More Eggplant to Come

 

First Corn

We ate it for breakfast, before Abigail and Karel left! Rouse was a little disappointed. It was just a bit overdone in the field... not as crisp as desired. A good first attempt.

Fig Preserves

Finally, a crop of figs. We haven't had one since 2012! As they ripen, I've been saving up. Today I have plenty in the freezer to cook down into fig jam! Here's the recipe from Certo:

Fig Jam

Rouse's Birthday Supper

Celebrating with a feast from the garden! On the menu: hot banana peppers stuffed with ground beef and cheese, roasted potato medley, green beans, sliced tomatoes

And what kind of birthday cake? Why, blueberry poundcake, of course! With a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

 

Eggplant

First time we've had success with eggplant. The flea beetles are relentless. They will totally defoliate a plant, making it difficult to get a seedling grown and healthy enough to produce fruit. This time, we gave up on 'organic' methods. Rouse resorted to dusting with insecticide during the early stages of plant growth. Voila!

It's good to have FIGS again!

This is a big weekend for the Wilson family ... celebrating Queen Betty's 90th birthday! Our grown kids are all home for the festivities.

We've been enjoying these sweet perishable fruits. It's been nine years since we had a good fig crop! Fresh off the tree is such a treat. Plus, I've been putting some aside in the freezer, a few at a time, saving up until I have enough to make fig preserves.

Pick the Garden

 A standard item on my 'to do' list these days ... pick the garden!

beans, figs, blueberries, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes

Blueberry Jam

In addition to eating lots of berries out-of-hand, in yogurt and cereal, baked into cobblers, muffins, pancakes and poundcakes ... I've put some away in the freezer and have made two batches of blueberry jam. Here's the jam recipe from Certo:

Blueberry Jam

Dilly Green Bean Pickles

We have so many green beans! Must make a batch of pickles. Here's a link to the recipe from Ball Blue Book of Preserving:

Dilly Beans Canning Recipe

Summer Garden in Full Swing

Three types of green beans, two types of cucumbers, tomatoes ripening on the vine, weird (but edible) volunteer summer squash, plus abundant blueberries. Baking a blueberry poundcake today!

Cherry Tomatoes

 

Knee high by the 4th of July?

Our first-ever attempt at growing corn in our raised-bed garden... 

There were a couple of empty beds. Rouse said, "Why not?" He purchased two varieties of sweet corn and planted them. Little ears of corn have developed and are tassling. This could turn into one sweet experiement!

Digging the Potatoes

We have enjoyed multiple meals featuring "new" potatoes. Now, the above ground plants have withered and dried. Time to harvest! Here are the results:

Chieftain

11 pounds 7 ounces

Purple Majesty

11 pounds 12 ounces

Banana Fingerling

16 pounds

Bucket of Purple Majesty and Chieftain Reds

The full yield - gorgeous potatoes

Laid out on the ping pong table to cure