use it for pesto. A little is good in a frittata, spaghetti sauce, or bruschetta, but mostly we use it for pesto. We really, really like pesto. It's expensive to buy, but easy to make, and inexpensive if you grow your own basil. A few plants provide enough basil to freeze for making pesto all winter.

Basil is super-easy to grow. Plant seeds after the soil is warm and you can start plucking leaves as soon as the plants are small bushes. I've never had any insect pests bother basil. In late summer, when the plants are full-sized, I cut the top 2/3 off the plants, harvest the leaves, wash, dry, measure into two-cup portions (packed down), and pack in Ziplock bags (squeeze out all air). Here's what's left of last summer's harvest in my freezer door.

The remaining 1/3 of each basil plant will send out more shoots and produce more (smaller) leaves so you will still have fresh basil into fall.

This is a delicious pesto recipe, but it's different from the traditional in a couple of ways. First, I substitute toasted walnuts for pine nuts. Second, I cut the fat by substituting chicken stock for half of the olive oil.

Pesto
2 cups basil leaves packed
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup olive oil (substitute half chicken stock if desired)
3-4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup toasted walnuts (see note)

Place all ingredients in food processor. Cover and blend on medium speed about three minutes. *note- To toast walnuts, spread on baking sheet, toast at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes. Stir one or two times while toasting. 

 If you are using frozen basil, add it while it's still frozen. It turns soft once thawed.

Basil does not take up much room in your garden and can even be grown in a pot on your deck or patio. It is well worth the tiny investment in time and money to grow your own basil!

Time to start planning

I mentioned in a previous post that there are two seasons for me: the Christmas season and the gardening season. Now that Christmas is over, I'm starting to think about what I'd like to plant in my newly expanded vegetable garden.  I was never able to grow much in my tiny raised bed, but we took out some grass last year and my options have expanded.  I took a look at a seed catalog today.  There are vegetables I've never even heard of!

While there won't be any planting going on for a few months, I can still get out and have a little fun in the yard.

My snowcat  has green glass for eyes and knitting needles for whiskers.

He won't be melting any time soon, since sub-zero temperatures are predicted.

I'll have plenty of time to research and plan my new vegetable garden.  Even the early crops can't go in for at least four months.  Until then,we're enjoying the bounty from last years' garden that's in the freezer.  More about freezing vegetables in the next post.

Late August Gardening

Late summer is a great time to be a gardener -no pain, all gain (well, almost).  There aren't many chores out there ,but plenty to enjoy.  Not too many new weeds, but lots of butterflies.  I don't worry much about watering any more either - mostly because I'm so tired of it.  It's the time of summer when you can reap the rewards of all your work.

Sometimes there's a little too much to reap.  We were gone for a week and came home to this.

 

Fortunately, I have a great recipe for zucchini soup.  I love going out in my yard and picking dinner.

Tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, garlic, and basil, sauteed in garlic olive oil are fabulous over quinoa. These little orange tomatoes are extremely prolific.  All my other tomatoes have blossom end rot, but these little guys are unaffected.

 

The butterflies are all over the campanula and the phlox.

 

 

The hummingbirds love the buffet in our garden and I could have gotten a photo this afternoon if I had been carrying my camera.  There was one feeding on the hibiscus a couple feet from me, and he didn't care at all that I was right there. 

 

If you want late summer beauty in your garden, try shrub roses, sea holly, late-blooming daylilies, sunflowers, mystery lilies, and zinnias.

 

 

 

Looks like we'll be enjoying watermelon and cantaloupe soon.  It's my first time growing these.  I keep hearing that we don't have a long enough growing season.  We'll see.  I'll report on how it goes.